From the editor

It's a common tradition to give each other gifts and best wishes at
Christmas and New Year. As we at The Baltic Times newspaper, along
with you are trying to catch up with time, with this first issue of
the new millennium we bring our new layout to your attention, as well
as a few more significant changes in the newspaper's content.

As we want our newspaper to become the meeting place for all the
expats living in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, from now on you will
be able to find new appointments in the Baltics on our Pastures new
column every week. Dr. Paul E. Adams, Professor Emeritus of Business
Administration at Ramapo College of New Jersey, has kindly agreed to
share his business experience with us in his Mind your business
column.

As you have probably noticed, this week's legislation update on page
15 marks the start of a special section series on various practical
topics such as medicine, IT news, expat community affairs, education,
real estate, food, family affairs, shopping, etc.

However, our main focus will still remain the general news and
business that will help you to follow the latest developments in the
Baltic states. "Estonia and its Baltic allies Latvia and Lithuania
are the new hothouses of European business - low wage, high energy
tigers poised on the brink of full accession to the European Union,"
according to the recent Eurobusiness magazine's special report on the
Baltic states. For those genuinely uninformed as to the new position
of the Baltic states there is a lot to catch up on.

And The Baltic Times will be your trustworthy friend and ally on this journey.