Off the wire

  • 2001-05-10
HOUSE RULES: The owners of a Tallinn motorcyclists' watering hole, the Bikers Pub, could receive punishment of up to a year in jail if the police find evidence of instigation to racism at the pub. A sign earlier fixed to the bar's door, "No entry with a bicycle, tie or Negro," had been removed by May 3. Rene Jogimaa, a representative of Bikers Pub, admitted that dark-skinned people were still not welcome in the pub. "Everyone must feel which crowd he or she belongs to," he said. According to the Estonian Constitution discrimination is prohibited and punishable by law. Security police commissar Enno Kuurmann said, "We are dealing with the incident and if refusal to serve colored people holds true, criminal action may be taken." A reporter from the weekly Eesti Ekspress tried to enter the Bikers Pub with a black acquaintance last week, paying no heed to the sign on the door. The barmaid informed them that they had house rules not to serve "colored people". Eventually, the visitors were served coffee, but no food.

MAY DAY: Lithuanian President Valdas Adamkus has vetoed a law passed by Parliament making May 1, International Labor Day, a state holiday again. Adamkus signed the decree returning the amendments on the law on national holidays for another hearing at the Seimas (Parliament) on May 3. "International Labor Day should not be included in the list of national holidays since this day is not a nation-uniting day in Lithuania", the president's decree ran. "It should be enough to consider the International Labor Day a memorable day", it underscored. Last week presidential advisors said Adamkus wanted May 1 to be known as Nostalgia Day, but this proposal was not included in the decree. The Seimas took the decision to declare May 1 a state holiday on April 26 by the votes of the Social Democratic Party and the New Alliance.

GAMBLE'S OFF: Adamkus also decided to veto legislation on gambling on May 3. Deputy presidential aide on budget and finance issues Audrius Rudys told this to reporters after a heated discussion at the President's Office with the participation of the Seimas, government and Special Investigations Service representatives. In the words of Rudys, "the president's veto is a constructive proposal to the Seimas to improve the law." Amendments to the law proposed by the president may be divided into two parts, an economic one and a corruption-busting one. In the economic part, the amendments are related to tax relations changes. Lithuania's Special Investigations Service recently made an anti-corruption analysis of the language in the legislation and pointed out 13 major defects in the law. A conclusion by the Service said, among other things, that no anti-money laundering means are provided for either in the framework law or in the secondary legislation.

BELARUS BLUNDER: Prime Minister Andris Berzins has reprimanded Defense Minister Girts Valdis Kristovskis over remarks he made about Belarus being a possible opponent of Latvia, but the minister will not have to quit his post. The premier demanded Kristovskis to provide explanations after fragments of an interview by the minister about Belarus triggered indignation among the neighboring country's diplomats. Kristovskis said that his remarks were misinterpreted. Kristovskis had said in the interview with the newspaper Subbota on May 4: "Our possible opponent objectively is located in the East. We have an 80 kilometer-long border with Belarus. Europe objectively believes that this is the last totalitarian regime in Europe". Kristovskis had added that this is an official position.

BIG WITHDRAWAL: Police in the northeast Estonian border town of Narva arrested a man on May 7 who withdrew more than one million kroons ($57,000) from his nearly empty bank account through an ATM, making use of an alleged error in the bank's computer. The 21-year-old suspect, identified by his first name as Eduard, made 138 cash withdrawals from his account in the Narva branch of Krediidipank with an ordinary debit card between April 27 and 30. Police were alerted by the bank. The suspect said he was able to lay his hands on the money despite having only 100 kroons ($5.70) in his account. "We're looking into what Eduard claims was an error in the system, as well as other versions that could have made the theft possible," said a police officer. Police found nearly 990,000 kroons in cash in the suspect's home, which was later returned to the bank.

VIRTUAL WAR: Three days of joint Polish-Lithuanian military exercises at the tactical training facility of the General Ramanauskas Officers Training Center near Vilnius began on May 8. The Lithuanian Defense Ministry reported that 68 soldiers are taking part, 29 of them from Poland. The tactical training center looks like war planning rooms featured in American films, with commanders playing out various combat scenarios on large maps. Figures representing individual troops are moved across the maps. A large screen displays simulated tank battles and helicopter attacks while a powerful sound system provides the players with the true sounds of military action. Virtual battle means commanders can practice the art of war without using personnel and fuel, harming the environment or spending money.

MORE SPEED: Latvian President Vaira Vike-Freiberga said that any delay in ratification of the Latvian-Australian extradition agreement may create perplexity abroad. "If the Parliament is slow in ratifying the treaty, suspicions may arise among foreign countries about the delays being due to a position in Latvia that the treaty is related to a single case of Konrads Kalejs and Latvia being afraid to look its past in the eye," Vike-Freiberga said after a meeting with representatives from parliamentary factions on May 8. Kalejs is a Latvian-born Nazi war crime suspect and now a citizen of Australia. The extradition treaty, usually related to Kalejs, has been stuck in Parliament since the end of last year. The People's Party, For Fatherland and Freedom and the Social Democrats have all declared that there is no need to hurry the ratification.