Off the wire

CHILLY VISIT: The Lithuanian press interpreted Estonian President Lennart Meri's refusal to see Lithuanian parliamentary speaker Arturas Paulauskas during his visit to Tallinn as another illustration of the Baltic countries' rather cool relations. The Lithuanian public was hardly surprised by Meri's decision, because it is already getting used to the not-too-friendly friendship between the countries, and the Estonian authorities in particular are seen as being disrespectful to Lithuania. Preparing for his visit to Tallinn, which took place on June 11 and 12, Paulauskas tried to arrange meetings with several senior Estonian politicians, including the president. An employee of the Lithuanian embassy in Tallinn, who wished to remain unidentified, said that arranging the meeting with Meri was left to the Estonian side and it was not known until the last moment whether it would take place. Refusal to meet at the last moment is unusual in the case of such visits and puts a negative stamp on relations between countries, a member of the Lithuanian Parliament's international relations committee said. The former speaker of the Lithuanian Parliament, Vytautas Landsbergis, had to call off his visit to Estonia last September, because senior Estonian officials could not find the time to meet him.

DIVIDED NATION: Most Latvian residents other than ethnic Latvians do not approve of the harsh sentences - five to 15 years in jail - given to three Russian extremists recently convicted on terrorism charges, according to one public opinion poll. Most ethnic Latvians think the long jail term is a just sentence for these National Bolsheviks, who last November seized a church tower in Riga wielding what turned out to be a mock grenade. Among non-Latvians questioned, 48.2 percent believed the sentence imposed on the National Bolsheviks was too harsh, while 3.6 percent thought the court had been too lenient on them. The sentence was regarded as just by 19 percent of non-Latvian respondents. Among ethnic Latvians, 47.1 percent saw the sentence passed on the National Bolsheviks as just. The poll conducted by SKDS sociological research company covered 1,024 respondents aged 18 to 74.

CRITICAL VALUES: Villu Reiljan, chairman of the opposition People's Union, called at a party congress on June 9 for amendments to the Estonian constitution and election law, which, he said, would increase democracy and the people's trust in power. Reiljan pointed out in his address that in the 10 years since Estonia regained independence the governing bodies have never had as low a rating and as little trust as is the case at the moment, and therefore an appeal to national ideals is called for. People must have the opportunity to elect at least a part of their representatives in institutions of power directly, the leader of the opposition party declared. He also called for direct presidential elections. Reiljan did not restrain his criticism of the ruling alliance, maintaining that the three-party coalition is undermining the cornerstones of Estonia's democratic system of government by ignoring the principles of separation and the balance of power and being superior to the law.

BIG BROTHER: New Latvian regulations which reduce the naturalization fee are an important pre-condition for the closing of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe mission in Latvia this year, the Latvian foreign minister Indulis Berzins said this week. Berzins said he was certain that OSCE missions in both Latvia and Estonia will be closed simultaneously at the end of the year. "For Latvia the closing of the OSCE mission will be like breaking a bottle of champagne against the hull of a new ship about to be put to sea." On June 14, the OSCE Permanent Council forum will decide about extending the mandate for the OSCE mission in Latvia, which expires on June 30. The OSCE mission representative in Latvia, Peter Semneby, earlier said the mandate would be extended for another six months. Naturalization and citizenship issues were the focus of the OSCE mission, Semneby said, but the mission was also involved in developing ombudsmanship in Latvia, strengthening other human rights institutions and monitoring the introduction of the state language law.

SHOPS TO BANKS: Officers of Estonia's central criminal police in Tallinn on June 7 detained a man suspected of organizing dozens of bank robberies in Central Europe. The arrest was the culmination of a two-week joint operation with German and Austrian police forces in which more than 20 Estonian residents were arrested. Another man who allegedly masterminded the robberies was seized on May 29. Andres Anvelt, deputy director of the central criminal police, said the organizers were ethnic Estonians who had caught the attention of the police. Rank-and-file members of the gang arrested in Germany and Austria claimed it was the two men seized in Tallinn who organized the robberies. The gang leaders recruited well-known shoplifters in Tallinn and took them to Germany and Austria where they robbed banks and shops, armed with pistol lighters or dummy guns. The gang, which allegedly had about one hundred members, started with plundering shops and filling stations in Germany late last year, and proceeded to robbing banks from the beginning of 2001. Police have linked around 80 robberies in Germany and around a dozen in Austria to the group.

LEGAL BRIBE: A senior official at the University of Latvia's law faculty is being charged with taking bribes. The deputy dean of the faculty, Ilgvars Krastins, was detained by security police at his office after one would-be student allegedly paid him 150 lats ($235) for a chance to study at the university. The potential student claimed she turned to security police after Krastins demanded her money and police then gave her marked banknotes. The money was found in Krastins' office and police opened a criminal case over the misuse of a service position. Krastins called the incident a "provocation." Many lawyers in Latvia are shocked about the incident as Krastins, 70, had been a lecturer to a great many of them. This was the first case of alleged bribery to be uncovered at the university. Krastins' contract with the university expires on June 30 and, according to university rector Ivars Lacis, it will be terminated because of the charges. Krastins cannot be dismissed immediately, though, because he is on sick leave.