CALLING THE SHOTS

The amendments made to Latvia's election law on May 9 and the annual dose of small-scale, pro-Russian vehemence that took place on the same day - Victory Day - have once again highlighted the gulf, and the attempts to bridge the Baltic states' ethnic tensions.

Both nationalists and Russian extremists have had their say. They believe what they want to believe, a mixture of rumor, media gloss and personal experience. But ultimately it is the sensible central majority that has succeeded.

Balts argue that the region's Russians - and many Russian-speakers of other nationalities also call themselves Russians - who arrived during the Soviet occupation of the Baltic states felt privileged until independence, since they were provided with good working and living places. This may help to explain why they feel hard done by now.

But Russians insist it was only Communist Party officials who had the privileges.

Whatever the case, many local Russians now feel deprived of simple things - the chance to make a good career, to take ministerial posts, to be respected by the national elite. Russians are taxi drivers, shop assistants and road sweepers. There are more opportunities to be creative, get a better job, or even just get by in the Baltics if you're not a native Russian speaker.

In Estonia and Latvia, Russians make their point heard. But in Lithuania, curiously, where there are far fewer Russians, there is little leadership. Lithuania's Polish community is far more successful at expressing dissatisfaction, and is also more integrated into Lithuanian society - while receiving financial, moral and other support from Poland. Lithuania's Russians feel comparatively forgotten.

Things would be a lot easier if Lithuanians, Latvians and Estonians were not so clearly distinct from the Slavs. A good illustration of the gulf in mentality is the attitude to money. According to the Russian Orthodox Church, making money is associated with evil, which places it in direct opposition to Protestantism and Catholicism - a theme repeatedly emphasized in Russian literature. When a Russian makes money, it's a party for everyone. When a Balt makes money, it'll be saved securely for the future.

There's little doubt who's in the privileged position in the Baltic states now. The legal changes in Latvia should go some way to redressing the balance.