OFF THE WIRE

SONG FUNDS: Latvia's government decided on June 4 to provide the necessary financial guarantees to host the Eurovision Song Contest next year. The state television company LTV will organize the event and the government "will guarantee 5 million Swiss francs ($2.7 million) in funding as required by the European Broadcasting Union," said government spokesman Aivis Freidenfelds. Latvia won the right to host the 48th Eurovision when Marija Naumova won the contest last month in Tallinn with a swaggering performance of the upbeat, energy-driven Latin dance tune "I Wanna." Despite the lack of an adequate venue in Riga, Prime Minister Andris Berzins has stated his determination that Latvia will host the contest. Three sites in Riga, one in the nearby seaside resort town of Jurmala, and one in the western port city of Ventspils are in the running as venues. (Agence France-Presse)

RUSSIAN MONEY: The self-exiled Russian media tycoon Boris Berezovsky is to grant $100,000 to support Latvia's and Estonia's Russian minorities. "The unhappiness and bitterness of the Russian community here is exploited by extremists and anti-democratic circles in Russia," Alex Goldfarb, executive director of the Foundation for Civil Liberties New York, also known as the Berezovsky Foundation, said on a visit to Riga. Half the donation will be spent on Russian-language theaters and increasing children's access to them. Another $25,000 will be used on social assistance programs for Russian-speaking women in Latvia, and $10,000 will be used to pay the naturalization fees of non-citizens. Another $10,000 will be used to help with resettlement costs of non-citizen pensioners in Latvia who wish to move to Russia. (AFP)

MOVEMENT: Russia has slammed Latvia's decision to introduce transit visas for foreigners crossing Latvian territory by rail. "The new visa regime was introduced without any prior notice, and that contradicts international practice and the principles of good neighborly relations," the Russian Foreign Ministry said. The ministry noted that the new visa regime, introduced last week, was likely to seriously impact many Russians who plan to spend their summer vacation in nearby Lithuania, so threatening the tourist trade. (AFP)

CESIUM SMUGGLING: Lithuanian police said on May 30 they had foiled an attempt by smugglers to sell 1 kilogram of cesium 137, a highly-radioactive element used in civilian and military nuclear applications. "Six Lithuanian citizens, some of them known to be illegal metal traders, were detained in Vilnius. It is believed that they intended to sell the cesium on the black market in Western Europe," police said in a statement. A foreign citizen is also being sought in connection with the incident. Lithuanian police did not say where the cesium 137, worth an estimated $135,000, was believed to have originated. (AFP)

MEDIA TRIAL: A court in the western city of Grodno began on June 4 hearing the case of two Belarus opposition journalists accused of slandering President Alyaksandr Lukashenka. Nikolai Markevich, the chief editor of the opposition magazine Pagonia, and the journalist Pavel Mojaiko could both face five-year jail terms after publishing two articles and a poem criticizing Lukashenka during last September's presidential election campaign. Police seized the offending publication before it hit the streets. (AFP)

PEDALING NOWHERE: Latvian cyclist Juris Silovs, convicted to five years in jail in Lithuania for large-scale money contraband, has little hope the court ruling will be canceled or his jail term reduced, the prosecutor involved in the case believes. The daily Diena wrote on June 4 that prosecutor Gediminas Bukauskas from Marijampole said Silovs had received the lowest jail term admitted under Lithuanian law for smuggling money, and that now the only thing he can do is to turn to Lithuanian President Valdas Adamkus with a pardon request. Silovs was detained Oct. 8, 2001, at the Kalvarija border point with foreign currency worth about $80,000. He claimed he earned the money working for a sports club in France. Silovs has been one of Latvia's top cyclists for several years. (Baltic News Service)

CUFFED: National Bolshevik Dmitry Nechayev, who handcuffed himself to Riga Mayor Gundars Bojars during a visit to Moscow on May 27, has been brought to trial on petty hooliganism charges, involving a punishment of up to 10 minimum monthly wages. Another member of the radical Russian party who was detained after the action staged during the opening of the Riga Expo fair, Jelena Borovska, was released. The minimum wage in Russia is 140 rubles ($4). Five minutes passed before Bojars was released from the handcuffs. He was not hurt in the incident. The National Bolsheviks wanted to protest against the movement of Latvia toward NATO and the trial in Latvia of Vasily Kononov for war crimes. (BNS)

SURGE LEFT: The next Estonian coalition government to be formed after elections in March 2003 is likely to be set up by the Center Party and the People's Union, with Russian parties as a possible third partner, Center Party Deputy Chairman Peeter Kreitzberg said. "I predict that the 2003 elections will be won by the Center Party and the People's Union, which together will get more than 50 seats in Parliament," he said. (BNS)

BOOBY-TRAP: A pensioner was killed in a terrorist-style trap with an explosive while jogging in Vilnius on the morning of May 30. The 66-year-old woman was exercising in a popular park in the suburbs. The grenade detonated when she stumbled over a fishing line stretched across the path, pulling a Russian-made F-1 grenade. She was rushed to a nearby hospital where she died shortly afterward. Vilnius prosecutors launched a criminal investigation. (BNS)