In Brief - 2002-07-11

  • 2002-07-11
Euroenthusiasts

Estonia would vote yes to joining the European Union if a referendum were to take place now, a new poll has revealed. A total of 62 per cent of those who would turn out for a referendum would support Estonia's accession and 38 per cent would be against, according to a poll by the Emor polling agency conducted in June. Sixty percent of those polled said they would turn out for a referendum - which Estonia has pledged before possible accession in 2004. (Agence France-Presse)


For God and country

Candidates for the newly formed Latvian party Jaunais Laiks, or New Era, will take a loyalty oath at a ceremony in a Riga church, party leader and former Central Bank Governor Einars Repse said. Candidates will have to swear loyalty to their country at the altar "so they do their jobs transparently and honestly and do not submit to intrigue," he said. Recent opinion polls suggest that in October elections the party could sweep aside the coterie of parties which have dominated Latvia's government since the end of Soviet rule in 1991. "We must find a way to enhance the good and suppress the evil," Repse said. (AFP)


Apartment picket

About two dozen Tallinners picketed outside foreign embassies on July 5 and demanded the right to privatize their apartments.

The picket, which started outside the U.S. Embassy, later moved near the Russian, Italian Norwegian and Danish embassies, where protesters petitioned each embassy to help them solve their plight.

Most said they were denied the right to privatize their flats because the building in which they live was sold along with its other assets.

The protesters claim in the petition such a situation violates their human rights. (Baltic News Service)

Drunk driving tragedy

A Latvian sergeant killed nine-month-old twin girls when he crashed his car into a baby carriage on a pedestrian walkway in Adazi, some 20 kilometers from Riga.

Police said the man, identified only as Janis S., was driving while intoxicated and has been suspended from active duty. An armed forces internal investigation is also underway. His blood alcohol level was 2.58, police said, well above the legal limit.

He could face anywhere from three to 15 years in jail if convicted of manslaughter.

So far this year, nine children have been killed and 324 injured in road accidents throughout Latvia, police said. In the same period last year, three children were killed and 280 injured.

Of the injured children, 186 were pedestrians, 98 were passengers, 36 were riding bicycles. (BNS)

Storm kills two

Falling trees killed a 15-year-old girl and a father pushing his child in a baby carriage as flash storms whipped across central Latvia July 4, Riga police said. Winds of 110 kilometers per hour caused 176 accidents across the country and severe damage to buildings was reported, said a police spokeswoman. Power supplies were briefly cut in parts of Riga, and in Sigulda, 11 British tourists were suspended in a cable car 30 meters above the Gauja River for nearly five hours before officials brought a portable generator powerful enough to start the car running again. (AFP/BNS)

Skydivers die in Estonia

Two Latvian skydivers fell to their deaths in central Estonia July 7 after their parachutes got tangled in the air shortly before landing.

The two men, Alexei Kravitski and Sergei Batmanov, died immediately in the accident at the Kuusiku airfield at 11:10 a.m.

The victims were part of a 18-member team that was making a group dive.

"Some of the parachutists had already landed at Kuusiku airfield when the parachutes of the two men got entangled some 20-30 meters from the ground," said Olev Valk, an eyewitness. "It seemed as if one of the parachutists had collided with the other, the parachutes got into a mess and they came down right in front of me."

The daily Postimees reported that both victims were very experienced parachutists with over 3,000 jumps in their record.

The annual parachute festival, Boogie I, was arranged at Kuusiku by the Dropzone Estonia Club. The last fatal accident with a parachutist in Estonia happened on May 26 when a 38-year-old man from Estonia fell to his death on his 1,000th jump in the area of the same airfield. (BNS)

Eurointegration on track

Lithuania's Parliament said it had enacted the majority of the planned Euro-integration laws during the first half of the year. The legislature has enacted 35 of 47 integration laws, including those regarding municipal elections, a new labor code, civil and criminal procedural codes and a new version of the value-added tax.

Lithuania plans to close the EU membership talks this year and become full member of the organization in 2004. (BNS)