Latvija in brief - 2004-04-15

Although most of the laws and regulations passed by government and Parliament in the past month have been related to the EU accession, the government still has to pass another 137 EU-related regulations and 14 laws in under three weeks' time.

Sanita Pavluta-Deslandes, head of the European Affairs Office, reported that the biggest problems would revolve around laws that ministries have decided to prepare only a week before the accession date.

President Vaira Vike-Freiberga was in China for a five-day trip this week, where she discussed with Shangsi province leadership the necessity to restore trade links between the two countries and set up a modern-day "Silk Road." The president, who was invited by Chinese President Hu Jintao, told Chinese officials that upon acceding to the European Union Latvia will become a gateway to the EU market. Vike-Freiberga's spokeswoman said that there were plans to sign six interstate and inter-governmental agreements during the visit.

The government on April 13 decided to cut wages of Cabinet ministers by 200 lats (300 euros) a month. As a result, the prime minister's wage will be reduced to 2,000 lats, the deputy prime minister's will be 1,900 lats a month and ministers - 1,800 lats a month. Initially it was planned to cut Cabinet members' wages by 100 lats, but Prime Minister Indulis Emsis (photo) said the cut should be more sizeable. The People's Party, a ruling coalition member, proposed in mid-March - soon after Latvia's new Cabinet was approved - to reduce wages of government ministers. Former Prime Minister Einars Repse raised ministers' wages from slightly over 600 lats a month to 2,000 lats a month.

Latvia continues to lead Europe in terms of auto fatalities, the World Health Organization reported. What's more, the rate of fatalities is getting worse from year-to-year. If in 2000 5,451 people were injured in road accidents, then in 2003 that number reached 6,636. While the number of deaths was down, the overall number of accidents was up, said the WHO.

Latvian soldiers came under fire in two separate instances last week, though no injuries were reported. The National Armed Forces press officer, Uldis Davidovs, said that in early hours on April 1attackers fired shots at a unit of some 30 Latvian soldiers patrolling in the vicinity of Al Hillah. "Our soldiers opened fire at the attackers and retreated to their base," said Davidovs. The previous attack took place on April 7.

More than half of Latvians feel happy, and the number continues growing, a public opinion survey showed. The poll, carried out by the SKDS pollster in January, revealed that 55 percent of Latvia's residents feel happy while nearly a third of respondents, or 3percent, said they were not happy. 13 percent could not tell whether they were happy or not. The poll also revealed that young, wealthy and well-educated people dominated the happy category.