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Post by TsarSamuil on Jan 14, 2014 14:05:03 GMT -5
Russia Says Latvia Sprats Contain High Levels of Carcinogens.
MOSCOW, January 13 (RIA Novosti) – Russia said Monday that it has discovered unacceptable levels of a cancer-causing chemical in sprats imported from Latvia and plans to prevent sales of the oily canned fish around Moscow.
Samples of sprats taken during a border control inspection revealed levels of benzopyrene during lab testing that were above Russia’s allowed standard, the government food safety inspector said.
The safety inspector said it has set up stricter laboratory checks over sprats from the Latvian producer SIA Randa Klavas.
The statement did not specify how much of the chemical it found in the fish or what is considered an acceptable amount by Russian authorities.
Benzopyrene is a carcinogen that can be created during food manufacturing processes, such as heating oil at a high temperature. Scientists say the chemical can be dangerous to consume even in small quantities.
In the past, countries whose food exports were subject to Russian bans over purported health concerns have accused Moscow of using the measure to exert political pressure. Russia barred products from a chocolate manufacturer in Ukraine last year just as Kiev was contemplating building closer ties with the EU.
Bilateral relations between Latvia and Russia have been strained recently by the Baltic nation’s decision to adopt the euro currency starting January 1.
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Post by TsarSamuil on Jan 25, 2014 20:31:33 GMT -5
Russia Restricts Pork Imports From Lithuania.
MOSCOW, January 25 (RIA Novosti) – Russia on Saturday restricted pork imports from Lithuania due to an outbreak of African swine fever, the Prime news service reported, citing the Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Surveillance.
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Post by TsarSamuil on Feb 12, 2014 13:50:47 GMT -5
Latvia Moves to Criminalize Denial of 'Soviet Occcupation'
RIGA, February 12 (RIA Novosti/RAPSI) – A parliamentary commission in the Baltic nation of Latvia has supported proposed legislation criminalizing the denial of Soviet and Nazi occupation.
The bill presented by former Justice Minister Janis Bordans is likely to draw the ire of Russia, which has long condemned efforts by former Soviet Baltic republics to liken the Nazi and Soviet regimes, both of which occupied the region.
Offenders would under the proposal supported by parliament’s law commission Tuesday face a maximum penalty of three years in prison if found guilty of publicly denying, justifying and glorifying instances of historical aggression against Latvia.
Before the legislation can enter into force, it must undergo three readings in the Saeima, Latvia’s parliament, and receive approval from the president.
Latvia's official position is that it was occupied by the Soviet Union from 1940 through to 1991, when it gained independence. Russia does not acknowledge that period as occupation.
Russia has long been at odds with Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, as well as Poland, over what it describes as attempts to rewrite the history of World War II and diminish the Soviet role in the defeat of Nazi Germany.
While Russia maintains the Red Army liberated the Baltic States from Nazi German invaders, many residents of the republics put the two occupations on a par, citing mass Stalin-era deportations and murders of the local population by the Soviet secret police.
Latvia is still home to a significant proportion of Russians, estimated at about a quarter of the population.
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Post by TsarSamuil on Feb 21, 2014 14:26:26 GMT -5
Latvian Lawmakers Reject Soviet Occupation Bill.
RIGA, February 21 (RIA Novosti) – Latvia’s parliament declined Thursday to consider proposed legislation that would have made it a criminal offense to deny that both the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany occupied the Baltic state.
Under a bill introduced by the National Alliance, a right-wing nationalist party, offenders would have faced up to three years in prison if found guilty of publicly denying, justifying or glorifying instances of historical aggression against Latvia.
The draft legislation drew sharp criticism from Latvian human rights activists and Russia, which has long condemned efforts by the Baltic republics to liken the Nazi and Soviet regimes, and lawmakers excluded it from the agenda Thursday.
Latvia's official position is that it was occupied by the Soviet Union from 1940 to 1991, when it gained independence. Russia does not acknowledge that period as occupation.
Russia has long been at odds with Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, as well as Poland, over what it describes as attempts to rewrite the history of World War II and diminish the Soviet role in the defeat of Nazi Germany.
While Russia maintains the Red Army liberated the Baltic States from the Nazis, many residents of the countries put the two occupations on a par, citing mass Stalin-era deportations and murders of the local population by the Soviet secret police.
Latvia is still home to a significant proportion of Russians, estimated at about a quarter of the population.
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Post by TsarSamuil on Mar 16, 2014 11:52:35 GMT -5
Vid, rt.com/news/latvia-waffen-ss-march-170/Latvian ministers ordered to boycott march of Waffen-SS veterans. RT.com March 16, 2014 15:16 Latvian government has prohibited its ministers from taking part in the annual march of Waffen-SS veterans and their supporters in Riga. About 1,500 people attended the event, which has been held in the Latvian capital for nearly two decades. Latvian Prime Minister Laimdota Straujuma has already fired the country’s environment minister, Einars Cilinskis, of the right-wing National Alliance, who ignored the government’s order and declared on Friday that he would be attending the pro-Nazi march on Sunday. Straujuma’s spokesman, Andis Blinds, said that the PM had “no choice but to dismiss Cilinskis” in view of the “particularly sensitive” situation in Ukraine, AP reported. Latvian authorities have said they are worried about protests by the country's Russian-speaking minority, which makes up to one-third of Latvia’s 2 million population. Russian-speaking residents of Latvia consider such marches an attempt to glorify Nazism. Straujuma “gave him time to reconsider his participation, but unfortunately he decided to participate,” Blinds said. The annual parade commemorating Nazi collaborators during World War II has not been banned, however. An estimated 1,500-strong column of nationalists, led by a group of Waffen-SS veterans, walked through the Latvian capital to lay flowers at the Freedom monument. The parade was protected by guards from a private security company.  Man dressed in pre-WWII Latvian military uniforms walk along with veterans of the Latvian Legion, a force that was commanded by the German Nazi Waffen SS, and their sympathizers to the Monument of Freedom in Riga, Latvia on March 16, 2014.(AFP Photo / Ilmars Znotinsa) Cilinskis, the fired minister, took part in the neo-Nazi march anyway, saying that a “nation that does not respect its heroes has no future.” The gathering near the Freedom monument was opposed by several dozens activists chanting anti-fascist slogans. A sharp argument exchange took place between the two groups, but a heavy police presence prevented any kind of violent clashes. Political analyst Aleksandr Gaponenko told Rossiyskaya Gazeta newspaper that the sudden change of mind toward the Waffen-SS march came after the US and Germany put pressure on Latvia’s authorities to address the issue of permanent Russian-speaking alien residents and distance themselves from the nation’s neo-Nazi radicals. “The Americans and the Germans fear that the parade of [Waffen SS] legionaries and their radical nationalist fans might trigger events similar to the Ukrainian scenario,” Gaponenko said. The image of the Latvian state would suffer great damage if headlines in the international media about the referendum in Ukraine’s Crimea autonomy would come side-by-side with the news about Nazi glorification in Riga, Gaponenko said. The Latvian Waffen-SS legion was founded in 1943 and was actively used by Nazi Germany in reprisal raids against partisans and the civil population on the occupied territory of Russia, Belarus and Poland. On March 16, the legion was for the first time deployed against Soviet troops. At the end of WWII, most of the servicemen of the Lithuanian Waffen-SS legion surrendered to the Western allies, not to the Soviet Red Army. |
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Post by TsarSamuil on Mar 19, 2014 19:39:43 GMT -5
Moscow signals concern for Russians in Estonia.
By Robert Evans
GENEVA Wed Mar 19, 2014 1:03pm EDT
(Reuters) - Russia signaled concern on Wednesday at Estonia's treatment of its large ethnic Russian minority, comparing language policy in the Baltic state with what it said was a call in Ukraine to prevent the use of Russian.
Russia has defended its annexation of Ukraine's Crimea peninsula by arguing it has the right to protect Russian-speakers outside its borders, so the reference to linguistic tensions in another former Soviet republic comes at a highly sensitive moment.
Russia fully supported the protection of the rights of linguistic minorities, a Moscow diplomat told the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva, according to a summary of the session issued by the U.N.'s information department.
"Language should not be used to segregate and isolate groups," the diplomat was reported as saying. Russia was "concerned by steps taken in this regard in Estonia as well as in Ukraine," the Moscow envoy was said to have added.
The text of the Russian remarks, echoing long-standing complaints over Estonia's insistence that the large Russian minority in the east of the country should be able to speak Estonian, was not immediately available.
But amid the growing Crimea crisis, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania - which like Ukraine were all parts of the old Soviet Union - have expressed growing apprehension over Moscow's intentions.
U.S. Vice President Joe Biden is currently in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius as part of a trip to reassure the three countries, all European Union and NATO members, of Washington's support.
Ukraine told the rights council that U.N. experts had found no credible evidence of mistreatment of its Russian minority as alleged by Moscow -- one of whose pro-Kremlin newspapers said this week there was "bloodshed almost like in Syria" in the east of the country.
The new government in Kiev, a Ukrainian envoy declared, was reinvigorating its promotion and protection of the rights of minorities "to the highest international standards".
The envoy asked what measures could be taken to protect Ukrainian, Crimean Tatar and other minority groups in Crimea "whose rights are being violated under the Russian occupation."
Responding, the Russian delegate said there were no violations of minority rights in Crimea and minorities were not being persecuted. The new Russian-backed government there had guaranteed protection of the Tatars.
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Post by TsarSamuil on Mar 28, 2014 13:27:51 GMT -5
Latvia introduces criminal charges against denial of Soviet and Nazi occupation.
RT.com
March 28, 2014 15:42
Anyone who denies or questions whether the Soviet Union performed an act of historical aggression against Latvia may face up to three years in prison, according to a bill considered by the Latvian parliament Thursday.
The parliament equated the Soviet presence and Nazi occupation in the second reading of an amendment to the law.
Any glorification, white-washing or doubting the invasion by the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany will be prosecuted, the parliament’s website said in a statement.
54 MPs voted for introducing the amendment, while 27 were against.
The amendments, introduced by former Justice Minister Janis Bordans, were approved in a first reading by the parliament’s legal commission Feb. 12.
Russian authorities strongly criticized the amendments. According to the Russian Foreign Ministry’s commissioner for human rights, Konstantin Dolgov, “the Latvian [parliament’s] decision to criminalize denial of the ‘Nazi and Soviet occupation’ continues the efforts to glorify Nazism as part of state policy and violates international law.”
The bill requires a third reading and presidential approval to become law.
Another law which was introduced by the Latvian authorities in May 2013 banned people from exhibiting either Soviet or Nazi symbols in public. The law attracted controversy, particularly among the country’s ethnic Russian minority, which constitutes more than one-quarter of the population.
Soviet-era symbols, such as Red Army uniforms and crimson flags, have been a staple of the celebrations, even after the secession of Latvia from the USSR. Russian journalist Andrey Khramtsov even faced charges of inciting mass public disorder after asking Riga residents if they intended to break a controversial new law.
Meanwhile, the country does not celebrate May 9 as the day the Soviet Union defeated Nazi Germany. However, Latvia has not yet banned the annual parade of Waffen-SS veterans and their supporters, commemorating Nazi collaborators during World War II, in Riga, which took place March 16, 2014.
The Baltic states of Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia have been trying to diminish the Soviet role in the defeat of Nazi Germany. Many countries’ residents equal Nazi to Soviets, saying that the local population suffered a lot from the Soviet secret service in the Stalin era.
Latvia says it was occupied by the Soviet Union from 1940 up to 1991, when it gained independence after the collapse of the Soviet Union. However, Russia, the successor state of the USSR, doesn’t recognize the invasion of Latvia by the Soviets.
During the Nazi occupation in Latvia from 1941 to 1945, the country lost at least 70,000 Latvian Jews which was nearly 89.5 percent of the Jewish population who resided in the country before the war.
In 1944, the Red Army liberated the Baltic States, including Latvia, from the Nazi invasion. Of all the countries, the USSR suffered highest number of losses in WWII. At least 13 million Soviet soldiers died while protecting the Soviet people and citizens of other countries from the Nazi invasion.
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Post by TsarSamuil on Apr 4, 2014 15:20:18 GMT -5
Wooing NATO troops would be like inviting the USSR – Latvian mayor.
RT.com
April 04, 2014 11:53
The stationing of NATO troops in Latvia, which is being advocated by some politicians, would be a foreign invasion similar to the invitation of Soviet troops in 1940, which led to the eventual takeover of the country, a popular Latvian politician says.
“If NATO troops move in, it practically means a foreign occupation,” Aivars Lembergs, Mayor of Ventspils, stated as cited by the local media. “It’s the same thing that happened in 1940, when the Soviet army came to Latvia at the invitation of [ President and Prime Minister ] Karlis Ulmanis.”
Lembergs, who has been heading the Latvian port city since 1988 and once ran for the office of prime minister, was referring to the authoritarian rule of independent Latvia between 1918 and 1940. In the last years of his rule, Ulmanis was pressured by Moscow into allowing Soviet military bases in Latvia. The USSR eventually took total control of Latvia only to be ousted by invading Nazi Germany a year later. Lembergs sees some historical parallels with the present situation.
“Allowing NATO troops in Latvia make it a potential battlefield between the United States and Russia. This would compromise our long-term economic and social interests and threaten Latvia’s security,” he argued.
The politician made his statements as he was arguing against the idea of stationing NATO warships in his city’s port. He said Ventspils is designed to service commercial vessels and suggested that Liepaja, another Latvian port, which was a major naval base in Soviet times, was better suited for the task.
Lembergs had previously argued against calls by some Latvian politicians to issue economic sanctions against Russia in response to the Ukrainian crisis. He said that if Riga did so, Moscow would retaliate with sanctions of its own, which would hurt the Baltic country badly.
“It would be easier for us to just go and drown ourselves in the Baltic Sea,” the mayor said.
Latvia along with two other former Soviet republics - Lithuania and Estonia - joined NATO in 2004. It was the first post-Soviet nation to host a NATO summit in 2006. Currently the alliance is involved in patrolling Latvian airspace.
NATO’s relations with Russia deteriorated amid a major split between Russia and Western powers over the ongoing crisis in Ukraine. The alliance said it is suspending all cooperation with Russia to vent disagreement with Moscow’s acceptance of the formerly Ukrainian region of Crimea as a new part of Russia.
Amid the tension, NATO sent additional forces into Eastern Europe. The Baltic States received six extra F-15 fighter jets provided by the UK, France and Denmark to protect their airspace. The aircraft are stationed in Lithuania.
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Post by TsarSamuil on Apr 9, 2014 11:56:00 GMT -5
Latvia, Lithuania ban Russian state TV broadcasts.
Monday, 04.07.14
By LIUDAS DAPKUS
Associated Press
VILNIUS, Lithuania -- Latvia is joining Lithuania in banning Russian state television broadcasts because it found that several programs about the Ukraine crisis were tendentious and not in the Baltic nation's security interests.
A three-month suspension of broadcasts of all Rossiya RTR's programs begins April 8, following a decision by the Latvian National Electronic Mass Media Council, the watchdog's spokeswoman Sanita Blomniece told The Associated Press on Monday.
The council said the decision was prompted by findings of the Latvian Security Police, which said events in Ukraine in several Rossiya reports last month were presented in a way that justified "military aggression against a sovereign state." It also said they were "dominated by the view that despite international law, the president of the Russian Federation has every right to use the military in Ukraine to defend Russian speakers."
The Russian Foreign Ministry envoy for human rights in Moscow denounced the Latvian decision. Konstantin Dolgov said on Twitter that Latvia's ban is "the latest attempt to censor inconvenient information and a violation of fundamental rights on access to mass media."
The Latvian ban follows a similar suspension in neighboring Lithuania of RTR Planeta's broadcasts for three months after the media watchdog in Vilnius found that a March 2 weekly news program about Ukraine was biased. On Monday, the Vilnius Regional Court upheld the council's decision.
"The program incited violent actions against peaceful people in Ukraine, justified military intervention into Ukraine and questioned the legitimacy of the Ukrainian authorities," court spokeswoman Sigita Jacineviciene Baltaduone said. "It was obviously biased and was likely aimed to incite discord."
Both RTR channels are owned by Russian state broadcaster VGTRK.
All three Baltic states — Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia — have sizeable ethnic Russian minorities and are increasingly concerned about the Kremlin's actions toward Ukraine and its declaration that it will protect Russians abroad.
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Post by TsarSamuil on Apr 10, 2014 17:32:16 GMT -5
Latvia: Activists chant 'Hands off Russian schools' in Riga.
RuptlyTV
Apr 10, 2014
Hundreds of pro-Russian activists gathered near the Cabinet of Ministers in Riga on Thursday for a mass demonstration against the closure of Russian schools. Activists held placards reading "Hands off from Russian schools", "Russians do not surrender" and "We want to get education in their native language."
People were protesting against an initiative from Latvian authorities to make all state-funded schools which currently teach in Russian, to start teaching subjects in Latvian by September 1, 2018.
After picketing in front of the government building, protesters marched towards the Ministry of Education and Science.
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Post by TsarSamuil on Sept 6, 2014 2:38:34 GMT -5
Estonian security officer detained in Russia on suspicion of spying.
RT.com
September 05, 2014 20:06
A serviceman of the Estonian Interior Ministry was detained in Russia’s border Pskov Region. He was carrying equipment for covert video recording, a loaded gun, and a bundle of cash. Tallinn, however, says the officer was abducted from Estonian territory.
“An Estonian citizen, an employee of the Tartu Department of Estonian Security Police, Eston Kohver, has been arrested,” Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) said on Friday. He was arrested in Pskov Region, which borders Estonia and Latvia.
According to the FSB, the agent was carrying a Taurus handgun loaded with bullets, special equipment for covert audio recording, and 5,000 euros in cash. He also had other “intelligence related” materials.
The agency believes it prevented “an undercover operation by the Estonian Security Police.”
Kohver is currently being held in custody, and the required investigation activities are taking place, the FSB added.
Meanwhile, Tallinn claims that Kohver was kidnapped from Estonian territory and taken to Russia by force.
“Unidentified persons coming from Russia took the freedom of an Estonian Security Police officer on the territory of Estonia, near Luhamaa border crossing station. The officer was taken to Russia using physical force and at gunpoint,” the Estonian State Prosecutor’s Office said in a statement.
The statement added that Kohver was “fulfilling his duties in connection to preventing a cross-border crime” when he was abducted.
“Use of smoke grenades and intense interference with operative radio connections preceded the incident,” the State Prosecutor’s Office stressed.
A criminal case has been launched by Estonian law enforcement officials.
The Russian ambassador to the country, Yury Merzlyakov, was summoned to the Estonian Ministry of Foreign Affairs over the incident.
Nevertheless, the director of the Estonian Security Police, Arnold Sinisalu, stressed that “there are no reasons to believe that the abduction was politically motivated.”
He added that Russian border guards said they did not register an incident on the Russia-Estonia border on Friday.
According to Estonian media, Kohver has worked for the Estonian Security Police since 1991. In 2010, the president of Estonia awarded him with the Eagle Crest order, which is presented for military merit and achievements in state defense.
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Post by TsarSamuil on Sept 20, 2014 4:19:58 GMT -5
Estonia to create new Russian-language TV channel.
English.news.cn 2014-09-19 21:35:30
TALLINN, Sept. 19 (Xinhua) -- The Estonian government announced it would create a new Russian-language television channel next year under its national broadcaster Estonian Public Broadcasting (ERR) to compete with Russian TV and radio programs, local media said Friday.
According to ERR, the government has stipulated 390,000 euros (502,165 U.S. dollars) for the project. The station will present daily news in Russian to include weekly summaries and improving the programming of Radio 4, the Russian-language ERR radio station.
Estonian Culture Minister Urve Tiidus said ERR should present the government with in-depth analyses of costs and available resources for the project.
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Post by Krzywousty on Sept 27, 2014 1:07:21 GMT -5
Lithuanians are not anti-Slavic, anyone who believes this has a wrong idea. For centuries Lithuania was joined with Belarussians in the Grand Dutchy of Lithuania. In Lithuania the Russians have citizenship. That's quite the bold statement. Lithuanian's are non-Slavs, and Polish/Russian haters. Maybe not people in general but the government certainly is. Look to WW2, many partisan groups were lacky's for the Nazi's and killed Poles and Russians. The current government stated that Polish are just as much a threat to Lithuanian identity as Russian. History has shown otherwise; you're right Lithuania has always been united with Slavic kingdoms however its because of this history that they began resenting the Slav element to enforce the Lithuanian national revival. |
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Post by Krzywousty on Sept 27, 2014 1:12:58 GMT -5
Polish national hero’s tomb vandalised in Vilnius. PAP/IAR 18.06.2012 14:50 The mausoleum of one of Poland’s greatest national heroes has been defaced in the Rasos cemetery in Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania.  Tomb in Vilnius: photo - wikicommons The tomb containing the heart of Józef Piłsudski, who was born 1867 in Zalavas, then in Poland (Zulow), and his mother’s remains, had the Columns of Gediminas, the historical coat of arms of Lithuania, one of the oldest symbols of the country, scrawled on it Sunday. Police have launched an investigation into the offence, carrying a sentence of up to two years in prison, says superintendent of Vilnius police, Antoni Mikulski. In an official statement, Lithuanian prime minister Andrius Kubilius condemned the act of vandalism. “We must put up resistance against hatred, regardless of who the perpetrator is,” he said. According to Lithuanian foreign minister Emanueli Zingeris, the act of vandalism was meant to incite hatred between two EU member states. The head of diplomacy stated that he, alongside other MPs, would personally pay a tribute to the memory of Józef Piłsudski – one of the founders of Polish independence following the end of the 1914 – 18 World War. Marshal Józef Piłsudski, is remembered differently Lithuania, however, where is remembered for annexing the Vilnius region into Poland in the 1920s. Relations between Poland and Lithuania have deteriorated in recent years amid disputes over the status of the Polish language in the Lithuanian education system, among other issues. (pg/aba) There are some striking similarities with Pilsudski's politics and Putin's today. |
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Post by TsarSamuil on Sept 27, 2014 4:10:05 GMT -5
There are some striking similarities with Pilsudski's politics and Putin's today. In what way? |
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