Putin warns Nato over expansion into Baltics

HELSINKI, Sept 3: Russian President Vladimir Putin affirmed here on Monday that Moscow did not want the Baltic states admitted to NATO, describing such a move as a "mistake" unwarranted on security grounds and holding up non-aligned Finland as a model for the three small countries.

Wrapping up a two-day visit to Finland, the Russian president also offered an upbeat assessment of his country's economic performance this year and said his administration was making progress in improving the business and investment climate in Russia.

"I underline that there are no objective conditions for enlarging and (for) the Baltic countries becoming members of NATO," Putin told a news conference following talks with Finnish President Tarja Halonen.

"Pushing NATO's limits to Russia does not create a universal security in Europe, it does not solve any key issue in Europe," he said. Baltic state membership in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) "only pushes NATO borders closer to Russia." "We are not glad. This is a mistake."

The Baltic countries - Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania - gained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991 and have made NATO membership a high priority since then.

Putin, speaking through an interpreter, said the notion of admitting the Baltic states into NATO, and expansion of the alliance in general, was at odds with rhetoric from many capitals about building a peaceful and secure future for Europe.

"In all points of the world, everybody is speaking about creating a good atmosphere in Europe," he said. "Does the enlargement of NATO support this tendency?" "Nobody is threatening anybody," Putin said. "Only some sick minds might find the idea that there are elements of attack or aggression by anybody in this region or from Russia."

Putin vowed that Kremlin would not use the Russian-speaking minorities in the Baltic countries as a lever to pressure them to drop demands for NATO membership, but also pointedly praised Finland for remaining outside the Atlantic alliance.

"Russia supports Finland's status as a non-aligned country... This status has made a very important contribution to this area of the world," he said.

Halonen said many of the security concerns of the Baltic states could be addressed through membership in the European Union. "European integration will improve the status of European values in all these countries," Halonen said.

But the Finnish president also said that she considered Baltic NATO membership an open and shut case for them. "My view is that the Baltic states will become full members of NATO," she said. "The question is not whether but when."-AFP

It's more complicated than that. Some Lithuanian vowels come in three flavors, such as:

regular 'e'
'e' with a single dot above
'e' with a little "tail," and

some of the more common consonants in two, such as:

regular 's,'
's' with a small "v" on top.

You can find them in the 'Symbol' field in Word, but they don't transcribe to this forum for some reason. (That's why I chose a sentence without any for my example). Linguists study Lithuanian because its grammar hasn't changed that much, ever, and it is a living relative to Sanskrit. It is also 100% phonetic, no exceptions, and no 'q.'

So what's up with all this hub-bub about the Russian minority and recidivist Naziism in the Baltic States?

I can't speak for Latvia or Estonia. Lithuania is in the "relatively" fortunate position of not having a large ethnic Russian population. (Some say because of the anti-Soviet guerrilla-movement that finally gave-out in the early 60s). But there is a fairly large Russian population in the capital city, Vilnius. For the most part everyone gets along, possibly because the Russians understand that their standard-of-living would decrease if they returned to Russia. (For this reason, many ethnic Russians were actually pro-Lithuanian independence).

Furthermore, since Lithuania is a parliamentary democracy, the ethnic Russians have their, albeit weak, representatives in government. As a side-note, there is also a small and vocal Polish minority agitating for school to be taught in Polish. (Shades of the bi-lingual education debate going on here.) Incidentally, most Lithuanians speak Russian, and vice versa. It's good for business.

But there is friction, occasionally, since most Lithuanians bristle at the thought of the occupation and the damage it caused, and tend to view the Russians as interlopers. For their part, the Russians are resentful of their relegation to "second-class" status. A personal anecdote: while standing in line at the Klaipeda post-office (a port city also with a large population of ethnic Russians), an old man "shouldered" past me to the front. (A direct result of the Soviet days--most Lithuanians and Russians don't tolerate lines). When challenged, he indignantly responded (in Lithuanian), "You youngsters have no respect for the elderly . . . I am a decorated veteran of the Great War."

I was going to let him pass (he was old, after all), but my Lithuanian escort responded, "Shut up, old man, that is no longer considered to be a privilege here." I kept my mouth shut, realizing that a principle was at stake. The comment was well-received by maybe 50% of the 10 or so people in the lobby. The old man backed-down, and nothing happened. But in a nutshell, the episode demonstrates how "complicated" things can get.

As for Nazi recidivism, there is none to speak of in Lithuania. However, because of the general reluctance of the Lithuanian government to prosecute Nazi war-criminals (one case was recently dismissed due to the defendant's poor health), and its insistence on prosecuting pro-Soviet collaborators (witness Mikhail Gorbachev's outstanding arrest-warrant), certain commentators in the U.S. perceive that "double-standard" to be a tacit acceptance of anti-Semitism. And wouldn't you, if you were a commie-apologist? Clearly, axes are still grinding on both sides.

Last anecdote: my last visit to Lithuania coincided with a visit by Sen. Tom Lantos (D-CA). While participating in some sort of a forum he launched into a table-pounding tirade concerning the Lithuanian government's refusal to prosecute the above-mentioned Nazi. The eyebrow-raising, near-universal, Lithuanian reaction was: What a jerk. After most members of his Party coddled a succession of Soviet dictators, excused their lies, treated Gorbo like some sort of a friggin' hero, and turned a blind-eye to his human-rights violations, this guest of ours presumes to lecture us about the allocation of justice. Lithuanians have a long memory.

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