Baltic Review

EU to give Poland billion euros for strong GDP growth

mr.balticum@live.de (Mr. Balticum) — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 21:06:14 +0000

WARSAW (RIA Novosti) — Warsaw could get an additional billion euros ($1.35 billion) from Brussels in 2011-2012 as a reward for the country’s dynamic economic growth in recent years, Polish Radio reported on Thursday. It cited informal sources as saying substantial funds were earmarked for Poland from a special 3 billion-euro fund for countries that have [...]

The number of negative articles about Lithuania is constantly growing

mr.balticum@live.de (Mr. Balticum) — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 14:44:47 +0000

Russians victims of their own propaganda The number of negative articles on Lithuania is growing by the day on Russian Internet sites, writes the news portal Balsas: “The readers then put their comments at the bottom, in which they delight – very much along the lines of Russian propaganda – that Lithuania has so many problems, without [...]

Latvia’s alcohol laws too lax

mr.balticum@live.de (Mr. Balticum) — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 13:20:44 +0000

The Latvian parliament plans to vote on a proposal which would limit trade with alcohol in the near future. The daily Latvijas Avīze welcomes the initiative: “In Latvia more than 10 litres of pure alcohol are consumed per capita and per year, there are countless alcoholics and statistics show that the number of minors being [...]

Denmark’s cosmetic cabinet shuffle

mr.balticum@live.de (Mr. Balticum) — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 12:43:28 +0000

The left-liberal daily Politiken is unimpressed by Denmark’s extensive government reshuffle whereby 15 government posts changed hands: “Political leadership means much more than just getting rid of ministers embroiled in scandal. And unfortunately it’s the most ramshackle group of party hacks who’ve been brought out for this ostensible renewal. … It could soon become clear that the move [...]

Lithuanians take brisk Baltic plunge

mr.balticum@live.de (Mr. Balticum) — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 12:22:49 +0000

Despite temperatures of -5 Celsius, a huge crowd of Lithuanians brave the icy waters of the Baltic for a dip they say will keep them healthy. Karen Selby reports.

More Swedish in Finland

mr.balticum@live.de (Mr. Balticum) — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 20:05:01 +0000

Swedish language instruction is mandatory in Finnish schools because according to its constitution the country is bilingual. The fact is however that many Finns see no need to learn Swedish, an attitude that Education Minister Henna Virkkunen is seeking to counter with a new proposal, writes the daily Savon Sanomat: “According to Virkkunen Swedish language training [...]

Polish railway company reforms wage system

mr.balticum@live.de (Mr. Balticum) — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 19:35:01 +0000

In reaction to the economic crisis the state-owned freight transport company PKP Cargo plans to couple the wages of its employees to its profits. This is a first step towards breaking with the obsolete structures of the communist era, writes the conservative daily Dziennik Gazeta Prawna: “We must wait for this to change the Polish railway [...]

A common economic policy for Europe

mr.balticum@live.de (Mr. Balticum) — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 18:33:24 +0000

The finance ministers of the EU on Tuesday ordered an ambitious austerity programme and strict budget controls for Greece. Commentators say it’s high time for a common economic policy for all EU members, and analyse reasons for the failure of Southern Europe’s economies. High time for a pan-European economic policy With the EU decision to put Greece [...]

Vytautas Landsbergis: On tragedies

mr.balticum@live.de (Mr. Balticum) — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 14:28:01 +0000

Excellencies, distinguished priests of One God, colleagues parliamentarians, ladies and gentlemen! Let me share with you some words on tragedies in plural, not only that unique we are commemorating. Haiti disaster caused by the earthquake is an enormous and terrible human tragedy, which does continue until now. The tsunami, which passed over Aceha and other Indonesian areas, caused [...]

I’m in Love with Vilnius

mr.balticum@live.de (Mr. Balticum) — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 21:21:47 +0000

video by Aivaras Averjanovas / Vilnius, Lithuania