AFP: Baltic states to get US visa waiver on November 17

Speaking in the Latvian capital Riga, US Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff said the three Baltic states would join Washington's visa waiver programme on the same day as a handful of other countries, the majority from the ex-communist bloc. The countries will be on equal footing with western Europe," Chertoff told reporters. Later Wednesday, Chertoff visited neighbouring Estonia.

There, Foreign Minister Urmas Paet told AFP that the visa waiver would "certainly strengthen ties" between Tallinn and Washington and was a "sure indication of our good, tight relations and cooperation." Chertoff was scheduled to travel to Lithuania Thursday. US President George W. Bush earlier this month announced that visa waivers would be granted to citizens of the Baltic states, as well as the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary, which were Soviet satellites but not formally under Moscow's control, plus South Korea.

The Baltic states were taken over by the Soviet Union during World War II and broke free from the crumbling bloc in 1991. They rapidly became staunch allies of Washington, contributing troops to the US-led coalitions in Iraq and Afghanistan, and joining NATO in 2004, the same year they entered the European Union.

Many eastern European citizens of the EU have felt on an unequal footing with their western European counterparts who can travel to the United States without visas, seeing it as a remnant of the Cold War. The visa waiver issue caused friction between the United States and the EU. Washington had struck bilateral pacts with the ex-communist newcomers who had grown frustrated at Brussels' lack of progress in negotiating a blanket accord for all 27 EU member states.

The Baltic states and the other countries admitted to the visa waiver programme agreed to share information about security threats to the United States, and that their citizens will also have to use a new system that requires travellers to register online ahead of their visits.

Would-be visitors will also need a biometric passport, which many of them do not currently have. Only 121,000 of Estonia's one million citizens hold one, for example. One of Brussels' concerns was that countries concluding such bilateral agreements with Washington would surrender far more information about their citizens than allowed under EU rules.

Six EU nations still lie outside the US scheme: Bulgaria, Cyprus, Greece, Malta, Poland and Romania. The European Commission, the EU's executive body, has threatened to take retaliatory measures against the United States from January over Washington's failure to extend visa-free travel to all EU members.

Source http://afp.google.com/article/aleqm5gcsuxdhy_tj4jkzfkxx0tjpm~

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Baltic markets still shaky, but investors starting to return

The NASDAQ OMX Tallinn exchange in Estonia suffered the biggest hit of the day, down 4.67 per cent. The Vilnius exchange in Lithuania was down 1.73 per cent. Meanwhile, Riga dipped just 0.75 per cent, despite the suffering of three of the larger listed Latvian companies.

Drinks maker Latvijas Balzams, steel producer Liepajas Metalurgs and pharmaceuticals manufacturer Rigas Farmaceitiska Fabrika all suffered double-digit falls in their share prices. The Baltic Benchmark Index (BBI), which includes data from all three exchanges, closed down 3.88 per cent, at 299.17, repeating a similar fall from the day before.

It is the first time the BBI has dipped below the 300 mark since February 2004. Indars Ascuks, head of development at NASDAQ OMX Baltic markets told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa: "Crossing the 300-point mark today does not have a strong psychological effect because investors in the Baltics have witnessed high volatility and price fluctuations for a year already." Ascuks added that, although trading activity has decreased in recent months, there are some signs that turnover is starting to rise again.

Some financial institutions report that they see investors returning," Ascuks said.

Source http://topnews.in/baltic-markets-still-shaky-investors-start~

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President: Estonia quite untouched by financial crisis

So far Estonia has been quite untouched by financial crisis and that is mainly due Estonian banking's integration with Nordic financial sector, President Toomas Hendrik Ilves said at the meeting with German President Horst Köhler, postimees.ee writes.

“Estonian economy’s adaption began a year before financial crisis reached Europe, but next couple of years will be certainly complicated in economic policy means for Estonia,” Ilves said.

Presidents said it must be and it is in EU’s interest to restore the trust of banks and citizens, also general balance on world’s financial markets.

“In world’s extension there are currently at least two problems – in addition to stabilising financial markets it’s necessary to avoid financial problems’ escalation into general economic crisis,” Ilves noted.

He added that it needs coordinated activities both, in EU and larger international scale.

Source http://balticbusinessnews.com/default2.aspx

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