Latvia’s efforts to protect the victims of human trafficking have taken a slight step back during the past year, according to a U.S. State Department report issued June 14. However, prosecution of traffickers and prevention of trafficking appear to be on course.

Lack of funding is in part to blame for Latvia’s slide in protecting victims, the State Department said in its annual “Trafficking in Persons Report,” which examines how women and children worldwide are exploited for sex and forced labor. Two shelters run by the Latvian government in Rīga and Jelgava were closed in the past year.

“The government funds no rehabilitation facilities specifically for trafficking victims, nor does it provide direct funding to foreign or domestic NGOs (non-governmental organizations) for services to victims,” the report said. At the same time, NGOs are being asked to do more.

The report examines what 140 countries are doing to meet the standards outlined in the Trafficking Victims Protection Act, a law passed in 2000 by the U.S. Congress. Latvia for the past three years has been listed as a Tier 2 country, meaning that it among those nations that do not fully comply with the minimum standards “but are making significant efforts to bring themselves into compliance with those standards,” according to the report.

Women and children from Latvia are trafficked for sexual exploitation to Finland, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Israel, Poland, Spain and the United Kingdom, the report said. Israeli, Polish and Ukrainian organized crime groups control the main trafficking networks in concert with domestic Latvian crime groups. In addition, the report said, women and girls from rural Latvia are trafficked domestically for exploitation in the capital city of Rīga.

Although Latvia is criticized in the report, the State Department also notes the country is making an effort to improve. A national action plan to combat trafficking in persons was approved by the Cabinet of Ministers in March, while prosecution of traffickers has increased slightly. To raise awareness, more than 10,000 high school students across Latvia were shown the Swedish anti-trafficking film Lilya 4-Ever. The film tells the story of a young woman from Russia who travels to Sweden in the hope of a better future, but instead is forced into prostitution.

Estonia fared slightly worse in the report, landing on the Tier 2 Watch List because of slow efforts in protecting victims and preventing trafficking. Lithuania remained ahead of both its Baltic neighbors on the Tier 1 list, fully complying with the minimum standards of the U.S. law.

Rīga remains one of the Top 50 most expensive cities in the world, according to a survey released June 13, but it’s not as costly as a year ago. The capital of Latvia ranks 48th in Mercer Human Resource Consulting’s 2004 survey, down from its ranking of 27 last year.

Using New York as the base, the London-based consultancy performed a March 2004 to determine a cost of living index for 144 cities around the world. The survey takes into account cost of housing, food, clothing and household goods as well as transportation and entertainment, according to a press release.

The most expensive city in the world, according to the survey, is Tokyo. London is the second-most expensive, while Moscow is No. 3. New York is 12th.

Just ahead of Rīga in the survey is Dakar, Senegal, while just behind is Prague, Czech Republic.

With the victory of opposition parties in Latvia’s first European Parliament election, political observers are saying the coalition government of Prime Minister Indulis Emsis may face its most serious challenge in its three-month existence.

As predicted by two exit polls, the conservative Tēvzemei un Brīvībai/LNNK (For Fatherland and Freedom/LNNK) received the greatest number of votes in the June 12 election. In all, TB/LNNK got 29.82 percent of the total 574,674 ballots cast, according to official results announced by the Central Elections Commission in Rīga.

That means TB/LNNK will get to fill four of the nine seats Latvia has in the European Parliament.

Coming in second, with 19.68 percent of the vote, was the conservative Jaunais laiks (New Era), earning it two seats.

The leftist Par cilvēka tiesībām vienotā Latvijā (For Human Rights in United Latvia) got 10.71 percent of the vote, the conservative Tautas partija (People’s Party) earned 6.65 percent and the liberal Latvijas ceļš (Latvia’s Way) got 6.52 percent. Each party gets one seat in the Europarliament.

The remaining 11 parties in the election failed to get more than five percent of the vote and thus get no seats in the parliament.

Both TB/LNNK and Jaunais laiks are in the opposition the Saeima, Latvia’s domestic parliament. Three parties make up the coalition government: Zaļo un zemnieku savienība (Greens and Farmers Union), Latvijas Pirmā partija (First Party of Latvia) and Tautas partija.

Some political observers, according to Latvian media reports, view the election results as symbolic and say that the Emsis government’s days may be numbered. But the Green and Farmers Union and others say the results should not be interpreted as a referendum on domestic politics.

Nonetheless, this is just the latest in several recent challenges to the government.