Latvian Foreign Minister Indulis Bērziņš has thanked the American Jewish Committee for its support of expanding the NATO defense alliance.

Bērziņš, according to an Aug. 20 foreign ministry press release, sent a letter to the Washington, D.C.-based organization in response to the committee’s July 30 announcement urging expansion.

Bērziņš’ letter came a day after a Riga-based group, the Jewish Survivors of Latvia, said it sent a letter to President George Bush and members of the U.S. Senate urging that Latvia not be allowed into NATO, according to Latvian media reports.

Although the American Jewish Committee supports Latvia’s and other nations’ efforts to join NATO, the committee also said the countries should “redouble their efforts in the months ahead to complete the still open process of restituting Jewish communal property and preserving Holocaust memory and its integrity.”

Paulis Lazda, a professor of history and founder of the Occupation Museum of Latvia, has been honored with the Excellence in Service Award by the University of Wisconsin – Eau Claire. Lazda joined the faculty in 1967, the university said in a press release.

In 1991, he established the university’s study abroad program in Latvia. Two years later, he helped set up a scholarship to bring students from Latvia to the university.

And in 1994, he began the annual Symposium on East Europe, which brings members of the university community in contact with internationally recognized experts on the region.

Lazda was honored with the Order of Three Stars, Latvia’s highest civilian honor, in 2000.

Latvian citizens living abroad have until Sept. 7 to submit documents that would allow them to vote by mail in the upcoming parliamentary elections, according to Central Elections Commission in Rīga.

Instructions posted on the commission’s Web site affect Latvians who are temporarily living abroad as well as thousands of Latvians who hold dual citizenship.

According to the instructions, voters abroad may either show up in person at a designated polling place on Oct. 5 or cast their ballots by mail. To vote by mail, voters must submit a written request to the nearest election district office along with their Latvian passport or registration issued by the Latvian Department of Citizenship and Migration Affairs.

A total of 35 election district offices have been established abroad, according to the commission, including two in the United States, two in Canada, two in Australia and one in Great Britain. The elections commission provides a full listing online.