Russia should issue “a clear and unambiguous statement of admission and condemnation” of the Soviet Union’s occupation of the Baltic states from 1940 to 1991, according to a resolution introduced April 12 in the U.S. House of Representatives.

The resolution, sponsored by Rep. John Shimkus (R-Ill.), is being proposed less than a month before President George W. Bush heads to Moscow to participate in a May 9 celebration marking the end of World War II in Europe. Russia’s Victory Day highlights the nation’s struggle against Nazi Germany.

Soviet troops first annexed Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania in 1940. German forces pushed the Soviets back in 1941, but by the end of the war all three nations were again under Soviet control. Only in August 1991, with the collapse of the Soviet Union, did the Baltic states regain independence.

The California-based Baltic American Freedom League on April 13 issued a “call to action” urging Baltic-Americans to ask their representatives to support the resolution, H. Con. Res. 128.

“The horrors of World War II in Europe did not end with the cessation of hostilities in 1945,” Valdis V. Pavlovskis of BAFL said in the call to action. “The repression of the Baltic people by the Soviet Union continued with increased vigor and enthusiasm. During the occupation, the Soviet Union committed war crimes as brutal and hideous as those of the Nazis.”

After its introduction, the resolution was referred to the House Committee on International Relations. It is cosponsored by eight other Congressmen.

United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan has named Latvian President Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga as one of five envoys charged with promoting his reform agenda in the months before a summit set in September in New York.

Vīķe-Freiberga and the other envoys will promote the secretary-general’s agenda outlined in a report entitled In Larger Freedom: Towards Development, Security and Human Rights for All. The report makes recommendations for changing the U.N. with an eye to meeting a number of goals, including cutting world poverty in half over the next 10 years.

Joining Vīķe-Freiberga as envoys are Dermot Ahern, minister of foreign affairs of Ireland; Ali Alatas, former foreign minister of Indonesia;  Joaquin Chissano, former president of Mozambique, and Ernesto Zedillo, former president of Mexico.

“As Latvia’s head of state, President Vīķe-Freiberga has actively supported the need for UN reform,” the U.N. said in a press release announcing her selection.

A two-week online auction offering airline tickets and hotel stays will aid development of Latvia’s first family shelter, the Wisconsin-based Kids First Fund has announced.

The eBay auction begins April 15 and ends April 28.

The fund has partnered with 11 airlines, three hotel chains and a recreational vehicle company to offer tickets and vacations in locations around the world, including South America, South Africa, Europe, the Caribbean and destinations throughout the United States and Canada.

Participating in the Great Online Auction for Kids are ATA, AirTran Airways, Independence Air, LAN Airlines, jetBlue Airways, Midwest Airlines, Song, South African Airways, Sun Country Airlines, Swiss International Airlines and Virgin Atlantic Airways. In addition, Hilton Hotels, Intercontinental Hotels and Xanterra Parks & Resorts have made accommodations at destinations throughout the United States available for auction, and Cruise America has provided a gift certificate valid at 15 motorhome rental locations in the United States and Canada.  

Airbus North America has donated a scale model of its new A380 aircraft, the largest commercial airliner ever designed. And eBay.com, the auction host, will donate its auction fees to the Kids First Fund.

Proceeds from the auction will go toward the USD 200,000 budget for a family shelter for abused children and their mothers in the Latgale region of eastern Latvia.

Last year, the Kids First Fund raised more than USD 30,000 through an online auction, Jay Sorensen, president of the fund’s board of directors, said in a press release.

The auction will be available at members.ebay.com/aboutme/kidsfirstfund.