A 33-year-old man from Latvia is being held in the stabbing death of another Latvian, according to Irish media reports.

The man, identified as Sergy Strautinsh, is to appear Dec. 30 in Dublin District Court. He is charged with assaulting Alexander Timofeyev in the North Dublin home they apparently shared.

Timofeyev died of his wounds Dec. 21 after being taken to Mater Hospital, according to The Irish Examiner newspaper.

Another Eastern European man involved in the incident—apparently a disagreement about rent payments—was taken to the hospital with a head injury.

Strautinsh first appeared in court on Dec. 23, according to Radio Telefis Eireann. An interpreter is to be appointed to help him and he is to receive free legal aid, the court said.

As the festive mood fades following last week’s historic NATO summit meeting in Prague, politicians and military leaders in Latvia are getting to work preparing the country for eventual admission to the defense alliance.

NATO (the North Atlantic Treaty Organization) last week extended invitations to seven nations to begin accession talks with the defense alliance. Invited were Latvia as well as Bulgaria, Estonia, Lithuania, Romanis, Slovakia and Slovenia.

While the event was laden with symbolism—as if seven more nails were driven into the coffin of communism—NATO Secretary General Lord George Robertson on Nov. 21 underlined the “heavy responsibilities” the candidate nations are taking on. Meanwhile, U.S. President George Bush traveled Nov. 22 from Prague to St. Petersburg to reassure President Vladimir Putin that the West is not out to bury Russia. And then Bush jetted to Vilnius, where on Nov. 23 he was greeted by an enthusiastic Lithuanian crowd chanting, “Ačiu! Ačiu!” (Thank you! Thank you!), according to news reports.

The candidates now have to pass NATO muster for military readiness. In addition, they will have to navigate diplomatic dances to get NATO member states’ legislatures to approve of the expansion—including convincing the U.S. Senate, a job that Baltic lobbyists in America are not considering a fait accompli.

The Prague summit also saw President Bush push NATO members for assurances about their willingness to participate in a possible attack on Iraq should United Nations-sponsored weapons inspections fail to disarm the country of its weapons of mass destruction. NATO members also debated a greater role for the defense alliance that goes beyond merely stepping in should one of its members be attacked. Instead, NATO may see itself involved in the wider “war on terrorism” in areas beyond Europe.

Baltic leaders, lobbyists react

Political leaders in the Baltic countries and lobbyists in the United States reacted favorably to the invitation.

Although the invitation was expected, it nonetheless marked a culmination of several years’ effort. At one point, it appeared only Lithuania might get invited in a first wave of NATO expansion. And looming over all three Baltic countries, but especially over Latvia, has been continued Russian antipathy to enlarging the defense alliance into territory that once was claimed by the Soviet Union.

Latvian President Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga, in a statement released by her press office, said the invitation is an historic and joyful event for the nation. “Nothing will ever be the same for Latvia,” she said. NATO membership will offer Latvia security, Vīķe-Freiberga said, but it will also require the nation to work hard to meet NATO standards.

Valdis Pavlovskis, president of the California-based Baltic-American Freedom League, noted in a widely circulated e-mail that “our work is not yet done.” He called on Baltic Americans to thank those politicans who helped push for the NATO invitation.

Implicit in his note is the message that U.S. senators will have to be convinced to vote in favor of NATO expansion. Although Congress has expressed its support for NATO enlargement, actions such as the Oct. 7 adoption of two pro-expansion resolutions have been seen as mostly symbolic.

Latvia’s role in NATO

If accession negotiations are successful, Latvia could become a member of NATO in 2004.

But with a total of only 5,400 personnel on active duty (plus about 14,000 part-time members of the National Guard), according to the Ministry of Defense statistics, what can a small military like Latvia’s offer to NATO?

The answer, in one word, may be specialization. Writing in Time magazine’s Europe edition, James Geary noted that the Baltics’ strategic importance to NATO is BaltNet, a USD 100 million radar system financed by Norway and the United States that is able to peak into Russia’s Kaliningrad enclave.

Latvia’s specific contribution may be in the art of defusing or detonating bombs, according to Roger Boyes, a reporter for The Times of London. In a visit to the Ādaži training ground, Boyes learned that more than 50,000 shells have been exploded there since 1993. Latvian troops are expected to travel to the former Yugoslavia on a bomb-clearing mission.

The youth chamber choir Balsis, one of Latvia’s leading choirs, begins a U.S. tour Nov. 14 that will see it perform concerts in a series of East Coast and Midwest locations.

Founded in 1987 and made up of students from several colleges and universities in Rīga, the choir has so far won recognition in nine international choir competitions. The choir’s repertoire ranges from early choral masterpieces to works by modern composers, according to the group’s promotional literature.

Conductors are Agita Ikauniece and Ints Teterovksis.

Besides its critically acclaimed live appearances, the choir also has recorded six albums, including two compact discs.

The choir’s tour begins Nov. 14 with a noon concert at the Federal Reserve Bank in Boston. Organizers and sponsors of the tour include the New York Latvian Concert Choir.

Other concerts are scheduled:

• Nov. 15 at 8 p.m. in Hancock Congregational Church, Lexington, Mass.
• Nov. 16 at 2 p.m. in the New York Latvian Ev.-Lutheran Church, 254 Valentine Lane, Yonkers, N.Y.
• Nov. 17 during the 10 a.m. church service in the Latvian community center and church, 400 Hurley Ave., Rockville, Md. That appearance is followed by a 12:15 p.m. concert, also in the Rockville center, and a 3:30 p.m. concert in Washington National Cathedralat Massachusetts and Wisconsin avenues in Washington D.C.
• Nov. 18 at 12:30 p.m. during an Latvian Independence Day diplomatic reception at the University Club, 1135 16th St. N.W., Washington, D.C.
• Nov. 19 at 7 p.m. in the Latvian community center, 1385 Andrews Ave., Lakewood, Ohio.
• Nov. 20 at 12:10 p.m. in Trinity Cathedral, 2021 East 22nd St., Cleveland, Ohio. Later that same day, a concert is set at 7 p.m. in St.Paul’s Lutheran Church, 322 Stewart Ave., Columbus, Ohio.
• Nov. 21 at 7 p.m. in St. Luke Lutheran Church, 4205 Washtenaw Ave., Ann Arbor, Mich.
• Nov. 22 at 7 p.m. in Messiah Lutheran Church, 2727 Five Mile Road, Grand Rapids, Mich.
• Nov. 23 at 7 p.m. in the Zion Latvian Ev.-Lutheran Church, 6555 W. Montrose Ave., Chicago.
• Nov. 24 at 2:30 p.m. in the high school gymnasium in Jackson, Wisc., and at 7 p.m. in St.John’s Lutheran Church, 20851 W. Main St., Lannon, Wis.
• Nov. 25 at 7:30 p.m. in the Lutheran Prepatory School, 1300 Western Ave., Watertown, Wis.
• Nov. 26 at 7 p.m. in the Zion Ev.-Lutheran Church, 3340 Nebraska Ave., Toledo, Ohio.

After its U.S. tour, Balsis returns to Latvia to ready for a Dec. 25 Christmas Concert in Rīga. For further information about the choir, visit the choir’s Web site.