Next year’s Eurovision Song Contest will be held in Greece after performer Helena Paparizou won first place in the 50th anniversary contest. Latvia’s young male duo Valters un Kaža (Valters Frīdenbergs and Kārlis Būmeisters) managed a respectable showing, placing fifth overall.

The annual contest, which showcases popular songwriting and performances from across Europe, was held this year in Kiev, Ukraine.

A total of 24 countries were represented in the May 21 finals, but voting took place in a total of 39 nations, including Turkey and Israel. Greece earned 230 points, followed by Malta with 192, Romania with 158, Israel with 154 and Latvia with 153.

Valters un Kaža performed the song “The War Is Not Over,” penned by Mārtiņš Freimanis, lead singer of the group Tumsa. As country-by-country results were announced from Kiev, Latvia at one point even found itself in first place.

Paparizou, born to Greek parents, grew up in Sweden. She previously represented Greece in the 2001 song contest as a member of the group Antique, which won third place that year.

Latvia’s Marija Naumova won the contest in 2002, which led to Rīga hosting the competition in 2003.

The U.S. Senate has adopted a resolution calling on Russia to issue “a clear and unambiguous statement” admitting and condemning the Soviet Union’s 50-year occupation of the Baltic countries.

The resolution was introduced May 19 by Sen. Gordon H. Smith (R-Ore.) and adopted the same day by unanimous consent. It replaced a similar resolution, introduced by Smith one week earlier, that had been referred to the Senate’s Committee on Foreign Relations.

Smith is co-chair of the Senate’s Baltic Freedom Caucus. The resolution was co-sponsored by Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and Sen. Richard Durbin (D-Ill.), who is the other Baltic caucus co-chair.

A version of the resolution was introduced in the House of Representatives on April 12, but has seen no action since it was referred to the Committee on International Relations.

The Senate resolution notes that the Russian government has not acknowledged the illegal annexation and occupation of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Doing so, the resolution suggests, would improve relations between the Baltics and Russia and would “strengthen stability in the region.”

The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has denied that the Soviet Union occupied the Baltic countries, arguing that a state of war did not exist between the U.S.S.R. and the Baltics and that Soviet troops were invited into Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania in 1940.

The Senate on May 19 also adopted a resolution, sponsored by Durbin, that expresses its continued support for construction of a Victims of Communism Memorial in Washington, D.C. Construction of the memorial is expected to begin this fall. The memorial could be dedicated in late summer or early fall of 2006, according to the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation.

The American Latvian Association has elected a new chairperson and has voiced its support of a resolution proposed in Congress asking Russia to acknowledge the Soviet occupation of the Baltic states.

During its annual meeting May 13-15 in Kalamazoo, Mich., the ALA elected Mārtiņš Duhms as its new chairperson, replacing Dace Copeland, who had decided not to seek another term.

Duhms, 58, was born in a Displaced Persons camp in Germany and immigrated with his parents to Boston, Mass. He holds a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from Tufts University and a master’s degree in business management from Harvard University. Duhms helped found two companies, leading one for 14 years as its president.

According to his biography, Duhms retired 10 years ago. In 1999, he and his wife visited Latvia as part of the ALA-organized “Sveika, dzimtene” tour, after which he vowed to renew his involvement in the Latvian-American community. For the past four years, he led ALA’s fundraising office. Two years ago, he also took over the membership office.

Duhms told ALA delegates that among the association’s goals should be its self-preservation. The association should assure its financial stability and boost its membership by appealing to recent immigrants from Latvia as well as those Latvian-Americans who no longer speak Latvian but still have an interest in their ancestry.

Delegates to the ALA congress also voiced their support for the congressional resolution, H.Cons.Res. 128, introduced April 12 in the House of Representatives by Rep. John Shimkus (R-Ill.). Although the resolution has seen no action since being referred to the House Committee on International Relations, it now has 19 co-sponsors.

The resolution calls on Russia to “issue a clear and unambiguous statement of admission and condemnation of the illegal occupation and annexation by the Soviet Union from 1940 to 1991 of the Baltic countries of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania.”

A similar resolution was introduced May 12 in the U.S. Senate by Sen. Gordon H. Smith (R-Ore.). That resolution has been referred to the Senate’s Committee on Foreign Relations.

During the ALA congress, delegates also approved a 2005 budget of USD 747,800.

The ALA has 5,637 members, according to an association press release. A total of 86 delegates participated in the congress, representing 47 different Latvian-American societies, congregations and other organizations, as well as individual members.