In a little-publicized appointment, the Latvian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has created a new diplomatic post to work with Latvian diaspora communities. Juris Audariņš, who was serving as the consul general in St. Petersburg, Russia, was named to the post Oct. 6.

Still without an office or a staff, Audariņš told Latvians Online on Oct. 22 by telephone from Rīga that his responsibility will be to work on political questions related to the diaspora, as well as to work with the diaspora to promote issues of importance to Latvia.

He began working in the foreign ministry in 1992, Audariņš said.

Foreign Minister Artis Pabriks told the World Federation of Free Latvians about the appointment during the organization’s annual meeting in Rīga earlier this month, according to the LETA news service. The announcement came a day after the Cabinet of Ministers on Oct. 5 approved a new program to support cultural maintenance of and repatriation from the diaspora.

The practical work of the diaspora support program will be coordinated through the Secretariat of the Minister for Special Asignments for Society Integration Affairs, Audariņš said. But his work will focus on political questions, he said.

Without a doubt, Audariņš explained, Latvians in the diaspora helped earn their homeland’s membership in the European Union and in the NATO defense alliance. Now, for example, they could continue working on the political front by helping to explain Latvia’s situation today.

Given his experience in St. Petersburg, Audariņš said, he expects one area of interest for him would be working with Latvians in Russia.

The appointment of a diplomat to the diaspora has drawn criticism from at least one corner. Writing in the Russian-language daily Vesti Segodnya, according to a translation posted on the Dialogi.lv Web site, one commentator questioned the wisdom of shifting Audariņš’ responsibility from a city of several million to serve the interests of a couple of hundred thousand Latvians abroad.

Audariņš said he will be glad to hear from Latvians abroad about how the foreign ministry can work with them.

Latvia is still seen as the most corrupt of the three Baltic states, while its relative position in a ranking of 146 nations remains unchanged, the Berlin-based Transparency International said in an annual report released Oct. 20.

Latvia placed 57th in the latest Corruption Perception Index survey, equal with Slovakia. However, its score on Transparency International’s 10-point scale improved to 4.0 from last year’s 3.8.

Latvia also is perceived as the second-most corrupt of the 10 new European Union nations, said Delna, the Latvian anti-corruption organization affiliated with Transparency International. Only Poland is seen as more corrupt.

The Corruption Perception Index is based on polls of business people, academics and country analysts. This year it measured how experts view the level of corruption in 146 nations.

Lithuania ranked 44th, alongside Kuwait and South Africa, a drop of three spots from last year’s ranking of 41st. It is the second year in a row that Lithuania fell in the ranking. Its score also slipped to 4.6 from last year’s 4.7.

Estonia climbed to 31st, equal with Botswana and Slovenia, after falling to 33rd last year. Estonia’s score improved to 6.0 after dropping to 5.5 last year.

Finland once again was perceived as least corrupt, scoring 9 on the 10-point scale. Bangladesh continues to be seen as one of the two most corrupt,  joined in last place this year by Haiti. The United States ranked 17th and Russia ranked 90th.

Larisa Mondrusa, a popular singer who left Latvia during the 1970s to live in exile in West Germany, will return for a 15-city tour of Latvia beginning Oct. 29 in Cēsis, Baltic Records Group has announced.

BRG in December 2003 released Kā senās dienās, a collection of Mondrusa’s most popular songs. Mondrusa at that time returned to Latvia to perform a number of concerts in Rīga and Jūrmala, the recording company said in a press release.

Two albums of her old hits in Russian were released in 2002 and 2003 in Moscow. The singer now is at work on more albums.

Mondrusa became popular as a jazz and schlager singer in the late 1960s and early 1970s in Soviet-occupied Latvia and in Moscow, according to her official Web site. But the lack of “patriotic” material in her songs caused her to fall from grace and Mondrusa decided to emigrate in 1973. In Germany she became popular using the stage name Larissa.

The concert in Cēsis is scheduled at 19.00 hours Oct. 29 in the city’s cultural center.

More information about Mondrusa is available on her Web site, www.mondrus.info.