An Estonian soldier was killed Feb. 28 by an improvised explosive device manufactured by unknown rebels, a government spokesperson in Tallinn said. He was the first Baltic soldier to die in Iraq.

“This is an extremely painful reminder that the situation in Iraq has not yet stabilized and that joint efforts for peace by the coalition forces are well founded,” Estonian Prime Minister Juhan Parts said in a prepared statement.

The 21-year-old soldier, Junior Sgt. Andres Nuiamäe, was assigned to the ESTPLA-8 unit in Baghdad, according to the Estonian Ministry of Defence.

Latvia has 120 soldiers serving with coalition forces in Iraq, according to the Latvian Ministry of Defence.

“Dziesma par laimi,” a song written by Guntars Račs and performed by the duo Fomins & Kleins, will represent Latvia in the Eurovision Song Contest in Turkey.

The duo won the national runup, Eirodziesma 2004, in telephone balloting during the nationally televized event held in Ventspils. They will now compete May 12 in the Eurovision qualifying round in Istanbul. If they are successful, they will advance to the May 15 final.

Fomins & Kleins were one of 10 acts performing in the national contest in Ventspils (three additional songs were held in reserve). They received a total of 41,297 votes, according to the Eirodziesma 2004 Web site.

Their song was the only one sung in Latvian. All the rest were in English.

Last year, Fomins & Kleins came in second with their song, “Muzikants,” also the only one performed in Latvian.

Second place this year went to the father and daughter act, Johnny Salamander and Meldra, who received 37,839 votes for their song, “We Share the Sun.” Third place, with 18,879 votes, went to Tatjana Timčuka for “Like a Star.”

A recently renewed Russian government accusation that Latvia is trying to revise its history of war crimes has ruffled some Latvian-Americans.

Latvia has been following a “policy of rehabilitation and celebration of war criminals,” according to a press release posted earlier this week on the Web site of the Russian Federation’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations in New York. A similar accusation is leveled against Estonia.

The accusation, argue some Latvian-Americans in e-mails received by Latvians Online, is part of a “smear campaign” by the Russian mission.

Not so, said Alexander Ilchenko of the Russian mission’s press office. The press releases, which originally were issued Feb. 13 by the Russian Foreign Ministry, were meant to draw attention to attempts to revise wartime history in Latvia and Estonia.

The timing of the releases was not meant to coincide with any upcoming event, Ilchenko told Latvians Online.

However, Latvia and Estonia both are scheduled in May to join the NATO defense alliance and the European Union. The Russian government has raised concerns about the two nations’ membership in both organizations.

Also, an exhibition by the Occupation Museum that illustrates what happened under the Nazi and Soviet takeovers of Latvia is scheduled for a two-week run in the United Nations beginning March 25.

The press release about Latvia discusses, among other points, the rise of pro-fascist organizations in Latvia before and during World War II, as well as the executions of Jews and Soviet citizens carried out by the Arajs Command during the war. The release further claims Latvia is attempting to rehabilitate the memory of those who served with German troops during the war.

Gints Jegermanis, Latvia’s ambassador to the United Nations, declined comment on the Russian press release except to say that its contents no doubt will be discussed during consultations between officials of the Latvian and Russian foreign ministries scheduled Feb. 27 in Rīga.