As expected, funding for Voice of America and Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty (RFERL) broadcasts to seven Eastern European countries—including the Baltic republics—has been cut from the U.S. federal budget.

In a 65-28 vote Jan. 22, the U.S. Senate approved an omnibus appropriations bill that funds government activities for fiscal year 2004, which actually began in October. The bill was approved by the House of Representatives in December.

President George Bush is expected to sign the bill.

The White House’s fiscal 2004 budget proposal cut funding for broadcasts to Latvia as well as Bulgaria, Croatia, Estonia, Lithuania, Romania and Slovakia. The money saved is to be diverted to new broadcasting initiatives in the Mideast.

RFERL broadcasts to Latvia began in 1975 as part of Radio Liberty. Before merging, Radio Free Europe directed its broadcasts to Eastern European countries behind the Iron Curtain, while Radio Liberty beamed to the Soviet Union, including Latvia.

The final full-format broadcast, prepared by staff in Prague and Rīga, was aired Dec. 31 and featured a look back on the role played by the station during the Cold War as well as after the renewal of independence in Latvia. One portion of the final broadcast was devoted to the weekly “Latgolas bolss” (The Voice of Latgale) program, which was aimed at Latgallian speakers in the Latgale province of eastern Latvia.

Abbreviated Latvian broadcasts have continued into January while the fate of appropriations bill remained undecided.

During the final floor debate over the appropriations bill, only Sen. Richard Durbin (D – Ill.) defended the RFERL and VOA broadcasts to Eastern Europe, calling their loss a “major disappointment.”

“These are new democracies,” Durbin said, according to a transcript published in Congressional Record. “They are still subject to instability. There is still gang and Soviet influence. I refer to the old Soviet gangs that still are alive and well and reborn in the form of syndicate operations. These democracies need the help of Radio Free Europe. I think putting that voice, as well as Radio Liberty, in a broadcast is an important thing to strengthen those democracies. Unfortunately, it was cut.”

Durbin nonetheless voted with the majority in favor of the appropriations package.

Baltic lobbyists in the United States last year argued to save the broadcasts, gaining some support in the Senate. But the appropriations bill agreed to in a conference committee nonetheless dropped the broadcasts.

The RFERL Latvian service’s Web site, www.brivaeiropa.org, also no longer will be updated, according to a statement from Director Pēteris Zvagulis.

With the end of RFERL and VOA broadcasts, only two international broadcasts in Latvian remain. Radio Sweden has daily 15-minute broadcasts, while Vatican Radio offers a 20-minute program.

Latvian director Una Celma’s feature film Handful of Bullets is among movies to be screened during the 4th Baltic Film Festival Jan. 22-24 in Ottawa, Canada, the Canadian Film Institute has announced.

Celma has described the film as “a portrait of people from two different generations whose lives have been damaged by the transition from Communism to the free-market society.” Known in Latvian as Sauja ložu, the film was released in 2002. It stars Kristīne Nevarauska, Jānis Mūrnieks and Harijs Spanovskis.

Handful of Bullets is one of five Baltic films scheduled for the festival, which is hosted by the Canadian Film Institute. Celma’s 90-minute film will be presented at 7 p.m. Jan. 24 in the National Archives Auditorium, 395 Wellington St., Ottawa.

Other films scheduled are three Lithuanian shorts, Flight Over Lithuania, Sunday: The Gospel According to Liftman Albertas and The Last Car, which begin at 7 p.m. Jan. 22 in the National Archives Auditorium. Made in Estonia, a feature film by Estonian director Rando Pettai, is set for 7 p.m. Jan. 23, also in the National Archives Auditorium.

After the Ottawa festival, according to a press release from the Latvian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the films will be shown in Toronto, Vancouver and Winnipeg.

The design for Latvia’s version of the euro will be determined in a competition announced Jan. 21 by the Bank of Latvia, the country’s central bank.

Latvia is set to join the European Union this May. Eventually, the national currency, the lats, will be replaced by the EU’s euro.

While all EU countries use the same banknotes, the eight euro coins differ from country to country, with one common EU side and one national side (the reverse). One euro has 100 cents, with coins available in 1-, 2-, 5-, 10-, 20- and 50-cent, as well as 1- and 2-euro denominations.

The Bank of Latvia’s competition will determine not only the look of Latvia’s euro coins, but also how many different designs will be displayed on the coins. Countries may choose to have one common national design, or up to eight different designs.

Entries are due April 1. A jury will announce the winner by May 21, the bank said in a press release.

Top prize in the competition is LVL 1,000.

Further details about the competition are available from the Bank of Latvia’s Web site.