ESTONIA/ LITHUANIA/ LATVIA : Outlook Is For Slower Growth...After Torrid Q1.

BLOOMBERG / O.Ummelas, A.Eglitis

   Analysts predict that Estonia and Lithuania will slow from Q1 as capacity constraints limit exports.
    Both delivered rapid growth rates in the last three years after austerity measures improved competitiveness.
    Latvia also showed fast growth.

EUROLAND: Greece Must Adopt Latvia's Extreme Measures To Survive.

BLOOMBERG/   Latvia's central bank chief  Ilmars Rimsevics believes that Greece must make budget cuts similar to those employed by Latvia and Lithuania to weather the current economic crisis. “The Greek situation is similar to Latvia’s in that there is no other choice but to downsize expenditures,” said Rimsevics. "We are very pleased that Latvia is more and more mentioned as a template because a year ago people were thinking we are going to fail. Today, things are more or less out of the woods.”

Moody's Cuts Lithuania's Debt Rating To Baa1.

BLOOMBERG/
Lithuania, suffering the European Union’s deepest recession, had its foreign and local-currency debt ratings cut by Moody’s, which cited “severe pressure” on the budget.
"The ratings were lowered one level to Baa1, the THIRD-LOWEST investment grade. They have a negative outlook, meaning the grades, the same level as Hungary’s, Russia’s or Thailand’s, are more likely to be lowered than raised or kept unchanged."

Lithuania Seeks US Reassurance After Missile Shield Decision.

BLOOMBERG/
Lithuania,the largest of the three Baltic states to break free from the Soviet Union and join NATO after the Cold War, views the end of missile shield proposal with alarm.
“The United States administration should know that in central Europe, the feelings are very simple, we are waiting for some kind of reassurance,” said Prime Minister Andrius Kubilius.

"The Baltic Way" Celebrated 3 Nation's Desires For Freedom.

GLOBALPOST.COM.
The 20th anniversary of the "Baltic Way" is being celebrated, a 1989 event that signaled Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia's deep desire to exit the Soviet Union.
On Aug. 23, 1989, more than two million people joined hands along 375 miles of a highway linking the Baltic capitals of Vilnius, Riga and Tallinn.
Within a year and a half, all three countries had declared their independence.

Lithuania Seeks Better Relations With Russia.

KYIVPOST.COM.

Lithuania's new president Dalia Grybauskaite called Russian President Dmitry Medvedev last week, the first official contact between heads of the two states in eight years.

"Since 2001 there have been no contacts. This is not normal between neighbouring countries. It is in the interest of the two to have constructive relations," she said.

Lithuanian Economy Plunged 22.4 % in Second Quarter!

From Bloomberg.

Lithuania is suffering from its worst recession since 1990 with the deepest decline in the EU.

"“Nobody has expected that GDP will be disappearing at this rate,” said Zsolt Papp, an economist at KBC Groep NV in London. “This will bring up the question of devaluation again in the entire region. The Baltic countries will have to seriously look at their currency regimes.”"