Some 700,000 Russian-speakers in Latvia have failed to pass citizenship requirements and remain stateless. Moscow accuses Latvia of trying to disenfranchise its Russian minority, and it recently threaten Latvia with economic sanctions over the issue. All three Baltic states are hoping to win an invitation to join the NATO alliance in 1999, when NATO again takes up the issue of further expanding the alliance at a summit in Washington. But most observers say NATO is unlikely to extend invitations to the Baltics next year. Baltic armies still fall well short of NATO standards, and their cash-strapped governments say they can't find the money to properly upgrade their militaries.
Russian objections are also likely to seriously complicate the Baltic bid for membership.
During a visit to Vilnius just a few days before Solana's arrival, Russian Foreign Minister Yevgeny Primakov repeated Kremlin opposition to Baltic membership, telling a news conference that Russia strongly disagreed with Lithuania over the NATO issue. But Latvian Foreign Minister Valdis Birkavs told journalists just prior to Solana's visit that Latvians had to be realistic. The NATO Secretary-General started his swing through the Baltic states Wednesday in Lithuania, traveling to Latvia on Thursday and to Estonia on Friday. Many analysts in Estonia welcomed the new figure, saying they hoped it meant the current account deficit would now continue to contract. So the 11 percent figure is definitely a move in the right direction.