Jun 30, 2008 - Hackers Post Soviet Symbols on Lithuanian Sites
May 2, 2008 - Estonia, Lithuania hold energy-security talks
Apr 30, 2008 - Lithuania's president urges Baltic unity in relations with Russia
Apr 27, 2008 - A year on, jury out on economic harm of Estonia's row with Russia
Apr 24, 2008 - Latvian Leader Talks Country’s Future
Feb 26, 2008 - Estonia's President Sounds the Alarm
Feb 7, 2008 - Get Riga, Tallinn and Vilnius on the Monopoly game map!
Feb 6, 2008 - Saakashvili: Estonia is the most successful model for a transition society
Jan 16, 2008 - President Bush's Statement on the 10th Anniversary of the US-Baltic Charter
Jan 16, 2008 - The Baltic Model. By MARIS RIEKSTINS and RONALD ASMUS
The U.S.-Baltic Foundation's Programs
U.S.-Baltic Resume - download The U.S.-Baltic Foundation's resume.
A Record of Accomplishment
The U.S.- Baltic Foundation (USBF) was founded in 1990, prior to Baltic independence, to support democratic and free market reforms in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Under challenging circumstances and with a modest budget, USBF has leveraged individual contributions into more than $8 million and established 11 local democratic institutions in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.
USBF's professional educational and training programs have improved and strengthened local public administration, independent media and NGO development. USBF managed the $2.9 million USAID-funded Democracy Network Program - which later served as the model for the $15 million Baltic American Partnership Fund. The Foundation established Municipal Training Centers, Schools of Public Administration and Independent Media Centers in all three countries, which continue to train the next generation of Baltic leaders. Thousands of future Baltic leaders have participated in and benefited from the USBF programs described in this resumé.
The Pew Charitable Trusts selected USBF as one of four "Pew All-Stars" in all of Central and East Europe in 1997. Pew awarded multiple grants to USBF totaling nearly $1,000,000 for public administration education programs. Other private foundations, including the Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation and the National Endowment for Democracy, have provided over $250,000 for USBF programs.
USBF has organized 12 events with Baltic Presidents and Prime Ministers in Washington and New York, and dozens of special programs with business and government leaders in cities across the U.S. and the Baltics.
USBF helped introduce millions of Americans to Baltic history and culture by assisting in the 3-year production of the public television documentary "One World: The Baltic States" hosted by Charles Osgood. USBF organized the American broadcast premiere event - attended by all three Baltic Presidents - at the Newseum and organized Baltic broadcast debut receptions at each U.S. Embassy in 1998.
The Foundation sponsored the first-ever tour of Baltic art in the United States in 2000. USBF organized exhibitions at New York's National Arts Club, the International Monetary Fund in Washington, DC, and prominent venues in Houston, Los Angeles, and Chicago.
USBF hosted a special event in the U.S. Capitol with Latvian President Vaira Vike-Freiberga, Representative John Shimkus and the family of late Representative Gerald Solomon, which was attended by 12 U.S. Senators and Members of Congress, including Senators Richard Durbin, Daniel Inouye and Paul Sarbanes, and Representatives Doug Bereuter, Porter Goss, Dennis Kucinich, Tom Lantos and Connie Morella, in 2002.
USBF has successfully leveraged its resources into the following program areas:
Democracy Network Program:
$2,900,000 from USAID/$400,000 from USBF In-Kind Contributions
In the fall of 1995, USBF initiated this U.S. Agency for International Development-funded three-year program to strengthen nonprofit organizations (also called non governmental organizations or "NGOs") in the Baltic States. The program targeted NGOs working in the fields of democracy, free markets, environment and social safety nets, especially groups with a public policy advocacy mission. The program included professional training, full-time technical assistance specialists and direct grants to NGOs. By September 1998, USBF had awarded more than $1,100,000 in grants to more than 100 organizations throughout the Baltics. Hundreds of USBF donors and nearly a dozen full-time American volunteers -- who spent up to nine months at a time in the Baltics - contributed to the success of this program.
In 1997, USBF selected twenty NGOs in Latvia and Lithuania (Estonia graduated from the U.S. assistance program in 1996) as the focus of additional grant support and intensive on-going professional training. With the objective of developing a cadre of well-managed, professional organizations capable of leading the sector and setting public policy, the Foundation engaged local and national government officials (including Lithuanian Prime Minister Vagnorius) and private sector leaders to promote the value of a strong NGO sector.
In 1998, President Clinton signed the U.S.- Baltic Charter in the White House and, in a ceremony with the three Baltic Presidents, announced the establishment of the $15 million Baltic American Partnership Fund to continue the work of this program through a new partnership with the Soros Foundations. At that time, USBF won a new $300,000 grant to transition USBF's local offices into fully independent national NGO's in each country.
USBF organized and sponsored the first-ever tour of Baltic art in the U.S called "Baltic Art: Contemporary Paintings and Sculptures" in 2000. The exhibition debuted at New York's National Arts Club, with special guest U.S. Ambassador to Estonia Melissa Wells, and presented more than 70 contemporary paintings and sculptures from the Baltics. The exhibition provided hundreds of viewers their first glimpse of Baltic art's irrepressible expression before and after regaining independence. USBF organized the exhibition at the International Monetary Fund headquarters in Washington, DC, and prominent venues in Houston, Los Angeles, and Chicago. Funding: USBF Board member Hamid Ladjevardi, USBF Board member William Altman, Baltic Transit Bank (Latvia) Audrey Gruss/Gruss Foundation, Ahmad Ladjevardi and Family, Marriott International Inc., Unibank (Latvia), Alexander Zagereos and individual USBF donors
Juri Arrak Mythological Coposition, 1999
Miervaldis Polis The Woman from Kurzeme and a Falcon, 1997
Bronius Grazys The Islands, 1999
Sponsored "Art of the Baltics: The Struggle for Freedom of Artistic Expression Under the Soviets, 1945-91" exhibition and permanent collection at the Zimmerli Art Museum at Rutgers State University in December 2001. Funding: USBF Board member Hamid Ladjevardi
Economic Development (chronological order)
- Planned and conducted First USBF Trade and Investment Mission to the Baltic States, October, 1993, with 12 U.S. business leaders.
- Organized "Good Design is Good Business", exhibit by award winning U.S. manufacturers in Riga, Latvia in Spring 1993, and Vilnius, Lithuania in Fall 1993
- Conducted the Second USBF Baltic Trade and Investment Mission in May 1994.
- Organized "The future of U.S. private sector support for the Baltic States" seminar, October 1991, with the Hudson Institute International Baltic Economic Commission and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
- Citibank Investors Forum in September 1996, New York, with Directors of the three Baltics Privatization Agencies for more than 150 business leaders at Citibank's headquarters.
- Co-hosted Baltic Investors Forum in September 1997, New York, with the EastWest Institute, featuring Latvian President Ulmanis and U.S. Ambassador to Latvia Larry Napper, for more than 100 business leaders at the Union League Club.
Independent Media (chronological order)
- Organized Journalist Training Program in Summer 1991 in partnership with the National Newspaper Association. Brought journalists from Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania to the U.S. for two-month professional training internships with American newspapers. Funding: Knight Foundation and National Newspaper Association
- Sponsored Independent Media training internships with American newspapers, September-November 1992 (10 week internships). Funding: Knight Foundation and National Newspaper Association
- Launched Operation Free Speech in November 1992 to develop modern, decentralized printing networks in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, in conjunction with the Rochester Institute of Technology. Funding: Freedom Forum
- Organized Business Management for Independent Lithuanian Publishers Seminar, September 1992. Funding: U.S. Information Agency
- Launched Independent Media Program in 1994 to strengthen and support independent print and electronic media in the Baltics. Funding: NED and the International Media Fund
- Organized a media management seminar in Latvia in May 1994 with the International Media Fund.
- In a program co-sponsored by the University of Missouri School of Journalism in July 1994, brought professor Halliki Harro from the University of Tartu School of Journalism in Estonia to participate in a workshop on journalist ethics in St. Louis. Prof. Harro, an expert in media ethics and law, authored Estonia's first textbook addressing the subject of media regulation. Funding: International Media Fund and NED
- Sponsored a workshop for small and regional independent Baltic newspapers on media business management in Jurmala, Latvia in September 1994. Participants included 25 independent newspaper managers from all three countries. Funding: International Media Fund, Freedom Forum and NED
- Facilitated the creation of the Estonian Media College (Tallinn), the Latvian Media Professionals' Training Center (Jurmala) and the Lithuanian Free Speech Center (Vilnius) in April 1995. USBF funded the founding conventions, office equipment purchase and professional staff training. The new organizations united Baltic media associations to advocate against government policies hindering independent media and to provide training for media professionals. The Lithuanian Free Speech Center, with the support of two U.S. media libel law specialists provided by USBF, was responsible for the drafting and passage of Lithuania's free speech protection laws in 1996. Funding: International Media Fund and NED
Public Administration (chronological order)
- Funded U.S. visit of Mart Laar, then a Member of the Congress of Estonia and the Supreme Soviet of Estonia, and participants from Latvia and Lithuania to attend the George Marshall Foundation Public Service Leadership Conference on Developments in the USSR and Eastern Europe, September 1990, prior to independence. Funding: Individual USBF donors.
- Established the U.S.- Baltic Classroom, an electronic telephone classroom link between the University of California at Los Angeles, Vytautas Magnus University in Kaunas, Lithuania and the University of Latvia in Riga, Winter 1991. Funding: Individual USBF donors and in-kind contributions
- Organized training seminars and conferences for more than 800 local government officials in 1991-1992:
- Municipal Government in a Democratic, Free Market Society Conference, 300 participants from Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, the U.S., Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and Poland met in Vilnius, Lithuania, co-sponsored by the City Council of Vilnius, Lithuania, June 1991. Topics: municipal management practices, transportation, environment, revenues and financing, tourism, municipal government ethics, and municipal organization. Funding: Pew Charitable Trusts (Pew) and National Endowment for Democracy (NED). The American flag flew over Vilnius on the City Council headquarters during the conference.
- Municipal Privatization Conference, 180 participants met in Parnu, Estonia, November 1991. Topics: property rights and dispute settlement, privatization of property and municipal services contracts, reduction of municipal bureaucracy, raising municipal revenue through privatization, property valuation, removing barriers and red tape, and the role of contracts in privatization. Funding: Pew, NED, Lincoln Institute for Land Policy, and Institute for Humane Studies
- Municipal Administration Seminar, 240 participants met in Jurmala, Latvia, March 1992. Topics: municipal decision-making, impact of national policy on local budgets, budget planning, program implementation, developing effective intergovernmental systems, government ethics, unemployment, and job retention. Funding: Pew, NED, Institute for Humane Studies and SAS Airlines
- Employment Services Workshop, 18 participants in Vilnius, Lithuania, co-sponsored by the Vilnius Municipal Labor Exchange Office, March 1992. Funding: Pew, NED
- Public/Private Ethics and Conflict of Interest Seminar, 120 public and private sector leaders, Jurmala, Latvia, November 1992. Funding: Pew, NED
- Established the Baltic Municipal Initiative to provide technical assistance to Baltic municipalities, November 1991.
- Created the Baltic Municipal Fellows program that funded eight-week education and training programs in American cities for nine Baltic municipal leaders, January-March 1993. Funding: U.S. Information Agency.
- Established Municipal Training Center in Kaunas, Lithuania, and the Public Administration Development Center in Riga, Latvia, October 1993, to provide long-term education and training for municipal government officials through courses, resource centers, seminars, and internships. Courses: budgeting and finance, intergovernmental relations, personnel administration, management and behavior, negotiation and conflict resolution, municipal accounting, ethics in government, strategic planning, economic development, and environmental policy. Funding: Pew, NED, Open Lithuania Fund, and Soros Foundation Latvia
- Organized the Lithuanian Municipal Reform Summit, 240 participants, including a delegation of elected officials from Minnesota, met in Druskininkai, Lithuania, November 5-6 1993. Funding: Open Lithuania Fund, and supported by the Municipal Training Center at Kaunas Technological University.
- Established the Gruss Fellows Program to bring four municipal officials for three-month internships with city governments in the U.S., 1994. Funding: USBF Board member Audrey Gruss (Gruss Foundation)
- Organized, at the request of Estonian Prime Minister Mart Laar, "Introduction to Municipal Administration in a Democratic, Free Market Society" Seminar, Narva, Estonia, May 18-19, 1994. Funding: Pew, NED
- Brought five Gruss Foundation Fellows from local governments in Lithuania to Minnesota and Georgia for internships with municipal and state governments, January-March 1995. Funding: Gruss Foundation
- Designed technical assistance program for Former Mayor of New Carrolton, MD Jordan Harding to advise cities, towns, and rural municipalities on governance and reform issues for 4 months, Spring 1995 Funding: Pew, NED, and individual USBF donors
- Initiated two-year Masters in Public Administration degree programs at the University of Latvia (UL) and Kaunas Technical University (KTU), September 1994. In 1994-96, seven UL and KTU faculty members received training scholarships for study in the U.S, and five U.S. professors received Fulbright Scholarships to teach in Riga and Kaunas. In Fall 1996, USBF and the University of Tartu launched a similar program for Estonia, which later moved to the Tallinn Technological University and Tallinn Pedagogical University. Dr. Edward Jasaitis (formerly at Florida State University) served for five years as the full-time advisor and faculty member at UL and KTU where he taught and oversaw the development and administration of the program into permanent Schools of Public Administration. By Summer 2002, more than 300 students will have earned their graduate degrees from these programs. Funding: Pew, NED, Gruss Foundation, Philip Morris and individual USBF donors
- Organized the Union of Baltic Municipalities Conference, in partnership with municipal associations in each country, in September 1995. The Union, comprised of the leading municipal associations in all three countries, was officially re-established at the conference. This was the first time the municipalities were allowed to meet since prior to World War II. More than 300 Baltic participants and an American delegation that included the U.S. Ambassador and several U.S. mayors, city council members and public administration professors attended the conference in Druskininkai, Lithuania. Funding: Pew, NED, U.S. Information Agency, Gruss Foundation and individual USBF donors
- Managed the Latvian Democratic Governance and Public Administration Project, 1996-97, which consisted of a local government training program, a public administration internship program, and the development of self-study materials in three small cities in Latvia. USBF provided a full-time American municipal finance specialist to serve as the in-country advisor to the cities for 18 months. Funding: U.S. Agency for International Development - Latvia
- Launched the Public Health Education Awareness Program in Fall 1991, which translated, printed and distributed preventive health brochures into Baltic languages. Funding: Individual USBF donors
- Organized a Health Statistics Seminar in Summer 1991 with the National Center of Health Statistics and Georgetown University which helped develop a health statistics collections strategy for the Baltics, and created a pan-Baltic health statistics survey
U.S.- Baltic Forums (chronological order, partial list)
USBF has hosted a series of U.S.- Baltic Forums -- luncheons, briefings, lectures and receptions -- designed to give Baltic and American leaders an opportunity to discuss current issues with government, business and policy communities in Washington, DC and other U.S. cities, as noted.
The Foreign Service Institute of the State Department invited USBF to brief staff assigned to the U.S. Embassies in the Baltics from 1994 through 1997.
In 2001, USBF launched a new series of events as part of the USBF Ambassadors Council program.
- Tunne Kellam, President, Congress of Estonia, September 1990
- "From Central Planning to Free Markets; the Economic Policies of the congress of Estonia"
- Co-sponsored by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce
- Vytautas Landsbergis, President of Lithuania, May 1991
- Co-sponsored by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and National Chamber Foundation
- Arnold Ruutel, President of Estonia, July 1991
- Co-sponsored by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Central European Development Corporation and National Chamber Foundation
- Stasys Kropas, Chairman of the Lithuanian Parliament Committee on Local Authorities, and Member of
- the Commission drafting the new Lithuanian Constitution, January 1992
- Paul Lettens, Director of the Estonian Public Health Center in Tallinn, Estonia, January 1992
- Pers Sternins, Deputy State Minister of Latvia, February 1992
- Valdis Pavlovskis, Deputy Minister of Defense of Latvia, March 1992
- Jonas Birziskis, Minister of Transportation of Lithuania, April 1992
- Aivars Millers, Minister of Industry and Energy of Latvia, July 1992
- Iveta Stepite, Head Nurse of Latvia, August 1992
- Co-sponsored by the American Red Cross and American Nursing Association
- Aleksandras Abisala, Prime Minister of Lithuania, with Stasys Lozoraitis, Lithuanian Ambassador to
- U.S., November 1992
- Gvido Zemribo, Latvian Supreme Court Chief Justice, March 1993
- Vytautas Landsbergis, Former President of Lithuania, April 1993
- Ojars Kalnins, Latvian Ambassador to the U.S., May 1993
- Robert C. Frasure, U.S. Ambassador to Estonia, May 1993
- Adolfas Slezevicius, Prime Minister of Lithuania, June 1993
- Vygintas Grinis, Kaunas City Council Chairman, October 1993
- Maris Gailis, Latvia's Minister of Government Reform, November 1993
- Egidius Bickauskas, Vice Chairman of Parliament of Lithuania and Chairman of the Presidential
- Commission on Organized Crime and Government Corruption, November 1993
- Povilas Gylys, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania, April 1994
- Larry Napper, U.S. Ambassador to Latvia, and Larry Taylor, U.S. Ambassador to Estonia, June 1995
- Lennart Meri, President of Estonia, Guntis Ulmanis, President of Latvia, Algirdas Brazauskas,
- President of Lithuania, June 1996
- Lennart Meri, President of Estonia, Guntis Ulmanis, President of Latvia, Algirdas Brazauskas,
- President of Lithuania, January 1998 in New York and Washington
- Brian Carlson, U.S. Ambassador to Latvia and Joseph DeThomas, U.S. Ambassador to Estonia on Capitol Hill in November 2001
- Vaira Vike Freiberga, President of Latvia February 2002 Co-sponsored by the Baltic American Freedom League and the Joint Baltic American National Committee
- Inese Voika, President of DELNA (Latvian arm of Transparency International) February 2002
- Initiated an English Language Program in Fall 1992 by bringing 36 English language teachers to the Baltics (12 in each country) in cooperation with the Experiment in International Living.
- Surveyed U.S. private sector assistance to the Baltics by questioning 11,000 U.S. private sector organizations in order to establish database for exchange programs, completed in October 1992. This resulted in the U.S.- Baltic Partnerships directory of American private sector, non-governmental organizations with detailed descriptions of organizations willing to support development programs in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania - and in particular, to host interns from the Baltics. USBF published and widely distributed the directory in the Baltics. Funding: U.S. Information Agency
- Established the Citizens' Ambassador Program in May with the Ministries of Justice of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, which enabled American and Canadian legal experts to work side by side with lawmakers in each country as they developed legislation on the following issues: bank charters and regulation, civil and criminal codes, municipal authority and finance, human rights protection, insurance, and constitutional law.
- Sponsored student exchange program for 21 Baltic high school students in Fall 1993 (full-semester) to attend school and live with an American family in Maryland. Co-sponsored by the Governor of Maryland and the State Department of Education. Funding: U.S. Information Agency
- Created the Estonian Ferry Victim Relief Fund in Fall 1994, which provided $60,000 in assistance to children and families of victims of the maritime tragedy that took more than 800 lives.
- Participated in White House preparations for President Bill Clinton's visit to the Baltic States in 1994 and helped the U.S. Embassy Tallinn to organize a reception for First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton and DemNet NGO's in 1996.
- Sponsored Stanford's Students for Eastern European Development program to send eight students from Stanford University to spend two months teaching English as a second language in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania in Summer 1996.
- Provided a grant to establish Junior Achievement economics education programs in rural Estonian schools for grades K-12 in 1997. The unemployed father of one Estonian 7th grader got a job after learning resumé-writing skills from his child's homework book.
