At present the mechanism of the CBSS which unites eleven countries of the region and the European Commission operates better than a Swiss watch. It is well-oiled and partners are quick on the uptake in most issues. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov provided most exact description of the understanding in an exclusive interview with the Amber Bridge. He said in 20 years of activities the Council of the Baltic Sea States fully justified its initial idea, developed into a full-fledge cooperation forum, and demonstrated an ability to upgrade.

It is easy to understand why environment is on the agenda. The problem is a kind of a wellbeing camertone and is vital for all Baltic littoral countries. Statistics cause concern of most people in the unique region who attentively follow the situation in the sea. The last world war dumped a lot of “surprises” in the Baltic Sea which threaten it with major environmental catastrophes. The talk is about hundreds of thousands of tons of shells and mines buried on the seabed, but periodically washed ashore. There are also bombs with toxic agents. If their hulls are destroyed they can kill fauna and flora on a major scale.

Scientists have already discovered mutant fish in the Baltic Sea and explain the growing numbers by a possible leak in shells with toxic agents. Experts said the problem was discussed rather than handled for a long time. Complex joint effort was taken during the construction of the Russian-German Nord Stream underwater gas pipeline. Russia and other countries possess technologies that can efficiently defuse the deadly cargo on the Baltic seabed.

Now back to the April conference in St. Petersburg. There is no doubt it will be a landmark in the laborious but urgent joint work of scientists and scholars of Northern Europe. If we turn back several pages of the latest history we shall see that when the CBSS was founded in 1992 few people believed the institution was viable. If Germany, Denmark, Norway, Finland and other western countries initially treated Russia as an equal and valuable partner, some neighbors in the east of Europe continued to display increased caution towards it.

But time always puts everything in place. “Seabed sediments” were gradually washed out of politics while the work of the CBSS becomes more substantial and productive with years. The substantive portfolio of vital solutions for the region is constantly augmented. Joint efforts of regional leaders promote efficient cooperation in economy, science, environment, healthcare, culture, and in the fight against organized crime…

I lived in Lithuania for thirty years and worked as a correspondent of a central newspaper. I still have many Lithuanian friends there. They often visit me in Moscow and I often go to Vilnius. They love their country and are upset by mistakes in the home and foreign policy while I feel all developments in Russia with my heart. It is only logical as each of us is a patriot of his country. But we are also patriots of our unique region. The world is a tiny place while the Baltic Sea coast is a small golden dune on its surface.

Naturally, partnership among Baltic Sea countries presupposes a broader cooperation level and integration in resolving common regional problems. That is taking place. The flow of time convinces us there is no alternative to partnership. All CBSS members are sure of it.

Alexey Morgun,

Editor-in-Chief, Amber Bridge

Lithuanian Prime Minister Algirdas Butkevicius (sixteenth head of government in 21 years of national independence) has been for long overshadowed by such bright Social-Democratic leaders as Brazauskas, Kirkilas, and Jursenas. Observers believe the convincing victory of Social-Democrats under Butkevicius leadership to the Saeima last autumn was predetermined by the election program of the party rather than by the charisma of its leader.

The Social-Democrats listed energy reform, the fight against unemployment and mass emigration, and elimination of the gap between the rich and the poor as their home policy priorities. The first decision of the new government fulfilled its election promise and raised the minimum wage to 1000 lits (close to 300 euro). It pledged to better consult society on all key issues and promote public consensus.

Butkevicius numerously said that when the taskforce discussing energy sector reform (with a new nuclear power plant or without it) provides conclusions they will be definitely submitted for public discussion. There will no longer be non-transparent decisions characteristic of the Conservative government.

In a brief time as the prime minister Butkevicius approved himself as an experienced and prudent politician. So far he succeeded to reconcile contradictions in the ruling coalition and softly but resolutely resist the attempts of President Dalia Grybauskaite to push her decisions through.

Lithuanian voters were attracted by election promises of the current government which offered a “reset” in relations with Russia. The prime minister numerously said Lithuania will promote mutual trust and build up cooperation based on future rather than the past. Opposition claims that new authorities turn their back on the West and betray their main strategic partner, the United States, by looking at the East were rebuked by Butkevicius who said the country should not turn its back either on Russia or the USA. We asked the head of government how Lithuania plans to build up relations with neighbors.

Mr. Butkevicius, The government program envisages and you also numerously stressed the necessity to “reset” relations with Russia. What should politicians do to thaw bilateral relations with neighbor s?

First of all, I have to say it bluntly that I am a supporter of constructive dialogue. I hope for the same position of the Russian side. I stand for enhanced mutually beneficial cooperation with Russia, specifically in economic relations. Trade turnover between our countries is big at present, but it should continue to grow. Favorable business conditions and the initiative of entrepreneurs from both sides are necessary for that.

The comprehensive agreements between the European Union and Russia which are being designed at present have to give a new impetus to bilateral cooperation. Political, economic, and cultural relations between the two countries shall be based on mutual respect and understanding.

Lithuanian relations with Poland and Latvia have not been smooth of late. You have already paid official visits to the countries. Have you agreed with the Latvians on energy issues (construction of a nuclear power plant and a liquefied gas terminal) and with the Poles on problems r elated to national minorities?

Relations between Lithuania and neighboring Latvia and Poland are very close and productive. There are numerous big and strategic projects in trade and investments which confirm it. We are united by the commitments in the framework of the European Union and NATO and we jointly fulfill them. We are members of one family. Naturally, there may be different opinions on various issues, but we always listen to the arguments of the other party. I was convinced in it again during my first

foreign trips to Riga, Tallinn, and Warsaw. Together with the prime ministers of Estonia and Latvia we reiterated our resolute intention to develop cooperation of the Baltic troika and more intensively promote the Baltic trademark which has already been recognized in the world.

We are united by common interests in the energy sphere, including energy independence and efficiency and the common internal market in the EU context. Latvia and Estonia continue to declare their interest in the construction of the Vysaginas nuclear power plant. They are currently waiting for Lithuania to complete the feasibility study of the project.

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said relations between Lithuania and Poland are good. Poland would be glad to maintain such relations with other countries, but they should be the best with Lithuania. We shall join effort to achieve them. The position was confirmed by Polish President Bronislaw Komorowski who visited Vilnius on February 16 to celebrate the day of Lithuanian Independence together with us. Our concrete projects have shaped out already: the agreement has been signed to build LitPolLink energy bridge and we shall jointly apply to the European Commission for financing the gas bridge between Lithuania and Poland. Both countries will unite efforts in the implementation of the Eastern Partnership program of the European Union.

As for national minorities, the problems should be resolved by each country at home. They are resolvable. We have nothing to conceal from close neighbors and we shall not reject fruitful experience and advice.

Will there be a similar meeting with Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev in the near future? Which steps are being made to implement your idea of closer cooperation at the diplomatic level?

I accepted the invitation of Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev to participate in the conference of heads of government of the Baltic Sea countries which is to be held in St. Petersburg this spring (in the framework of the Russian presidency in the CBSS – ed.). It will be my first meeting with the chairman of the Russian government. No doubt one meeting and one talk are not enough. We have to expand opportunities for consistent and fruitful cooperation.

R e p r e s e n t a – tives of the rightwing forces, mostly Conservatives, blame authorities for readiness “to cede to Moscow” in exchange for cheap gas. What would you say?

In a democratic society there is usually a healthy tension between the government and the opposition and discussions are underway on all issues. It is important not to lose the guideline of national interests. I would like also to stress that my government will work for solutions that are beneficial for all residents of Lithuania, but not at the expense of energy or national security. Our priorities include the drive towards increased energy independence through implementation of the provisions of the Third Energy Package of the EU (which contains proposals to liberalize the energy market, calls to unbundle vertically integrated energy companies, and regulates ownership and use of gas pipelines by handing over transportation networks to independent operators – ed.), construction of a liquefied gas terminal, increased energy efficiency due to active renovation of multi-apartment houses, as well as development of renewable energy. We shall also look for solutions that allow to decrease gas prices and consequently heating tariffs for ordinary consumers.

Don’t you fear bitter criticism from the rightists if the government works for rapprochement with Russia?

Russia is our neighbor which maintains with Lithuania not only close energy ties and historic experience, but also has a common European agenda. No party and no group of people enjoy a monopoly in relations with Russia or any other country. Lithuania is a democratic country and a member of the European Union. Decisions are adopted publicly and transparently and take into account public interest and long-tem national development prospects. I do not doubt there is a place for Russia in the strategy: friendly, economically strong, and democratic state.

Radicals accuse new authorities of “betraying national interests”. What would you say about it?

I have not heard such accusations and have nothing to comment.

According to official statements, the current main task of Lithuania is to win energy independence from Gazprom. Is it possible in the current situation and what did you mean by expressing hope that Gazprom would behave “like a gentleman”?

The national energy independence means, inter alia, the right to choose energy suppliers. There is no such possibility in the gas sector at present but it will emerge after the implementation of Third Energy Package which stipulates liberalization of the market. Gazprom will have to take into account the laws of the European Union and Lithuania and restructure the Lietuvos dujos gas distribution company which it partially owns. I hope Gazprom will behave “like a gentleman” and will carry out the necessary changes in cooperation with the government of Lithuania. Practical work to ensure energy independence is already underway. In 2014 the construction of a liquefied gas terminal in Klaipeda will be completed. It will allow gas supplies from any country of the world. It will definitely influence the pricing policy of traditional gas suppliers in favor of Lithuanian consumers.

Does Gazprom advance any demands which are unacceptable for Lithuania?

Constructive talks are currently underway however the Lithuanian position at the negotiations is clear enough: the implementation of the Third Energy Package and decreased prices for ordinary consumers.The citizens of the country opposed the construction of a new NPP at a consultative referendum. You used to be also against the agreement signed with Hitachi. Did you change your mind?

The new government will avoid unbalanced and hasty decisions on the Vysaginas nuclear power plant. It is clear today the plant can go on only as a regional project and we shall take all effort to make it regional in reality. I have instructed to create a taskforce to discuss the issue which is to submit its proposals in late spring.

The agreement with Hitachi was signed in complete secrecy. Will you stand up to the commitment and inform the public which way Lithuania should go in the sphere of energy?

As soon as the abovementioned taskforce provides proposals the Saeima and the public will be immediately informed.

The Lithuanian shale gas prospecting and production project causes many public claims as well. It turned out the agreement with the American Chevron has already been signed. What can you say about it?

Shale gas prospecting and production is one of the guidelines for energy security in the region. The contract with the company envisages only prospecting. The public will be informed about the progress and results of prospecting for shale gas.

Despite reserved official relations between Lithuania and Belarus, Lithuania and Russia businessmen and ordinary people actively cooperate. How can we simplify people-to-people contacts? What is the progress in visa-free regime in border areas?

As for the visa-free regime, Lithuania has invested a lot into upgraded infrastructure of Lithuanian-Russian and Lithuanian- Belarussian checkpoints and border zone. We informed Belarus about our readiness to implement the agreement reached by the governments of the Republic of Lithuania and the Republic of Belarus on border-crossing trips by residents of border areas of Lithuania and Belarus. We are waiting for a confirmation from Minsk that it is also ready to implement the agreement.

Some people in Lithuania are dissatisfied with the fact that Russian actors come to perform in the country, Russian movies are shown on TV and in cinema halls.

They view it as expansionist policy of the neighboring country. What do you think about it?

I believe no borders exist for the arts and the tours of Russian performers in Lithuania can be only welcomed. Genuine art always finds its listeners and viewers without any advice from authorities. I would like to hope that Lithuanian actors will also find their admirers on the immense space of Russia.

Algirdas Butkevicius was born in 1958 in the village of Paezeriai in Padviliskis district. He graduated as engineer-economist from the Vilnius Engineering and Construction Institute, studied in the Lithuanian Governance Academy and underwent traineeship in the United States. He joined the Social-Democratic Party in 1992 and was elected its chair in 2009. From 2004 to 2008 he was finance minister and then transport and communications minister in the Social-Democratic government of Algirdas Brazauskas and then Gediminas Kirkilas.

In the 2012 parliamentary election the Social-Democrats headed by Butkevicius received most of the votes. They created a coalition with the Labor Party, the Order and Justice, and the Electoral Action of Poles in Lithuania to form the constitutional majority in parliament and a coalition government. In November the Saeima approved Butkevicius as the Lithuanian prime minister. Lithuanian residents hope the new government will improve the economic situation in the country, as well as good-neighborly relations with Russia. Public opinion polls show Butkevicius is ahead of Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite in popularity ratings.

Thank you for the interview .

Galina Afanasyeva,

for Amber Bridge

The key to stability lies in relations between Russia and NATO which are far from cloudless. Last year marked 15 years of the signing in Paris of the Russia-NATO Basic Act in which the parties pledged not to attack each other and created the first permanent interaction structure.

However air raids on Yugoslavia followed. Then Russian Prime Minister Yevgeny Primakov even U-turned his plane over the Atlantic Ocean in protest and cancelled a visit to the United States. Also last year marked 10 years of the summit in the Italian Pratica di Mare airbase where Russian President Vladimir Putin and NATO partners tried to resume cooperation and set up the Russia-NATO Council. But it was followed by NATO enlargement to Baltic countries, Ukrainian and Georgian membership bids, and the war in South Ossetia.

In November 2010 Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and NATO leaders agreed at the Lisbon summit on strategic partnership and chose the pilot project of European missile defense for the beginning. However instead of bonding the parties it developed into an apple of discord and political relations again cooled down. Paradoxically, political relations between the alliance and Russia look dim and full of collisions while practical cooperation develops dynamically and successfully. It was confirmed by the ministerial meeting of the Russia-NATO Council in Brussels on December 4.

How can it be explained and did the December meeting of NATO ministers with Sergei Lavrov add impetus to NATO-Russia relations? I asked the question to NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen.

He agreed. We have progressed in practical cooperation and continue to go ahead. In a broader political context we decided at the Russia-NATO summit in 2010 to develop genuine strategic partnership between Russia and NATO. Partnership means not only practical cooperation in which we progress but also political consultations on issues of discord. They include strategically important problems, such as the situation in Afghanistan, missile defense, etc. The fact that we do not agree on everything does not diminish the solidity of relationship. We have to comprehend there will always be political issues on which we differ. They have to be discussed in an open and frank atmosphere. We have to progress in some spheres and continue discussions in others.

Rasmussen believes the December meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov which took place after a new cooling in relations was successful and “new energy” is likely to appear in 2013 which the general secretary promised to breathe into the NATO-Russia Council before his mandate expires. An action plan was adopted. It calls for continuation of launched projects in 2013 and for expanded cooperation in other important spheres. They include elimination of excessive munitions and enhanced fight against drug trafficking…

One of the major disputes is caused by the missile defense which was expected to become the main cooperation project two and a half years ago in Lisbon. Russian officials say further progress in relations with the alliance depends on NATO position on European missile defense. It sounds like a precondition. Are NATO members ready to change their current approach to “two separate systems” (Russian and NATO) and provide legal guarantees to Moscow the missile defense is not targeted against Russian strategic deterrence potential? So far no way out of the deadlock is seen.

I want to be completely clear in the issue, said NATO chief. We decided to create on the NATO basis a missile defense system because we are responsible for the protection of our peoples and territories against any threats. We believe the missile threat is real and we have to possess proper defense against it. At the same time we invited Russia to cooperate. We can launch interaction between Russian and NATO systems.

We stated that we have no intentions to undermine the Russian strategic deterrence potential to say nothing about attacking Russia, he went on to say. We do not plan to attack Russia. Our missile defense is not designed either for attack or for weakening the Russian strategic deterrence. We invited Russia to cooperate and proposed creating two jointly controlled missile defense centers in which Russian and NATO staff would work together and the Russians could see with their own eyes that our defense does not target Russia.

As for guarantees, in 1997 Russia and NATO adopted a joint document called the Basic Act. We stated in it that we shall not use force against each other. We abide by the commitment and are ready to confirm it. I believe Russia also complies with it. A political document in which the governments of 27 countries confirm the 1997 decision – not to use force against each other – have the same force as any other legal document.

The NATO chief added that it is impossible to draft a legal document which would be ratified by parliaments of 29 countries. It is impossible because of the dispersed opinions of lawmakers in the countries. Rasmussen believes Russia would obtain stronger guarantees had it accepted NATO proposal on two joint command centers. Politically a declaration can be adopted which would confirm the 1997 commitments.

Another apple of discord is the Conventional Armed Forces in Europe Treaty (CFE). Russia expressed readiness to come back to the negotiating table to adapt the treaty which was signed in the times of the former USSR. But without preconditions. They include NATO demand to Russia to reject the recognition of independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia and withdraw its military bases from there. The alliance does not want to discuss CFE adaptation until Russia fulfills the demand.

I believe the CFE is a very important framework document for control of conventional forces, said Rasmussen. We need a legal framework to control these type of armed forces. However the consent of the host country is an integral part of our arms control scheme. It is clear there is currently no consent of the host country to Russian military presence in Abkhazia and South Ossetia because both territories are a part of Georgia according to international law. It is definitely a major obstacle and an issue on which we have deep contradictions with Russia.

I am very serious about promoting genuine strategic partnership between NATO and Russia, Rasmussen said. It is in our common interests. The words “strategic partnership” presume a possibility to disagree in some spheres and at the same time progress in others. I believe it is in Russian interests to develop strategic partnership with NATO because there are many points where our fundamental security interests coincide. They are Afghanistan, the fight against drug trafficking, terrorism, sea piracy, etc.

These are concrete interests. However from the strategic point of view it is in the Russian interests to attract foreign investments which promote its economic development. Investment and business climate become more attractive when investors see a secure environment. If we develop strategic partnership investors will feel more secure, the NATO chief said.

Russia is a major exporter of energy carriers and fuel supplier to Europe. Russian fundamental interest is to export energy in a stable atmosphere. If the Europeans believe that Russia is using energy as a foreign policy weapon they will turn to alternative suppliers. That would not be in the Russian interests. Positive relations with NATO countries will serve Russian interests. So far NATO countries comprise the mightiest economic force in the world. It is in the Russian interests to cooperate with the zone of economic might.

Afghanistan is an important point of coincidence of NATO and Russian interests. The return of the country to terrorism haven and source would be a major threat to security of the West and Russia.

Although in contrast to Ukraine, Georgia and several non-members of NATO Russia did not send (for clear historic reasons) its soldiers to the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan, it plays a major role in NATO operation by providing transit through its territory for supplies to ISAF, by supplying combat helicopters and spare parts to the Afghan army, training crews and technicians for them, and by joining effort with NATO in training experts to fight drug trafficking. The helicopter supply program is financed by the joint NATO-Russia trust fund which, according to Rasmussen, will expand operations this year.

Last year at Chicago summit NATO decided to gradually end the military operation in Afghanistan, transfer responsibility for security in the country to Afghan military, withdraw the last combat units from there by late 2014, and begin a new non-combat operation to train and support Afghan forces. It was not accidental that the decision was adopted in the time of the economic and financial crisis as it is cheaper to finance, train and supply local security forces than keep expedition corps in the distant country.

However Moscow is concerned by potential consequences of the decision and believes it is premature to withdraw ISAF from Afghanistan as local armed forces are not ready to take over responsibility for security and in several hours after the withdrawal of NATO military the Taliban will seize power back.

We are not simply withdrawing from Afghanistan. When we complete the ISAF combat operation by late 2014 the strong Afghan security force will be prepared to take over the mission. We enhance the potential of Afghan forces and our aim is to raise their strength to some 350 thousand men, including the army and police. What is more important is that we raise the quality of their skills and can see how they are taking over the leading role in security operations. Already now they play a leading role in 80 percent of our operations. They hold 90 percent of training exercises themselves and have professional rapid deployment units. I am convinced that when we complete the combat mission the Afghans will be able to fight and will not allow Afghanistan to again become a rear base for terrorists, Rasmussen said.

The Afghan operation is an example of combat actions “outside the NATO zone of responsibility” the possibility of which was envisaged in the new strategic concept of NATO and caused disputes and criticism also from Russia.

The NATO chief stressed that in Afghanistan the alliance fulfilled UN Security Council resolution. NATO also wants to get a UN mandate for the training operation which is to begin after 2014 pullout although an invitation from the government in Kabul would be a sufficient legal ground for the mission. Rasmussen believes Russia as a permanent UN Security Council member will welcome the resolution as it is in its interests to ensure a lasting peace and stability in Afghanistan.

The NATO air campaign in Libya was also mandated by the United Nations. However today NATO rarely recalls it, mostly the lessons: Libya exposed drawbacks in NATO military potential which Chicago summit demanded to immediately remedy. European NATO members could not cope with the task without Americans who were reluctant to join Libya campaign. Europeans lacked high-precision munitions, refueling aircraft, strategic airlifters, modern means of reconnaissance and communications for an independent operation. Therefore NATO has to remedy the drawbacks through modernization of the military potential, unified financial efforts of European alliance members in acquiring costly hardware, increased military appropriations and thus decrease reliance on the United States.

Rasmussen said the United States has been displaying falling interest in European problems after the Cold War.

We still can see US participation in European affairs when the talk is about conflicts on the space surrounding EU. However long-term trend shows the United States expects from European allies independent resolution of the crises on the space, he said.

In general the NATO chief does not think the alliance shall play a role of a global gendarme and interfere in conflicts which do not directly affect its members. However nobody has cancelled article 5 of the Washington Treaty which envisages collective NATO defense by musketeer’s principle One for All and All for One! We cannot jump from one country to another and resolve all conflicts on the planet. It is simply impossible. The mission of the alliance is to ensure security of its member-states, he said.

NATO has no intentions to interfere in Syria and Mali. It is another case if the conflict in Syria jeopardizes the security of NATO member Turkey. It is in this context that deployment of six Patriot missile units close to the Turkish-Syrian border should be viewed.

We are there to protect Turkey which is a NATO member. It is an exclusively defense measure. The deployment of Patriot missiles is no preparation for a no-fly zone or any offensive operation. I repeat: NATO has no intentions to interfere in Syria. We are convinced that political solution is the right decision, Rasmussen said.

There are post-Soviet countries which want to get under the NATO collective defense umbrella which they view as their independence guarantee. The NATO “open-door policy” is a constant source of tensions and paralyzes Russia-NATO relations from time to time. The issue has been solved for the Baltic countries: from 2004 they are full members of NATO covered by article 5 provisions.

But NATO summit in Bucharest in April 2008 listed Ukraine and Georgia as potential candidates to join the alliance. Further political developments in Ukraine pushed NATO membership to the background. However Georgian desire to join the alliance did not diminish even after the victory of the opposition over Mikhail Saakashvili. Moscow warned that any new steps to bring Georgia closer to NATO membership can simply “kill” the Russia-NATO Council.

Is there any possibility to integrate Georgia into the alliance without deteriorating relations with Russia? It was this consideration that guided Angela Merkel at the summit in Bucharest where she actually blocked the provision to Ukraine and Georgia of the status of official candidates for NATO membership.

Let me recall the basic principle. It is the business of any nation to decide whether it wants to join any alliance or not and how to build up its national security. Russia signed up to the fundamental principle in the 1999 OSCE Charter. It is no business of Russia to decide whether Georgia should join our alliance at a certain stage or not. It will be decided by NATO and Georgia. In Bucharest we decided that Georgia can be a NATO member if it complies with certain criteria. So far it does not. We set up the NATO-Georgia commission and we work to promote reforms in Georgia. In future it may comply with NATO criteria, Rasmussen said.

But can Georgia join the alliance without Abkhazia or South Ossetia? Does Russian recognition of Abkhazia and South Ossetia and its military deployment there impede Georgian accession to NATO?

These are hypothetical issues. Naturally, we hope for a peaceful resolution of the problem of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. We embarked on the policy of non-recognition (of their independence) and call on Russia to comply with corresponding international obligations. We regret that Russia recognized Abkhazia and South Ossetia as independent states. It contradicts international law and we insist on full respect of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Georgia in its internationally recognized borders. In answer to your question… Naturally, it would be inadmissible to give Russia the right to veto NATO enlargement.

I know that Moscow is not excited by our open-door policy. But I would like to draw your attention to the fact that NATO and European Union enlargement helped create a zone of stability and economic progress in Eastern Europe. For centuries the Russian strategic goal was to ensure stability on its western borders. By NATO and EU enlargement we promoted reforms and economic development in Eastern Europe and thus created there a zone of stability along Russian western borders. Moreover, Russia received economic benefits from the stability zone. If we look at trade and investment statistics, we shall see that Russia benefited a lot due to economic progress in Central and European Europe.

How calm is stability in the Baltic Sea region where NATO’s article 5 directly borders on Russia? Baltic leaders constantly complain about inadequate alliance assistance to ensuring their security and draw Brussels attention to large-scale Russian military exercises close to their borders.

It is true that from time to time we see Russian military exercises. We call on Russia to display maximum transparency. To hold exercises is a natural thing in itself. NATO countries also do that. But we do it in an absolutely transparent way and clearly show we have nothing to conceal. We want our armed forces to interact. There will be many military exercises this year. I do not think they damage relations in any way if they are transparent and observers are present. The problem is that we have to state insufficient transparency from the Russian side when the talk is about exercises. From time to time we hear rather strange Russian rhetoric. I call on Russia to return to decisions which we together adopted in Lisbon and develop genuine strategic partnership, Rasmussen said.

However even strategic partnership differs greatly from alliance membership. Therefore, there is nothing new in media “leaks” that appeared last year about the existence of various NATO plans to defend Baltic countries. NATO officials disclosed on conditions of anonymity that such plans do not mean that NATO sees a threat from Russia. The plans do not contradict the intention of the alliance to develop strategic partnership with Russia.

It is a rule that we never comment our various plans. But I can assure you that we have the necessary defense plans for all alliance members no matter where they are located. This is the essence of our defense alliance. We have plans for all possible situations. As for the Baltic Sea region, I am very satisfied that security situation has considerably improved there in the past years, Rasmussen said.

Alexander Mineev, for Amber Bridge

Brussels

The conference was organized by Russian and Swedish academic institutions and non-governmental organizations. The topic was in the fairway of the Russian presidency in the Council of the Baltic Sea States (CBSS) in 2012- 2013. The forum was initiated by the General History Institute at the Russian Academy of Sciences, Center for the History of Northern Europe and Baltic Countries, Sodertorn University, The Centre for Baltic and East European Studies, and the Baltic Civilization Institute founded three years ago by the Amber Bridge International Association.

Director of the General History Institute Academician Alexander Chubaryan sent a message of greetings to the conference in which he stressed the necessity to continue cooperation in the sphere: “History should promote rapprochement between peoples. Strict scientific analysis of past developments shall help design common denominators in assessing historic past,” Academician Chubaryan wrote.

The conference opened with a reception in the Royal Swedish Academy of Letters, History and Antiquities. Besides hospitable host and Secretary Erik Norberg, present in the mansion of the Academy were President of the Swedish Institute of International Affairs Michael Sohlman, Director General of CBSS Secretariat Jan Lundin, Board Chairman of RusForest Company Sven Hirdman. Mats Hellstrom, who was Swedish ambassador to Germany in 1996– 2001 and Governor of Stockholm County in 2002-2006 also attended. The forum ended with a reception in the Russian embassy to the Kingdom of Sweden offered by Russian Ambassador Plenipotentiary and Extraordinary Igor Neverov.

Addressing the Royal Swedish Academy of Letters, History and Antiquities head of the Northern Europe and Baltic Center of the General History Institute Alexsey Komarov offered his assessment of the Russian-Swedish academic contacts in the past decades. It is noteworthy that the first official Russian- Swedish symposium in 1976 opened in the same hall as the 2013 conference which was held in the format launched yet in 2011 when Moscow hosted international scientific conference Baltic Neighborhood: Russia, Sweden, Baltic Countries on the Background of Epochs and Developments, XVII-XX Centuries. In contrast to bilateral symposia the latest conference was attended by scholars from Russia and Sweden, as well as Latvia, Estonia, and Norway. The main part of the conference took place in Sodertorn University. Professor Vadim Roginsky, chief of the Department of Modern History of the General History Institute recalled in his speech that “there has always been resettlement of peoples in history.” World wars exerted specifically strong influence on it. Hundreds of thousands of people either emigrated or were expelled. Migrations changed the ethnic composition of the population specifically in the Baltic Sea region. Germans disappeared from some districts and were replaced by other nationalities. The current population of Kaliningrad region comprises descendants of the migrants who resettled there. Today migration has a different character which can be seen everywhere. The processes have to be anticipated and necessary measures taken to prevent major conflicts. The problem is vital for Baltic countries and Russia as well, he said.

Less than a month passed since the end of the forum when modern barbarians from immigrant youth caused chaos in several districts of the Swedish capital. The co-authors of the monograph is it Possible to Become a Swede? which is popular in Sweden participated in the conference – Professor Natalia Plevako from the Institute of Europe at the Russian Academy of Sciences and Professor Olga Chernysheva from the General History Institute. The book shows that even thoroughly elaborated immigration legislation and exciting tolerance of the Swedes do not guarantee successful harmony of interests and relations between indigenous population and immigrants.

President of the International Amber Bridge Association Yuri Sizov told the conference that in Northern Europe and the Baltic Sea region mutual understanding is easier than anywhere else on the planet. The history of relations between peoples inhabiting Northern Europe is millennium old. They have much in common as well as differences. “The common and different traits mean nothing good or bad. They offer a chance for mutual understanding which, in its turn, produces trust and leaves no place for mentorship and schooling. Mutual trust is possible only through joint implementation of practical tasks,” Sizov said.

The forum will promote public perception of the fact that intercultural contacts enriched the peoples in the Baltic Sea region in previous epochs. As Jan Lundin was correct to say, “despite problems which sometimes emerged and keep emerging in the Baltic Sea region there is also a feeling of a family and community of peoples. Our mission is to enhance the feeling however so far we even failed to restore the freedom of travel which existed a hundred years ago.”

The Amber Bridge Association and the Baltic Civilization Institute will make the results of the Stockholm conference of historians encourage preparations of new fundamental works about the unique region of Europe so that the third decade of partnership in the framework of the Council of the Baltic Sea States is marked by a new quality of regional cooperation.

Shale gas revolution has joined pop culture of late. Even when you switch on an iron you hear something new about shale gas revolution. The words “shale rock” are well known to Russian experts. MGIMO has been recently visited by Estonian lawmakers who asked not to confuse available shale rock in Estonia with shale gas revolution. You have been dealing with the issue for long. What is it all about?

Shale gas has been developed in the world for decades but in small volumes as it is, firstly, expensive and, secondly, technologically difficult. The government of the United States traditionally subsidizes the production of shale and other non-traditional gas. I do not want to burden the reader with numerous figures but will anyway cite one table which explains a lot about the shale gas revolution which was artificially and intentionally inflated. The table was produced on the basis of calculations by well-known Wood Mackenzie consultancy and published in March 2010 by Petroleum Economist.

The table shows the share of non-traditional types of gas grew before 2009 not due to real physical volumes but as a result of depleted production of traditional gas. In reality the difference in total volumes of US gas between 2000 and 2009 comprised 3.2 bln cubic feet a day. Although the share of shale gas considerably increased it was still 2.5 times lower than tight gas (most deposits were developed by old vertical drilling technology) and nearly three times less than conventional gas. Such a modest result hardly merits “shale gas revolution” title. Even if Wood Machenzie forecast for 2020 comes true the total growth of domestic gas production in the United States can hardly be viewed as radical. The surplus will comprise only 7.5 bln cubic feet a day.

To comprehend the developments it is necessary to remember that 92% of natural resources in the United States are mined by small and medium independent companies which account for 82% of gas production. The second major aspect is that everything under your own land is yours. The technological condition for the shale gas revolution was the unification of two well-known technologies – horizontal drilling and fracking (high-pressure hydraulic formation fracturing). Shale is different from stone and sand as after fracking that discharges gas the cracks fold back and “heal”. To prevent it they add chemicals to the injected water. That is the reason while local population and authorities oppose the technology in most states. However there are territories where residents are indifferent to the environmental consequences and mostly want jobs.

In Texas, in a place called Barnett someone decided to combine horizontal drilling with fracking. It seems the Barnett field continues to provide a lion share of US shale gas. The situation was favorable as from 2005 prices of energy carriers grew and became record-high in 2008 when a barrel of oil cost 147 dollars. (I always warned at the time the price was unbalanced and a result of gambling at NYMEX – New York Commodity Exchange). However it was like hypnosis for many people. Even Vladimir Putin said when oil price began to rise after the crisis that so far we have failed to reach 147 dollars per barrel. But it was an absolutely artificial and abnormally high price. A fever similar to gold and oil rush in the XIX century began. Companies and individual businessmen bought out land plots and drilled for shale gas. A number of major fields were discovered – Eagle Ford, Haynesville, Utica, Woodford, Marcellus, and others. The last one includes the States of Pennsylvania, New York, and New Jersey, which are densely populated and well-developed regions. When TV showed a land plot whose owner allowed to produce gas on it people were horrified by seeing dark brown water around. Another TV broadcast hit the whole world: a burning match ignited water in a tap. There is still one more important aspect for the comprehension of the general situation. In all the years when the shale issue was in the focus of public attention there were only two-three serious publications about it, as far as I remember.

In mid-March 2010 the Oil and Gas Journal published an article of Houston-based expert and President of Merlin Associates consultancy Chuck Yost whose biography offers a successful synthesis of theory and practice. He agreed there are prospects for shale gas in the United States but expressed skepticism regarding excessively optimistic present-day forecasts. Yost said shale gas industry was in “infant age” at present and there are many uncertainties to be clarified and problems to be resolved. One of the problems is rapid depletion of wells. The article offered an index schedule of average productivity of a typical well which showed the yield rises only in the first year of operation after which it radically falls and continues to slowly decrease during the second, third, and fourth years of operation down to a low level of some 12-13 points from maximum 100. As for competition between shale gas and imported LNG, Yost analyzed three options of gas demand and price movements and convincingly showed that in any option LNG will continue to come to the United States (the amount is the question) and will exert considerable competitive pressure on shale gas and thus decrease its production. We should not expect that LNG will stop coming to the US market because of fear of competition with shale and other non-traditional gas, he concluded.

A similar opinion of LNG prospects in the United States was voiced by another expert – Nikos Tsafos who published an article in the British Petroleum Economist in May 2010. He monitored the staged movement of LNG in 2007-2009 and concluded that the United States was “the last resort” for LNG as exporters can always come to the market if they fail to profitably sell the gas in other countries. He noted that even before the shale gas boom LNG did not strike root in the USA after regular supplies began from Trinidad and Tobago in 1999 but stressed that in 2008-2009 two-three re-gasification terminals did not stop operations and in 2009 LNG staged a comeback to the United States.

The shale fever only slightly resembles the oil fever which lit up the star of Rockefeller when oil was discovered in Pennsylvania and hundreds and thousands of people rushed there. They drilled the earth literally stamping on each other feet. To save money they bought a very small plot of land which could accommodate a primitive drilling rig and its wooden supports often stood on neighboring plots. They nearly ruined the oil industry. It was Rockefeller who saved it by creating the first vertically-integrated company in the world. He deserves a monument for that. The main difference of the current fever is that shale gas wells rapidly deplete. A normal gas well operates for 16-20 years while you have to keep constantly drilling for new shale gas.

Maybe the technology is imperfect?

The Americans learned how to partially offset the problem. Today horizontal drilling is accompanied by drilling in several directions through only one surface well. In Russia they also drill the same way at Vankor field in the north of Krasnoyarsk territory. Shell invented the flexible bore when it helped Brunei cope with the problem of depleting fields in which oil remained only in the so-called pockets.

Rapid depletion of fields is not the only problem of the business. It triggers others and makes shale gas production a loss-making business which is subsidized. Thousands of people took bank loans to buy or lease land and acquire equipment. The heat continued up to 2009. In 2008 oil prices were still very high. (In contrast to Europe the United States does not tightly link oil and gas prices, but the exchange feels the dynamic). Then prices began to fall for one, two, three years. The “thermal price” of the gas was 3.5 dollars per MMBtu. Falling prices were accompanied by depletion of numerous shale gas fields and new drilling costs. Many people who believed in shale gas revolution went broke but 10-12 medium independent companies emerged and succeeded to survive. The most distinguished of them is Chesapeake Energy which pioneered in purchasing land for shale gas drilling and now has huge debts and fourteen billion dollars in the red.

In the summer of 2012 MGIMO published a collection of articles under your supervision called Russia and the Asia Pacific Gas Cooperation Prospects. I had an impression after reading it that shale gas revolution in the United States was a result of a sophisticated state policy aimed at creating maximum favorable conditions for private enterprise in shale gas production. The policy aimed at decreasing US reliance on imports. In general the flow of publications about shale gas revolution does not highlight the role of governments.

There is also another misunderstanding. The news makes public opinion believe that shale gas revolution helped the United States stop buying liquefied natural gas and the biggest importer quit the world market. The withdrawal naturally affected prices and the market structure, as well as strategic prospects of its main players. But the main thing is that the United States increased its independence from foreign supplies and came close to the cherished dream when Arab countries will no longer be necessary and it would be able to deal with them in the way it treated other states and territories.

Let’s recall the situation of late 2008. Barack Obama was preparing to occupy the Oval Room. The public paid all attention to election results and upcoming appointments. The NYMEX and the US oil and gas industry were waiting to clarify the course of the new administration as the previous one was closely related to the mining sector. Obama and supporting elites signaled a course for change and the oil business suffered major losses as a result. However there was an exception for shale gas as benefits were preserved. Why? Economic globalization played a low-down trick with US industry which suffered from global outsourcing. It became profitable to move production to China, India, and Southeast Asia. Profits from production were partially reinvested and partially kept offshore. On this background production of traditional gas sharply decreased in the United States, fields depleted and no new licenses were issued according to the principles adopted yet by the Roosevelt administration in the end of World War Two which triggered the emergence of “seven sisters” that shared the world among them and established the price of a barrel of oil.

Obama decided that widely advertised shale gas can compensate for the decreased production of traditional gas and prevent major price hikes for energy carriers which could deal the final blow to thousands of American enterprises. If we count all gas, including traditional, sand, and shale, there has been no quantity revolution at all. I believe the revolution boiled down to an efficient impulse to keep the US industry more or less viable and prevent further deindustrialization.

People who overslept the changes now speak about shale gas revolution which is rarely recalled today in the United States. But we continue to issue gloomy forecasts by inertia.

What did the real or imaginary revolution mean for energy security and independence of the United States?

Today shale oil is more popular in the United States as it was found at certain shale gas fields. It is praised to high heaven now. They promise to outshine Saudi Arabia soon. The wave emerged in 2010. One very stubborn independent investor in North Dakota continued to unsuccessfully drill one plot after another. He first drilled for shale gas. He then got disappointed in his gas dream but found the oil one. And he was lucky. The second stage of the fever began in the United States. Chesapeake Energy was again in the lead. But it is noteworthy that it no longer buys but sells land. The Upstream weekly said on March 1 that Chesapeake announced the sale of 427 thousand acres at the popular Bakken field located in Montana, Wyoming, and North Dakota states.

It is true that shale gas is produced and sold for cheap in the USA. It is good for industry, economy in general, and the government. But those who invested in it will not get expected profit.

Daniel Yergin, current president of Cambridge Energy Research Association (IHS CERA) predicted in Foreign Affairs in 2003 that in several years America will be the biggest import market for LNG. The article was co-authored by Michael Stoppard. Sergei Karaganov immediately reprinted it in his Russia in Global Politics magazine. But it was a bluff. America did not become the major LNG buyer. As for Yergin, he switched to the propaganda of shale gas. He visited Moscow once and I asked him: In 2009 you addressed the International Gas Congress in Buenos Aires and promised to satisfy not only America with cheap shale gas but also teach the whole world how to produce it. Aren’t you afraid the forecast will face the same plight as the one about LNG?

Under the influence of such experts President Obama said before the Copenhagen conference on climate change (December 2009) the United States will teach China to produce shale gas and signed with Hu Jintao an agreement which promised US assistance to China in mastering the necessary technologies.

Naturally, it was aimed against Gazprom, in particular. For example, Obama’s aide Joseph Aldy said the following about the role of shale gas in US policy. He told the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) that shale gas provides a possibility to ruin cartels and help many countries produce gas.

Why did I recall the story with the old forecast by Yergin? America is a country where business listens very attentively to such forecasts. As soon as prospects of large-scale LNG imports were announced investors immediately rushed to build terminals and re-gasifying facilities. They built twelve of them and there were twenty projects in the line. At present four are operating at reduced capacity while others have been mothballed or construction suspended.

Under the influence of forecasts about shale gas exports from the USA investors again lined up to build export terminals. However they did not have time to erect something significant. Europe, to which Russia belongs, is not critical in assessing the fluctuations in US business. Kommersant newspaper reports about the projects as if they had already been implemented and serious people begin to believe in it. One of them is Board Chairman Rainer Seele of Wintershall, which is a major partner of Gazprom. He supported the construction of both Nord Stream pipelines and now supports South Stream construction. Through Gazprom Wintershall enjoyed a possibility to develop Achim fields while Gazprom got a share in midstream sector of Wintershall. That is what he said in an interview with Kommersant on April 30: the US demand for imported gas is practically equal to zero.

Look at figures! Don’t be afraid of looking deeper. Every June British Petroleum publishes an excellent statistical report on all energy sectors – oil, gas, coal, and nuclear. It clearly shows the situation on the US gas market. But they forget a small detail: there is Canada close to the United States which continues to export to the US 88 billion cubic meters of gas. It is more than Seele’s native Germany imports!

It is truly strange for a German. But some Americans do not view Canada as another country…

That is what Americans think. But when Bush administration requested Ottawa to supply huge water volumes for fracking the Canadians responded: Any volume but of bottled water.

I will repeat that British Petroleum provides the best statistics. It is one of the best things it is doing. They show that US LNG imports which decreased to the minimum of 0.57 billion cubic meters began to grow in 2010 and reached 10 bln in 2011.

Does it mean the major buyer which is the United States did not quit the world gas market?

No, it didn’t. I will again cite Nikos Tsafos who categorically predicted in the same article that no matter how upstream developments progress the United States will remain an LNG buyer. I am looking forward to July when the next annual BP bulletin comes out with 2012 import volumes. The upward trend in evident anyway.

If there was no shale gas revolution but only an attempt in the United States, if the country returns to the global market as a buyer, what does it mean for the European Union as consumer?

In November 2010 the annual US-Russian Energy Dialogue was held in Washington. I delivered a report there and praised the achievements of the United States in at least partially replenishing the outgoing gas production capacities and thus saving the real sector from recession. But I also cited data confirming there was no alleged gas flow from the USA to the European Union. It is only natural as the Obama administration is in no hurry to encourage LNG exports from the United States as they will inevitably raise domestic prices on the US market. It is not accidental that up to now (May 2013) federal authorities have approved only one out of twenty submitted bids for Sabine Pass terminal in Louisiana (Cheniere Company). In case the regulator approves the project the first shale gas batch will be exported in late 2015 – early 2016 (less than 5 mln tons a year). Moreover, there is “coal renaissance” in some European countries today which squeezes out more expensive gas. There are also other LNG consumers in the world – Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan. In future there are China and India. There are also suppliers, first and foremost, Qatar which since 2002 has developed into the biggest LNG supplier in the world. Two years ago its exports amounted to 90 billion cubic meters. However they include also pipeline gas supplied by Qatar to Arab neighbors with existing discounts. It comprises over 19 billion cubic meters.

They scared us by claiming Europe will be flooded with excessive gas. Statistics do not confirm it so far. On the contrary, consumption is falling in some EU countries because of the crisis. Naturally, Norway revived as it always gets a green light in the European Union in contrast to Gazprom. It is noteworthy that nobody demands Norway to decrease gas prices.

There is evidently a prudent man in Gazprom who likely said: let’s justify our inaction at Shtokman and other offshore fields by reported surplus of gas in the world and that shale gas suppressed everything. These will be objective reasons for our inaction.

Naturally, Gazprom overslept the market, but not American, as Russian newspapers claim, but Asian and the Pacific Rim. The lion share of Qatari LNG goes to Japan, South Korea, and other Asian countries although Russia is closer to them. LNG transportation costs comprise 40 percent minimum. It takes two-three days to sail from Sakhalin to Japan or may be even 36 hours depending on the island while transportation from Qatar takes two weeks. The Japanese are interested in LNG exports from Russia and their companies operate in Sakhalin-1 and Sakhalin-2 projects. They insisted at talks with the Russian government to make Gazprom build the third line at Sakhalin-2. It is cheap and close. We have to remember that neither we nor Shell built everything on Sakhalin. Shell was in command as an operator. The Japanese built everything. Now after the Fukushima tragedy their interest increased. One more gas pipeline will go to Vladivostok where it is planned to complete the construction of an LNG plant in 2019 for exports to Japan. An agreement between Gazprom and with several Japanese companies has already been reached.

Let’s go back to Europe. What do you have after shale gas development? Moon landscape. France rejected any shale gas development projects. Nuclear power plants account for 40 percent in its energy mix. Germany decided to get rid of NPP but it also banned fracking. The whole of Old Europe is a garden where people care about each meter of land. Why should they subject it to shale gas tests?

They say there should be a lot of shale gas in Poland…

Yes, there is much ado about shale gas in Poland. ConocoPhillips and other forty companies arrived to prospect for it. They promised energy independence to the Polish government and said Polish gas would oust Russian gas from the EU market. In 2011 the US department of energy estimated Poland can have 5.3 trillion cubic meters of shale gas which are enough for 300 years of consumption. Today there is no shale gas in commercial energy mix of Poland but they delayed for a year the signing of a new transit agreement with Gazprom. In the meantime Exxon Mobil withdrew from Poland in 2012. ConocoPhillips is thinking so far. In May 2013 three companies refused to develop shale gas in Poland – Marathon Oil, Talisman Energy, and Polish state-run Lotos! They said there are no commercial gas reserves. However the Polish leadership keeps insisting it will not affect its decisiveness to find and develop shale gas.

Well, Poland is a big country. It is no Denmark or Austria. But I pity Poland.

Do you mean it is worth producing shale gas in a country which you do not pity?

Yes, in general. The Americans do not pity Texas as it is big and scarcely-populated and people would not protest a lot.

Does it mean there are no shale gas prospects for Baltic countries? They do not let migrants in, will they allow such environmental devastation?

No. Besides, they struggled a lot to make Gazprom lay its pipelines through their territories. They recruited Poland as an ally and demanded a new pipeline to go along the Ukrainian one.

It is exactly the pipeline which Gazprom is offering to Poland at present, but Tusk is rejecting it for unclear reason. They claim it would be a politicized pipeline and they would not support a project that bypasses Ukraine. Do they really mean that oil and gas can be unrelated to politics? Does the fantastic Nabucco project have anything besides politics?

It is a very instructive story. Russia and neighbors should learn lessons from it. Which lessons?

Today we are talking with the European Union as if we are on different sides of barricades. It is abnormal. It is better to discuss existing problems at a round table and take common interests into account. Energy security problem is double-edged and risks shall be shared by both parties – suppliers and consumers. It is the main thing. They should not politicize the issue or resolve it unilaterally.

Nodari Simonia  is the leading expert in global energy research.

From 1990 he is corresponding member of the Soviet Academy of Sciences and from 1997a Russian Academician. In 2000-2006 he directed the Institute of Global Economy and International Relations at the Academy. In 2001-2006 he was special representative of the Russian president for relations with leaders of African countries in the G8 framework. He participated in G8 summits in Kananaskis (2002), Evian (2003), Sea Island (2004), Gleneagles (2005). He is currently professor of the desk of international problems in fuel and energy complex of the International Institute of Energy Policy and Diplomacy at MGIMO University at the Russian foreign ministry.

Speaks English, Indonesian, and Chinese languages.

In 2012 MGIMO published a volume of selected works by Academician Nodari Simonia.

The foundation of the cathedral was laid in 1211 and it is ten years younger than Riga. It is actually the second birthday of the city as due to the founder of the cathedral, German bishop Albert, it rapidly developed from a medieval settlement into a major Hansa city on the Baltic Sea. The current capital of Latvia is its successor.

Thanks to the Riga Duma headed by Mayor Nils Ushakovs the Dom Cathedral was saved from destruction at the very last moment. The current self-government of the Latvian capital city has finally done what its predecessors and the government ignored for decades. It began renovating the dilapidating architectural monument of global importance. The first stage will last two years and will be completed in 2014 when Riga becomes the cultural capital of Europe.

Various faces of cathedral

The Dom Cathedral is the heart and soul of ancient Riga that determines the atmosphere of Old Riga. In winter evenings its dark greatness dominates the square. In hot summer days it gives relieving shade for bright umbrellas of street cafes to hide under. In any time of the year screaming seagulls fly over its tower as is appropriate for any coastal city .

The cathedral acquired its current appearance in late XVIII century after a large-scale reconstruction. In over eight centuries the image of the main cathedral in Riga harmonically fit into various architectural styles. The construction of the Dom Cathedral began in the grandiose Roman style and generations of architects enriched it with elements of Gothic ascent, Baroque grotesque, and strictness of Classicism. Therefore the cathedral looks completely different from various sides.

A high brick wall surrounding the cathedral and monastery goes along the whole quarter. From time to time it disappears in houses built in various historic periods and then emerges again. For example, it happens so in Janiela Street better known as Flower Street where the famous Soviet 12-part movie Seventeen Moments of Spring was shot. The house of Mrs. Hudson from the famous Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson movie is glued to the old wall.

In one of the narrow deadends adjacent to the Dom Cathedral the brick surface of the wall has white plates. They are headstones. The first Livonian bishop Meinard and its last spiritual father Valter fon Pletenberg were buried in the Dom Cathedral. They stopped burying in the cathedral and around it in 1772 upon an order of Russian Empress Catherine the Second.

Where the light comes from…

The Dom Cathedral has always been a spiritual and education center. The Capitul – supreme Livonian spiritual leadership – assembled there to decide the life of the Baltic Sea region.

The Dom School was the oldest educational establishment in Livonia which trained future priests and all those wishing to enter universities. In the XVI century it became a higher school and was headed by Jacob Batus, a comrade-in-arms of Reformation father Martin Luther. Distinguished publicist Garlibs Merkels and philosopher Iogann Gerder lectured there. The monument to the latter stands in the namesake park at the main entrance to the cathedral. The freethinkers opposed serfdom and called for expanded rights of the Latvians who were oppressed by German barons. Their dreams came true, as we can see now. . .

Classes in the Dom School initially were in Latin and then in German language. From 1772 teaching was also in Russian language. Today the successor to the Dom School is called the First State High School which is considered to be the best secondary school in the country. Many distinguished people finished it, including two prime ministers of independent Latvia – Einars Repše and Ivars Godmanis.

The first Livonian library appeared under the spacious cupola of the Dom Cathedral. Manuscripts and books collected by monks were transferred to the first public library of Latvia which is currently subordinated to the Latvian University.

One of the oldest museums in Europe – of the History of Riga and Navigation – is also a part of the monastery complex. It emerged in 1773 on the basis of the private collection of Riga doctor Nikolas von Himzel. However many exhibits – coins, fishing tackle, and utensils – were discovered during excavations close to the cathedral.

Mysterious Albert

The foundation stone of the cathedral was laid on July 25, 1211 by Bishop Albert who arrived in Riga from Bremen to convert pagan Baltic tribes into Christianity. His vessels anchored in the mouth of the Ridzene River which flowed into the Daugava. In late XVII century it became shallow and later disappeared completely. Now the place between 13 January, Alksnaja and Vetspilsetas Streets is called Albert Square. In early ’60s of the past century archaeological excavations there produced remains of two ships resembling Viking vessels. Scholars believe they belonged to the flotilla of the bishop.

History says nothing how the father of Riga looked like. No portrait has preserved. There is only a vague image on old detrited coins. The Bank of Latvia issued their new copies on the eve of the 810th anniversary of Riga. However no matter how hard you try you cannot see his face features but only that he was of robust built.

The monument to Albert in the yard of the cathedral does not pretend either to be the same as the original. Descendants of Baltic Germans living in Germany have recently restored it at their own expense. The genuine monument vanished during evacuation in the First World War. Historians still disagree in assessing the activities of the bishop. On the one hand, he gave a green light to the Baltic conquests by Crusaders, historian Leonid Fedoseev wrote. Albert fon Buksgevden was not only a Christian enlightener, but mostly a knight of the Order of the Brothers of the Sword who conquered local tribes with fire and sword and subordinated them to Livonian authorities.

But on the other hand, we can say that Albert developed Latvians. . . into Latvians as current Latvia is a part of the Baltic territory which the Crusaders did not allow growing Lithuania to swallow. Had it not been for the courageous bishop modern Latvia would have been a suburb of Lithuania. Who knows? It is only clear that Albert considerably changed the fate of Riga.

Divine sounds

The refined and famous pipe organ is 600 years older than the cathedral. It was built in 1883 by German company E.F.Walcker&Co and is considered to be the most valuable in the world. Ferenc Liszt called Praising God the music he devoted to the first performance of the Dom pipe. Artist and philosopher Nicholas Roerich also admired it.

Jevgenija Lisicina has been playting the Dom pipe organ for over half a century. She moved from Leningrad to Riga for the purpose and is happy .

— There is nothing better than the Dom pipe in the world, she said.

Together with Jevgenija we go up the narrow stairs to the choir and the organ. The stone arch is just above the head. It echoes every word. The famous acoustic of the Dom Cathedral is another miracle.

Jevgenija changes shoes (as pipe playing requires leather shoes with a slippery sole and a wide heel), puts her hands on the keys and. . . the cathedral is full of magic sounds of Bach – either waves flow the coast or wind sounds in the skies. You feel good. It is calm and easy to think.

— I swim in the music and every time die of excitement, said Jevgenija when the last sound died out in the spacious hall. Jevgenija Lisicina is a bright represnetative of the Dom pipe school which emerged yet in the ’60s of the last century when the cathedral acquired the status of a concert hall.

Like Pēteris Sīpolnieks, Oļģerts Cintiņš, Larisa Bulava, Aivars Kalejs, and others she is a disciple of Nikolajs Vanadziņš, the patriarch of Latvian organ music. A graduate of Petersburg Conservatoire he educated a constellation of outstanding musicians. One of them – Tālivaldis Deksnis – teaches pipe organ in the Latvian Musical Academy. There is always a tough competition for the profession and the new constellation of young organ players – Edīta Alpa, Iveta Apkalna, Ilze Reine, Vita Kalnciema, Robert Hanson, Jānis Peļše, and Atis Stepiņš – have already asserted themselves.

From 1988 the Dom Cathedral annually hosts an international festival of pipe organ music in mid-summer. The daily 20-minute Piccolo Concert at midday enjoys incredible popularity among tourists. A total of 270 concerts are annually performed in the Dom Cathedral and its long-standing concert administrator Silvija Zaķeproudly said that no other concert hall can boast such popularity of the audience.

Burden of years

Natural calamities did not spare the cathedral. Lightnings numerously hit its high spire. There were fires caused by negligent people. According to the minutes of a court session, in 1696 “on Saturday before the first pre-Christmas Sunday organ master Brandisiy was in a bad mood and threw aside a burning candle which fell into a pile of rubbish between benches”. A fire immediately broke out, but was extinguished with a big effort.

There were also floods as the flat bank of the Daugava River used to be much closer to the cathedral than today. In April 1709 water was so high that monks hauled two fish at the altar. The flood occurred again in 35 years and they began to build dikes on the bank. If earlier you had to go upstairs to the main side entrance, now you have to go down eleven stair-steps.

Main illness of cathedral is time…

The cathedral is a living creature, said scientists who monitor the health of the patient with the latest equipment. The big building erected on coastal quicksand constantly subsides resulting in a web of cracks on the walls. In 2005 the state of the architectural pearl was recognized as critical – the tower of the cathedral declined 34 centimeters from the vertical. Wisecrackers immediately called it Dom-Pisa cathedral while UNESCO included it into the list of a hundred endangered objects.

At that time the Dom Cathedral became the property of Evangelic-Lutheran Church of Latvia and the national parliament adopted a law on the preservation of the valuable architectural complex. However nothing changed after it. The cathedral which was last renovated in 1909, over a century ago, continued to dilapidate.

The catastrophe was prevented at the last moment. The Riga Duma listed the preservation of the sacred place as a priority and earmarked four million US dollars to it. Nearly the same amount was received from the European Regional Development Fund in the framework of cultural monuments preservation program.

—We adopted the right decision, said Riga Mayor Nils Ushakovs.- In a couple of years the cathedral would begin to collapse and we would have to pay much more for its restoration. The mayor was right as unpleasant surprises were exposed during the work. The southern wall has cracked and the eastern facade which looked in order also needed urgent reinforcement. The renovation of the most important city object is being done by the RE&RE construction company. Architects say the main task is to preserve and reinforce the “eggshell” – roof, walls, and windows.

Safety margin

… A construction lift takes guests up to the roof from where Old Riga and the mottle strip of the Daugava spread out before you and where the wind is so strong that it can carry you away. The Golden Cockerel, the old guard of Riga, is very close and you can see how big it is.

The roof was the first element for the builders to deal with and the autumn of 2011 was luckily warm and dry in Riga. The rotten century- old framework was replaced and the coves were covered with copper. Today the plates have darkened already and acquired the necessary noble tint while in summer the roof of the ancient cathedral was light-mindedly shining in the sun. Builders hope the safety margin will last for three hundred years.

The Unique Cross Gallery which runs 118 meters along the internal yard has been put in order. Today the pearl of the Gothic architecture is open for visitors who want to admire the gray olden time. The Capitul Hall – the oldest premises in the cathedral – has been restored. It is located in the semi basement and water has for centuries oozed by the walls saturating the bricks and leaving salt on the surface. The bricks which are contemporaries of Bishop Albert have been carefully cleaned. Concerts and wedding parties will be held under the stone arches where supreme spiritual leadership of Livonia used to gather long ago.

Stained-glass windows are multi-color bright now. They were made in Germany and reflect the history of Riga dated back to late XIX century. Earlier glass masterpieces have been completely lost in church pogroms in Reformation times. The stained-glass windows are illuminated in the evening on holidays and the old cathedral resembles a fairy tale castle.

When bells ring…

—The developments in the Dom Cathedral are not just renovation or repairs. They are careful and meticulous restoration of a unique monument in which our experts use all the latest achievements and also experience of predecessors. The smallest carelessness can result in a loss of cultural values, said Didzis Putniņš, Re&Re director general.

If the restoration of another museum – the Stock Exchange – was an international project, the Dom Cathedral is restored only by local experts – thirty best restorers of the country use mostly Latvian materials and pay special attention to their compatibility with ancient constructions. Thus, restored wooden elements are bonded by ancient drop-forged nails which is a three-century old technology.

Today the scaffolds have been removed from the Dom Cathedral. At first sight the symbol of Riga looks like it did before. The paradox is that it was exactly the task of the restorers. The better they do the job the less visible it is. (The only difference is that the cathedral will offer access to handicapped people as it got wheelchair ramps). The work of Latvian masters was highly praised by the head of the World Lutheran Federation Martin Junge who last year visited Riga to see how the Dom Cathedral is transforming.

Head of the Latvian Evangelical-Lutheran Church Archbishop Jānis Vanags dreams of the time when bells will ring in the cathedral’s tower. The bells have been restored and are kept in the yard of the cathedral. Before mounting the tower has to be reinforced with metal constructions to sustain the weight of the bells.

Ancient Riga legend says that once in a hundred years the spirit of water comes out from the Daugava to ask city residents: “Has the construction of Riga been completed?” If somebody responds “Completed” the spirit will immediately grab him under the water. But Riga is permanently built and the evil spirit has to go back every time with nothing. The legend is also true for the Dom Cathedral. Its restoration will cost an estimated 76 million dollars and last ten years. Riga Duma leaders promised to continue investing in the salvation of the cathedral. – It is our duty to preserve the sacred building for next generations, said Riga Vice Mayor Andris Ameriks. While the Rigas Doms is safe and sound everything will be good in its city today and in hundred years. . .

Christina Liepinja,

for Amber Bridge

In the Miss Universe 2012 pageant final held on the night of last December 20 in Las Vegas 20-year old American Olivia Culpo won the crown. Estonia was represented by student Natalya Korneichuk, the winner of Miss Tallinn 2012 beauty contest and the first princess of Miss Estonia 2012 pageant. Although she failed to get even to the top fifteen American media called her performance “one of the strongest in the past years.” Natalya said she was satisfied with the trip and experience.

Were you afraid, Natasha?

I was not very aware of what to expect in Las Vegas although I realized there will be 70 live broadcast TV channels and 700 million viewers. It adds responsibility. I know by experience that 15 seconds before the first appearance are the most horrible ones. Twelve. . . ten. . . eight. . . five. . . Everybody in position and you see the edge of the stage. You shiver, but there is no other option than to subdue the fear and come out with a proudly raised head. As soon as you go on stage all emotions move to the background. You have to do your job. The final is not the most important event when spectators see you on TV. The so-called preliminary performance before the jury which lasts some three hours is more significant as the finalists are determined there. Then the show of national costumes follows and the final.

Preparations for such a large-scale pageant demand major effort. It is not an easy walk. Each day participants meet at 6 hours in the morning at breakfast: everybody has to be fit, relaxed and smile. You have to smile round-the-clock. We succeeded to excellently do it in the first days, but got tired of it soon. Every hour was busy and we could not even make an unplanned step without permission. We stayed all the time in the hotel and were allowed outside only a few times. We were divided in groups of four girls and each group had a mamma – a girl who looked after us, reported the news, and managed the work plan. Miss Italia was my neighbor. Her delegation asked for it as I was the only participant who spoke Italian. So I worked as a translator in the first days and helped Russian and Italian girls with interviews. As for communications, they tell various things about pageants, but all participants decently behaved themselves. As it usually happens the girls formed groups – Latin American countries, Asian, and English-speaking. We had a nice company – Russia, Ukraine, Israel, Italy and me.

See a model in teenager

It is hard to meet a girl today who would not dream of showing herself out. Did you also dream of catwalk, stage, or screen?

On the contrary, I was a diligent schoolgirl and studied well. There were no teenager problems with me and I did not trouble my parents. But all of a sudden my life changed: I was noticed and offered to try myself as a model, i.e. to use both intellect and appearance.

I mastered the fashion industry step by step. I was a pawn and thought why can’t I try and be the queen?

How did they notice you? In the street?

They saw my photos, not me. I placed them in a social network on a popular Estonian website. It was yet before the Facebook era. There were only two photos in which I looked like a true teenager with tumbled hair and a cap and in “military” trousers. I believe it was very difficult to see a model in the teenager. However they did and convinced me to come to a casting. My mother went with me. I was dressed like in the pictures as I hated high heels. I called my classmates who wore high heels in school as dollies. I preferred sportswear or torn jeans, T-shirts and jogging shoes. I remember my mother insisting that I should not go to the theater in the jogging shoes. Strange as it was they offered me to go to Milan. At the age of 16 I could not make independent decisions while my parents were strict people and education was most important for them. I promised in writing to the mother and father that I would never reprimand them if they allow me to try myself in the model business. After long negotiations I left on my first labor contract. Thus I became a model.

Pawn wants to be queen

What did the school of life teach you?

I mastered the fashion industry step by step. I was a pawn and thought why can’t I try and be the queen? I had to thoroughly study how the whole system operates. I specialize in management, business governance, fashion marketing which is haute couture marketing, fashion brand management, and public relations in the sphere. It is definitely a narrow niche however the range of knowledge is big.

You can use it any other business, not only fashion. But I am interested in the fashion industry which I properly know. Now I am learning how the mechanism operates from the other side, not only as a model sees it. It takes time to get to the top of the career ladder and decide yourself (e.g. who is to be the face of the season). It is a long way.

It seems I heard some disdain when you said you were a pawn. A pawn is the only chess figure which does not backtrack. It is the main figure in a certain way.

I meant biased opinion about models. “Are you a model? You are simply nothing! You do what they tell you to do”. That is not true. Naturally we have to thoroughly plan the operating scheme – there is an agent who distributes models and is in charge of them. The work itself is not that easy and simple as it might look. The main problem is the psychological barrier as every day you have to hear not very pleasant words. Today you are too slim, tomorrow you are too fat, the day after tomorrow you have the wrong shape of the nose. Every day you have to reconcile with someone’s dislike of you. You have to go to castings for them to see you, fit you in their brand and decide whether to hire you or not. There are 7-8 castings every day. There will definitely be someone naughty who would spoil your mood and try to humiliate and offend you. The psychological component of the profession is difficult. You have to be very strong to pass the tests and climb to the top which few people can reach.

Were you upset? Did you cry?

I did when I was small. Just imagine: you are sixteen, you go to school where everybody praises you as a good girl. Then you arrive in a new place where nobody cares whether you are good and smart. They closely look at you and say: “Something is wrong with her. Definitely something is wrong. We have to think whether we want to work with you. We have to think hard. And you go to castings while we are thinking.” After a week you no longer remember the words as everyone is caring for you and saying you are so wonderful! Everything is unreliable and fragile in the profession. You can never be hundred percent convinced in tomorrow .

Did you get used to it for long?

I had no time to get used to it as I had to work. First I had to learn to properly walk on high heels. It is an art specifically if you wore only flat shoes before. High heels can deform you leg. So you have to gradually get used to them. I did it with time and even enjoyed it as there was a reverse effect – I stopped wearing jogging shoes and abandoned my sport style. I began to pay more attention to my clothes and to what is fashionable at present. It was a maturing stage when you abandon your previous indifference to how you look. Naturally, it affected my development as a girl and female – you care about your look, you want to be beautiful regardless of the situation, you w ant to enjoy yourself .

The work was different. When I first came to Milan and I began with presentations and worked for the American Guess firm. I am not very tall for the catwalk – 175 centimeters. Milan and specifically Paris like very tall girls and I was too small for the catwalk. My appearance better fits photos, they call it commercial appearance. That is why I mostly posed for pictures: cosmetic brands, e.g. L’Oreal, clothes brands – Fornarina, an Italian brand.

In contrast to beauty industry the model business prefers it natural. No sunrooms, no buildup hair or extended eyebrows. You have to show your natural appearance.

You had to quit your natural look, didn’t you?

It is not that easy. Take the hair color, for example. Now I have brown hair. I changed my natural gray color at the age of 15. “Feathers” were fashionable at the time and I had a multicolor hairdo which I greatly enjoyed. When I first came to an agency they told me I can try myself in the business only if I immediately go to the hairdresser to return my natural color. In contrast to beauty industry the model business prefers it natural. No sunrooms, no buildup hair or extended eyebrows. You have to show your natural appearance.

Much depends on you, but not everything

Is it a myth that all models are stupid?

Don’t forget there are models for sale. It specifically concerns popular models. Why did they become so famous? Because they are for sale. Our Estonian models Karmen Kass and Karmen Pedaru are very intelligent girls. To rise to the top of success you have to be psychologically strong and keen in the fashion industry. You have to know what is happening in it, communicate and be of interest to various people. We work in Milan, Paris, New York, and Asia. There are different cultures. You have to be tolerant and know how to share your culture.

These are not vague generalities! If you are an interesting person and psychologically strong individual who leads a healthy way of life you can achieve success.

Luck is not important, isn’t it?

It is not the only reason, so to say. I have a close friend who is an ideal person without exaggeration. Since the age of 13 she has been dreaming of going to New York and rising to the top of the fashion industry, be recognized and successful. She did a lot to achieve it. She is very intelligent, educated in law, an open and interesting person with a healthy way of life. She did it for her dream, but it did not come true.

What is she doing now?

She is a lawyer back home in Croatia. She was 22 when we met in Milan. She had a higher education, a record in model business, and she helped me a lot. However she failed to succeed in her model career no matter how hard she tried. She went back home and was hired by a law firm. Somebody would say she has a good and prestigious job. But her eyes no longer burn like they did in Milan. There are opposite examples: a girl walked in a street, they noticed her and invited not only as a cover girl, but to the best IMG agency in New York. It was a loud start from the very beginning, a big career. It was luck! Unfortunately, not everything depends on you. But I believe if there is a dream you should try and do everything possible to make it come true. If you fail you will lead a life like all other people do.

Each model dreams of coming to New York. I thought they preferred Paris.

It was Paris before as it was the trendsetter in the fashion industry. Milan as well. Now it is New York. Today you cannot just decide and go to New York. You can go to Milan. Let’s take a beginner model in Tallinn. You can ask to send you to Milan. It is possible to find an agency in Milan that would agree to accept you. It is impossible in New York. There are two options: if you are 14-15 years old and an absolutely new face you have a chance: if you correspond to their criteria they will make a model out of you and will help you. There is no guarantee you will succeed but they may take you because you are young and have a potential. The second option: you have a record in Milan, Paris or London, possibly Madrid or Barcelona, you have a weighty portfolio. Then you may go to New York. They take very strong girls, as a rule. New York is the final stage. Milan is most open today. Paris is more difficult as they are very demanding and captious there. They want every girl to have an ideal shape and appearance. The model industry is quickly developing and girls began to go to Tel Aviv where they shoot excellent photos. Had I earlier said I am going to Tel Aviv it would sound strange, to say the least. Today Israel is a new market with excellent photographers and interesting offers. It is an excellent possibility to fill your portfolio. Or take Asia. Earlier it was considered a secondary market. Now it is very prestigious to work in Singapore or Hong Kong.

Miss Russia told me she had a busy schedule of meetings and events. It is very honorable to be the first beauty of the country.

Pageant — the rules of the game

This year you won Miss Tallinn title and were the First Princess in Miss Estonia pageant and represented the country at Miss Universe 2012 in Las Vegas. Isn’t it enough to be a model? Is it also necessary to be a recognized beauty? How does a model differ from a Miss? Is it a wrong question?

No. There is a difference.

A model means classical facial features, but no bright individuality, no zest, as they say. Actually there is, but it is different, that of a model. As a rule, it is a bright-haired girl with unclear facial features and not very expressive eyes. They can paint whatever they want on such a face and adjust it to any style or brand. A beauty or miss has a catchy appearance with a zest – either bright eyes or puffed lips. A gorgeous girl cannot be a model, as a rule. Naturally, there are exceptions. Brazil’s super model Andriana Lima is very beautiful and popular. But she is mostly a show girl. Suffice it to recall the show of the famous Victoria’s Secret Fashion brand.

The idea to participate in a pageant appeared long ago. At that time I did not study but worked in Milan. It came not to my mind, but to my friends. They suggested participating in a contest. I thought it might be an interesting new guideline.

The first pageant was international and rather difficult. I represented Estonia at Miss Globe International 2011 held in Northern Cyprus. I was very proud of myself when I went there as I had a record in the industry, knew how to walk and how to do the makeup. Everything will be easy and simple! You should have seen how the girls laughed at me when I walked my model way at the first rehearsal. A beauty contest has different rules of the game. Absolutely different! At the first show which introduced each country I put on a black dress, straightened my hair and used shiny lipstick. Then I saw all those dollies with glued eyebrows, buildup hair curls, and bright dresses. God, what is it? We went on stage and I got lost among them. The second rule: natural look does not work at a beauty contest. It does not matter how beautiful or nice you are. You have to be bright and catchy. It is no catwalk, it is a show. Everything is different – bright dresses, curly hair, red lips. In this sense beauty contest participants are true dollies. I realized that if I want to be catchy and equally compete with them I have to play their rules. It was a good lesson: I learned what a pageant is and how it differs from the model industry .

Still I was in the top ten at the pageant and won Miss Photogenic title. It was important that I communicated with girls from various countries. I was surprised to know that beauty contests are very important for many countries. In Venezuela or Spain, for example, the contests are a religion! The culture ministries allocate huge money for them. Girls who want to join Miss Venezuela contest prepare for it since the age of 16. A the age of 18 or 20 they may get to a casting. Miss Venezuela meets the ruling elite and participates in charity. She goes to the United States as it is an important part of national culture for the country. Not only in Venezuela, but in the whole of Latin America. Miss Russia told me the same things. She has a busy schedule of meetings and events. It is very honorable to be the first beauty of the country. It is different in Estonia. Unfortunately, too many pageants have appeared of late. People get confused as there are too many Miss as if there is nothing else to do. Had there been a single national high-level contest which elected the only Miss, the result would be better on the international level, I believe. Last time Miss Estonia enjoyed success at Miss Universe contest 12 years ago. She was among the top ten. Miss Universe pageant was held for the 61st time. In the past 60 years Estonia was in the top ten only once. Competition was tough this time but I did everything possible to properly fulfill my mission.

Preparations for the pageant were the most difficult time as they required a lot of effort to find support and distribute information about the upcoming event in our country. Most participants from other countries arrived in Las Vegas from resorts after rest. They were full of strength while I was already tired by the time of the pageant.

File. Natalya Korneichuk Student of the Design University in Milan specializes in fashion industry marketing and PR. Participant in Elite Model Look 2006

Titles: Miss Tallinn 2012 (winner) First Princess in Miss Estonia 2012 pageant Miss Globe Estonia 2011 (winner) Miss Globe International 2011 (top 10, Miss Photogenic) Speaks Russian, Estonian, English, and Italian.

There were people who helped me selflessly in preparations because they cared how I represent the country. However there should be a special professional team to arrange preparations for such a large-scale event. They say “one cannot conquer alone”. I have mixed feelings at present – joy and disappointment. Joy is because of unique experience which will help progress. I was noticed by international media which positive commented my performance. Interesting options of my career in fashion and show business appeared. Participation in Miss Universe pageant gives you a certain status which is important if you want to work in America or Asia where interest in pageants and the world of beauty is high. I am glad I got new acquaintances and opportunities. Disappointment comes from too much time and effort used in preparations and the result itself. Many people ask which place I occupied. Only top 15 are announced, other results are not published. Anyway, there would be much more chances had the Estonian representative enjoyed strong support of her own country and had a Miss Estonia delegation been present at the pageant with a well-known official sponsor like most countries did. I believe the rest was done as properly as my personal resource allowed me to prepare for the pageant.

Ella Agranovskaya,

for Amber Bridge

No matter how they call Yuri Bashmet one thing is clear – he is one of the few musicians destined to open new horizons and guidelines for future generations. Bashmet made the viol a leader of modern concert art.

On the day of the jubilee Russian President Vladimir Putin awarded the musician with the Order for the Merits to the Motherland IV Degree. It was not the first or last award in the life of the Maestro. His collection includes two French decorations – Legion of Honor Order and the Order of Arts and Letters, Italian Order of Merit of the Italian Republic, Lithuanian Order of the Lithuanian Grand Duke Gediminas…

Decorations are not as important as the breakthrough he achieved in musical art. He raised the viol to a completely new level and moved it from the shade of violins to the center stage. His energy and charm also fill in his everyday life like skills with the fiddle bow do on stage.

Bashmet is a very sincere person. A diplomatic man would keep silent or respond evasively while he is different. He is often attacked for that by people who are not keen in music, specifically classical music, and who devoted all their life to the struggle on political barricades.

My interpretation of Beethoven or Schubert does not depend on the leaders of the country beginning from Brezhnev and up to nowadays. It can transform with years but it does not depend on the instructions of the ruling party and government. When our great composers, e.g. Prokofiev or Shostakovich, had to compose something on order it did not spoil their music. But our people enjoy swimming in political ways. Our pendulum is eternal and swings from one extreme to the other. We unveil monuments and then pull them down. But you cannot change history by revenging monuments. Why did they stop playing Khrennikov’s music? He composed outstanding music, e.g. the First Symphony. He lived and worked in the same time as Shostakovich.

Yuri Bashmet made a breakthrough in musical art. He raised the viol to a completely new level and moved it from the shade of violins to the center stage.

From childhood

Yuri was born in Rostov-on-Don into a typical family of the time. Father Abram was a railway engineer while mother Maya – a philologist and teacher. The father moved to Lvov when Yuri was six. The future violist grew up there and nothing predicted his exciting career.

Lvov was a specific city at the time. The mother was mostly afraid her son would get involved in a bad company and end in prison. Therefore, she quickly enlisted him into a music school to deny free time. Young hooligans were known to walk around in the yard with a violin case. Nobody thought about a viol at the time. It appeared in Yuri’s life later. He disclosed how it happened:

The mother feared bad street company and decided I had to do something after school. The violin was the cheapest instrument. It cost nine or 15 rubles. Thus, I got a violin after I finished the first form. My mother did it all properly. I was not locked up in a room like Paganini and was not compelled to rehearse for eight hours daily. She did not deny me food when I was tired of playing and allowed me to bike. I remember the wise words of Solyarsky: I do not need talented children, I need talented mothers. I was transferred to a specialized music school which combined general and musical education. I had to jump one class in the music school. W e did it with my mother but it turned out there was no free place in the violin class. The mother did not object the viol as she was told it was just a big violin. I was too small for the viol and played the violin in a viol class. When I turned out to be the best violinist in the school my teacher Vishnevskaya did not want me to switch to the viol. The director said he had to consult the parents who would decide.

However it was Yuri who made the decision. He made his choice not because he admired the sounds of viol. There were other reasons for that.

I loved to play guitar — I played in a band and we performed The Beatles songs, but I played the violin for my mom. It was important for her  that I keep studying. Vishnevskaya gave me astonishing technique and I began to feel the breath of the instrument. I met one good violist who said: play the viol and you will have more free time to play the guitar. In the violin class they had to play Paganini eight hours a day. I made the choice which determined my life.

It was excellent life, Yuri recalls. Imagine a boy with long Beatles-like hair who organized his own band that quickly became popular in the city. His hobby even earned him some money. But once classical music accidentally burst into his life. From The Beatles affection Bashmet retained long hair but classical music and spirituality definitely took the upper hand. The great violist recalled how it happened:

Once in school we listened to the Sixth Symphony by Tchaikovsky and the Second Concert by Rachmaninoff. I once woke up the mother and father who listened to Tchaikovsky with me. It is still my beloved music.

So he fell in love. After the Lvov music school Yuri Bashmet entered the Moscow Conservatoire. It was a new stage of his life as he joined the elite of domestic musical art.

I once woke up the mother and father who listened to Tchaikovsky with me. It is still my beloved music.

Conquering the heights

Second-year student Bashmet made a purchase which he cannot abandon up to now – a viol by Paolo Testore (1758). He played various famous instruments created by outstanding masters – Stradivari, Guarneri. However he did not even think to change his old Testore for something new. He is loyal to all his affections. He narrates the viol purchase story as a meeting with a beloved human being.

We were destined to meet. I bought the old instrument in late ’70s when I was first-year student. It cost 1500 rubles — half the price of a Zaporozhets car. I did not have the money. My father borrowed it from acquaintances and relatives and I repaid the amount for long. Half a year later I was offered another instrument for three thousand rubles. Actually I had to sell the old one, borrow more money and buy the new one. But we matched so well with the viol. I no longer looked for new instruments.

Naturally I played Guarneri and Stradivari and know the strength of the instruments. However I have a better understanding with my viol. It is like in marriage — we have mutual under standing.

Second-year student of the Conservatoire Yuri Bashmet became popular in sophisticated musical circles. They spoke about him a lot and said the student had a great future. He was sent to participate in prestigious international competitions. The year of 1975 was decisive as Yuri Bashmet won the second prize at an international competition of violists and a year later received Grand Prix at a competition in Munich.

Next year he graduated from the Conservatoire and was actively engaged in concerts and performed not only in Russia but also in Germany with the Moscow Chamber Orchestra. Two years later the Moscow Conservatoire invited him to work as a teacher in the alma mater. In ten years Bashmet became a master of sciences and then a PhD. He did not idle his time away and always looked for something new in profession. He created and headed an experimental viol desk in the Conservatoire. Besides solo viol repertoire the curriculum also included the history of performing styles of the past and present, a course of viol roles in chamber, opera and symphonic music.

Yuri Bashmet is also the founder and jury chairman of the first and only Russian International competition of violists in Moscow and president of the Lionel Tertis International competition of violists in England. Now his students win international competitions. It was the time when Bashmet’s viol conquered the best concert halls in Europe and many outstanding musicians invited him to join their concerts, among them Stanislav Richter, Mstislav Rostropovich, Isaac Stern, Anne-Sophi Mutter, Gidon Kremer, Viktor Tretyakov, and others.

Distinguished composers began to produce music for him. Alfred Schnittke composed a viol concert for Yuri Bashmet which was his best composition that finally convinced the world that the viol can do everything and is a full-fledged solo instrument. For the first time in world performance history Yuri Bashmet and his old viol gave solo concerts in most popular halls of the world: Carnegie Hall in New York, Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Barbican in London, the Berlin Philharmonic and La Scala in Milan. Nobody has ever dared do it. But Bashmet was born to be a pioneer .

Moscow Soloists — two birthdays of chamber orchestra

Yuri Bashmet became a conductor by chance. He once had to conduct an orchestra to replace ill Valery Gergiyev. It did not trigger major consequences but recollections definitely remained. Then another occasion happened. Yuri Bashmet recalls:

Young and advanced artistic director of La Scala in Milan decided to invite me for a solo concert. The viol played solo for the first time in Italy. It was a courageous undertaking as some audience could be scared off while another attracted. The concert was a success. I was offered to give another concert and it was again a success. It was difficult to find the repertoire for a third concert as not much has been composed for viol. I suggested some sonatas and settings. They rejected saying they needed hits. I have already played Schuman, Brahms, and Schubert. We could hardly find enough compositions for a concert. It was a true repertoire hunger. I understood it was necessary to change the format. There was an idea to switch to a different genre — chamber conducting. I was enthusiastic about it although as a soloist I was extremely negative about conductors. Only few of them feel the music as good as musicians do. A violist is no sound maker and no a virtuoso who kills the audience with professional skills. He is a person who can come close to the idea of the composer and diffract it through himself. There is another type of a thinker or extravagant performer who focuses attention on specifics of his personal interpretation. There are few of them.

Among violinists they are Gideon Kremer and Thomas Tietmye, and Richter was among pianists. You have to display charm on stage. You either have it or not.

The violist has proper charm. In 1986 the Moscow Soloists Chamber Orchestra emerged. Bashmet successfully toured with it for seven and a half years until the musicians decided to remain in France where they had a term contract. Yuri Bashmet numerously said it was a major shock for him. He had to leave the musicians and quit the leadership of the orchestra. But in 1992 he returned to the idea of a chamber orchestra and created a new one. He selected musicians who he knew not by hearsay. They were graduates and post-graduates of the Moscow Conservatoire. Now the Moscow Soloists Orchestra is a brand identity of Russia and a quality sign. In 2008 it won the most prestigious musical prize — Grammy for the best chamber performance of Stravinsky and Prokofiev.

Ten years ago Bashmet headed the New Russia State Symphonic Orchestra which confirms that he never rests on the laurels and is in constant search for a platform for musical experiments. A typical example: on November 28, 2012 Sochi hosted the first gala concert by musicians of the first pan-Russian junior competition launched by Yuri Bashmet. However the story of the first Moscow Soloists who preferred to stay in France raises a question: why has the maestro never even hinted about settling down somewhere in Europe and visit Russia only occasionally?

Yuri Bashmet explained it frankly and comprehensively:

There are things which are difficult to explain. You do not voice them. Such simple notions as music, listener, performer contain much more than it seems. When I travel in Russia the notions unite in one community. The audience is mine while I belong to it. It is the main and exciting difference between a concert in Russia and outside it. I value a concert in the Big Hall of the Moscow Conservatoire higher than in Carnegie Hall. You can find the same understanding and feeling abroad only if there is big Russian Diaspora — Israel or America. Otherwise nobody and nowhere has the same emotions as in Russia. There is only love to some performers which develops with years. Naturally, it exists in Italy, France or England but I lack what is above the music there. There is no common language. The audience has not left me and it means the listeners lead a complex life. I am not saying their life is not bright. There are things which are not explained by words. We breathe them. There is an incredible understanding between those who live in Russia. It unites us…

Bashmet narrates the purchase story of his viol which plays up to now as a meeting with a beloved human being.

There are things which you do not write or say. They are in the air. For example, everyone wants to leave the country to enjoy freedom. But to have freedom you need an address to be free from something. If there is no address it is no freedom but anarchy. I like my address which is Moscow, Russia. I like to come back there.

Few words about why Yuri Bashmet agrees to perform not only in Moscow and St. Petersburg but also in small towns which are usually called provincial:

I like it in the provinces. It is important for my work to keep the current communications running. You feel me and I feel you. The same happens with music. A small town often gives more than a concert abroad because people listen to music differently here. For small town classical music is a discovery, a revelation.

Talented in all

Everything what Yuri Bashmet undertakes becomes a major event. Besides music he did not hesitate to star in a continuation of the ASSA blockbuster By Sergei Solovyov. The first part was shot for the generation which grew up in the 1980s, while the second takes place 20 years later for current generation and speaks about its problems and rock music. It was also an experiment as Bashmet recalled his affection to rock and electric guitar in young years. It was exciting to see him performing Want to Sky song together with the Leningrad band of Sergei Shnurov.

Did Bashmet dream of anything which did not come true? The maestro was frank:

Only in music. I have done a lot out of my plans. For example, I dreamt of performing Shostakovich and Tchaikovsky. It has happened and reoccurred numerous times. What is impossible is to learn the Second Concert by Rachmaninoff and perform it on piano. I do not have enough skills. So there are things which I will never accomplish, unfortunately.

It seems there is no sense to continue describing Yuri Bashmet. On the eve of his jubilee he gathered a group of journalists and told them what he thinks is important in life, which rules are obligatory for any person who considers himself to be a decent man.

Human decency

I often say that human decency is most important. If I have to decide whether to keep a less talented musician in the orchestra and teach him playing or instead keep an indecent genius, I prefer the former. Such things happened in my life, but thanks God there were only two cases. An act by a musician contradicted my principles. I cannot tolerate you-be-damned attitude to business. Overall quality should not suffer because of one person.

Musician or conductor?

It is difficult to answer the question in two words. Naturally, I am changing. One thing is to be a soloist and quite another to be a conductor. These are different states of mind. Have you ever played the roulette? He who played will understand me. It is like putting one chip on red and another on black and wait what happens. In that sense no matter how brilliantly Rostropovich conducted he still remains a great cellist. No matter how good Pletnev conducted he still is a great pianist. The same concerns Spivakov. I was the first to make the viol a soloist. Therefore, they associate me first and foremost with a violist, not conductor.

Although… I am no conductor in life but when I stand at the conductor’s desk it becomes necessary to use your will and power to carry a hundred people with you. One specialty is too narrow for me. It is impossible to play one and the same music by a dozen composers all your life in order to travel the world and earn a living. I want to have something new and develop myself and the repertoire.

About violist Danilov

I was already popular when the novel came out. They called me different names — demonic (for long hair), Paganini, and even Gagarin for the breakthrough of the viol into soloist life. I have long reconciled with comparison to violist Danilov although initially it irritated me. I found the author — Vladimir Orlov and the violist who he described in the novel. His name was Vladimir Grot. He was slim, tall, had a beard and worked in the Bolshoi Theater. A hundred percent demon! I even held his viol in my hands. Mine is better. When the novel came out again for the 36th time and it happened in Japan they put my portrait on the cover without permission. What can I do about it? Years passed and it all settled down. A month and a half ago my friend and composer Sasha Tchaikovsky told me: “I have the first night of Violist Danilov opera in Porkovsky theater. I devoted it to you”. A gain violist Danilov!

Musical joke from Yuri Bashmet

Jokes are mostly invented by musicians, I believe by violinists. They do it because of envy as viol does not demand so much training as violin. I will tell you a joke: the conductor did not come to a performance. What is to be done as the loss of concert means a big budget hole? They began to call another conductor, then another one, but all of them were busy. All of a sudden the violist in the back row said the whole concert program was his 25-year old diploma. So he suggested to conduct the orchestra. He got to the stand and the orchestra performed concerts for four days. Then the conductor came and the violist went back to his place. His neighbor violist asked him: “Where have you been all the time?”

Andrei Karavaev,

for Amber Bridge

The Lithuanian scientific community has recently marked the centenary of the birth of Leo Vladimirov (1912-1999), a scholar, historian and book expert whose effort helped return 20 thousand rare and valuable book collections to the library of the Vilnius University. They used to belong to it, but were withdrawn after the closure of the university in 1832. The Vilnius University and the library prepared an exhibition of the rare restituted publications which will be open up to the middle of this year. Thanks to Professor Vladimirov the most valuable for Lithuanians book – Catechism by Martynas Mazvydas – returned back home. The first book in the Lithuanian language was published in Konigsberg in 1547 and besides the basics of religion comprised also the Lithuanian alphabet. Thus it laid the basis for Lithuanian script and for the formation of national conscience. .

Only the restitution of lost treasures would be sufficient for the inclusion of Vladimirov into the list of personalities who greatly influenced the cultural development of the country. He was also the founder of a new guideline in library work. He initiated the creation of a library and scientific information desk in the Vilnius University which trained librarians while all institutes in Lithuania got a course of information basics and prepared a concept of computerized system of scientific and technical information. Today it will hardly surprise anyone. But Leo Vladimirov introduced the new course over 40 years ago as if he foresaw the advent of the era of computers with their major possibilities. The foundation he created (Vladimirov quit the desk at the age of 78 in 1990) was used by the Vilnius University to launch a year later a faculty of communications which united the bibliography, information systems, and communications theory desks.

He is the author of scientific works about printing pioneers – Francis Skaryna who published the book Apostle in Vilno in 1525 according to the sign on the front page, and Ivan Fedorov, as well as about the role of Vilno (as Vilnius was called in the Middle Age) in the emergence of book printing in Eastern Europe.

He said his main work was the General Book History. Its first part that covered a period from the ancient world to the XVII century initially came out in the Lithuanian and then (in 1988) in the Russian language. The second part has never come out as publishers changed priorities. In preparations for the birth centenary of Vladimirov the Vilnius University jointly with its library published a beautiful catalogue of restituted books – Vetera reducta. The proceeds are to be used for the publication of the second part of the book by the professor .

A brilliant intellectual and erudite who was awarded medals and other decorations by the United Nations, Vatican, the Lithuanian Gediminas Order III degree, the Belarussian Francis Skaryna medal, and the Red Star military order, Vladimirov enjoyed love and respect of the people in Lithuania who call him selfless patriot of the country.

At first there was the Book

Speaking about his teacher the academic secretary of the Lithuanian Academy of Sciences, Domas Kaunas, was confused whether Vladimirov was a Russian, Lithuanian, or a citizen of the world. He called him “a European”. In reality Vladimirov was a third-generation citizen of Lithuania but always called himself a representative and heir of the Russian culture. That becomes clear from the role of books in his life.

His grandfather Ivan Vladimirov graduated from a medical college and was invited to work as a doctor in a small Lithuanian town of Telsai. He founded the first hospital in the province and was awarded the title of honorable citizen for that. His family preserved the traditions of Russian intelligentsia of the time: they read books out loud in the evenings, both classical and new ones. The home library had five thousand books. There was a cult of Leo Tolstoy with who Ivan Vladimirov corresponded. It was he who insisted that his first grandson be called Leo. As the First World War broke out the grandfather was enlisted into the army and served as a colonel in command of a division field hospital. As the German troops advanced his family left the native place and resettled to Ukraine from where they came back home in 1920. Ivan Vladimirov was the first to return. He was shocked to see that the library was burnt down by the Germans. The most valued relic – a letter from Leo Tolstoy – was also destroyed. Ivan Vladimirov died in 1921 after all the hardships he experienced, as well as typhoid at the front.

Children and grandchildren of Ivan Vladimirov returned back to a ruined home. Everything was looted. Leo’s father Ivan, a graduate from the St. Petersburg Technological Institute was an engineer by profession. Together with his cousin he invented and patented a substance to clean steam boilers from lime deposits. When the family came back to Lithuania he could not find employment. His wife Stefanija Daujotaite, a descendant of the ancient Lithuanian Daujotaite family, could not resume her medical practice either. She was the first woman from Lithuania who received higher medical education first in Switzerland and then in Tartu University where she qualified as a dentist. Her dentist’s office was also looted.

The Vladimirovs did not surrender on the brink of misery. They moved to Siauliai and in 1926 opened there a commercial library-shop with subscriptions and also signed a deal with Kaunas publishers where they received all the latest publications. The library had a bookbinding and restoration workshop. By the ’40s the business began to yield modest proceeds. Leo Vladimirov recalled that since the age of 12 he enjoyed helping the mother with compiling the catalogue. At that time he studied in a German boarding school in Silute. It was a deliberate choice as the only Russian school was far away in Kaunas while the German one won was famous for the quality of education. The parents reasonably believed the knowledge of yet another language would be good for the son who spoke Russian, Lithuanian, and Polish. Besides, it was important that it was a boarding school where children were fed and looked after for a modest pay. Coming back home on Saturdays and Sundays and later for holidays as a student of the Anglo-German desk of the humanitarian faculty of the Kaunas University Vladimirov worked in the home library-shop, delivered books, accepted orders, and registered new book arrivals. However he did not knew at the time that library would become his life-work.

Vladimirov met his future wife Irina Reingard, the daughter of a Russian Navy officer and captain second rank, in Kaunas University. Upon graduation he was already married but could not find employment by profession and began his career in an insurance company.

Deliberate choice

When World War Two broke out Ivan Vladimirov with sons Leo and Andrei joined the retreating Red Army to fight the Nazis. They were in Belarus and in one town saw children rescuing books from a burning school and handing them out to Red Army soldiers. One of them gave a book to Leo Vladimirov. It was the second volume of War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy.

The book became a mascot for him and he learned many of its parts by memory. Leo Vladimirov fought in the war in the 16th Lithuanian Rifle Division. He was wounded several times and suffered concussions but survived and returned back home in the rank of a captain. On his way back home via liberated Belarus he presented the book to the first school he saw on his way. He joined the Communist Party at the front. It was a difficult but deliberate choice. He was sure it was the omnipotent political force that routed Nazis who he considered criminals destroying everything valued by a person educated by the ideas and behests of great Russian humanists.

In the XX century the fates of Russian people deprived of historic Motherland interlaced into curious patterns. While Leo fought in the Red Army his wife Irina together with small daughter Natasha found refuge from the war in the house of her father Fedor Reingard, a convinced monarchist who hated the Soviet power. His name went down in big letters into the history of pre-war Lithuania.

The noble Reingard family settled down in Lithuania in the early 18th century in the time of Rzeczpospolita near the town of Ukmerge where the they owned spacious land. All male representatives of the family were professional military men. They were Russian Germans loyal to Russia and the emperor. Fedor Reingard, a graduate from the Navy Academy in St. Petersburg, was no exception.

His life offers a script for an exciting novel about time and people. He fought in the Russian-Japanese war and was taken prisoner in Port Arthur although, according to peace treaty terms, he could have avoided captivity as an officer had he sworn to never fight against the Japanese. However he decided to share the fate of ordinary sailors. Fedor Reingard described his adventures in memoirs Short Life – Much Experience. Impressions of a Young Officer about War and Captivity which are valuable for Navy historians. He later served in the Baltic and Northern fleets.

A convinced monarchist he rejected the Bolshevik revolution, quit the command of a battleship and resigned. He said he witnessed “a complete collapse of the country in which I do not want to participate” He was insulted by the new rules in the Navy, senseless deaths of sailors and outrageous reprisals against officers. He wrote in his memoirs: “The Russian fleet participated in numerous battles and I saw many ships sink, but I do not remember a single case when an officer would rescue himself before all sailors were safe. The revolutionaries failed to stain the honor of Navy officers.”

He was naturally arrested for his convictions and had to be executed, but sailors who admired their commander saved him. He took his family to Ukraine from where he proceeded to Crimea together with the Volunteer Army of the White Guards. When Crimea fell to the Red Army he organized evacuation of the military and their families to Turkey aboard the Kronstadt transport ship.

In Turkey he made a boat to earn a living by fishing and transportation. In 1922 the Reingards returned to Lithuania and settled in Kaunas. Their natives land near Ukmerge was nationalized by the time. As an experienced professional Fedor was recruited into the Lithuanian army in the rank of lieutenant-colonel. He lectured Navy skills in Kaunas Technical School and later founded a joint-stock company engaged in cargo sea transportation. It was the first merchant marine in Lithuania which had two vessels. In the summer of 1940 the Soviet troops occupied Lithuania and Fedor Reingard was arrested and placed in custody in the 9th Kaunas fort where he again was waiting for execution. The offensive of German troops saved him and he found himself at large. The German occupation authorities proposed to him to head a Kaunas factory if he adopts German citizenship, but he refused. Educated in the best traditions of Russian army officers he remained honest and decent to himself in any situation. He did not understand and rejected both the Soviet power and Nazi order .

In the summer of 1944 the Soviet army liberated Lithuania and Fedor Reingard realized he would be definitely executed this time. He left the country alone (the family refused to leave) and died of a heart attack in 1947 in Bavaria. According to his will, he was buried at an Orthodox cemetery. He described the horrors of the civil war and the tragic turns of his life in memoirs. The manuscript was brought to Lithuania by a Lithuanian captain and a part of the book is kept in the Maritime Museum in Klaipeda. In 2000 some of the chapters were translated into the Lithuanian language. They were published under the title Navyman, Officer, Condemned Man.

Granddaughter Natalya of Fedor Reingard was born on the eve of the war and recollected the war life in the house of her granddad by the maternity line:

— I was very little at the time. When the war broke out the father went to Russia to fight the Germans. He participated in the Kursk and Oryol battles in the 16th Lithuanian Rifle Division and liberated Klaipeda region where he was several times wounded. But we did not know anything about him and lived with the granddad and grandma in a spacious house near Kaunas which the granddad built. We had a picturesque big garden planted by the granddad. Fedor Fedorovich was a strict man, but also a reasonable house master and a do-all man. I did not know what huger was during the war as the fruit and vegetable gardens fed us and not only us. The granddad lived on the upper floor and pretended not to interfere into female affairs. The mother and grandma sheltered several Jewish families in the basement. There were also Soviet soldiers who hid in the house from time to time. One of them, a Georgian, loved to play with me and said I resembled his sister. Many years later I received a present from Georgia: a silver spoon with To Natasha inscription. I also remember how together with the grandma we went through the fields to a POW camp. The grandma gave me a basket with bread. I came close to the barbed wire and put pieces of bread into stretched out hands. Naturally, there was not enough for all.

— As far as I understand, there were deep political contradictions in the family. Did they impede the life of the family?

— The granddad by maternity line was a convinced monarchist. The old-school grandma was from St. Petersburg where she received education and lived according to her outlooks. All her numerous brothers and sisters died in the Civil war between White Guards and the Red Army. The mother was not excited by the Soviet power, to put it mildly. The father joined the Communist Party during the war and responded to all mother’s remarks: “I made a deliberate decision and have no right to reject it.” In all other aspects the parents understood each other well and refrained from fanning conflicts because of personal convictions which every person has the right to have.

Affection turned into profession

After the war Leo Vladimirov worked in the republican planning committee which opened major career prospects for him. However one telephone call from the director of the Vilnius University who invited him to head the library of the institution changed everything. He immediately quit the well-paid job and headed the ineligible business. There were close to 30 confused staff who did not know what to begin with in a building with broken ceilings and ruined book stock by the Germans. The new director focused on training top quality librarians and bibliographers for the republic. Upon his initiative the university launched first a desk and in several years a department of librarians, the first in the USSR. Vladimirov compiled a training plan, gathered a team of lecturers, and himself lectured several courses in theory and history of library organization.

His main task was to restore and replenish library stock. The fate of the library of the Vilnius University which was closed by the tsar in 1832 after the 1830 Polish uprising was miserable. Most valuable books were transferred to educational establishments in Moscow, Petersburg, Kiev, Odessa. Various circumstances brought many books to Poland and Germany. Vladimirov wanted most of all to return to Vilnius the publications that belonged to the university and were kept in the Soviet Union. It was necessary to compile a preliminary list of withdrawn books for that and determine search directions. He made titanic effort and used his charm and diplomatic skills to fulfill his plans and convince those in power in Vilnius and Moscow to help.

Then Lithuanian Communist leader Antanas Sneckus supported the effort and the valuable Catechism by Martynas Mazvydas printed in 1547 was exchanged and returned from Odessa University to Lithuania. In the ’50s of the last century the family did not practically see Vladimirov as he constantly traveled to find books from Lithuania and have them returned back. It is only natural that no book keeper would voluntarily part with his stock. Vladimirov was often barred from libraries as their directors knew it was sufficient for him to just have a look at the cover page to determine the origin of the book. Thanks to his effort the Lenin library in Moscow returned such rare publications as Catechism by Mikalojus Dauksa (printed in 1595) and the only surviving copy of Francis Skaryna’s Apostle printed in Vilnius in 1525. Under Vladimirov the university book stock increased by one million printed publications. He was the first librarian who launched exchange with European countries without a single ruble from the budget.

A lesson to America

In 1964 the United Nations announced a contest to hire the director of its new library in New York. There were 18 contenders from the United States, Canada, Japan, Hungary, and other countries. The chances of Vladimirov, a Russian from Lithuania and a Communist, were slim. The requirements were strict. However Vladimirov won not only because he was fluent in six languages but mostly due to his superior professional qualities. Professional circles in the world were well aware of his noble cause of returning lost treasures back home and called him “book catcher from Vilnius”.

He worked as the director of the UN library in New York from 1964 to 1970. He began with computerizing (!) the stock and replacing manual information processing by mathematical. Even in America not everyone understood at the time the necessity of using computers for search purposes. Vladimirov was convinced electronic library search had to provide access to all those wishing not only to the source of information (references to books and magazines) but directly to the information. Many library-goers complained that it took too much time to find a reference while librarians had to sort several thousand cards a day. Besides, affiliates of the library were scattered around the world and each of them had its own book registration system. Vladimirov developed the New York library into a guiding center of all UN libraries with a single computerized information system.

After his innovations the biggest in the world Library of the US Congress got an electronic catalogue and thus became accessible for everyone. In New York Vladimirov wrote a book about pioneer printer Francis Skaryna and held an exhibition in the library devoted to the outstanding personality of Belarussian culture. He prepared essays on the history of books and libraries in Lithuania from the 15th century up to 1917 which comprised the basis of his scientific thesis. He also considered it to be his duty to develop cultural ties with Lithuanian emigrants and constantly lectured in various American universities about cultural life in Lithuania.

Back in Lithuania he found out that the post of the director of the university library was occupied. Vladimirov was offered a similar post in Moscow in the Foreign Literature Library, as well as in Minsk. But he preferred to stay in Vilnius where for many years he headed the university desk of library organization and scientific information. He modestly called himself “only a librarian” but could foresee the possibilities and horizons provided by computer technologies.

His creative legacy comprises close to 400 works in various languages and fundamental works about pioneer printers Francis Skaryna and Ivan Fedorov. In 1988 his monumental work General Book History came out. Only the first volume was printed and he worked on the second one up to the end of his life. His heirs have the manuscript but unfortunately cannot have it published because of financial problems. Several Moscow publishing houses initially agreed however later postponed the publication for unclear reasons.

He was not afraid of anything

Natalya Vladimirova recalled that her father was a fearless man and always said the truth and advocated his opinion. He told his children: “Do not be ever afraid of anything. Let others be afraid and think you have some backup”.

She remembers that the father spent all the time at his working desk and children were strictly prohibited from interfering. He was a taciturn, but joyful and witty man. If the mother complained about naughty children and jokingly suggested to lash her madcap son Yuri he always responded: “I cannot do it today. I am kind today”. In general he entrusted the mother with upbringing of two daughters and the son. There was a deep spiritual relationship and full mutual understanding between the couple.

Sometimes he teased the wife by reading Mayakovsky verses which she disliked. When he saw she was angry he switched to Pushkin. But he was very attentive to her. When his wife was hospitalized he every day told her about a new episode of Santa Barbara soap opera which was aired on TV at that time. The mother passed away five years before the father died in 1999. He could not cope with the less. It seemed to the children he continued to live with his spouse and she was always present in his undertakings and work.

It is inspiring that Leo’s grandchildren continued his cause. They grew up in international families with a mixture of Lithuanian, Russian, and Jewish blood. Natalya’s daughter Nina works in the Russian literature department of the Martynas Mazvidas Library. Other grandchildren are software engineers and experts in information which is also close to the grandfather. Under his leadership over two dozen most talented students defended their theses. At a seminar devoted to Leo Vladimirov one of his students and the head of the rare book department of the university library Ina Kazuro admitted sadly there are no people of Vladimirov’s scope, true patriots of Lithuania in the modern history of the country. It remains to wait and see. . .

Galina Afanasyeva,

for Amber Bridge

Stockholm has a suburban island called Lidingo. It is linked with the mainland by a bridge under which seagoing vessels pass. On the high western coast of the island which opens a view on the capital city there is one of the main Stockholm sights which any tourist should be blamed for not seeing. It is called Millesgorden. “Gord” is translated into Russian as farmstead. It resembles Russian “grad” or town. Etymologic kinship is not excluded as Russians and Vikings had good contacts. Milles means Carl Milles, world renowned sculptor and one of the main inhabitants of the Swedish Pantheon of Arts.

When you drive to the island across the Lidingo bridge you can see Millesgorden – the house of Milles – on your right although it is difficult as the building is far away and coalesces with the landscape. When you arrive to the farmstead it is hard to comprehend the kaleidoscope of feelings that hit you like a sea wave. Stockholm is a quiet city while life on the island is completely still. I believe it much better reflects the immediate metamorphosis taking place when you step into the temple of arts.

Like any temple Millesgorden is located on a hill that sharply cuts into the sea. There are railings at the edge saving tourists from a fall and helping them quietly admire the view. If the day is bright and the sun is shining you can imagine the Baltic, Aegean of Black Sea that wash the warm coasts of Europe. You are surrounded by statues – bronze, marble, fullsize or colossal that stand in open air surrounded by trees and bushes. Those who were in Koktebeil will definitely recall something from Maximilian Voloshin who praised the antique beauty of nature best of all.

Nip yourself to wake up and forget sweet southern voices and look at the masterpieces by a Scandinavian genius. They fill in his own museum which he created for himself and handed over to the people as a gift.

Carl Milles collected his farmstead by pieces. In 1905 he married Olga Gunner, an Austrian artist who he met in Paris in 1899. He bought a plot of land on the Herserud Mountain and the couple planned to build a house with a studio there. Construction was completed in 1908 and in the ’20s there was a possibility to buy another plot of land which bordered on the existing one. The expansion allowed the Milles couple to create a spacious natural park which anyone wishing can come to admire.

Milles for the first time thought of arranging a museum when he was in France where every “decent artist” has a duty to go to train skills, feel the atmosphere, communicate with colleagues and make acquaintances. His biographer Eric Neslund said Milles wrote in a letter to his future wife about plans to turn the Paris studio into a museum. When the couple bought land and began construction the idea was definitely there.

“The reason why I want to implement the idea despite major costs is that I want to leave something beautiful after me,” Milles wrote to a friend in the year he completed the house.

Milles for the first time thought of arranging a museum when he was in France where he thought he had a duty to go to train skills and feel the atmosphere.

Two nourishing elements for Milles

It was not occasional that Milles chose the coast. The house stands on a cliff over an abyss exactly like the villa of well-known industrialist Ernest Thiel dashed up into the sky in full compliance with Nietzsche’s imperative. The sea view offers an eternal source of ideas and inspiration for any man of arts. “You can hardly imagine how grandiose the sea is,” Milles wrote to Olga from Normandy. “I can see nothing but the blue-green sea and air. . . It is the same water which washes the coasts of America, the same waves which flow the coast of England, Spain, Portugal, the same salt as in the waters around Africa.”

Water and air are the two elements that nourished Milles. He wanted his sculptures to overcome terrestrial gravity, break free from it and levitate over the world and water. He achieved it. You get the feeling when you first see them. . .

Carl Emil Wilheim Milles was born on June 23, 1875 in a place called Lagga not far from Uppsala into a family of a military man. His actual family name was Andersson which is as common as Ivanov and Petrov in Russia. According to biographers, the father was a strict and tough man who loved arts and strived for romanticism. However grownup Milles remembered that in childhood he only feared the man.

Despite such an attitude of the son the father deserves a brief narration mostly due to his character. Poorness did not allow August Emil Sebastian Andersson finish school and like many teenagers he went to work at sea where he spent six years. He studied in free hours and back home successfully passed exams in a Stockholm male college and even made headlines.

The education exploit of the young seafarer was noticed by the Royal court of his Majesty King Carl XV: Emil Andersson was invited to the highest audience. He entered the Carlberg military school as a result. Five years later the young officer requested a transfer to serve in the French army and in July 1868 was enlisted into the Imperial Versailles Chaser Guards battalion. He then served in Algeria, participated in skirmishes with Arab tribes, and in war with Germany. He was wounded, recovered in hospital, was in German captivity and escaped. He returned to Sweden and was enlisted in the Royal Upland Regiment and married Valborg Maria Tessel, a daughter of a chemist. In 1874 his father-in-law helped him buy Erbu mansion in Lagga where future sculptor Carl Milles was born a year later. By that time they already had two-year daughter Ruth and another son, Stig, was born four years later. The mother then dies of scarlet fever. The father married Olga Setrin after some time who gave birth to three more children. The previous father-in-law was outraged by neglect to the memory of his daughter and recalled all mortgage bonds he provided for the mansion of the son-in-law. Emil Andersson had to declare himself broke. He left Erbu, retired and resettled to Goteborg.

As a complete Francophil Emil Andersson provided French education to his children. As well as food habits. He also worked to develop artistic interests in them. Milles recalled that the father put his four-six-year old children on his knees and spoke about great artists, showed reproductions of their paintings – Michelangelo, Raphael, Bramante, Donatello, Verrocchio.

Small Carl had poor health and suffered from asthma and rickets which exhausted all his forces. It was difficult for him to study in school. Asthma impeded his breath when he had to read out loud, other disciplines were of no interest to him and some were even hated. For example, history which made him constantly memorize various dates. In Stockholm Milles lived in the apartment of his father’s acquaintance who did not care about his school marks and the boy was thrown upon his own resources in the studies. Quite often Carl went to the seaport in the morning to watch vessels and dream of sailing to distant countries. He talked to sailors all of who promised to take him with them but none has fulfilled the promise.

When the father learned about the son’s passion for the sea and recalled his own youth

and took the boy to a ship’s doctor for examination whether he is fit for maritime

service. The doctor said the boy was too small and weak for any work at sea.

Most of all Carl enjoyed wood cutting in school. At the age of 14 he made a violin.

However a year later he failed to produce a single sound from it. The father thought his son was silly because of bad marks. “What for am I punished with elder son an idiot!” Milles heard him telling his new wife.

In the final end Emil decided to send his son to a carpenter who had a workshop in Stockholm. Carl had to go to furniture clients, boil glue, polish wooden surfaces, and shop for food. At the same time he went to a technical evening school. He designed furniture there, sculptured in plaster which helped him make a new step – enter an artistic-industrial college.

Upon graduation in 1897 and receiving a scholarship of 200 kronas Carl decided to go to Paris. By that time he already worked independently and together with a friend from the technical school was engaged in refined artistic cutting of oak stair posts for a villa in the capital city and made small wooden sculptures which he sold to local jewelers. He was attracted to Paris by the dreams of creative future and the desire to break free into a big world from family bonds and poor living conditions.

Water and air are the two elements that nourished Milles. He wanted his sculptures to overcome terrestrial gravity, break free from it and levitate over the world and water .

How Andersson became Milles

At that time France was the world center of sculpture. Numerous artists worked there and even more graduated from various artistic schools. When Milles arrived in Paris everybody there spoke about Auguste Rodin, a contradicting genius of the time and an artistic titan today. The destiny favored the young Swede and he soon met the master and became his assistant. The acquaintance gave a lot to the beginning sculptor. Rodin had numerous projects but did not do the rough stone cutting himself and entrusted it to disciples and assistants. It was the first assignment of Carl. However it was not by chance that he was invited to the studio. Rodin saw his works and liked them. He himself did not become a sculptor at once and in young years earned his living as a decorator, including at the Sevres porcelain factory. He won recognition in mature age.

Like Milles Rodin neglected schoolwork (although the comparison should be vice versa as Rodin was older than Milles when they met). He was not interested in anything but drawing. In the final end he convinced his father to send him to a school that trained artists, jewelers, decorators and the like. The skills he acquired helped him make both ends meet much longer than Milles earned a living as wood cutter. However should we think about bad marks, neglected schoolwork, torn pants and bonks when we admire The Thinker, The Kiss, Orpheus, the Man and Pegasus? They are only the undercoat for magnificent works.

Speaking about Milles’ life in Paris we have to explain his family name which differs from the original of his father and relatives. Carl Andersson himself invented the new name. Mille was the short name for Emil and kids were called “Milles barn” or the children of Mille. In France the young Swede communicated with men of arts and wanted to look French. The generalized Milles barn phrase fitted properly for it as it sounded French. He moved the word stress to the second syllable and called himself Carl Milles to the end of his life.

Milles won acclaim as a sculptor for the monument to the regent of Sweden, Sten Sture, the fighter for independence related to secession from the Kalmar Union. In 1471 he routed the Danish army of King Christian I in the battle of Brunkeberg. In 1871, during celebrations of the 400th anniversary of the event, it was decided to perpetuate the memory of the outstanding personality. However thirty years had to pass for decisions to begin implementing.

A contest for the monument was announced in 1901. Carl Milles who lived in Paris at the time decided to bid and compete with three other sculptors. Next year the commission announced its decision and Milles’ project was the last in the list. It was a failure and there was no use to argue. However “broad public” of students supported Milles and said the decision was unfair as Milles’ project was the best. They accused commission members of bias and demanded to review contest results. A new commission was appointed and awarded the victory to Milles and ordered a sketch.

It took a long time for the stone Sten Sture to emerge in the center of Uppsala. Twenty-three years passed. The monument was unveiled in 1925. Wisecrackers joked: too much stone, too little Sture. In Swedish “sten” means stone. Anyway the monument brought first acclaim to Milles.

Another major work was the sculpture of the most distinguished Swedish King Gustav Vasa, the reformist liberator. In contrast to other sculptures Milles produced a colored statue. His wife Olga did the painting. A plaster sketch was made in 1905. At that time the construction of the Nordic Museum was underway. It is another major sight of Stockholm which is more impressive by the exterior of a magnificent castle rather than by the interior .

It is actually a natural history museum. As natural history is of interest to schoolchildren and experts the museum does not attract major tourist flows. Architect Isaac Gustav Clason was excited by Milles’ Vasa and wanted it to stay in the center hall and be there on the opening day of the museum. He asked the sculptor to do that.

When the doors of the museum opened in 1907 the visitors were welcomed by great

six-meter high polychrome king whose name is very popular in the country. He sat on a golden throne mounted on a big pedestal dressed in gala gold-red attire. One hand rested on a sword while the other showed a fist to confirm his serious intentions. The king was made of plaster which is non-durable material. It was suggested to make the same Vasa from wood, preferably oak as its lasts for centuries. However the plans demanded major financing which was difficult to find. The wooden monarch replaced the plaster one only in 1925. Today he continues to welcome visitors in the castle that is also a museum which can be quite disappointing for the king.

Personal exhibition held in London’s Tate in 1927 was an important landmark for Milles which brought him international fame. Its repercussions went as far as overseas.

Creativity as eternity

Milles visited the United States for the first time in 1929. Biographers said he and his wife considered emigrating there and resettled in 1931. The decision was prompted by the warm welcome to the sculptor in America, on the one hand, and Olga’s dislike of Sweden where she lacked comfort, on the other. The couple settled down in Blumfield Hills suburb of Detroit. The Cranbrook Foundation artistic school there offered Milles to head the sculpture desk. He worked there for 20 years. In 1945 Carl and Olga obtained U.S. citizenship, but in the ’50s decided to go back to Europe. This time they chose Rome for residence (which is only natural for a sculptor if he does not plan to live in his native country). Grateful Cranbrook Foundation provided them an apartment with a studio and promised to pay for it up to the end of their life.

From 1945 the Milles visited Millesgorden mostly in summer. By that time the house, the park and other buildings were handed over to the people as a gift. It was their northern Hellas with naiads, tritons, Orpheus, sea shells, playful dolphins and other “wave-runners”.

Flight, ascent from the earth were likely the main distinguishing traits of Milles style.

The change in the initial Milles style was over by 1913. At least art experts and biographers say that. He stuck to strict and direct lines before, but later his works acquired traits of Greek antiquity. He specifically stressed the silhouette and raised the sculptures high into the air . Flight, ascent from the earth were likely the main distinguishing traits of Milles style. If you look at the angels with musical instruments sculptural group in Millesgorden you can see that the winged figures have only touched columns with toes for a second and will jump up again as butterflies to the air to play pipes and tubes.

I am personally most impressed by Milles’ sculpture Man and Pegasus which stands in the Palace Park of Malmo. The horse and the man are united in audacious flight to the home of Gods – Olympus. There are not a horse and a horseman, but two equal creatures flying close to each other. The man only slightly touches Pegasus’ wing with his foot while the horse touches the pedestal with its wing. There are no other supports which creates an absolute illusion of a flight. As many others the sculpture is mounted high above ground and people see both figures in the sky. In bright weather the blue sky personifies eternity .

Milles’ love for water is seen in abounding fountains the design of which is linked to water. Most famous are the Aganippe fountain named after an ancient Greek mythology nymph which Milles made for the Metropolitan Museum in New York, and Orpheus fountain standing at the entrance to the Concert Hall in Stockholm where Nobel Prizes are awarded. The sculptural group of the fountain comprises nine statues. The face of one of it resembles Beethoven which is not accidental as for Milles the composer personified artistic genius to which he strived himself. Some of the critics called Orpheus “a sculptural expression of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony”. They say Milles was particularly pleased with the praise.

He was extremely exuberant in creativity. To understand everything you do not have to go to all cities and countries where his sculptures stand. It is enough to come to Millesgorden. He is buried in the museum he created himself. Narration about Milles will not be complete if we forget one not very noble corner of his inside world – political views which manifested themselves in good attitude to German Nazism and Italian Fascism.

Milles’ biographers began to speak about that side of his life only in the ’90s. Before that they bypassed it either because of unwillingness to offend relatives and close kin or due to friendly relations with Milles. Now there is a series of research of political and ideological outlooks of the artist. The author of the most complete biography Eric Neslund explains Milles’ sympathies to Nazism and Fascism by their attitude to artistic esthetics. Well, experts have to decide whether it is true or not.

I do not know what Carl Milles said and whether he said anything at all about Nazism after the end of the war when the world learned the full horror of its crimes. Anyway, it is his personal life, a trait of character, the line of fate. . .

Mikhail Busnyuk,

for Amber Bridge