LITHUANIAN FORCES NEAR NATO STANDARDS, EXPERTS SAY.

NATO experts told a conference in Vilnius May 9 that Lithuanian military forces could achieve NATO standards in two to three years, BNS reported. Speaking at a conference on peace-keeping activities, several NATO officials praised Lithuania and the other Baltic states for their progress in shifting away from the Soviet-era model for the military. At the same meeting, the Lithuanian defense minister said that Vilnius plans to send participants or observers to six of 14 Partnership for Peace exercises in 1995.

Baltic Inflation Rates Fall.