BALTIC PREMIERS SIGN EU ASSOCIATION AGREEMENTS.

The three Baltic prime ministers signed association agreements with the European Union in Luxembourg June 12, BNS reported. Unlike the partnership agreements which the EU has signed with various CIS countries, these accords anticipate eventual membership in the EU for the signatories. Baltic leaders celebrated the event as confirming their return to Europe. At the signing ceremony in Luxembourg, Estonian prime minister Tiit Vahi stressed that the agreement meant that Estonia was one “with Europe, not against Russia.” And in speeches in Vilnius, Lithuanian President Algirdas Brazauskas argued that the new accords should end the Baltic states’ special status: they should now be seen simply as yet another part of Eastern Europe.

Lithuania, Sweden Study Handling of Refugees.