“Our co-operation must focus on today’s issues in what is the 20th year since the restoration of the independence of the Baltic states. The most important tasks include linking the Baltic states with Europe via Via Baltica and Rail Baltica and developing an effective electricity market in the Baltic states as part of the common electricity market with the Nordic countries,” said President Toomas Hendrik Ilves at a meeting of Estonian, Latvian, and Lithuanian heads of state, which began this afternoon in Riga.

President Ilves encouraged those present to view the joint efforts of the three countries as a component of co-operation between the Nordic and Baltic Sea countries.

“This is our shared time and history, our shared experience,” said the Estonian Head of State. “And the closer our links are to shared interests, the easier it will be for us to overcome our difficulties and become successful.”

Vladimir Kara-Murza on Russia and issues related to security, foreign and economic policies and democracy.

Eighteen months from now, on March 11, 2012, Russia will hold what is still officially referred to as an “election” for president. Few doubt that Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, who left the Kremlin in 2008, but remained in power, wants to regain his old job (notwithstanding the latest Levada Center poll showing that only 27 percent of Russians want him back as president). Just this week, during the annual meeting of the Valdai Club, Mr. Putin repeated his line that it is “premature” to talk about 2012, but then, out of the blue, reminded his audience that “U.S. President [Franklin] Roosevelt was elected four times.” If this is indeed Mr. Putin’s goal, it means that his presidency would last until 2024 (two six-year terms from 2012). Such a scenario — as not only opposition leaders but, increasingly, the general public acknowledges — will be a disaster for the country.