Riga - The Baltic states on Tuesday condemned Russia's decision to recognize two breakaway Georgian regions, saying it would not help finding solutions for peace in the region.

Russia's decision to recognize Abkhazia and South Ossetia was a violation of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Georgia, Lithuania's Prime Minister Gediminas Kirkilas said.

"Russia's move is a deliberate breach of international law and the principles of stability in Europe," Estonia's Foreign Minister Urmas Paet said.

Riga  - A referendum to increase pensions in the Baltic nation of Latvia failed to gain a quorum Saturday.

With 943 out of 997 precincts reporting, more than 334,000 Latvians cast their votes in the national contest, which failed to reach the quorum of 453,730 votes, required to adopt the measure.

The voters were asked to decide whether the country's pensions should be tied to the government-set subsistence level. Currently, that would nearly triple the minimum monthly benefit from about 50 lats (120 dollars) to at least 135 lats.

Riga  - Lithuania and Poland on Monday urged NATO foreign ministers to offer Georgia and Ukraine a path to membership when they meet to discuss Russia's military intervention in the Caucasus.

Polish President Lech Kaczynski and Lithunian President Valdas Adamkus made the appeal before Tuesday's NATO emergency meeting in Brussels, citing "the uncontrolled violence and use of force in Georgia."

Riga  - Thousands of people participated in peaceful protests in support of Georgia in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania on Monday.

In the Latvian capital Riga more than 1,000 people rallied, waving Georgian and Latvian flags and carrying white roses.

Demonstrators walked from the landmark Freedom Monument to the Russian embassy. There, yelling "aggressors" and "occupiers," they called on Russia to halt its military action in the breakaway Georgian region of South Ossetia.

Riga  - Latvia's former president Vaira Vike-Freiberga on Monday
expressed frustration over the perceived delay in the European Union's
response to the conflict between Russia and Georgia.

"I'm
surprised and frustrated that the European Union will gather on
Wednesday for an extraordinary summit of foreign ministers, and that
the European Union was unable to come up with a united, coordinated,
and condemning reaction as we have heard from the presidents of the
three Baltic States and Poland," Vike-Freiberga told diena. lv news
portal.

Riga  - Dissatisfied Latvians flocked to polling stations on Saturday to cast votes in a referendum that may give them power that, perhaps, would be unique among the European Union members.

They would be able to call snap elections in this small Baltic country.