Welcome to the Baltic American Freedom League Website

The Baltic American Freedom League's programs are designed to assist the development of democracy and market economies in the Baltic countries, to assure the security of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania from outside aggression, to increase awareness of Baltic history and culture and to promote strong, friendly and effective bilateral relations and policies between the United States and the Baltic countries.

The League carries out its activities through public discussions, a speakers' bureau, press interviews, dissemination of information to the public, press and government about Baltic American concerns, seminars, meetings with government and elected officials and educational campaigns aimed at academic and political institutions.

Please order now for prompt delivery. Our on-line store is now open.
http://www.sovietstory.com/buy-dvd/
The film is in English. The DVD contains subtitles in 15 languages including:
Czech, Estonian, Finnish, French, German, Hungarian, Italian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Swedish and Ukrainian.

(the DVD contains all 15 languages – the viewer selects via a menu which subtitled language they wish to view)
The DVD contains the documentary film, exclusive bonus interviews, a director’s statement, and a color film booklet.

Available in NTSC (USA/Canada/Mexico/Brazil) and PAL (Europe/UK/Asia/Australia/Africa) formats.

(the DVD is “Region Free/All Region” and is not restricted by a DVD player’s region code)
Please forward this e-mail to anyone who might be interested in this outstanding documentary feature.
www.sovietstory.com
© 2008 – All Rights Reserved – Perry Street Advisors LLC

DHS Reminds Visa Waiver Program Travelers of ESTA Requirements Effective Today

Release Date: January 12, 2009
For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
Contact: 202-282-8010

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) today reminded travelers from all Visa Waiver Program (VWP) countries that they are now required to obtain approval through the Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA) prior to traveling to the United States. This requirement, effective today, applies to all eligible citizens or nationals traveling under the VWP.

“We have been collecting information from visa waiver travelers for decades, and establishing a program to get that same information in advance is one enhancement that allowed us to extend the valuable benefit of visa-free travel to eight new countries in 2008,” said Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff. “In addition to building business and cultural ties with our partners overseas, this is a commonsense step into the 21st century that will improve our efficiency in screening and welcoming international travelers at our ports of entry.”

ESTA is a web-based system, initially launched in August 2008, that determines the preliminary eligibility of visitors to travel under the VWP prior to boarding a carrier to the United States. To date, more than 1.2 million ESTA applications have been received, and more than 99.6 percent of applicants have been approved, most within seconds.

DHS will take a reasonable approach to travelers who have not obtained an approved travel authorization via ESTA, and will continue an aggressive advertising and outreach campaign throughout 2009. Travelers without an approved ESTA are advised, however, that they may be denied boarding, experience delayed processing, or be denied admission at a U.S. port of entry. Visitors may apply for travel authorization via the ESTA Web site at https://esta.cbp.dhs.gov.
DHS received authorization for VWP reforms through the Implementing Recommendations of the 9/11 Commission Act of 2007. The VWP is administered by the department and enables eligible citizens or nationals of certain countries to travel to the United States for tourism or business for stays of 90 days or less without obtaining a visa. To be admitted to the VWP, a country must meet various statutory requirements, such as more enhanced law enforcement and security-related data sharing with the U.S. and timely reporting of both blank and issued lost and stolen passports. VWP members are also required to maintain high counter-terrorism, law enforcement, border control, and document security standards.

The citizens or nationals of the following countries are currently eligible to travel to the United States under the VWP: Andorra, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brunei, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, San Marino, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. Eight of these countries joined the VWP in 2008, and their citizens and nationals have been required to comply with an ESTA since their designation as VWP participants: the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, the Republic of Korea, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia and Malta.

For additional information on ESTA, visit www.cbp.gov/esta, and for more information on the VWP, please visit http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/travel/id_visa/business_pleasure/vwp/.

On March 24, 2009, the official DVD of the award winning documentary film The Soviet Story will be released.

The official DVD will include sub-titles in 13 languages, including: Czech, Estonian, French, German, Italian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Swedish and Ukrainian.

The DVD will also include special additional segments as well as an interview with the director Edvins Snore.

The DVD will be available in NTSC and PAL formats so that viewers in all countries can see the film.

The DVD will be sold via www.sovietstory.com (“Buy DVD”) which can send the DVD to any country in the world.

In Riga, Latvia, the DVD will be sold exclusively by the Occupation Museum of Latvia.

For the latest information on the film, please visit www.sovietstory.com where you can find upcoming screening dates and locations for the film (“Where to see the film”).

If you wish to arrange a screening of the film in your city (or know of someone who could assist in doing so), please contact the film distributors:
e-mail: films@perrystreetadvisors.com
Tel: +1-917-402-2853

In www.sovietstory.com „How can I help”, you can also make a donation to help with the film distribution. Donors who give $250 or more will receive a limited edition signed copy of the new official DVD.

Please try to get this film screened in your city and donate the new DVD to your friends so that everyone gets to learn about this important part of history!

Baltic American Freedom League Strongly Condemns Russian Attack on Georgia
August 11, 2008

The Baltic American Freedom League (BAFL) believes that the Russian attack on Georgia is an aggressive attempt of Russian imperialist expansionism and that Georgia deserves the support of the United States of America and NATO. Georgia has bravely struggled to establish itself as a sovereign and independent country since 1990, when it declared independence from the Soviet Union. Moreover, Georgia has been a staunch ally of the U.S., is a large contributor of coalition troops in Iraq, and seeks to join NATO.

A Russian occupation of South Ossetia would be an enormous setback for Georgia and would be threatening to the other former ex-captive nations. We are very concerned that the occupation of South Ossetia by Russia may encourage further acts of aggression by Russia on Georgia in Abkhazia. The Baltics and other neighboring countries who have Russian citizens living in their midst are further threatened as Russia attempts to not only expand its sphere of influence in the region, but actively seeks to occupy new territories.

We urge the U.S. to support Georgia and immediately issue sanctions against Russia, boycott Russian goods, and issue a warning for U. S. citizens not to travel to Russia during this turbulent time.