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Latvia and Estonia fall out over Hepatitis A scare
Published in Saudi Press Agency on 25 - 02 - 2009

Estonia and Latvia displayed a notable lack
of Baltic brotherhood Wednesday in the wake of an Estonian government
decision to advise citizens against visiting the country's southern
neighbour, according to dpa.
The Latvian embassy in the Estonian capital, Tallinn, was moved to
deliver a note to the Estonian foreign ministry, requesting the
Estonian authorities to "retract forthwith" advice that Estonians
should avoid visits or risk catching Hepatitis A.
On February 18 the Estonian Health Protection Inspectorate
published information about the spread of Hepatitis A in Latvia, and
recommended that Estonians should not plan visits to Latvia.
"It is pointed out in the note that these announcements are not in
keeping with international practice, have a negative impact on the
flow of tourists between both states, and in addition, are harmful to
Latvia's image abroad," said a statement from the Latvian foreign
ministry.
A spokesman told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa the Estonian action
was "not a friendly gesture".
"They should not have issued such a warning. We are not the only
country to have been affected - for example the Czech Republic
currently has a similar problem," he said.
There was even a hint that the Estonians may be running a dirty
tricks campaign to poach tourists when the Latvian foreign ministry
mentioned in its statement that it was monitoring "unfair
competition."
Estonian tourists made up nearly 10 per cent of visitors to Latvia
in the fourth quarter of 2008 according to official statistics.
Latvia's foreign ministry had already been contacted by businesses
that have noticed a drop in Estonian visitors since the announcement
was made public, it said.
With the Latvian hospitality sector already suffering the effects
of a deep recession, a block on visitors from the north is the last
thing Riga's hotels and restaurants need.
But on Wednesday afternoon the website of the Estonian Healh
Inspectorate was still describing the rate of Hepatitis infection in
Latvia as "quite high" and advised all visitors to undergo
immunisation at least two weeks before venturing across the border
into its fellow EU member state.


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