No. 113, 17 June 1991

BALTIC STATES



BALTIC BORDER POST ATTACKS CONTINUE. Soviet troops raided seven
Baltic customs posts early on June 14, injuring at least five
people. Radio Riga reported that day that four Latvian posts--Skaistkalne,
Bauska, Ainazi, and Ezere--were attacked and burned. According
to Radio Tallinn June 14, an Estonian border post at Ikla was
attacked by troops "armed with submachine guns, grenades, and
signal rockets." Radio Independent Lithuania reported June 14
that two Lithuanian customs posts--at Germaniskis and Salociai--were
hit. (Gytis Liulevicius)

EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT RESOLUTION. In view of the ongoing border
post attacks in the Baltic States and other military intimidation,
the European Parliament passed a resolution on June 13 condemning
the violence, and urging a peaceful settlement. The resolution,
supported by 8 factions, stated that the European Parliament
"is gravely concerned by the continued failure of the Soviet
government to enter into serious negotiations with the Baltic
governments on their future relationship with the USSR." It also
called on the Soviet government "to order its army immediately
to halt any further operations and to respect the rights of the
Republic of Lithuania and its citizens." (Gytis Liulevicius)


EC COMPLAINT OVER BALTIC INCIDENTS REBUFFED. On June 15 Luxembourg's
ambassador in Moscow Hubert Wurth, acting on behalf of the EC,
delivered a verbal protest to Soviet First Deputy Foreign Minister
Yulii Kvitsinsky against the Soviet attacks on customs posts
in the Baltic republics. TASS quoted Kvitskinsky as telling Wurth
that Moscow's evaluation of events in the Baltic "do not depend
on any recognition or approval from abroad" because events in
the Baltic are a purely internal Soviet matter. (Saulius Girnius)


SOVIET TROOPS OCCUPY MILITARY CEMETERY. Radio Riga reported on
June 14 that Soviet soldiers and war veterans had occupied the
"Cemetery of Brethen" on the outskirts of Riga after hearing
rumors that Latvians were planning to extinguish an eternal flame
there commemorating Soviet war dead. First Deputy Chairman of
the Latvian Supreme Council Dainis Ivans appealed to Latvians
over the radio to avoid the cemetery to prevent clashes or other
trouble with the soldiers. (Saulius Girnius)

COMMENTS BY LATVIAN OFFICIALS IN WARSAW. At a press conference
in Warsaw on June 14, Latvian Prime Minister Ivars Godmanis said
that Latvia would soon open an information office in Warsaw.
Latvian Foreign Minister Janis Jurkans said that the only problem
in Europe left over from World War II was that of Baltic independence
and that there could not be any stability in Europe until this
question was resolved. He hoped that solutions could be found
on an international level, with one possible forum being the
CSCE process. (NCA/Saulius Girnius)

ESTONIA PASSES OWNERSHIP REFORM LAW. On June 13 the Estonian
parliament passed a law governing the return of property to those
who can prove inheritance rights, Radio Tallinn reported that
day. The law stated that the return of property "must not damage
the lawful interests of other persons or entail new unfair practices."
Chairman of the Ownership Reform Commission Arvo Junti said that
the law gave inheritance rights to children, parents, grandparents,
and other relatives and spouses of previous owners, but because
it did not try to define all possibilities, civil disputes would
arise that would be solved during the implementation of the law.
(Saulius Girnius)

IOC PUTS OFF ACTION ON BALTS. The International Olympic Committee,
meeting in Birmingham, refused consideration of the Baltic States
for IOC membership, shelving their applications until 1993, Western
agencies reported June 16. The Baltic States competed independently
in the 1936 Olympics, and had hoped to do so again in Barcelona
in 1992, arguing that the IOC never officially de-recognized
the three countries. IOC President Juan Antonio Samaranch said
that the recognition of new members is "a very delicate problem."
(Gytis Liulevicius)


USSR - ALL-UNION TOPICS


GORBACHEV CHAIRS MEETING ON PRIVATIZATION. Soviet President Mikhail
Gorbachev chaired a Kremlin meeting on privatization June 15,
TASS reported the same day. Academics, RSFSR and other republican
leaders, and enterprise managers, among others, participated
in the meeting. Soviet First Deputy Prime Minister Vladimir Shcherbakov
gave an extensive report. Gorbachev said he foresaw the emergence
of a mixed economy that will change the relationship between
people and their work. He also noted that a major factor in carrying
out a privatization program is the resolution of the Union treaty.
That should more clearly delineate between Central and republican
property rights. He believes that the treaty can be signed as
early as the first half of July. (John Tedstrom)

WHAT KIND OF PROPERTY? When Gorbachev says he foresees a mixed
economy, he means it. He said that the current situation dictates
a reform of property relations. In order to replace government
property effectively, Gorbachev advocates developing "leasing
arrangements, joint stock companies, cooperatives, 'people's
enterprises', family farms,...and, even, private property." (John
Tedstrom)

GORBACHEV TO TAKE HIGH GROUND IN LONDON. Gorbachev linked the
recent meeting on privatization directly to his upcoming meeting
with leaders of the Group of Seven industrialized countries.
In a Soviet TV interview June 15, as summarized by TASS, Gorbachev
said that he was not going to blackmail anyone or beg during
the London meeting, but intended to demonstrate that the Soviet
Union was making serious progress towards radical economic reform.
He said specific sums of aid would not be discussed and that
the discussion would likely be complex. He added that the West
needed to change as well the USSR, and that he was "going to
the meeting to look for a balance of interests, cooperation.
No one will be kneeling, and no one will be dictating." (John
Tedstrom)

CFE COMPROMISE APPROVED. The Soviet Union pledged on June 14
to eliminate roughly a quarter of the military equipment it had
moved beyond the Urals, and to adhere to limits set by last November's
CFE treaty, Western agencies reported June 15. The Soviet declarations,
made by Oleg Grinevsky, were formally accepted by the 21 other
parties to the treaty (16 NATO states and 5 former Warsaw Pact
members). In a legally binding declaration, Moscow pledged to
count disputed coastal defense and naval infantry within the
original treaty provisions. The Soviets also made a political
commitment to destroy or convert 14,500 tanks, armored personnel
vehicles, and artillery systems now deployed beyond the Urals.
(Stephen Foye)

SOVIETS OFFER MIG-31'S FOR SALE. The Soviet Union displayed its
frontline MIG-31 "Foxhound" fighter for the first time in the
West on June 14, offering to sell it--for $40 million--to any
interested country except Iraq, Western agencies reported. The
MIG-31 is a long-range interceptor that carries an advanced phased
array radar (which one Soviet official said was capable of tracking
"stealth" aircraft), and can land on grass or snow strips. Soviet
representatives at the Paris Air Show said that talks were underway
to sell the plane to the United Arab Emirates, and that Libya
and India were also interested. They added that a successor to
the MIG-31 was already in the air. (Stephen Foye)

...AND ANTI-MISSILE MISSILES TO ISRAELIS. Western agencies reported
June 16 that officials from ALMAZ--identified as a Soviet state
industrial corporation with some 55,000 employees--offered to
sell Israel an anti-missile defense system during the Paris show.
An Israeli representative identified the Soviet missiles as AF-300's.
The Soviets claim that the missiles--with a range of 90 km and
altitude of 25,000 meters--are superior to the US Patriot system.
The unprecedented offer would help Israel defend against Soviet-made
systems like the SCUD. An Israeli official reportedly said that
"the Soviets need cash and they're ready to sell those systems
to people who need them." (Stephen Foye)

USSR TO KEEP FOOTHOLD IN VIETNAM. Rear Admiral Vladimir Kasatkin,
a General Staff officer with responsibility for the Asia-Pacific
region, has said that Soviet forces will continue to use Cam
Ranh Bay as a "support point" for naval operations in southeast
Asia, the Indian Ocean, and the Gulf. In an interview with the
International Herald Tribune published June 14, Kasatkin stressed
that the residual Soviet force in Vietnam is nonoffensive and
would not take part in regional disputes. Aleksandr Panov, director
of the Foreign Ministry's Department of the Pacific and Southeast
Asian Countries, told the IHT that a number of countries in the
region wanted a "reduced but conspicuous" Soviet presence, along
with the US military presence, to ward off possible encroachments
by Japan, China, or India. (Sallie Wise)

IRANIAN OIL MINISTER IN MOSCOW. A high-ranking Iranian delegation,
led by Oil Minister Gholam Reza Aqazadeh-Kho'i, arrived in Moscow
yesterday (June 16) for talks with Soviet officials about cooperation
on oil and gas issues. IRNA June 16 quoted Aqazadeh-Kho'i as
saying Iran believes the USSR is eager to increase its imports
of natural gas from Iran. He said the talks, which are to begin
today, will also deal with the transit of Iranian natural gas
through the USSR to Europe. In addition, the two sides will discuss
bilateral cooperation with regard to international oil markets,
particularly the East European market. The Iranian minister predicted
that the issue of closer ties between the USSR and OPEC would
also come up in the talks. (NCA/Sallie Wise)

KOMPLEKTOV COMMENTS ON CUBA. Soviet envoy to the United States,
Viktor Komplektov, told a news conference on June 14 that there
will be no radical change in Moscow's relationship with Cuba
even if Western aid to the USSR were to hinge on it. "You don't
like Cuba... so what?" said Komplektov. He added, "I'm sure that
if [the United States] will take a more positive and quiet attitude
toward Cuba, it will work much better that it does nowadays,"
the Baltimore Sun reported June 15. (Suzanne Crow)

SHARP REACTION TO DRAFT DECREE ABOLISHING ENTRY ON NATIONALITY.
A draft decree proposing that the entry on "nationality" be removed
from identity and other documents and that individuals be given
the right to decided whether they wanted to include it, and what
nationality they wished to be, provoked an unusually sharp reaction
in the USSR Supreme Soviet, Izvestia reported on June 8. Only
two deputies supported it. Central Asian deputies were particularly
hostile, and many said the bill was an attempt to deprive people
of their nationality. When it became obvious the decree would
not be adopted, the chairman of the session proposed the republics
be consulted and the debate renewed after the signing of the
Union treaty. (Ann Sheehy)

NEW POLITICAL GROUPS MEET. The hardline political group "Edinstvo,"
headed by Leningrad teacher Nina Andreeva, held a congress in
Odessa June 16, at which it announced the creation of the Leninist
Workers' Party. The party will unite members of the CPSU who
reject "the revisionist course" of its current leadership, TSN
reported. TSN also said June 16 that a new political movement,
Rus' monarkhicheskaya (Monarchist Russia), was set up that day
in Moscow. The movement demands a criminal investigation into
the 1918 murder of the Imperial family. Also, the Party of Constitutional
Democrats held a congress in Moscow, TSN reported. The Party
claims to continue the activities of the Kadet party which was
outlawed after the October revolution. (Vera Tolz)

KGB HEAD MEETS WITH REPRESSION VICTIM GROUPS, GIVES FIGURES.
Soviet KGB chairman Vladimir Kryuchkov met in Moscow June 14
with representatives of three groups working on behalf of victims
of Stalinist repression. TASS said he used the occasion to reveal
some new figures. Kryuchkov said his organization had established
that about 4,200,000 people fell victim to unjust repressions
between 1920 and 1953. (This figure is regarded by many specialists
as being too low). He said 1,200,000 victims of repressions were
rehabiliated between 1988 and October of 1990, and the process
continues. He disclosed that 100 common graves of repression
victims had been found so far in the USSR. He emphasized the
KGB's current role in the rehablitation of the victims. (Vera
Tolz)


USSR - IN THE REPUBLICS


KOZYREV ON YELTSIN'S VISIT TO THE US. RSFSR Foreign Minister
Andrei Kozyrev has said that RSFSR President-elect Boris Yeltsin
would not "beg for credits" during his forthcoming visit to the
US. Kozyrev told Western agencies June 16 that Yeltsin will inform
the Bush administration about his radical economic reform program
and explain his relationship with Gorbachev. Yeltsin told French
TV on June 15 that his victory has produced a new balance of
power and an understanding between him and Gorbachev based on
a working relationship. Yeltsin said that Gorbachev must now
consult him on the Soviet Union's foreign policy and military
issues. During his visit to Washington, Yeltsin will seek to
establish direct links between the US and the RSFSR. (Alexander
Rahr)

WHO WILL REPLACE YELTSIN AS HEAD OF PARLIAMENT? After Yeltsin's
election as RSFSR president, democrats fear that the RSFSR Communist
Party may try to push its own candidate into the post of Chairman
of the RSFSR Supreme Soviet, making the parliament opposed to
the President, Interfax reported June 10. According to RIA June
16, the RCP's candidate is 32-year-old Omsk lawyer Sergei Baburin.
Another candidate for the job is the present First Deputy Chairman
of the RSFSR Supreme Soviet, Ruslan Khasbulatov. Yeltsin's military
adviser General Dmitrii Volkogonov is being considered as a compromise
figure for the position of head of parliament, capable of turning
the Supreme Soviet into a stabilizing force. (Alexander Rahr)


DETAILS ON ELECTIONS. According to the latest figures announced
by Chairman of the Electoral Commission Vasilii Kazakov, 75%
of eligible voters took part in the RSFSR presidential elections.
TASS on June 14 quoted him as saying that latest figures show
that Yeltsin received 60% of the votes, Ryzhkov--16% and Vladimir
Zhirinovsky--7%. In Moscow, 72% voted for Yeltsin, in Sverdlovsk--85%.
Kazakov admitted numerous disruptions in the electoral procedures
but did not specify what he had in mind. (Alexander Rahr)

THE MILITARY VOTE FOR YELTSIN. The army paper, Krasnaya zvezda,
says that Yeltsin won considerable support from soldiers in many
military districts, The Guardian reported June 15. According
to preliminary figures, Yeltsin won some 81% of the vote among
sailors of the Pacific and Indian Ocean Fleets, and an only slightly
smaller percentage in the Northern Fleet. Yeltsin also won 44.7%
of the vote in the garrison at Sverdlovsk, to 16.6% for Nikolai
Ryzhkov. Colonel General Al'bert Makashov reportedly received
43% of the vote "in his own constituency" (presumably the Volga-Ural
Military District), including 95% in the construction battalions,
but only between 24% and 35% in the army academy. (Stephen Foye)


SOBCHAK PROPOSES RESTRUCTURING OF LENSOVET. Speaking to deputies
of the Leningrad city Soviet, the city's first popularly elected
mayor, Anatolii Sobchak, enumerated the following upcoming changes
in the Soviet's structure: the abolition of the Soviet's executive
committee and its replacement by a new executive apparatus; the
abolition of some deputies' commissions within the Soviet; and
some other cuts in the Soviet's structures. Sobchak said that
all deputies wanting to work within the new executive apparatus
would have to give up their status as deputies. Sobchak rejected
as unnecessary the proposal by some deputies that the city Soviet
once again discuss the division of power between the Soviet and
the mayor. Sobchak was quoted by Radio Rossii June 15 as saying
that the presidium of the RSFSR Supreme Soviet has already found
an answer to this question. (Vera Tolz)

SOBCHAK ON RETURN OF ORIGINAL NAME TO LENINGRAD. At the same
meeting, Sobchak said he is sure that the June 12 poll in which
55% of Leningrad residents voted for restoring the city's original
name of St. Petersburg will soon receive a legal basis. Sobchak
said that in a telephone conversation with him, Yeltsin supported
the idea of the official change of the city's name. Meanwhile,
the central media continue to oppose the return of the name of
St. Petersburg to Leningrad. Radio Moscow-1 June 15 alleged that
the question over the issue in the poll was deliberately posed
in a confusing way so that some people who answered "yes" in
the poll thought that they were voting for retaining the name
of Leningrad, and not for St. Petersburg, as their ballots were
lated counted. (Vera Tolz)

STATE OF EMERGENCY DECLARED IN MAKHACHKALA. After the violent
demonstrations in the Dagestani capital over the pilgrimage to
Mecca, at a late night sitting on June 13 the republican Supreme
Soviet declared a state of emergency in Makhachkala for a month,
TASS reported June 14. According to Interfax on June 15, one
person was killed and at least four people were injured in the
clashes. Russian TV, reporting June 14, said five people had
been hospitalized but there were no dead. (Ann Sheehy)

EIGHT KILLED IN GEORGIAN EARTHQUAKE. At least eight people were
killed and over 100 injured June 15 when an earthquake hit central
Georgia. Two villages were destroyed and six others severely
damaged. The quake, which measured 6.3 on the Richter scale,
was centered on the resort of Bakuriani, 100 km north-west of
Tbilisi, and the former South Ossetian Autonomous Oblast, where
several towns were devastated and 144 people were killed in an
earlier quake in late April. In the towns of Gori and Tskhinvali
Saturday's earthquake destroyed 80% of the buildings still left
standing after the April tremor, TASS reported June 16. (Liz
Fuller)

GAMSAKHURDIA: GEORGIA WANTS TO JOIN EC. In an interview given
to the Saarland Rundfunk June 15, Georgian president Zviad Gamsakhurdia
stated that Georgia wants eventual membership in the EC and the
UN, and that membership in international organizations and recognition
of Georgia by the US and Western Europe are his primary foreign
policy goals. Gamsakhurdia also stated that Georgia wants good
economic, political and cultural relations with the USSR, but
as a foreign state. (NCA/Liz Fuller)

ISSUE OF IZVESTIA NOT PUBLISHED IN GEORGIA. The Soviet government
daily Izvestia said June 14 that one of its issues (for June
12) was not published in Georgia because it had an article that
local printers considered slanderous to Georgia. While investigating
the case, the newspaper's representatives were told that other
Soviet periodicals critical of Georgia will be suppressed in
this republic. Izvestia also said Georgia's television stopped
showing the main central TV news program Vremya to "prevent spreading
slander about Georgia and its people.' (NCA/Vera Tolz)

MOLDAVIAN-ROMANIAN MASS CROSS-BORDER FESTIVAL. At least half
a million Moldavians crossed the border into Romania at 8 crossing
points for prearranged festivities on Romanian territory June
16, the Moldavian media reported. Deliberately nonpolitical,
the festivities featured religious, musical and literary events.
Although organized by unofficial Romanian pro-Bessarabia groups,
the events were attended by Romanian parliamentarians and other
officials of the ruling National Salvation Front. The festival
was held for the second consecutive year to mark the end of isolation
among compatriots on the two sides of the border. Last year,
hundreds of thousands of Romanian citizens were allowed to cross
into Moldavia for the occasion. (Vladimir Socor)

MOLDAVIA TO ASSIST COMPATRIOTS IN THE UKRAINE. Moldavian President
Mircea Snegur has tasked the republican ministries of Education,
Culture, and Communications urgently to draw up comprehensive
plans to help maintain the language and culture of Moldavians/Romanians
in Ukraine. Those communities reside mostly in northern Bukovina
and southern Bessarabia which were attached to Ukraine following
their annexation from Romania. Kishinev's action responds to
growing complaints from those communities about cultural deprivation
and lack of political representation. The Moldavian and Ukrainian
leaderships discussed the situation last week in Kiev (see Daily
Report, June 13). (Vladimir Socor)

THE PROGRAMS OUTLINED. As summarized by Moldovapres June 14 and
15, Kishinev's programs for compatriots in Ukraine will strive
for "a cultural confederation of Romanians" and will assist:
the reopening of Romanian-language schools, upgrading of language
and history courses, training in Moldavia of teachers and other
personnel, publication of books and periodicals in the Romanian
language and their transition to the Latin script, reception
of Moldavian radio and TV broadcasts in Moldavian/Romanian-inhabited
areas of Ukraine, direct cooperation between those areas and
Moldavia, and support for Romanian religious life in Ukraine.
Kishinev anticipates Kiev's consent. (Vladimir Socor)

FIRST VISIT OF A RUSSIAN PATRIARCH TO BELORUSSIA. TASS reported
June 15 that Patriarch Aleksii II began a visit to Belorussia
that day. This visit is the very first ever by the primate of
the Russian Orthodox Church to Belorussia since the baptism of
Rus', said TASS. The Patriarch plans to visit the three largest
eparchies of the Belorussian Orthodox Church: Minsk, Mohilev,
and Gomel. (Oxana Antic)

KRAVCHUK MEETS UKRAINIAN PATRIARCH. The Patriarch of the Ukrainian
Autocephalous Orthodox Church, Mstyslav, met with Kravchuk June
13, according to RFE/RL correspondents in Kiev the same day.
Details of the meeting were not available, but local religious
observers surmise that Mstyslav's talks with Kravchuk centered
on the possible transfer of St. Sophia Cathedral and some other
churches in both Kiev and the republic to the Autocephalous Church's
jurisdiction. (Valentyn Moroz)

JOINT SAUDI-SOVIET BANK SET UP IN KAZAKHSTAN. The first bank
in the Soviet Union in which foreign capital has a half share
has begun operations in Kazakhstan, Moscow radio reported June
13. The bank, the Islamic Soviet-Saudi International Commercial
Bank, intends to take part in restoring the Great Silk Route,
the financing of an international airport in Alma-Ata, the building
of medreses and mosques, the reconstruction of hotels, and the
construction of motels and camping sites along the silk route.
(Ann Sheehy)