No. 46, 06 March 1992

SUCCESSOR STATES TO THE USSR

AZERBAIJAN PARLIAMENT CHAIRWOMAN RESIGNS. Elmira Kafarova resigned
as chairwoman at the opening of an emergency session of the Azerbaijani
parliament on 5 March, ITAR-TASS reported. Baku medical school
dean Yakub Mamedov was elected to replace her. Azerbaijani President
Ayaz Mutalibov rejected calls for his resignation by deputies
and demonstrators angered at his failure to take more decisive
action against Nagorno-Karabakh. Mutalibov insisted that what
was required was a political solution to the Karabakh impasse,
arguing that it takes time to create a national army. Meanwhile
RIA reported that up to 20 people were killed in ongoing fighting
in Nagorno-Karabakh. (Liz Fuller)

FURTHER DIPLOMATIC ACTIVITY OVER NAGORNO-KARABAKH. Turkish President
Turgut Ozal told reporters in Izmir that Turkey should take a
more active role in resolving the Karabakh conflict, ITAR-TASS
reported on 5 March. IRNA quoted Iranian Foreign Minister Ali
Akbar Velayati as stating that a high-level Iranian delegation
will visit Armenia and Azerbaijan next week in a further attempt
at mediation. After meeting with UN Secretary-General Boutros
Ghali in New York on 5 March, Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Husein-Aga
Sadykhov told RFE-RL that Boutros Ghali had agreed to mediate
the Karabakh dispute on condition that both sides restore a ceasefire
and express their willingness to negotiate. (Liz Fuller)

MOLDOVAN SITUATION. The ceasefire agreed on by representatives
of Moldova and the "Dniester re-public" on 4 March in Dubasari
appears fragile. There is no agreement yet on the terms for a
disengagement of forces and for an exchange of prisoners. "Dniester"
forces shot their way into two Moldovan villages on 5 March,
Radio Chisinau reported, adding that the peasants are demanding
arms to defend their villages. Minister of National Security
Anatol Plugaru informed the Moldovan Parliament that the "Dniester"
forces have mined the dam of the Dubasari electric power plant
which provides almost 80% of Moldova's power consumption. Radio
Tiraspol has announced that additional units of Russian Cossacks
are on their way to Moldova to assist the "Dniester republic."
(Vladimir Socor)

SNEGUR ON THE SITUATION. In an speech to Parliament and a radio
and television address to the people of Moldova, both on 5 March,
President Mircea Snegur charged that the "Dniester republic"
and the Moscow media "are deliberately portraying the conflict
as inter-ethnic . . .in an attempt to disguise the military-communist
nature of the phantom "Dniester republic" and to attract the
support of the national-patriotic forces of Russia." Appealing
to all citizens for calm, Snegur called for a resolution of the
conflict by exclusively peaceful means and with "the full observance
of Moldova's territorial integrity and indivisibility." He reiterated
the earlier offer of establishing a "free economic zone" around
Tiraspol where the Russian population on the left bank of the
Dniester is concentrated. (Vladimir Socor)

"DNIESTER" LEADER ON THE SITUATION. The self-styled "Dniester
republic president" Igor Smirnov was cited by The Guardian on
5 March as saying that the cease-fire had "little chance of succeeding"
and that military assistance from Russia was justified since
the Dniester region is "Russian land." Like most Russians in
the region--who form 25.5% of the region's population, according
to the last Soviet census--and most of the would-be republic's
leaders, Smirnov emigrated there from Russia. (Vladimir Socor)


CIS COMMAND PUTS PRESSURE ON MOLDOVA. Snegur told Parliament
in his speech that, following the outbreak of the clashes, he
had received a cable from the commander in chief of CIS forces,
Marshal Evgenii Shaposhnikov, urging that a moratorium be imposed
on the formation on the Moldovan republican army. Without such
a moratorium, Shaposhnikov warned, the conflict in the Dniester
region could escalate. Snegur termed the suggestion unacceptable.
(Vladimir Socor)

UKRAINIAN PARLIAMENT POSTPONES VOTE ON EMERGENCY ECONOMIC POWERS.
Ukrainian president Leonid Kravchuk asked parliament on 5 March
to approve the imposition in Ukraine of a state of economic emergency,
CIS media announced. Kravchuk asked for emergency powers so that
he could act swiftly and decisively on economic reform. As reported
by Radio Rossiya, Kravchuk said that industrial production had
fallen by 20% compared with 1991 and that Ukraine is operating
with a budget deficit of 50 billion rubles. The parliament, however,
decided to postpone a vote on Kravchuk's proposal until the president
provides more details on the implications of a state of economic
emergency. (Kathy Mihalisko)

SAVCHENKO SACKED FROM UKRAINIAN NATIONAL BANK. The well-known
Ukrainian economic reformer Oleksandr Savchenko was fired from
his post as deputy head of the Ukrainian National Bank and "transferred
to academic work," according to Reuter, quoting bank officials,
on 5 March. Fellow economic reformer Volodymyr Pylypchuk called
Savchenko's removal a "blow against reform," while other colleagues
quoted by Reuter said Savchenko was a victim of a power struggle
between reformers and conservatives in the bank and government.
Savchenko was closely associated with the planned introduction
of a Ukrainian currency. (Kathy Mihalisko)

BELARUSIAN OFFICIALS SAY DEMOCRATS ARE PROVOKING SOCIAL TENSION.
The news from Belarus continues to be dominated by the progress
of the opposition's campaign to collect signatures for the holding
of a referendum on early reelections to the parliament. The Presidium
of the Supreme Soviet and the government of Belarus issued a
statement on 4 March to protest "attempts to increase social
tension" under the cloak of democracy, referring specifically
to the referendum effort, according to CIS TV on 4 March. Radio
Mayak said on 4 March that Supreme Soviet chairman Stanislau
Shushkevich is ready to unveil his plan to reorganize the work
of the Supreme Soviet. Such a reorganization, he said, would
accomplish more than the opposition's proposed referendum. (Kathy
Mihalisko)

DEMOCRATIC UNION OF GEORGIA PROPOSES COMMITTEE OF NATIONAL SALVATION.
Sakinform/TASS reported on 5 March that the Democratic Union
of Georgia had appealed to Georgia's ruling Military Council
to create a Committee for National Salvation as a temporary ruling
body and to invite former Soviet Foreign Minister Eduard Shevardnadze
to become a member. Speaking in Moscow on 5 March, Teimuraz Stepanov,
who worked closely with Shevardnadze since his time as Georgian
Party first secretary, told Western reporters that Shevardnadze
would "probably" stand as a candidate when parliamentary elections
are finally held in Georgia. (Liz Fuller)

SHAPOSHNIKOV FIRES DEFECTING AF GENERAL. A 5 March announcement
on the "Novosti" newscast said that CIS commander in chief Marshal
Evgenii Shaposhnikov had removed the commander of a Ukrainian-based
strategic air division from his post. Major General Mikhail Bashkirov
and some of his staff last month pledged allegiance to Ukraine.
At that time it was reported that Bashkirov had been fired by
the chief of the CIS strategic air force and subsequently dismissed
from the armed forces, but these measures were then "abrogated"
by the Ukrainian minister of defense. Ukraine has acknowledged
that strategic nuclear forces should remain part of the unified
armed forces. (Doug Clarke)

RUSSIAN DEFENSE MINISTRY URGED. A resolution on the enactment
of the law on security, adopted by the Russian Supreme Soviet
on 5 March, contains a recommendation that the president of Russia
consider creating a Russian Defense Ministry and a state committee
for border defense, RIA reported that same day. The creation
of a Russian Defense Ministry has been a contentious issue for
some two months now, with the Russian parliament taking the lead
in urging its creation and Russian President Boris Yeltsin and
the CIS military command apparently moving with more caution.
(Stephen Foye)

CONSCRIPTS IN PERM. An investigating committee from the Russian
parliament has gone to Perm oblast to check a request by some
100 Central Asian conscripts to be permitted to finish their
military service at home, ITAR-TASS and Radio Rossii reported
on 5 March. The conscripts are serving as guards at one of the
penal colonies in the region, and the local command was able
to persuade them to return to their posts only after representatives
of the group had visited Moscow and received permission to return
to Central Asia. At the same time, the report said, some 150
recruits hailing from the Ural region have themselves arrived
home after being expelled from non-Russian republics for their
unwillingness to swear another military oath. (Stephen Foye)


GORBACHEV IN GERMANY. While he still disagrees with many of Russian
President Boris Yeltsin's opinions, Mikhail Gorbachev does not
wish to see the reforms fail. During his second day in Germany
(5 March), Gorbachev made pleas for support during meetings in
Bonn with Chancellor Helmut Kohl, Bundestag President Rita Suessmuth,
and Foreign Minister Hans-Dietrich Genscher, Western agencies
reported. (Suzanne Crow)

. . . LONGS FOR UNION. During the 5 March news conference following
talks with Kohl, Gorbachev said that he favored the concept of
the Soviet Union, but believes he must support the CIS. During
talks with Rita Suessmuth the same day, Gorbachev criticized
trips by Western foreign ministers to the individual states of
the CIS. He said that when one Western foreign minister after
another visits each CIS state, the young politicians there get
dizzy and have the impression that the whole world is looking
at them. He also criticized Western countries' conclusion of
treaties with CIS members on the grounds that this practice gives
the leaders of these states the impression that they are in competition
with each other, RFE/RL's Bonn correspondent reported on 5 March.
(Suzanne Crow)

GERMAN MEDIA REACTION. Gorbachev's arrival in Germany received
wide coverage on television, but subdued treatment in the press.
The Koelnische/Bonner Rundshau and Allgemeine Zeitung (Mainz)
carried commentaries on 5 March praising Gorbachev's contribution
to German unification and lamenting that Gorbachev is not appreciated
in his own country. In contrast, papers in eastern Germany were
cold or silent on Gorbachev's arrival. Neues Deutschland, the
Berlin newspaper owned by the reformed communist party, carried
nothing at all on Gorbachev's arrival. The Maerkische Allgemeine
criticized Gorbachev's failure to visit any city in what was
the GDR, including Berlin, asking: "Is it ignorance or misplaced
tact that keeps Gorbachev from trying to think of his visits
to the former German Democratic Republic?" (Suzanne Crow, Stephen
Kampmeier)

PRIVATIZATION OF LAND IN RUSSIA. At a news conference in Moscow
on 5 March, reported by Western agencies, the chairman of the
Russian government's Committee on Land Reform, Nikolai Komov,
stated that at least one-third of Russia's cultivated land will
be privatized by the end of 1992. To date, 6.5 million hectares
out of 215 million hectares of cultivated land have been privatized
and are now in the hands of 14 million families, including 12
million urban families. Russia has 75,000 private farms; their
number is expected to increase to 150,000 by the end of the year.
Komov warned, however, that private farmers are not yet in the
position to feed the country, as they provide only 2-3 % of agricultural
output in Russia. (Keith Bush)

INDUSTRIAL PRIVATIZATION IN UKRAINE. The Ukrainian parliament
approved the republic's first law on privatization by a vote
of 341-7 on 4 March, Western agencies reported. The law applies
to state enterprises valued at more than 1.5 million rubles.
Ukrainian citizens will be issued with special bonds or certificates
with which they can bid for property at auctions. Priority will
be given to employees who choose to pool their certificates and
buy shares in their own enterprises. (Keith Bush)

RUSSIAN PARLIAMENT EXPRESSES CONCERN OVER TATAR REFERENDUM. On
5 March the Russian parliament adopted an appeal to the Supreme
Soviet, the people, and the president of Tatarstan in connection
with the referendum of the status of Tatarstan scheduled for
21 March, ITAR-TASS reported. The appeal said the referendum
threatened the break-up of the Russian Federation and expressed
the hope that the people of Tatarstan would not go along with
separatist forces. (Ann Sheehy)

. . . AND ASKS CONSTITUTIONAL COURT TO INTERVENE. The Russian
parliament also asked the republic's constitutional court to
pronounce on the constitutionality of the referendum, pointing
out that under the Russian constitution only the Congress of
People's Deputies has the right to alter its territory, and requesting
that the court ask the Tatarstan parliament to suspend its decision
to hold the referendum. (Ann Sheehy)

TURKMENISTAN SIGNS GAS DEALS. Turk-menistan has agreed to supply
Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan with natural gas, a Western news
agency reported on 5 March, quoting Interfax. In return for its
gas, Turkmenistan is to receive elec-trical engineering and chemical
industry equipment, consumer goods and food, and accounts on
both sides will be settled at world prices in US dollars on a
clearing basis. The signatories have agreed not to interfere
with gas shipments across their territories. In the ongoing dispute
between Turkmenistan and Ukraine over gas prices, Ukraine has
threatened to shut down a pipeline across its territory that
carries Turkmen gas as well as Russian. On 5 March, Radio Rossii
broadcast a report that Turkmen gas was no longer reaching Armenia,
and gas supplies to industries and homes had ceased. (Bess Brown)




EASTERN EUROPE

BALTIC STATES



COUNCIL OF THE BALTIC SEA STATES ESTABLISHED. The foreign ministers
of Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway,
Poland, Russia, and Sweden gave a press conference in Copenhagen
on 6 March after a signing a declaration formally establishing
the Council of the Baltic Sea States. The Council is intended
to help democratic and economic development in the region, foster
cooperation among the member states, and strengthen ties between
the European Community and EC nonmembers in the region. At the
conference on 5 March Russian Foreign Minister Andrei Kozyrev
criticized the Baltic States over "non-respect for the human
rights of Russian-speakers" and asked the council to appoint
a trouble shooter on minority rights. Neither the accusation
nor the proposal was supported by the other foreign ministers,
Western agencies report. (Dzintra Bungs)

LANDSBERGIS IN JAPAN. On 5 March Chairman of the Lithuanian Supreme
Council Vytautas Landsbergis met for 55 minutes with Japanese
Emperor Akihito, Radio Lithuania reports. They discussed the
histories of their nations and the need for more cultural ties.
Accompanied by International Relations Minister Vytenis Aleskaitis,
Landsbergis also talked with Prime Minister Kiichi Miyazawa on
political and economic questions. It was agreed that Lithuanian
education specialists would visit Japan in the fall. (Saulius
Girnius)

MORE TALK ON TROOP WITHDRAWAL FROM LATVIA. Dainis Turlajs, Latvia's
First Deputy Minister of Defense, gave an upbeat report to Radio
Riga on 5 March about the talks in Moscow between Latvian and
Russian experts on the withdrawal of ex-USSR troops from Latvia.
On 3 and 4 March the two sides presented their outlines for the
accord. Turlajs suggested continuing the talks and drafting the
final document in Latvia in mid-March. Turlajs said that the
full Russian and Latvian delegations will probably not meet on
23 March but sometime later. He did not mention any dates when
troop withdrawal from Latvia might begin, even though a Baltfax
dispatch of 5 March suggested the first pullout might be between
10 and 20 March. (Dzintra Bungs)

FIGURES ON TROOPS IN LATVIA STILL SECRET. Turlajs told Radio
Riga on 5 March that, despite repeated inquiries, Latvian authorities
have not been able to obtain precise figures on the number of
ex-Soviet armed forces in Latvia. He noted that when there is
talk of defense, troop figures are lowered, but when the issue
is withdrawal, the figure is raised to give the impression that
the pullout is a momentous task. Radio Riga also reported unannounced
troop movements in and around Riga on 5 March. A spokesman for
the Northwestern Group of Forces told BNS that day that recent
reports of the arrival of new recruits in Latvia are unsubstantiated
and probably have to do with the movement of troops within Latvia.
(Dzintra Bungs)

LITHUANIA OFFERS HOMES TO CIS OFFICERS. On 5 March Lithuanian
National Defense Minister Audrius Butkevicius told Reuters that
5,000 of the 8,000 former Soviet army officers in Lithuania will
be offered the opportunity to take over the housing now allocated
to them. The officers will be able to sell the apartments or
keep living there if they obtain other employment. Russia has
repeatedly cited the lack of housing at home as a main factor
delaying withdrawal of the troops from the Baltic States, and
this proposal is intended to speed up the process. (Saulius Girnius)


AGREEMENT WITH RUSSIA FOR OIL AND GAS. On 5 March in Moscow Lithuanian
Economics Minister Vytas Navickas discussed trade relations with
Russia, Radio Lithuania reports. Lithuania will receive 3 million
tons of oil and 4,500 cubic meters of gas. Permission was obtained
to import another 2.5 million tons of oil through individual
agreements with oil suppliers. In a related matter the Lithuanian
government has empowered the Ministry of Construction and Urban
Development to sign treaties with the Tyumen region in Russia
to obtain oil and gas in exchange for construction and road building.
(Saulius Girnius)

CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPE



MASSIVE PEACE DEMONSTRATION IN SARAJEVO. Austrian TV said on
5 March that over 10,000 people gathered outside government buildings
in the Bosnian capital for the biggest peace rally in the former
Yugoslavia since the army invaded Slovenia last June. Serbian
leader Radovan Karadzic called for the federal army to intervene
in Bosnia and accused the EC of provoking civil war there, but
the army rejected his demand. UN special envoy Cyrus Vance urged
all parties to exercise restraint, the 6 March Frankfurter Allgemeine
Zeitung says. Vance held talks with President Alija Izetbegovic,
who backs an independent, united, and secular state. The Austrian
broadcast also covered the funeral of a Muslim teenager killed
by Serb neighbors. The top Muslim clergy of Bosnia and the former
Yugoslavia participated in the rites. (Patrick Moore)

MUSLIMS READY TO DEFEND SARAJEVO. On 4 March Irfan Ajanovic,
a leader of the main committee of the Party for Democratic Action
(PDA), Bosnia's largest party, told reporters that Muslims are
ready to defend Sarajevo in case the local Serbs continue erecting
barricades and otherwise fanning the tense situation. Ajanovic
said that the PDA has calmed down Muslim radical militiamen but
they would be called out "if the need arises." He also confirmed
that one formation, the Muslim "Green Berets," has appeared in
Sarajevo, adding that other "multinational paramilitary groups"
have been formed and are also prepared for action. Radio Sarajevo
carried the report. (Milan Andrejevich)

SEJM REJECTS GOVERNMENT ECONOMIC PLAN . . . On 5 March, by a
vote 171 to 138 with 38 abstentions, the Polish Sejm rejected
the controversial plan, which many see as inflationary and, insofar
as it abandons strict monetarism, likely to provoke confrontation
with the IMF. The government's antirecessionary plan, devised
to help ailing industrial enterprises and provide agriculture
with price and credit subsidies, was perceived as being motivated
more by politics than economics. It is not yet clear what the
final consequences of the Sejm vote will be. While government
spokesman Marcin Gugulski refused to comment altogether, presidential
spokesman Andrzej Drzycimski said that "the Sejm's rejection
does not imply that the government must resign." The government
is meeting on 6 March to debate the situation. Polish and Western
media carried the story. (Roman Stefanowski)

. . . AND ENDORSES NATIONAL BANK CHAIRMAN. By an overwhelming
vote of 222 to 96 with 35 abstentions on 5 March the Sejm approved
on Hanna Gronkiewicz-Waltz as chairman of the Polish National
Bank (NBP), Polish and Western media report. A Warsaw University
expert on banking and law, she was rejected by the Sejm when
first proposed for the position by President Walesa last December,
on the ground she lacks banking and administrative experience.
Immediately after the vote, Gronkiewicz-Waltz indicated she would
try to restrain the government's plans "to abandon monetary orthodoxy."
Walesa's previous candidate for the top bank post, Marek Dabrowski,
was rejected by the Sejm last September. Finding a chairman for
the NBP is critical at a time of systemic changes in Poland;
the seven-month search started in August 1991 when Grzegorz Wojtowicz
was dismissed in the wake of the ART-B banking scandal. (Roman
Stefanowski)

LAW ON FOREIGNERS IN CZECHOSLOVAKIA. On 4 March the Federal Assembly
passed a law on foreigners on Czechoslovak territory, setting
conditions for their entrance, stay, and exit, CSTK reports.
The law reflects efforts to create room for expanding tourism
and protect the country against undesirable influx of immigrants.
Foreigners will now have to present a valid passport and, if
applicable, a Czechoslovak entry visa. The duration of a short-term
stay is limited to 180 days. Applications for long-term stays
or permanent residence must be dealt with by the federal Interior
Ministry within 60 days. (Peter Matuska)

CALFA REVEALS ACCORD ON REPAYMENT OF SOVIET DEBT. Czechoslovak
federal Prime Minister Marian Calfa said that under a tentative
agreement Russia will repay part of former USSR debts to Czechoslovakia
with deliveries of natural gas. Russia owes Czechoslovakia the
equivalent of $5 billion, CSTK reported on 5 March. The Russian
government wants to repay $1 billion with gas deliveries. Calfa
said the agreement calls for Russia to start repaying another
$2 billion with trade credits starting in January 1996. The two
governments are still discussing how Russia will repay the remaining
$2-million debt. (Peter Matuska)

SLOVAKS PROPOSE TOUGHER ABORTION LAW. On 5 March the daily Lidove
noviny reported that the Slovak government is proposing a law
to permit abortion only if the fetus is defective, the mother's
health is threatened, or the birth would pose severe social hardship.
The proposal, which has been sent to Slovak par-liament, is much
stricter than the one proposed by the Czech government, setting
the stage for yet another political conflict between the Czech
and the Slovak republics. (Peter Matuska)

HUNGARIAN MINORITY LAW CRITICIZED BY ETHNIC GERMANS. Geza Hambuch,
the chairman of the Association of Germans in Hungary, called
the draft minority law recently approved by the Hungarian government
"unacceptable," DPA reported on 6 March. The draft law fails
to fulfill the demands of minorities for cultural autonomy and
representation in parliament, Hambuch said. He pointed out that
German-language education from kindergarten through high school
would be necessary in order to revive the German language, which
in the past decades has become a "grandmother language . . .
spoken only by elderly people." Hambuch called for an expansion
of the German-language school system and for more radio and TV
time for German-language programs. There are over 200,000 Germans
in Hungary. (Edith Oltay)

NASTASE ON ROMANIAN-HUNGARIAN RELATIONS. Romanian Foreign Minister
Adrian Nastase has called relations between Romania and Hungary
"unsatisfactory," Rompres reported on 5 March. Nastase said that
from a number of signals, especially in the past two years, Romanians
get the feeling that Hungary is trying to create an international
climate receptive to Hungarian notions of a "peaceful" modification
of the boundaries between the two countries. Nastase called for
a good-neighbor treaty in which the two countries would renounce
territorial claims on each other now and in the future. (Crisula
Stefanescu)

NEW ELECTIONS IN IASI. Emil Alexandrescu, elected mayor of Iasi
on the National Salvation Front ticket in the 23 February election
runoff, died of a heart attack on 5 March, Radio Bucharest reports.
Iasi is the largest of the very few cities which the NSF won
in local elections. According to Viitorul romanesc on 28 February
Alexandrescu had decided to quit the party. Radio Bucharest announced
on 5 March that new elections will be called. (Crisula Stefanescu)


CHANGES AT BULGARIA'S FOREIGN MINISTRY. The Council of Ministers
on 5 March decided on a number of issues concerning the Ministry
of Foreign Affairs, BTA reports. It approved proposals made by
Foreign Minister Stoyan Ganev on changes in the basic functions
and tasks of the ministry and a 25% reduction in the central
staff, from 780 to 580. Ganev had repeatedly announced his intention
to trim the staff and had dismissed numerous senior officials,
two of whom staged a hunger strike a month ago in protest. Another
of the new decisions bans members of the national intelligence
service from work in the central administration of the Foreign
Ministry. The government also empowered Ganev to take the lead
on Bulgaria's association with the European Community. (Rada
Nikolaev)

BULGARIAN MINERS TO STRIKE? The national strike committee of
miners at the Confederation of Labor Podkrepa was reported by
24 chasa on 5 March as saying it would decide on 6 March whether
to resume the strikes it discontinued last August. It is protesting
a government decision of 29 December 1991 to discontinue, for
reasons of eco-logy, production of lead in Bulgaria. On 6 March
24 chasa published data on the ecological damage in the area
of the lead plant near Plovdiv. (Rada Nikolaev)