No. 61, 27 March 1992

NOTE: Effective March 30, items on Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania
will be included in the section, "Central and Eastern Europe."




SUCCESSOR STATES TO THE USSR

PARTY DIEHARDS REJECT HUMAN RIGHTS FOR NEW RUSSIAN CONSTITUTION.
On 26 March, the Russian parliament's House of Nationalities
rejected part two of the draft Russian Constitution, according
to Russian TV reports. This part, prepared by former Soviet prisoner
of conscience and now the chairman of the parliament's Human
Rights Committee Sergei Kovalev, lists guarantees of individual
rights in Russia. The discussion of the second section lasted
five hours, and it was put to a vote twice. Unlike the House
of the Republic, the House of Nationalities includes many former
top Communist Party officials. (Julia Wishnevsky)

NAGORNO-KARABAKH UPDATE. Armenia and Azerbaijan continued to
disagree over who should represent Nagorno-Karabakh at the CSCE
Minsk peace conference. Azerbaijani Deputy Foreign Minister Albert
Salamov argued that delegates from Karabakh "cannot participate
as delegates of the so-called Nagorno-Karabakh parliament," while
Armenian Foreign Minister Raffi Hovanissian insisted that the
Nagorno-Karabakh representatives should have equal status with
other participants, Western agencies reported on 26 March. UN
Secretary- General Boutros Ghali appealed in New York on 26 March
for an extension of the cease-fire due to expire today. The UN
Security Council agreed on 26 March after discussing the Karabakh
conflict that the UN should not become involved in any peacekeeping
initiative for the region. (Liz Fuller)

DNIESTER LEADER SIGNS DECREE ON MOBILIZATION. The president of
the self-styled "Dniester republic," Igor Smirnov, signed a decree
on 26 March ordering a partial mobilization of men up to the
age of 45, ITAR-TASS reported. The move was justified on the
grounds that Moldova is "actively preparing for combat operations."
The decree cited as evidence, the Moldovan seizure of armaments
and materiel from CIS military units stationed in Moldova, the
mobilization of men liable to call-up, and terrorist acts. Smirnov
also signed a decree putting the "Dniester republic" on Moscow
time, which is one hour different from Chisinau time. (Ann Sheehy)


TRANSFORMER STATION BLOWN UP ON LEFT BANK. A transformer station
in Grigoriopol on the left bank of the Dniester was blown up
on the night of 25 March, ITAR-TASS reported on 26 March. As
a result power supplies to nearly all the Moldovan villages in
the area were cut, and half the farmland was deprived of irrigation
water. According to specialists, it will take two to three months
to repair the damage. Central TV said on 26 March that fighting
had resumed in the Dubosary area, and Moldovan forces were trying
to cut the Tiraspol-Dubosary road, which would isolate the two
main centers of the "Dniester republic" from each other. (Ann
Sheehy)

YELTSIN CHANGES DEFENSE ORGANIZATIONS. In a 26 March decree,
Russian President Boris Yeltsin abolished the position of state
councellor for defense and dissolved the State Committee for
Defense. Interfax reported that General Konstantin Kobets, who
had been the defense councellor--or advisor--had been "placed
at the disposal" of the CIS commander in chief, Marshal Evgenii
Shaposhnikov. Col. Gen. Pavel Grachev, who had chaired the defense
committee, was appointed Russian first deputy minister of defense.
(Doug Clarke)

ANOTHER SUBMARINE INCIDENT. A submerged foreign submarine was
detected on the morning of 25 March in the Barents Sea near the
spot where an American and ex-Soviet submarine collided on 11
February. ITAR-TASS reported on 26 March that two warships of
the Northern Fleet had tracked the submarine as it left Russian
territorial waters. Rear Admiral Valerii Aleksin, identified
as the CIS navy's chief navigator, speculated that the intruder
was either an American or British nuclear submarine. (Doug Clarke)


RUSSIAN GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS TO LOSE THEIR PARLIAMENTARY MANDATES?
Interfax reported on 24 March that a draft decree of the Russian
parliament has been prepared that would require those parliamentarians
who hold government posts to relinquish their deputies' mandates.
Among those who would be affected by the ruling is Russian Deputy
Prime Minister Sergei Shakhrai. On 25 March, ITAR-TASS reported
that Russian Procurator General Valentin Stepankov has demanded
that Russian Vice President Aleksandr Rutskoi, Moscow Mayor Gavriil
Popov, and Moscow local government administrator Nikolai Travkin,
all of whom are also leaders of political parties or movements,
choose between their state posts and their party posts. Stepankov
is, somewhat belatedly, applying the provisions of the Decree
on Power adopted by the first Congress of Russian People's Deputies
in June 1990.(Elizabeth Teague)

BURYATIA READY TO SIGN FEDERAL TREATY IF CHANGES MADE. The Buryat
parliament voted on 26 March to sign the federal treaty but would
like some additions and changes, Radio Rossii reported. The changes
concern such fundamental issues, such as ownership of natural
resources, the delimitation of powers between the Federation
and the republics, and the primacy of federal and republican
laws. The parliament also wanted the text supplemented with articles
on the basic principles of the state structure for the Russian
Federation and the status of its subjects. (Ann Sheehy)

LAW ON REHABILITATION OF COSSACKS TO BE DRAWN UP. In accordance
with Yeltsin's instructions the Russian government has formed
a commission to draw up a draft law rehabilitating the Cossacks,
Radio Rossii reported on 26 March. The commission will be headed
by Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Shakhrai. It will also include
representatives of the territorial Unions of Cossacks. After
considerable pressure the Cossacks got themselves included in
the 1991 RSFSR law on the rehabilitation of repressed peoples
on the grounds of the savage persecution they were subjected
to in the early years of Soviet rule, and they have since been
agitating for a law to be enacted. (Ann Sheehy)

MFA PERSONNEL CHANGES TO COME. Radio Rossii reported on 25 March
that a number of personnel changes are expected in the Russian
Foreign Ministry. Among them, the current head of the Press and
Information Department, Vitalii Churkin, will be sent as ambassador
to Chile. Churkin will be replaced by the editor-in-chief of
the magazine VIP, Sergei Yazdrozhimersky. Career diplomats view
Yazdrozhimersky's candidacy "rather suspiciously," the report
said, while adding that he apparently has the support of Russian
Foreign Minister Andrei Kozyrev. Radio Rossii echoed the frequent
reports that Kozyrev himself is likely to leave his post soon.
Radio Rossii was quoting the independent news agency Okapress.
(Suzanne Crow)

WESTERN BANKERS ROLL OVER CIS DEBT. On 26 March, a panel representing
600 Western creditor banks announced a further 30- day rescheduling
of principal payments by the former Soviet republics, Western
agencies reported. The CIS delegation undertook to improve their
foreign exchange controls. They conceded that interest payments
during the second quarter of 1992 might be delayed. (Debtors
are technically required to keep interest payments up to date,
but only about 30% of the interest coming due from the CIS has
been paid in recent weeks). The Western side had been reportedly
seeking longer-term solutions to the problem of the repayment
of the CIS debt, but no enlightenment was offered on this score.
(Keith Bush)

UKRAINE ON COLLISION COURSE WITH IMF? Volodymyr Chernyak, one
of the authors of Ukraine's latest economic reform, told Reuters
on 26 March that Ukraine cannot follow the IMF precepts on free
prices. "I am deeply convinced that neither in Russia nor in
Ukraine is it possible to follow the classic IMF scheme. You
cannot make free prices the cornerstone of reform." Chernyak
said that Ukraine would like help from the IMF but "if we cannot
convince them, we will go ahead anyway." Criticism of the Ukrainian
reform program has already been aired by Ukrainian Deputy Prime
Minister Volodymyr Lanovy and by Oleksandr Savchenko, a leading
Ukrainian reformer. (Keith Bush)

UKRAINE TRIES TO HEAD OFF OIL PRICE INCREASE. Ukrainian Prime
Minister Vitold Fokin told RFE/RL on 26 March that he is trying
to persuade Russia to cancel its planned increase in the prices
of oil and petroleum products. Otherwise, Fokin said, Ukraine
will retaliate by making the coupons now in circulation the only
legal currency in Ukraine. (It was not immediately clear how
this would help Ukraine pay for Russian oil. Besides, Ukraine
and Russia reached a preliminary agreement in late February that
Ukraine would return ruble notes to Russia as these were replaced
by parallel or alternative currencies.) Fokin argued against
cutting economic ties with Russia now to reach its goal of economic
independence, because Ukraine does not have enough energy resources.
(Keith Bush)

RUSSIAN OFFICIAL DENIES BUDGET CRISIS STORY. Sergei Vasilev,
an advisor to the Russian government, has denied the 24 March
Izvestiya story of a large deficit in the Russian budget. Speaking
on Radio Rossii on 25 March, he said the budget was being fully
implemented, and the first-quarter deficit would be "minimal."
The Ministry of Finance has denied that the memo cited by Izvestiya
exists. Considerable doubt remains about the denial. Irina Demchenko,
who wrote the article, has a good track record; similar stories
earlier were not denied; it is not clear which definition of
"budget" is involved; and saying the deficit is "minimal" is
less convincing than giving a number. (Philip Hanson)

GORBACHEV TO BE INTERROGATED IN EARLY APRIL. Mikhail Gorbachev
is to be questioned in early April, in connection with the case
of misuse of the Communist party funds, Western agencies said
on 25 March. Spokesmen for the Gorbachev Foundation have denied,
however, an Interfax report that the former USSR President had
been told not to leave Moscow in connection with the interrogation.
According to the spokesmen, Gorbachev had merely "agreed" with
Russian General Prosecutor Valentin Stepankov that testimony
from the Party's last General Secretary would be useful for the
probe. Interfax also said that most former Politburo members
had already been questioned. (Julia Wishnevsky)

RUSSIAN PROSECUTORS REPORTEDLY SOLD OFFICIAL INFORMATION. "Novosti"
quoted a report to have been distributed in the Russian parliament
on 26 March, saying that the office of the Russian Federation
General Prosecutor had approved the sale of video tapes relating
to the case against the coup conspirators even before some of
the tape transcripts appeared in the German magazine Der Spiegel.
The report said that prosecutors received $2,000 and DM 3,000
for the tapes. This habit of selling official information for
hard currency has created a major international stir in the CIS
and elsewhere. (Julia Wishnevsky)

WRITERS' UNION HONORS LUKYANOV. The reactionary leadership of
the Russian Writers' Union held, on 26 March, a public reading
of poetry by Anatolii Lukyanov, former chairman of the USSR Supreme
Soviet who is now in jail for his alleged role in last August's
attempted coup. Despite organizers' appeals to Russian legal
and governmental authorities, as well as to the British Queen
and French president, Lukyanov was not allowed to leave the prison
to attend the event. In an interview with Russian TV, a Union
official Valerii Rogov confirmed that the reason Lukyanov was
so honored was purely political, aimed to whitewash him in the
eyes of the public. (Julia Wishnevsky)

UKRAINE OPENS EMBASSY IN BUDAPEST, BUT NO THANKS TO RUSSIA. On
26 March, Ukraine opened its first embassy, in Budapest. It is
situated in the building which formerly housed the West German
embassy and the expenses have been met by a Transcarpathian commercial
bank. In its report on the opening, Radio Ukraine commented that
Russia had taken over all of the property that had belonged to
the former Soviet embassy in Budapest and had refused to divide
up these assets with other CIS members. Ukrainian Deputy Foreign
Minister Borys Tarasiuk, as cited by MTI, described the opening
of the embassy as a "special event" that testified to the exemplary
relations that have developed between the two neighboring states.(Bohdan
Nahaylo and Edith Oltay)

TURKMENISTAN TO HAVE OWN CURRENCY? The chairman of the Turkmenistan
Universal Commercial Bank Senegat Kuklev told the Nega newspaper
that Turkmenistan was close to creating its own currency, Radio
Mayak reported on 26 March. Kuklev said they would not make the
mistake of other republics that adopted coupons. The governments
of Turkey and Iran had offered the republic help in creating
its currency. (Ann Sheehy)

UKRAINIAN-LANGUAGE SCHOOLS TO OPEN IN MOLDOVA. ITAR-TASS reported
on 26 March that authorities in Chisinau will be opening a number
of Ukrainian-language schools in the city in the new school year,
as well as five kindergartens and a Ukrainian-Russian gymnasium
[high school]. Although the 600,000 Ukrainians in Moldova form
the country's largest national minority, the last Ukrainian schools
in the republic were closed in the 1960s and the Ukrainian population
subjected to russification. About 100,000 Ukrainians live in
Chisinau (15% of the inhabitants). (Bohdan Nahaylo)

METROPOLITAN REJECTS CRITICISM. Zhizn published in no. 11, March
1992, an interview with Metropolitan Pitirim of Volokolam and
Yurev. The metropolitan, who is the head of the publishing department
of the Russian Orthodox Church, is one of its leading hierarchs.
He was accused recently in the press of being a "KGB operative."
The metropolitan told the interviewer that he thinks it "unnatural"
to defend himself against the campaign being waged now but that
he never did anything illegal or amoral. (Oxana Antic)

BALTIC STATES



ESTONIA WANTS NUCLEAR PLANT CLOSED. Foreign Minister Lennart
Meri told reporters on 26 March that Estonia has evidence that
the Russian nuclear power station at Sosnovy Bor has been leaking
radioactivity for 20 months. Estonia has called on Russia to
shut down the plant after Tuesday's incident. (Riina Kionka)


BALTIC STATES AGREE ON COMMON VISA SPACE. On 26 March the prime
ministers of the three Baltic States signed a protocol in Tallinn
creating a common visa space in the Baltic States. The accord
takes effect immediately, Radio Riga and Radio Tallinn report.
Citizens of the Baltic States will not have to pay a fee to cross
any border within the visa space. For citizens of other countries,
a visa for one of the Baltic States will also serve as a transit
visa for the other two; a transit visa issued by one Baltic State
will give a traveler the right to cross into the other two states
and stay up to 48 hours. Accords were also signed on closer cooperation
between the Baltic governments, customs services, and trade with
the CIS states. (Dzintra Bungs)

LITHUANIA WILLING TO HOST MINORITIES COMMISSIONER. An RFE/RL
correspondent reported from Helsinki on 26 March that Lithuanian
Foreign Minister Algirdas Saudargas offered Vilnius as the seat
for either the main office or a regional branch of the office
of the proposed High Commissioner for Minorities. Saudargas also
said that if the position is approved, the commissioner should
work closely with the CSCE office for democratic institutions
in Warsaw. (Dzintra Bungs)

LATVIA TO INVESTIGATE CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY. The Latvian Supreme
Council decided on 25 March to start investigating repressions
against the people of Latvia and damage done to the country by
totalitarian regimes, notably those of the former USSR and Nazi
Germany. A special commission is to be formed by 31 March and
additional laws or revisions of existing laws are to be drafted
by 1 May, Diena reports. (Dzintra Bungs)

USSR DUMPED CHEMICALS IN THE BALTIC SEA. Citing Yurii Efremov,
head of the chemical service of the Baltic Fleet of the former
USSR, ITAR-TASS reported on 25 March that the Soviet Union dumped
toxins, including mustard gas, in the Baltic Sea after World
War II. Despite fears to the contrary expressed by Scandinavian
environmentalists, Efremov claims that no massive leak could
occur from the canisters containing the chemicals. (Dzintra Bungs)


CHICAGO LITHUANIAN: "I WAS A DOUBLE-AGENT." A former Lithuanian
parliament spokeswoman and US citizen told reporters on 26 March
that the KGB pressured her into supplying information on Lithuanian
emigres, but that she kept US officials aware of her activities
at the same time. Rita Dapkus, a Lithuanian- American from Chicago,
told Western agencies that she provided "generalized information"
on about 20 emigres from 1986 until August 1991. She said she
supplied the information because the KGB threatened to revoke
her visa to Lithuania if she did not cooperate. Dapkus said she
informed the FBI in Chicago during her yearly trips home; the
FBI's Chicago office refused to comment. (Riina Kionka)

CIS FIGHTER PLANES CRASH IN LATVIA. Two MiG-27 fighter planes
of the former USSR armed forces crashed separately on 24 March
in Latvia. Radio Riga reports that the pilots of both planes
were killed but there were no injuries on the ground. The Latvian
government was not informed of the practice flights or the circumstances
surrounding the crashes. (Dzintra Bungs)

CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPE

SKUBISZEWSKI CONCERNED ABOUT RELATIONS WITH LITHUANIA. Back in
Warsaw from the CSCE conference in Helsinki, Polish Foreign Minister
Krzysztof Skubiszewski told a press conference that he is concerned
about the future of Polish-Lithuanian relations, PAP reported
on 26 March. The day before, Skubiszewski met with his Lithuanian
counterpart, Algirdas Saudargas, to ask him to review the decision
to delay self-government elections in the Vilnius and Salcininkai
districts, areas inhabited predominantly by Poles. Polish authorities
are also worried about the current review in Lithuania of titles
to land and property. The minority issue, said Skubiszewski,
influences relations between the two countries and "it would
not be good if these deteriorate because of the way Lithuania
treats Poles." (Roman Stefanowski)

MORE INFORMATION ON POLISH WEAPONS SMUGGLERS. On 27 March Gazeta
wyborcza published the names of seven Poles arrested in Germany
on 10 March accused of trying to sell weapons worth some $100
million to Iraq. They include Wojciech Baranski, a retired three-star
general in charge of army combat training from 1985 to 1989,
Jerzy Napiorkowski, a former deputy finance minister, and Raimund
Szwondra, deputy director of Lucznik, a hunting equipment factory
in Radom. Also arrested was Stan Kinmann, an American citizen
representing Ronald Hendron of the International Business Center.
According to the paper, two ex-Soviet generals "vanished" just
before the arrests were made. A spokesman for the Foreign Cooperation
Ministry said the weapons in question did not originate in Poland.
(Roman Stefanowski)

CZECHOSLOVAK, GERMAN DEPUTIES MEET. Deputies of the Czechoslovak
federal parliament and the German Bundestag said the development
of French-German relations after the war could serve as a model
for the relations between Germany and Czechoslovakia. The deputies
met in Prague on 26 March to discuss ways of implementing the
Czechoslovak-German friendship treaty signed in February. They
also met with Karel Schwarzenberg, President Vaclav Havel's chief
of staff, who said Czechoslovak-German relations should be improved,
particularly at the level of regions and communities, and called
for greater German investment in Slovakia, CSTK reports. (Barbara
Kroulik)

LIECHTENSTEIN WANTS PRAGUE TO RETURN LAND. The Principality of
Liechtenstein may not ratify an accord with Czechoslovakia because
Prague refuses to return property it confiscated from Liechtenstein's
royal family in 1918. A government statement said on 26 March
that Liechtenstein may delay the agreement reached last week
between Czechoslovakia and the European Free Trade Association.
An EFTA spokesman in Geneva, however, said other member nations
are prepared to sign the free-trade agreement, Reuters reports.
(Barbara Kroulik)

HAVEL HONORED BY AMERICAN ACADEMY. Vaclav Havel became a honorary
member of the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters
on 26 March. The Academy cited Havel for his work as a dramatist
and his efforts for freedom and democracy. Academy president,
Prague-born Hugo Weisgall, handed the diploma to Havel, who said
he highly values his membership and will do his best to uphold
the standards of the institution, an RFE/RL correspondent reports.
The New York-based academy was founded 1889 to promote literature,
music, and the fine arts. (Barbara Kroulik)

ROMANIA'S NSF CONVENTION OPENS TODAY. The three- day convention
of the ruling National Salvation Front begins on 27 March in
Bucharest. Local and foreign media are speculating about the
likely confrontation between President Ion Iliescu and NSF leader
Petre Roman about who will be designated as the party's candidate
for president of the country. On 26 March the Senate--whose speaker
Alexandru Barladeanu is a long-time opponent of Roman--issued
a report accusing Roman of misusing some 35 billion lei in governmental
funds during his premiership in 1990-91. Prime Minister Theodor
Stolojan (finance minister in Roman's government) expressed some
irritation at the charges and said on television that impropriety
on this scale could not have happened unnoticed by entire staffs
of the ministries involved. (Mihai Sturdza)

ROMANIAN GOVERNMENT CRITICIZES PRESS. A government communique
on 25 March condemned "chauvinist" attacks carried by some periodicals.
Such attacks, it said, run counter to the constitution and international
agreements, and legal bodies should take offenders to court.
On 19 March, after receiving a delegation of the Federation of
Romanian Jewish Communities headed by chief rabbi Moses Rosen,
President Iliescu condemned the anti-Semitism of right- wing
magazines like Europa and Romania mare, local media said. Former
NSF ideologue Silviu Brucan said on 25 March that the language
of Romania's extremist parties is a legacy of Ceausescu's chauvinism
and has only a "minuscule appeal." (Mihai Sturdza)

ROMANIA AT THE HELSINKI CONFERENCE. On 25 March at the CSCE foreign
ministers' conference in Helsinki, Adrian Nastase indirectly
criticized Hungary's claim that a state's national security includes
the protection of minorities in another country. He said this
is not in accordance with the rules of international relations
and repeated an earlier proposal that the CSCE process draw up
a code of conduct on minority issues. Nastase also voiced concern
about the activities of Cossack units operating in Moldova, Western
and local sources report. (Mihai Sturdza)

BULGARIAN MINERS STRIKE. Prime Minister Filip Dimitrov and Minister
of Labor Vekil Vanov left on 26 March for Madan, a mining town
in the Rhodope Mountains and center of the miners protest and
strike warning over the past few days. According to the dailies
on 27 March, as quoted by BTA, they arrived very late in the
evening, after the miners had begun their strike. By way of emphasizing
their occupational health risks, the miners have been threatening
to take their women and children down into the mines. Debate
is also continuing in the press over the government's announcement
that it will discontinue production of uranium and lead, which
was the main motive for the strike. (Rada Nikolaev)

PODKREPA CHAIRMAN BECOMES VICE PRESIDENT OF ICFTU. While the
miners of his confederation have been preparing for a strike,
Podkrepa Chairman Konstantin Trenchev was attending the congress
of the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions in Venezuela,
which ended on 24 March. Sofia dailies reported on 26 March that
Trenchev was elected vice president of ICFTU, calling it a great
distinction. Podkrepa has been an ICFTU member only since June
1991. (Rada Nikolaev)

TENSION RISES IN BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA. On 26 March the Presidency,
or executive council, of the republic ordered the federal army
to withdraw that same day from Bosanski Brod, where the army
has been backing the efforts of Serbian irregulars to take control
of that strategic transportation hub on the Croatian border.
The Presidency said it would appeal to the UN Security Council
if the army does not comply, which the army refuses to do. The
27 March Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung carries the story. The
26 March Vjesnik says that recent developments in Bosanski Brod
show that the Serbian leadership is conducting a war against
Bosnia-Herzegovina to consolidate the Serbian position there
before that republic receives international recognition, which
is expected to come on 6 April. (Patrick Moore)

MACEDONIAN DEVELOPMENTS. Another ex-Yugoslav republic that is
expected to be recognized on or after that day by most EC states
is Macedonia. Vjesnik says that Greece continues to try to block
that development, although Politika on 23 March argues that Athens
has already lost its bid to do so. Vjesnik reports that Serbian
President Slobodan Milosevic ended a "strictly private" five-day
visit to Greece on 24 March, after discussing Macedonia and other
issues with top Greek leaders. Afterward he drove straight back
to Serbia and did not stop in Skopje, as some Macedonian leaders
had expected. That republic is the latest new East European state
to launch a contest to replace the old, communist-era flag, coat-of-arms,
and anthem, and has set a deadline of 10 April for entries. Finally,
unemployment in Macedonia has reached 170,000 and is expected
to hit 200,000 by the fall. (Patrick Moore)

DJILAS CONTINUES TO SPEAK OUT. The 27 March New York Times carries
an interview with Milovan Djilas, once Yugoslavia's best-known
dissident and long regarded by many as the leading analyst of
that country's politics. Djilas rejects criticism that he is
partly responsible for the current crisis on account of his having
headed the postwar commission that set the current boundaries
between the republics. He says that his commission did the best
it could given the complexity of ethnic settlement patterns.
He likens his current critics to the "journalistic hooligans"
who hounded him during the Tito era. He feels that "the great
majority of what the communists did was bad," but that they should
be given credit for trying "to bring people together across the
boundaries of nationality and religion." America, Djilas says,
seems "a little less able to play its role in the world," which
could leave "the way open to everything bad." (Patrick Moore)
[As of 1200 CET] Compiled b: Carla Thorson & Charles Trumbull






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