No. 67, 06 April 1992

SUCCESSOR STATES TO THE USSR

CONGRESS OF PEOPLE'S DEPUTIES OPENS. The sixth Russian Congress
of People's Deputies opened in Moscow on 6 April. Some commentators,
such as Yurii Rostov of "Vesti" believe that this is going to
be one of the most important congresses in Russian history. Others,
such as former Yeltsin spokesman Pavel Voshchanov in an interview
on the 5 April TV weekly newscast "Itogi," have opined that the
status quo will be preserved. Most observers believe that the
Congress is unlikely to adopt the new Russian Constitution, even
in principle. Another important question on the agenda is whether
Russian President Boris Yeltsin should keep his extraordinary
power to appoint government ministers without parliamentary approval.
(Julia Wishnevsky)

BURBULIS RESIGNS? Boris Yeltsin's right-hand man, Gennadii Burbulis,
resigned his post as first deputy prime minister on 3 April.
Burbulis, however, remains a state counsellor in charge of Russian
foreign policy and law-enforcement bodies, thus keeping all
his powers intact. Burbulis is reportedly the most unpopular
politician in Russia; he seems to be the main cause of Yeltsin's
split with Russian Vice-president Aleksandr Rutskoi and parliamentary
Chairman Ruslan Khasbulatov. (Julia Wishnevsky)

YELTSIN CONTINUES CABINET RESHUFFLE. In what observers saw as
an effort to preempt criticism of his government at the session
of Russia's Congress of People's Deputies, Yeltsin on 4 April
removed Deputy Prime Minister Aleksandr Shokhin's portfolio as
minister of labor and employment, Interfax and Reuters reported.
Shokhin, the fourth member of Yeltsin's team to lose a post in
two days, retains his rank as deputy prime minister. Born in
1951, the reformist economist was nominated to the cabinet by
the Russian Social Democratic Party. He is one of the architects
of the "social partnership" agreement recently concluded between
the Yeltsin government, the official and unofficial Russian trade
unions, and Russia's fledgling entrepreneurs' associations. (Elizabeth
Teague)

AGRICULTURE MINISTER SACKED; OTHER CHANGES. ITAR-TASS announced
on 4 April that Yeltsin had dismissed Agriculture Minister A.
Ustyuzhanin for "gross violation of official duties." The agency
went on to report that further government appointments included
those of a first deputy finance minister, several deputy chairmen
of the state committee on prices, a deputy chairman of the food
industry committee, several deputy railway ministers, and a number
of deputy chairmen of the state committee on precious metals.
(Elizabeth Teague)

YELTSIN NAMES TWO FIRST DEPUTY DEFENSE MINISTERS. . . On 3 April,
Yeltsin officially named Colonel General Pavel Grachev and defense
specialist Andrei Kokoshin as Russian first deputy defense ministers,
ITAR-TASS reported. Grachev has served in both the CIS and the
Russian defense establishments, while Kokoshin was deputy director
of the USA and Canada Institute. He is 46 years old. Boris Yeltsin
continues to serve as Russian defense minister, and the dual
appointment appears to be an attempt to satisfy both the military
leadership, which would like to place an officer at the head
of the Russian Defense Ministry, and reformers, who want to see
a civilian in that position. (Stephen Foye)

AND CONSOLIDATES CONTROL OVER ARMY. According to Reuters, Yeltsin
also signed a decree on 3 April placing himself at the head of
the Russian national security council, and asserted temporary
Russian control over all border troops in the Transcaucasus region.
A Yeltsin spokesman said that the troops would remain under Russian
jurisdiction until border protection agreements were signed with
Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan. (Stephen Foye)

RUTSKOI: CRIMEA MUST BE PART OF RUSSIA. Russian Vice-president
Aleksandr Rutskoi is quoted as saying on 4 April that common
sense shows that the Crimea must once again be part of Russia.
According to Interfax, Rutskoi told naval officers in Sevastopol
that the Russian leaders who handed the Crimea over to Ukraine
in 1954 must have been "suffering from sunstroke or a hangover."
He also said that the Russian Congress of People's Deputies may
take up the issue. (Roman Solchanyk)

RUTSKOI ON "DNIESTER REPUBLIC." Rutskoi, arriving in the breakaway
"Dniester Republic" from Sevastopol, told a crowd in Bendery
on 5 April that the republic exists and must exist, Western news
agencies reported. In a speech in Tiraspol, the Russian vice-president
suggested that a referendum be held to decide the republic's
status. Moldovan President Mircea Snegur has protested Rutskoi's
visit in a message to Boris Yeltsin and accused Russia of violating
its treaty with Moldova. In the meantime, the "Dniester Republic"
has appealed to the Russian Congress of People's Deputies to
recognize the republic and its right to self-determination.
(Roman Solchanyk)

THE ARMY IN MOLDOVA. An officers' assembly meeting in Bendery
on 4 April threatened to intercede forcibly if hostilities are
not halted in Moldova, according to ITAR-TASS and western reports.
The threat was the second to be issued by former Soviet officers
serving in the region in the last week, but it was unclear how
many officers stood behind the latest statement. Meanwhile, CIS
Commander in Chief Evgenii Shaposhnikov said in Komsomolskaya
pravda on 4 April that he believed the Fourteenth army, deployed
in Moldova, should be used as a peace-keeping force in the region.
On 4 April CIS generals, Boris Gromov and Boris Pyankov, arrived
in Tiraspol to meet with local leaders. (Stephen Foye)

PARLIAMENT ON RUSSIAN ARMY. The Presidium of the Russian parliament
issued a document on 4 April that called for the government to
move quickly to create a Russian army, Interfax reported. It
charged that the inability of CIS states to reach consensus had
caused inadmissible delays in reaching solutions to pressing
defense-related problems. The document nevertheless urged the
creation of a system of collective security among CIS states.
It also recommended significant reductions in military spending,
and called for legislative participation in defense policy-making,
conversion, and decisions on the military budget. (Stephen Foye)


BLACK SEA FLEET DEVELOPMENTS. The dispute between Russia and
Ukraine over the future of the former Soviet Black Sea Fleet
flared up again recently. In a statement carried by Reuters on
3 April, Russian President Boris Yeltsin warned that Russia would
be obliged to take the fleet "under its own jurisdiction" if
anyone attempted to unilaterally change the status of the fleet.
He sent his vice president, Aleksandr Rutskoi to the Crimea,
where Radio Mayak reported on 4 April he received an ovation
from naval officers when he declared that "the Black Sea Fleet
was and will be Russian." The radio also broadcast an account
of the third congress of the Ukrainian Union of Officers in Kiev,
where the chairman proposed that Ukraine immediately take the
fleet under its jurisdiction and set up an "alternative fleet
command" in Sevastopol. Interfax reported that same day that
Ukraine had removed Rear Admiral Mikhail Prokapshuk from his
post as "chief of the special department" for the fleet. (Doug
Clarke)

REFORMISTS SPLIT OVER DEMROSSIYA'S PROGRAM. On 5 April, Russian
media gave much prominence to the Congress of Russian Citizens
organized by the Democratic Russia movement, the Movement for
Democratic Reforms and other reform-minded groups. The Congress
supported the market-oriented reforms and the Yeltsin government.
However, according to "Vesti," the audience split after the leadership
of Democratic Russia urged that the CPSU be put on trial, that
all former Party officials who now serve in the Russian government
be fired, and the Russian parliament be disbanded and replaced
with a constituent assembly. (Julia Wishnevsky)

GAIDAR ON THE 1992 BUDGET. In an interview with The Financial
Times of 3 April, given as the news of his release from the post
of finance minister was announced, Egor Gaidar conceded that
Russia's budget for 1992 would not be balanced. He hoped for
a deficit of "less than 5% of the GDP at the end of the year."
The tight credit policy, outlined in the memorandum aimed at
the IMF and G-7, would be significantly relaxed during the first
half of 1992-at the suggestion of the IMF, according to Gaidar.
He was, however, confident that the money supply would be tightened
again during the second half of the year. He reckoned that when
the stabilization fund is in place, the ruble will float at 40-50
rubles to the dollar. (Keith Bush)

UN REPORT GLOOMY ON EASTERN EUROPE AND CIS ECONOMIES. The UN
Economic Survey of Europe in 1991- 1992 was released to the press
on 5 April. It forecast further falls in output and sharp rises
in unemployment in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union.
The Survey is an annual report produced by UN Secretariat economists
recruited from both East and West. In 1990 this team called for
a large, coordinated package of Western assistance to the region,
and in Autumn 1991 it described the situation in Eastern Europe
as a "depression." The UN economists now see a possible recovery
soon in Poland and Hungary, but fear a general collapse of the
reform process in the region as political support for change
fades. (Philip Hanson)

RUSSIAN MINIMUM WAGE AND PENSION TO BE RAISED. On the day that
he was removed from the post of Russian Labor and Employment
Minister, Aleksandr Shokhin announced more generous social protection
measures, according to The Financial Times of 4 March. He was
reported as stating that the minimum wage would be raised from
342 rubles to 900 rubles a month, while the minimum pension would
go up from 500 rubles to 800 rubles a month. Yet ITAR-TASS of
3 March suggested that the Russian parliament had adopted a law
that day providing for a higher minimum old-age pension (800
rubles a month) than the government had proposed. Whatever the
provenance, it appears that the minimum pension will go up. (Keith
Bush)

UKRAINE BLOCKS BOMBERS FOR AIR SHOW. Ukrainian authorities would
not allow six strategic bombers based in Ukraine fly to Moscow
to participate in an air show, ITAR-TASS reported on 3 April.
The commander of CIS long-range aviation had wanted the planes
to participate in an event celebrating the international day
of aviation. His request was turned down by Lt. Gen. Ivan Bizhan,
a Ukrainian deputy minister of defense, who argued that since
no decision had been made on which forces in Ukraine were strategic
forces, there were no grounds to consider these planes part of
the CIS Joint Armed Forces. The bombers included Tu-160 "Backfires."
Western reports that the sole Tu-160 unit in the former Soviet
forces had moved from Ukraine to Russia in January were therefore
incorrect. (Doug Clarke)

COMMITTEE ON SOLDIERS' DEATHS. According to figures released
at a meeting of the Russian Presidential Committee for Servicemen's
Affairs, some 1,300 soldiers die in the Soviet/CIS armed forces
each year as a result of criminal actions, "Novosti" reported
on 3 April. Altogether, approximately 6,000 soldiers died in
the last year, according to a deputy chairman of the committee,
Albert Khrapovich. He said that over the last ten years the armed
forces had lost five submarines as a result of accidents. (Stephen
Foye)

GEORGIAN PREMIER OUTLINES ECONOMIC PLANS. Troops loyal to the
ruling State Council have retaken the Black Sea port of Poti
and the towns of Khobi, Senaki and Zugdidi from supporters of
ousted Georgian President Zviad Gamsakhurdia, but the latter
"are still trying to destabilize the situation" in western Georgia,
acting Prime Minister Tengiz Sigua told Western journalists on
5 April. Sigua expressed the hope that the improved political
situation would encourage Western companies to invest in Georgia,
and that by the end of 1992 the economy would be stabilized.
The interim Georgian government has begun privatizing land and
has prepared a range of reforms. (Liz Fuller)

KOZYREV IN TRANSCAUCASUS. Russian Foreign Minister Andrei Kozyrev
met in Erevan on 3 April with Armenian President Levon Ter-Petrossyan,
Foreign Minister Raffi Hovanissian and established formal relations
between the two countries, ITAR-TASS reported. On 4 April Kozyrev
talked with Patriarch Vazgen I before flying to Baku where, after
talks with acting President Yakub Mamedov, both men affirmed
their commitment to achieving a ceasefire in Nagorno-Karabakh
and beginning negotiations. On 5 April, Kozyrev visited the towns
of Gyandzha and Naftalan before departing for Moldova. (Liz Fuller)


NEW PRIME MINISTER IN AZERBAIJAN. Following the breakdown of
talks on forming a coalition government with the Azerbaijan Popular
Front after the resignation of President Ayaz Mutalibov, self-styled
moderate Hasan Hasanov resigned as Azerbaijani Prime Minister
on 4 April; the Turan News Agency reported on 5 April that Hasanov
has been named Azerbaijan's ambassador to the UN. Acting President
Yakub Mamedov has appointed as Prime Minister the 59 year old
agronomist Feyruz Radzhab ogly Mustafaev. Mustafaev began his
career as a livestock specialist before switching to full-time
Party work. In 1987 he was appointed deputy chairman of the republic's
Gosagroprom, and in May, 1991 first deputy prime minister. (Liz
Fuller)

RADIO LIBERTY ON RUSSIAN TV. On 5 April, Russian TV devoted a
65-minute program to Radio Liberty. The program was based on
the report of a meeting held on 31 October 1991 in the Moscow
Central House of Writers that was attended by US Ambassador Robert
Strauss, staff employees of the RL Russian Service and leading
liberal Russian writers. (Julia Wishnevsky)





\fo25; EASTERN EUROPE\fo5;



CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPE

"FEAR AND CHAOS REIGN IN BOSNIA." This is how Radio Sarajevo
describes the situation in Bosnia-Herzegovina during the early
morning hours of 6 April. Sarajevo is also under heavy fire from
mortar and artillery shells. On the morning of 6 April Yugoslav
army tanks rolled into the city. Yesterday Serb paramilitary
troops seized a Sarajevo police academy holding some 800 people
hostage. Three army barracks in Sarajevo were also shelled and
the city's airport is now under army control after sustaining
heavy damage from mortar fire. (Milan Andrejevich)

WEEKEND OF VIOLENCE. This weekend was the most violent in the
republic since World War II, and many fear a full-fledged civil
war is now unavoidable. Sarajevo radio and TV cite unconfirmed
police reports that more than 200 people have been killed since
Friday in Kupres, a town in western Bosnia. On 5 April a peace
rally in Sarajevo ended in violence as masked gunmen opened fire
on the crowd, killing ten people. During the evening a ceasefire
agreement was reached in a Sarajevo TV studio by representatives
of the three national parties which make up the ruling coalition--
Alija Izetbegovic of the Muslim Party of Democratic Action, Radovan
Karadzic of the Serbian Democratic Party, and Miljenko Brkic
of the Croatian Democratic Community, and the commander of the
Yugoslav army's 2nd Military District and EC monitor Antonio
Santos. Despite an appeal broadcast on local radio and TV, the
ceasefire is not being observed in the republic and widespread
looting is reported. Last night a curfew was ordered in Sarajevo,
and several towns in the republic have declared a state of emergency.
(Milan Andrejevich)

SARAJEVO CITIZENS ISSUE ULTIMATUM. On 5 April several hundred
people of all ethnic groups gathered inside the Bosnia-Herzegovina
National Assembly building demanding that a full session of the
assembly be held by noon on 6 April, televised live, to consider
a vote of no-confidence in the government. The demonstrators
also demanded that the assembly form a government of national
salvation or else the citizens themselves will set up a crisis
committee to form a new government. Sarajevo TV covered the events
live. After meeting with a group of protesters, republic prime
minister Jure Pelivan resigned. Early on the morning of 6 April
Izetbegovic addressed the protesters for two minutes and made
an appeal for peace and freedom for all Bosnians. The crowd responded
"It's all over! Resign, resign!" (Milan Andrejevich)

YUGOSLAV ARMY BLAMED FOR BIJELJINA MASSACRE. On 4 April the Presidency
of Bosnia-Herzegovina announced a general mobilization of the
republic's territorial defense units and police reservists and
ordered the Serb-dominated federal army to return all weapons
and equipment it took from the republic's security forces in
October 1990 on the pretext of safeguarding the republic from
illegal weapons. Bosnian President Izetbegovic made the announcement
on TV and sharply criticized the army for having failed to prevent
the killing of 27 people, mostly Muslims, in Bijeljina in northeastern
Bosnia by Serb paramilitary units who seized the town on 2 April.
Bosnian Serb leaders rejected the mobilization order as "irresponsible"
because it had been issued without the consent of the two Serb
representatives on the seven-member Presidency; they were in
northern Bosnia negotiating a ceasefire. Radios Sarajevo and
Belgrade suggested that the mobilization order was partly responsible
for Sunday's outburst of violence. (Milan Andrejevich)

MORTAR SHELLS FROM CROATIA EXPLODE IN HUNGARY. On 3 April, 21
mortar shells fired from Croatia exploded on Hungarian territory
near the village of Kasad, Hungarian Foreign Ministry spokesman
Janos Herman told MTI the same day. He said that Hungary will
call for urgent UN and EC measures to prevent a spillover of
the fighting onto Hungarian territory. The Hungarian Border Guards
reinforced security forces along the border with Croatia. (Edith
Oltay)

CONCERN OVER BULGARIAN MINORITY IN SERBIA. Bulgarian media have
been voicing concern over the situation of the thousands of Bulgarians
living in the so-called Western Provinces in Serbia and formerly
recognized there as an ethnic minority. A report from Belgrade
on Bulgarian radio on 3 April said that the Serbian Ministry
of Information had ordered the dismissal of all journalists of
the Bulgarian-language newspaper Bratstvo who hold leading posts
in the Democratic Union of Bulgarians. There had even been suggestions
to ban that union. The correspondent called on Foreign Minister
Stoyan Ganev to raise the issue with his Serbian counterpart.
The next day the radio interviewed a visitor from the region,
who pointed out that Serbia has set up a ministry for Serbs abroad,
but has no ministry for ethnic minorities in Serbia. (Rada Nikolaev)


BULGARIA'S FOREIGN DEBT. On 2 April Bulgaria held talks in Frankfurt
with the London Club of commercial banks, creditors of some $8.5
billion of Bulgaria's total bank debt, which amounts to $10.5
billion. An RFE/RL report and Bulgarian media said Minister of
Finance Ivan Kostov presented an all-round concept for renegotiating
the debt, including options for its repurchase at a discount
and the exchange of debt for bonds. The banks said they will
study the proposal and respond in May. A three-month deferment
of payments due by the end of March was granted. (Rada Nikolaev)


BULGARIAN LAND LAW SIGNED. Despite numerous protests from the
socialist opposition and calls on President Zhelev to veto the
measure, the law on farmland, passed on 20 March, was signed
off by the president for officila publication. Zhelev defended
some of the contended provisions, noting, in particular, that
the law is not against cooperatives in general. On 4 April BTA
quoted a statement by the Supreme Council of the Bulgarian Socialist
Party saying that it will take all legal means to stop implementation
of the law. (Rada Nikolaev)

POLISH BUDGET PRESENTED TO PARLIAMENT. On 3 April Finance Minister
Andrzej Olechowski presented the government's budget to the Sejm.
Acknowledging that it will be difficult for them to approve,
he nonetheless called it realistic and said it provides a chance
to overcome the economic crisis. The budget calls for government
spending cuts and higher taxes to cut the deficit, Western media
report. A final vote on the budget is not expected until early
next month after review by commissions. (Wladyslaw Minkiewicz)


HAVEL ATTACKS SLOVAK SEPARATIST AND NATIONALIST MOVES. On 5 April
Czechoslovak President Vaclav Havel denounced last week's failed
attempt to get the Slovak parliament to declare sovereignty.
In a radio address Havel said the proposal by Deputy Viliam Oberhauser
of the Slovak Christian Democratic Movement was irresponsible
and poorly thought-out. Havel also attacked Slovak National Unity
Movement Chairman Stanislav Panis, who had questioned the extent
of Nazi murder of Jews. Following Havel's remarks, CSTK quoted
Czechoslovak parliament Chairman Alexander Dubcek as saying a
Slovak sovereignty declaration could lead to unconstitutional
actions. Dubcek said calls for such a declaration are aimed at
Slovak independence. Meanwhile, Czechoslovak Finance Minister
Vaclav Klaus, speaking at the Konrad Adenauer Foundation in St.
Augustin, Germany, said that there is now a real possibility
that his country will split. Even if this were to happen, however,
Klaus said he does not think a dramatic economic dislocation
would result. (Barbara Kroulik)

IMF LOAN TO CZECHOSLOVAKIA. The International Monetary Fund has
approved a $322 million credit line to Czechoslovakia. The money
will be available to support economic reforms and privatization.
On 3 April the IMF praised what it said was significant progress
last year in Czechoslovakia's effort to liberalize its economy,
tame inflation, and improve its trade position, foreign agencies
report. (Barbara Kroulik)

HUNGARIAN-GREEK TREATY. On 3 April in Budapest Greek Prime Minister
Constantine Mitsotakis and his Hungarian counterpart Jozsef Antall
signed a treaty on friendship and cooperation, MTI reports. Antall
told reporters that the treaty will deepen bilateral cooperation
in all fields and create the framework for settling disputes
such as the recent border blockade by Greek truckers opposed
to an increase in Hungarian transit fees. Mitsotakis termed his
three-day official visit "very useful" and expressed support
for Hungary's membership in the EC, saying that of all the former
communist countries Hungary best demonstrated its commitment
to a market economy. (Edith Oltay)

HSWP SENT MOSCOW $5 MILLION. The Hungarian Socialist Workers'
Party (HSWP--the communists), between 1960 and 1987 transferred
$5.05 million to a Moscow account to finance communist parties
worldwide. This was revealed on 3 April by officials of the Hungarian
Socialist Party, which was formed out of the reform wing of the
HSWP. The money came from membership fees and made up between
1.3-2% of the HSWP's annual income. Deputy Parliamentary Speaker
Matyas Szuros, one of the few top communist officials who knew
about the transfers, told Radio Budapest on 2 April, "I tried
several times to refuse the transfers but without success." He
said that Moscow would surely have imposed economic and political
sanctions had HSWP leader Janos Kadar refused payments. (Edith
Oltay)

HUNGARIANS IN ROMANIA SPEAK OUT. Geza Domokos, President of the
Democratic Union of the Hungarians in Romania (DUHR), said on
4 April that his party will support the opposition coalition
of the Democratic Convention in filing a single candidate for
the presidential elections. It will also campaign vigorously
against the NSF-dominated Senate's "scandalous decision" not
to have local observers to monitor the elections. Just as the
DUHR greeted Moldova's declaration of independence, so will it
support the idea of Moldova's union with Romania, Domokos told
local media. (Mihai Sturdza)

UKRAINIAN, ROMANIAN LEADERS CONFER. The chairman of Ukraine's
parliament, Leonid Plyushch, said on 3 April in Bucharest that
135,000 Romanians and 350,000 Moldavians live on Ukrainian territory.
Some 242,000 live in Northern Bukovina, which before 1940 was
Romanian territory. Plyushch invited President Ion Iliescu to
visit Ukraine and told him that bilateral relations could take
a bad turn if territorial questions were viewed through historical
blinders while neglecting the actual situation, local media reported.
On 5 April Iliescu told ITAR-TASS that the conflict in the Dniestr
region is caused by the infringement on Moldova's sovereignty
through the intervention of a foreign army. (Mihai Sturdza)

US-ROMANIAN TRADE AGREEMENT. In Bucharest on 3 April US ambassador
John R. Davis, Jr., participated in the signing of the new Romanian-American
trade agreement. When the legislatures of both countries have
approved the agreement, Romania will regain its Most-Favored-Nation
status. (Mihai Sturdza)

LATVIAN BORDER GUARDS TAKE OVER PATROL OF RIGA HARBOR. Deputy
Commander of the Latvian Border Guards Viktors Sviklis told Diena
on 3 April that henceforth Latvian border guards will check traffic
and passengers at the Riga harbor. Passengers going to CIS states
would, in addition, have to pass the Russian border guards in
Latvia and their passports would also be stamped accordingly.
Sviklis said that services of Russian border guards would be
used until Latvia forms its own coast guard. Currently there
are about 4000 Russian--i.e. former USSR--border guards in Latvia.
Their commander, Valentin Gaponenko, said that some of them would
be transferred in the near future to Kaliningrad and St. Petersburg.
(Dzintra Bungs)

STRIKE POSSIBLE IN NARVA. Workers at two large electric power
stations in northeastern Estonia have warned officials that they
may strike to protest Estonia's draft constitution and citizenship
law, BNS reported on 3 April. The workers at the Narva and Balti
stations hope miners and other non-Estonian workers in the area
will join the strike. The same day, the chief engineer for another
state station, Estonian Energy, said the strike would not hit
the economy very hard. Jaak Marens told BNS that the threat was
"an attempt to fool the public." (Riina Kionka)

EC TO ALLOCATE 15 MILLION ECUS TO LATVIA. On 2 April Latvian
and EC representatives signed a memorandum expressing EC readiness
to allocate 15 million ecus to Latvia under its PHARE program
to further privatization and restructuring of Latvia's enterprises,
Diena reports. Some of the funds are also to be used for reforming
Latvia's financial system and educational programs. (Dzintra
Bungs)

POLAND LIFTS TEMPORARY BAN ON GERMAN CARS. On 4 April Poland
has ended a brief ban on all Trabant and Wartburg cars crossing
over from Germany. Warsaw issued a ban the day before, complaining
that many of the small, polluting cars manufactured in the former
East Germany are being dumped in Poland. According to German
border officials, the sudden ban came as a surprise and caused
traffic jams at several border points. German Radio claimed the
ban ended after the German embassy in Warsaw intervened. Western
wire services carried the story. (Wladyslaw Minkiewicz)

[As of 1200 CET]

Compiled by Carla Thorson and Charles Trumbull



(END)



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