No. 70, 09 April 1992

SUCCESSOR STATES TO THE USSR

GAIDAR GOVERNMENT IN JEOPARDY? The Congress of People's Deputies
editorial commission has prepared resolutions which express no
confidence in the government and recommend that Yeltsin resign
his post as prime minister, according to "Vesti" of 8 April.
The resolutions, "Vesti" said, are supposed to be put to a vote
on 9 April. "Vesti" also quoted Egor Gaidar as saying that the
entire government would resign should Yeltsin relinquish his
post as prime minister. Two days earlier, Yeltsin said that he
would need six months to form another government. (Julia Wishnevsky)


YELTSIN CRITICIZED AT CONGRESS. Yeltsin was criticized by conservative
deputies in the Congress on 8 April. Western agencies reported
that several deputies demanded that "Russian solutions" be found
for Russia's problems and denounced Yeltsin for taking advice
and money from the West. When Yeltsin left the Congress to attend
a meeting of the Russian Constitutional Commission, deputies
immediately voted that he return and listen to their attacks
on his policies. Yeltsin did return but left the hall again when
a deputy compared him with the Italian fascist dictator Mussolini.
First Deputy Prime Minister Egor Gaidar warned that if Yeltsin
is stripped of his special powers, the entire reformist government
would resign. (Alexander Rahr)

CONSTITUTIONAL COMMISSION AGAINST REFERENDUM ON CONSTITUTION.
A plenary session of the Constitutional Commission under the
chairmanship of Supreme Soviet Chairman Ruslan Khasbulatov on
8 April recommended that the Congress of People's Deputies adopt
the commission's draft constitution on the first reading, but
decided to remove from the agenda the question of submitting
the draft to a referendum, Radio Rossii reported, citing Interfax.
Khasbulatov maintained that a referendum would turn the country
upside down. In his opinion, if the Congress failed to adopt
the constitution on the first reading, the position of the legislature
vis-a-vis the executive would be greatly weakened. ITAR-TASS
reported on 8 April that two-thirds of Russian deputies wanted
the adoption of the constitution to be postponed until the next
congress, after nation-wide discussion. (Ann Sheehy)

UKRAINIAN-RUSSIAN TALKS? In view of the situation surrounding
the Black Sea Fleet, Russian Foreign Minister Andrei Kozyrev,
speaking from Ashkhabad, was quoted by ITAR-TASS as proposing
a meeting between himself and his Ukrainian counterpart, Anatolii
Zlenko, on 11 April in Moscow. On the question of whether Boris
Yeltsin and Leonid Kravchuk will hold talks, the press attache
of the Ukrainian embassy in Moscow suggested that such a meeting
could take place to resolve the dispute, but Russian First Deputy
Foreign Minister Fedor Shelov-Kovedyaev, in an interview with
ITAR-TASS, could not confirm that statement. He went on to say
that Kravchuk had not acted in accordance with agreements pertaining
to CIS strategic forces, and that Boris Yeltsin's counter-decree
was not confrontational in nature, in that, although the fleet
is placed under Russian jurisdiction, it will be under CIS command.
(Kathy Mihalisko)

UKRAINIAN PARLIAMENT RESPONDS TO YELTSIN DECREE. Russian and
Ukrainian media reported on 9 April that the Ukrainian parliament,
which met in closed session on 8 April to discuss the Black Sea
Fleet controversy and Kiev's military policy, has adopted a statement
on Yeltsin's decree claiming Russian jurisdiction over the fleet.
The statement says that the Russian president's move should be
regarded "as an actual declaration of war against independent
Ukraine." Ukrainian President Leonid Kravchuk told parliament
on 8 April that Russia alone is to blame for igniting the conflict,
as quoted by Radio Ukraine. In addition, as reported by Ukrinform-TASS,
Kravchuk asserted that in establishing its own army and navy,
Ukraine was acting in accordance with the Minsk agreements signed
by all CIS members. He further declared that all of the fleet's
ships based in Ukrainian ports belong to Ukraine. (Kathy Mihalisko)


FURTHER UKRAINIAN REACTION. Ukrainian Defense Minister Konstantin
Morozov, quoted on 8 April by Ukrinform-TASS, stated that his
country is not laying claim to the entire fleet and that it is
taking into account the rights of other states, including Russia.
Morozov maintained that the command of the united CIS armed forces
is doing everything in its power to block the establishment of
the Ukrainian armed forces. A high-ranking spokesman for Rukh,
Mykola Porovskyi, told Radio Ukraine on 8 April that Black Sea
Fleet commander Admiral Kasatonov should be declared persona
non grata in Ukraine for obstructing executive presidential power
in Crimea. Ukrainian Republican Party leader Levko Lukyanenko
called for the mobilization of all forces to put the fleet under
Ukrainian jurisdiction by peaceful means. (Kathy Mihalisko)

UKRAINE NAMES NAVY COMMANDER. On 8 April ITAR-TASS reported that
Kravchuk had appointed Rear Admiral Boris Kozhnin as commander
of the Ukrainian Navy. Kozhnin was immediately dismissed as the
commander of the CIS naval base at Donuzlav, some 100 kilometers
northwest of Sevastopol on the Crimean Peninsula, by the Black
Sea Fleet Commander in Chief, Admiral Igor Kasatonov. The CIS
Navy press center said that Kozhnin was fired for "neglect of
his official duties and abuse of authority." Kozhnin told a press
conference in Sevastopol the same day that the problems of the
fleet should be settled by political means. He refused to speculate
as to how many ships his navy would need, saying that would depend
on the tasks assigned to it. (Doug Clarke)

CONGRESS ADOPTS RESOLUTION ON DNIESTER AREA OF MOLDOVA. The Russian
Congress of People's Deputies adopted a resolution on 8 April
in support of the population on the left bank of the Dniester
in Moldova, ITAR-TASS reported. The resolution expressed concern
about violations of human rights in Moldova, and said Russia
was ready to create a peace-keeping force from volunteers from
the 14th Army to keep the two sides apart. The resolution also
said Russia would ask the CIS states and the international community
to send observers to the area of conflict, and would entrust
the Russian government with furthering talks on the legal status
of the left bank of the Dniester as part of the Republic of Moldova.
(Ann Sheehy)

GAGAUZ REPUBLIC WANTS TO JOIN RUSSIA. The Supreme Council of
the breakaway "Gagauz Republic" in Moldova has asked the Russian
Congress of People's Deputies to recognize it as "an integral
part of the Russian Federation," ITAR-TASS reported on 8 April.
The "Gagauz Republic," which declared its independence in August
last year, is an area of southern Moldova populated by ethnic
Turkic Christians. (Roman Solchanyk)

OPPOSITION TO DUDAEV THREATENS USE OF FORCE. Vakhid Itaev, chairman
of the 15-man Coordination Council of the Public Movement for
the Restoration of the Constitutional Order in the Chechen-Ingush
Republic, has said that, since Chechen president Dzhakhar Dudaev
continues to ignore their demands, the opposition will force
him to defend himself with a weapon in his hands, "Novosti" reported
on 9 April. The council was responsible for the temporary seizure
of the TV center in Groznyi on 31 March. A letter from Itaev,
described as a well-known writer, to Dudaev calling on Dudaev
to resign had been published in Rossiiskaya gazeta on 12 March.
(Ann Sheehy)

RYZHKOV: PARTY'S ATTACK ON YELTSIN WAS A "GREAT MISTAKE." Nikolai
Ryzhkov, former USSR Prime Minister and one of Yeltsin's worst
enemies in the leadership, admitted in an interview with Le Monde
on 7 April that the Gorbachev leadership (himself included) had
made a great mistake in its treatment of Boris Yeltsin. At the
CPSU Central Committee plenum in 1987, when Yeltsin took the
rostrum to criticize the performance of the Party's second in
command, Egor Ligachev, the Party had erred, Ryzhkov said. He
added: "We should have taken his speech into consideration, and
not have made a scandal out of it." According to Ryzhkov, the
Party made another mistake regarding Yeltsin during the Nineteenth
Party conference in 1988 when his request for rehabilitation
was rejected. Instead of granting his request, Ryzhkov explained,
"we made him a hero." (Julia Wishnevsky)

GORBACHEV QUESTIONED. On 8 April, Mikhail Gorbachev talked with
Vladimir Kiselev, an investigator on the case of the misuse of
Communist Party funds. Gorbachev told "Vesti" that he began the
interview with the investigator by requesting to see the official
resolution to launch a criminal case, and there were no such
resolution. Thereupon Gorbachev told the investigator that all
Party bank accounts had been scrutinized prior to the last Party
Congress, and that neither he nor any of his former Politburo
colleagues have foreign bank accounts. Gorbachev added that he
had refused to sign any sworn statement. Meanwhile, ITAR-TASS
quoted the prosecution as saying that Gorbachev was interviewed
as a witness in the case and that they had no intention to limit
his visits abroad. (Julia Wishnevsky)

PLANS FOR CONVERSION. Russia's recently appointed First Deputy
Defense Minister, Andrei Kokoshin, told ITAR-TASS on 8 April
that military industries would, in general, have to use their
own resources to climb out of their current economic difficulties.
He urged the adoption of a national industrial policy, arguing
that the 10 billion rubles allocated to industrial conversion
should not be dissipated throughout the defense industries as
a whole, but should be concentrated on those industries promising
the greatest long term commercial success. In his speech to the
Russian Congress on 7 April Boris Yeltsin said that 10 billion
rubles had already been spent on conversion in the first quarter
of this year, and that another 30 billion would be spent by the
end of the year. (Stephen Foye)

RUSSIA TO BUILD UP GOLD RESERVES. A Russian finance official
told a news conference in Moscow on 8 April that his federation
plans to rebuild its gold reserves to bolster its international
financial reputation, Reuters reported. Evgenii Bychkov, chief
of the Russian Finance Ministry's precious metals and stones
division, recommended the provision of incentives to increase
gold output, including better working conditions and more favorable
tax and pricing policies. (Keith Bush)

GERMAN SETTLERS IN UKRAINE. Local authorities in the Odessa Oblast
told a visiting delegation from the German foreign ministry that
13 raions are prepared to welcome German settlers, Radio Ukraine
reported on 8 April. Up to 6,000 families could be resettled
in the next two to three years. The German delegation held talks
in the Ukrainian Cabinet of Ministers on plans to resettle Germans
who had been deported during the war. (Roman Solchanyk)

BELARUS REPRESENTATIVE TO CIS QUITS IN PROTEST. Addressing the
Belarusian parliament on 7 April, chairman Stanislau Shushkevich
reviewed the work of the Presidium over a nearly two-year period
beginning June, 1990, devoting special attention to the relatively
low decline in national income and agricultural output in Belarus
during that period, according to Belta-TASS. Shushkevich was
subjected, however, to "extremely sharp" criticism, notably by
Dmitrii Bulakhau, chairman of the parliamentary commission on
legislation. Bulakhau said Shushkevich was guilty of constantly
straddling the republic's different political groupings, in the
manner of former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev. Underscoring
his anger at the modus operandi of the parliamentary leadership,
Bulakhau proceeded to announce his resignation both from the
legislation commission and as Belarusian representative to the
CIS. (Kathy Mihalisko)

GEORGIAN LOCAL ELECTIONS SCHEDULED FOR JUNE. Georgia's ruling
State Council has scheduled local elections for June. On 8 April,
RIA quoted State Council Chairman Eduard Shevardnadze as stating
that the local elections "would help stabilize the situation
and thus help conduct parliamentary elections in the autumn on
a genuinely democratic basis." (Liz Fuller)

ARMENIA ON VERGE OF BANKRUPTCY. The draft state budget for the
first six months of 1992 presented to the Armenian parliament
on 6 April by Finance Minister Dzhanik Dzhanoyan showed a deficit
of more than 1,600 million rubles, Interfax reported on 8 April.
Armenia's industry has been crippled by the energy blockade imposed
by Azerbaijan and the breakdown of economic ties between former
Soviet republics. (Liz Fuller)

TAJIK GOVERNMENT TRIES TO END DEMONSTRATIONS. Radio Dushanbe
reported on 7 April that Tajikistan's government had appealed
to the opposition to end demonstrations that have been underway
since 26 March. A statement issued by the Council of Ministers
said that the demonstration has caused gasoline shortages, transport
delays, and declines in factory output and delivery of foreign
supplies. On 8 April, DPA quoted a leader of the opposition Islamic
Party as saying that the demonstrators will not drop their demands
for the resignation of president Rakhman Nabiev and the dissolution
of the Communist-dominated Supreme Soviet. The same day, ITAR-TASS
reported that the Supreme Soviet Presidium had announced it would
hold talks with the opposition. (Bess Brown)





EASTERN EUROPE





CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPE



STATE OF EMERGENCY IN BOSNIA. Radio Sarajevo reports on 8 April
that Bosnia's Presidency declared a "direct danger of war" throughout
Bosnia-Herzegovina. The unusual wording is interpreted as a state
of emergency. The Presidency's decree places all security forces
in the republic under its jurisdiction, replacing the federal
army. The Presidency expanded its membership to include the president
of the national assembly, the prime minister, and the commander
of the republic's territorial defense (national guard). The decree
also drops the "socialist" attribute from the name of the the
republic, and relieves from duty Serb federal army officers who
served as territorial defense commanders. Bosnian police say
that after a week of fighting 300 people have been killed. Yesterday,
Switzerland, New Zealand, and Canada recognized the republic's
independence. (Milan Andrejevich)

STRAINS IN BOSNIA-FEDERAL ARMY RELATIONSHIP. Bosnia's Deputy
Prime Minister Muhamed Cengic told reporters that Gen. Milutin
Kukanjac, commander of the federal Second Military District,
is apparently willing to cooperate with the republic's government.
But in an 8 April response to a letter of protest by Bosnian
President Alija Izetbegovic, Gen. Blagoje Adzic, the federal
Defense Minister, raised doubts about Izetbegovic's ability to
stabilize the republic. Adzic blamed Izetbegovic for the violence
and denied that the federal air force had bombed the religious
shrine in Medjugorje, saying that the alleged attack was "staged."
In his 7 April letter to Adzic, Izetbegovic accused the federal
army and the general himself of not taking energetic steps to
prevent violence, Radio Sarajevo reports. Until recently relations
between the federal army and Izetbegovic have been good, but
the charges and countercharges of the past week have severely
strained relations. Radio Croatia believes a split may have emerged
within the federal army as well between those who want to respect
Bosnia's independence and those who support Serb demands that
65% of Bosnia's territory become part of a rump federal Yugoslav
state. (Milan Andrejevich)

FIGHTING UPDATE. Sarajevo community leaders are negotiating to
restore stability, while the Bosnian government says the federal
army is "threatening to turn Sarajevo into another Vukovar."
The city remained quiet during the curfew after being pounded
earlier in the day by mortal and artillery fire by Serb paramilitary
units from the surrounding hills, according to a spokesman of
the local police. The Serb-dominated federal army won back control
of Kupres, predominantly Serbian in population and site of a
number of military installations, from Croatian paramilitary
forces. Mostar city officials issued a dramatic warning of a
threat that damage inflicted on a large aluminum plant there
could spark an ecological catastrophe throughout the region and
even as far as the Adriatic Sea. (Milan Andrejevich)

CZECHOSLOVAKIA WAITS ON RECOGNITION. The Czechoslovak Foreign
Ministry said on 8 April that it is considering recognition of
Bosnia-Herzegovina's independence but no decision has yet been
reached. A decision is expected in a few days. (Barbara Kroulik)


ZHELEV ON MACEDONIA. In a statement released through BTA on 8
April Bulgarian President Zhelyu Zhelev appealed to the European
Community to recognize the independence of the Republic of Macedonia
as soon as possible. Zhelev welcomed EC recognition of Bosnia
and Herzegovina, but recalled that Bulgaria had recognized the
four former Yugoslav republics on 15 January after the Badinter
arbitration commission had concluded that all qualify for independent
statehood. Zhelev warned that delay in recognizing Macedonia
could have undesirable consequences for its security and destabilize
the Balkans. (Rada Nikolaev)

OLSZEWSKI FAVORS EXPANDED COALITION. After a lengthy meeting
on 8 April, the government coalition parties authorized Polish
Prime Minister Jan Olszewski to continue efforts to form a larger
government coalition. The same day Olszewski met with Tadeusz
Mazowiecki, Chairman of the Democratic Union, who also speaks
on behalf of the Liberal-Democratic Congress and the Polish Economic
Program parties. After the meeting, according to PAP, Mazowiecki
said that Olszewski confirmed he wants an extended coalition
but made it quite clear that any agreement would depend on the
potential partners' attitude to the government's budget proposals,
now in the Sejm commission. (Roman Stefanowski)

PARYS CONFIRMS PAPER'S DISCLOSURES. On forced leave since making
public suggestions that some politicians had tried to influence
high army officers, Polish Defense Minister Jan Parys has confirmed
information published by Nowy swiat on 8 April. The paper said
the contacts with the commanders of the military regions were
made on President Lech Walesa's instruction by Mieczyslaw Wachowski,
chief of the president's cabinet and Bronislaw Komorowski, former
deputy defense minister. According to PAP, however, Komorowski
denies he "talked or cooperated with Wachowski on Ministry of
Defense business" or that he received any orders from the president.
(Roman Stefanowski)

ARREST IN LITHUANIA PROMPTS PROTESTS. Lithuanian prosecutors
arrested a high officer of the former Soviet Baltic fleet on
7 April, BNS reports. Commander of the Third Division (Coast
Defense) Col. Ivan Chernykh was arrested for having backed the
failed coup last August. On 8 April the fleet command issued
an ultimatum to Klaipeda city authorities saying that if Chernykh
were not released by 14:00 local time, troops would begin an
armed march on Vilnius. In addition, Lithuanian authorities told
BNS that Russian Vice President Aleksandr Rutskoi sent Lithuanian
Supreme Council Chairman Vytautas Landsbergis a telegram on 8
April threatening Russian military action if Chernykh were not
released. After an 8 April meeting in Vilnius, however, Landsbergis
and top Russian military officials agreed that Chernykh would
be handed over, in keeping with Russian President Boris Yeltsin's
January subordination of the Northwestern Group of Forces to
Russian control. Latest reports from ITAR-TASS say Chernykh has
been released to Russian authorities in Kaliningrad on a 1000-ruble
bail. (Riina Kionka)

LATVIA PROTESTS EX-USSR TROOP ACTIVITIES, HUNGARY OFFERS ADVICE.
Diena reported on 7 April that Latvia's Foreign Minister sent
another note to its Russian counterpart protesting weapons training
near Cekule and the accident of a military vehicle on the streets
of Riga on 1 April. BNS reports that Hungarian envoy to Latvia,
Bela Javorszky, met with Andrejs Krastins, Deputy Chairman of
the Latvian Supreme Council, and expressed sympathy with Latvia's
insistence on the pullout of ex-Soviet troops from its territory.
Javorszky stressed that when the this issue is brought up in
international forums, Latvia can count on Hungary's support,
BNS reported on 7 April. (Dzintra Bungs)

LATVIA, BELARUS ESTABLISH DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS. Radio Riga reported
on 7 April that foreign ministers Janis Jurkans of Latvia and
Pyotr Krauchenka of Belarus signed a protocol establishing diplomatic
relations between their countries. No dates were set for opening
embassies. Krauchenka was visiting Latvia to discuss economic
cooperation and the establishment of a Belarusian secondary school
in Latvia. Jurkans raised the issue of Belarus recalling from
Latvia its young men who are still serving in the ex-USSR armed
forces. (Dzintra Bungs)

STOLOJAN ABOUT BUDGET DEFICIT. After a two-day meeting with representatives
of more than 1,000 state-owned companies, Prime Minister Theodor
Stolojan said on 7 April that the main problem of Romania's economy
is the $1.5 billion balance of payments deficit for 1992: it
should be reduced to $0.6 billion in 1993 and liquidated completely
in 1994. Of the $1 billion in credits promised by the IMF and
the World Bank in 1991, only $250 million have so far been received.
Therefore, Stolojan said, despite the recent upwards trend of
the industrial output, Romania faces a new production slump and
the deterioration of the exchange-rate mechanism. Local media
covered the story. (Mihai Sturdza)

ROMANIAN OPPOSITION LEADER AGAINST CONTINUING COALITION. Radu
Campeanu, president of the main opposition National Liberal Party,
which with 13 other opposition parties forms the Democratic Convention,
said on 8 April that the coalition should dissolve since it no
longer reflects political reality in Romania. Western agencies
report that he spoke against further affiliation with the second
largest opposition party, the Democratic Union of the Hungarians
of Romania, and said his party will not back Civic Alliance Party
leader Nicolae Manolescu, so far the sole opposition presidential
candidate. The extent of Campeanu's support is not clear, however,
and on 7 April the RFE/RL Romanian Service reported a call to
Campeanu from a prominent member of his own party not to splinter
the opposition. A final decision is expected at the National
Liberal Party convention on 11 April. (Mihai Sturdza)

ROMANIAN TV FACES BANKRUPTCY. Razvan Theodorescu, director of
Romania's state-owned television, said on 7 April that his budget
showed a deficit of over 1 billion lei for 1991. There is no
money left to fund radio and TV programs, and technical facilities
are in a deplorable state of repair. He called for an urgent
and steep increase of TV and radio fees. On 8 April, however,
local media quoted Dumitru Iuga, president of the Free Television
Union, as saying that the impending bankruptcy is really the
result of Theodorescu's management, which has never been fiscally
responsible. (Mihai Sturdza)

SOVIET ARCHIVES SHOW SECRET 1968 MEETING. Three months after
the August 1968 Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia, Leonid
Brezhnev met secretly in Warsaw with Prague Spring leader Alexander
Dubcek and the "future normalizer" Gustav Husak. A transcript
of the meeting was among documents of the former CPSU Central
Committee, given to Czechoslovak President Vaclav Havel by Russian
President Boris Yeltsin in Moscow last week. The disclosure was
made public by Milos Barta, Secretary of the Czechoslovak government
commission analyzing the years 1967-70, in an interview with
Prace. (Barbara Kroulik)

WEST CRITICIZED FOR FAILING TO UNDERWRITE MEDICINE FOR CIS. The
ambassadors to the US from Czechoslovakia, Poland, and Hungary
jointly told journalists in Washington on 7 April that the West
has failed to finance shipments of medicines from their countries
to the CIS. They criticized the US and Western Europe for not
acting on proposals to use aid money to buy goods from their
countries for distribution in the CIS. The European Community
allocated $500 million for this scheme but has not disbursed
any of it.(Barbara Kroulik)

SUZUKI SAYS CAR PLANT IN HUNGARY ON SCHEDULE DESPITE PROBLEMS.
Osami Suzuki, president of the Suzuki Motor Corporation, told
reporters in Budapest that construction at the Suzuki plant in
Esztergom is on schedule despite problems with some of the Hungarian
firms seeking to produce components for the new car, MTI reported
on 8 April. Suzuki complained that some Hungarian manufacturers
have difficulties maintaining agreements because of lack of capital,
and charge exaggerated prices. The plant is scheduled to begin
assembling a small car, the 1.3-liter Suzuki Swift, in October.
Initially about 30% of the car will be of Hungarian manufacture,
but Hungary hopes its share will grow to 60% by 1995, which would
make the car a Hungarian product under EC regulations. (Edith
Oltay)

SUESSMUTH FAVORS BETTER GERMAN-POLISH RELATIONS. In Poland on
an unofficial visit, the speaker of the German Bundestag, Rita
Suessmuth, said she is in favor of upgrading German-Polish relations.
Speaking at the Goethe Institute in Warsaw on 8 April Suessmuth
said, "we have to overcome the past in order to build a more
appropriate democratic future," PAP reported. Suessmuth and Polish
Education Minister Andrzej Stelmachowski signed a cooperation
agreement by which the Germans will assist adult education in
Poland. (Roman Stefanowski)

DUTCH DEFENSE MINISTER IN HUNGARY. Relus ter Beek arrived in
Budapest for a two-day official visit at the invitation of his
Hungarian counterpart, Lajos Fur, MTI reported on 8 April. The
two sides will review military and security issues in East Central
Europe and possibilities for future bilateral cooperation. (Alfred
Reisch)

BULGARIA'S ASSOCIATION WITH THE EC. Bulgarian media on 7 and
8 April voiced concern about a delay in the talks on Bulgaria's
association with the European Community after the EC Council
of Ministers session in Luxembourg. Lea Koen, Bulgaria's ambassador
in Brussels, told BTA, however, that talks on the association
of Bulgaria and Romania were postponed due to a full EC agenda
rather than because of any substantive problems. (Rada Nikolaev)


[As of 1200 CET] Compiled by Carla Thorson and Charles Trumbull



(END)

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