No. 95, 19 May 1992

SUCCESSOR STATES TO THE USSR

NEW AZERBAIJANI PRESIDENT ELECTED. Thousands of Azerbaijanis
demonstrated on 18 May outside the parliament building in Baku.
Meanwhile, a special parliament session accepted the resignation
of acting President and parliament Chairman Yagub Mamedov "on
health grounds," ITAR-TASS reported. (Mamedov had asserted last
week that he would not under any circumstances resign as acting
president.) The parliament elected the 35-year-old orientalist
and Azerbaijani Popular Front activist Iskander Gambarov as acting
president and parliament chair-man. (Alternative candidates proposed
were Geidar Aliev and National Independence Party chairman Etibar
Mamedov.) The parliament further voted almost unanimously to
cede its powers to the 50-person National Council, which was
renamed the National Mejlis, AzerINFORM reported. (Liz Fuller)


CASUALTIES OF THE AZERBAIJANI COUP. Western agencies reported
on 18 May that Azerbaijan's Deputy Security Minister Rafik Sadykhov
had been hospitalized in Baku after shooting himself in the head.
Sadykhov had reportedly had special responsibility for Nagorno-Karabakh
and had attempted suicide just before a planned meeting with
Azerbaijan's new defense minister. Postfactum reported on 18
May that ousted President Mutalibov had been hospitalized in
Moscow with an unspecified illness. ITAR-TASS quoted an Azerbaijani
representative in Moscow as denying any knowledge of the whereabouts
of Mutalibov, whom the Azerbaijani Popular Front reportedly intends
to put on trial. (Liz Fuller)

TURKEY WARNS ARMENIA OVER FIGHTING IN NAKHICHEVAN. On 18 May
Armenian forces launched an artillery attack against the village
of Sadarak in north-west Nakhichevan, seizing three strategic
hills and killing up to 11 people, Turkish and Azerbaijani media
reported. Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Erdal Inonu broke off
a visit to Istanbul on receipt of the news and returned to Ankara
where he met with top military officials; he subsequently told
journalists that Turkey, which is a signatory to the 1921 treaty
guaranteeing the integrity of Nakhichevan's frontiers, would
make every attempt to stop the attacks by peaceful means, and
that he had warned Armenian Foreign Minister Raffi Hovanissian
by telephone that continued Armenian aggression would create
"serious consequences, unacceptable to Turkey." (Liz Fuller)


LACHIN CAPTURED--BUT BY WHOM? The town of Lachin, strategically
located between the western border of Nagorno-Karabakh and the
Armenian-Azerbaijani frontier, was captured on 18 May, thus securing
a land corridor from Armenia to Karabakh, an Azerbaijani Defense
Ministry spokesman told Western agencies. Russian and Armenian
media have claimed that the forces who took Lachin were Kurds
fighting for the reestablishment of their autonomous region abolished
in 1929, but a spokesman for the parliament of the Nagorno-Karabakh
Republic told ITAR-TASS that Armenian forces from Karabakh "had
been forced" to take Lachin to break the Azerbaijani-imposed
blockade of Karabakh which had led to starvation among the population.
An RFE/RL correspondent in Moscow quoted an Azerbaijani military
official as claiming that an unspecified number of Kurds were
fighting alongside Nagorno-Karabakh self-defense forces at Lachin.
(Liz Fuller)

KYRGYZSTAN SIGNED BUT TURKMENISTAN DID NOT SIGN COLLECTIVE SECURITY
AGREEMENT. Radio Moscow and Interfax reported on 18 May that
Kyrgyzstan's signature on the CIS collective security agreement
on 15 May has been overlooked in many media reports on the Tashkent
summit. The first deputy chairman of Kyrgyzstan's State Defense
Committee was so concerned about the omission that he exhibited
a copy of the document to reporters to prove that Kyrgyz Vice-President
Feliks Kulov had indeed signed in the name of Kyrgyzstan. Also,
contrary to many press accounts, Turkmenistan apparently did
not sign the agreement. (Bess Brown)



BURBULIS PROPOSES RUSSIAN-MUSLIM CONFEDERATION. Russian State
Secretary Gennadii Burbulis has said that those CIS states which
did sign the new collective security agreement in Tashkent, could
in future form a closer confederation of states. The agreement
was signed by Russia, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan,
and Tajikistan. Burbulis was a member of the Russian delegation
at the summit in Tashkent, and his comments were reported by
the Sueddeutsche Zeitung on 18 May. (Alexander Rahr)

GRACHEV NAMED RUSSIAN DEFENSE MINISTER? Both "Vesti" and ITAR-TASS
reported on 18 May that Army General Pavel Grachev has been named
to the post of Russian Defense Minister by Boris Yeltsin. The
report remains unconfirmed but, if accurate, would be something
of a surprise. By a presidential order issued on 7 May, Grachev
was granted temporarily the administrative command of the Russian
Defense Ministry, but was not appointed Defense Minister. His
temporary status was to have lasted one month. (Stephen Foye)


CHIEF OF STAFF SAYS AGREEMENT REACHED ON CFE. Col. Gen. Viktor
Samsonov, the chief of staff of the CIS Armed Forces, told RIA
on 18 May that an agreement on weapons quotas to meet the terms
of the 1990 Conventional Forces in Europe (CFE) Treaty had been
reached at the recent Tashkent CIS summit. Before this treaty
can be implemented, the successor states to the USSR must agree
how to apportion the USSR's allocations. The Interfax 15 May
summary of the Tashkent meeting indicated that the CIS heads
of states had tasked their prime ministers and foreign ministers
to "finalize" this document by 29 May. (Doug Clarke)

SHAPOSHNIKOV ON STRATEGIC NUCLEAR ARMS. The CIS Commander in
Chief, Marshal Evgenii Shaposhnikov, has said that he is preparing
an appeal to the leaders of Belarus, Kazakhstan, Russia, and
Ukraine regarding strategic nuclear arms. Interfax on 18 May
reported that Shaposhnikov had recently met with officers from
the Long-Range aviation regiment in Uzin, Ukraine--following
Ukraine's announcement that it was taking over all Long-Range
Aviation units in the republic. Apparently frustrated by this
move, he was said to believe that there were only two options:
abide by the CIS agreements on strategic forces, or declare them
void and accept four new nuclear powers. Shaposhnikov said he
was going to invite the CIS defense ministers to a 26 May Moscow
meeting to discuss the nuclear issue. (Doug Clarke)

KHASBULATOV: RUSSIA HAS NO CLAIMS ON UKRAINE. Russian parliamentary
Chairman Ruslan Khasbulatov told a Moscow briefing on 18 May
that "Russia will press no territorial claims against the fraternal
Ukrainian people," adding, in reference to the forthcoming referendum
in Crimea, that Russia will do everything in its power to find
a conflict-free solution to the Crimean problem, according to
ITAR-TASS. In Crimea itself there were growing signs that leaders
are backing away from confrontation. Quoting Ukrainian sources,
Reuters reported on 18 May that the Presidium of the Crimean
parliament favors rescinding the proclamation of independence
of 5 May, as demanded last week by Kiev, and has called for the
referendum to concern itself with approving the Crimean constitution.
(Kathy Mihalisko)

COMMUNISTS CONTINUE CAMPAIGN AGAINST YELTSIN. At meetings held
on 16-17 May, the executive committee of the Russian Party of
Communists, decided to continue the collection of signatures
on a petition, demanding a referendum to oust the Russian president.
The party also called for a political strike under the slogan
"No to Yeltsin-Gaidar Government," ITAR-TASS reported on 18 May.
Meanwhile, another communist organization, the All-Union Committee
of Communists, met over the weekend and called for the convocation
of the 29th Congress of the CPSU within two months, the agency
reported the same day. According to ITAR-TASS, a leader of the
Russian Party of Communists, Anatolii Kryuchkov, criticized the
all-Union committee, saying it was a small organization which
had no right to speak in the name of all communists of the former
Soviet Union. (Vera Tolz)

GAIDAR SAYS "THINGS ARE ALREADY BETTER." Interviewed on Russian
TV on 18 May, Yeltsin's economics supremo Egor Gaidar was asked
"when will things get better?" After a moment's thought he replied
that, in a certain sense, things were already better for the
Russian population. They had weathered the winter which, pessimists
had predicted, would see riots and mass starvation. Now, Gaidar
said, there are goods in the shops and, even though prices are
high, people are no longer terrified by the prospect that tomorrow
they will have nothing to eat. (Elizabeth Teague)

RUSSIAN DOCTORS SUSPEND STRIKE; TEACHERS CONTINUE. Following
talks between the Russian government and the trade union of medical
workers, as a result of which the government offered to increase
wages for health service workers and hospitals, medical personnel
throughout Russia were reported by "Ostankino" TV on 16 May to
have returned to a normal working schedule. However, the union
stressed that it was only suspending the strike, which would
be resumed in August if the government did not fulfill its promises
to medical staff. Meanwhile, Radio Mayak reported on 17 May that
teachers in many parts of Russia were continuing their protest
action in demand of higher pay. Teachers in St. Petersburg, Tyumen,
Tatarstan, Kazan and many other Russian cities were reported
to be on strike. (Elizabeth Teague)

RUSSIA OIL AND GAS PRICES RAISED. Russian President Boris Yeltsin
signed a decree on 18 May that sets new wholesale limit price
for oil and gas, ITAR-TASS reported. Punitive tax rates will
be applied to those producers who charge prices above the decreed
upper limits. The price increase was originally set for 1 April,
but was delayed because of protests from CIS partners and from
the agricultural sector. The upper limit wholesale price for
oil rises from 350 rubles to 2,200 rubles a ton, or about one-seventh
of the world price at current rates of exchange. The price of
regular gasoline at the pump is expected to rise from about 1.20
rubles to about 7.80 rubles a liter. Russian Economics Minister
Andrei Nechaev was quoted by Rossiiskaya gazeta on 25 April as
estimating that the fuel price increase will boost overall consumer
prices by about 150%. (Keith Bush)

NAZARBAEV ARRIVES IN US. Kazakhstan's President Nursultan Nazarbaev
arrived in Washington on the evening of 18 May for a five-day
official visit to the United States. On his way to Washington,
Nazarbaev gave a press conference in Moscow at which he said
that Kazakhstan would sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty
as a non-nuclear state, ITAR-TASS and Western correspondents
reported on 18 May. Nazarbaev said that the CIS defense agreement
signed in Tashkent on 15 May provided the guarantees that Kazakhstan
sought for its security. He said he was even willing to consider
allowing Russia to base its nuclear missiles in Kazakhstan, because
Kazakhstan now regards Russia as a political and military ally.
(Bess Brown)

KAZAKH-CHEVRON AGREEMENT SIGNED. Shortly after arriving in Washington,
Nazarbaev signed the agreement with Chevron Corporation to develop
the Tengiz and Korolev oil fields over the next forty years,
Western agencies reported. The Tengiz field holds an estimated
25 billion barrels of oil, of which 6-9 billion are economically
recoverable. Each side is to invest some $10 billion in the project.
Sales revenues are to be shared equally, but Chevron is expected
to end up with about 20% of the income after royalties and taxes
are paid to Kazakhstan. The joint venture is scheduled to start
next year, but full production is not expected for at least a
decade. (Keith Bush)

TURKMENISTAN ADOPTS NEW CONSTI-TUTION. Turkmenistan's Supreme
Soviet adopted a new constitution on 18 May and scheduled a presidential
election on 21 June, Turkmenpress and Russian agencies reported.
Under the new constitution, Turkmenistan's legislature will be
renamed "Mejlis," the Turkmen and Persian word for assembly.
Political pluralism is guaranteed and legislative, executive,
and judicial powers are strictly defined. It also guarantees
private ownership of land and other property. Turkmenistan is
the first Central Asian state to adopt a post-independence constitution.
(Bess Brown)

ROMANIAN PRESIDENT IN MOLDOVA. Romanian President Ion Iliescu
is paying his first official visit to Moldova today and tomorrow.
Pressed by Romanian journalists in Chisinau to comment on the
reunification of Moldova with Romania, Iliescu held fast to his
established position that reunification was "not topical" and
would only materialize at an unspecified future time. He called
instead for the consolidation of Moldovan statehood. (Vladimir
Socor)

MOLDOVAN PRESIDENT LINKS MOLDOVAN, UKRAINIAN RESISTANCE AGAINST
"THE EMPIRE." At the same, joint press conference, Moldovan President
Mircea Snegur vowed that "we will not give up the left bank of
the Dniester to anybody," particularly "not to those who also
want to get the Crimea and also create here [on the Dniester]
an outpost against Ukraine." Recalling that "Dniester republic"
president Igor Smirnov and other "Dniester" leaders had only
arrived in Moldova a few years ago from Russia, Snegur said that
they were not entitled to form artificial states within existing
independent states. (Vladimir Socor)





CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPE ANOTHER BOSNIAN CEASE-FIRE SHATTERED.
On 18 May, heavy fighting was reported in Bihac, Mostar, Tuzla,
eastern Herzegovina, in many areas near the river Drina along
the Serbian border and northeastern Bosnia near the Croatian
border. In Sarajevo a Red Cross convoy was attacked; one representative
was killed and three were injured. Nonetheless, yet another cease-fire
agreement was signed that day by the warring parties at UNPROFOR
headquarters in Sarajevo. The agreement, to take effect immediately,
would allow for withdrawal of the federal army from Sarajevo.
Radio Sarajevo quoted Bosnian Presidency member Fikret Abdic
as saying that the gunfire and shelling were simply coinci-dental
and expressing confidence that this cease-fire will definitely
be observed. On the international front, the UN said it is sending
relief convoys of food and medicine to areas of Bosnia-Herzegovina.
Russian Foreign Minister Andrei Kozyrev appealed to the warring
parties to stop the fighting and suggested that a security zone
be set up around Sarajevo. Kozyrev is currently in Belgrade and
will continue on his peace mission to Sarajevo. (Milan Andrejevich)


FEDERAL FORCES WITHDRAWAL ON SCHEDULE. Radio Serbia reports on
18 May that all units of the Yugoslav federal air force have
com-pleted their withdrawal from Bosnia-Herzegovina. The air
force evacuated all personnel, weapons, and technical equipment
and left behind nothing of value. The federal army is expected
to complete its withdrawal of all personnel who are citizens
of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia by the end of the day on
the 19th. The withdrawal of federal forces stationed in Sarajevo
will not meet the Yugoslav State Presidency's deadline set on
4 May, however. Military officials say that 80% of the 60,000
troops in Bosnia will be affected. (Milan Andrejevich)

POLISH DEFENSE MINISTER RESIGNS. Jan Parys resigned on 18 May.
Parys had accused unnamed politicians of trying to draw the army
into antidemocratic intrigues, but a special parliamentary investigation
commission found no evidence and recommended Parys's dismissal.
President Walesa also questioned Parys's competence. Parys said
he could not stay in the job since the commission's findings
effectively subordinated his ministry to the president's National
Security Office. Prime Minister Jan Olszewski named Parys's deputy,
Romuald Szeremietiew, acting defense minister. (Wladyslaw Minkiewicz)


PRESSURE ON POLISH PREMIER TO RESIGN. On 17 May, Jaroslaw Kaczynski,
leader of Poland's Center Agreement Party (PC), called for a
new government. He said the present cabinet's chances of survival
were minimal. According to PAP, Kaczynski called Olszewski "a
major disappoint-ment." Olszewski's government has failed to
propose any major new reform legislation and has yet to win Sejm
approval for its deficit budget proposal. The cabinet has also
been in conflict with President Walesa. Olszewski's position
was further shaken after the collapse last month of lengthy talks
to strengthen his government with the participation of proreform
opposition groups. Two small parties have deserted his coalition
since then and three ministers have resigned. (Wladyslaw Minkiewicz)


KRAVCHUK IN POLAND. Ukrainian President Leonid Kravchuk arrived
in Poland on 18 May for a two-day visit expected to put relations
between the two neighboring countries on a new footing. As reported
by Ukrinform-TASS, Kravchuk told Polish President Lech Walesa
that the time has come to put aside yesterday's stereotypes and
strive for fruitful relations in this time of dynamic changes.
The two signed a basic agreement on good neighborly relations,
friendship, and cooperation. A number of other agreements on
specific fields of cooperation were signed on 18 May in Warsaw
as well. Polish Prime Minister Jan Olszewski said Warsaw is ready
to assist Ukraine implement economic reform, especially by providing
help in training specialists and the introduction of a Ukrainian
currency. (Kathy Mihalisko & Wladyslaw Minkiewicz)

ALBANIAN FOREIGN MINISTER IN BULGARIA. During an official visit
to Bulgaria, Albanian Foreign Minister Alfred Serreqi on 18 May
met with Bulgarian President Zhelyu Zhelev and Foreign Minister
Stoyan Ganev. Serreqi told reporters there is "no coincidence"
in selecting Bulgaria for his first trip abroad and said the
two countries face similar problems. According to BTA Serreqi
also praised Bulgaria's new regional diplomacy, though he expressed
serious concern about stability in the Balkans, specifically
in connection with the upcoming elections in Kosovo. (Kjell Engelbrekt)


CZECHS, SLOVAKS BEGIN BIDDING FOR PRIVATE COMPANIES. On 18 May
Czechoslovakia embarked on another wave of its voucher privatization
project. About 8.5 million people who had registered to buy shares
in about 1,500 companies can bid on a company's stock. Post offices
will accept and register bids by 8 June; they will inform the
bidders of the outcome by the end of June. More than one half
of all the participants have already opted to entrust their vouchers
to some 480 funds which will do the bidding for them and later
manage the shares. Rounds have been devised to establish the
market price of shares of companies worth some 300 billion koruny
($10 billion), Western agencies report. (Peter Matuska)

ANTALL ON THE MEDIA. Speaking at the annual assembly of the International
Press Institute (IPI) in Budapest, Hungarian Prime Minister Jozsef
Antall rejected charges by IPI director Peter Gallinger that
his government is seeking to gain control of the media. Gallinger
warned in his opening speech that "those who want to see more
governmental influence . . . [in the media] are a threat to Hungary's
prestige." Antall stressed that the press is free in Hungary:
he said he regards the media as the "watchdog of freedom." In
the current parliamentary debate on a draft law on the media,
the government is accusing the media of antigovernment bias while
journalists complain that the government is trying to curb press
freedom. This was reported by MTI and Western news agencies.
(Edith Oltay)

JOURNALIST SPEAKS OUT ABOUT RUSSIAN MINORITIES. Lidia Grafovka,
a prominent Russian journalist for Literaturnaya Gazeta, told
the IPI on 18 May that Russian-speakers in the Baltic and Central
Asian states face hostility and threats in regions where they
have spent most of their lives. Grafovka said many Russians in
the Baltic States would like to go to Russia but housing and
food shortages make it difficult. She described Russians living
in Central Asia as "a special kind of people--energetic and full
of the entrepreneurial spirit." RFE/RL's correspondent in Budapest
reported Grafovka's remarks. (Riina Kionka)

BALTS TO GET OWN TELEPHONE CODES. The Baltic States will achieve
telephonic independence as early as next autumn. BNS reported
on 18 May that the International Telecommunications Union (ITU)
has agreed in principle that the telephone area codes of 370,
371 and 372 will be assigned to Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania,
respectively. These codes, which currently belong to the eastern
part of Germany, will be available as early as September. The
Baltic States now use the telephone code of "7" used by the former
Soviet Union. (Riina Kionka)

LEGAL AND ILLEGAL HUNGARIAN TOURISM. Hungarian citizens made
3.5 million trips abroad in the first four months of 1992, a
10% increase over the same period last year, MTI reported on
18 May. The number of trips to Romania rose by over 50% and that
to the southern Slav states more than doubled. The number of
foreign visitors reached 7.5 million, a 3% increase over the
first four months of 1991. During the past weekend Hungarian
border guards turned back 9,000 foreigners, 8,200 of them Romanian
citizens, for not meeting the necessary entry requirements, and
apprehended 106 persons who had entered the country illegally.
An additional 100 illegal aliens were returned to Hungary by
Austrian and Czechoslovak authorities. (Alfred Reisch)

CZECHOSLOVAK INFLATION HELD TO 10%. On 18 May federal Finance
Minister Vaclav Klaus said although a 12% inflation rate had
been predicted for 1992, in fact it probably will not exceed
10% by the end of the year. He called this "a great success,
comparable with Western Europe." He added that if this trend
continues, there will be "no need for defending wage controls."
Speaking of unemployment, which in March affected 502,562 people
in Czechoslovakia (195,162 in the Czech and 307,400 in the Slovak
Republic), Klaus noted that last year 250,000 jobs were created
in the Czech Republic and 40,000 in the Slovak Republic, CSTK
reports. (Peter Matuska)

BULGARIA SEEKS REIMBURSEMENT FOR LIBYA SANCTIONS. On 18 May Bulgaria's
envoy to the United Nations, Svetoslav Baev, sent a letter to
Secretary-General Boutros-Ghali requesting compensation for losses
suffered by Bulgaria as a result of upholding sanctions against
Libya during the Gulf War. According to an RFE/RL correspondent,
Baev said he will submit a detailed list of the damages soon.
Among other things, Bulgaria cut all its flights to Libya and
two carriers operating on domestic routes were withdrawn. (Kjell
Engelbrekt)

LATVIAN PASSPORTS. Antons Baltacis, head of the visa department
of Latvia's Ministry of Internal Affairs, told the press on 13
May that the first 10,000 Latvian passports are expected to arrive
in Riga on 27 May. He explained that passports, printed in Germany,
are dark blue for citizens of the Republic of Latvia, light blue
for sailors, green for diplomats, and brown for stateless residents.
The first to receive passports will be members and staff of the
Supreme Council and the Council of Ministers. Ordinary residents
will be eligible once they have registered with the local authorities,
Diena reported on 13 May. (Dzintra Bungs)

SHIFTING ROMANIAN POLITICAL SPECTRUM. In the run-up to the elections,
local media are reporting a variety of political splintering
and realignments. The Democratic NSF party is preparing to rally
for its presidential candidate, incumbent Ion Iliescu. Marian
Munteanu, a student leader during the 1990 crackdown on the opposition,
has denied allegations from the pro-Iliescu daily Dimineata that
his Movement for Romania has connections to the prewar ultraright.
Domokos Geza is expected to resign from the leadership of the
Democratic Union of Hungarians in Romania and Tokacs Szabo will
represent the party at strategy sessions with its allies from
the opposition Democratic Convention (DC). Following the departure
of Radu Campeanu, leader of the National Liberal Party, from
the DC coalition, on 17 May a number of little-known political
groups created the New DC. Prominent liberals, however, joined
the Young Wing Liberals to form a (pro-DC) Liberal Alliance on
12 May. (Mihai Sturdza)

ESTONIA: IS RUSSIA USSR'S SUCCESSOR? On 18 May the Estonian delegation
to the CSCE asked the Russian delegation for clarification of
the extent of juridical continuity from the Soviet Union to the
Russian Federation. In a prepared statement to the CSCE's Committee
of Senior Officials in Helsinki, delegation chief Toivo Klaar
asked whether the Russian Federation is to be considered a full
successor state of the USSR, and if not, what legal responsibilities
to the international community it had formally assumed. The Russian
delegation did not immediately respond. The query came in connection
with stalled troop withdrawal negotiations. The RFE/RL Estonian
Service carried the story that day. (Riina Kionka)

CIS UNIT VOWS TO RESIST WITH ARMS. Radio Lithuania reported on
18 May that the National Defense Ministry announced that the
commander of an ex-Soviet paratroop unit in Marijampole had informed
the Lithuanian military command that motor vehicles, under armed
guard, would be on the move in the republic. He warned that if
arms were used against these vehicles retaliatory mea-sures would
be taken. On 15 May Lithuanian soldiers stopped a column of Russian
military vehi-cles by firing shots into the tires. (Saulius Girnius)


KLIMAITIS ARRESTED. On 18 May police arrested Algis Klimaitis,
former Sajudis representative to the European Parliament in Strasbourg,
the RFE/RL Lithuanian Service reports. The arrest followed accusations
in Lietuvos aidas that Klimaitis had been a KGB agent and spied
against Lithuania. Although he denied the charges, he nevertheless
resigned from the presidium of the Lithuanian Democratic Labor
Party. Klimaitis's arrest was prompted by information that he
was planning to return to Germany. The Lithuanian parliament
presidium has not granted him Lithuanian citizenship but he holds
a Lithuanian passport issued in 1982 by the Lithuanian delegation
to the Vatican. (Saulius Girnius)

SWEDISH MUSIC PRIZES FOR BALTIC LEADERS. On 18 May Lithuanian
Supreme Council Chairman Vytautas Landsbergis flew to Stockholm,
where he, as well as the Estonian and Latvian Ministers of Culture,
Mart Kubo and Raimonds Pauls, was awarded a prize for supporting
national music culture. The prizes, in the amount of one million
Swedish kronor, are awarded by the Swedish Music Academy; they
were handed out by King Carl Gustaf XVI, Radio Lithuania reports.
On 19 May Landsbergis will hold talks with leading Swedish officials
and political leaders. (Saulius Girnius) [As of 1200 CET] Compiled
by Carla Thorson & Charles Trumbull









(END)



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