No. 108, 09 June 1992

SUCCESSOR STATES TO THE USSR

AZERBAIJAN POPULAR FRONT CLAIMS PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION VICTORY.
According to preliminary estimates, the 54-year old oriental
historian and chairman of the Azerbaijan Popular Front (AzPF),
Abulfaz Elchibey, received over 60% of the vote in the presidential
elections held on 7 June, Western agencies reported. Claims by
Elchibeys closest rival among the remaining four candidates,
Nizami Suleimanov of the Union of the Democratic Intelligentsia
of Azerbaijan, that the AzPF had falsified the vote were discounted
by Western observers. The Tehran Times of 8 June expressed dissatisfaction
over Elchibeys pro-Turkish, anti-Iranian orientation. (Liz Fuller)


MORE TOUGH TALK FROM GRACHEV. Russian Defense Minister Pavel
Grachev told a press conference on 5 June that he would answer
any infringement upon the honor and dignity of the Russian population
in any part of the CIS with the most resolute measures, right
up to the dispatch of armed units. While his remarks, widely
reported by both CIS and Western agencies, were clearly meant
to be understood broadly, Grachev was commenting specifically
on an order he had issued earlier that day to withdraw Russian
troops from Groznyi, the capital of Chechnya. (On 8 June Interfax,
quoting the Chechenpress information agency, reported that the
Russian withdrawal from Chechnya had been completed.) Novosti
noted with concern that Grachev appeared to be assuming personal
responsibility for ordering Russian troops into action on the
periphery, an exercise of authority that was likely to be unacceptable
not only to the Russian president and parliament, but also to
neighboring CIS states where leaders fear that the Russian generals
are increasingly out of control (Stephen Foye)

ON NUCLEAR UMBRELLA, OTHER TOPICS. In answer to questions posed
by the Japanese Kyodo news agency, Grachev said that Russia would
be the only CIS state possessing nuclear weapons by the year
2000, and that Moscow would extend its nuclear umbrella to CIS
states signing the Treaty on Collective Security. According to
ITAR-TASS on 5 June, he also said that by the year 2000 the number
of Russian troops would be reduced to 1.5 million and that expenditures
on defense would be reduced to 5-6% of the Russian GNP. Grachev
claimed to support Yeltsins decision to withdraw all Russian
forces, except for border guards, from the Kurile Islands, and
suggested that he is only waiting for a political resolution
of the issue. (Stephen Foye)

KRAVCHUK ON UKRAINIAN-RUSSIAN RELATIONS. Ukrainian President
Leonid Kravchuk, meeting with his representatives on the local
level on 8 June, said that the policies of the Russian parliament
with regard to Ukraine are disturbing, Radio Ukraine reported.
Kravchuk said that his planned meeting with Russian President
Yeltsin will cover a wide range of issues, including serious
problems between the two countries. Kravchuk repeated his remarks
at the opening of a new institute of state management and self-government
the same day, saying once again that the Crimean issue is an
internal Ukrainian affair. (Roman Solchanyk)

KRAVCHUK FILLS DEFENSE MINISTRY POSTS. Ukrainian President Leonid
Kravchuk has named six generals, five of them Ukrainian, to top
posts in the Ukrainian Defense Ministry, Ukrinform-TASS reported
on 5 June. The new appointees are: Lt. Gen. Ivan Bizhan, 50,
to First Deputy Defense Minister; Lt. Gen. Vasyl Sobkov, 47,
named Chief of the armed forces Main Staff; Lt. Gen. Anatolii
Lopata, 52, named Deputy Defense Minister; Lt. Gen. Ivan Oliinyk,
55, named Deputy Defense Minister for Armaments; Maj. Gen. Oleksandr
Ihnatenko, 47, appointed Deputy Defense Minister for Personnel
and chief of the Personnel Directorate; and Lt. Gen. Mikhail
Lopatin, named commander of Air Defense Forces. Lopatin is Belarusian.
(Stephen Foye)

MOROZOV ON UKRAINIAN DEFENSE DEVELOPMENTS. Ukrainian Defense
Minister Konstantin Morozov told a plenum of the Executive Committee
of the Union of Officers of Ukraine that an order has been issued
to remove from Ukraine all officers who have failed to taken
the oath of loyalty to the republic, Ukrinform-TASS reported
on 6 June. Morozov said that the order was made necessary by
the failure of the central military command in Moscow to honor
an April agreement on the exchange of officers between republics,
despite the fact that Ukraine had already transferred, at its
own expense, over 5,000 officers to the armies of other republics.
On the subject of Ukraines military draft, Morozov said that
only one-third of the draft plan had been fulfilled to date,
with the highest turnout taking place in Odessa and Kherson Oblasts,
and the worst in western oblasts and Kiev. Morozov was reportedly
subjected to harsh questioning, and some participants charged
that Ukrainian military reform had collapsed, leaving the country
with an unreliable Soviet army. On 8 June, Radio Rossii reported,
Morozov said that only conscripts from Ukraine would be allowed
to serve in the republic.(Stephen Foye)

DOCUMENTS FROM CPSU ARCHIVES RELEASED. The Russian Presidential
Commission for the Declassification of CPSU Documents held a
press conference on 5 June to release archival documents on the
CPSUs criminal activities, Russian and Western media reported.
The press conference was held in preparation for the Constitutional
Court hearings on the CPSU scheduled for 7 July. The head of
the commission, Information Minister Mikhail Poltoranin, read
excerpts from documents aimed at proving that the CPSU continued
to finance terrorist organizations in the Middle East and other
parts of the world during the Gorbachev era. Poltoranin also
promised that more documents would be released on 12 June. (Vera
Tolz)

REACTION TO ARCHIVAL REVELATIONS. The press conference provoked
a mixed reaction from both Russian and Western scholars. On 5
June, a Western agency quoted an unidentified Western historian
as saying that the Russian government was using its control over
the CPSU records to manipulate information and undermine its
opponents. The Los Angeles Times reported on 6 June that a spokesman
for Mikhail Gorbachev dismissed the revelations as part of a
campaign by Russian President Yeltsin and his team to disgrace
the former Soviet president. I think its simply immoral to try
to put the blame and responsibility on Gorbachev for 70 years
of [the CPSUs] vicious practices. How can we reproach Gorbachev
for having signed some Party documents in the final phase of
the Partys influence..., considering that it was Gorbachev who
put an end to its influence, said Aleksandr Likhotal, spokesman
for the Gorbachev Foundation. (Vera Tolz)

ENERGY PRICE INCREASES TO BE FURTHER DELAYED? Speaking in Nizhny
Tagil on 8 June, Yeltsin denied that his government was backing
away from reform but merely changing tactics, Vesti reported.
One of these changes was the postponement of deregulation of
wholesale prices of energy-carriers. He was quoted as saying
that these prices will not be raised until the end of the year.
The Memorandum on the Economic Policy of the Russian Federation,
which was conditionally approved by the IMF, envisaged a controlled
increase in oil prices from 3% of the world level in January
(at an exchange rate of 50 rubles to the dollar) to 33% by 20
April and to 66% by the end of 1992. (Keith Bush)

RUTSKOI UNVEILS AGRICULTURAL REFORM CENTER. Russian Vice-president
Aleksandr Rutskoi told a cabinet meeting on 4June of his plan
to set up an Agrarian Reform Center, ITAR-TASS reported. Rutskoi
will head the center, which is designed to further the rapid
establishment of market structures within the agricultural sector
and in the agro-industrial complex. Yeltsin was quoted as saying
that the center will facilitate the passage from the old centralized
system to free agriculture. He said that he would sign a decree
formally creating the center on 15June. Rutskoi also submitted
a proposal for a new fund designed to attract foreign investment
in the agricultural sector. (Keith Bush)

DEMOCRATIC RUSSIA APPROVES QUESTIONS FOR REFERENDUM. The Council
of Representatives of the Democratic Russia Movement held a plenum
on 7 June to discuss questions for a referendum to be held in
the Russian Federation, the Russian media reported. Questions
on land ownership, the powers of the Russian president, and the
need to convene a constituent assembly are to be posed in the
referendum. The question on convening a constituent assembly
was suggested by the radical St. Petersburg branch of the movement.
The branch suggested that an assembly, similar to the one disbanded
by the Bolsheviks in 1918, is the appropriate body to approve
a new Russian constitution. ITAR-TASS reported that the Democratic
Russia had almost split again during the plenum because representatives
of the St. Petersburg branch demanded that the movement announce
its formal opposition to Yeltsins government. This suggestion
was not approved by the majority, however. (Vera Tolz)

MOSCOW MAYOR RESIGNS. Moscow Mayor Gavriil Popov submitted his
resignation to President Yeltsin and it was accepted on 6 June,
ITAR-TASS reported. The mayor has repeatedly come under heavy
attack from members of the Moscow City Council who oppose his
radical reform policies, and he had already threatened to resign
in December 1991. Explaining his decision, Popov cited Russian
legislation that prohibits government officials from also holding
positions in political parties. He argued that the current difficult
political and economic situation requires a broad strategy for
the whole country and that he could better serve Muscovites and
all Russians as a leader of the Movement for Democratic Reforms.
Deputy Mayor Yurii Luzhkov has been named as the new mayor of
Moscow. (Carla Thorson)

NO RESTITUTION OF TSARIST-ERA PROPERTY. Russian Deputy Prime
Minister Anatolii Chubais, who is also head of the State Property
Committee, told a news conference on 8 June that the government
had rejected proposals to return property seized by the Bolsheviks
after the 1917 revolution, Reuters reported. He was quoted as
saying that this is the biggest source of delay in the privatization
programs in Czechoslovakia, Poland, and in (Eastern) Germany.
Chubais predicted a real fight when the governments program for
implementing privatization measures comes up for discussion this
week in parliament. (Keith Bush)

LAW ADOPTED ON FORMATION OF INGUSH REPUBLIC. On 4June, the Russian
Supreme Soviet adopted a law on the formation of an Ingush republic
within the Russian Federation, ITAR-TASS reported. A transitional
period up to March 1994 was set for solving the problems connected
with setting up the republic. Until the supreme organs of power
of the new republic are created the Russian parliament will appoint
a temporary representative in Ingushetia. The law recommends
that the Russian president appoint the head of the provisional
administration in Ingushetia. ITAR-TASS noted that the initiative
for the law had come from Yeltsin, and that it was necessitated
by the proclamation made last year by the Chechen republic declaring
its independence and its secession from the former Chechen-Ingush
autonomous republic. (Ann Sheehy)

IMPLICATIONS OF AN INGUSH REPUBLIC. The adoption of this law
is the first implicit, official recognition of the existence
of a separate Chechen republic. Amendments to the Russian constitution
adopted by the Russian Congress in April referred only to the
Chechen-Ingush republic. The action of the Russian Supreme Soviet
would also seem to run counter to Yeltsins statement at the meeting
of the Russian Security Council on 3June that there should be
a moratorium on any frontier changes in the North Caucasus, for
the time being. The law is clearly aimed against the Chechen
leader Dudaev, and will not satisfy those Ingush who want to
remain with Chechnya either. It does not give Ingushetia back
the Prigorodnyi raion of North Ossetia, and Dudaev served notice
some time ago that he would dispute the amount of territory given
to a separate Ingush republic. (Ann Sheehy)

CENTRAL ASIAN DEMOCRATIC GROUPS HOLD CONGRESS. Moskovskie Novosti
reported on 8 June on the 30-31 May congress of Central Asian
democrats in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. Representatives from Tajikistan
were unable to attend due to the political unrest there. Among
the issues discussed were the ambiguous status of CIS troops
stationed in the region, as well as the growing danger of separatist
groups. Congress participants declared that any reconsideration
of borders could cause interethnic conflicts that could become
international ones. The Congress voted to create a permanent
coordinating body to be located in Bishkek. (Cassandra Cavanaugh)


UZBEK GOVERNMENT HARASSES OPPOSITION. As reported by Moskovskie
Novosti on 8 June, the leader of the Uzbek Popular Front Birlik,
Abdurahim Pulatov, told the Bishkek congress that several Birlik
activists have been arrested recently. The movements offices
were raided, and one of its leaders, the lawyer, Miralim Adylov,
was beaten. The city of Namangan had also witnessed demonstrations
pressing for the release of leaders of another political group,
Adolat (Justice), who had been arrested in March. Birlik appealed
to the United Nations on 26 May to call on Uzbekistans government
to observe its obligation to protect human rights. (Cassandra
Cavanaugh)

CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPE



CZECHOSLOVAK ELECTIONS. In the parliamentary elections in Czechoslovakia
on 5 and 6 June the Civic Democratic Party (ODS) of Vaclav Klaus
won in the Czech Republic. It ran in alliance with the Christian
Democratic Party (KDS) and got 80 seats in the 300-member bicameral
federal parliament. (The distribution of seats will be revised
slightly in coming days after the vote for those parties that
did not receive the minimum 5% of votes is redistributed to those
that passed the threshold.) Vladimir Meciars Movement for a Democratic
Slovakia (HZDS) won in Slovakia and with 54 seats becomes the
second-largest party in the federal parliament. The communist-led
Left Bloc was next with 30 seats, followed by the Party for the
Democratic Left (SDL) with 20 seats and the Czechoslovak Social
Democrats with 10 seats. The right-wing ODS favors rapid economic
reform and a strong federation. The HZDS wants a stronger Slovakia
and slower economic reforms. On 7 June President Vaclav Havel
asked Klaus to form a new government, a move promptly criticized
by Meciar, who said talks between the political parties must
precede negotiations on forming the government. He also called
for a referendum on the future of the federation and said that
Havels chances of being reelected president by the parliament
are minimal, Czechoslovak and foreign media report. (Barbara
Kroulik)

FEDERATION/COALITION TALKS FAIL. On 8 June Klaus and Meciar held
talks on the future of the federation and on the possible formation
of a coalition federal government. However, the talks failed,
a Klaus aide told reporters. Klaus told CSTK that it is clear
that the HZDS wants to create a sovereign Slovak state with international
status, something for which the ODS has no mandate from voters.
He said the talks will continue on 10 June but was pessimistic
that a solution can be found, as there are deep essential differences.
Earlier, Meciar held talks with leaders of other Slovak parties,
the reformed communists, and the separatist Slovak National Party.
(Barbara Kroulik)

PAWLAK APPROVED AS POLISH PREMIER. On 5 June, voting 261149 with
7 abstentions, the Sejm approved Waldemar Pawlak as Polands new
prime minister, Western and Polish media report. The 32-year-old
leader of the Polish Peasant Party (PSL) was nominated by President
Walesa after the dismissal of Jan Olszewskis government, also
on 5 June. Before the vote Pawlak told the Sejm he had accepted
the difficult mission of forming a new government because of
what he called the dramatic situation of the state. He said one
of his first tasks is to relax political tensions in the Sejm
and create a balanced government with a common program. It is
time to end the struggle of everybody with everybody and solve
Polish problems as effectively as possible. (Wladyslaw Minkiewicz)


UN TO SEND 1,100 TROOPS TO SARAJEVO. On 8 June the Security Council
voted unanimously to send the soldiers and 60 observers to reopen
the airport in the capital of Bosnia-Herzegovina and distribute
humanitarian aid once a truce comes into effect. It is not clear
what would happen if the cease-fire proves stillborn, like the
one on 5 June, which was followed by what the BBC called the
fiercest fighting since the conflict there began. The 9 June
New York Times quotes Alija Izetbegovic, president of Bosnia-Herzegovina,
as calling for the US air force to attack the Serbian artillery
positions laying waste to Sarajevo: let them bomb those who are
bombing us. That would probably be enough. (Patrick Moore)

BLEAK PICTURE INSIDE SARAJEVO. Western media reported over the
long European holiday weekend on the increasingly desperate situation
in the capital of Bosnia-Herzegovina. Recurrent themes included
near-starvation among a population often reduced to a diet of
roots and pigeonsto the extent that there is food at all. The
media also reported, however, that largely Muslim and Croat Territorial
Defense units have staged their first breakthrough in the siege
by capturing some key Serbian positions around the town with
heavy weapons taken the previous week from a newly abandoned
army base. Serbian media denied the story. (Patrick Moore)

HUNGARIAN CONSTITUTIONAL COURT ON MEDIA. The court ruled on 8
June that a 1974 decree granting the government supervision over
state media is unconstitutional because it fails to restrict
government influence over radio and television programs, MTI
reports. The court called on parliament to adopt a media law
by 30 November 1992. Until that time the existing decree will
remain in effect to avoid putting the media at the mercy of power
struggles between political parties. Prime Minister Jozsef Antall
used the decree in his attempt to dismiss the radio president.
President Arpad Goncz refused to approve the dismissal saying
that a new radio president should only be appointed after the
adoption of a media law by parliament. (Edith Oltay)

MINISTER QUITS POST IN ESTONIA. Estonias Minister for the Economy
Heido Vitsur has resigned, BNS reports on 8 June. Vitsur said
he quit the government in order to manage the campaign for the
Secure Home election coalition established last week by the Coalition
Party and the Rural Union. Olari Taal, currently Minister for
Construction, will act in Vitsurs stead until a replacement can
be named. (Riina Kionka)

SEJM PASSES BUDGET. Also on 5 June parliament overwhelmingly
passed a new, IMF-backed budget. Deputies voted 23090, with 7
abstentions, in favor of the bill, which foresees a deficit of
$2.8 billion but calls for large spending cuts to limit the deficit
to 5% of the GNP, Western and Polish media report. The IMF made
implementation of the new budget a condition for renewing a three-year
credit agreement. Prime Minister Pawlak said he may introduce
some amendments to the budget but stressed that he will adhere
to the IMF s 5% deficit limitation requirement. (Wladyslaw Minkiewicz)


ROMANIA STARTS PRIVATIZATION. The Ursus brewery at Cluj-Napoca
is to be the first Romanian company to be privatized through
sale of shares. Romanian small investors will be offered 51%
of the shares, with the remaining 49% sold directly to bigger
Romanian investors or foreigners. The brewerys staff of 470 has
first option to buy up to one-tenth of the shares at a 10% discount.
Applications will be accepted beginning 6 July, after a month
of publicity, Romanian and foreign media reported. (Crisula Stefanescu)


NEW FOREIGN EXCHANGE RULES IN ROMANIA. Romania is about to implement
new foreign exchange rules that will fully liberalize the countrys
convertible currency market. The rules, which take effect on
8 June, will sharply reduce the Centrals Bank role in setting
exchange rates for the leu, which will be set now through bank
auctions, Romanian and foreign media report. The new rules seek
to narrow the gap between the official rate for the leu (which
had been set at 226 to the dollar) and those offered in Romania
by licensed foreign offices (at 360:dollar). (Crisula Stefanescu)


KRAMBERGER MURDERED IN SLOVENIA. Ivan Kramberger, leader of the
Homeland Peoples Party of Slovenia and a presidential candidate,
was shot dead on 7 June by an intoxicated farmer shortly before
a campaign meeting in northeastern Slovenia. Kramberger was sharply
critical of Slovenian President Milan Kucan and the government
on economic and social issues. In the April 1990 electionsthe
first multiparty vote since 1938Kramberger finished third in
the presidential race. A farm hand and illiterate until his late
teens, he invented a a low-cost kidney dialysis machine, went
on to become a self-made millionaire and wrote several best-selling
books in Slovenia. He donated more than 50 dialysis machines
to medical clinics in Serbia, Bosnia, Macedonia, and Montenegro.
(Milan Andrejevich)

ROMANIAN PARLIAMENT DECIDES AGAINST JULY ELECTIONS. Parliament
voted narrowly against a proposal to hold general elections in
July. Prime Minister Theodor Stolojan had urged that the elections
be held on 26 July, saying a delay would destabilize the country.
After the vote, Stolojan suggested Iliescu meet parliamentary
party leaders to discuss a date for elections, foreign media
reported. (Crisula Stefanescu)

ESTONIAN POPULAR FRONT READIES FOR ELECTION. In a move that surprised
few observers, the Estonian Popular Front announced last weekend
that it had formally joined forces with former Prime Minister
Edgar Savisaars Peoples Center Party for the election campaign.
According to BNS of 8 June, the Popular Front-PCP election coalition
is holding talks with other like-minded parties in search of
allies. (Riina Kionka)

APATHY DEFEATS HUNGARIAN CANDIDATEAGAIN. Only 27% of the eligible
voters cast votes in the seventh attempt to elect a parliamentary
representative in County Komarom-Esztergom, MTI reported on 7
June. This was well below the 50%-plus-one-vote needed to validate
the vote. Former Defense Ministry spokesman Gyorgy Keleti, the
candidate of the Hungarian Socialist Party, received over 62%
of the votes cast. (Edith Oltay)

BULGARIAS USD HOLDS CONFERENCE. The Union for Social Democracy,
which took shape inside the BSP at the latest BSP congress last
December, held a national conference on 67 June, extensively
covered by BTA and Duma. The group emphasized that it is not
a faction and will not be an opposition in the BSP, but represents
the trend inside it which is for speeding up its change and transformation
into an organization of left social democracy. It will maintain
contacts with similar parties abroad, some of which sent guests
to the conference. A political council of 31 members of local
USD clubs and 33 members of parliament was elected, the latter
including several of the most active BSP deputies. Prof. Chavdar
Kyuranov was elected chairman and Alexandar Tomov and Dimitar
Yonchev deputy chairmen. (Rada Nikolaev)

EXTRAORDINARY SESSION OF LITHUANIAN PARLIAMENT. On 8 June the
Sajudis Coalition For a Democratic Lithuania ended its boycott
and attended an extraordinary session of the parliament, Radio
Lithuania reports. It approved by a vote of 1090 with 1 abstention
a constitutional act declaring that Lithuania will never join
any political, military, economic, or other union with the former
USSR. The session also approved longer hours for referendums,
but postponed until the next day decisions on the more important
questions of setting a date for elections to the new parliament
and the resignation of Prime Minister Vagnorius. (Saulius Girnius)


BALTS REFUSE TO SIGN ARMS PROTOCOL. On 5 June in Oslo representatives
of NATO countries, former Warsaw Pact states, and former USSR
republics signed a protocol committing themselves to cut their
conventional military forces. According to a RFE/RL correspondent
and agency reports, Baltic representatives declined to sign the
document on the grounds that its terms might provide an excuse
for the continued presence of the ex-USSR forces on their territories.
Representatives of NATO, while expressing in their communique
understanding of the practical difficulties for Russia associated
with the withdrawal of its troops, nonetheless noted One of the
fundamental principles of international law is that the presence
of foreign troops on the territory of a sovereign state requires
the clearly expressed consent of that state. (Dzintra Bungs)


LANDSBERGIS-YELTSIN MEETING. On 5 June Lithuanian Supreme Council
chairman Vytautas Landsbergis met with Russian President Boris
Yeltsin for about an hour, the RFE/RL Lithuanian Service reports.
Landsbergis said that he was satisfied with the talks, noting
that agreements had been reached on oil supplies to Lithuania
in the second half of the year and compensation for Lithuanian
deposits in the former USSR Vneshekonombank. He said that Yeltsin
had suggested that setting a timetable for early withdrawals
was more important than the final date for its completion. Landsbergis
repeated his demands that the 107th division in Vilnius should
be among the first units to leave. (Saulius Girnius)

LATVIA REQUIRES LICENSES FOR MILITARY FLIGHTS. Auseklis Zobens,
director of the aviation department of Latvias Transportation
Ministry, told the press on 8 June that Russian military flights
over Latvian airspace henceforth will have to be coordinated
with the Latvias Ministry of Defense and licensed by Latvias
Air Transportation. So far Latvia has received 11 requests for
licenses, valid for one year, from Russian military units. Karlis
Kins of the Defense Ministry said that arms-carrying flights
would be forbidden, BNS reported on 8 June. (Dzintra Bungs)

ZHELEV STARTS LATIN AMERICAN TOUR. President Zhelyu Zhelev left
on 7 June for an eleven-day tour. BTA and Bulgarian Radio gave
details. First on his schedule are official visits to Venezuela
and Uruguay. After attending the UN ecological summit in Rio
de Janeiro, he will pay an official visit to Argentina. Zhelev
is accompanied by Foreign Minister Ganev, presidential advisers,
government representatives, and businessmen. (Rada Nikolaev)