No. 174, 10 September 1992

SUCCESSOR STATES TO THE USSR

YELTSIN ABRUPTLY CALLS OFF JAPAN VISIT. On 9 September, Russian
President Boris Yeltsin indefinitely postponed his long-planned
visit to Japan just four days before it was scheduled to begin.
Japanese Foreign Minister Michio Watanabe would not confirm whether
or not Yeltsin's decision stemmed from Japan's refusal to provide
large-scale economic aid to Russia until the Kuril Islands dispute
is resolved in Japan's favor, Western agencies reported. On 6
September, Yeltsin had noted that "I have to consider the attitude
of 150 million Russians," when considering the Kuril Islands
issue, "Novosti" reported on 7 September. Yeltsin also announced
that his trip to South Korea would be postponed until December
when Yeltsin is already scheduled to visit China. (Hal Kosiba,
RFE/RL Inc.)

BURBULIS CRITICIZES JAPAN. Russian State Secretary Gennadii Burbulis
has warned Japan not to "exaggerate its role and importance to
the detriment of other states in the Pacific region." He told
ITAR-TASS on 9 September that Russian-Japanese relations "are
not the only prospects in this region" for Russia. Burbulis said
that according to a recent opinion poll published by Interfax
on 8 September, 60 percent of Russians oppose returning the Kuril
islands to Japan, and he noted that Yeltsin and government officials
must take the opinion and sentiments of the Russian population
into account. (Alexander Rahr, RFE/RL Inc.)

ON THE ROLE OF THE SECURITY COUNCIL. Russian President Boris
Yeltsin indicated in his phone conversation with Japanese Prime
Minister Kiichi Miyazawa that the decision to postpone his visit
to Japan had been made by the Security Council rather than by
him personally. If this statement is accurate, it demonstrates
the extent to which this recently created committee has become
a major collective decision-making body in Russia. However, First
Deputy Parliamentary Speaker Sergei Filatov, who is also a member
of the Security Council, was not present at the meeting and was
unaware of the postponement, Western news agencies reported on
9 September. (Alexander Rahr, RFE/RL Inc.)

CSCE KARABAKH TALKS IN JEOPARDY? Azerbaijan's intransigence in
refusing to agree to the proposal made by Mario Raffaelli, chairman
of the CSCE-sponsored Rome Karabakh peace talks, for a cease-fire
in Nagorno-Karabakh may lead to the complete collapse of the
negotiations, unnamed Western diplomats told Reuters on 9 September.
ITAR-TASS quoted Armenian presidential advisor Gerard Liparitian
as stating that the US, France, and Russia had condemned Azerbaijan's
use of military aircraft against the civilian population in Nagorno-Karabakh,
and that delegates to the Rome talks had demanded that Azerbaijan
respond to Raffaelli's proposal by 15 September. (Liz Fuller,
RFE/RL Inc.)

NEW CEASE-FIRE IN ABKHAZIA. The tripartite Russian/Georgian/
Abkhaz commission to monitor implementation of the 3 September
Moscow agreement met in Sukhumi on 9 September and concluded
a new cease-fire agreement to take effect at midnight local time
on 9 September, ITAR-TASS reported. Beginning on 10 September,
military formations on both sides will be disbanded and hostages
and prisoners released. (Liz Fuller, RFE/RL Inc.)

VOLSKY FOR GOVERNMENT CHANGE. The leader of the industrial lobby,
Arkadii Volsky, said that his main goal is the struggle to correct
the government's reform course. He told Pravda on 9 September
that the government is gradually losing its authority to conduct
reforms. He stated that he has many differences with acting Prime
Minister Egor Gaidar. For instance, he dismissed Gaidar's efforts
to create a market economy and an ownership class, stressing
instead the need to improve the efficiency of the economy and
to raise the living standard of the population. He asserted that
the industrial lobby will ensure that the leaders and the parties
which gain power will protect the people's economic interests.
(Alexander Rahr, RFE/RL Inc.)

RUSSIAN FOOD SUPPLY DOWN. The Russian State Committee for Statistics
(Roskomstat) announced on 9 September that food production during
the past few months has declined by an average of 22% when compared
with the same period of 1991, ITAR-TASS reported. Roskomstat
attributed part of the decline to shortfalls in contractual deliveries
from other CIS members and from the Baltic states. (Keith Bush,
RFE/RL Inc.)

SCALE OF RUSSIAN CAPITAL FLIGHT MINIMIZED. The Russian First
Deputy Minister for Foreign Economic Relations, Sergei Glaziev,
announced on 9 September that Russia has exported some $2 billion
to date in 1992, Interfax reported. About half of this sum has
been retained abroad legally to purchase foreign goods and materials.
The rest has been transferred illegally but has also been used
to buy foreign goods. The total sum is far below some Western
estimates of capital flight: these Glaziev attributed to Western
banks which spread the reports in order to raise their interest
rates charged because of the implied risk factor. (Keith Bush,
RFE/RL Inc.)

FURTHER RAISES FOR RUSSIAN COAL MINERS. Acting Prime Minister
Egor Gaidar and coal union officials signed an agreement on 8
September that provides for gradual increases in coal miners'
wages, Interfax reported on 9 September. Starting on 1 September,
average wages for those working in mining, processing, and transportation
of coal will rise by 60%; by the end of the year, the increment
will reach 80%. The average monthly wage for coal miners in July
was 10,900 rubles. A union official said that the raises will
not be funded by means of budget subsidies. Instead, mines will
increase wholesale prices of coal by up to 30%--the current average
price of coal is 95 rubles a ton--which should cover the pay
raise. (Keith Bush, RFE/RL Inc.)

RUSSIA ASKS PARDON FOR OFFICER CONDEMNED TO DEATH IN AZERBAIJAN.
Russian authorities have asked Azerbaijan to pardon an Russian
officer sentenced to death by the Azerbaijan Supreme Court's
military collegium on 31 August. According to ITAR-TASS, the
Russian Defense Ministry and a public committee concerned with
servicemen's social rights appealed on 9 September to Azeri leaders
to stay the execution of Lieutenant Evgenii Lukin. Lukin was
in charge of the guard at the Baku Military School on 7 September
1991 when it was attacked by an armed group seeking to obtain
weapons in the school's depot. When the attackers failed to retreat
in the face of warning shots, Lukin ordered his men to shoot
to kill. Three attackers lost their lives. The Russians claim
that Lukin should have been tried by a Russian court. (Doug Clarke,
RFE/RL Inc.)

RUSSIAN/SOUTH KOREAN NAVAL AGREEMENT IN THE WORKS. Russian and
South Korean naval officials on 9 September ended two-days of
talks in Seoul on a bilateral agreement regarding the prevention
of incidents at sea. Vice Admiral Vladimir Lyashenko, the first
deputy chief of the CIS naval headquarters, told ITAR-TASS that
the negotiations had gotten off to a successful start. The next
round will take place in a month. The agreement would provide
confidence-building measures between the two navies. (Doug Clarke,
RFE/RL Inc.)

RUSSIAN OFFICER DEFECTS TO FINLAND. ITAR-TASS on 9 September
reported that a officer of the border guards defected to Finland
on 1 September. According to the press center of the Russian
Border Forces, Major Andrei Vykhrystyuk--the commander of a guard
unit on the border with Finland--had been on the brink of a nervous
breakdown and was drinking heavily prior to the incident. The
agency report said that the major's father and wife were insisting
that he be repatriated. (Doug Clarke, RFE/RL Inc.)

"NEW UKRAINE" CALLS FOR ORGANIZED OPPOSITION. The opposition
coalition "New Ukraine" held a press conference in Kiev on 8
September devoted to the current political situation in Ukraine,
DR-Press reported on 9 September. Volodymyr Filenko, the chairman
of the coalition, emphasized the need to form an organized opposition
aimed at gaining a majority in the parliament. Filenko also did
not exclude the possibility of "New Ukraine" participating in
a government of popular trust. The former economics minister,
Volodymyr Lanovyi, told reporters that he intends to establish
a National Center of Market Reforms. (Roman Solchanyk, RFE/RL
Inc.)

UKRAINIAN DELEGATION IN WASHINGTON. A Ukrainian parliamentary
delegation led by Ivan Plyushch, head of the Ukrainian parliament,
is in Washington for meetings with top American officials, Radio
Ukraine reported on 8 September. Members of the delegation are
scheduled to meet with Secretary of State Dick Cheney, National
Security Adviser Brent Scowcroft, senators and congressmen, and
other US officials. (Roman Solchanyk, RFE/RL Inc.)

TURKEY PROVIDING WEAPONS TO NAKHICHEVAN? According to an unconfirmed
report on 9 September by Armenia's Snark News Agency, the military
council of the Ninth Corps of the Turkish army has decided, with
the Turkish government's consent, to supply considerable quantities
of Soviet-made weapons and combat material to the government
of Azerbaijan's Nakhichevan Autonomous Republic. To date, the
Turkish government has publicly resisted pressure to offer military
assistance to Azerbaijan. Turkish Prime Minister Suleiman Demirel
visited Nakhichevan last month and promised financial and food
aid worth $10 million to counter the effects of the Armenian
blockade of the region. (Liz Fuller, RFE/RL Inc.)

"DNIESTER REPUBLIC" ESTABLISHES OWN AIR FORCE. The "Dniester
republic Supreme Soviet" on 8 September formally approved the
establishment of its own air force and a "department of military
aviation," consisting of "airplanes and helicopters based on
its territory," DR-Press reported from Tiraspol on 9 September.
The report clearly refers to the aircraft of Russia's 14th Army.
Some aircraft have already been turned over to the "Dniester"
forces by that Army, and they took part in the "Dniester" military
parade on the anniversary of the "republic" on 2 September in
the presence of the Army's commander, Major General Aleksandr
Lebed, DR-Press reported that day. An RFE/RL correspondent and
the St. Petersburg TV program "600 Seconds" reported on 7 and
8 September, respectively, that the "Dniester republic" had warned
that any Moldovan overflight of the area without "Dniester" permission
would be treated as a military attack. (Vladimir Socor, RFE/RL
Inc.)

"DNIESTER REPUBLIC" OFFICIALLY REIMPOSES RUSSIAN SCRIPT ON "MOLDOVAN"
LANGUAGE. The "Dniester republic Supreme Soviet" on 8 September
voted in a language law reimposing the Russian alphabet on the
"Moldovan" (i.e. Romanian) language in the territory under its
control. As cited by Radio Rossii, the "law" requires the use
of the Russian alphabet for "all situations in which the Moldovan
language is used." The measure is likely to force part of the
local Moldovan intelligentsia out of their jobs and out of the
area. Although the law formally stipulates the equality of the
Russian, Ukrainian, and "Moldovan" languages, the "Dniester authorities"
promote the old policy of linguistic russification. Moldovans,
who comprise 40.1% of the population, are the largest ethnic
group in the territory at issue, but ethnic Russians, who form
only the third-largest ethnic group (behind Ukrainians), rule
the area. (Vladimir Socor, RFE/RL Inc.)

CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPE

UN COMMANDER BLAMES BOSNIANS FOR ATTACK. On 9 September the commander
of the UN forces in Sarajevo, Egyptian General Hussein Ali Abdul
Razik, said that the two French soldiers were killed on 8 September
by bullets fired by "irresponsible elements" who disobeyed orders
of the local Bosnian commander. The shots came from positions
held by Bosnian government troops, Razik said, "There is no mistake
about this because visibility at the time of the attack was good."
State Presidency member Ejup Ganic denied that Bosnian forces
attacked the convoy. Bosnian Foreign Minister Haris Silajdzic
stated that "it's totally illogical" that Bosnian forces would
fire on "those providing relief." UNPROFOR headquarters in Zagreb
released a statement saying that the Italian relief plane downed
on 3 September was shot down in an area controlled by Croatian
forces. But the statement adds "exactly how or by whom is the
subject of intensive study." The statement also lays blame on
Bosnian government forces for the 8 September attack on the convoy.
International media carried the reports. (Milan Andrejevich,
RFE/RL Inc.)

VANCE SAYS RELIEF CONVOYS TO CONTINUE. UN envoy Cyrus Vance told
reporters in Zagreb on 9 September that overland relief convoys
to Sarajevo will continue despite the recent tragedy, which he
described as "cold-blooded murder." Vance, along with EC envoy
Lord Owen were in Zagreb for talks with UN, Red Cross, and Croatian
officials. They will continue with stops in Sarajevo and Belgrade
in an effort to secure further guarantees that overland convoys
and air relief flights will not be attacked. (Milan Andrejevich,
RFE/RL Inc.)

IRANIAN ARMS SEIZED BY CROATIA. Radio Croatia and Western media
report on 10 September that Croatian security forces have impounded
an Iranian Boeing-747 aircraft loaded with arms bound for the
Muslim-dominated government forces in Bosnia-Herzegovina. The
incident occurred on 4 September. Officials seized 4,000 guns
and more than one million rounds of ammunition and deported about
40 Iranians found hidden in the aircraft. The New York Times
on 10 September stated that the interception of arms from Iran
is the first documented evidence of military support by an Islamic
country to the Bosnian government. (Milan Andrejevich, RFE/RL
Inc.)

PANIC STRIKES HARD. In his first interview since surviving the
vote of no-confidence in the Federal Assembly on 4 September,
Milan Panic, prime minister of the rump Yugoslavia, told Belgrade
Radio on 9 September that he has replaced the Yugoslav negotiating
team at the Geneva peace conference. Panic said the previous
team had "lost all battles," a clear reference to the Socialists
,who brought Serbia-Montenegro into virtually total global isolation
after being accused of fomenting war in Bosnia-Herzegovina. The
new team will be led by Ljubisa Rakic, former dean of Belgrade
University's medical school. Panic also described the no-confidence
motion as a phase of democracy, but said he was surprised at
how "few details . . . and lies" his critics presented. Panic
also singled out the privatization of the media as one of the
most important domestic issues. Turning to the Kosovo situation,
Panic said that some laws there are clearly "detrimental to Albanians
and they ought to be changed immediately." He also proposed that
the state provide financial assistance for classes taught privately
in the Albanian language at the university, secondary, and primary
school levels. (Milan Andrejevich, RFE/RL Inc.)

WALESA IN ACTIVIST MODE. After giving Justice Minister Zbigniew
Dyka a tongue-lashing on 8 September for failing to clear up
prominent scandals on time, President Lech Walesa spent another
busy day in his campaign to channel public energies into productive
work rather than strikes. At an early morning mass and breakfast
with former prime minister Waldemar Pawlak, Walesa stressed that
there was room in his "solidarity confederation of reformist
forces" for the postcommunist peasant party. Next, in a radio
interview, Walesa said that justice for past abuses was not as
important as "building the future." If no progress was made in
six months, he warned, a "presidential system" would be necessary.
Finally, during a visit to a police training center near Warsaw,
the president repeatedly stressed the need to close the chapter
on the past, and begin joint work for the good of Poland. "No
one can be punished without proof of individual guilt," Walesa
said. (Louisa Vinton, RFE/RL Inc.)

GOVERNMENT PRESENTS "PACT ON STATE FIRMS." Prime Minister Hanna
Suchocka and five of her ministers held a press conference on
9 September to present the government's proposed "pact on state
firms." This package, now under consideration by the trade unions,
is designed to improve the functioning of state firms and forestall
protest by giving workers a bigger stake in their enterprises.
The pact includes: the chance for struggling firms to choose
their own method of privatization, with 10% of the shares provided
free to the work force; selective debt-relief for firms with
sound restructuring plans; the replacement of the despised popiwek
(tax on excess wages) with negotiated wage limits; and the creation
of a fund to guarantee payment of wages in the event of bankruptcy.
The pact's psychological aims may be as important as its economic
goals; the point is to shift workers' attention from demands
on the state to concern with the fate of their own firms. (Louisa
Vinton, RFE/RL Inc.)

POLAND'S FIRST POLITICAL PRISONER? On 9 September, Poland's Supreme
Court turned down a request by the chief prosecutor to reconsider
the case of Roman Galuszko, who was sentenced by a Cracow military
court in April to 18 months imprisonment for draft evasion. Galuszko's
request for alternate service on moral and religious grounds
was rejected; the draft board refused to accept the Catholic
faith as a valid argument against military service. This rationale
has stirred controversy. In another judicial development, the
Bialystok prosecutor announced on 9 September that "criminal
arson" caused the fire in January 1989 that killed Stanislaw
Suchowolec, an activist Solidarity priest. The communist police
had ruled the death accidental. Suchowolec was one of three activist
priests killed in mysterious circumstances in the period before
and after the round-table talks. (Louisa Vinton, RFE/RL Inc.)


STOLOJAN APPEALS TO RAILWAY UNION LEADERS TO END HUNGER STRIKE.
Romanian Prime Minister Theodor Stolojan sent a letter to four
railway union leaders who have been on a hunger strike for more
than 20 days. The full text was read on Radio Bucharest on 4
September. Stolojan pleaded with the union leaders to abandon
their protest until a solution can be found to their claims.
The four--Stefan Siromascenco, Cristian Peride, Victor Condurache,
and Nicolae Fieraru--are protesting the signing of a labor contract
as well as their dismissals. Stolojan met the protesters on 3
September and promised to set up an inquiry commission to examine
the demands. He insisted, however, that he has no right to overturn
decisions made by Romanian Railways board of directors. (Dan
Ionescu, RFE/RL Inc.)

ROMANIA'S ETHNIC HUNGARIANS URGE TOKES TO END HUNGER STRIKE.
Magyar Bishop Laszlo Tokes has been urged by his supporters to
abandon his week-old protest fast. In a statement read on Radio
Bucharest, the Hungarian Democratic Union of Romania, which represents
the country's Hungarian minority, urged Tokes to "preserve his
strength to fight for the victory of truth and moral values."
Tokes began his hunger strike in an attempt to force the authorities
to identify the murderers of the 1,033 victims of the 1989 Romanian
uprising. President Ion Iliescu offered last week to meet Tokes
but has effectively rejected the latter's demands from the outset.
(Dan Ionescu, RFE/RL Inc.)

ROMANIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH AND THE ELECTIONS. Patriarch Teoctist
of Romania said in a pastoral address that the Romanian Orthodox
Church "would not express a preference for any candidate or party
in the presidential and parliamentary elections" scheduled for
27 September, Radio Bucharest reported on 4 September. However,
the patriarch added that this "political neutrality" did not
mean "indifference from the moral and social point of view;"
he urged the faithful to vote for "belief in God" and the "safeguarding
of freedom," in what Reuters reported to be an appeal "for the
preservation of Christianity against atheism and Communism."
(Michael Shafir, RFE/RL Inc.)

REMAINS FOUND IN MASS GRAVE IN ROMANIA. Western agencies report
from Bucharest that a mass grave containing about 140 skeletons
dating from the 1950's has been found on premises run by the
Securitate, the former secret police, an Interior Ministry statement
said. The remains, which appear to be from members of peasant
families who opposed collectivization, were found at Caciulati,
near Bucharest, according to the Association of Former Political
Detainees. (Michael Shafir, RFE/RL Inc.)

HEAD OF CZECHOSLOVAK PRESS AGENCY REPLACED. The Czechoslovak
government dismissed Petr Uhl, general director of CSTK, on 9
September and replaced him with Tomas Kopriva, a deputy representing
Vaclav Klaus's Civic Democratic Party in the Federal Assembly.
Explaining Uhl's dismissal, Czechoslovak Deputy Prime Minister
Miroslav Macek told a CSTK reporter that Kopriva would better
be able to carry out the planned partition of CSTK into two republican
agencies. Uhl, a former dissident who headed the agency since
1990, is known for his leftist views and is an advocate of preserving
the Czechoslovak federation. He insists that he was dismissed
for political reasons. (Jiri Pehe, RFE/RL Inc.)

CZECHOSLOVAK FOREIGN MINISTER ON RELATIONS WITH EC. Speaking
to reporters in Brussels after his talks with EC officials on
9 September, Czechoslovak Foreign Minister Jozef Moravcik said
the Czech and Slovak republics will need two separate but identical
association agreements with the European Community after Czechoslovakia
splits into two states. Moravcik said the agreements should be
modeled on the EC association accord that Czechoslovakia signed
last December. Moravcik also said he hopes that the Czech Republic
and Slovakia will be able to apply for full EC membership at
the same time, together with Poland and Hungary. The EC has taken
no official position on the planned breakup of Czechoslovakia.
(Jiri Pehe, RFE/RL Inc.)

NO BREAKTHROUGH IN HUNGARIAN-SLOVAK RELATIONS. The first meeting
since the June 1992 Czechoslovak elections between Hungarian
Prime Minister Jozsef Antall and his Slovak counterpart Vladimir
Meciar in Budapest did not result in any breakthroughs, Radio
Budapest and MTI announced. Meciar thanked Antall for Budapest's
recognition of the division of Czechoslovakia without trying
to "make political capital" out of it. The two premiers agreed
to set up three joint parliamentary commissions: on the situation
of their respective national minorities, on bilateral relations
as a whole, and on the problem of the Gabcikovo hydroelectric
plant. On the latter issue, questions such as the validity of
the Czechoslovak-Hungarian agreement (unilaterally abrogated
by Hungary in May 1992) and the legality of Slovakia's plans
to divert the Danube River (which forms the Slovak-Hungarian
border), are still not resolved. Budapest has suggested that
the International Court of Justice be asked to rule on the matter--a
solution not favored but also not rejected by Meciar. (Alfred
Reisch, RFE/RL Inc.)

MECIAR MEETS WITH SLOVAK MINORITY LEADERS. At the start of his
Budapest visit, Meciar met with representatives of Hungary's
100,000-strong Slovak minority. He rejected the notion of "collective
minority rights," and said that emphasis should be placed on
the assertion of citizens' individual rights. The ethnic Slovaks
asked for Bratislava's support in printing publications in their
language and supported a "sister-city" program for Hungarian
and Slovak towns and villages. (Alfred Reisch, RFE/RL Inc.)

NEW DRAFT CONSTITUTION FOR LITHUANIA. On 9 September deputies
Aurimas Taurantas and Narcizas Rasimanicius held a news briefing
to report on efforts to prepare a unified draft constitution
to be voted on in a referendum on 25 October, at the same time
as elections to Parliament (the Seimas), BNS reports. Other draft
constitutions, differing greatly on the proposed powers of the
president, had been proposed by a parliament commission and the
Sajudis Coalition for a Democratic Lithuania. The coordinated
draft changes three much-criticized articles of the commission's
draft. Now all deputies would be elected for four years instead
of reelecting half every two years, the president would have
the power to dissolve the Seimas under certain circumstances,
and procedures for amending the constitution would be simplified.
(Saulius Girnius, RFE/RL Inc.)

LITHUANIAN SALARIES TOP 6,000 RUBLES. The Lithuanian Statistics
Department reports that the average salary before taxes in July
was 6,175 rubles, BNS reported on 7 September. Average salaries
range from 19,615 rubles for workers in the nuclear energy system
to 2,257 rubles for kitchen utensil producers. Industrial workers
earn 7,157 rubles, scientific workers--6,165, and employees of
budget organizations--4,536. (Saulius Girnius, RFE/RL Inc.)

SWEDISH ROYAL COUPLE IN LATVIA. On 9 September Sweden's King
Carl XVI Gustav and Queen Silvia started a three-day official
visit to Latvia, Radio Riga reported. Arriving in the frigate
Visborg, the traditional salute at the Riga passenger port was
executed with cannons borrowed from Sweden, since Latvia does
not own any (Estonia lent its cannons for the recent visit of
the Danish royal family). A busy day, involving meetings with
Parliament and government leaders and members of the diplomatic
corps and visits to historic and cultural sites in Riga, ended
with a dinner hosted by Latvia's Supreme Council Chairman Anatolijs
Gorbunovs at the Rundale Palace. (Dzintra Bungs, RFE/RL Inc.)


UNEMPLOYMENT UP IN LATVIA. BNS reported on 9 September that unemployment
continues to rise with about 30,000 persons seeking new jobs.
Over one half--approximately 16,500--have been classified as
unemployed and of these 14,726 are receiving unemployment compensation.
Already 181 persons are no longer getting unemployment benefits
since they have been on the dole for more than six months. Most
of the unemployed are laid-off factory workers whose former employers
have had to reduce their labor force on account declining output.
A large number of the unemployed are well-educated women. (Dzintra
Bungs, RFE/RL Inc.)

LATVIAN MP: RUSSIA DRIVING A WEDGE BETWEEN BALTS. Supreme Council
deputy Mihails Stepicevs told Diena on 8 September that Russia
is trying to drive a wedge between the three Baltic States by
holding separate talks with each and because President Yeltsin
is planning to meet separately with each country's leaders. Stepicevs,
a member of the Supreme Council's commission on defense, also
accused Moscow of delaying talks on troop withdrawal from Latvia.
(Dzintra Bungs, RFE/RL Inc.)

ESTONIA, RUSSIA RESUME TALKS. Estonian and Russian delegates
began the sixth round of general disengagement talks on 9 September
in Moscow, BNS reports. The agenda focused on economic issues,
including protection of mutual investments, the former USSR's
foreign debt and transportation questions. Meanwhile, Estonian
Foreign Minister Jaan Manitski met with Russian ambassador Aleksander
Trofimov in Tallinn to discuss troop withdrawals. (Riina Kionka,
RFE/RL Inc.)

BALTIC-NORDIC WOMEN'S CONFERENCE. A conference on women, politics,
and economics sponsored by the Nordic Council, was held in Riga
on 5-6 September. The conference, the first of its kind in the
Baltic States since they regained their independence, is intended
to provide a forum for exchanging information on women's status
in society and discussing requirements to achieve more equal
status for women in Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. Among the
participants (mostly women) were various ministers, parliament
members, economists, businesswomen and other professionals from
Scandinavia, Finland, and the Baltic States, Radio Riga reported
on 6 September. (Dzintra Bungs, RFE/RL Inc.)

[As of 1200 CET] Compiled by Hal Kosiba & Charles Trumbull