No. 180, 18 September 1992

SUCCESSOR STATES TO THE USSR

KULYAB APPEALS FOR CIS TROOPS. The authorities in Tajikistan's
Kulyab Oblast, a stronghold of support for deposed President
Rakhmon Nabiev, have appealed to the leaders of the Central Asian
states and Russia to send CIS troops to stop the fighting in
Tajikistan, ITAR-TASS reported on 17 September. Nabiev had asked
for a CIS peacekeeping force prior to his fall. The opposition
found the request provocative, but in recent days several government
and opposition figures have suggested that CIS military help
may be necessary to restore stability in the country. On 17 September,
the government asked a CIS division stationed in Tajikistan to
help local Internal Affairs forces guard important installations;
the same day, ITAR-TASS reported that Kulyab guards had taken
control of the Nurek dam. (Bess Brown, RFE/RL, Inc.)

SHEVARDNADZE CRITICIZES ABKHAZ MONITORING COMMISSION. Georgian
State Council Chairman Eduard Shevardnadze travelled to Sukhumi
on 17 September, where he criticized as "ineffective" the tripartite
commission set up to monitor the 3 September Abkhaz ceasefire
agreement, Interfax reported. Shevardnadze complained that fighters
subordinate to the Confederation of Mountain Peoples of the Caucasus
still remain in Abkhazia. Speaking on Georgian television, Georgian
Defense Minister Tengiz Kitovani stated that Georgia "will use
force" if the troops in question do not leave Georgia within
ten days, Radio Rossii reported. A Turkish foreign ministry spokesman
stated on 17 September that Turkey will send 15 tons of food
aid and medical equipment to Muslims in Abkhazia, Western agencies
reported. (Liz Fuller, RFE/RL, Inc.)

RUSSIAN DEFENSE MINISTRY WARNS GEORGIA. A statement issued by
the Russian Defense Ministry on 17 September charged that Russian
troops and civilians in Georgia were being repeatedly attacked
by Georgian units, and warned that Russian forces reserve the
right to fight back. In particular, the Defense Ministry has
blamed Georgia for a helicopter attack that occurred last month
on a hydrofoil carrying Russian refugees and vacationers. While
the Defense Ministry claims to have "irrefutable proof" that
Georgia was behind the attack, Georgia has denied involvement.
The exchange was reported by ITAR-TASS and Western agencies.
(Stephen Foye, RFE/RL, Inc.)

YELTSIN DECREE RAISES ENERGY PRICES. Russian President Boris
Yeltsin signed a much-anticipated decree raising basic energy
prices, various Russian and Western news agencies reported on
17 September. Prices on oil products will double from the current
price of 1,800-2,200 rubles. Coal prices will rise 30%. According
to ITAR-TASS, the decree also eliminates the ceiling on oil prices,
replacing it with a tax structure that discourages setting prices
in excess of 4000 rubles. The report was not clear on details
of the new price-setting rules. To soften the impact on consumers,
the decree calls on the government to raise price subsidies for
household energy consumption, transportation, and basic agricultural
goods. Commenting on the inflationary impact of the decree, government
economic advisor Aleksei Ulyukaev said that the government predicted
an economy-wide increase in prices of 20-25%. (Erik Whitlock,
RFE/RL, Inc.)

GERASHCHENKO WARNS OF DRASTIC BUDGET CUTS. Outspoken Russian
Central Bank Chairman Viktor Gerashchenko claims that the government
may be forced to make big cuts in spending in October, ITAR-TASS
reported on 17 September. He said that the government had as
yet only collected 40% of the revenue planned for the year. Therefore,
he asserted, "we may be forced to simply restrict the expenditure
side of the budget and keep it within the limits of collected
revenues." Gerashchenko suggested that the budget cuts would
be across-the-board and include social programs. The government
has recently predicted a 1992 year-end deficit of about 1 trillion
rubles, significantly higher than the one approved in its original
budget. (Erik Whitlock, RFE/RL, Inc.)

GOVERNMENT UNDER ATTACK. Acting Prime Minister Egor Gaidar was
quoted by the Russian TV program "Vesti" on 17 September as saying
that the government has lost its ability to maneuver. Gaidar's
first deputy, Vladimir Shumeiko, told journalists that some personal
changes will soon be conducted in the government, Ostankino TV
reported on 16 September. The right-wing parliamentary opposition
bloc "Russian Unity" demanded the convening of an extraordinary
congress which would replace the government, according to ITAR-TASS
on 17 September. The foreign edition of ITAR-TASS's newspaper
24 reported on 17 September that a decree for the appointment
of Vice President Aleksandr Rutskoi as prime minister has already
been prepared by President Yeltsin. (Alexander Rahr, RFE/RL,
Inc.)

STANKEVICH FOR COALITION GOVERNMENT. Presidential advisor Sergei
Stankevich told Rossiiskie vesti on 17 September that he favors
the establishment of a coalition government which would include
representatives of the Civic Union and the democrats, but he
did not rule out the possibility of forming a more right-wing
coalition without the democrats. He criticized Gaidar's government
for its adherence to macroeconomic theories, and said he supported
the more cautious reform approach of the Civic Union. He listed
his major political achievements as follows: successfully convincing
President Yeltsin to adopt policies that strengthen the Russian
state, solving the crisis in the Trans-Dniester region, and drawing
greater public attention to the problems which Russians are experiencing
in the non-Russian former Soviet republics. (Alexander Rahr,
RFE/RL, Inc.)

GAIDAR ON INCREASING ARMS EXPORTS. Prime Minister Egor Gaidar,
currently touring various cities in Russia, said in Tula that
the government would permit increased arms exports, according
to Russian news agencies on 16 and 17 September. Gaidar suggested
that weapons producers would be allowed to directly contract
with foreigners for the sale of output, as long as the deals
in question were not covered by state orders and were approved
by the government. He emphasized that increasing the opportunities
for sales abroad would not mean weakening government control
and supervision of weapons exports. (Erik Whitlock, RFE/RL, Inc.)


LAWYER DEFENDS COMMUNIST PARTY IN CONSTITUTIONAL COURT. Speaking
on 17 September at the Constitutional Court hearings on the Communist
Party, Defense Attorney Boris Lazarev said Yeltsin's decrees
first suspending and then banning the Communist Party of the
Soviet Union and Russian Communist Party were illegal, since
at the time of their adoption only the Soviet Supreme Court had
the right to make decisions on the status of political parties.
ITAR-TASS quoted Lazarev as calling Yeltsin's leadership "incompetent."
Lazarev also rejected the accusation that the CPSU was "unconstitutional."
The lawyer argued that there was no legislation in the country
defining the "constitutional responsibilities of parties" at
the time when Yeltsin's decrees were adopted. (Vera Tolz, RFE/RL,
Inc.)

CORRUPTION IN RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTRY? Vasilii Lipitsky, leader
of the People's Party of Free Russia, commonly known as "the
party of [Vice-President] Aleksandr Rutskoi," has appealed to
President Yeltsin and the Russian parliament, requesting that
they investigate corruption in the Russian Ministry of Foreign
Affairs. Writing in the 37th issue of Megapolis Express, Lipitsky
says that representatives of his party had been unable to attend
the current session of the Socialist International in Berlin,
to which they had been invited, because the Foreign Ministry
failed to provide them exit visas. Instead, they were advised
to seek visas in a private "co-operative" firm, run by foreign
ministry officials who sell exit visas for their private gain.
The party, Lipitsky writes, refused to be served by such a "co-operative"
out of principle. (Yeltsin's decree on the fight against corruption
forbids governmental officials from becoming involved in commercial
activities.) (Julia Wishnevsky, RFE/RL, Inc.)

KHASBULATOV FAVORS GENERAL CIS CITIZENSHIP. The Chairman of the
Interparliamentary Assembly, Ruslan Khasbulatov, favors the establishment
of a common citizenship on the territory of those CIS member
states who support the new Assembly, Nezavisimaya gazeta reported
on 17 September. He also suggested that the Russian Foreign Economic
Bank should take complete control of all CIS foreign currency
accounts. Meanwhile, the Russian first deputy parliamentary speaker,
Sergei Filatov, revealed in an interview with Moskovskie novosti
(no.38) details on his political battle against Khasbulatov at
the most recent Congress. Filatov attacked Khasbulatov for building
a personal dictatorship in the parliament, and hinted that the
speaker may soon be replaced. (Alexander Rahr, RFE/RL, Inc.)


LUKYANOV SAYS COUP LEADERS SHOULD HAVE BEEN MORE DECISIVE. Former
Soviet parliament chairman, Anatolii Lukyanov, who is now in
jail on charges of participating in the attempted coup last year,
gave an interview to Nezavisimaya gazeta on 17 September. Lukyanov
said that he would act more decisively if the August events were
repeated today. He said that the Committee for the State of Emergency,
which tried to seize power after putting Gorbachev under house
arrest in August 1991, was poorly conceived and organized. (Lukyanov
was not a member of the committee). Lukyanov said the committee's
actions were not a coup but rather an attempt to rescue the Soviet
socialist system. He said that he still supports "full-blown
Soviet power and a renovated Soviet federation." (Vera Tolz,
RFE/RL, Inc.)

NO RUSSIAN NAVAL BASE AT NOVOROSSIISK. Black Sea Fleet commander
Admiral Igor Kasatonov said on 16 September that Russia has no
plans to build a naval base in Novorossiisk because the port
there is inadequate for heavy naval traffic. His comments come
as Russian access to Ukrainian Black Sea ports is becoming increasingly
limited and follows the evacuation of Russian naval personnel
from the Georgian Black Sea port of Poti. (Stephen Foye, RFE/RL,
Inc.)

MOROZOV ON UKRAINIAN MILITARY REFORM. Ukrainian Defense Minister
Konstantin Morozov said in an interview in Krasnaya zvezda on
17 September that Kiev intends to build two operational commands
on the basis of the three existing military districts in Ukraine.
He also said that a new service -- the Air Defense Troops --
would be formed by combining two currently existing force branches
(presumably the Air Force and Air Defense Forces. See Krasnaya
zvezda, 5 September). The interview was summarized briefly by
"Novosti." This past summer the commander of the Ukrainian Air
Defense Forces, Lt. Gen. Mikhail Lopatin, had criticized proposals
to subordinate his forces to the Air Force (see Krasnaya zvezda,
1 August). (Stephen Foye, RFE/RL, Inc.)

UKRAINIAN PARLIAMENTARIANS WANT TO KEEP MISSILES. At a conference
in Washington on 16 September, members of the Ukrainian parliament
indicated that Ukraine might balk on its pledges to transfer
ex-Soviet long range ballistic missiles to Russia for destruction.
According to a UPI account of the meeting, parliamentarian Yurii
Kostenko said Ukraine must retain these weapons on its territory
for "national security reasons." The Ukrainian legislators told
the conference that the republic needed the considerable amount
of hard currency that the enriched uranium in the warheads would
bring on the open market. (The United States has recently agreed
to buy the enriched uranium from Russian nuclear weapons in a
deal that some experts estimate might ultimately be worth $5
billion.) Other CIS representatives at the conference cautioned
that the Ukrainian statements were not those of the government.
(Doug Clarke, RFE/RL, Inc.)

COMPETING DEMONSTRATIONS IN KIEV. On 16 September, the second
day of the new parliamentary session in Kiev, Ukrainian lawmakers
arriving for work were greeted by demonstrators and pickets defending
opposite points of view. DR-Press reports that in the morning
war and labor veterans with red flags and portraits of Lenin
were demanding an improvement of their overall situation. They
were joined by activists from the Socialist Party of Ukraine
and the "Toiling Ukraine" Association. Several hours later demonstrators
from "Rukh" arrived with the national blue and yellow flag and
stayed until the end of the day. In the meantime, the parliament
discussed a package of economic legislation. (Roman Solchanyk,
RFE/RL, Inc.)

UN OBSERVERS INVITED TO TAJIKISTAN. The UN delegation that arrived
in Tashkent earlier in the week in response to an urgent plea
from Uzbek President Islam Karimov has received an invitation
from the government of Tajikistan to visit that country as well,
Khovar-TASS reported on 17 September. Karimov had asked the UN
to send representatives to examine the destabilizing influence
in the Central Asian region of recent events in Tajikistan. The
invitation from the Tajik government promises that the visitors
will be given an opportunity to meet leaders of a variety of
political parties and movements. The Tajik authorities are presumably
eager to present their version of events to the outside world.
(Bess Brown, RFE/RL, Inc.)

NAZARBAEV MEETS WITH KAZAKHSTAN'S GERMANS. On 17 September, on
the eve of his official visit to Germany, Kazakhstan's President
Nursultan Nazarbaev met with representatives of the country's
German population and reiterated promises to do everything possible
to make continued residence in Kazakhstan a more attractive option
than emigration, KazTAG-TASS reported on 17 September. The German
representatives requested that Nazarbaev raise the issue of assistance
promised earlier by German government officials which has not
materialized; they would also like to be able to travel to Germany
without a visa. Nazarbaev earlier said that an autonomous German
region would not be set up in Kazakhstan. (Bess Brown, RFE/RL,
Inc.)

CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPE

IZETBEGOVIC PROTESTS SERB ATTACKS. The BBC on 17 September said
that the Bosnian president urged the UN to take action in the
wake of Serb air attacks on four Bosnian cities or towns. The
Security Council is expected to discuss soon proposals for setting
up a "no-fly zone" over the troubled republic, where only the
Serbs have aircraft. Meanwhile, the Serbian bombardment of the
Bosnian capital entered its fourth day, and Sarajevo Radio said
that it was the worst shelling since the Serbs began the war
in Bosnia in the spring. The 18 September Washington Post quotes
the UN commander in Sarajevo as saying that "this is not the
atmosphere to implement the UN mandate." Both sides seem to be
trying to consolidate their positions before winter sets in next
month. (Patrick Moore, RFE/RL, Inc.)

BOSNIAN PEACE TALKS TO OPEN IN GENEVA. International media report
that the latest round of UN- and EC-sponsored negotiations is
slated to start on 18 September, with mediators meeting separately
with each of the three warring sides. There has been much public
posturing in recent days, especially by Serbian and Muslim leaders.
The Muslims threatened at one point to boycott the gathering,
while the Serbs say they will press for a partition of the republic,
which is a nonstarter for the Muslims. Croatian President Franjo
Tudjman is known to be mistrustful of the Muslims and supportive
of partition, but most Croatian politicians argue that no lasting
peace is possible without the Muslims, and that Croatia's own
state interests require Zagreb to insist on the sanctity of existing
frontiers. (Patrick Moore, RFE/RL, Inc.)

IS "ETHNIC CLEANSING" SPREADING TO THE SANDZAK AND VOJVODINA?
The 9 September Split independent weekly Nedjeljna Dalmacija
reported at length on moves by Serbian irregulars in Montenegro
to intimidate local Muslims with the at least tacit cooperation
of Montenegrin authorities. Most of the action has taken place
in the ethnically mixed Sandzak area, but Muslims and Albanians
have also been forced to flee Podgorica, the capital, for safer
havens. Serbs blame the tension on "Islamic fundamentalists,"
but the paper said that the pressures seem to be coming almost
exclusively from the irregulars, many of whom are outsiders who
drift in and out from the front in Bosnia. Elsewhere, on 17 September
Western news agencies carried related stories, with one account
saying that 69,000 out of 400,000 Muslims had fled the Sandzak
in the face of "provocations." Other accounts told of similar
moves directed at the ethnic Hungarians in Vojvodina. (Patrick
Moore, RFE/RL, Inc.)

ATTEMPT TO EXPORT ARMS TO FORMER YUGOSLAVIA STOPPED. Czechoslovak
TV reported on 17 September that a private Czechoslovak firm,
Ikona Frydlant, attempted to export five Soviet-made MI-8 attack
helicopters to former Yugoslavia, most likely to Croatia. At
least one of the helicopters was obtained in Poland. The shipment
was stopped by Czechoslovak authorities. An official at the Ministry
of Foreign Trade said that under Czechoslovak law the company's
officials cannot be punished but the helicopters can be confiscated.
(Jiri Pehe, RFE/RL, Inc.)

BULGARIAN, MACEDONIAN OFFICIALS MEET. Bulgarian Prime Minister
Filip Dimitrov met with a delegation of officials from the Republic
of Macedonia led by Vice President Jovan Andonov on 17 September,
an RFE/RL correspondent reports. Present for the discussions,
which focused on trade and other economic issues, were Rumen
Bikov and Aleksandar Pramatarski, Bulgarian ministers of trade
and industry, respectively, and Petrush Stefanov, minister of
economics of the Macedonian republic. (Duncan Perry, RFE/RL,
Inc.)

SLOVAK FOREIGN MINISTER TO BUCHAREST. On 16 and 17 September
Milan Knazko, minister of international relations and vice-president
of the Slovak government, paid an official visit to Romania.
Knazko held talks with Foreign Minister Adrian Nastase, Trade
and Tourism Minister Constantin Fota, and other Romanian officials.
He was also received by Prime Minister Theodor Stolojan. The
talks focused on political, economic and cultural cooperation.
(Dan Ionescu, RFE/RL, Inc.)

GERMANY TO SEND BACK ROMANIAN ASYLUM-SEEKERS. The German Interior
Ministry announced on 17 September that Bucharest agreed to take
back thousands of Romanian citizens who failed to obtain political
asylum in Germany. Western agencies said that German Interior
Minister Rudolf Seiters will sign an agreement on the deportation
next week in Bucharest. Deportations will begin on 1 November.
So far this year, more than 43,000 Romanian citizens--of whom
about 60% are Gypsies--have applied for asylum in Germany. Romania
declared itself ready to accept even those refugees who had destroyed
their identity papers in order to prevent repatriation. (Dan
Ionescu, RFE/RL, Inc.)

HUNGARIANS PROTEST SOCCER INCIDENT IN BRATISLAVA. According to
CSTK, 16 people were injured on 16 September in Bratislava during
a European Championship Cup match between Slovan Bratislava and
Ferencvaros Budapest. It was not clear how many injuries were
caused by police called in to suppress fights between Slovak
and Hungarian fans, but CSTK described the police action as "brutal."
250 policemen took part in the action. The Hungarian Foreign
Ministry made an official protest to Czechoslovakia. Hungarian
Foreign Ministry spokesman Janos Herman told MTI that video films
and eyewitness accounts indicate that the Slovak police indiscriminately
beat up and seriously injured many of the estimated 7000 defenseless
Hungarian fans. Some Hungarian police officials who witnessed
the incident, however, defended their Slovak colleagues saying
that Hungarian fans provoked the police action. (Jiri Pehe &
Edith Oltay, RFE/RL, Inc.)

LEWANDOWSKI SURVIVES DISMISSAL VOTE. Voting on 18 September,
the Sejm narrowly rejected a motion to dismiss Polish Privatization
Minister Janusz Lewandowski. The vote was 189 to 174 with 36
abstentions; the abstentions counted as "no" votes. The postcommunist
and patriotic-fundamentalist opposition parties banded together
in the attack on Lewandowski. The KPN, which sponsored the motion,
had based its charges on a state audit for 1991 that criticized
the privatization ministry for undervaluing state assets and
overspending on foreign consultants. The KPN did not conceal,
however, that its larger aim was to bring privatization to a
halt. The close vote reveals the fragility of the government's
parliamentary base and suggests that new challenges from supporters
of state socialism are likely. (Louisa Vinton, RFE/RL, Inc.)


POLISH GOVERNMENT COUNTERS COALITION SPECULATION. Although cabinet
members admit that the government needs 30 more votes in the
Sejm to secure a stable majority for its programs, the prime
minister's press secretary told Polish TV on 17 September that
"the government is not considering expanding the coalition."
Jan Maria Rokita, minister for public administration, said the
same day that "we aren't going to beg anyone for help." The government
has nothing against expanding the coalition to include the Center
Alliance or the Peasant Party, he said, but the initiative would
have to come from the parties themselves. The Center Alliance,
which had walked out on the original coalition at the last minute
in July, met outside Warsaw earlier in the week to debate--apparently
inconclusively--whether to join the hard-line opposition or parley
for a place in the government. (Louisa Vinton, RFE/RL, Inc.)


SAVOV UNDER ATTACK IN NATIONAL ASSEMBLY. Stefan Savov, president
of the Bulgarian National Assembly, is under fire from opponents
in the Bulgarian Socialist Party and the predominantly Turkish
Movement for Rights and Freedoms, an RFE/RL corespondent reports.
Savov, who has been accused by his detractors of bias and intolerance
regarding those who do not share his views, is currently the
head of the Democratic Party, an organization which is part of
the ruling Union of Democratic Forces coalition. The proceedings
could begin against him as early as 18 September and will likely
generate bitter debate. (Duncan Perry, RFE/RL, Inc.)

LITHUANIAN-RUSSIAN TALKS ON RETURN OF KGB FILES. On 16 September
the two delegations discussed the return of KGB files, the RFE/RL
Lithuanian Service reports. The deputy chairman of the commission
to return KGB archives, Sajudis chairman Juozas Tumelis, noted
that although the talks were long and boring, they were positive
since Russia no longer disputes Lithuania's right to have them.
Expressing concern that the files on the so-called "national
defenders" might be used to prosecute these agents for genocide,
Russia said that they should remain in Russia under joint control.
Lithuania, however, would only agree to this if they were kept
in a third country. Groups of experts are to prepare a protocol
on limiting access to the files, especially for journalists,
for the next meeting, scheduled for 2 October. (Saulius Girnius,
RFE/RL, Inc.)

WITHDRAWAL OF RUSSIAN TROOPS FROM LITHUANIA. The Lithuanian government
commissioner for army withdrawal problems, Stasys Knezys, noted
that Russia has started serious preparations for its troops to
leave Lithuania by asking permission to take out equipment and
other property, BNS reported on 17 September. Household goods
are removed first, followed by military cargoes and fighting
equipment. Battle equipment has been taken apart and removed
only from missile complexes such as those near Klaipeda and Vilnius.
Knezys noted that the number of Russian troops has decreased
by 12,000 since the beginning of the year due to Lithuania's
efforts not to allow new recruits. (Saulius Girnius, RFE/RL,
Inc.)

ELECTION CONTROVERSY HEATS UP. A three-member team of investigators
appointed by rival election coalitions in Estonia has found no
evidence of KGB collaboration among the four candidates standing
for president in the 20 September elections, BNS reports. The
investigative commission, however, confirmed the authenticity
of documents suggesting that the father of presidential candidate
Lennart Meri was a high-level KGB agent. Meri denies charges
that his father, interwar diplomat Georg Meri, was a collaborator,
but the commission's findings have rocked the Lennart Meri campaign
just three days before elections. (Riina Kionka, RFE/RL, Inc.)


BALTIC ADMISSION TO CE EXPECTED AFTER ELECTIONS. The Baltic States
are expected to be admitted as full members of the Council of
Europe after they hold new parliamentary elections. Currently
they have a guest status. The decision to admit each country
separately came at the request of the EC Executive Commission
after it had considered a report critical of Estonia's treatment
of its Russian minority, according to RFE/RL correspondent's
report of 15 September. Latvian Supreme Council deputy Andrejs
Pantelejevs told the press on 16 September that the Baltic States
can hope to become EC members sometime in 1993, but not simultaneously,
since the pace of political development in each country is different.
He also noted EC objections to capital punishment, which is still
allowed in the Baltics, BNS reports. (Dzintra Bungs, RFE/RL,
Inc.)

NATO TO TRAIN BALTIC OFFICERS? An Estonian defense official says
that NATO is willing to help train Baltic officers. According
to BNS of 17 September, Deputy Chief of the General Staff Col.
Raul Luks said NATO officials had issued Estonia invitations
for five officers to study at the organization's schools in Rome
and Stuttgart. Luks was given the invitations at a NATO seminar
held this week in Brussels. (Riina Kionka, RFE/RL, Inc.)

LATVIA RATIFIES ACCORD WITH CE. On 16 September the Latvian Supreme
Council ratified an accord with the European Community on commercial
and economic cooperation. The ten-year agreement signed on 11
May, grants Latvia most-favored-nation status in trade with EC
member states and can be renewed every year automatically if
neither side objects. On 16 September the Latvian Supreme Council
also ratified the 1 March 1954 Hague Convention which, among
other things, restricts the use of weapons, BNS reports. (Dzintra
Bungs, RFE/RL, Inc.)

SKODA PLZEN TO STOP PRODUCTION. CSTK reported on 17 September
that Skoda Plzen, the largest heavy-engineering plant in the
Czech Republic, will cease production on 1 October because of
lack of cash. According to plant officials, the shortage is caused
partly by the fact that Czechoslovak State Railways owes the
company 1.3 billion koruny that cannot be collected. The company
itself owes 4.4 billion koruny and creditor banks have refused
to postpone the payment. Earlier this year, Skoda Plzen successfully
concluded several joint venture deals with Western companies,
including the German firm Siemens. (Jiri Pehe, RFE/RL, Inc.)


POLAND'S STRIKE BALANCE. With the resumption of production at
the FSM auto plant in Tychy on 17 September, relative labor peace
returns to Poland. FSM's management rehired all those fired for
organizing the 55-day strike there. Poland's statistical office
reports that the August strike wave did not affect the overall
level of industrial production, which in August exceeded 1991
levels for the fifth month running. Thirty strikes ended in August,
including twelve in the copper mining and smelting industry.
Some 30,000 workers took part. Prime Minister Hanna Suchocka
met with Solidarity leader Marian Krzaklewski on 17 September
to open talks on the "pact on state firms." Krzaklewski said
that Solidarity would not negotiate jointly with the former official
OPZZ federation, a measure the government hoped would save time.
(Louisa Vinton, RFE/RL, Inc.)