No. 188, 30 September 1992

SUCCESSOR STATES TO THE USSR

TENSE SITUATION IN TAJIKISTAN. Tajikistan's deposed President
Rakhmon Nabiev told an RFE/RL correspondent on 29 September that
he had not been beaten up and hospitalized, as had been reported
by the Nega news agency the previous day. The same day, Moscow
and Dushanbe news agencies reported that pro-Nabiev forces from
Kulyab Oblast were still in control of the town of Kurgan-Tyube,
an opposition stronghold, and that the town had sustained major
damage in the fighting. The government in Dushanbe has devised
a plan to disarm the population by buying their illegal weapons,
but local authorities will have to put up the money. An article
in the 30 September issue of Nezavisimaya gazeta draws attention
to the rising crime rate in Tajikistan and reports that leaders
of the opposing sides in the civil war say they have no control
over some 20% of their forces. The same source says that anti-Nabiev
forces in Kurgan-Tyube are being led by radical members of the
Islamic Renaissance Party. (Bess Brown, RFE/RL, Inc.)

STATUS OF BESIEGED RUSSIAN TROOPS IN TAJIKISTAN UNCLEAR. Russian
news agencies reported on 29 September that the Russian military
unit that was besieged near Kurgan-Tyube by fighters from Kulyab
has still not been able to drive off the Tajik fighters trying
to capture Russian arms and equipment. Meanwhile, Western news
agencies reported on 29 September a statement by the Russian
Defense Ministry that a "limited military contingent" of Russian
reinforcements had arrived in Tajikistan to protect Russian troops
already deployed there, their families, and military facilities.
(Bess Brown, RFE/RL, Inc.)

FOREIGN HELP FOR TAJIKISTAN? In a speech to the UN General Assembly
on 29 September, Tajik Foreign Minister Khudoberdi Kholiknazarov
played down the scope of the fighting in his country, saying
that it is presently limited to the center of Kurgan-Tyube Oblast,
an RFE/RL correspondent reported. He appealed for international
help in ensuring that democracy prevails. The same day Iranian
Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Velayati told Tajik Minister of Culture
Zakirdzhan Vazirov, on a visit to Tehran, that Iran is ready
to help in working out a peaceful settlement of the civil war
in Tajikistan, Western news agencies reported, quoting the official
IRNA news agency. (Bess Brown, RFE/RL, Inc.)

SHANIBOV'S ESCAPE AND SITUATION IN KABARDINO-BALKARIA. Musa Shanibov,
president of the Confederation of the Mountain Peoples of the
Caucasus, was not released from custody, as earlier reported,
but escaped, Nezavisimaya gazeta reported on 30 September. Shanibov,
who had been detained for his part in the confederation's despatch
of volunteers to Abkhazia, returned in triumph to Nalchik, where
he told a meeting of 30,000, reinforced by delegations from North
Ossetia, Checheno-Ingushetia, and Karachaevo-Cherkesia, that
he would continue the struggle for the independence of the North
Caucasus. The meeting called for the removal of Russian troops
from Kabardino-Balkaria and the punishment of local officials.
The article in Nezavisimaya gazeta gives the impression that
the Kabardino-Balkarian authorities are no longer in charge of
the situation. (Ann Sheehy, RFE/RL, Inc.)

UKRAINE REQUESTS SECURITY GUARANTEES, FOREIGN AID. Speaking at
the United Nations on 29 September, Ukrainian Foreign Minister
Anatoly Zlenko said that his country expected "strict international
guarantees" of its national security against any threat or use
of force from nuclear-armed states. In reports of his remarks
carried by Western agencies, Zlenko also urged a complete ban
on nuclear weapons testing. He said that Ukraine intended to
accede to the Treaty on Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons
"in the nearest future," but at a subsequent press conference
he claimed Ukraine needed hundreds of millions of dollars in
foreign aid to dismantle its missiles. (Doug Clarke/John Lepingwell,
RFE/RL, Inc.)

SHAPOSHNIKOV WARNS WEST AGAINST INTERFERENCE IN CIS TALKS. At
a conference in Paris on 29 September, CIS Commander in Chief
Evgenii Shaposhnikov warned European countries against interfering
in talks between CIS states over nuclear weapons control. According
to Reuters, Shaposhnikov stated that "when parents have to make
delicate decisions, the advice of third parties . . . can cause
harm." Shaposhnikov argued that Russia should control all former
Soviet nuclear weapons immediately, regardless of their location.
Belarus and Kazakhstan have reportedly partly agreed to Russian
control, while Ukraine wants to exercise administrative control
over nuclear weapons on its territory. (John Lepingwell, RFE/RL,
Inc.)

BRITAIN OFFERS CREDITS TO RUSSIA. UK State Secretary Michael
Heseltine and Russian Deputy Prime Minister Aleksandr Shokhin
have signed an agreement to provide $480 million worth of British
credits for modernizing Russian industrial and transport facilities,
Western news agencies reported on 29 September. The agreement
follows last week's reports of British reluctance to extend more
loans to Russia before coming to an arrangement on existing overdue
payments to British creditors. In a related story, an IMF official,
Ernesto Cata, suggested in Moscow that current lax fiscal and
monetary policies in Russia may endanger the approval of a $3
billion IMF credit hoped for by the end of this year. (Erik Whitlock,
RFE/RL, Inc.)

RUSSIA SETTING UP MORE CUSTOMS POSTS. Russia will soon increase
the number of customs points on its borders, Interfax reported
on 29 September. The sixty-four such posts, up from twenty-four
in mid-June, will be functioning by 1 October along Russia's
borders with the Baltic states, Ukraine, Azerbaijan and Georgia.
Interfax cites "experts" claiming that these posts will be "enough
to halt" the illegal export of oil and raw materials. Some Russian
officials have reckoned the value of illegal export of oil and
oil products at over $100 million in the first half of this year
alone. (Erik Whitlock, RFE/RL, Inc.)

GORBACHEV TO FACE TRIAL FOR FAILURE TO TESTIFY? On 29 September,
the Russian Constitutional Court devoted its entire afternoon
session to a discussion of former Soviet General Secretary Mikhail
Gorbachev's refusal to testify at the CPSU hearing (see RFE/RL
Daily Report, 29 September). According to Russian TV, Chairman
Valerii Zorkin viewed the publication of Gorbachev's letter as
an "insult." The judges voted in favor of sending yet another
summons to Gorbachev with a warning of possible "legal consequences"
if he failed to appear. If necessary, the justices would then
request that the Russian General Prosecutor bring criminal charges
against Gorbachev. (Julia Wishnevsky, RFE/RL, Inc.)

GORBACHEV HOLDS A NEWS CONFERENCE. At a press conference held
at the Gorbachev Foundation on 29 September, Mikhail Gorbachev
reaffirmed his earlier decision to ignore the summons to testify
at the CPSU hearing, Russian TV reported. Gorbachev termed the
hearing "a political trial" of seventy-five years of the Soviet
history. He quoted rumors to the effect that the decision to
summon him and his Politburo colleagues to testify at court had
been motivated by a desire to sensationalize a trial that otherwise
would continue to draw little public interest. While addressing
other issues, Gorbachev criticized the government's privatization
program. He also said that if the right moment comes along, he
might form a new political party and become its leader. (Julia
Wishnevsky, RFE/RL, Inc.)

RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTRY DEFENDS SUBMARINE SALE. On 29 September
the Russian Foreign Ministry defended its sale of submarines
to Iran as a "purely bilateral matter," according to Western
news agencies. Despite the Russian government's apparent cancellation
of the sale on 25 September, one submarine is reportedly still
en route to Iran. (John Lepingwell, RFE/RL, Inc.)

SWEDEN'S "PERISCOPE SYNDROME" CRITICIZED. The Russian Foreign
Ministry on 29 September criticized Swedish allegations that
a Russian submarine had intruded into Swedish territorial waters.
Interfax and Reuters reported that the statement called Swedish
Prime Minister Bildt's comments "openly unfriendly towards Russia"
and dismissed Sweden's "periscope syndrome," claiming that Sweden
had no firm evidence that the submarine was Russian. (John Lepingwell,
RFE/RL, Inc.)

RUSSIANS AND AMERICANS COOPERATE ON SPACE PROJECTS. The American
firm McDonnell Douglas and the Russian Academy of Science's Mechanical
Engineering Research Institute announced on 28 September that
they would cooperate on a series of space technology research
projects. According to a McDonnell Douglas press release, the
agreement was part of a company initiative to examine and perhaps
utilize Russian expertise in materials, advanced mathematics,
space systems, and extended manned space flight. (Doug Clarke,
RFE/RL, Inc.)

MISSILE DEFENSE TALKS TO RESUME IN OCTOBER. According to Western
agencies on 29 September, US and Russian negotiators will meet
again in Washington in October to continue negotiations over
cooperation in the field of joint early warning and ballistic
missile defense. (John Lepingwell, RFE/RL, Inc.)

HALF OF FORMER SOVIET TROOPS OUT OF GERMANY. Half of the former
Soviet armed forces that were in Germany have left and the withdrawal
remains on schedule for their complete departure by the end of
1994, the DPA news agency reported on 29 September. Two hundred
and fifty soldiers and civilians have applied for political asylum
in Germany. (John Lepingwell, RFE/RL, Inc.)

DROP IN RUSSIAN ARMS SALES. The daily Nezavisimaya gazeta on
29 September reported that Russia exported $1.55 billion worth
of arms in 1991, resulting in what the paper described as a thirteen-fold
drop in profits when compared with the average level of Soviet
arms exports in the 1980s. The report said that 69% of the arms
sold in 1991 went to the Near and Middle East. The paper quoted
officials as saying that this sharp drop in profits from arms
sales "was an extremely heavy blow" which, when coupled with
shrinking oil exports, led to the bankruptcy of the Bank for
Foreign Economic Relations. (Doug Clarke, RFE/RL, Inc.)

UKRAINIAN PARLIAMENT TO DEBATE ECONOMY. The Ukrainian parliament,
which postponed its debate of the economy because of the visit
of Canada's governor-general to Kiev, will discuss economic reforms
on 30 September, Western news agencies reported. President Leonid
Kravchuk will address the lawmakers, and it is expected that
the embattled prime minister, Vitold Fokin, will also make a
presentation. The opposition is determined to force the resignation
of the present government headed by Fokin. Izvestiya reported
on 29 September that parliamentary speaker Ivan Plyushch conceded
that the government must go. (Roman Solchanyk, RFE/RL, Inc.)


CIS DEFENSE MINISTERS TO MEET BEFORE BISHKEK SUMMIT. Lieutenant
General Leonid Ivashov stated on 28 September that at a meeting
of Defense Ministers in Bishkek on 7 October, the question of
forming a joint concept of military security will be discussed.
ITAR-TASS reported that the ministers will also reexamine the
functioning of the CIS joint command in light of recent developments,
possibly turning it into a multinational command structure. Ivashov
acknowledged that there remained differences between Ukraine
and the CIS joint command, but noted that there was "positive
movement" in their relations. (John Lepingwell, RFE/RL, Inc.)


STALEMATE IN RUSSIA'S TALKS WITH TATARSTAN. A session of the
collegium of the Russian government on 29 September noted that
Russia's talks with Tatarstan have not been crowned with success,
ITAR-TASS reported. The head of the Russian government's press
center, Gennadii Shipitko, said that Russia was insisting that
Tatarstan was part of Russia, while Tatarstan wanted to be considered
completely independent in the legal sense and to be treated by
Russia according to the norms of international law. Tatarstan
also wanted to decide its own military policy, Shipitko added,
and was opposed to its citizens having Russian as well as Tatarstan
citizenship. (Ann Sheehy, RFE/RL, Inc.)

RUSSIAN REPUBLICS SUPPORT KHASBULATOV. On 28 September a statement
signed by the leaders of most of the republics of the Russian
Federation, in which they expressed their support for the Russian
parliament and its chairman Ruslan Khasbulatov, was made public,
Nezavisimaya gazeta reported on 29 September. The newspaper's
correspondent suggests that the republics have an interest in
preserving an equal balance of power between the Russian president,
parliament, and government, but it also sees the republics emerging
more and more as a fourth force, which could upset the other
three if it is not taken into account. (Ann Sheehy, RFE/RL, Inc.)


MOLDOVAN PRIME MINISTER ON HIS WESTERN VISITS. Back in Chisinau
from visits to Bonn and Washington, D.C. Moldovan Prime Minister
Andrei Sangheli told the Moldovan media on 27 September that
Germany and Moldova have agreed to open embassies in each other's
capitals and that a German delegation is due in Moldova shortly
to negotiate an intergovernmental political and economic agreement.
In Washington, Sangheli obtained the consent of the International
Monetary Fund for a stand-by agreement with Moldova effective
1 January and for a credit to enable Moldova to purchase feed
grain to offset crop losses caused by drought. (Vladimir Socor,
RFE/RL, Inc.)

MOLDOVAN SOCIAL-DEMOCRATS ON NEED TO BUTTRESS INDEPENDENT STATEHOOD.
At a consultative meeting with President Mircea Snegur on 29
September, the leaders of Moldova's Social-Democrat Party said
that the opposition Popular Front's campaign for unification
with Romania risks causing a civil war in Moldova, Moldovapres
and ITAR-TASS reported. The Social-Democrats agreed with Snegur
on the need to "buttress Moldovan independence" and develop Moldova
as "a state with the full attributes of sovereignty now and in
the future." The Social-Democrats also reserved the right to
criticize the Snegur administration for any policy errors. (Vladimir
Socor, RFE/RL, Inc.)

CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPE

EXPERTS PREDICT MASSIVE DEATHS IN BOSNIA THIS WINTER. The New
York Times on 30 September says that American analysts foresee
at least 150,000 deaths from hunger and exposure in the embattled
republic unless massive relief operations come into effect, while
UN sources predict up to 400,000 deaths in a worst-case scenario.
Winter usually arrives in October and is harsh in what even in
peacetime was one of the former Yugoslavia's poorer regions.
The BBC's "Europe Today" program said that relief flights to
Sarajevo are likely to resume this week as a result of special
envoys Cyrus Vance and Lord Owen having "moved heaven and earth"
to persuade Washington in particular of the urgent necessity
to do so. Finally, it appears that UN representatives have convinced
Croatian officials to work to prevent a planned march by Croatian
refugees to return to their homes in Serb-controlled areas near
the Hungarian border. (Patrick Moore, RFE/RL, Inc.)

BOSNIAN SERBS REJECT MASSACRE ALLEGATIONS. Radio Serbia reports
on 29 September that Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic has
rejected US State Department allegations that Serb forces massacred
3,000 Bosnian Muslims in a detention camp near the town of Brcko.
Karadzic said the US had been "duped by unsubstantiated Muslim
propaganda" and challenged US President George Bush to produce
the evidence. Karadzic added that if Bush can prove the massacre
took place, he will help arrest the perpetrators and hand them
over for trial. Serb officials in Brcko also denied the US claims
and invited representatives of any international commission to
visit the town as soon as possible. Serb officials added that
in the Brcko area some 1,500 Serbs are being held captive by
Muslims. France has officially requested the UN and EC immediately
to open an investigation. (Milan Andrejevich, RFE/RL, Inc.)

ALBANIA BLAMES SERBS FOR YUGOSLAV CONFLICT. Addressing the UN
General Assembly in New York, Albanian Prime Minister Alexander
Meksi singled out "malicious Serbian nationalism" as responsible
for the failure to resolve the conflict in the former Yugoslavia,
RTR and Western agencies report. Albania is particularly concerned
that the fighting could spill over into the Serbian province
of Kosovo, which is 90% ethnic Albanian, and is similarly concerned
about the fate of the large number of ethnic Albanians in the
now independent ex-Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. (Charles Trumbull,
RFE/RL, Inc.)

CZECHOSLOVAK PARLIAMENT DEBATES SPLIT. On 29 September 1992,
the Federal Assembly began debating a draft law on possible modes
of division of the Czechoslovak federation. The law, based on
political agreements between Czech Prime Minister Vaclav Klaus
and Slovak Prime Minister Vladimir Meciar, provides for four
different ways of dissolving the federation: a referendum, a
Federal Assembly declaration, an agreement of republican parliaments,
and a secession by one republic. CSTK reports that virtually
all opposition deputies speaking on 29 September criticized the
law and called for a referendum on the split. The debate was
adjourned and will continue on the 30th. (Jiri Pehe, RFE/RL,
Inc.)

HUNGARIAN PARLIAMENT DEBATES MINORITIES LAW. According to MTI,
Parliament began discussion of the long awaited law on minorities
on 29 September. The text was prepared in close cooperation with
minority leaders, and its codification took much longer than
expected. The intention of the law is to stop assimilation of
minorities by assuring them collective minority rights and parliamentary
representation. In the draft law under debate in Budapest, members
of minority groups would also retain a number of individual rights.
Collective rights did not figure in the post-World War II treaties,
but Hungary has brought the idea up on a number of occasions
since. Under this concept, an official representative body would
be given legal status to pursue the interests of an ethic or
national group. (Judith Pataki, RFE/RL, Inc.)

HUNGARIAN-SLOVAK CONTACTS. Hungarian Prime Minister Jozsef Antall
received a delegation of the ethnic Hungarian parties represented
in the Slovak parliament, led by Coexistence Chairman Miklos
Duray, MTI reported on 29 September. The two sides agreed on
the need for good relations between Hungary and an independent
Slovakia and for a mutually acceptable solution to the disagreements
over the Gabcikovo-Nagymaros hydroelectric project and the sections
of the Slovak constitution concerning national minorities. The
same day a delegation of the opposition Alliance of Young Democrats
(FIDESZ) left Budapest for Bratislava for talks with Slovak Foreign
Minister Milan Knazko and other officials and with representatives
of Slovakia's Hungarian minority. The FIDESZ delegation continues
on to Prague for talks with Czech officials. (Alfred Reisch,
RFE/RL, Inc.)

TURKEY RESTRICTS VISITORS FROM BULGARIA. Bulgarian-Turkish relations
received a potential setback on 29 September when Turkey unilaterally
imposed restrictions on Bulgarian citizens seeking to enter Turkey.
The move is intended to reduce the number of Bulgarian Turks
leaving Bulgaria in search of better job prospects. The Bulgarian
Foreign Ministry indicated that no advanced warning was given
and is seeking clarification. Effective immediately, Bulgarian
citizens wishing to enter Turkey must demonstrate that they have
at least $70 for each day of their stay, or $30 if they are part
of an organized tourist group. Those visiting relatives must
pledge to return to Bulgaria. Some 300-350,000 Bulgarian Turks
fled to Turkey in 1989 as a result of a Bulgarian assimilation
policy. While perhaps as many as half later returned, those remaining
in Turkey burdening an economy beset by inflation and high unemployment.
In a new wave an estimated 40,000 have entered Turkey using tourist
visas and have failed to return to Bulgaria. (Duncan Perry, RFE/RL,
Inc.)

CONSTANTINESCU TO FIGHT ON. Emil Constantinescu, the presidential
candidate of the centrist Democratic Convention, vowed to continue
his fight for the Romanian presidency despite his clear second-place
position. Constantinescu urged all democratic forces to block
Ion Iliescu's reelection in the 11 October runoff. He also warned
that the parties supporting Iliescu might join into a dominant
political force powerful enough to block moves toward free market
reforms. Meanwhile, the vote counting is moving forward quickly,
and final results are expected much earlier than originally planned.
The latest partial results from 29 September (9:00 p.m.) are
based on complete counts from 92% of all stations. They show
Iliescu leading with 47.6%, followed by Constantinescu with 30.6%
of the votes. (Dan Ionescu, RFE/RL, Inc.)

ILIESCU AIDE CALLS FOR GRAND COALITION. On 29 September Adrian
Nastase, Romanian foreign minister and top Iliescu aide, called
for a broad-based government coalition to include reformists
from the rival National Salvation Front and the Democratic Convention.
Nastase, who is widely tipped as Iliescu's choice to lead the
future cabinet, told journalists that the Democratic National
Salvation Front (DNSF) wants "national reconciliation." Latest
figures released by Romania's National Statistics Board show
the DNSF leading in the legislative elections with 28.6% for
the Senate and 27.7% for the Chamber of Deputies. Nastase was
quoted as saying that "we shall be looking for a government formula
that will not handicap Romania." He was reacting to opposition
fears that a possible coalition of the DNSF, the revived communists,
and the nationalists would polarize the country and harm Romania's
image in the West. (Dan Ionescu, RFE/RL, Inc.)

HOUSE VOTES ON ROMANIA'S MFN STATUS. The US House of Representatives
is expected to vote on 30 September on whether to restore Romania's
most-favored nation trade status, an RFE/RL correspondent in
Washington says. Restoration had been postponed because members
of the Congress wanted to see the results of the Romanian elections.
On 29 September Assistant Secretary of State Thomas Niles said
that the elections appeared to have been conducted freely and
fairly. Romania's opposition fears that restoration of MFN status
now might send the wrong signal, and influence both the presidential
runoff and the building of a coalition government. (Dan Ionescu,
RFE/RL, Inc.)

POLISH ECONOMIC PLANS. The government met a legal deadline by
submitting its draft economic program for 1993 to the parliament
on 30 September. The program's central aim is to open a period
of sustained economic growth. Priorities are promoting the private
sector, defending fiscal stability, and reducing interest rates.
Half of any increase in GDP is earmarked for investment spending.
According to Polish TV, the final draft of the economic program
rejected earlier proposals to tax interest income and accelerate
the zloty's devaluation. Meeting in closed session, the cabinet
also agreed to ask the parliament to increase the 1992 budget
deficit ceiling from just over 65 to 80-82 trillion zloty. Deputy
Prime Minister Henryk Goryszewski said that across-the-board
spending cuts are necessary, but none of them will be drastic.
(Louisa Vinton, RFE/RL, Inc.)

POLAND'S COALITION PARTNERS BICKER. Any final decision on the
shape of the revised 1992 budget was put off pending a "political
meeting" of the government coalition parties on 30 September.
The coalition partners failed on 29 September to agree on a common
assessment of Jan Krzysztof Bielecki's 1991 government, the subject
of an upcoming Sejm vote. This is a sensitive topic, as Bielecki
and some of his ministers serve in the current cabinet. Rivalry
over ministerial posts is also fraying tempers, as ideological
conflicts emerge between the two main coalition partners, the
liberal UD and the conservative ZChN. Deputy Prime Minister Henryk
Goryszewski (ZChN) recently demanded the removal of a "proabortion"
deputy health minister (UD), while several ZChN deputies called
for the ouster of the Civil Rights Spokesman (UD) because of
his legal challenges to religious education in schools. Prime
Minister Hanna Suchocka admitted to Radio Z on 29 September that
she had also faced pressure over appointments from her own party,
the UD, but that the coalition was functioning adequately. (Louisa
Vinton, RFE/RL, Inc.)

DUTCH PRIME MINISTER LAUDS POLISH REFORMS. Dutch Prime Minister
Ruud Lubbers praised the Polish government's commitment to economic
reform at the start of a two-day visit to Poland. Lubbers held
talks with Prime Minister Hanna Suchocka on 29 September and
is to meet with President Lech Walesa on 30 September. Lubbers
pledged to encourage increased Dutch investment in Poland. According
to PAP, he added that "it is better to export Dutch capital to
Poland than to import Polish labor to Holland." He predicted
that the Dutch parliament will ratify Poland's association agreement
with the EC by year's end. The EC's internal problems will not
mean "closing the community" to new members, he said, but full
integration will have to wait until EC members settle differences
over the pace of unification. (Louisa Vinton, RFE/RL, Inc.)

RUSSIA WARNS BALTS AGAINST "ETHNIC CLEANSING." Russia's delegation
to the UN General Assembly on 29 September warned Estonia and
Latvia against pursuing a policy of "ethnic cleansing," BNS reports.
Upon returning to Moscow from New York, Russian Foreign Ministry
press spokesman Sergei Yastrzhembsky told reporters that his
government is concerned about policies toward non-Balts in Estonia
and Latvia that could lead those two states "to slide down the
slope to the practice of ethnic cleansing." Last spring and summer,
the Russian Foreign Ministry used the term "apartheid" to describe
the Baltic stance toward nonlocal ethnics. The same day Russian
Prime Minister Egor Gaidar told Interfax that the question of
sanctions against the Baltic States is to be resolved "either
tomorrow or the day after tomorrow." He added that Russian policy
toward these states will be conducted in light of their success
in finding solutions to their "human rights problems." (Riina
Kionka & Dzintra Bungs, RFE/RL, Inc.)

LITHUANIAN-POLISH MILITARY TALKS. On 29 September Lithuanian
National Defense Minister Audrius Butkevicius began an official
three-day visit to Poland at the invitation of his Polish counterpart
Janusz Onyszkiewicz, Radio Lithuania reports. The two discussed
the formation of joint work groups to deal with military problems
and creating greater mutual cooperation. Butkevicius also held
talks with National Security Bureau head Jerzy Milewski and placed
a wreath at the monument in Gruenwald, commemorating the 1410
Lithuanian-Polish victory over the Teutonic knights. On 30 September
he will visit Cracow. (Saulius Girnius, RFE/RL, Inc.)

WORK OF LATVIAN GOVERNMENT TO BE REASSESSED. Diena reported on
29 September that the work of the government will probably be
reassessed by the Supreme Council the week of 5 October. The
legislature has asked each minister to submit for evaluation
a detailed report of his performance. Minister of State Janis
Dinevics said that he does not rule out the possibility that
the legislators might ask for the resignation of some members
of the government. The day before Diena reported that Supreme
Council Deputy Janis Kinna of the Farmers Union also supports
the notion of reevaluation of the government's performance, but
neither his party, nor three others-the Latvian Social Democratic
Workers Party, the Liberal Democratic Party, and the People's
Party-are calling for a resignation of the government at this
time. (Dzintra Bungs, RFE/RL, Inc.)

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