No. 197, 13 October 1992

SUCCESSOR STATES TO THE USSR

RUSSIA CALLS FOR ABKHAZ CEASEFIRE; YELTSIN-SHEVARDNADZE SUMMIT
POSTPONED. On 12 October, the Russian government issued a statement
characterizing the fighting in Abkhazia as a threat to the entire
North Caucasus, and called for an immediate, unconditional ceasefire
in the region, ITAR-TASS reported. Western news agencies quoted
a Russian presidential spokeswoman as stating that the three-way
talks between Shevardnadze, Yelstsin and Abkhaz parliament Chairman
Vladislav Ardzinba scheduled for 13 October had been postponed
because the necessary documents are not ready. Shevardnadze cast
doubt on Ardzinba's participation; he went on to blame Russian
generals acting on their own initiative for exacerbating the
bloodshed in Abkhazia. (Liz Fuller)

GEORGIA, UKRAINE PROTEST RUSSIAN USE OF NAVY IN ABKHAZIA. Ukraine's
naval command reported on 12 October that Russia had dispatched
nine ships of the Black Sea Fleet to positions off Abkhazia without
consultation, despite the agreement to share command of the fleet.
The deployment is reportedly under the personal command of Admiral
Kasatanov, Commander of the Black Sea Fleet. Initially the ships
were to provide security during a planned shipboard meeting between
Yeltsin and Shevardnadze, but the deployment continued even after
the summit's cancellation. Georgia protested an incident in which
two Russian warships sailed into Sukhumi harbor, which is still
under Georgian control, and reportedly pointed their guns at
the city while ignoring attempts to communicate by local officials,
according to Reuters. (John Lepingwell)

RUSSIANS SEIZE GREENPEACE SHIP. Russian border troops seized
the Greenpeace ship "Solo" off the arctic island of Novaya Zemlya
the morning of 12-October. ISAR-TASS reported that the ship was
on a mission to inspect what Greenpeace labeled a "nuclear graveyard"
in the Kara Sea where 15 atomic submarines and 17,000 drums of
nuclear waste had been dumped. The Russians claim the vessel
was within Russian territorial waters at the time, although Greenpeace
claims that it was 23 miles outside the Russian 12-mile limit.
(Doug Clarke)

KRAVCHUK SELECTS NEW PRIME MINISTER. Leonid Kuchma, head of the
Yuzhmash concern that produced Soviet tactical nuclear missiles,
says that Ukrainian President Leonid Kravchuk has asked him to
form a new cabinet, Reuters reported on 13-October. "I have received
an official invitation [from Kravchuk] but want to think about
this overnight," Kuchma is quoted as saying. Kuchma's name had
surfaced in the press earlier as a possible choice for the prime
minister's post. Various political parties have proposed the
candidacies of Volodymyr Lanovyi, Volodymyr Chernyak, Ihor Yukhnovsky,
Volodymyr Pylypchuk, Ivan Plyushch, and others. On the morning
of 13 October, Kuchma fielded questions in parliament on the
policies he would adopt. (Roman Solchanyk)

SHAPOSHNIKOV ON RESULTS OF BISHKEK SUMMIT. In a 12 October press
conference reported by ITAR-TASS and Interfax, CIS Commander-In-Chief
Shaposhnikov stated that he was satisfied with the summit's decision
to agree on a joint military security concept as well as a new
structure for the CIS command. The CIS command will take on responsibility
for peacekeeping operations within the CIS, coordinating operational
and mobilization preparations, military-scientific research,
and coordinating the interaction of the military commands of
the member states. Shaposhnikov will also be developing a military
"concept" that will function like a doctrine for the CIS military.
(John Lepingwell)

COMMANDER OF CIS STRATEGIC DETERRENT FORCES REMOVED. General
Yuri Maksimov was removed from his position at the Bishkek summit,
and his responsibilities are to be shared between CIS Commander-in-Chief
Shaposhnikov and the Commander of the Russian Strategic Rocket
Forces (SRF), General Smirnov, according to Interfax reports
of 1012 October and Nezavisimaya gazeta of 8 October. The move
eliminates a duplication between the CIS and Russian military
command structure and recognizes the fact that all command, control,
and support elements, for the SRF, apart from those in Ukraine,
are under Russian control. The move is also consistent with Shaposhnikov's
aim to entrust all nuclear weapons control to Russia, a proposal
which Ukraine blocked at the summit. (John Lepingwell)

KHASBULATOV CALLS FOR POLTORANIN'S DISMISSAL. Russian Supreme
Soviet Chairman Ruslan Khasbulatov has asked President Boris
Yeltsin to dismiss Deputy Prime Minister Mikhail Poltoranin,
Interfax reported on 12 October. In a letter to Yeltsin, Khasbulatov
said that Poltoranin should be fired because of comments he made
last week, which Khasbulatov said were aimed at inciting anger
against him. Poltoranin, who is also Russian Information Minister,
accused Khasbulatov on 9-October of attempting to "provoke a
social explosion in Russia" by trying to take over Izvestiya.
He was also quoted, in Izvestiya, as saying that Khasbulatov
was "undermining the stability of Russia." (Keith Bush)

BELARUSIAN PESSIMISM OVER RUBLE ZONE. Two top Belarusian government
officials expressed doubts whether their country would stay within
the ruble zone. Prime Minister Vyacheslav Kebich told a press
conference in Minsk on 12 October that, although Belarus remains
interested in maintaining a single currency zone, it may have
to introduce its own currency, if the "purchasing power of the
ruble falls further," Belinform-TASS reported. The Interfax account
of the same conference portrayed Belarusian withdrawal from the
currency zone as a foregone conclusion, however, quoting the
Belarusian speaker of parliament, Stanislav Shuskevich: "It will
be difficult for us [to rapidly introduce our own currency],
but I'm afraid we must.-.-." Shuskevich did not disclose when
this might happen. (Erik Whitlock)

OTHER RUBLE ZONE DEVELOPMENTS. On 12-October, several reports
appeared on the use of the ruble in former Soviet republics.
According to ITAR-TASS, Tajikistan announced that it has decided
to retain the ruble as its national currency and that it has
agreed to maintain a single monetary policy with Russia. Kyrgyz
President Askar Akayev told Reuters that Kyrgyzstan will leave
the ruble zone by 1995 and introduce its own currency. And the
new Azeri minister of finance, Salekh Mamedov, told Azerinform
that he believed that the manat should be the only unit of currency
in Azerbaijan and that the ruble should be withdrawn from circulation.
(Keith Bush)

SECOND 29TH CP CONGRESS IN SPRING 1993. Leaders of the banned
CPSU said on 12 October that they will hold a congress next spring
aimed at renewing the party in an alliance across the former
USSR, ITAR-TASS reported. Konstantin Nikolaev, the president
of the organizing committee for the congress, was quoted as saying
that the meeting would mark an attempt to convene a successful
29th Party Congress. Nikolaev also said that his committee has
decided to reestablish the Komsomol. An attempt to convene a
Communist Party congress earlier this year was largely unsuccessful
when the authorities refused to allow the party to rent a hall
in Moscow and when few attended the meeting at an obscure location
outside the city. (Keith Bush)

GORBACHEV DOES NOT FEAR ARREST. Interviewed by French TV on 10
October, Gorbachev said he does not fear arrest due to his current
dispute with the Russian authorities. The government has not
completely "lost its head," Gorbachev explained. He also denied
as "crazy" the government's claim that he planned a Leninist-style
political comeback. Earlier that day, the Moscow newspaper Kuranty
reportedly published the government audit papers which document
that the Gorbachev foundation had indeed leased space to Russian
and Western businessmen. However, according to "Vesti," the government
knows about similar pratices by hundreds of other organizations,
and yet it does not seize their buildings. It is noteworthy that
no Russian TV newscast has yet informed their respective audiences
about protests by the French and Italian governments against
the Russian government's treatment of Gorbachev. (Julia Wishnevsky)


NATO DOUBTS ALL TACTICAL NUCLEAR WEAPONS WITHDRAWN FROM RUSSIAN
NAVY. According to an AFP report of 12 October, NATO officials
are concerned that Russia is not fulfilling a commitment made
by the USSR in October 1991 to withdraw all sea-based tactical
nuclear weapons. The report noted that NATO officials are likely
to express their concern at a meeting of the NATO Nuclear Planning
Group on 20-21 October. Russia has withdrawn all tactical nuclear
weapons from the other former republics, including any stationed
with the Black Sea Fleet, but sea-based tactical systems might
remain on board the Baltic, Northern, and Pacific Fleets. (John
Lepingwell)

MOSCOW CONFERENCE ON CONVERSION. The Russian Institute of Strategic
Research will hold a conference in Moscow on October 14-16 to
discuss the problems associated with the conversion of military
factories to civilian output, according to an ITAR-TASS report
of 7 October. Entitled "Conversion and Cooperation," the gathering
is being held at the initiative of the Russian parliamentary
committee for defense and security. The plenary meetings will
examine military, strategic, financial, and social problems connected
with conversion. (Doug Clarke)

YELTSIN ANNULLS EDICT ON FOREIGN INTELLIGENCE AFFILIATION. In
an unusual step, President Yeltsin cancelled the change of the
name of the foreign intelligence service of the Russian federation,
which was envisaged in his edict on the reorganization of the
government, published by Rossiiskaya gazeta on 7 October. The
new name was expected to be "the Russian federal service for
foreign intelligence." The title implies that the agency will
become an agency of the executive branch of government. On 9
October, however, Rossiiskaya gazeta published Yeltsin's new
edict, which left intact the old name and stressed that the foreign
intelligence is subordinated directly to the Russian president.
According to the law, the agency will also be accountable to
the parliament. Yeltsin's retreat reflects the ungoing political
struggle for control over the spy agency: the law on foreign
intelligence adopted in July includes provisions for accountability
of the foreign intelligence agency to the legislative and judicial
branches. (Victor Yasmann)

RUSSIANS SEEK EMPLOYMENT ABROAD. According to Interfax on 10
October, figures from the migration department of the Russian
Ministry of Labor suggest that about 100,000 Russians have already
found jobs abroad independently, without any mediation on the
part of the state. Other studies carried out by the Ministry
suggest that a further 1.5 million want to emigrate and 4.5 million
are seriously considering this option. The Ministry is concerned
to control this emigration process in order to protect the interests
of Russian workers abroad, and is attempting to set up intergovernmental
agreements to this effect. According to Interfax on 9 October,
such "organized" labur migration is seen as one way of easing
prospective reform-related unemployment. Particular reference
is made to employment opportunities abroad for skilled specialists
from defence industry enterprises. (Sheila Marnie)

CRIMEAN TATAR MEJLIS RULED UNCONSTITUTIONAL. An extraordinary
session of the Crimean parliament ruled on 8 October that the
Crimean Tatar Mejlis and the Organization of the Crimean Tatar
National Movement (OKND) are unconstitutional bodies, Nezavisimaya
gazeta reported on 10-October. The Mejlis and the OKND are characterized
as having taken a confrontational course towards the local authorities
from the time that they were established. The stand taken by
the Crimean lawmakers has, in essence, been supported by Ukrainian
President Leonid Kravchuk and the Crimean parliamentary speaker,
Mykola Bahrov. The two met in Kiev on 12 October and condemned
an "extremist group" acting in the name of the Mejlis. Kravchuk
added that he would cooperate only with the legally elected organs
of power in the Crimea, which is bound to exacerbate already
strained relations between Kiev and the Crimean Tatars. (Roman
Solchanyk)

SHEVARDNADZE ELECTED GEORGIAN PARLIAMENT CHAIRMAN. Officials
of the Georgian Central Electoral Commission told Western journalists
on 12-October that according to preliminary estimates, Eduard
Shevardnadze received approximately 90% of the votes cast in
the previous day's elections. Speaking on Georgian TV on the
night of 11 October, Shevardnadze professed to be "ashamed" at
the figures, according to the Iberia News Agency. No information
is yet available on the composition of the new parliament, but
Prime Minister Tengiz Sigua, Mkhedrioni militia leader Dzhaba
Ioseliani and Defense Minister Tengiz Kitovani all won election
as independent candidates, ITAR-TASS reported. (Liz Fuller)

RUSSIAN-AZERBAIJANI SECURITY AGREEMENT SIGNED. Russian President
Boris Yeltsin and Azerbaijan President Abulfaz Elchibey signed
an agreement in Moscow on 12 October on mutual security and friendly
relations, Western agencies reported. Under the terms of the
agreement, both sides recognize each other's sovereignty and
undertake to respect human and minority rights. Yeltsin and Elchibey
also discussed bilateral concerns including the situation in
Nagorno-Karabakh. (Liz Fuller)

KYRGYZ PARLIAMENT TO DISCUSS PEACE-KEEPING FORCE FOR TAJIKISTAN.
The Kyrgyz parliament is to hold an extraordinary session on
14-October to discuss the deployment of about 400 peace-keeping
troops in Tajikistan, ITAR-TASS and Interfax reported on 12 October.
Kyrgyz Vice President Feliks Kulov told Interfax in Dushanbe
that troops from Kazakhstan are also to be sent. He said the
main task of the peacekeeping forces is not to disarm the warring
groups, but to give Tajikistan's leadership the opportunity to
strengthen its power structure and law enforcement agencies and
to stabilize the economic situation as winter approaches. An
RFE/RL correspondent was told in Bishkek that the troops could
be airlifted to Tajikistan on 15 October. (Ann Sheehy)

CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPE ILIESCU ELECTED PRESIDENT. Emil Constantinescu
the candidate of the Democratic Convention of Romania, has conceded
defeat in the second round of the presidential elections held
on 11 October. With the vote counted in nearly 99% of the polling
stations, the Central Electoral Bureau said on 12 October that
incumbent president Ion Iliescu, who was backed by the Democratic
National Salvation Front, has won 61.27% votes and Constantinescu
was endorsed by 38.73% votes. In remarks carried by Radio Bucharest
Constantinescu congratulated Iliescu and said he hoped the president
would "fulfil his great role with honour." Iliescu said that
he intended to put the country's social and political life on
a decent, dignified and normal path through dialogue and collaboration
with all political parties represented in the parliament. (Michael
Shafir).

ROMANIAN COALITION TALKS. Foreign affairs minister, Adrian Nastase,
has been chosen by the Democratic National Salvation Front (DNSF)
to conduct negotiations on forming a new coalition government,
RFE/RL's correspondent in Bucharest reported on 12 October. Nastase,
who is a vicepresident of the DNSF, has already begun discussions
with the seven parties that won seats in the Chamber of Deputies
in the 27 September elections. Corneliu Coposu, the president
of the Democratic Convention of Romania, said in an interview
with Radio Bucharest on 12-October that the convention would
not join the government, its position being that of a "constructive
opposition." On the same day, the daily Evenimentul zilei reported
that Mihai Botez, an exiled antiCeausescu dissident, might head
the new government. However, Reuter said that Botez's relatives
in Bucharest stated he was unlikely to accept, even if the reports
of the offer were true. (Michael Shafir)

MAZOWIECKI COMPLAINS OF "TOO MUCH INDIFFERENCE" OVER BOSNIA.
UN human rights envoy and former Polish prime minister Tadeusz
Mazowiecki returned to the Yugoslav area for a second visit on
12 October, Reuters said. He again attacked human rights abuses
by all sides and especially criticized European countries for
failing to take in enough Bosnian refugees, particularly those
newly freed from detention camps. Mazowiecki said that the human
rights situation has worsened in the former Yugoslavia since
his first trip there in August. Besides Bosnia and Croatia, he
will visit Kosovo, Vojvodina, and the Sandzak. (Patrick Moore)


MASS PROTESTS IN KOSOVO. Radio Serbia reported on 12 October
that more than 50,000 Albanians demonstrated peacefully in Pristina,
Urosevac and other Kosovo towns for nearly 90 minutes. The ethnic
Albanian majority is boycotting schools and Pristina university
to protest the Serbianization of the curriculum since 1990. Radio
Croatia reported that 100,000 took part in the protests and that
Serb police clashed with protesters in Pec. Radio Croatia reports
a large number of Serbian army reservists were mobilized on 10
and 11 October. Serbian officials say the mobilization was ordered
as a precautionary measure after Rexhep Osmani, Education Minister
of the selfproclaimed Kosovo Albanian government, was released
from prison on 9 October. Osmani helped organized the rallies
and told Radio Croatia that the protests would continue. (Milan
Andrejevich)

WILL THERE BE EARLY ELECTIONS IN SERBIA? According to preliminary
results of an 11 October referendum to determine whether a constitutional
amendment should be adopted to allow for early general and presidential
elections, the proposal has apparently failed to win enough support.
Though nearly 96% of the ballots cast backed early elections,
approval required the support of more than half of Serbia's 7
million eligible voters. Only 3.1 million eligible voters went
to the polls, according to a Radio Serbia report. (Milan Andrejevich)


SMALL BUSINESS CONGRESS OPENS IN WARSAW. On 12 October President
Lech Walesa and Prime Minister Hanna Suchocka attended the opening
session of the 19th World Congress of Small Business, held for
the first time in Eastern Europe. A thousand delegates from 61
countries are participating. In his address, Walesa emphasized
the symbolic importance of staging the congress in Poland, where
pioneering economic reforms had led to a boom in private production.
Poland's minister for private enterprise, Zbigniew Eysmont, told
PAP on 8 October that the contribution of small and mediumsized
private businesses to national income had risen from 6% to 20%
in the past three years. (Louisa Vinton)

HUNGARY'S 1993 DEFENSE BUDGET. Pending approval by parliament,
Hungary's defense expenditures will be raised some 10% to 66
billion forint in 1993, MTI reported on 11 October. The amount,
while covering the army's daytoday needs, is not enough to
maintain its combat and operational capability at the present
level. The pay of conscripts, military students, and lowearning
regular soldiers and civilian employees will be raised; 10.9
billion forint are to be spent on the maintenance of the military's
assets (worth 660 billion forint) and 1.9 on repairs, with emphasis
on ground and air force units. Because of budget restrictions,
pilots will be able to fly only 60 to 65 hours instead of the
present 80 to 85. Essential parts to be obtained from the former
Soviet Union cannot be purchased next year for the lack of the
necessary 3 billion forint. (Alfred Reisch)

CSURKA SPEAKS OUT AGAIN. The controversial Vice President of
the ruling Hungarian Democratic Forum party, Istvan Csurka, repeated
his extreme views in an interview in the latest edition, 12 October
1992, of the German newsmagazine Der Spiegel. Csurka said that
his idea of a Hungarian living space was not equivalent to the
German Lebensraum concept, because his objective was not to expand
but to protect the existing living space of Hungarians. Csurka
said that the Slovak constitution did not recognize the rights
of the Hungarian minority there which suggested that the Hungarian
minority was in danger. Responding to the charge that his views
that because of their alleged links with the Kadarera nomenklatura
and the international finance and bank world, the Jews were the
eternal and sworn enemy of Hungarians, Csurka said,"this is not
something I have invented but a fact." (Karoly Okolicsanyi)

RUSSIAN EMIGRATION FROM THE BALTICS IN 1992. According to data
of the Russian Migration Service, emigration of ethnic Russians
from Estonia and Latvia is increasing, but decreasing from Lithuania.
Some 17,000 Russians are reported to have left Estonia (9300-up
from 8200 for all of 1991) and Latvia ( 8,500 as compared with
13,000 for all of 1991) during the first six months of 1992.
About 6000 people left Lithuania during this period, as compared
with 10,000 for all of 1991. Migration Service Director Tatiana
Regent claimed that Baltic policies on citizenship were responsible
for these figures. The data also showed that in 1989, 1990, and
1991, all three Baltic States registered more people leaving
for Russia than settling in the Baltics: for Estonia, the respective
net emigration figures are 582, 4300, and 4164; for Latvia-546,
3900, and 5838; and for Lithuania-1136, 5000, and 4379, BNS and
ITARTASS reported on 9 and 10 October. (Dzintra Bungs)

LITHUANIA TO BE ACCEPTED TO COUNCIL OF EUROPE. On 9 October parliament
deputy Jonas Tamulis, one of Lithuania's observers at the Council
of Europe session in Strasburg, said that Lithuania would become
a member of the council at its next session in 1993, Radio Lithuania
reported. The EC had set two conditions for membership: holding
of new elections to the parliament and the adoption of a new
Constitution. The new Seimas will be elected on 25 October with
runoffs two weeks later. The Lithuanian parliament is holding
a special session on 12-October that is expected to approve the
holding of a referendum on the Constitution on 25 October. (Saulius
Girnius)

RUSSIA TO RESUME OIL SUPPLIES TO LITHUANIA. After meeting with
Lithuania's Premier Aleksandras Abisala, Russia's Acting Prime
Minister Egor Gaidar told the press on 12 October that they had
made progress in working out a mechanism for settling accounts
between their countries. He noted that while some 10 billion
rubles from Lithuania had not been received by Russian oil suppliers,
Russia owed Lithuania sums estimated at 610 billion rubles.
Russia's Vice Premier Aleksandr Shokhin told the press that Russia
would adhere to the prearranged quotas of oil and gas to Lithuania;
until a system of payments acceptable to both sides was in place,
Lithuania would have to pay Russia for oil and gas products in
hard currency. His Lithuanian counterpart Bronislavas Lubnys
expressed satisfaction with the conditions agreed in Moscow,
Baltfax reported on 12 October. (Dzintra Bungs)

IMF POSITIVE ABOUT LATVIA'S ECONOMIC POLICY. After a weeklong
visit to Latvia, International Monetary Fund experts gave a positive
assessment of the economic policy pursued by the Latvian government,
a spokesman for Latvia's Finance Ministry told BNS on 12 October.
Latvia is to receive the second installment of the IMF loan as
soon as IMF experts make certain corrections in the memorandum
defining Latvia's economic policy until the end of this year.
The IMF loan of $70,000,000 is being dispersed to Latvia in four
installments. (Dzintra Bungs)

RUTSKOI THREATENS ESTONIA. Russian VicePresident Alexander Rutskoi
reiterated Russia's threat to impose economic sanctions on Estonia
unless it altered its citizenship laws. According to Reuter,
citing BBC on 12 October, Rutskoi's major objection was the language
requirement. Last year Estonia officially set minimum competence
at some 1,500 words, approximately the level of a threeyearold
native speaker. (Riina Kionka)

ESTONIAN DEFENSE FORCES DON'T TRUST GOVERNMENT. Four of sixteen
units of the Estonian Defense Union (Kaitseliit) have announced
they will henceforth take orders only from the President, not
the Ministry of Defense. According to Paevaleht of 12 October,
the units made the decision because they do not trust the Ministry
leadership. Reacting to the announcement, outgoing deputy Defense
Minister Hannes Walter told reporters it was time for Estonia
to subsume all armed units under full state control, saying that
any other initiatives could be dangerous both in domestic and
foreign terms. (Riina Kionka)

UNEMPLOYMENT CONTINUES TO RISE IN LATVIA. Diena reported on 7
October that in the period from 1 January to 6 October, 19,130
persons had become unemployed (the previous week the number was
18,588) or about 1.3% of the total labor force of about 1,477,000.
Unemployment benefits are being received by 16,988 persons. Some
70% of the jobless are women and the rate of unemployment is
rising the fastest in Riga where already 5,334 persons are getting
unemployment benefits. (Dzintra Bungs)

POLISH UNEMPLOYMENT GROWTH SLOWS. Poland's Main Statistical Office
announced on 9-October that 2,498,500 people (13.8% of the work
force) were unemployed at the end of September. Although this
amounts to an overall increase over August, unemployment declined
in six voivodships and remained unchanged in three others. Onethird
of the registered unemployed have lost their benefits, and 43.3%
have been seeking work for over a year, PAP reported. Deputy
Labor Minister Michal Boni told journalists on 9 October that
unemployment should cease rising in 1994. Active methods of fighting
unemployment are having some effect: the number of people who
found work through employment offices rose 50% from August to
September. (Louisa Vinton)

POLISH FOREIGN MINISTER IN HUNGARY. Hungarian radio reported
that Poland's Foreign Minister, Krysztof Skubiszewski, arrived
in Budapest, to coordinate the views of the countries of the
Visegrad Triangle before the forthcoming EC summit in London.
Skubiszewski also dicussed issues related to a freetradezone
agreement between Poland, Hungary and Slovakia, which is to be
signed on 30 November 1992 in Krakow. (Karoly Okolicsanyi)

CZECH PREMIER VISITS FRANCE. On 12 October, Czech Prime Minister
Vaclav Klaus was on a oneday visit to France, where he met with
French officials and opposition leaders. Speaking to journalists
after his meeting with French Prime Minister Pierre Beregovoy,
Klaus said that he had reassured French leaders that the breakup
of Czechoslovakia would be peaceful. After his return from France,
Klaus told CSTK that the possibility to talk to French leaders
was important because "everyone in Western Europe is afraid of
the symptoms that have accompanied the disintegration of former
Yugoslavia and the Soviet Union." (Jiri Pehe)

150,000 FOREIGNERS LIVE IN CZECHOSLOVAKIA WITHOUT PERMISSION.
The 12 October issue of Rude pravo, quoting police sources, said
that 150,000 foreigners live in Czechoslovakia without official
permission and another 22,000 have been detained by police trying
illegally to enter Germany. CSTK reported on 12 October that
the Czech Ministry of Internal Affairs had received 1480 applications
for Czech citizenship in the previous six weeks. Fiftyfive of
the applicants were citizens of the Slovak Republic. In a related
development, Marian Calfa, a Slovak politician who served as
Czechoslovak Prime Minister from December 1989 to June 1992,
said in an interview published in the 12 October issue of the
Prague daily Blesk that he would probably apply for citizenship
of the Czech Republic.(Jiri Pehe)

[As of 1200 CET] Compiled by Hal Kosiba & Anna Swidlicka