No. 224, 20 November 1992

SUCCESSOR STATES TO THE USSR

YELTSIN PROPOSES ASIAN SECURITY MEASURES. During a speech to
the Korean National Assembly on 19 November, Russian President
Boris Yeltsin said that Russia had already halved its production
of new submarines, and suggested that Moscow would consider halting
entirely the production of nuclear submarines in two to three
years time, Western agencies reported. Yeltsin also proposed
the establishment of a multinational security consultative body
in Asia to monitor security developments, and said that Moscow
was willing to divulge its military secrets in order to launch
the process. He said that Russia had stopped providing all military
aid and nuclear-related technology to North Korea, The New York
Times reported. Moreover, according to ITAR-TASS, Yeltsin indicated
that Russia may abrogate the mutual defense treaty concluded
between the Soviet government and the North Korean government
in 1961. (Stephen Foye & Alexander Rahr)

OTHER DEVELOPMENTS. According to Western reports, Yeltsin told
South Korean President Roh Tae-Woo earlier in the day that Russia
was considering other arms reductions, including a unilateral
halt in the production of medium-sized bombers. He said that
Russia hoped to finalize an agreement with the new American administration
on a 60% reduction in strategic nuclear weapons. Yeltsin's proposed
reductions, it would seem, are at least in part a recognition
of the inevitable; Russia's economic problems have already cut
deeply into defense production, and there is no sign that a turn-around
is in sight. (Stephen Foye)

LOCAL LEADERS SUPPORT YELTSIN. The newly created Union of Russian
Governors, which consists of influential leaders of local governments
throughout Russia, has issued a statement calling for the extension
of the special powers presently accorded to President Boris Yeltsin,
ITAR-TASS reported on 17-November. Yeltsin's special powers will
expire on 1 December. The governors also rejected any personnel
changes in the composition of the present government. Meanwhile,
Acting Prime Minister Egor Gaidar told enterprise managers in
Ekaterinburg that reform will now be "regionalized." Radio Mayak
on 18 November quoted Gaidar as saying that the decentralization
of power to the regions will thwart attempts by bureaucratic
elites in Moscow to block the reform program. (Alexander Rahr)


GAIDAR VISITS CHELYABINSK. Acting Prime Minister Egor Gaidar
arrived in Chelyabinsk on 19 November as part of a one-day tour
of industrial areas in the Urals. At a meeting with regional
government officials and defense industry managers, Gaidar said
that one of the most important characteristics of the 1993 budget
approved by the government last week was its devolution of revenue
and expenditure responsibilities to local budget-makers, ITAR-TASS
reported. "Moscow should only finance defense programs, some
foreign economic activities, fundamental science, and a narrow
circle of investment programs, above all conversion." (Erik Whitlock)


GAIDAR: SLUMP IN DEFENSE INDUSTRIES IS OVER. Russia's acting
prime minister, Yegor Gaidar, on 19 November told a group of
Russian defense industrialists in the closed town of Chelyabinsk-65
that the fall in defense production was over. Although the meeting
was closed, some of the participants provided Interfax information
about the issues discussed. These included the conversion of
the arms industry and a social "safety net" for defense industry
employees. Gaidar was quoted as saying that defense production
would stay level until the end of the year, but later would be
increased, probably by 10%. (Doug Clarke)

SHUMEIKO DEFENDS YELTSIN, GAIDAR. First Deputy Prime Minister
Vladimir Shumeiko said that if Acting Prime Minister Egor Gaidar
is forced out of the government, he will also resign. Ekho Moskvy
on 18 November quoted Shumeiko as saying that President Yeltsin's
special powers should be extended. He stated that reform requires
a strong executive power, but, in an interview with the Japanese
newspaper Sankei Simbun on 19 November, he rejected the idea
of introducing direct presidential rule. Meanwhile, Foreign Minister
Andrei Kozyrev warned that conservatives are planning a "constitutional
coup" at the Congress. He said that the Congress, elected in
1990, represents the most conservative part of society. (Alexander
Rahr)

TWO ECONOMIC PROGRAMS. Next week, the parliament will discuss
two programs: that of the government and that of the parliament,
and select one to be debated at the Congress, Ekho Moskvy reported
on 18-November. The government's program is being worked out
by Egor Gaidar's cabinet together with the Union of Russian Industrialists
and Entrepreneurs, headed by Arkadii Volsky. The parliament's
program is being prepared by the parliamentary faction "Industrial
Union" and the parliament's Highest Economic Council. Since both
the "Industrial Union" and the Union of Russian Industrialists
and Entrepreneurs are members of the Civic Union, one may conclude
that the Civic Union is split over economic reform. (Alexander
Rahr)

SMALL SCALE PRIVATIZATION GOING WELL. The International Finance
Corporation (IFC) has reported that more than 10% of Russian
shops and small businesses have been sold to private owners,
and that more than half of them were sold at auctions, according
to Reuters on 19 November. This has meant that 14,000 new firms
have been created. Despite this apparent success in small scale
privatization, the overall share of privately owned businesses
in Russia remains low; 850 enterprises, or 3.6% of the total
number of industrial enterprises, are privately owned, according
to a report in Ekonomika i zhizn no.42, 1992. The pace of privatization
may, however, be stepped up next year, since the Russian parliament
has passed the final version of the law on bankruptcy, which
will come into effect from March 1993, Interfax reported on 19
November. (Sheila Marnie)

DEMOCRATIC, NATIONALIST MEDIA CHIEFS SEEK RECONCILIATION. The
director of Ostankino TV, Egor Yakovlev, and the editor-in-chief
of Izvestiya, Igor Golembiovsky, have met with Aleksandr Prokhanov,
the chief editor of Den, Valentin Chikin, the chief editor of
Sovetskaya Rossiya, and Gennadii Selesnev, the editor-in-chief
of Pravda, in an effort to stop the "mass media war" between
nationalist and neocommunist newspapers on the one hand and democratic
newspapers on the other. The round table was televised by Ostankino
on 13 November. Egor Yakovlev said that he is prepared to provide
TV time for rightist opposition groups provided they cease their
calls for the violent overthrow of President Yeltsin's government.
For his part, Yakovlev has admitted that the labeling of all
opposition media as "red-brown" is intolerable. He stressed the
importance of the media meeting, since he believes that it can
bring about a civilized dialogue between newspapers that usually
display only antipathy for each other. (Victor Yasmann)

RUSSIAN ARMS SALE INCOME DOWN. Interfax on 18 November reported
that Russian arms exports in 1992 would bring in approximately
$3 billion compared with $7.8 billion (or 12 billion hard rubles)
for 1991. The agency said that government experts had provided
the data. These experts said that United Nations sanctions against
many of Russia's traditional arms-trading partners, the saturation
of the arms market, and a 68% decline in Russian arms production
were some of the reasons for the drop in earnings. The experts
also said that government orders for arms to be exported would
fall off markedly in 1993, but they expected the volume of arms
to be sold abroad to hold steady due to orders already received.
(Doug Clarke)

MORE ON THE KUCHMA ECONOMIC PROGRAM. Prime Minister Kuchma has
changed the atmosphere of economic reform in Ukraine with his
announcement of broad outlines for accelerated change to begin
January of next year. Kuchma intends to use his newly acquired
emergency powers to implement restrictive fiscal and monetary
policies in combination with faster-paced structural reforms,
like privatization, wage controls, and an anticorruption campaign,
according to various Western news agencies on 17 and 18 November.
These measures will be coming on the heels of a recent sharp
rise in interest rates offered by the central bank from 20% to
80% and the introduction of a new currency at a close-to-market
exchange rate vis-ˆ-vis the ruble and dollar. (Erik Whitlock)


FORMER LEADING DISSIDENT APPOINTED UKRAINIAN MINISTER OF CULTURE.
Ivan Dzyuba, one of the leading figures in the post-Stalin Ukrainian
resurgence, has been appointed the new Ukrainian minister of
culture, Ukrainian Radio announced on 19 November. In 1965 he
wrote the classic critique of Soviet nationalities policy, Internationalism
or Russification? In 1972 he was arrested and charged with "anti-Soviet
agitation and propaganda." He spent 18 months in prison and was
released only after an apparent recantation. In the late 1980s,
Dzyuba once again began to play a prominent role in the cultural
and public life of Ukraine by contributing analytical and programmatic
articles on the problems of Ukrainian culture and through his
leadership of those involved in Ukrainian studies. (Bohdan Nahaylo)


UKRAINE SPOILING RUSSIAN/IRANIAN SUB DEAL. Interfax on 19 November
reported that Ukraine had become an obstacle in the sale of three
Russian Kilo-class diesel submarines to Iran. The first submarine,
delivered by a Russian crew, was recently in the Iranian port
of Bander-Abbas. Iran was supposed to pay for the boat by 27
November. However, the original deal-signed before the collapse
of the USSR-included some support equipment which Ukraine is
now holding in the Black Sea port of Mykolaiv. Interfax reported
that a source in the CIS Navy headquarters said that the deal
might "fail to materialize in its full volume" because of the
Ukrainian stand. (Doug Clarke)

UKRAINE PROTESTS RUTSKOI'S CRIMEAN CLAIM. The Ukrainian Ministry
of Foreign Affairs has officially requested an explanation from
the Russian government for Russian Vice President Aleksandr Rutskoi's
remarks on the Crimea, Interfax reported on 19 November. Rutskoi
recently told students and lecturers at Omsk University that
the Crimea and other territories will "sooner or later" revert
to Russia. Ukrainian officials raised the issue at a meeting
with Russia's ambassador in Kiev, Leonid Smolyakov. (Roman Solchanyk)


PROBLEMS FOR THE FLAGSHIP OF THE UKRAINIAN NAVY. The flagship
of the Ukrainian Navy, the Slavutych, dropped anchor off Sevastopol
on 18 November following sea trials, and Interfax reported that
the event was to be celebrated the following day. On 19 November,
however, Interfax reported that Russian authorities of the Black
Sea Fleet refused to establish contact with the Slavutych, and
prevented it from entering the Crimean port. The Ukrainian Navy
charged the Russians with violating the Yalta agreements on the
Black Sea Fleet. According to Ukrainian Radio, the problems were
subsequently resolved, and the flagship, with the Ukrainian defense
minister aboard, entered the port later that same day. The Slavutych
was the first of a new class of command and intelligence-gathering
ships being built for the ex-Soviet Northern Fleet at a shipyard
in Mykolaiv. The Ukrainians took over the ship in June of this
year. (Doug Clarke & Bohdan Nahaylo)

MILITARY COOPERATION BETWEEN BELARUS AND UKRAINE. Interfax on
19 November reported that a package of military agreements was
being prepared for the 26 November visit of a Belarusian government
delegation to Kiev. Some provisions dealt with cooperation in
air defense, and the sharing of air fields and firing ranges.
The report said that cadets from one republic would be allowed
to continue their studies in military schools of the other republic
free of charge. Belarusian Air Force pilots would train in Ukrainian
flying schools. In addition, neither republic would obstruct
the repatriation of servicemen from the other republic serving
on its territory. (Doug Clarke)

SHAKHRAI PUTS FORCES IN NORTH OSSETIA AND INGUSHETIA ON ALERT.
The head of the provisional administration in North Ossetia and
Ingushetia, Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Shakhrai has ordered
Russian forces in the North Ossetia-Ingush conflict zone to be
in a state of heightened combat readiness, ITAR-TASS and Interfax
reported on 19-November. The grounds given for the order were
that the provisions of Yeltsin's decree declaring a state of
emergency were not being fully implemented: not all weapons had
been confiscated, hostages exchanged, or armed units disbanded,
and shooting incidents were continuing. Moreover, there was information
that large-scale armed provocations were in preparation. (Ann
Sheehy)

CIS SUMMIT POSTPONED. CIS headquarters in Minsk announced told
Belinform on 19 November that the CIS Heads of State summit planned
for 4 December had been put off until 18 December by mutual agreement.
A delay had been anticipated because President Yeltsin and Acting
Russian Prime Minister Egor Gaidar will be tied up with the Russian
Congress of People's Deputies, which will be meeting for the
first three to four days of December. (Ann Sheehy)

NABIEV SUPPORTER ELECTED CHAIRMAN OF TAJIK PARLIAMENT. The Tajik
parliament endorsed by 140 votes to 54 on 19 November the resignation
of Akbarsho Iskandarov from the post of parliamentary chairman
and acting head of state, and elected in his place, by 186 votes
to 11, Emonali Rakhmonov, chairman of the Kulyab oblast executive
committee and a supporter of ousted Communist President Rakhmon
Nabiev, Khovar-TASS and Interfax reported. The parliament, which
has been meeting in the northern town of Khodzhent under heavy
guard since 16 November to try and resolve Tajikistan's leadership
crisis and months long factional fighting, will discuss Nabiev's
status and the resignation of the cabinet on 20 November. (Ann
Sheehy)

TAJIKISTAN APPEALS FOR PEACEKEEPERS. The parliament of Tajikistan
has voted unanimously for the introduction of CIS peacekeeping
forces into the republic, ITAR-TASS reported on 20 November.
The parliamentarians adopted an appeal to the presidents of Russia,
Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan that calls for the Russian
201st Motor Rifle Division to take upon itself the task of peace-keeping
in Tajikistan, with units from the other three Central Asian
republics to be attached to it. (Stephen Foye)

CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPE

CZECH PARLIAMENT ASSUMES RESPONSIBILITY FOR STATE POWER. The
Czech National Council approved a resolution on 19 November declaring
that it is "assuming full responsibility" for the republic. The
Czech parliament "took this step to ensure" that the development
toward an independent Czech state, to be established on 1 January
1993, is peaceful. CSTK reports that the resolution, which fell
just short of a declaration of sovereignty, was approved by 109
votes in the 200-member Czech parliament. Most of the opposition
deputies walked out before the vote. Czech Prime Minister Vaclav
Klaus told Czechoslovak TV that the declaration is needed to
give the Czech government a "stronger mandate to do things that
are necessary." The resolution came only one day after the federal
parliament had failed to pass a bill on the dissolution of the
federation. Slovakia declared its sovereignty on 17 July. (Jiri
Pehe)

VANCE AND OWEN FAIL TO OBTAIN SERB AGREEMENT IN CROATIA. Western
agencies said on 19 November that international mediators Cyrus
Vance and Lord Owen were unable to secure the consent of Serbs
in UN "protected zones" in Croatia to disarm. The Serbs are obliged
to do so under the terms of the agreement negotiated by Vance
at the end of 1991, but they now say that they would be open
to a Croat attack if they gave up their weapons. Real authority
in the zones appears to be in the hands of armed bands of irregulars,
and ethnic cleansing continues against remaining local Croats.
The Croatian authorities have been improving their military capacity
during 1992 and are impatient with the failure of the UN to enable
Croatian civilians to return to these areas, as stipulated in
the Vance agreement. The Serbs, for their part, have a centuries-old
martial culture and have vowed never to return to Croatian rule,
regarding the present Croatian government as incorrigibly anti-Serbian.
(Patrick Moore)

ALBANIA WANTS UN OBSERVERS IN MACEDONIA. RFE/RL's UN correspondent
reported on 19 November that Albania's foreign minister has asked
the UN secretary-general to send observers to Macedonia to prevent
further interethnic bloodshed there. A clash in Skopje two weeks
earlier left four dead and many more wounded. Macedonian and
some Albanian spokesmen have suggested that KOS, the Serbian-dominated
counterintelligence wing of the former Yugoslav army, is trying
to provoke conflicts in Macedonia and Kosovo. Macedonia's population
is 20-40% Albanian, depending on whose figures are used. Albanians
are represented in the government, but complain that the Macedonians
are not moving quickly enough to grant them full equality. (Patrick
Moore)

ATHENS, SKOPJE EXCHANGE HARSH WORDS. Radios Serbia and Macedonia
report that on 17-November, Greek Foreign Minister Michalis Papaconstantinou
gave EC envoys in Athens a map issued by a state-owned company
in the Republic of Macedonia showing much of northern Greece
as part of its territory. The map also shows Salonika as the
capital of the new Macedonian state. Papaconstantinou described
the actions as "irrefutable proof of their territorial designs"
on Greece. On 18-November, the Macedonian Foreign Ministry denounced
Greece's accusations, categorically denying that the government
issued the map, and repeating that Skopje has no territorial
designs on any of its neighbors. Meanwhile, in an interview with
the Washington Post on 19 November, Greek Prime Minister Constantine
Mitsotakis said that his country might end its objections to
Macedonia using that name for domestic purposes if it agrees
to be called by another name in its international relations.
(Milan Andrejevich)

TURKEY CALLS FOR BALKAN CONFERENCE. Reuters on 19 November reported
that Turkey has invited 10 countries to Istanbul at an unspecified
time for talks on Bosnia and regional security. Asked to participate
are Albania, Austria, Bulgaria, Greece, Hungary, and Romania,
plus the former Yugoslav republics of Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia,
Macedonia, and Slovenia. The 20 November Frankfurter Allgemeine
Zeitung said that Serbia was invited as well, while the Reuters
account says that the rump Yugoslavia was excluded, without specifically
mentioning Serbia. Turkey has strong cultural and historical
ties to the Bosnian Muslims, the Albanians, and other peoples
in the Balkans, and is anxious to end the fighting in Bosnia
and prevent it from spreading to Kosovo, the Sandzak, or Macedonia.
Ankara favors concerted international action, and takes care
not to play into the hands of Serbian propaganda, which tries
to depict the conflict as a religious war rather than one for
land and power. (Patrick Moore)

BULGARIA, TURKEY SIGN MILITARY AGREEMENTS. At a press conference
on 18 November, Bulgarian Chief of General Staff Colonel General
Lyuben Petrov presented a new set of measure to promote confidence-building
with Turkey, BTA said. According to the "Edirne Document," signed
by Petrov and his counterpart General Dogan Dures on 12-November,
Bulgaria and Turkey will cooperate in the area of their common
border as well as step up exchange of military information and
observers. The agreement stipulates that each sides will notify
the other in advance of military activities involving at least
7,000 troops, 150 battle tanks, or 150 heavy artillery pieces.
The agreement, which goes further than the 1991 "Sofia Document,"
will come into force on 1-January 1993. (Kjell Engelbrekt)

SERBIA-MONTENEGRO ELECTIONS. Radio Serbia reported on 18 November
that Dobrica Cosic, president of the rump Yugoslavia, will not
reschedule parliamentary and presidential elections slated to
begin on 20 December. Cosic's office warned that any postponement
would not be justified, adding that Montenegro also rejects further
delay. Borba reported on 17 November that federal and republic-wide
elections might have to be rescheduled as late as 10 January
1993 because several key opposition parties have not said whether
they will participate. Opposition parties in Serbia contest the
new electoral districts, demand free access to the state-controlled
Belgrade TV, and have been unsuccessful in finding a presidential
candidate strong enough to defeat Milosevic. The Democratic Opposition
(DEPOS) and several other parties recently formed a Democratic
Coalition and have been pressing Cosic to run as a candidate
for Serbian president. He is unenthusiastic, but political circles
in Belgrade say Cosic has not made a final decision. Earlier
Vuk Draskovic, leader of the main Serbian Renewal Movement party
and a member of the Democratic Opposition, said that rather than
run against Milosevic himself he might endorse Cosic. (Milan
Andrejevich)

ROMANIAN PARLIAMENT CONFIRMS NEW CABINET. On 19 November Parliament
confirmed by a 260 to 203 vote the new cabinet headed by Nicolae
Vacaroiu. The government consists of 22 ministers, of whom half
are members of the Democratic National Salvation Front, a leftist
party which emerged as the strongest political force in Romania
after elections in late September. The other half-including the
prime minister-say they are independent. In an interview with
Radio Bucharest after the vote, Vacaroiu said his top priority
is to lead the country through a winter of anticipated economic
and social difficulties. He also pledged that his cabinet will
work out a detailed four-year "program of transition" in the
next 2-3 months. (Dan Ionescu)

NEW POLITICAL PARTY IN HUNGARY. Hungarian Radio reported on 19
November that the new Republic Party is headed by Janos Palotas,
who gained TV exposure and fame during the October 1990 taxi
strike. Palotas, a private businessman and independent parliamentary
deputy, is a highly-popular spokesman for Hungarian entrepreneurs.
The new party's platform includes inflation-resistant pensions,
provision of long-term credits for university students, returning
80% of personal income tax to local governments, initiation of
large infrastructure investments by the state, and support for
holding of the World Exhibition in Hungary in 1996. The party
wants to avoid any ideological affiliation, the organizers said,
and will concentrate on practical matters. (Karoly Okolicsanyi)


LITHUANIAN SUPREME COUNCIL ENDS ITS WORK. On 19 November the
Supreme Council held its final session; it will lose its power
when the Seimas convenes next week, Radio Lithuania reports.
The session passed a law on the reinstatement of the Lithuanian
National Army and ratified the tripartite agreement of the Baltic
States, signed in Tallinn on 11 November, on legal assistance
and legal relations. It also adopted a law "On Social Guarantees
of Seimas Deputies and Government Members" that will give parliament
deputies not elected to the Seimas and retiring government officials
payments of six months' wages and six months' unused vacations.
Parliament chairman Vytautas Landsbergis made a concluding speech
and presented the deputies with copies of the act reinstating
Lithuania's independence and the new constitution. (Saulius Girnius)


WAS LANDSBERGIS OFFERED THE POST OF SEIMAS DEPUTY CHAIRMAN? Landsbergis
and Lithuanian Democratic Labor Party chairman Algirdas Brazauskas
have refused to give any details on their talks held on 18 November,
but both have described the talks as pleasant and useful, the
RFE/RL Lithuanian Service reports. Landsbergis said that he would
not comment on whether Brazauskas had offered him the post of
Seimas deputy chairman until an official offer is made. Other
LDLP officials unofficially confirmed that Brazauskas had indeed
made such an offer but had not received any response. The LDLP
deputies elected to the Seimas will hold their first meeting
on 20 November. (Saulius Girnius)

POLISH GOVERNMENT APPROVES 1993 BUDGET. The Polish government
approved a draft budget for 1993, PAP reported on 19 November.
The draft provides for a deficit of 81 trillion zloty. (Anna
Sabbat-Swidlicka)

10-MONTH POLISH ECONOMIC FIGURES SHOW IMPROVEMENT. On 18 November
Poland's Main Statistical Office reported a positive economic
performance in October, PAP says. Industrial production rose
by 4.8% over September and consumer price inflation dropped to
a monthly rate of 3%. The average Pole had more purchasing power
at the end of October than at the beginning of the month, as
wages increased by 6%. The government budget deficit held steady
over October at about 40 trillion zloty. Unemployment appeared
to drop slightly, by 0.1%, holding at 13.5% of the work force.
It is not clear whether this drop is due to net hiring increases
or registered unemployed "falling off" lists as eligibility for
benefits ended. (Erik Whitlock)

SOLIDARITY THREATENS STRIKES. Solidarity's National Commission,
under pressure from local organizations in large industrial enterprises,
threatened on 18 November to call nationwide protest strikes
if the government did not begin talks on compensation for cost
of living increases. According to PAP, Solidarity's leadership
also said the government's failure to implement agreements previously
made with local and professional union branches, as well as its
pledges on restructuring programs for regions hit by high unemployment,
cast doubt on its credibility as a partner in the "Pact on Enterprises."
The National Commission postponed its decision on the "Pact,"
which its negotiators initialed on 13 November. (Anna Sabbat-Swidlicka)


LITHUANIA FREEZES RUSSIAN ARMY FUNDS. On 19 November Baltfax
reported that a Russian Defense Ministry spokesman will appeal
to his government to cut oil and gas supplies to Lithuania in
response to the Bank of Lithuania's freezing 2 billion rubles
transferred by Russia for the needs of its troops there. He said
that Prime Minister Aleksandras Abisala had given this directive
orally because the Russian Central Bank had earlier blocked passage
into Lithuania of Russian and CIS payments for Lithuanian goods
and services worth 5 billion rubles. Viktoras Smagurauskas, chief
of the bank's accounting center, told Baltfax that the transfer
of this sum had indeed been suspended due to incorrect filing
of bank documents but the bank had sent a telegram to the Russian
Central Bank with the request to rewrite the payment orders.
(Saulius Girnius)

ESTONIA PROTESTS RUSSIAN SHIP. The Estonian Foreign Ministry
on 19 November protested the presence of Russian warships in
Estonian territorial waters, BNS reports. The protest, handed
that day to Russian Ambassador Aleksander Trofimov in Tallinn,
said the warships violated Estonia's sovereignty by entering
Estonian waters without permission. According to earlier BNS
reports, a Russian submarine and a destroyer were in the vicinity
of Ruhnu Island in the Gulf of Riga from 17 to 19 November. (Riina
Kionka)

YELTSIN PETITIONS FOR RELEASE OF PARFENOV. Baltfax reports that
on 17 November, Sergei Yastrzhembsky, director of the Russian
Foreign Ministry Press and Information Department, told a press
briefing that President Boris Yeltsin had sent a letter to Latvian
Supreme Council Chairman Anatolijs Gorbunovs asking him to intervene
personally into the case of former OMON deputy commander Sergei
Parfenov. Parfenov was arrested and deported to Latvia in October
1991. His trial is aggravating interethnic conflicts, and his
return to Russia "would be a positive factor on creating favorable
grounds for settling significant interstate problems, the letter
says. (Saulius Girnius)

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