No. 235, 08 December 1992

SUCCESSOR STATES TO THE USSR

HARDLINERS AGAIN FAIL TO CURTAIL YELTSIN'S POWERS. Hardliners
have failed for a second time to get the Congress to approve
a constitutional amendment which would require President Boris
Yeltsin to obtain parliamentary approval of his cabinet members
before they could begin their official duties, ITAR-TASS reported
on 7 December. Congress had rejected that amendment on 5 December,
but parliamentary speaker Ruslan Khasbulatov told Congress that
the vote had to be repeated due to "technical errors" which occurred
during the first vote. Khasbulatov complained that Deputy Prime
Minister Sergei Shakhrai had improperly participated in the voting
because he previously had announced his resignation from parliament.
But the measure failed again to garner the two thirds majority;
this time the proposed amendment failed by a much wider margin
than on 5 December. (Alexander Rahr)

CONGRESS PASSES AMENDMENT ON LAND OWNERSHIP. On 7 December, the
Congress of People's Deputies approved a final version of a constitutional
amendment regulating the private ownership of land, Interfax
reported. The existing constitution contains no provision for
private land ownership, but there is a Russian law that permits
private persons to buy and sell land-but only if they do so with
the state. The final version of the amendment passed on 7-December
reportedly allows land owners to mortgage their property and
to sell to individuals and corporations provided that there is
no change in the use of the land. None of the other amendments,
including one imposing a ban on the sale of land to foreigners,
was passed. (Keith Bush)

RUSSIAN SPEAKERS DEMONSTRATE IN KAZAKHSTAN. Interfax reported
on 7 December that some 15,000 demonstrators in Ust-Kamenogorsk
demanded that Russian be recognized as a state language in Kazakhstan
alongside Kazakh and that dual citizenship be recognized in the
country. The demonstrators also demanded East Kazakhstan Oblast
to be granted self-determination rights in language, culture
and exploitation of natural resources. A resolution adopted by
the demonstrators threatened the recall of East Kazakhstan's
deputies in the Supreme Soviet in Alma-Ata if their demands are
not met. This appears to be the first instance of major Russian
dissatisfaction since Kazakhstan became independent. (Bess Brown)


CONGRESS CALLS FOR EXAMINATION OF SEVASTOPOL'S STATUS. The Congress
of People's Deputies on 7 December called upon the Supreme Soviet
to examine the status of Sevastopol, according to Interfax. Supporters
of the resolution claimed that Sevastopol, home port of the Black
Sea Fleet, should have a distinct status, in accord with a Russian
parliament decree of October 29, 1948, which granted it special
administrative status. The Ukrainian foreign ministry criticized
the resolution the same day, pointing out that it would not help
Russian-Ukrainian relations and was not consistent with CSCE
and UN principles on the integrity and inviolability of borders.
(John Lepingwell)

UKRAINE TO GET TWO MORE WARSHIPS. The commander in chief of the
Ukrainian Navy, Vice Admiral Boris Kozhin, has revealed that
his service will soon acquire two more warships. According to
Interfax on 4 December these will be an escort destroyer and
a landing ship, both built in shipyards on the Crimean Peninsula.
The Ukrainian Navy currently has but one ship of its own. The
admiral revealed that in the longer term, it would have 100-ships,
including a missile cruiser. (Doug Clarke)

GRACHEV ADDRESSES CONGRESS ON RUSSIAN SECURITY POLICY. In a closed
session on 5 December, the Congress of People's Deputies heard
reports from Defense Minister Grachev and Foreign Minister Kozyrev.
Interfax on 7 December reported that Grachev called for "a moratorium
on the army's involvement in politics for the sake of stabilization
and Russia's revival." Responding to doubts about the military's
political orientation, Grachev went on to note that "The army
has been and will be on the side of the people, law and the Constitution.
The army serves the motherland and that says everything." On
more concrete topics, Grachev reiterated his call for a new doctrine
that would incorporate nuclear weapons to deter war, as well
as rapid-response mobile formations to fight in conventional
conflicts. Grachev also expressed concern over the lack of planning
in the Russian government for the withdrawal of Russian troops
from the Baltic States. He argued that either the troops should
be pulled out immediately, or firm social guarantees should be
provided during a more protracted withdrawal period. (John Lepingwell)


CONGRESS PASSES RESOLUTION ON SECURITY POLICY. On Monday, 7 December
the Congress of People's Deputies debated and passed a resolution
on Russian security policy. The resolution reportedly embodied
many of the new doctrinal concepts endorsed by Grachev, but also
criticized the slow progress in reaching military and withdrawal
agreements with the former Soviet republics. The plan is to include
details of the new Russian doctrine, as well as projected force
levels and specifics on methods of recruiting and assigning troops,
according to Interfax and AFP reports of 6 and 7 December. (John
Lepingwell)

CONGRESS DEADLINE ON CONVERSION. The Congress of People's Deputies
on 7 December gave the government until 31 March 1993 to submit
a program for conversion of the defense industry to the Russian
parliament, AFP reported. Since December 1988, several programs
have been published dealing with the conversion of the Soviet
and Russian defense industry. These have all been flawed, and
little progress has been recorded. The latest one, contained
in the draft "Program for Deepening the Economic Reforms" of
June 1992, has not been approved by the parliament. (Keith Bush)


GAIDAR TO BE NOMINATED TODAY. The Congress of People's Deputies
postponed its vote on the prime minister until today, ITAR-TASS
reported on 7-December. Andrei Fedorov, an aide to Vice President
Aleksandr Rutskoi, told Western news agencies on 7 December that
the Civic Union would accept Egor Gaidar as prime minister if
other reformist cabinet members, like Foreign Minister Andrei
Kozyrev, were sacrificed. But many deputies believe that even
if the Congress rejects Gaidar, President Yeltsin would retain
him as acting prime minister for up to three months, buying time
for a possible referendum on disbanding the Congress. Ostankino
TV on 6 December cited an opinion poll which showed that 40%
of those Russians questioned thought that Gaidar's cabinet should
resign. (Alexander Rahr)

RUSSIA ASKS WESTERN GOVERNMENTS FOR RESCHEDULING OF DEBTS. Russian
Foreign Economics Minister Petr Aven disclosed on 7 December
that Russia has formally asked Western governments for a rescheduling
over the next 10 years of a large part of the debt of the former
USSR, Interfax reported. The request was made in response to
a proposal by the creditor governments at the Club of Paris session
in November. The external debt of the former USSR at the end
of 1991 is estimated to have been $65.3 billion. This had risen
to $70.7 billion by May 1992. Russia has assumed responsibility
for the entire debt of the former USSR. (Keith Bush)

KURIL ENTERPRISE ZONE. On 30 November, just before the expiration
of special presidential powers granted to him by the Congress
of People's Deputies in 1991, President Yeltsin signed a decree
creating a special economic zone on the Kuril island group. According
to ITAR-TASS and Radio Rossii, the decree effective as of 7 December,
allows local authorities to lease land to foreign investors for
up to 99 years. It also creates special import-export privileges
for enterprises within the zone. The decree does not alter the
administrative status of the islands. (Keith Bush)

INDICTMENT ON AUGUST 1991 COUP CASE READY. The indictment of
14 former top Soviet officials who allegedly took part in the
failed coup attempt of August 1991 was presented to Russia's
prosecutor general on 7 December, according to Western agencies.
By Soviet law, within 14 days after an indictment is signed,
a "regulatory" court hearing must determine whether the available
evidence warrants a trial, and if so, where and when the trial
will take place. Aleksandr Frolov, the chief investigator in
the case, said on "Itogi," a program on Ostankino TV, that Anatolii
Lukyanov, the speaker of the Soviet Parliament, was not the leader
of the coup; rather, the chief organizer was a relatively unknown
industrialist, Aleksandr Tizyakov. During the TV program, Frolov
read from a memorandum written by Tizyakov, in which the latter
advised fellow-plotters to use the Soviet Union's economic problems
to discredit Russia's democratically-elected officials. (Julia
Wishnevsky)

PROPOSAL FOR RUSSIANS TO SERVE IN OTHER ARMIES. The Congress
of People's Deputies on 7-December passed a decree calling on
the President to quickly negotiate agreements with the other
republics of the former USSR on the status of Russian military
forces on their territories. It would also allow Russian officers
and enlisted men to serve in the national military forces of
other former-Soviet republics on a contract basis, Interfax reported.
These arrangements would last until the end of 1999 provided
the other republics come to bilateral agreements with Russia.
The government was given until 31 March 1993 to submit a program
to the parliament on the development of the armed forces and
the conversion of the defense industry to civilian production.
(Doug Clarke)

SHEVARDNADZE FOR MILITARY SOLUTION IN ABKHAZIA? On 7 December
ITAR-TASS quoted Georgian parliament chairman Eduard Shevardnadze
as stating on Georgian radio that all political means for resolving
that Abkhaz crisis have been exhausted, and therefore "extreme
measures" are needed to bring about a solution in the shortest
possible time, after which Georgia is prepared to provide "real
autonomy" for Abkhazia. Russian Deputy Defense Minister Georgii
Kondratev denied claims by the Press Center of the Georgian Military
Command that Russian SU-25 military aircraft attacked Sukhumi
in the early morning of 7-December, according to Interfax. Kondratev
went on to deny that Russian troops had intervened at any point,
on either side in the ongoing Abkhaz conflict. (Liz Fuller)

NEW ISLAMIC PARTY FOUNDED IN AZERBAIJAN. The Voice of the Islamic
Republic of Iran (i.e. the international service of Tehran Radio)
reported on 6-December the official founding of the Islamic Party
of the Republic of Azerbaijan, which according to its head has
a membership of 50,000. The aims of the new Islamic party are
said to be the revival of Islam and national culture and the
maintenance of the independence and unity of the Republic of
Azerbaijan. (Liz Fuller)

FIGHTING CONTINUES NEAR DUSHANBE. ITAR-TASS reported on 7 December
that fighting between pro-Communist forces from Gissar and the
Islamic-democratic "Popular Democratic Army" defending Dushanbe
was continuing near the Tajik capital. Both sides accused each
other of breaking the ceasefire agreement reached during the
Supreme Soviet session in Khudzhand. An appeal by the Military
Council of the defenders of Dushanbe to the new Chairman of Tajikistan's
Supreme Soviet and to Presidents Boris Yeltsin and George Bush
was read on Tajik TV on 6-December; it warned of the danger that
pro-Communist fighters will seize Dushanbe, and asked the new
government to start working in the capital. (Bess Brown)

DISPUTE OVER CONSTITUTION IN KYRGYZSTAN. The current session
of Kyrgyzstan's Supreme Soviet is debating a draft of a post-independence
constitution for the country. President Askar Akaev describes
the draft under discussion as corresponding more closely with
democratic principles than did an earlier version that was rejected
after the president and legislature failed to agree on it. Interfax
reported on 7-December that instead of proclaiming adherence
to universal moral values, the wording should read "adherence
to the moral values of Islam and other religions." KirTAG-TASS
reported that some legislators want a phrase inserted stating
that no one's civil rights will be limited because of lack of
knowledge of the state language. (Bess Brown)

MOLDOVA NOT TO SIGN CIS CHARTER. Moldovan President Mircea Snegur
told journalists in Chisinau on 7 December, according to Interfax,
that "with every passing day, from one meeting of the heads of
[CIS member] states to the next, the desire of certain state
leaders to return to the organization of the former USSR is becoming
increasingly apparent." Chisinau sees the charter as potentially
turning the CIS into a new state structure, Snegur said, adding:
"Moldova can not have anything in common with such theories and
will not sign the CIS charter." (Vladimir Socor)

MOLDOVAN PRESIDENT CRITICIZES ROMANIAN CALLS FOR UNIFICATION.
Moldovan President Mircea Snegur told journalists in Chisinau
of his concern over recent statements by Romanian officials anticipating
unification with Moldova, Interfax reported on 7 December. "Such
statements only lead to the destabilization of the situation
in the republic . . . Unification, if it ever takes place, can
only be decided by the people of Moldova," Snegur said. He particularly
criticized Romanian Undersecretary of State for Foreign Affairs
Adrian Dohotaru's statement to Reuters predicting unification
within 8 years. However, Snegur's decision to go public appeared
to have been precipitated by the more recent statements of Romania's
new Foreign Minister, Teodor Melescanu, who on 28 November and
5 December criticized Moldova's lack of enthusiasm for unification.
(Vladimir Socor)

REFUGEES ON TAJIK-AFGHAN BORDER. Around 80,000 refugees from
the fighting in Tajikistan have gathered near the Afghan border
in a series of camps along the Amu Darya, ITAR-TASS reported
on 7 December, quoting Western reports based on International
Red Cross information. The camps lack food and medical supplies;
Red Cross efforts to bring supplies, apparently from Afghanistan,
are complicated by the continuing fighting in Tajikistan. It
is unclear if the refugees are those who were forced back across
the Tajik border about two weeks earlier. (Bess Brown)



CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPE

COALITION BUILDING BEGINS IN SLOVENIA. Radio Slovenia and international
media report on 7 December that with some 80% of the vote counted
seven parties will be represented in Slovenia's 130-seat two-chamber
parliament. They are the Liberal Democratic Party, the Christian
Democrats, the Unity List, the National Party, the People's Party,
the Democratic Party, and the Greens. Milan Kucan was reelected
as president, winning some 64% of the vote. The task of creating
a coalition government has started. Prime Minister Janez Drnovsek,
head of the Liberal Democrats, held talks with leaders of the
parliamentary parties. Zmago Jelincic, head of the ultranationalist
Slovenian National Party, said that while he would join any coalition,
he would have trouble cooperating with the Liberal Democrats
and especially with the United List because of their former communist
background. The elections held on 6-December were Slovenia's
first since gaining independence in June 1991.(Milan Andrejevich)


PANIC CAMPAIGNING IN SERBIA. Radio Serbia and Radio B92 reported
on 7 December that Serbia's Supreme Court, considering an appeal
from federal Prime Minister Milan Panic after he was twice rejected
by the electoral commission for not being a resident of the republic
for one year, has referred the question to the Serbian parliament,
which is dominated by Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic's
excommunist Socialist Party (SPS). According to Radio B92, Parliament
only needs to amend part of the law on residential restrictions
in order to enable Panic to run. But if the entire law is stricken,
hundreds of thousands of Serb refugees from Croatia and Bosnia
would gain the right to vote-which could benefit Milosevic. Ironically,
such an amendment was first proposed by the opposition in September.
The SPS has said publicly that Panic should be allowed to run
"in order to shatter his illusions that he has the backing of
the Serbian people." Opposition parties have stepped up pressure
on the authorities, warning they will boycott the elections and
organize demonstrations throughout Serbia if Panic is not allowed
to run. (Milan Andrejevich)

MORE TALK ABOUT INTERNATIONAL INTERVENTION IN EX-YUGOSLAVIA.
Western agencies on 7 December reported from Brussels that NATO
officials are studying means of sending "a signal that we are
serious about Kosovo." An alliance official told newsmen that
the US and other NATO countries are looking for ways to prevent
the ongoing conflict from spilling over into the Serbian-controlled
area, which has a more than 90% Albanian majority. Also in Brussels,
Dutch representatives told a meeting of EC ministers that UN-authorized
intervention in Bosnia is becoming "inescapable" and that the
price of inaction "gets higher by the week." A minimum program
for intervention seems to be enforcing the no-fly zone over the
republic and setting up "safe havens" for refugees and victims
of ethnic cleansing. (Patrick Moore)

US "DISMAYED" BY BUGGING IN BRATISLAVA CONSULATE. State Department
spokesman Richard Boucher told journalists on 7 December that
the "US government is dismayed to find listening devices in the
Consulate General in Bratislava" and added that "this kind of
activity cannot be helpful to the bilateral relationship," various
news agencies reported. Boucher said that it is not clear whether
the devices were planted before or after the toppling of the
communist regime in Czechoslovakia and made it clear that the
Czechoslovak and Slovak governments have been urged to provide
Washington with full details. He also said that the US government
expects assurances that such activities will not continue. Boucher
also said that he hoped the relations between the US and the
new Slovak state would not suffer because of the incident. (Jan
Obrman)

FORMER INTERIOR MINISTER SAYS US KNEW OF DEVICES. In an interview
with RFE/RL on 7-December, former Czechoslovak Interior Minister
Jan Langos said that his ministry informed US diplomats of all
listening installations planted by the former communist State
Security Agency in buildings used by US diplomats in Czechoslovakia.
Langos said that the US Embassy was informed "in detail" of all
measures undertaken since the toppling of the communists to dismantle
the devices. He added that it was "virtually impossible that
US staff members could recently have discovered any active bugs."
His statements did not rule out the theoretical possibility that
new devices had been planted after November 1989, however. (Jan
Obrman)

CHURKIN ON RELATIONS WITH CZECH REPUBLIC, SLOVAKIA. Russian Deputy
Foreign Minister Vitalii Churkin said on 7 December that Russia
will help Czechoslovakia's successor states join the international
community, ITAR-TASS reports. Churkin said that Russia is ready
to give a "quick and positive" answer to the expected request
for establishing diplomatic relations with the Czech Republic
and Slovakia. He also said, however, that Russia hopes for understanding
and some patience on the matter of its debt to Czechoslovakia.
(Jan Obrman)

POLAND'S "LITTLE CONSTITUTION" TAKES EFFECT. The package of constitutional
amendments designed to clarify the balance of power among president,
parliament, and government took force on 8 December. The "little
constitution" allows the government to request the right to impose
decrees with the force of law; creates a new five-step procedure
for forming the government, with the first move clearly the president's
prerogative; protects the government from frivolous votes of
no confidence; and replaces the formerly supreme position of
the parliament with a tripartite balance of power among the executive,
legislative and judicial branches. President Lech Walesa signed
the bill into law on 17 November, despite complaints that the
"little constitution" deprives him of the right to move for the
dismissal of the government. (Louisa Vinton)

STRIKE AT POLAND'S "STAR" TRUCK PLANT. The Solidarity local at
the Starachowice truck factory declared an occupation strike
on 7 December after the government opted not to grant the firm
15 billion zloty ($1 million) in credit. Bankruptcy has long
threatened the Star plant, which has debts of 800-billion zloty
($52 million); plant officials say there is only enough cash
either for the payroll or for parts necessary for production.
The strike has the management's implicit support. The plant is
the only major employer in a town of 60,000. Visiting another
industrial trouble spot, the Jelcz bus factory in Wroclaw, Deputy
Prime Minister Henryk Goryszewski criticized Poland's public
transportation firms for making 80% of their purchases abroad
in 1991. "Where the chance to build a modern product exists,
the state has an obligation to support domestic production,"
Goryszewski said. (Louisa Vinton)

ATTACKS ON ETHNIC ROMANIAN INSTITUTIONS IN HUNGARY REPORTED.
On 7-December the Romanian press devoted a great deal of space
to two incidents last week regarding Hungary's Romanian minority.
On 4 December Radio Bucharest reported that the Romanian Greek-Catholic
church in Magyarcsanad had been vandalized and the Romanian high
school in Gyula had several windows broken. Adevarul described
the incidents on 7-December as "a serious challenge to Romanian-Hungarian
ties" and accused the Hungarian media of having reacted slowly
to them. Another Bucharest daily, Curierul romanesc, published
the protest of Vatra Romaneasca, the extreme nationalist organization,
against a statement by Reformed Bishop Laszlo Tokes, who had
suggested that the incidents might have been a "well-devised
provocation." Both Hungary's President Arpad Goncz and Prime
Minister Joszef Antall issued statements on 4 December deploring
the incidents. (Dan Ionescu)

US TO SELL MILITARY TECHNOLOGY TO HUNGARY. Hungarian Defense
Minister Lajos Fur and US Ambassador in Budapest Charles Thomas
told a press conference on 7 December that Hungary will be the
first former Warsaw Pact country to receive military technology
from the US, MTI and Western agencies report. The US will sell
Hungary aircraft identification systems valued at $12.9 million
to equip 118 military aircraft. The sale was made possible through
a bilateral military agreement concluded about a year ago. (Edith
Oltay)

HUNGARY TO SEND AID TO SOMALIA. Prime Minister Jozsef Antall
told parliament on 7-December that President George Bush has
asked Hungary to participate in the humanitarian aid program
in Somalia, MTI reports. Antall said that Hungary is ready to
help with health and transportation related tasks and also to
take over some limited military tasks if parliament approves.
While stressing the special significance for Hungary of participating
in such humanitarian efforts, Antall said that any aid to neighboring
countries would be handled with extreme caution and Hungary would
never participate in an aid action involving Yugoslavia. (Edith
Oltay)

FIRST DAYS OF BULGARIAN CENSUS. BTA reports on 7 December that
the first four days of a nation-wide census of population and
housing has proceeded relatively well. Although the last such
poll was held in 1985, it is the first time since 1965 that minorities
are being asked to identify themselves. Bulgarian nationalists
have opposed the census on the grounds that questions about ethnicity,
religion, and mother tongue could prompt unrest among minorities
and eventually threaten the unity of the state. So far the 52,000
pollsters seem to have had most problems in regions with mixed
population of Christians and Bulgarian Muslims (Pomaks), where
young Muslims have been learning Turkish to assert their religious
identity. One incident has been reported from Pirin Macedonia,
where police on 4-December arrested an activist of Ilinden, the
illegal pro-Macedonian organization, as he put up a poster calling
on Bulgarian Macedonians to recognize themselves as an ethnic
unit distinct from Bulgarians. The census is scheduled to end
on 14 December. (Kjell Engelbrekt)

FOREIGN EXPERTS INSPECT KOZLODUY. On 7-December a group of 40
international and Bulgarian experts made an inspection tour of
the Kozloduy nuclear power plant. Yanko Yanev, chairman of the
Bulgarian Atomic Energy Committee, told Reuters that the team
is expected to approve the restart of Kozloduy's second reactor
unit, which until recently was undergoing repair. Two weeks ago
the experts delivered a report that Yanev says is "generally
positive" about the plant's safety. Other BAEC officials said
that over 140 improvements had been carried out over the past
year at a cost of $21 million. On 8-December the New York Times
said a US engineering company estimates that the safety level
at the four oldest reactors could be brought to a "reasonable"
level for $30 million each. (Kjell Engelbrekt)

ESTONIAN-RUSSIAN ECONOMIC TALKS STOPPED. Vello Kaarlup of Estonia's
Trade Ministry told ETA on 4 December that the Estonian-Russian
trade and economic cooperation talks have stopped for the time
being and that Estonia is waiting for reply to a memorandum sent
by its Economics Minister Ants Saarmann to Russia's Economics
and Foreign Trade Ministries. An Estonian-Russian free trade
accord was concluded on 7 September and appendices to the agreement
were sent to Russia on 20-September. (Dzintra Bungs)

RUSSIAN CONGRESS ON TROOP WITHDRAWAL FROM THE BALTICS. BNS reported
on 7-December that the Congress of People's Deputies has adopted
a resolution recommending that the President quickly complete
negotiations with the former Soviet republics-the Baltic States
in particular-and conclude agreements on the withdrawal or temporary
presence of Russian troops. The resolution also states that Russia
may, with appropriate agreements, contribute to the formation
of national military forces of the former Soviet republics and
that the Russian military may serve in those armies. (Dzintra
Bungs)

AMBARTSUMOV ON TROOP WITHDRAWAL FROM LITHUANIA. Evgenii Ambartsumov,
head of the International Affairs and Foreign Economic Relations
Committee of the Russian Supreme Soviet, told a closed session
of the Congress of People's Deputies that some agreements on
the pullout of Russian troops from Lithuania have not been endorsed
by the Defense and Foreign Ministries. He said that as a result,
serious matters concerning the protection of the interests and
safety of servicemen had been overlooked. Noting that "moderates"
now hold power in Lithuania, Ambartsumov said that a different
approach to the Baltic States concerning military matters must
be found, Baltfax reported on 7 December. (Dzintra Bungs)

CONTROVERSY OVER RUSSIAN EMBASSY IN RIGA CONTINUES. Russian Foreign
Ministry official Aleksandr Udaltsev said that if the Latvian
authorities do not turn over the former USSR embassy in Riga
without delay, appropriate measures will be taken with Latvian
diplomats in Moscow, BNS reported on 4 December. The Russians
proposed that Latvia and Russia conclude an agreement effective
1-January 1993 on the rental of the Latvian embassy in Moscow
that is similar to agreements with other foreign missions. Latvia
still has not relinquished the former Soviet embassy building
in Riga which is currently occupied by Ministry of Culture. The
Russian diplomats had hoped to start work in the building on
1-October. (Dzintra Bungs)

[As of 1200 CET]

Compiled by Hal Kosiba & Charles Trumbull