No. 13, 21 January 1993

RUSSIA



RUSSIAN CABINET MOVES TO COUNTER HYPERINFLATION. At a news conference
after the cabinet meeting on 20 January, Deputy Prime Ministers
Boris Fedorov and Anatolii Chubais warned of the imminent threat
of hyperinflation, Russian and Western agencies reported. Retail
prices could rise by 55-60% in January. Referring to proposed
countermeasures, Fedorov spoke of a "tough discussion" within
the cabinet and forecast a battle with the parliament. The proposals
included the setting of quarterly ceilings for the budget deficit,
doubling interest rates on savings deposits, reducing subsidies
to inefficient enterprises, and issuing government bonds to finance
the budget deficit. Fedorov hopes to bring inflation rates down
to 5% a month and the budget deficit down to 5% of the GNP by
the end of 1993. Keith Bush

KHASBULATOV AND CHERNOMYRDIN MEET LOCAL LEADERS. Both the Russian
Prime Minister, Viktor Chernomyrdin, and the parliamentary speaker,
Ruslan Khasbulatov, held meetings on 20 January with leading
members of Russia's Union of Governors (the influential body
uniting the local leaders in Russia's regions). ITAR-TASS reported
that during the discussions, which covered, among other topics,
the Federation Treaty, members of the Union expressed their concern
that Russia's regions did not have the same political weight
as the constituent republics of the Russian Federation. Chernomyrdin,
however, called for the institution of regular meetings between
the Union of Governors and members of the cabinet, and for closer
co-ordination between the central and local governments, since,
he said, the Russian government was shifting the emphasis of
its reform program to the regions. Wendy Slater

RUSSIAN NEO-COMMUNISTS PLAN REVIVAL. Over 1,000 initiative committees
were already working towards the revival of communist party structures
in preparation for the second congress of the Communist Party
of Russia (CPR), due to take place in Moscow on 13-14 February,
Valentin Kuptsov, chairman of the congress's organizing committee,
said at a press conference reported by Russian TV on January
19. Following the Constitutional Court's November ruling lifting
the ban of the CPSU, Russia's communist parties have accelerated
their plans for a revival, but Kuptsov denied that they were
carrying out propaganda among active members of the security
services, and noted that members of the CPR had to become accustomed
to the fact that they belong to an opposition and not a ruling
party. However, it was clear that not all communist sympathizers
planned to participate in the forthcoming congress; in particular,
Nina Andreeva's All-Russian Communist Party of Bolsheviks have
categorically refused to attend. Wendy Slater

NEW WARNING ABOUT CHERNOBYL. A European Community team has examined
the Chernobyl nuclear power station and found it unfit to operate
by Western safety standards, Reuters reported on 20 January.
One of the experts told a news conference in Hamburg that "it
is not responsible to keep this plant in operation." The reactors
lack fire protection doors to keep any blaze from spreading and
their safety systems are not physically separated, making them
liable to being knocked out at the same time. The cost of required
safety improvements is put at about DM 60 million. Keith Bush


RUSSIA'S NUCLEAR POWER PLANTS. An Interfax report on 19 January
suggests that Russia's nuclear power plants are in need of repair.
One bloc in each of the Novovoronezh, the Kalinin, the Smolensk
and the Kursk nuclear power plants are currently closed for repairs,
and within the last week four incidents took place at different
power stations; three of the problems were resolved within one
day, but one resulted in a bloc at the Kalinin plant being closed
for major repairs. -Sheila Marnie.

RUSSIAN ARMY BIGGEST PEDDLER OF WEAPONS. A unnamed military official
was quoted by "Rossiiskie vesti" on 19 January as saying that
Russian military personnel are the primary suppliers of black
market weaponry on the territory of the former USSR, particularly
in the Caucasus region. According to AFP, the official said that
the breakup of the Soviet Union had led to a loss of control
over the army's weapons inventory, and that the reorganization
of the Russian army since last spring has complicated the situation
further. He claimed that some 25,000 firearms have disappeared
over the last six months, including 21,000 in the Caucasus. Stephen
Foye

INVESTIGATION OF CORRUPTION IN WESTERN GROUP OF FORCES. The former
chief of Control Administration at the Russian President's Office
Yurii, Boldyrev, has submitted to President Yeltsin a report
recommending that several generals of the Western Group of Forces
(WGF) be stripped of rank for corruption and embezzlement, Radio
Rossii reported on 15-January. Boldyrev has headed a joint investigative
commission led by officials from the Ministries of Security and
Defense, the Russian Prosecutor's Office, and the Russian Central
Bank. According to the investigation, some of the WGF generals
set up in Germany, Poland, and Russia illegal commercial firms
connected with organized crime and the black market. Typical
of these activities is the illegal export from Germany to Poland,
and thence to Russia of food and alcohol products in short supply
or unobtainable in Russia; in addition, military supplies are
also sent for black market sale in Russia. The total sum of these
supplies sold at free market prices by military wheeler- dealers
has reached DM 100 million, according to the report. -Victor
Yasmann

COMPROMISE ON DATE OF ELECTION OF INGUSH PRESIDENT. The Presidium
of the Russian parliament decided on 20 January that the election
of the president of Ingushetia should take place on 28 February
and the election of the Ingush parliament on 11 April, ITAR-TASS
and Interfax reported. A congress of the Ingush people on 17
January had decided that the presidential election should be
held on 24 January. This had been opposed by the interim administration
in North Ossetia and Ingushetia on the grounds that the election
should take place when things were more settled in the area.
The administration had proposed 11 April instead. -Ann Sheehy


MOSCOW COMPLAINS ABOUT LOST EXPORT REVENUES. Andrei Kushnirenko,
identified by Interfax on 20 January as the First Deputy Head
of the Division of Strategy and Support of Exports of the Russian
Foreign Economic Relations Ministry, said that constraints faced
by Russia in the sale of rocket technology could cost Moscow
up to $200 million annually. Kushnirenko, who was complaining
over the failure of Moscow and Washington to reach a compromise
on a dispute over interpretation of the rocket technology control
regime, charged that the US was trying to drive Russia from the
international market in this area of technology. The two sides
have clashed especially over Moscow's efforts to sell rocket
technology to India. Stephen Foye



INTERREGIONAL


FOREIGN MINISTERS DISCUSS AGENDA FOR CIS MINSK SUMMIT. At a meeting
in Minsk on 20 January the CIS foreign ministers discussed the
agenda for the CIS summit on 22 January, ITAR-TASS and Interfax
reported. The Belarusian Foreign Minister Petr Kravchenko said
that the draft CIS charter would be on the agenda, and that he
thought that it would be approved. The Ukrainian and Turkmen
delegations repeated, however, that their countries had reservations
about the charter. Russian Foreign Minister Andrei Kozyrev said
that the creation of an interstate bank, which was to have been
one of the important items to be discussed, had been dropped
because it required more work. Kozyrev added that Yeltsin would
come to Minsk "with a solid package of fundamental ideas and
proposals on strengthening the CIS. Perhaps this will be the
doctrine of the CIS." Ann Sheehy

DISCORD OVER STRATEGIC FORCES PROPOSAL? THE SECRETARY OF THE
CIS COUNCIL OF DEFENSE MINISTERS, LEONID IVASHOV, SAID ON 20
JANUARY THAT A PROPOSAL TO REDEFINE THE COMPOSITION OF THE CIS
STRATEGIC FORCES WAS LIKELY TO BE DISCUSSED AT THE SUMMIT IN
MINSK, SCHEDULED FOR 22 JANUARY. Ivashov, in Minsk for a meeting
of the Council of Defense Ministers, was quoted by ITAR-TASS
as saying that the CIS joint forces command had acceded to the
wishes of most of the CIS national defense ministries that strategic
forces would be comprised only of units and objects possessing
and storing strategic nuclear weapons and units serving them.
Ivashov said that this would include primarily strategic nuclear
missile forces, naval and air forces, and some anti-aircraft
units. He also said that each CIS state would independently determine
the list of strategic forces on his territory. However, an Interfax
report, also dated 20-January, said that the Russian military
leadership had clashed with the CIS command over both its definition
of strategic forces and over the provision that each CIS state
be allowed to determine which units on its territory were to
be classified as strategic. Stephen Foye

GRACHEV DEPARTS EARLY FROM FRANCE. Russian Defense Minister Pavel
Grachev cut short a visit to France that had been scheduled to
end on 22 January and returned to Moscow on the evening of 20
January, Interfax reported. Defense Ministry spokesman reportedly
told Interfax that Grachev wanted to fly to Minsk to take part
in the meeting of CIS defense ministers. According to an ITAR-TASS
report out of Paris on 20-January, Grachev expressed satisfaction
with his three-day visit to France, and said that several agreements
promoting contacts between military personnel from the two countries
had been signed during his visit. Stephen Foye

TRANSCAUCASIA & CENTRAL ASIA



TAJIKISTAN AT CIS SUMMIT. Tajikistan's head of state, Supreme
Soviet Chairman Imomali Rakhmonov, told Interfax on 20 January
that his country needs CIS aid in the form of food, medical supplies
and construction materials, and he wants the situation in Tajikistan
to be added to the agenda of the CIS summit. Rakhmonov also plans
to make a plea for common CIS defense of the Tajik-Afghan border.
He promised that some 3,000 Tajiks will be drafted in 1993 for
border guard duty and said that creation of a Tajik army is a
top priority of the new government. The previous day Interfax
reported the appointment of Colonel Aleksandr Shlyapnikov, who
has served in Uzbekistan's Defense Ministry, to be Tajikistan's
Minister of Defense. Bess Brown

TAJIKISTAN STILL HOPES FOR FOREIGN INVESTMENT. Tajik Prime Minister
Abdumalik Abdullodzhonov told Interfax on 20 January that Tajikistan
needs foreign investment to rescue its economy from the near-collapse
caused by the civil war in 1992. In order to bring production
levels up to those of 1985-86, the country will need over 200
billion rubles and two to three years, Abdullodzhonov said. His
reform program aims at the development of small and medium businesses
while continuing state support for large enterprises; a major
element in the program is development of non-ferrous metallurgy
and mining of precious stones. Existing defense industries are
to be converted to gold refining, though Tajikistan intends to
continue manufacturing weapons. Bess Brown

CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPE



BOSNIAN SERBS APPROVE PEACE PLAN. On 20-January the assembly
of the self- proclaimed Serb Republic in Bosnia-Herzegovina voted
overwhelmingly to approve an internationally-mediated peace plan,
thus paving the way for a resumption of talks in Geneva on 22
January. Fifty-five deputies voted in favor and 15-against with
one abstention. The plan envisions the division of Bosnia into
10 provinces loosely governed in a federated state. Radio Croatia
reports that the Serbs were reluctant to accept the plan until
their leaders emphasized that the vote does not mean they will
abandon their goal of eventual creation of a greater Serbia.
Radovan Karadzic, president of the "Serb Republic," told the
assembly the acceptance of the plan is a "step closer to peace"
and added that any final agreement reached during the resumption
of talks in Geneva will be put to a referendum. -Milan Andrejevich


REACTIONS TO BOSNIAN VOTE. The Muslim-dominated Bosnian government
greeted the vote with skepticism. Kemal Muftic, advisor to Bosnia's
President Alija Izetbegovic, told reporters the Serbian acceptance
would mean "the rejection of everything they have done-and they've
committed a lot of atrocities in the name of a concept they're
now rejecting." The president of rump Yugoslavia, Dobrica Cosic,
said that he now hopes for a change in attitude by "those who
prescribe sanctions against Serbia." Vojislav Seselj, the leader
of the nationalist Serbian Radical Party, said that the Serbs
have "gained some time and avoided new criticism by the international
community." Germany, Britain and the EC all have cautiously welcomed
the Bosnian Serbs' vote. Danish foreign minister Uffe Ellemann-Jensen,
representing the EC said the words must be rapidly followed by
deeds. Radio Serbia and international media carried the reports.
-Milan Andrejevich

BOSNIAN CROATS, MUSLIMS AGREE TO CEASE-FIRE. Radio Bosnia reports
on 20-January that UN-EC mediators Cyrus Vance and Lord Owen
have brokered a cease-fire in Sarajevo between warring factions
of the Bosnian Croat and Muslim armies in southwestern and central
Bosnia. The two sides have been fighting more than a week over
control of certain provinces designated either Croat or Muslim.
The announcement came shortly after the Bosnian Serbs approved
the peace plan. A spokesman for Bosnian Croat leader Mate Boban
told reporters that he had ordered Croat forces to stop firing
at Muslim positions but warned that Croat forces will defend
themselves if attacked. The spokesman added that all available
Croat forces are needed to face the Serbs and warned that only
the Serbs would profit from disunity among Croats and Muslims.
Some Croat and Muslim leaders suggest the Serbs are instigating
the clashes. -Milan Andrejevich

"WHO KILLED DONALD DUCK?" SINCE 17 JANUARY BELGRADE MEDIA HAVE
BEEN EXTENSIVELY REPORTING ON THE WALT DISNEY CORPORATION'S DECISION
TO BAN PUBLICATION OF ITS COMIC STRIPS IN SERBIA-MONTENEGRO AND
THE LIKELY SOCIOLOGICAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL IMPACT ON THE COUNTRY'S
CHILDREN. Politika, which has run the Donald Duck series since
1932, showed an astonished Donald in chains with Mickey Mouse
crying, "Sanctions Banish Mickey and Donald." Independent radio
B92 commented, "the psychological impact of this ban is greater
than any of the other UN-imposed sanctions." The latest cover
of the independent weekly Vreme is headlined "Who Killed Donald
Duck?" and depicts a dazed Donald being shot in the back of the
head from a cannon on a model frigate. -Milan Andrejevich

MACEDONIA AND RECOGNITION. With the UN Security Council scheduled
to review the Republic of Macedonia's request for recognition
soon, both Greece and Macedonia have sent high-ranking representatives
to the UN to promote their respective cases. In the meantime,
Reuters reported on 20 January that Greek officials were critical
of Danish foreign minister, Uffe Ellemann-Jensen, whose country
currently holds the presidency of the European Community, for
saying that the EC is being held hostage by Greece over the Macedonian
recognition issue and that such efforts undermine EC solidarity.
Macedonia has also complained that a Greek warplane violated
its airspace on 20 January, the second such incident in 10 days.
-Duncan Perry

REGISTRATION OF LITHUANIAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES ENDS. On 21
January Vaclovas Litvinas, chairman of the Lithuanian presidential
election commission, told a press conference that only two of
the seven candidates nominated for the race presented the required
20,000 signatures supporting their candidacies by the 20 January
midnight deadline, Radio Lithuania reports. The two are Lithuanian
Democratic Party Chairman Algirdas Brazauskas and Ambassador
to the US Stasys Lozoraitis. Lozoraitis is supported by both
right and center parties, but preelection polls make Brazauskas
the favorite. -Saulius Girnius

PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES IN THE CZECH REPUBLIC AND SLOVAKIA. On
20 January the Left Bloc, a coalition of leftist parties dominated
by the Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia, nominated Marie
Stiborova, a communist deputy in the Czech parliament, as its
candidate for the post of Czech President. CTK describes Stiborova
as a 43-year-old biochemistry expert with a degree from Charles
University. Also on the 20th, the extreme-right Republican Party
nominated its leader, Miroslav Sladek, for the post of president.
Both candidates will be running against former Czechoslovak President
Vaclav Havel. Czech parliamentary leaders have recommended that
the presidential vote be held on 26 January. The presidential
elections in Slovakia are also to be held on the same day. The
official candidates for the post of Slovak president are Prime
Minister Roman Kovac, nominated by the ruling Movement for a
Democratic Slovakia, Jozef Prokes, (Slovak National Party), Milan
Ftacnik (Party of the Democratic Left), and Anton Neuwirth (Christian
Democratic Movement). -Jiri Pehe

DISMISSAL OF SLOVAK TV NEWS DIRECTOR. Nineteen deputies in Parliament,
mostly members of the nationalist Slovak National Party, signed
a statement on 20 January expressing support for Bohuslav Piatka,
the news director of Slovak TV, who was fired on 19-January.
Piatka, who shared the view of Prime Minister Vladimir Meciar
that the media should provide what Meciar has termed "a true
picture of Slovakia," was hired in October 1992 to replace Jan
Fule, a journalist who was opposed to Meciar. CTK reports that
according to the management of Slovak TV, Piatka was fired because
news broadcasts were of low quality and servile in their attitude
toward the government. Fule said that Piatka was fired because
Slovak television had become a "joke in our country and abroad."
The nineteen deputies who protested against the firing of Piatka
blamed the dismissal on opponents of the split of Czechoslovakia,
whom they called "federalist mafia." Piatka has been replaced
by 26-year-old Martina Kyselova, who told Reuters on 20 January
that for the time being she intends to continue Piatka's practice
of giving the government free access to television. -Jiri Pehe


POLAND CHAFES AT GERMAN ASYLUM LAW. Polish concern about the
consequences of Germany's new restrictions on political asylum,
which are expected to take effect before April, was evident during
bilateral talks held in Warsaw on 18 and 19 January. Under the
new law, asylum-seeking foreigners arriving in Germany from "safe"
countries, including Poland, would be deported to the countries
from which they came. During the talks, described as "frank and
informal," Polish officials said they stressed that the two countries'
interests differ. As quoted by Rzeczpospolita of 20-January,
deputy internal affairs minister Jerzy Zimowski said that the
Polish side asked "why a rich country wants to impose its social
problems on poorer countries." Germany faced 440,000 asylum requests
in 1992, the German side argued, while Poland had only 532. The
German side claimed that over 100,000 asylum-seekers entered
Germany from Poland; Polish officials said the number was under
30,000. Foreign Minister Krzysztof Skubiszewski told reporters
on 21 January that Germany will have to provide financial assistance
if it begins deporting people to Poland. -Louisa Vinton

MELESCANU OPTIMISTIC ABOUT RELATIONS WITH HUNGARY. On 20 January
Romanian Foreign Minister Teodor Melescanu told an RFE/RL correspondent
in Bucharest that he believed relations with Hungary are "on
the threshold of rapid improvement." Melescanu said that his
assessment is based on new and positive developments in negotiations
with Hungarian Foreign Minister Geza Jeszenszky. He also said
that he was gratified by the progress in negotiations for a basic
bilateral treaty between Hungary and Romania, but added that
formal recognition of Romania's present border with Hungary was
necessary for completion of that treaty. -Dan Ionescu

HUNGARIAN INTERIOR MINISTER CALLS FOR STRONGER EXECUTIVE. On
20 January Minister of the Interior Peter Boross told a conference
evaluating his ministry's work that the country's internal transformation
and geopolitical situation require "a state with the capacity
to act and that is capable of protecting the citizens," MTI reports.
He called for a reform of public administration that would increase
executive authority while at the same time avoiding the dangers
of centralization. Boross stressed that public administration
plays an important role in preserving political stability and
should be free of party political influences. -Edith Oltay

SIEMENS INVESTS IN BULGARIA. The Germany-based electronics giant
Siemens has founded a joint venture in Bulgaria, Western agencies
reported on 20-January. Together with Incoms Telecom Holding,
located in Sofia, Siemens will manufacture digital telecommunications
technology. The new company, which is called Digicom, plans to
start production in 1994. Siemens will hold 40% of the shares
in this, its ninth joint venture in Eastern Europe and the former
Soviet Union.-Kjell Engelbrekt

HUMAN RIGHTS IN UKRAINE, BELARUS, MOLDOVA,-.-.-. In its annual
report to Congress on the status of human rights around the world,
the US State Department says Ukraine made "significant progress"
in 1992, including establishment of a multiparty system and legislation
to protect the civil and political rights of minorities- and
despite many bureaucratic obstacles, the lack of a constitution
to replace that of the Soviet era, and the inability of the legislature
to function independently of the executive branch. Specific human
rights problem areas mentioned in the 19 January report are ethnic
tensions, especially in the Crimea, cases of intolerance between
religious groups, and limitations on freedom of expression. In
Moldova too, the situation has generally improved, the report
says, but questions concerning ethnic minorities "remain pressing,"
and complaints of job discrimination in the government against
nonspeakers of Romanian have been raised. Widespread allegations
of human rights abuses in the contested Transdniester region
are difficult to verify and are probably exaggerated by both
sides, the report says. Despite what the report called "the limited
extent of political reform" in Belarus, the country has progressed
in human rights. Two problem areas singled out were freedom of
the press and the continuing high level of dependence of the
Belarusian economy on that of Russia. -Charles Trumbull

.-.-. AND THE BALTICS. The State Department report notes that
the three Baltic States have all reestablished themselves as
sovereign, independent, and democratic states since 1991 and
have moved to end Soviet-era human rights abuses. All three states,
however, are grappling with the problem of keeping their native
languages and cultures predominant while not stepping on the
rights of minorities, notably the large number of Russians who
settled in the area after World War II. Estonia, the report notes,
reinstituted its 1938 citizenship law under the terms of which
most non-ethnic Estonians-some 38% of the population-were not
able to qualify for citizenship at the time of the constitutional
referendum and parliamentary elections. Similarly, in Latvia,
the State Department finds the unresolved status of the Russian
residents, possibly numerous enough to control the balance of
power in the country, to be the paramount human rights issue
and the cause of "exacerbated tensions" among ethnic groups there.
Both here and in Lithuania, new language laws are cited as potential
levers for discrimination in jobs and elsewhere. In addition
to the Russians, Lithuania is grappling with its sizable ethnic
Polish population with whom relations "remain strained," the
report says. -Charles Trumbull

MORE HESITATION IN KIEV ON START RATIFICATION. Parliament Vice
Chairman Vasyl Durdinets said on 20 January that Parliament considers
security guarantees offered to Ukraine by the US and Russia to
be insufficient for ratification of the START-1 Treaty, Western
agencies report. Durdinets said that deputies want written guarantees
on Ukraine's security, greater financial help for dismantling
missile sites in Ukraine, and compensation from Russia for the
uranium in the dismantled warheads. He added that consideration
of START-1 is not on the agenda of the current parliamentary
session, which means that ratification could not come until after
the end of February. -Stephen Foye

KUCHMA ON UKRAINIAN ECONOMIC CRISIS. Reeling off a long list
of statistics on the economy, Prime Minister Leonid Kuchma told
Ukrainian lawmakers on 20 January that "the reality today is
a total, complex state crisis." The economic depression of 1990-92,
he said, has now evolved to the point where "the very degradation
of the socioeconomic structure of society has begun." Kuchma
addressed a special meeting of Parliament that was convened under
pressure from conservative deputies demanding closer integration
within the CIS and a rollback of the government's market-oriented
economic reform. Democratic deputies are boycotting the session.
Kuchma's remarks were carried by Radio Ukraine. -Roman Solchanyk


UKRAINE ADOPTS NEW DECREE ON PRIVATIZATION. The Cabinet has passed
a new package of decrees related to economic reform, Interfax
and the Wall Street Journal reported on 20 January. The most
important of these decrees calls for the transformation of a
large number of state enterprises into joint-stock companies
by 1 July 1993. Prime Minister Viktor Penzenyk says that initially
the State Property Fund will control these companies until shares
are placed into private hands. Workers will have first opportunity
to acquire shares. Public auctions, which apparently will be
open to foreigners, are to follow. -Erik Whitlock

MOLDOVAN-UKRAINIAN MILITARY AGREEMENT. Adding to the information
on the Moldovan-Ukrainian agreement for military cooperation
initialed on 18-January in Chisinau, Moldovan Defense Minister
Pavel Creanga told Interfax on 19 January that the accord also
covers training in Ukraine of Moldovan officers and repairs in
Ukraine of Moldovan military equipment. In December 1992 Moldova
signed an agreement with Romania on military cooperation the
most salient point of which appears to be training of Moldovan
officers in Romania. The agreement with Ukraine seems more far-reaching
than the known provisions of the agreement with Romania and,
in any case, reflects Moldova's policy of cooperating militarily
with both neighbors. -Vladimir Socor

WITHDRAWAL OF RUSSIAN TROOPS FROM LITHUANIA. Col. Stasys Knezys,
government commissioner for the army withdrawal, said on Lithuanian
TV that 61 of the 288 units stationed in the republic have left
the republic and the number of troops has decreased from 35,000
to 10,000, BNS reported on 20 January. He attributed the decrease
in the number of railroad cars for the withdrawal requested by
the Soviet army from 1,000 in December to 160 in January not
as an indication of a slowdown, but the difficulties of relocation
under winter conditions. A Lithuanian delegation headed by Gediminas
Serksnys will hold talks with Russian Foreign Ministry officials
headed by senior adviser to its Analysis and Forecast Department
Rudolf Alekseev in Moscow on 21 January. -Saulius Girnius

NO PROGRESS AT LATVIAN-RUSSIAN TALKS. An RFE/RL corespondent
in Riga reported on 20 January that the most recent round of
Latvian-Russian talks on issues related to the withdrawal of
Russian troops from Latvia ended a day early because of lack
of progress. The Latvian side was especially disappointed with
the Russian side's continued unwillingness to specify a date
for the completion of the withdrawal process, though it was pleased
that at least some agreements were reached in the discussion
of certain minor issues. -Dzintra Bungs

[As of1200 CET] Compiled by Hal Kosiba & Charles Trumbull