No. 15, 25 January 1993

RUSSIA


CIVIC UNION VS YELTSIN; RUTSKOI VS FURTHER RAIDS AGAINST IRAQ.
Arkadii Volsky, leader of the Civic Union, said that he is "frightened"
by the haste Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin took in recently
reversing his decision on reestablishing price controls on many
basic goods, Interfax reported on 23 January. The industrial
lobby criticized the government for trying to artificially radicalize
reforms. Another leader of the Civic Union, Vice President Aleksandr
Rutskoi, criticized Russia's policy in the Persian Gulf telling
a RFE/RL correspondent on 23 January that Russia should veto
any UN Security Council decision that will lead to further military
action against Iraq. Alexander Rahr

RUSSIAN NATIONALISTS SUPPORT SERBIA. Dozens of prominent Russian
nationalist activists, including the writer Aleksandr Prokhanov,
the journalist Aleksandr Nevzorov, academician Igor Shafarevich,
the former dissident Vladimir Osipov, Pamyat leader Dmitrii Vasilev,
head of the Russian Congress Aleksandr Sterligov, leaders of
the National Salvation Front, Ilya Konstantinov, Gennadii Zyuganov
and others, have signed an appeal to the Russian people calling
for support for the Serbs. The appeal, published in Pravda on
21-January, referred to the war in former Yugoslavia as an intervention
into the Slavic world and stated the need to send volunteers
to fight on the side of the Serbs. It called upon the Russian
parliament to remove Russian Foreign Minister Andrei Kozyrev
from office for his "anti-Slav policy." Alexander Rahr

RUSSIA AND UKRAINE REMAIN AT ODDS OVER NUCLEAR WEAPONS. The leaders
of the four ex-Soviet states where strategic nuclear weapons
are stationed-Belarus, Kazakhstan, Russia, and Ukraine-could
not agree on the ownership of these weapons at the CIS summit
in Minsk on 22 January. Russia claims them, Belarus agrees, and
Kazakhstan seems willing to accept this, but Ukraine will not.
Ukrainian First Deputy Defense Minister Ivan Bizhan told ITAR-TASS
that the 23 May 1992 Lisbon Protocol, which committed the four
states to the START-1 treaty, named each of them as successor
states of the USSR, and not just Russia. Russian Defense Minister
Pavel Grachev told Interfax that Russian and Ukrainian military
experts would start verifying the composition of the strategic
nuclear forces in Ukraine on 26-January. He hoped that these
bilateral talks would led to a compromise so that the CIS heads
of states could approve the document on CIS strategic forces
at their next summit. Doug Clarke

RUSSIAN DEMONSTRATORS CONFRONT UKRAINIAN AUTHORITIES IN SEVASTOPOL.
Interfax reported on 24 January that hundreds of Russian demonstrators
were demanding the removal of the city's Ukrainian presidential
representative. A leader of the Republican Movement of the Crimea,
the movement that organized the protest, told the demonstrators
that the population of Sevastopol was engaged in a psychological
war with its Ukrainian leaders. Other speakers called on the
Russian parliament to place Sevastopol under Russia's jurisdiction.
Hal Kosiba

RUSSIAN BLACK SEA OFFICERS SPEAK OUT. Russian officers of the
Black Sea fleet held a meeting in Sevastopol on 21 January and
demanded that the "economic blockade" of the fleet be lifted
and its material and technical problems be immediately solved.
According to an Interfax report, the officers condemned the actions
of Rear Admiral Boris Khozin, the commander of the Ukrainian
Navy, which they claimed served to destabilize the fleet. Because
of the "conduct of the general staff of the Ukrainian Navy" they
demanded that the fleet headquarters be moved away from Sevastopol.
On 23 January, the Commander of the Russian Navy in an interview
in Nezavisimaya gazeta expressed concern over the continuing
uncertainty regarding the fleet. He suggested that many problems
could be resolved if the fleet's officers and NCOs were granted
dual citizenship. Doug Clarke and John Lepingwell

NEW TENSION IN BLACK SEA FLEET. A platoon of Black Sea Fleet
naval infantry on a training mission the night of 21/22 January
mistook a Ukrainian air defense facility near Sevastopol for
one of their own units and created a brief uproar when they assaulted
the facility with dummy arms and ammunition. ITAR-TASS on 22
January announced that the commander of the Black Sea Fleet naval
infantry commander had apologized to the colonel in charge of
the Ukrainian air defense brigade. Nevertheless, the press center
of the Ukrainian naval forces issued a protest, and warned sailors
of the Black Sea Fleet to be on their guard against "provocations,"
Ukrainian TV reported on 22 January. Relations were not so calm
at the Black Sea Fleet base at Izmail, a river port on the Danube
along the border with Romania. Mayak Radio on 23 January reported
that tension was growing in that garrison after a group of officers
and warrant officers, who earlier had taken an oath of allegiance
to Ukraine, seized a local fleet depot. Doug Clarke and Bohdan
Nahaylo

PROGRESS OF PRIVATIZATION IN RUSSIA. Anatolii Chubais, the Russian
deputy prime minister in charge of privatization, told Interfax
on 22 January that progress had been mixed in 1992. Whereas it
had been planned to sell off half of the state-owned firms and
enterprises by the end of the year, only 19% or 47,000 units
had been privatized. Chubais attributed this shortfall to bureaucratic
problems in processing the necessary documents. The total of
156-billion rubles was realized from the sales. Although Chubais
claimed that this was nearly twice as much as had been projected,
the figure was apparently couched in current prices and was therefore
much less in real terms than the target total. Keith Bush

DEMOCRATIC PARTY OF RUSSIA CALLS FOR EARLIER ELECTIONS. Leaders
of the Democratic Party of Russia, which is part of the Civic
Union, said they wanted the following question added to the 11
April referendum: "Do you think that the nation-wide presidential
and parliamentary elections should be held earlier on a multi-party
basis?" Interfax reported on 22-January. The referendum will
serve as a vote to decide which principles will be adopted in
the new constitution. The Democratic Party leaders claimed that
the earlier elections were necessary, because Yeltsin created
unconstitutional structures, putting his own close associates
in charge of them. The agency also reported that the position
of the Democratic Party of Russia was approved by another member-party
of the Civic Union-the People's Party of Free Russia. The Democratic
Party will reportedly try to get support on this issue from other
members of the Civic Union. According to the current schedule,
Russia's parliamentary elections will take place in 1995, whereas
presidential elections will be held in 1996. Vera Tolz

NEW PARLIAMENTARY MEDIA COMMITTEE CHAIR ELECTED. Vladimir Lisin
was elected chairman of the parliamentary committee on the media
at the 22 January sitting of the Russian parliament, various
Russian media reported. The post had fallen vacant after the
appointment of the previous incumbent, Vyacheslav Bragin, to
head the Ostankino Broadcasting Company. Lisin is a member of
the conservative "Rossiia" faction in the parliament and, before
becoming a people's deputy, had worked as a local correspondent
for Pravda. Reporting his appointment, Radio Rossii predicted
conflict between Lisin and the members of the media committee,
who had proposed another candidate for chairman. Commenting on
Lisin's election, a committee member suggested that parliament
might in future attempt further to curtail the independence of
the media committee by dissolving it in its current form. Wendy
Slater

INTERREGIONAL


SEVEN STATES SIGN CIS CHARTER. At the one-day summit of CIS heads
of states in Minsk on 22 January, seven states signed the draft
CIS charter, albeit some with reservations, ITAR-TASS reported.
As anticipated, Ukraine, Turkmenistan, and Moldova did not sign,
but all ten states signed a declaration in which they reaffirmed
their participation in the Commonwealth and their adherence to
its general principles. President Yeltsin said that the main
thing was that the declaration allowed those states that had
not signed to sign any time. In a gesture to Ukraine the declaration
states that economic questions are the most important at present.
Yeltsin seems to have been well pleased with this compromise
and decided to postpone submission of his plans for strengthening
the Commonwealth until the next summit in Erevan on 30-April.
Ann Sheehy

AGREEMENT ON INTERSTATE BANK, DEFENSE OF TAJIK-AFGHAN FRONTIER.
The most important concrete result of the summit was the signature
of an agreement on setting up an interstate bank which will simplify
transactions between member-states. To reach agreement, however,
the non-Russian member-states had to agree to Russia control
of the issuance of currency and also to Russia's having 50% of
the vote on the bank's board. Discussion of the situation in
Tajikistan resulted in the five other states that signed the
collective security agreement agreeing to send a battalion each
to help defend the Tajik- Afghan frontier. At the same time they
made plain that in time Tajikistan should be able to defend the
frontier itself. A number of other agreements were signed at
the summit, but little progress seems to have been made on the
creation of a CIS economic court or a declaration on human rights,
to which Ukraine, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan have objected.
Ann Sheehy

TRANSCAUCASIA & CENTRAL ASIA



CIS PEACEKEEPERS FOR TAJIKISTAN. Imomali Rakhmonov, Chairman
of Tajikistan's Supreme Soviet, told Interfax on 24 January that
four CIS motorized infantry battalions are to arrive in Dushanbe
within the next ten days. The decision to send CIS peacekeepers
to Tajikistan was taken at the CIS summit on 22 January. Rakhmonov
echoed statements of participants in the summit who saw the need
for CIS intervention in Tajikistan primarily in terms of protecting
the border with Afghanistan. Rakhmonov also reported that Kazakhstan
will provide 400,000 tons of grain to Tajikistan in 1993 to overcome
the acute food shortage that has resulted from the neglect of
agriculture during the 1992 fighting. Russia has promised food,
medicine and fuel. Bess Brown

RED CROSS SUPPLIES TO SOUTHERN TAJIKISTAN. The International
Red Cross has sent four truckloads of food and medical supplies
to southern Tajikistan where hunger has driven residents to eat
fodder grain, resulting in some 6,500 cases of hepatitis, Interfax
reported on 22 January. On 24 January First Deputy Chairman of
Tajikistan's Supreme Soviet Abdulmadzhid Dostiev told Interfax
that Afghan authorities refused to grant official status to a
commission he heads that is supposed to ensure the return to
Tajikistan of the thousands of Tajik refugees who have fled to
Afghanistan. Western reports from the Tajik- Afghan border region
indicate that repression of persons suspected of pro-Islamic
or opposition sympathies is continuing. Bess Brown

GAS PIPELINE EXPLOSION IN GEORGIA CUTS SUPPLIES TO ARMENIA. ITAR-
TASS reported on 23 January that the destruction of a gas pipeline
in Georgia had cut Armenia's gas supply in half. As a result
of the gas cut-off, in Erevan on 23 January newspapers did not
come out, the subway system did not open, and state radio remained
silent. It was estimated that it would take at least two weeks
to repair the pipeline. Georgian officials have not yet determined
the cause of the explosion. Hal Kosiba

CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPE



CROATIAN OFFENSIVE IN KRAJINA. Breaking a year-long truce, on
22 January Croatian forces launched an offensive against Serb-held
areas near the coast of southwest Croatia. The action sparked
condemnation from the UN and threats of intervention by the federal
Yugoslav army. Croatian President Franjo Tudjman told UN mediators
in Geneva that the intention is not to seize large areas of Serb-held
territory but only to secure a site for a bridge linking northern
and southern Croatia. Zagreb has expressed increasing impatience
to regain about one-third of the territory it lost to the Serbs
who unilaterally declared the creation of the Krajina Republic
in December 1991. After the Croat attack Serb commanders in the
Krajina announced a general mobilization and reminded the federal
Yugoslav army of its promise to intervene if Serbs came under
threat. Yugoslav army chief of staff Gen. Zivota Panic wrote
UN commander Gen. Satish Nambiar warning that the Yugoslav army
is ready to intervene. Serbian forces also raided UN protected
weapons storage depots in Croatia seizing tanks and artillery
pieces. Radios Croatia and Serbia carried the reports. -Milan
Andrejevich

TUDJMAN SAYS OFFENSIVE IS OVER. On 24 January fighting was reported
heavy around Zadar and UN officials expressed concern of an escalation
of the conflict and that it might affect the outcome of the Bosnian
peace process in Geneva. Later that day, Tudjman said the offensive
is over and that more than 120 Serbs and 10 Croats had died.
The deputy prime minister of the rump Yugoslavia, Radoje Kontic,
placed the toll higher saying that 500-civilians and 150 Serb
militiamen had been killed. Yugoslav President Dobrica Cosic
in a letter sent to the UN Security Council, wrote "we are now
at a turning point, either towards peace or total war. " -Milan
Andrejevich

BOSNIA PEACE TALKS RESUME. Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic
stated on 24-January that many things regarding the maps of the
future division of Bosnia- Herzegovina have now been clarified.
The internationally-mediated talks that resumed on 23 January
in Geneva produced an agreement that the Muslims, Serbs, and
Croats continue discussion over the boundaries of the ten provinces
on 25 January. Karadzic claimed Bosnian Serbs and Croats "patiently
and in a satisfactory way negotiated" over their boundaries.
The Muslims, however, remain unsatisfied. Alija Izetbegovic,
Muslim leader and president of Bosnia, said he cannot accept
these boundaries because they are conducive to "ethnic division,
or more precisely, to ethnic cleansing." A political adviser
to Cyrus Vance said on 24 January that a "certain shift had been
achieved and it was worthwhile to preserve an obviously existent
favorable climate at the negotiations." Radios Bosnia and Serbia
carried the reports. -Milan Andrejevich

BELGRADE RELEASES ROMANIAN SHIPS. The Romanian Transport Ministry
announced on 22 January that authorities in Belgrade have released
three Romanian tugboats with their barges after detaining them
for three weeks in apparent retaliation for Romania's enforcement
of UN sanctions against the rump Yugoslav state. In a statement
broadcast by Radio Bucharest, the ministry said that three other
vessels are waiting for permission to leave Yugoslav ports. The
developments came a day after the Serbian tugboat Bihac, towing
six barges, managed to continue through Romanian waters by threatening
to blow up a cargo of 6,000 tons of fuel if stopped. On 23 January
three more Serbian tugboats and 24 barges left the Romanian port
of Braila, claiming that they were returning to Reni, Ukraine,
where they were loaded. Later they changed direction, heading
for Yugoslavia. -Dan Ionescu

"REGULAR" BORDER WITH SLOVAKIA. Czech Interior Minister Jan Ruml
said in an interview with Czech TV on 23 January that the border
between the Czech Republic and Slovakia should "have the same
character as the one with Austria, Germany, and Poland." Ruml
argued that until there is a "real Czech-Slovak border," it is
impossible for the Czech Republic to have all attributes of a
fully sovereign state. He made it clear that such a measure will
not be directed against citizens from Slovakia, but against citizens
from third countries. Ruml also announced that his ministry,
along with the Czech Ministry of Defense, is prepared to close
down the border with Slovakia immediately, in case the Czech
government decides on the end of monetary union between the two
republics. Czech Deputy Prime Minister Ivan Kocarnik explained
that such a measure could become necessary to avoid "speculative
transfers of money" between the Czech Republic and Slovakia.
Lidova demokracie reported on 23 January that the republics will
introduce separate currencies on 6 and 7-February. -Jan Obrman


CONTROVERSY OVER SLOVAK COURT APPOINTMENTS. First Deputy Chairman
of the Slovak Parliament, Peter Weiss, criticized Prime Minister
Vladimir Meciar for naming judges to the Constitutional Court
last week in the absence of a state president. Meciar responded
by telling Slovak Radio on 22 January that only the Constitutional
Court judges themselves can decide on whether his decision to
appoint them before a Slovak president is elected is constitutional
or not. According to a law adopted by Parliament on 20-January,
however, Constitutional Court judges are barred from ruling on
cases that involve their own interests. Moreover, Parliament
passed a resolution on 21 January asking the government to postpone
any decision on the naming of the judges for the time being.
Meciar made it clear that he paid tribute to the parliament's
recommendation by postponing the naming by two hours. He added
that he selected the judges according to his conscience and that
the new judges commanded the support of the different parties
represented in parliament. -Jan Obrman

PUNISH "DISINFORMATION," MECIAR SAYS. In an interview with Slovak
Radio on 22-January, Meciar called for sanctions against people
"who knowingly and intentionally spread wrong information about
Slovakia and its government abroad." He warned that Slovakia
will soon adopt a new penal code that will introduce a "totally
new definition of punishable offenses." Meciar explained that
"if someone speaks of civil unrest, promotes fighting, or calls
for civil disobedience," it has nothing to do with freedom of
opinion. He added that "any society has the right to defend its
interests." -Jan Obrman

CSURKA ON SLOVAK-HUNGARIAN BORDER. In an interview published
by the Slovak daily Praca on 23-January, Istvan Csurka, the outspoken
former deputy chairman of the ruling Hungarian Democratic Forum
called for a change of the Slovak-Hungarian border. Slovakia,
he says, has changed the border unilaterally by moving forward
on the Gabcikovo hydroelectric project. Csurka argued that the
Yalta agreements will expire in 1995 and that it will be necessary
to start negotiating new ways of cooperation in Europe, in which
context it "will be possible to address the question of borders."
Csurka also expressed the opinion that the Hungarian minority
in Slovakia is oppressed and that, in general, the situation
of minorities in Hungary is better than that of minorities in
Slovakia. Meanwhile, Slovak Foreign Minister Milan Knazko told
journalists on 23 January that Slovakia has no territorial claims
against any neighbor. -Jan Obrman

ANTALL REELECTED AS PARTY CHAIRMAN. MTI reported on 23 January
that Prime Minister Jozsef Antall was reelected unanimously over
an indirect extremist challenge by Istvan Csurka at the Hungarian
Democratic Forum's sixth national meeting. Although Antall was
the only candidate, there had been speculation about a movement
to draft Istvan Csurka. In a speech that won stormy applause
from the delegates, Csurka said that real changes have not yet
taken place in Hungary and that all [political and economic]
transformations that have so far taken place could be reversed
in two hours' time. Csurka also warned the delegates that if
the HDF does not institute more radical political changes, the
party's chances in the spring 1994 general elections will be
slim. Antall, in contrast, called for party unity, stressing
that Hungary's political transformation has already passed the
most difficult phase. Antall's reconfirmation took place without
a direct clash between moderates and extremists, so the stalemate
between the center-right HDF moderates and the extremist Csurka
followers continues. Csurka was elected to sit in the 20-member
party presidium. The three-day meeting also endorsed an amended
party platform and operational regulations. -Karoly Okolicsanyi


POLISH GOVERNMENT LOSES PENSIONS VOTE. Confusion in the ranks
of the government coalition led to the defeat of a pension bill
considered essential to limiting the 1993 budget deficit. The
bill would have reduced the indexing of pensions from 100% to
91% of the average wage. It had survived an earlier motion to
dismiss in December only because television cameras had captured
footage of deputies voting for absent colleagues, prompting a
new ballot on the issue. Coalition forces voted down an initial
attempt to throw out the bill altogether on 23 January, by a
margin of seven votes. But, after an amendment was approved raising
the indexing rate from 91% to 95%, coalition deputies lost their
bearings and a second vote to reject the bill passed by a margin
of 145 to 129. Government officials said that 100% indexing would
cost the budget an unaffordable 13 trillion zloty ($823 million);
sheepish coalition deputies immediately submitted a new 91% pensions
bill. -Louisa Vinton

SEJM ON HUMAN RIGHTS, LOCAL GOVERNMENT. In other parliamentary
business the Sejm on 22 January voted to continue work on President
Lech Walesa's proposed human rights charter. It rejected further
consideration of an "economic rights charter" backed by the postcommunist
parties; most deputies felt the draft charter offered social
guarantees that even wealthy states can ill afford. On 23 January
the Sejm voted to pursue the decentralization of state authority
by restoring the self-governing "powiat," the institution of
local administration that was dissolved in 1975. The government's
plenipotentiary for local administration issues pledged that
pending "special powers" will not be used to effect local government
reforms. -Louisa Vinton

SUCHOCKA CALLS COALITION TO ORDER. Amidst interparty friction
and complaints of disorganization, Prime Minister Hanna Suchocka
called a meeting of coalition party leaders on 22 January. Solidarity
caucus leader Bogdan Borusewicz also attended. According to Polish
TV, Suchocka demanded greater autonomy in personnel decisions.
"My decisions cannot simply be the sum of the decisions of individual
parties," Suchocka told reporters. The coalition apparently agreed
to Suchocka's request. Coalition parties also offered unanimous
support for the government's request for decree power. The prime
minister denied rumors that Justice Minister Zbigniew Dyka and
Environment Minister Zygmunt Hortmanowicz would be dismissed.
Still, cabinet changes may be imminent, as Suchocka informed
the coalition parties of her criteria for assessing ministerial
performance. -Louisa Vinton

BULGARIA AND DECOMMUNIZATION. There have lately been conflicting
signals on which direction Bulgaria will go on the issue of decommunization.
Prosecutor General Ivan Tatarchev told an RFE/RL correspondent
on 21 January that he is preparing "the case of his life" against
excommunists, whom he considers guilty of "national treason."
Tatarchev spoke of two "attempts to betray Bulgaria," the first
being the 1946 communist policy to persuade citizens in southwest
Bulgaria to declare themselves ethnic Macedonians. The second
is former president Todor Zhivkov's proposal to integrate Bulgaria
with the USSR, for which Tatarchev said he now has evidence.
However, a 21 January parliamentary decision to prohibit the
disclosure of secret police files will probably hamper decommunization
efforts. According to the amendment of the penal code, anybody
who spreads information related to the activities of the secret
police can be sentenced to three years in jail. In the case of
a government official or if the information is spread by mass
media, the jail term may be up to six years. The amendment also
precludes the issuing of documents proving that politicians and
state officials never collaborated with the State Security, a
procedure introduced by the previous government. -Kjell Engelbrekt


UKRAINE AND THE CIS. On 23 January Radio Ukraine reported that
the declaration signed by 10 countries taking part in the CIS
summit in Minsk was proposed by the Ukrainian delegation. The
version proposed by the Russian delegation, which is said to
have unequivocally supported the draft CIS charter, was rejected
by Ukraine, Turkmenistan, and Moldova. Ukraine argued that it
did not fully take into account the interests of the CIS member
states. The Ukrainian alternative, which emphasizes that an economic
agreement among the CIS member states should take priority, was
later signed by the 10 countries. -Roman Solchanyk

UKRAINIAN REFORMISTS ACCUSE COMMUNISTS OF COUP ATTEMPT. At a
press conference called by the democratic "People's Council"
fraction of Parliament on 21 January, participants characterized
developments in Parliament on 20 and 21 January as an "attempt
at a parliamentary coup" by former communists, DR-Press reported
on 22 January. The latter are reported to have demanded that
Ukraine sign the CIS charter, legalize the banned Communist Party,
and reject the government of Prime Minister Leonid Kuchma and
the parliamentary presidium. -Roman Solchanyk

LEBED URGES TERRITORIAL CHANGES IN MOLDOVA. Lt.-Gen. Aleksandr
Lebed, commander of Russia's 14th Army in Moldova, warned in
Pravda of 20 January that hostilities may resume "at any moment"
in the city of Bendery on the right bank of the Dniester and
called for a referendum to determine whether the city should
belong to Moldova or to the left-bank "Dniester republic". Largely
Russified under Soviet rule, Bendery is currently controlled
by the Russian insurgents who have pressured part of the Moldovan
population into leaving the city. At stake along with the city
is a large surrounding rural area on the right bank, claimed
by the "Dniester republic" and infiltrated by its forces. In
the same interview, Lebed called for the "Dniester republic's"
accession to the Russian Federation under a status similar to
that of Finland within Tsarist Russia. However, Lebed strongly
implied in his interview that the independence of Moldova as
a whole was only a temporary phenomenon and predicted that the
Moldovan leaders will face criminal prosecution. -Vladimir Socor


SWEDEN TO HELP FINANCE BALTIC NAVIES. At a 22-January Riga press
conference reported by Baltfax, the commander of the Latvian
navy announced that the Swedish government has decided to provide
10 million kronor ($1.4 million) to help restore the navies of
the three Baltic States. Gaidis Zeibots noted that Sweden has
a vested interest in these republics having strong maritime borders
in view of the recent incidents of refugees attempting to enter
Sweden after crossing the Baltic Sea. Zeibots was speaking just
prior to a meeting of naval officials from Estonia, Latvia, and
Lithuania who were scheduled to discuss naval cooperation among
the three. -Doug Clarke

CSCE COMMISSION CONCLUDES BALTIC VISIT. On-23 January a CSCE
delegation headed by High Commissioner on Minorities Max van
der Stoel ended its series of four- day visits to each of the
Baltic States and departed for Moscow, Baltfax reports. Meetings
were held with the presidents of Estonia, Lennart Meri, Latvia,
Anatolijs Gorbunovs, and Lithuania, Algirdas Brazauskas, their
foreign ministers, and other parliamentarians and representatives
of the national minorities. At a press conference in Vilnius
Van der Stoel said that the national minorities in Lithuania
are in a better position than in the other two republics because
of the citizenship law in that country. -Saulius Girnius

LATVIAN JUSTICE MINISTER RESIGNS. On 19 January Viktors Skudra
handed his resignation to Prime Minister Ivars Godmanis, Baltic
media reported on 23-January. Skudra, who will continue to fulfill
the ministerial duties until a replacement is found, said that
his resignation was prompted by what he termed as the negative
attitude of the government and parliament toward the judiciary.
-Dzintra Bungs

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