No. 16, 26 January 1993

RUSSIA



YELTSIN: US TENDS TO DICTATE POLICY. Asked during a press conference
on 25-January in Moscow about Russia's attitude toward the use
of force in diplomacy, Russian President Boris Yeltsin said that
"the United States has a certain tendency to dictate its own
terms," ITAR-TASS reported. Yeltsin stressed that Russia had
its own opinion about such issues as [the former] Yugoslavia.
"We believe, in any case, that it is better to conduct a political
dialogue with Iraq, and as I see it, President Clinton is now
more inclined to follow that kind of policy." Meanwhile, CIS
Commander-in-Chief Marshall Evgenii Shaposhnikov expressed disapproval
on 25 January of US-led raids against Iraq, saying "in my view,
not all means have been exhaused to restore peace in the Gulf
region including actions that could have been initiated by the
United Nations and its Security Council." Suzanne Crow

RUSSIA CALLS FOR SANCTIONS AGAINST CROATIA. Deputy Foreign Minister
Vitalii Churkin said on 25-January that Moscow will bring up
the issue of introducing sanctions against Croatia at the United
Nations for consideration if Croatia "does not stop military
activities against the Serbs." A Russian Foreign Ministry statement
of the same day said that "The Croatian side already for a long
time has ignored bans on flights and air space in Bosnia and
Herzegovina and is supplying weapons to this republic." The statement
also referred to Croatian attacks on areas protected by UN forces,
and it expressed concern about the zones where Russian peacekeeping
forces are stationed, Interfax reported on 25-January. Russia's
ambassador to the UN, Yulii Vorontsov, said on 25 January following
UN discussions of Croatian attacks in Serbian Krajina that "Zagreb
not only is refusing to restore the status quo and to withdraw
from the territories seized during its invasion but also is striving
to expand the areas of combat actions," ITAR-TASS reported. Suzanne
Crow

SHAPOSHNIKOV AGAIN SAYS EX-SOVIET NUKES SHOULD BE RUSSIA'S. At
a 25 January press conference reported by Interfax, CIS commander-in-Chief
Marshal Evgenii Shaposhnikov reiterated his claim that Russia
should be the sole owner of former Soviet strategic nuclear weapons-a
position disputed by Ukraine. Shaposhnikov stated that Belarus
has already transferred its nuclear forces to Russian jurisdiction
and Kazakhstan has agreed in principle to do the same. Ukraine
has agreed to allow the Russian Defense Ministry and the CIS
Joint High Command to check on the technical condition of the
weapons in Ukraine. Negotiations on the dismantling of nuclear
warheads from Ukraine, possible compensation for their fissile
materials, and the composition of strategic forces are to begin
on 26 January. Shaposhnikov suggested that as compensation Russia
might give Ukraine nuclear fuel equal to the value of the fissile
materials in the warheads minus the costs of removing and dismantling
them. -Doug Clarke and John Lepingwell

NEW RUSSIAN BANKNOTES ISSUED. On 25 January, the presidium of
the Russian parliament approved the introduction of new banknotes,
ITAR-TASS reported. The issue commenced on 26 January. The new
bills are in denominations of 200, 500, 1,000, and 5,000 rubles,
and do not bear the portrait of Lenin. They will be circulated
along with the existing ruble notes. The aim of the new issue
is purportedly to reduce counterfeiting. Keith Bush

HARD-CURRENCY SALES TO BE LIMITED. Effective 1 March, Russian-made
goods may be sold only for rubles, Interfax reported on 25 January.
The regulation by the Russian Central Bank stipulates that stores
with an appropriate license will be allowed to sell imported
goods for foreign currency but will be obliged to accept rubles
on demand for these goods at an exchange rate to be determined
by the seller. Hotels, bars, restaurants, and transportation
undertakings will be allowed to charge hard currency from foreigners.
Keith Bush

HOW REFORMIST IS RUSSIAN GOVERNMENT? DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER BORIS
FEDOROV TOLD OSTANKINO TV ON 24 JANUARY THAT HE INTENDS TO PRESERVE
THE COURSE OF FORMER ACTING PRIME MINISTER EGOR GAIDAR. Fedorov
said that Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin, First Deputy Prime
Minister Vladimir Shumeiko, and Deputy Prime Minister Georgii
Khizha are all committed to implementing market reforms. A less
radical reformer is Deputy Prime Minister Yurii Yarov. He accompanied
parliamentary speaker Ruslan Khasbulatov to Kemerovo, where the
latter again called for the removal of the government. Radio
Rossii on 24-January quoted Yarov as saying that the government
will soon present a new anti-crisis program to the parliament;
in some respects, this program will be far less radical than
the one pursued previously by Gaidar. Alexander Rahr

FILATOV SUPPORTS DEMOCRATS. The newly appointed head of the Administration
of the President, Sergei Filatov, told Ostankino TV on 24 January
that he wants to make the work of the consultative bodies of
the President, such as the Political-Consultative Council, which
includes leading academics as well as reformist politicians and
the Council of Heads of Republics, more effective. He stated
that his presidential administration will now better serve the
needs of these bodies. He spoke also in favor of setting up a
council of heads of administrations. Alexander Rahr

LATEST RUSSIAN UNEMPLOYMENT FORECASTS. Officials from the Russian
Federal Employment Service have again predicted that unemployment
will rise steeply in 1993. On 22-January Fyodor Prokopov, head
of the Employment Service, predicted that there will be between
four to six million unemployed by the end of the year, according
to a Reuters report on the same day. Other specialists from the
employment service have forecast that unemployment will rise
three fold in Moscow, four fold in Volgograd, and five fold in
Karelia, according to ITAR-TASS on 25 January. There were 577,00
registered unemployed in December 1992, giving an unemployment
rate of 0.8%. Russia is currently benefitting from international
assistance in developing employment services. One example of
this is the new German-funded employment bureau which opened
in Moscow last week. Sheila Marnie

MOSCOW'S MAYOR REPORTS ON PRIVATIZATION, BUDGET, CRIME. Moscow's
Mayor, Yurii Liukov, has stated that 310,000 of the city's flats
were privatized in 1992, and by February the number is expected
to total 500,000, according to AFP on 25-January. By the end
of 1992, 9600 shops and enterprises had been privatized. Liukov,
however, called for the centre of Moscow to be given back to
the Muscovites, since real estate deals over the past months
have meant that the centre is being depopulated. In 1992 3.3
million people or about one third of Moscow's inhabitants were
given social assistance, which cost the city 30 billion rubles.
Last year Moscow spent 181 billion rubles, although its planned
budget was 68 billion rubles. The planned budget for 1993 is
920 billion rubles. Sheila Marnie

RUSSIA'S BIRTH RATE DROPS; INFANT MORTALITY RATE RISES. In 1992
the number of deaths exceeded births in Russia for the first
time since the second World War, according to Reuters on 21 January.
The Russia Deputy Health Minister Nikolai Vaganov reported that
in 1992, 11 babies were born per 1000 people, while the death
rate increased to 12 per 1000. Vaganov attributed the lower birth
rate to the drop in living standards of most Russian families.
Starting in 1993, Russia is adopting World Health Organization
(WHO) standards for the estimation of its infant mortality rate,
and this could raise the number of registered infant deaths by
at least 20%. In 1992, 17 out of every 1000 newborns died. Sheila
Marnie

HARD LIFE FOR CHILDREN IN RUSSIA. Excerpts from a report of the
UN Committee on Children's Rights, published in Komsomolskaya
pravda on 21 January, paint a sorry picture of children's health
in Russia. According to the report up to 20% of young children
suffer from chronic illnesses, and only 10-14% of children start
school in full health. 60% of young children show signs of rickets
or hypertrophy, and 10% of anemia. Out of every 1000 children,
20 die within one year of birth. In 1992 there were 30% less
births than in 1987, and there are more than three million children
being brought up in single parent families. 30% of schools in
the country are in need of repair; and 6% are in a state of collapse.
The number of child drug addicts now totals 7,000. -Sheila Marnie.


TRANSCAUCASIA AND CENTRAL ASIA



NIYAZOV AND SHAPOSHNIKOV ON AID TO TAJIKISTAN. At the 22 January
CIS summit, Turkmenistan's President Saparmurad Niyazov refused
to sign a common statement on sending CIS peacekeepers to Tajikistan.
On 25 January, Niyazov explained that he had refused to sign
because he believes the Tajiks should solve their own problems
and put their own house in order, ITAR-TASS reported. Somewhat
similar sentiments were expressed the same day by CIS Commander-in-Chief
Evgenii Shaposhnikov, who was quoted by Interfax as saying that
Tajikistan needs humanitarian rather than military aid; a group
of CIS officers is being sent to Tajikistan to help create a
Tajik army. Bess Brown

CONSTITUTIONAL DEBATE IN KAZAKHSTAN. After weeks of public discussion
of a draft constitution for Kazakhstan, the country's legislature
has begun an article-by-article debate of the draft, Interfax
reported on 25 January. Fourteen opposition parties are circulating
an appeal for the adoption of the constitution to be deferred
until after the election of a new parliament because, in their
view, the present Supreme Soviet, elected in 1990, does not reflect
Kazakhstan's present political spectrum and the draft contains
no reliable guarantees against usurpation of power because it
provides for neither impeachment of the president nor dissolution
of parliament. Bess Brown

KYRGYZSTAN'S DEMOCRATIC PARTIES FORM BLOC. Eleven parties and
movements in Kyrgyzstan have united with the objective of ensuring
that there is no return to dictatorship, Topchubek Turgunaaly,
head of Erkin Kyrgyzstan, one of the most influential self-designated
democratic parties told Kyrgyzkabar-TASS on 25 January. Turgunaaly
expressed concern about the effect of the institution of akim
(local governor appointed by the president) on the process of
democratization in Kyrgyzstan. When this post was created, local
soviets were abolished giving the akims quasi-dictatorial powers.
Bess Brown



INTERREGIONAL


DETAILS ON CIS BANK RELEASED. ITAR-TASS reported more details
on the interstate bank of the Commonwealth of Independent States
(CIS) on 25-January. Representatives of all the CIS states signed
documents on 22 January creating the body which is to carry out
multilateral clearing of international financial accounts for
the region. The bank will be founded in Moscow with an initial
founding capital totaling five billion rubles contributed by
its members. It will have the right to restrict or close the
accounts of those members who violate payment obligations. Any
state can withdraw from participation in the bank with six months
advanced notice of its intention to do so. The accounts will
be denominated in rubles with some clearing between countries
settled in hard currency. -Erik Whitlock

CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPE



CROATIA OFFERS SERBS TRUCE. Radio Croatia reports on 25 January
that the Croatian government has offered a cease-fire to leaders
of the self-proclaimed Serbian Republic of Krajina. Croatian
forces regained control of several key sites held by ethnic Serbs
since 1991. However, fighting continues, and Serb paramilitary
leader "Captain Dragan" said his forces will launch a counter-offensive
soon. Krajina Serb leaders vow to recapture the lost territory,
and the federal Yugoslav army announced it has raised its combat
readiness. The Croats, who began their offensive on 22 January,
overran a year-old UN cease-fire line and swept into the Serb-held
enclave of Krajina. Croatia has long chafed at UNPROFOR's inability
to disarm Serb militias in the protected zones, restore the areas
to Zagreb's control, and repatriate refugees from fighting in
1991 when Croats fought to secede from Yugoslavia. -Milan Andrejevich


UN CONDEMNS CROATIAN ACTION. International media report that
the UN Security Council unanimously passed a resolution on 25
January demanding the withdrawal of the Croatian troops. The
resolution, drafted by France, strongly condemned the attacks
against UNPROFOR and demanded their immediate cessation. Two
French UN soldiers were killed and three wounded as a result
of fighting on 25 January. The resolution demands that heavy
weapons seized by Serb forces from storage areas controlled by
UNPROFOR be returned immediately and insists that all parties
comply with UN-mediated cease-fire arrangements. Croatian UN
representative Mario Nobilo said the "limited action of the Croatian
police forces and Croatian army units" on Croatian territory,
aimed at securing the area around the Maslenica bridge, has ended
upon completion of its goals. -Milan Andrejevich

NO PROGRESS AT BOSNIAN PEACE TALKS. Radios Croatia and Serbia
report on 25-January that the Geneva peace talks at resolving
the conflict in Bosnia-Herzegovina have failed to make any headway.
Bosnian President Alija Izetbegovic told reporters that he will
withdraw from the negotiations if no progress is achieved in
the next few days. He reiterated his view that any discussion
over territorial divisions and maps would legitimize Bosnian
Serb territorial gains through ethnic cleansing. Bosnian Serb
leader Radovan Karadzic acknowledged that the maps are "a very
sensitive affair" and said the Serbs should be given control
over a corridor linking two Serb-held areas. Karadzic also warned
that he is under pressure from other Bosnian Serb leaders to
withdraw from the talks because of Croatia's offensive in the
Krajina. -Milan Andrejevich

SANCTION-BREAKERS PROGRESS UP DANUBE. Bulgarian Prime Minister
Lyuben Berov has ruled out force as a means to halt a convoy
of Serbian oil barges towed by the tugboat Bihac traveling westwards
up the Danube, Kontinent reports on 26 January. On the previous
day Bulgarian border officials assured a Western correspondent
that the barges, transporting some 6,000 tons of oil in violation
of UN sanctions, were to be stopped at the port of Lom or at
Vidin, just before entering Serbian territory. Whereas border
officials in Lom said they would do everything in their power
not to let the convoy escape, the head of Vidin customs control
told BTA he lacks the equipment to stop the convoy. Meanwhile,
on 25 January Romanian Foreign Ministry spokesman Mircea Geoana
deplored the fact that three more Serbian tugboats and oil barges
refused to stop at the order of Romanian authorities and continued
upstream toward Serbian ports. As in the case of the Bihac, the
captains of three ships threatened to blow up their cargoes if
stopped. Radio Bucharest quoted Geoana as saying that Romania
is awaiting instructions from the UN Security Council Committee
on Sanctions. Nine other Yugoslav vessels are reportedly being
detained in Galati and Braila. Belgrade has released six Romanian
tugboats detained in Serbian ports, but still retains four barges.
-Kjell Engelbrekt and Dan Ionescu

NEW SLOVENIAN GOVERNMENT. On 25 January the 90-seat parliament
endorsed a new five-party coalition government led by Prime Minister
Janez Drnovsek. His Liberal Democrat Party (LDS) receives six
key ministries. The Christian Democrats (SKD) receive four and
their leader, Lojze Peterle, is deputy prime minister and foreign
minister. The remaining ministries were filled by the Unity List
(UL), led by the former communists, with three cabinet posts;
and the Greens and the Social Democrats each with one post. The
key appointments are: Finance Minister Mitja Gaspari (UL), Interior
Minister Ivan Bizjak (SKD), Justice Minister Miha Kozinc (LDS),
and Defense Minister Janez Jansa (Social Democrat). Radio Slovenia
carried the report. -Milan Andrejevich

KNAZKO CRITICIZES PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE. Slovak Foreign Minister
and Deputy Prime Minister Milan Knazko, a deputy chairman of
the ruling Movement for a Democratic Slovakia, criticized his
party's choice of a candidate for the presidential election.
In an interview with Slovak Radio on 25 January, Knazko said
that when he learned that Roman Kovac, a former communist, was
the presidential candidate of the MDS, he wondered if this was
not "too much." Knazko said that he is not categorically opposed
to former communists but indicated his frustration over the fact
that "our movement could not come up with at least one high-ranking
official" who does not have a communist past. Knazko pointed
out that he considers it a "grave mistake that Slovak political
parties could not agree on the criteria for the selection of
a Slovak president." He said that the president should be above
all parties and be accepted on the basis of a broad social accord.
Knazko's statements indicate a major disagreement between two
factions within the MDS. Presidential elections will be held
in both the Czech Republic and Slovakia on 26-January. Vaclav
Havel and Roman Kovac are the expected winners. -Jan Obrman

CZECHS, SLOVAKS AGREE ON CURRENCY SPLIT. Czech and Slovak finance
officials agreed on 25 January to split the Czechoslovak koruna
into separate Czech and Slovak currencies at some undetermined
time after the end of January, Czech TV reports. The agreement
was reached at a meeting of the so-called Joint Monetary Committee,
a six-member body consisting of government and bank officials
from both republics. Slovak Finance Minister Julius Toth, told
journalists after the meeting that the decision is necessary
because of the lack of trust in the Czechoslovak currency both
at home and abroad. It is widely expected that the currency split
will be carried out in the first week of February. -Jan Obrman


TEMELIN SHOULD BE COMPLETED, KLAUS SAYS. Czech Prime Minister
Vaclav Klaus said on 25 January that the controversial Temelin
nuclear power plant should be completed, agencies report. Klaus
made it clear that the plant is crucial to the republic's future
energy supply. He said that the inefficient brown coal-burning
plants are a major source of environmental pollution and nuclear
energy is the only alternative at the moment. Temelin is a Soviet-designed
plant launched by the former communist government in 1986. There
are, however, plans for major technical upgrades with the help
of Western companies. Austria has repeatedly protested against
the construction of the plant, which is located some 60 km north
of the Austrian border. -Jan Obrman

HUNGARIAN SOCIALIST LEADER YIELDS COMMITTEE CHAIRMANSHIP. On
25 January Gyula Horn, chairman of the Hungarian Socialist Party,
resigned from his chairmanship of Parliament's foreign affairs
committee, MTI reports. Horn was asked to resign in December
1992 by 13 coalition party committee members who argued that
Horn's role as opposition party leader is a conflict of interest
with the ruling coalition party's foreign policy. Horn said that
he resigned because he does not want to subject himself to "petty
and prolonged" attacks. According to a six-party agreement, the
chairmanship of the foreign affairs committee will still belong
to the Socialist Party. -Karoly Okolicsanyi

SUCHOCKA REPRIMANDS JUSTICE MINISTER. Justice Minister Zbigniew
Dyka was called on the carpet by Prime Minister Hanna Suchocka
on 25 January. In a move suggesting that dismissal may be imminent,
Suchocka reprimanded Dyka for his "reprehensible" decision to
assign a prosecutor involved in the political trials of the 1980s
to a criminal investigation of accusations made recently by former
presidential chief of staff Jaroslaw Kaczynski. Kaczynski has
charged that President Lech Walesa's closest aide, Mieczyslaw
Wachowski, is a secret police agent. In a statement carried by
PAP, Suchocka stated that she has "lost confidence in the leadership
of the prosecutor's office." She gave Dyka 48-hours "to draw
conclusions from the existing situation." In the meantime, three
high-ranking presidential staff members-legal adviser Lech Falandysz,
security adviser Jerzy Milewski, and economic adviser Andrzej
Olechowski-dismissed allegations that they too were secret police
informants. In a radio interview, Falandysz called his chief
accuser, former defense minister Jan Parys, "a second-generation
Tyminski" and threatened to take the case to court. -Louisa Vinton


POLISH-GERMAN MILITARY AGREEMENT SIGNED. Polish Defense Minister
Janusz Onyszkiewicz and his German counterpart, Volker Ruehe,
signed a bilateral military agreement in Bonn on 25 January.
The agreement calls for close cooperation in military and security
policy, arms control, and training. Ruehe told reporters it is
Germany's first such agreement with a former member of the Warsaw
Pact. He proposed that German and Polish soldiers participate
jointly in a UN peace-keeping force. Onyszkiewicz stressed that
Poland is cultivating relations with NATO countries in the hope
of becoming a full-fledged member of the alliance. Polish TV
reported on 25 January that Poland has signed military cooperation
agreements with the former Czechoslovakia, Hungary, France, and
Greece, and is preparing similar arrangements with Lithuania,
Ukraine, Belarus, and Belgium. -Louisa Vinton

ROMANIA, POLAND SIGN COOPERATION TREATY. On 25 January in Bucharest,
Romania and Poland signed a friendship and cooperation treaty,
replacing a 1960 accord between the two countries. Signed by
Polish Foreign Minister Krzysztof Skubiszewski and his Romanian
counterpart, Teodor Melescanu, the treaty calls for a system
of permanent ties between the two foreign ministries. Skubiszewski
told reporters that the agreement will boost stability in the
region. Romanian President Ion Iliescu, who attended the ceremonies,
praised the traditionally good relations between the two countries.
-Dan Ionescu

MOLDOVAN CEASE-FIRE MONITORS ALERT YELTSIN. In a statement forwarded
to Russian President Boris Yeltsin on 23 January, the Moldovan
side of the joint commission to monitor the cease-fire listed
growing violations of the Snegur-Yeltsin armistice convention
by the "Dniester" insurgents, charging that they are being condoned
by Russia's 14th Army and "peacemaking" forces. The insurgents
have banned the remaining Moldovan authorities from entering
Bendery, prevented the return of Moldovan refugees, introduced
"border guards" and Russian Cossack units into the security zone,
and are maintaining fortifications there. Noting that "the situation
is becoming unstable precisely where Russian forces are deployed,"
the Moldovan side expressed concern that "the Tiraspol leaders
and the pro-imperial conservative forces outside Moldova" may
be preparing to resume the hostilities. -Vladimir Socor

"DNIESTER," GAGAUZ SIGN PACT WITH ABKHAZIA. On 22 and 25 January
in Tiraspol an Abkhazia Supreme Soviet delegation signed agreements
of friendship and cooperation with the "Dniester republic," Basapress
reports. "Dniester" representatives told Interfax that the parties
agreed to consult in the event of an attack against them and,
if possible, to grant each other military assistance "against
aggressors," evidently meaning Moldova and Georgia. Delegates
from the "Gagauz republic" attended the talks and cosigned the
agreements. (They are likely to represent the intransigent, armed
faction within the divided Gagauz leadership). These are the
first agreements of their kind known to be concluded among insurgent
movements supported by the Russian military in two different
independent states of the former USSR. -Vladimir Socor

FERMENT IN SEVASTOPOL. About two thousand people participated
in a meeting in the Crimean city of Sevastopol, Radio Rossii
reported on 24 January. Participants demanded that the city's
status be changed and that the local officials be replaced. The
meeting also supported the restoration and strengthening of economic
and other ties with Russia. On 25-January representatives of
Sevastopol's political parties and movements discussed the situation
with the chairman of the city council, ITAR-TASS reports. The
question of Sevastopol's status emerged at the last Congress
of Russian People's Deputies and is being examined by a special
committee of the Russian parliament. -Roman Solchanyk

BELARUS ADOPTS CONSERVATIVE ECONOMIC PROGRAM. Parliament approved
an economic reform program that preserves significant administrative
controls on markets, Reuters reported on 25 January. Fifty-three
percent of all retail prices will remain under state control,
and more than half of all production will be purchased through
state orders. It was not clear on what basis these shares of
prices and production were calculated. Belarus has maintained
a markedly more timid attitude towards economic reform than Russia
or Ukraine. Government officials have often justified this attitude
by pointing to lower inflation, smaller budget deficits, and
more limited economic decline than in Russia or Ukraine. -Erik
Whitlock

LITHUANIA AND IMF. On 25 January Adalbert Knobl, the head of
the IMF office for the Baltic States, met in Vilnius with Acting
President Algirdas Brazauskas, Radio Lithuania reports. At a
press conference, Knobl said that Lithuania has complied with
all the criteria of its economic policy memorandum. Among the
problems that persist, he noted the fall in the value of Lithuania's
temporary currency, higher energy prices, and a drop in the volume
of internal loans. He promised that the IMF will give another
loan to help Lithuania pay its foreign debts and raised the possibility
of agricultural subsidies. -Saulius Girnius

LITHUANIAN ECONOMICS MINISTER CRITICIZES PRIVATIZATION. In an
article in Tiesa Julius Veselka sharply criticized laws on the
privatization of state property, BNS reported on 25 January.
He called the investment vouchers a "new form of redistributing
socialist property" that had allowed a "certain part of the population"
(e.g., mafia racketeers, former nomenklatura) to become rich.
He blamed rightist political forces of passing legislation whereby
state lacks regulatory authority, meaning Lithuania's economy
is less well regulated than those of highly developed Western
countries. He called for amending the Initial Privatization Law
and favors drafting a new law omitting the vouchers. -Saulius
Girnius

LATVIAN-LITHUANIAN ECONOMIC ACCORD. Diena and BNS reported on
25 January that during a visit to Riga, Lithuanian Premier Bronislavas
Lubys initialed a bilateral cooperation pact that calls for the
creation of a free trade zone and cooperation in distribution
of energy resources. On the free trade zone, Latvian Premier
Ivars Godmanis noted that Estonia should also be included. The
two prime ministers also drafted a communique outlining the principles
of further cooperation. -Dzintra Bungs

MERI IN PARIS. Estonian President Lennart Meri is meeting with
French government officials in Paris on 25-26 January, BNS reports.
Meri is scheduled to sign a friendship and cooperation agreement
with French President Fran�ois Mitterrand on 26 January and later
meet with Health and Humanitarian Aid Minister Bernard Kouchner.
Meri also plans a visit to the school he attended as a child
when his father, diplomat Georg Meri, was posted to Paris. -Riina
Kionka



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