No. 25, 08 February 1993

RUSSIA



RUSSIA'S DEMOCRATIC PARTIES SUPPORT REFERENDUM. A two-day conference
of democratic parties and movements ended in Moscow on 7 February
with an appeal to Russia's political parties to establish local
committees in support of the 11 April referendum on the principles
of a new Russian Constitution, various Russian agencies reported.
The conference, organized by the Democratic Russia movement and
parties constituting the Democratic Choice bloc, also rejected
recent attempts by conservatives to convene an extraordinary
session of the Russian Congress of People's Deputies in order
to preempt the referendum. On 6 February, delegates voted to
"start a campaign" for the resignation of parliamentary speaker,
Ruslan Khasbulatov, following Khasbulatov's remarks of the previous
day criticizing President Yeltsin for having "failed in his duties."
Wendy Slater

KOZYREV ON STABILITY OF RUSSIAN FOREIGN POLICY. In an interview
with Russian TV on 7-February, Russian Foreign Minister Andrei
Kozyrev claimed that foreign policy had not been changing recently,
and that "historic breakthroughs" in relations with China and
India were part of a long-standing Russian foreign policy strategy.
Kozyrev sounded a conciliatory note towards parliament, but rejected
its calls for a pro-Serbian policy and reiterated his support
for the Vance-Owen plan for ending the conflict in Bosnia. He
also noted that Russia remains a part of the coalition against
Iraq (Kozyrev did not mention that Russia has never participated
in coalition military activities) but called for Russia's interests
to be taken into account and for greater coordination with the
US. John Lepingwell

RUSSIA REITERATES SUPPORT FOR VANCE-OWEN PLAN. In a separate
interview with Russian TV on 7-February, Deputy Foreign Minister
Vitalii Churkin noted that Russia agreed with most of the EC
countries on the Vance-Owen plan, but was still unsure of the
US position. Churkin recently returned from visits to Saudi Arabia
and other Muslim countries, and he warned that if Bosnia rejected
the plan, it could increase "extremism in the Muslim world" and
trigger demands to lift the arms embargo on Bosnia, which Russia
would not support. Churkin also noted that Russia's position
on Croatia's recent offensive was shared by most other countries,
and argued that Russia is not becoming isolated within the UN
on the Yugoslavia crisis. John Lepingwell

ROUND TABLE MEETS IN MOSCOW. On 5 February ITAR-TASS and Reuters
reported the first meeting of a "round table" forum, attended
by Russia's political parties of all persuasions, trades unionists,
entrepreneurs, legislators, and government leaders. The forum
was opened by parliamentary speaker Ruslan Khasbulatov who suggested
that it become a permanent consultative body to discuss Russia's
economic problems. Despite calling for "consensus and democracy,"
however, Khasbulatov also criticized the pro- Yeltsin "ultra-radicals,"
warning of a threat to "the unity and integrity of the country."
The next "round table" meeting is set for 15 February when the
question of the forthcoming referendum will be on the agenda.
Wendy Slater

FIRST RUSSIAN ARREARS PAID FOR BY US GOVERNMENT. The Banque Indosuez
has filed a claim with the US Departure of Agriculture for reimbursement
of $354,000 of US government backed loans to Russia, according
to an article in the Journal of Commerce on 5-February. Russia
is now $258.8 million behind on repayments of $5 billion in bank
loans for grain purchases since 1990. The Banque Indosuez is
so far the only bank to claim reimbursement, but others could
follow. The fact that the program is beginning to cost the US
money could lead to policy changes, and options such as debt
restructuring and direct food assistance to Russia are being
considered. However, Russia currently accounts for a high percentage
of US wheat (20%) and corn exports and the loss of the Russian
market could lead to lower grain prices and higher government
subsidies to US farmers. Sheila Marnie and Robert Lyle

GERASHCHENKO: IMF ADVISES NO SUPPORT FOR RUBLE. Russian Central
Bank Chairman Viktor Gerashchenko told an ITAR-TASS correspondent
on 7-February that the International Monetary Fund has counseled
Russian officials against spending more dollars to prop up the
ruble. IMF officials feel that interventions on the exchange
market are ill- advised because the exchange rate is "not representative,
but reflects only the interests of commercial organizations importing
a certain set of consumer goods," Gerashchenko said. He added
that Russia did not have the dollar or gold reserves to bring
down the ruble exchange rate to a more reasonable level in any
case. -Erik Whitlock

RUSSIA CREATES SPECIAL INVESTMENT BANKS. The Russian government
has recently created two banks to channel international and domestic
investment credit. On 30 December, President Yeltsin signed a
decree establishing the Russian Bank for Reconstruction and Development
that apparently will function as an intermediary between the
international financial organizations and domestic borrowers.
On 5-February Yeltsin issued another decree creating the State
Investment Company to meet the needs of state structural and
investment policy by "attracting foreign [investment] and stimulating
domestic investment," ITAR-TASS reported. -Erik Whitlock

KOZYREV, GRACHEV TO SELL START-2. President Yeltsin's press office
told an RFE/RL correspondent in Moscow on 5 February that Foreign
Minister Andrei Kozyrev and Defense Minister Pavel Grachev have
been named as the President's representatives in the parliamentary
debate over ratification of the START-2 Treaty. The treaty is
expected to face opposition from nationalist and communist Russian
deputies who feel that it weakens Russian defense capabilities.
-Stephen Foye

GRACHEV ON RUSSIAN MILITARY REFORM. In an interview published
in the latest issue of Argumenty i fakty and summarized on 5
February by ITAR-TASS, Russian Defense Minister Pavel Grachev
suggested that a civilian could be named to head the Defense
Ministry sometime after 1995, "when the situation in the army
stabilizes." He said that the General Staff would then manage
the uniformed military while the Defense Ministry would concern
itself with military-political issues and weapons policy. Grachev
also said that 2,218 generals now serve in the Russian army and
that the proportion of generals has fallen from one for every
530-soldiers and 169 officers in 1987 to one for every 1,262
soldiers and 312 officers today. He called the housing shortage
the most pressing problem facing the army, and said that the
number of homeless officers (and their families) was expected
to rise by 1995 from the current figure of 150,000 to about 400,000.
Grachev said that he favored total elimination of nuclear arsenals
and of "huge stockpiles of conventional weapons," and said that
Russian aircraft are no longer armed with nuclear weapons. -Stephen
Foye

SECOND ROUND OF NORTH OSSETIAN-INGUSH TALKS ENDS IN KISLOVODSK.
The first deputy chairman of the North Ossetian parliament, Yurii
Biragov, said on 5 February that chief result of the second round
of talks just ended between North Ossetian and Ingush delegations
in Kislovodsk was the signing of an agreement on measures on
searching for those who have disappeared without trace and for
the unconditional return of hostages, ITAR-TASS reported. The
two sides also affirmed their desire to ensure the unconditional
implementation of the decree of the Russian Congress of People's
Deputies on the disarming and disbandment of illegal military
formations. A mechanism for this will be proposed at the next
meeting on 16 February. The North Ossetian parliament has been
threatening to ignore the Russian Congress' demand that it disband
its national guard. -Ann Sheehy

CONGRESS OF VOLGA GERMANS IN SARATOV. The chairman of the "Heimat"
society, Yurii Haar, said at a conference of Volga Germans in
Saratov on 5-February that the time of meetings and ultimatums
was past and it was time for concrete action, ITAR- TASS reported.
Haar maintained that demands for the immediate restoration of
the Volga German republic had greatly harmed the Russian Germans'
movement. A start had been made, he said, by setting up a fund
called "Republic" and by constructing a settlement. Delegates
called for a cautious approach to invitations from other parts
of Russia for the Germans to settle there rather than on the
Volga, saying that their dispersal would threaten their disappearance
as an ethnic group. -Ann Sheehy

TRANSCAUCASIA AND CENTRAL ASIA



DEMONSTRATORS DEMAND RESIGNATION OF ARMENIAN PRESIDENT, GOVERNMENT.
Some 100,000 people demonstrated in Erevan on 5 February to demand
the resignation of President Levon Ter-Petrossyan, the dissolution
of parliament and the creation of a constituent assembly which
would adopt a new constitution and prepare for new parliamentary
elections, Western agencies reported. Demonstration organizer
Paruir Hairikyan, whose Association for National Self-Determination
espouses a maximalist position on Armenia's territorial claims
in Nagorno-Karabakh and parts of Turkey, proposed giving the
president until February 18 to comply with demonstrators' demands,
which the presidential press service promptly rejected. -Liz
Fuller

AZERBAIJAN CRITICIZES HUMANITARIAN AID TO ARMENIA. On 7 February
the Azerbaijani Presidential Press Service issued a statement
equating the supplying by unspecified foreign states of humanitarian
aid to Armenia with open support for "Armenia's aggression against
Azerbaijan," ITAR-TASS reported. Such aid shipments risk jeopardizing
the CSCE peace process, and without them Armenia would not have
been able to launch its 5-February offensive in Nagorno-Karabakh,
during which Armenian forces reoccupied several villages, the
statement continued. An earlier Presidential press release statement
on 5-February, also reported by ITAR-TASS, denied that Azerbaijan
had ever imposed an economic blockade on Armenia, arguing that
transport problems were the result of Armenian sabotage of the
railway through Armenian territory linking Azerbaijan and Nakhichevan,
which constituted an act of aggression by Armenia against Azerbaijan.
-Liz Fuller

OPPOSITIONISTS ARRESTED IN TAJIKISTAN. Radio Dushanbe reported
on 5 February that several members of the anti-government opposition
have been arrested in Tajikistan on suspicion of attempting an
armed coup and causing the civil war of 1992. Among those arrested
is former dissident Mirbobo Mirrakhimov, who headed Tajikistan's
State Radio and TV under the coalition government of Communists
and oppositionists that was in power from May to November 1992.
Several of his subordinates in the TV administration were also
arrested, along with Dushanbe's deputy chief of police and two
leaders of the Islamic Renaissance Party. On 6-February ITAR-TASS
reported that journalists were allowed to meet a young woman
who had been arrested for shooting three people in October 1992
when pro-Communist forces tried to capture Dushanbe. The woman
claimed she had been forced to commit the murders, presumably
by fundamentalists. -Bess Brown

NEW POLITICAL ORGANIZATION SUPPORTS NAZARBAEV'S REFORMS. A new
political organization, Popular Unity of Kazakhstan, held its
founding congress on 6 February in Alma-Ata, KazTAG-TASS reported.
One of the primary goals of the organization, which characterizes
itself as multinational and opposed to all forms of extremism,
is to support the reform program of Kazakhstan's President Nursultan
Nazarbaev, who has been named leader of the new group. Previously
Nazarbaev had avoided joining any political organization, though
he actively supported the Popular Congress. The chairman of the
political council and therefore actual head of Popular Unity
is parliamentary deputy Serik Abdrakhmanov. -Bess Brown

CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPE



SERBS FIRE ON GERMAN RELIEF PLANE. International media on 6 February
said that a German aid flight was hit en route from Zagreb to
Sarajevo and one man was injured, requiring emergency surgery
when the plane returned to Zagreb. The UN later complained to
the Serbian authorities in Croatia, whom it blamed for the incident.
Relief flights were cancelled, and international airline flights
to Zagreb, except for Croatian ones, have been suspended. -Patrick
Moore

BOSNIAN UPDATE. International media report on 8-February that
mediators Cyrus Vance and Lord Owen failed to make progress in
their talks with Bosnian Serb, Muslim, and Croat representatives
over the weekend. The Serbs and Muslims have wide-ranging objections
to the Vance-Owen peace plan, which the Muslims feel underscores
the Serb policy of ethnic cleansing. The BBC quotes the Vienna
daily Die Presse as saying that Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic
has offered an alternative proposal to divide the republic in
two, presumably between Serbs and Croats. Many Serb and Croat
nationalists do not accept the existence of a Muslim nation,
and feel that the Muslims are really renegade members of their
own respective nationalities who must somehow be returned to
the fold. Meanwhile in Munich, international media reported on
7 February that NATO Secretary-General Manfred Wšrner told a
gathering of senior Western defense figures the alliance may
find it necessary to intervene in Bosnia. -Patrick Moore

ROMANIAN BOATS STILL DETAINED ON DANUBE. Three Romanian tugboats
are still held on the Danube by Serbian authorities in retaliation
for Romania's enforcement of the embargo against rump Yugoslavia,
Radio Bucharest said on 6 February. One Romanian tug was allowed
to leave, however, and reached Romanian territorial waters on
the same day. -Michael Shafir.

ELECTIONS IN CROATIA. On 7 February Croatian voters went to the
polls to elect the largely symbolic upper house of parliament
along with local and municipal officals from among 27 contesting
parties. Each party must obtain at least 5% of the vote to obtain
representation, but seats in parliament will be assigned on the
basis of proportional representation. This electoral law passed
by President Franjo Tudjman's ruling Croatian Democratic Community
(HDZ) in the lower house discourages the formation of tiny parties
while at the same time offering the larger ones a chance to obtain
seats on the proportional principle, thereby removing an incentive
for the opposition to form a coalition against the HDZ. Polls
suggest that the HDZ will do well in view of Tudjman's popularity,
which was further bolstered by the military successes of the
Croatian army against the Serbs since 22-January. Local and regional
parties are expected to do well in Istria and Dalmatia, however.
Some 25% of Croatia's territory is under Serbian occupation,
and the country is further burdened with a refugee population
of over 600,000 and a sluggish economy. Croatian and international
media covered the story. -Patrick Moore

MACEDONIA AND UN RECOGNITION. On 5 February President Kiro Gligorov
sent at letter accompanied by a memorandum to UN Secretary-General
Boutros Boutros-Ghali. The documents, copies of which were given
to RFE/RL by the Macedonian Foreign Ministry, were prepared in
response to a Greek document circulated to all members of the
UN. The thrust of both Macedonian documents is that Macedonia
meets all criteria for admission to the UN and should not be
subjected to meeting other prerequisites, evidently a reference
to changing the republic's name. The memorandum emphasizes that
Macedonia has no territorial aspirations regarding its neighbors
and stresses that recognition of Macedonia is critical to stability
in the Balkans. -Duncan Perry

ZHELEV IN SKOPJE. On 6 February Bulgarian President Zhelyu Zhelev
paid a one-day visit to the capital of the Republic of Macedonia,
BTA reports. Although the trip was unofficial, it received considerable
attention in Bulgarian and Macedonian media, since it is the
first visit to Skopje by a Bulgarian head of state since 1942.
Presenting his book Fascism in Macedonian translation-the pretext
for the trip-Zhelev said he was "impressed and moved" by the
warm reception. He later held talks with his counterpart Kiro
Gligorov and other top Macedonian officials. Meanwhile in Bulgaria,
Prime Minister Lyuben Berov told Oshte that the government is
considering turning the current Bulgarian consulate in Skopje
into an embassy. -Kjell Engelbrekt

BULGARIAN-GREEK RELATIONS. In an interview with Bulgarian TV
on 6 February Greek Prime Minister Constantine Mitsotakis said
he is dissatisfied with the recent course of Bulgarian-Greek
relations. Playing down differences in policy toward Macedonia-
which Sofia, incurring the rage of Athens, recognized in January
1992-Mitsotakis argued that there is no reason why the two countries
should not expand bilateral ties. He said Greece represents a
stable friend of Bulgaria and that relations with third countries,
including Turkey, must not be allowed to interfere. -Kjell Engelbrekt


SLOVAK PREMIER CALLS ON FOREIGN MINISTER TO RESIGN. Slovak media
report that at a closed-door meeting of the leadership of the
ruling Movement for a Democratic Slovakia on 7 February, Prime
Minister Vladimir Meciar demanded the resignation of Foreign
Minister Milan Knazko. Knazko told the media that he neither
is going to resign nor give up his post in the party. The movement's
leadership met to discuss recent statements made by Knazko and
Rudolf Filkus, the chairman of the movement's council, critical
of some of the movement's policies. In January Meciar accused
Knazko of grossly violating party discipline for criticizing
the selection of Roman Kovac as the movement's presidential candidate.
No formal disciplinary action against the two politicians was
taken at the meeting, but the leadership rejected the foreign
minister's planned trip to Brussels, where he was supposed to
meet with NATO General-Secretary Manfred Wšrner and European
Commission head Jacques Delors. Knazko was criticized for having
failed to consult with other ministers in preparing the trip.
Knazko told the media after the meeting that he will not run
against the party's current presidential candidate, Michal Kovac.
-Jiri Pehe

GERMAN FOREIGN MINISTER IN PRAGUE. Klaus Kinkel arrived in Prague
on 5 February to discuss with Czech Foreign Minister Josef Zieleniec
and other officials German plans for expelling illegal aliens
and concerns that the Czech Republic could become a dumping ground
for the would-be immigrants. International media report Zieleniec
as saying that the Czech Republic will seek agreements with other
states on a transit corridor for the return home of any unwanted
aliens. Kinkel also met with President Vaclav Havel, who pointed
out that Germany is the biggest foreign investor in the Czech
Republic and praised the good cooperative ties between Germany
and the Czech Republic. In another meeting, Kinkel asked Prime
Minister Klaus to continue bilateral discussion of the Sudeten
Germans, some three million people expelled from Czechoslovakia
after World War-II. In a special ceremony, Kinkel and Czech Parliament
Speaker Milan Uhde opened the German Cultural Center in Prague.
-Jiri Pehe

POLAND RESISTS GERMAN ASYLUM PLAN. In advance of a second round
of bilateral talks in Bonn on 8 February, Polish officials voiced
their disapproval of Germany's plans to return asylum-seekers
to the country from which they arrived. Jan Krzysztof Bielecki,
minister for EC contacts, told Der Spiegel on 8-February that
Poland would not agree to be a dumping ground for refugees "so
that Germany can get rid of its problems." If the plans go ahead,
he said, "Germany will have to understand if we send them the
bill." Poland's negotiator in the talks, Deputy Internal Affairs
Minister Jerzy Zimowski, told reporters that thousands of rejected
asylum-seekers would be an unbearable financial burden for Poland.
He disputed German press reports that Poland was using the asylum
conflict to wring money out of Bonn. Meanwhile, a Polish parliamentary
commission voted down a motion to impose a visa requirement on
travelers from the East. Zimowski told the Sejm that high-priced,
registered invitations would be imposed for Bulgaria, Romania,
the former USSR, and the former Yugoslavia; if these failed to
curb crime and smuggling, visas would be next. -Louisa Vinton


WALESA ADMITS "TACTICAL ERROR." President Lech Walesa backed
away from but did not renounce his decision to reject the government's
candidate for Minister of Culture, Christian National Union (ZChN)
member Zbigniew Klajnert. During a meeting with ZChN leaders
in the Sejm on 5 February, Walesa admitted it was a "tactical
error" not to have informed anyone about his decision beforehand.
In a compromise statement, Walesa traded his endorsement of "Christian
values" for the ZChN's assertion that "the street is not the
place for debate," a veiled criticism of the anti-Walesa demonstration
held on 29-January. At a press conference later in the day, Walesa
made the apparently contradictory statement that ministerial
choices were strictly the coalition's business but his participation
in the selection of ministers was justified. Klajnert himself
pulled out of the running for the culture post on 6-February.
Meanwhile, new battle lines were drawn in the Sejm as the prime
minister drummed up support for the 1993 budget. Ten of the twenty-
seven Solidarity deputies formed a dissident unionist lobby and
criticized their leadership for supporting unpopular government
policies, while the German minority caucus underlined its support
for the government. -Louisa Vinton

NO IMF LOAN FOR HUNGARY. According to a 6 February AFP report,
talks between the International Monetary Fund and the Hungarian
government have failed, blocking Hungary's access to a $500-million
loan. The loans were likely rejected because Hungary's planned
budget deficit was much higher than expected after Finance Minister
Mihaly Kupa had to modify his original three-year budget submitted
last September. Under the original scheme, the budget deficit
would be 176 billion forint next year, 170 billion forint in
1995, and 140-billion in 1996. The modified targets are a deficit
of 215-billion forint for 1994, 220-billion for 1995, and 222
billion in 1996. A Finance Ministry statement said, however,
that the IMF delegation praised Hungary's legal and institutional
progress toward a market economy. -Judith Pataki

IMF OFFICIAL SAYS ROMANIAN ECONOMY ON THE RIGHT PATH. Maxwell
Watson, an official of the International Monetary Fund, told
reporters in Bucharest on 5 February that the IMF is confident
Romania will continue on the correct economic reform path. Radio
Bucharest quoted Watson that if the reforms are to be sustained,
there must be guarantees that "the more vulnerable sections of
the population" are protected. Watson headed an IMF delegation
which met with President Ion Iliescu, Premier Nicolae Vacaroiu,
and other officials. -Michael Shafir

GERMANY TO BRING BACK TOXIC WASTE FROM ROMANIA. The German government
has decided to bring back some 485 tons of German toxic waste
illegally shipped to Romania in 1992. Radio Bucharest and Western
agencies reported on 6 February that the federal government would
cover the costs of transporting the waste to the state of Saxony-Anhalt
as well as the costs of storing it there. The decision follows
protests of environmentalists in both Romania and Germany and
appeals by Romanian local and central authorities to the government
in Bonn. German Greenpeace activists told Reuters on 7 February
that they would begin to neutralize the toxic waste. -Michael
Shafir

RUSSIAN AMBASSADOR IN KIEV MAKES DEMANDS. At a 5 February press
conference in Kiev, Leonid Smolyakov, made a series of demands,
including dual citizenship for Russians in Ukraine, Western agencies
report. Smolyakov also called on Kiev to begin nuclear disarmament
talks without pressing for Western aid and warned that Russia
could stop fuel deliveries if Kiev does not accept Russian proposals
for repayment of the Soviet external debt. An RFE/RL report from
Kiev on 6-February also noted that Smolyakov protested a Kiev
newspaper story about his recent visit to the Crimea. -Roman
Solchanyk

OLIINYK ASSAILS KIEV'S POLICIES. Poet Boris Oliinyk, recently
elected parliamentary deputy, former advisor to President Mikhail
Gorbachev, and former deputy head of the USSR Supreme Soviet
Council of Nationalities, has published a devastating attack
on the Ukrainian leadership's foreign and security policies.
The article appears in Holos Ukrainy of 5 February. Among other
things, Oliinyk accuses Kiev of a "romantic" unilateral nuclear
disarmament policy, saying that "for some reason we have agreed
not only to take off our armor, but also our underwear." Oliinyk
points to the fact that Leonid Kravchuk, "the president of the
world's third most powerful nuclear state," was not invited to
the recent signing of the Russian-American START-2 treaty in
Moscow as evidence of Ukraine's low stature in international
affairs stemming from what the procommunist deputy claims is
the leadership's lack of coherent policies serving Ukraine's
national interests. -Bohdan Nahaylo

MOLDOVA SEEKING OIL IN THE GULF. A Moldovan delegation headed
by Minister of Foreign Economic Relations Andrei Cheptene has
begun a tour of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates,
and Iran to discuss the possibility of importing crude oil in
exchange for Moldovan agricultural produce or contract labor,
Basapress reports. Prime Minister Andrei Sangheli told Moldova
suverana of 6-February that Russian commitments to Moldova for
1993 cover only 2 million tons of crude oil of Moldova's annual
needs of 4 million, and that his government is searching for
alternative suppliers in order to reduce dependence on Russia.
-Vladimir Socor

ESTONIAN MINISTER OF ECONOMICS APPOINTED. On 5 February President
Lennart Meri appointed 33-year-old Toomas Sildmae as Minister
of Economics, replacing Ain Saarmann, who resigned allegedly
for health reasons on 25 January, BNS reports. Sildmae had been
the general director of the Finest Hotel Group, a highly successful
Finnish-Estonian joint venture. -Saulius Girnius

ESTONIAN PRODUCTION DECLINES. In 1992 industrial production fell
39% from 1991 levels, BNS reported on 5 February. The greatest
declines were in the pulp and paper (64%), construction (60%),
machine and metals (57%), and chemical (54%) industries. Production
in the light, food, and energy industries were equal to or below
the average, at 42%, 28% and 17% respectively. Agricultural production
decreased 21.4%, with grains and vegetables dropping 32.8% and
animal husbandry 15.7%. Estonia harvested 594,000 tons of grain
and 648,000 tons of potatoes, and produced 900,000 tons of milk,
138,000 tons of meat, and 430-million eggs. -Saulius Girnius


RETURN OF RUSSIAN HELICOPTER SEIZED IN LATVIA. The Latvian Foreign
Ministry has decided to return unconditionally as an act of good
will the Russian MI-8 helicopter that its border guards confiscated
near the port of Ventspils for crossing into Latvian air space
from Estonia on 29 January, BNS reported on 6 February. Spokesman
Aivars Vevers said that Russian statements claiming that the
flight was lawful had not been verified. -Saulius Girnius

LITHUANIA AND COUNCIL OF EUROPE. On 5 February Seimas press attache
Vilius Kavaliauskas announced that the foreign affairs committee
of the Council of Europe meeting in Strasbourg the previous day
recommended that Lithuania be admitted as a member, Radio Lithuania
reports. The recommendation was the final hurdle needed for Lithuania
to be accepted as a member on 14 May. -Saulius Girnius

COUNCIL OF EUROPE RECOGNIZES BALTICS AS "OCCUPIED." On 4 February
the parliamentary assembly of the Council of Europe adopted several
amendments to the European Covenant of Human Rights that highlight
the legal status of the Baltic States as countries formerly occupied
by the USSR, Radio Lithuania reports. The assembly urged Russia
to draft legislation for ethnic Russians wishing to emigrate
from the Baltic States. It noted that the repatriation was not
the result of national discrimination, but of the process of
"loss of privileges." -Saulius Girnius

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