No. 50, 15 March 1993

RUSSIA



YELTSIN REACTS TO CONGRESS. On 15 March Russian President Boris
Yeltsin's press secretary issued a statement that harshly denounced
the Congress, warning that it had raised "grave dangers," deepened
the constitutional crisis and increased the imbalance of powers
between the executive and legislative branches. The statement
went on to note that the decisions of the Congress had "endangered
state structures and public order" and that it had embarked on
a path towards "violating the constitution and direct confrontation
with the lawfully elected president of Russia." The statement
accused Khasbulatov of trying to reverse the democratic achievements
made since August 1991, and suggested that he had called for
the parliaments (soviets) to seize power in the center and in
the regions. Yeltsin is reportedly studying the situation and
will make further decisions and statements in the next few days.
The statement was carried by ITAR-TASS. -John Lepingwell

CONGRESS ENDS BY CUTTING YELTSIN'S POWERS; PRESIDENT PROMISES
TO CONTINUE THE FIGHT. On 13 March on the final day of the Congress,
deputies gave final approval to the resolution cutting among
other things President Yeltsin's power to issue political and
economic decrees and rejecting Yeltsin's call for a referendum,
the Russian media reported. The resolution said a referendum
would have dangerous consequences for the state and territorial
integrity of the Russian Federation. Yeltsin's chief of staff
Sergei Filatov said, however, that Yeltsin would go ahead with
plans for a non-binding plebiscite on who should be supreme ruler
in Russia-president or parliament. Filatov said that new questions
not initially among those drafted for the referendum would be
put to the people. These questions, he said, could deal with
the fate of the Congress of People's Deputies. The tentative
date for the plebiscite is 25 April. Filatov also said the president
would appeal to the Constitutional Court against the Congress
resolution. -Vera Tolz

CONGRESS CONCLUDING STATEMENT ATTACKS YELTSIN. The concluding
statement from the Congress, "an appeal to the citizens of the
Russian Federation," reported in full by ITAR-TASS on 13 March,
claimed that the work of the Congress had been entirely directed
at reinforcing democracy in Russia. The past two years, marked
by increased presidential power, had seen economic reforms "turned
against the majority of the people" and constant infringements
of the Constitution by the authorities. The Congress had refused
to support Yeltsin's attempts to retain his extraordinary powers
because this went against "the construction of a law based state
and democratic society" in Russia. The Congress was not disregarding
the views of the people, but rather attempting to protect them
"from political adventurism, chaos and the tragedy of Russia's
disintegration." -Wendy Slater

KHASBULATOV ATTACKS WEST. Parliamentary speaker Ruslan Khasbulatov
clearly allied himself with the most conservative forces when
he told deputies in his closing speech to the Congress that Western
aid to Russia was "another large-scale deception", ITAR-TASS
reported on 13 March. He stated that it was wrong to say that
the decisions taken at the Congress have halted Western aid to
Russia. He said that Russia wants to establish beneficial cooperation
with Western economies and does not need aid such as is given
to underdeveloped countries. He added that US Presidents Ronald
Reagan and George Bush had promised "a lot" to former Soviet
leaders Mikhail Gorbachev and Eduard Shevardnadze "for dissolving
Comecon and the Warsaw Pact, then for breaking up the Soviet
Union" but then "never gave a single penny for it." -Alexander
Rahr

CONSTITUTION COURT CHAIRMAN COMMENTS ON CONGRESS RESULTS. In
his first comments after the closure of the Congress, the Constitutional
Court chairman evaluated its results less negatively than Yeltsin.
Valerii Zorkin was quoted by ITAR-TASS on 13-March as saying
that the Congress had avoided taking an unconstitutional turn,
although "this was in the air." Zorkin said it was better to
live with a bad constitution than without a constitution. He
said that it was essential to adopt a new constitution, but in
the light of the current crisis, it was necessary to abide by
the current one. The latter proclaims the Congress to be the
"supreme power" on all questions relating to the Russian Federation.
Zorkin also called for the formation of a "national salvation
government", consisting of "sober, centrist forces." -Vera Tolz


KOZYREV ASSURES US ON YELTSIN. Russian Foreign Minister Andrei
Kozyrev telephoned US Secretary of State Warren Christopher on
12 March to assure his American counterpart that Boris Yeltsin
remains committed to democracy, human rights, and the maintenance
of civic order, US State Department Spokesman Richard Boucher
said in a briefing on 12 March. Kozyrev added that Yeltsin is
still looking for ways to consult the Russian people on their
views and to give them a means to exercise their democratic rights.
Kozyrev also expressed appreciation for the support shown by
US President Bill Clinton during Yeltsin's struggle with the
Congress of People's Deputies. -Suzanne Crow

CHANGES IN RUSSIAN FOREIGN POLICY? THE CHAIRMAN OF THE PARLIAMENTARY
COMMITTEE FOR INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS AND FOREIGN ECONOMIC ACTIVITY
EVGENII AMBARTSUMOV WAS QUOTED BY ITAR-TASS ON 13 MARCH AS SAYING
THAT AS A RESULT OF THE WORK OF THE RUSSIAN PARLIAMENT, PRESIDENT
YELTSIN HAS RECOGNIZED THAT RUSSIAN FOREIGN POLICY SHOULD NOT
COPY THE LINE OF US FOREIGN POLICY AND THAT FOREIGN MINISTER
ANDREI KOZYREV IS NOW CONDUCTING FOREIGN POLICY IN LINE WITH
THE PARLIAMENT'S WISHES. Therefore, he said, there is no need
for Kozyrev's resignation, as demanded by the Congress. -Alexander
Rahr.

IMPLICATIONS FOR ECONOMIC POLICY REMAIN UNCLEAR. The resolution
on constitutional reform passed on 12 March by the Congress contained
four statements of direct relevance to Russian economic policy-making.
First, it gave the Council of Ministers jurisdiction over management
of federal state property and "economic services" and confirmed
its responsibility for formulating and implementing the nation's
economic anti-crisis program. Secondly, the resolution states
that the chairmen of the Central Bank, Federal Property Fund
and State Statistical Committee may become members of the Council
of Ministers while at the same time remaining accountable to
Parliament. Thirdly, it provides that any decisions concerning
expenditures of the state budget and extrabudgetary funds will
require government input. Although the vagueness of each point
makes the significance of the resolution difficult to gauge,
the document has formally increased the powers of the Council
of Ministers over federal economic policy. -Erik Whitlock

BORIS FEDOROV WELL RECEIVED AT G-7 MEETING. Russian Deputy Prime
Minister for Economics and Finance Boris Fedorov attended the
last day of a three-day meeting of G-7 "sherpas" in Hong Kong
on 14 March. According to the New York Times and the Washington
Post of 15 February, he was well received, and elicited promises
of prompt and concrete support. Although no specific details
of forthcoming aid were released, at a news conference after
the meeting, Fedorov stressed that any Western aid must be "well-targeted,
well-defined, and visible, and that people feel that this contribution
truly helps." An informative interview with Fedorov appears in
the Financial Times of 15-March. -Keith Bush

MINERS SUPPORT YELTSIN. Coal miners in the Kuzbass and Vorkuta
regions expressed their support for President Yeltsin during
the Congress, Western and Russian agencies reported. A telegram
from Kuzbass miners on 13 March urged Yeltsin to take "decisive
measures to stabilize the political and economic situation,"
assuring him of their support by "all available means." Earlier
they had warned that they retained the right to declare a political
strike. Radio Rossii reported on 13 March that Vorkuta miners
had criticized the Congress decisions for excluding Russia's
citizens from participation in the country's affairs. -Wendy
Slater

TRANSCAUCASIA AND CENTRAL ASIA



300,000 REFUGEES REPORTED TO RETURN HOME TO TAJIKISTAN. 300,00
persons who became refugees during the Tajik civil war in 1992
are reported to have returned to their homes, and the conservative
government in Dushanbe is using the refugees' return as a measure
of the normalization achieved in Tajikistan, Khovar-TASS reported
on 12 March. The report indicated that the refugees who have
gone home included those who fled to Dushanbe and Leninabad Oblast,
the northern region which supported the pro-communist side in
the war. According to earlier reports, many conservative supporters
who fled to Uzbekistan have also returned to their homes in Tajikistan.
Thousands of supporters of the Islamic opponents of the conservatives
remain in Afghanistan and may not be eligible for an amnesty
decreed by Tajikistan's Supreme Soviet on 12 March. The amnesty
grants exemption from criminal prosecution to persons who illegally
crossed Tajikistan's border before 31December 1992. Many of the
refugees in Afghanistan fled in January 1993. -Bess Brown

BADAKHSHAN CRITICIZES DUSHANBE. Autho- rities in Tajikistan's
Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Oblast have complained that the authorities
in Dushanbe are violating an agreement under which Badakhshani
officials would assume responsibility for disarming armed groups
on their territory, ITAR-TASS reported on 14-March. According
to the Badakhshani complaint to Tajik chief of state Imomali
Rakhmonov, military units and armored vehicles have entered Badakhshan
despite promises that Dushanbe would not send troops to the region.
Badakhshan, which has long sought greater autonomy, supported
the democratic-nationalist-Islamic side in the Tajik civil war;
the Badakhshani message to Dushanbe warned of "unpredictable
consequences" if the military units are not removed. -Bess Brown


TURKIC-SPEAKING COUNTRIES AGREE TO ADOPT COMMON ALPHABET. ITAR-TASS,
quoting the Anatolian News Agency, reported on 11 March that
participants in a conference on Turkic orthography had agreed
on the adoption of a common alphabet by Turkey, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan,
Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. Representatives of
all these countries had taken part in the conference in Ankara,
organized by Turkey's Foreign Ministry and the Turkish Agency
for Cooperation and Development. In a declaration at the end
of the gathering, participants announced that they had decided
on a 34-letter alphabet. (Turkey's present Latin-based script
has 29 letters.) Azerbaijan introduced the use of Latin script
in 1992. The other Turkic countries have been discussing such
a step. The conference's decision must be confirmed by the heads
of the Turkic states. -Bess Brown

CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPE



MORILLON HOLDS OUT IN SREBRENICA. International media reported
on 15 March that the commander of UN forces in Bosnia, Gen. Philippe
Morillon, is determined to remain in the besieged mainly Muslim
eastern Bosnian enclave until the Serbs agree to let relief convoys
through their lines. He arrived in the town on 11 March, but
fearful residents subsequently refused to let him leave. The
general is now staying on of his own volition to draw attention
to the plight of the town. Its size has doubled to 60,000, with
more refugees on the way according to the 15 March New York Times,
which reports on the fall of nearby Konjevic Polje. The BBC quoted
UN aid officials as describing the situation in Srebrenica as
"horrific," noting that most people there have "not eaten in
days." Some US airdropped aid packages are reaching the town,
but "the law of the jungle" operates there and prevents the weakest
from getting food. The 15 March Washington Post quotes a UN medical
expert as saying that malnutrition and indiscriminate shelling
are killing up to 30 people per day in Srebrenica, adding that
his work there is harder than previous assignments in Afghanistan,
Ethiopia, and Liberia. -Patrick Moore

BOSNIA CONDITIONALLY ACCEPTS VANCE-OWEN PLAN. The BBC reported
on 15 March that Bosnian legislators the previous day agreed
to the international arbitraters' proposal but raised a series
of demands. They then gave President Alija Izetbegovic a "free
hand" to negotiate. He said that it was more important to preserve
the Muslim nation than the Bosnian state, since the nation could
someday later recover its state. This is an apparent reference
to the widespread feeling among Muslims that provisions of the
Vance-Owen plan' partitioning the republic into 10 highly autonomous
provinces effectively means the end of a Bosnian state. The New
York Times notes that the Bosnian objections to the plan touch
on a number of points, including a refusal to divide Sarajevo
among the three ethnic groups, as well as an insistence that
any agreement be enforced. -Patrick Moore

ROMANIA STILL DETAINS EMBARGO-BREAKING VESSELS. Eight barges
and one ship carrying goods falling under the UN embargo against
Serbia and Montenegro are still detained in the Romanian port
of Drobeta-Turnu Severin. Rompres said that four Ukrainian and
four Romanian barges as well as one German-flag ship have been
at anchor in the Danube port for over one week. The news agency
emphasized that none of the vessels is Yugoslav but provided
no details on the cargoes. Serb shipping trade unions threaten
to stage a new Danube blocked in the Iron Gates sector in case
Romania does not allow free navigation on the river. Negotiations
are underway between Romanian and Serb authorities to prevent
a second Danube blockade in less than a month. -Dan Ionescu

EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT RECOMMENDS RECOGNITION OF MACEDONIA. With
a vote of 136 for, one against, and 12 abstentions, the European
Parliament on 12 March called upon the EC to recognize the Republic
of Macedonia, AFP reports. The vote was taken in the context
of an amendment to a human rights document. -Duncan Perry

UDF CONFERENCE URGES ELECTIONS, LINES UP BEHIND LEADERSHIP. A
resolution adopted at the national conference of the Union of
Democratic Forces held 13-14 March says the coalition has now
exhausted all possibilities to restore a majority in the Bulgarian
parliament and should therefore seek to bring about early general
elections. According to BTA, the resolution demands not only
the resignation of Prime Minister Lyuben Berov but also that
of President Zhelyu Zhelev. Although Zhelev is a cofounder of
the UDF, the delegates agreed that the president's actions have
"repeatedly exceeded his constitutional powers and caused nothing
but disunity in the nation." In the meantime the conference called
on UDF members to use all legal means to resist the present government's
"policy of returning the communists to power." Following a review
of the UDF's strategy over the last few months, a majority of
the delegates expressed confidence in the National Coordinating
Council but strongly criticized individual parliamentary deputies
for having lent support to Berov's cabinet. Former Foreign Minister
Stoyan Ganev, who recently questioned both the competence and
political integrity of UDF Chairman Filip Dimitrov, was not allowed
to address the conference. -Kjell Engelbrekt

NEW CHARGES AGAINST ZHIVKOV. On 13 March former Bulgarian communist
leader Todor Zhivkov was indicted on a new set of misappropriation
charges, agencies report. Zhivkov, who in September last year
received a seven-year sentence for embezzlement of public funds,
is this time accused of having used $22.5-million of the state
budget to sponsor foreign communist movements and terrorist groups.
Prosecutors said Bulgaria took part in the scheme between 1957
and 1987, though the money was allocated through a Soviet fund.
Meanwhile, a Supreme Court official told AFP that Zhivkov is
unlikely to be charged with premeditated murder in another trial
scheduled to open on 4 May. That trial concerns the deaths of
147 inmates in two labor camps operating from 1959 to 1962, and
run by the then interior minister Mircho Spasov. The official
said there is still no evidence of a link to Zhivkov. -Kjell
Engelbrekt

SUCHOCKA ADDRESSES GERMAN MINORITY. During a visit to the Silesian
city of Opole on 13-14-March, Prime Minister Hanna Suchocka devoted
a major address to relations between the ethnic Polish majority
and the German minority. Speaking at the Opole concert hall on
13 March, Suchocka said that the direction of reform in Poland
was to shift responsibility and power from the central authorities
to local communities, reducing the state's former dominance to
a more limited role of assistance. In remarks carried by PAP,
she called Silesia's ethnic diversity a major asset, and pledged
that Polish democracy would respect minority rights and prohibit
discrimination. She also praised the German work ethic and said
that the German minority's political successes should evoke admiration,
not hostility. But she also reminded ethnic Germans of their
"civic responsibility" to respect Polish law and raison d'etat.
"Ethnicity is a spiritual matter, a question of language, cultural
traditions, sentiment," Suchocka said. "Citizenship is an objective
legal state and carries with it legal consequences." -Louisa
Vinton

PUBLIC SERVANTS MARCH IN WARSAW. Public sector employees demonstrated
in Warsaw on 12 March to demand increased spending on education,
health care, and culture. Solidarity organized the demonstration.
Polish TV reported that some 4,000 people took part. Solidarity
Chairman Marian Krzaklewski said that the march was meant to
pressure legislators to make "corrections" to the 1993 budget.
"This is not a political protest," he said. Some demonstrators
nonetheless shouted "Olszewski for President" and other opposition
slogans. Deputy Prime Minister Henryk Goryszewski told the protesters
that any surplus revenues would be devoted to the public sector.
In a separate demonstration on 12 March, 200 employees of the
Lucznik arms plant picketed the German and US embassies. They
demanded that the German government halt the extradition of Lucznik's
deputy director, Rajmond Szwonder, who faces prosecution in the
US for allegedly attempting to sell arms to Iraq. -Louisa Vinton


POLISH-TURKISH TREATY INITIALED. Turkish Foreign Minister Hikmet
Cetin and his Polish counterpart, Krzysztof Skubiszewski, initialed
a new treaty on friendship and cooperation in Warsaw on 11 March.
The pact supplements an existing treaty dating from 1923; it
will be signed later this year, during the visit to Poland of
the Turkish prime minister, Polish TV reports. Cetin told Skubiszewski
that Turkey will support Polish membership in NATO if the alliance
decides to expand. Skubiszewski expressed Poland's support for
Turkey's efforts to find a solution to the Yugoslav conflict.
During a meeting with Prime Minister Hanna Suchocka on 12-March,
Cetin said Poland will be permitted to use Turkey's $750,000
contribution to the $1-billion stabilization fund to help restructure
the banking system. Cetin also met with President Lech Walesa
at the Gdansk shipyard. The meeting could take place outside
the capital, Walesa said, "because things are in order in Warsaw,
especially relations with the prime minister." -Louisa Vinton


SLOVAK RULING PARTY ON KNAZKO. Leaders of the Movement for a
Democratic Slovakia, meeting on 13-March in Lucenec, decided
that Foreign Minister Milan Knazko had violated a resolution
of the party leadership adopted in early February that asked
party leaders not to inform the media about internal developments
in the party and disputes within the government. Knazko has made
a series of highly publicized statements about his conflicts
with the MDS chief, Prime Minister Vladimir Meciar. The party
leadership also decided that Meciar no longer has to remain silent
on his dispute with Knazko. Meciar told the media after the meeting
that his efforts to recall Knazko as foreign minister are prompted
by concerns over the direction of the country's foreign policy.
Meciar argued that Knazko's ministry has failed to follow the
MDS program and "acted against the interests of Slovakia" abroad.
Knazko has been spreading disinformation about developments in
Slovakia and statements made by the premier in closed meetings,
said Meciar. -Jiri Pehe

SLOVAK LEADERS ON GABCIKOVO. Ivan Gasparovic, chairman of the
Slovak parliament, sent a letter to the European Parliament,
in which he requests that Hungary revoke its parliament's resolution
asking help from the UN on solving the dispute over the Gabcikovo
hydroelectric dam project. Gasparovic's letter, which was released
to the press on 13 March, also disputes Hungary's claim that
the Danube dam project violates the Slovak-Hungarian border.
The European Parliament passed a resolution on 12 March asking
Slovakia and Hungary to resolve their dispute at the International
Court of Justice at the Hague. Both countries have said they
support the idea. Also on 12th Premier Vladimir Meciar formally
offered to meet Hungarian Premier Jozsef Antall to discuss the
Gabcikovo dam dispute and other issues. -Jiri Pehe

HUNGARY CLOSER TO LAW ON MINORITIES. On 11-March the six parliamentary
parties reached the much-needed consensus, paving the way to
the passage of the country's first law on national and ethnic
minorities, Magyar Hirlap reports. The law, which requires a
two-thirds majority vote, has been in the works since 1991. It
is expected to set an example for Hungary's neighbors in their
treatment of the ethnic Magyar minorities living there. The last
hurdle to the consensus was overcome when the government agreed
to provide 500 million forint a year in 1994 and 1995 to local
governments for the support of minority organizations. The parliamentary
human rights and ethics committee will next complete the codification
of the draft law, whose passage by parliament is now virtually
assured. -Alfred Reisch

HUNGARIAN DEMOCRATIC CHARTER DEMONSTRATES FOR PRESS FREEDOM.
Several thousand people followed the call of the Democratic Charter
on 14 March to demonstrate in support of freedom of the press
and reconciliation among the peoples of East Central Europe,
MTI reports. The Democratic Charter is a civic group founded
two years ago by independent intellectuals to defend the rule
of law in Hungary; it has the support of the opposition parties.
Elemer Hankiss, who recently resigned as head of Hungarian TV
under government pressure, addressed the crowd. The writer Gyorgy
Konrad said that Hungary should serve as a bridge between the
peoples of the region. The demonstration was held a day before
Hungary's national holiday marking the anniversary of the 1848
war of independence against the Habsburg empire. Official celebrations
are scheduled to be held throughout the country on 15-March.
-Edith Oltay

EX-KING'S WIFE VISITS ROMANIA. Anna of Romania, wife of former
King Michael, arrived in Bucharest on 11-March for a five-day
private visit. Radio Bucharest reports that Anna received leading
political and cultural figures, including Corneliu Coposu and
Ion Ratiu from the National Peasant Party Christian Democratic
and human rights activist Doina Cornea. Anna's agenda includes
visits to a women's hostel, a children's hospital and other charitable
institutions in the Bucharest area. -Dan Ionescu

MOLDOVA'S PRIVATIZATION LAW, SCHEDULE APPROVED. Moldova's parliament
on 12-March overwhelmingly passed the government's draft privatization
law and the schedule for its implementation, both worked out
by the Social Democrat-controlled State Department for Privatization.
Starting in April 33% of state-owned property is to be privatized
through the distribution of vouchers to citizens of Moldova who
will redeem the vouchers for stock within two years. The program
covers small- and medium-sized firms, mainly in light industry,
construction, trade, and services. Several of the best-equipped
medium-sized firms are listed separately for sale to foreigners
for hard currency. Military plants and most municipal utilities
are exempted. Large industrial plants are to be privatized in
a subsequent stage, and the privatization of land is being handled
separately. -Vladimir Socor

UKRAINIAN LEADERS SUPPORT YELTSIN. President Leonid Kravchuk
and his main political opponent, Rukh leader Vyacheslav Chornovil,
both expressed support for Russian President Boris Yeltsin, Reuters
reports on 12 March. Kravchuk is quoted by his spokesman as saying
that Ukraine supports the development of democracy in Russia
"with all of its force." Chornovil, while noting that there had
been disagreements with Yeltsin in the past, said that the Russian
president is the guarantor of Ukrainian independence. -Roman
Solchanyk

GERMAN RESETTLEMENT IN UKRAINE A FAILURE. President Leonid Kravchuk
is quoted in the current issue of Der Spiegel as saying that
plans to resettle ethnic Germans in Ukraine have failed. Part
of the problem, he said, is that the Germans still hope to emigrate
to Germany. Currently, only about 1500 ethnic Germans are reported
to have taken advantage of the resettlement project, which receives
financial support from Bonn. -Roman Solchanyk

ESTONIAN AUTHORITIES TAKE OVER PALDISKI. On 12 March several
hundred members of reinforced police units, border guards, and
the Kaitseliit militia, headed by Police Department Director-General
Igor Aaman, entered the town of Paldiski in an operation against
"criminal organizations" [most likely illegal arms traders],
BNS reports. Although the leadership of the Russian navy base
in the town was not informed of the operation beforehand, the
military did not become involved. The police confiscated some
illegally held weapons and ammunition and arrested several persons.
Three Estonian border defense launches blocked the port and one
of them will remain there after the operation is ended. The Russian
navy maintains a training center for submarine crews with two
nuclear reactors in Paldiski and had barred even Estonian ministers
from entering the town. -Saulius Girnius

NEW JUSTICE MINISTER IN LATVIA. On 11 March Juris Kaksitis was
chosen to replace Viktors Skudra, who resigned. Kaksitis had
been deputy minister. Skudra announced that he will head his
own law firm, BNS reported on 12 March. -Dzintra Bungs

LATVIA TO INTRODUCE NEW VISA REGULATIONS. According to Deputy
Minister of State Viesturs Pauls Karnups, Latvia will introduce
new visa regulations on 22 March, not 20-March, as had been announced
earlier. A transition period will be established between 22-March
and 18 April to ease traveling for CIS citizens who had not heretofore
required a visa. During that time, passports will be stamped
at the border stating the passport bearer had entered Latvia
without a visa and permitting him to stay in Latvia until 1 May;
after 18 April CIS citizens will need a visa. The citizens of
other countries will have to abide by Latvia's entry visa regulations
on 22 March, Baltic agencies reported on 12-March. -Dzintra Bungs


SOVIET PASSPORTS STILL VALID IN LITHUANIA. On 11 March the government
extended the validity of old Soviet passports for travel to countries
of the former USSR until 1 July, BNS reports. It had earlier
decreed that the passports could not be used after 1 March, but
due to the inability of the Interior Ministry to issue enough
new Lithuanian passports quickly enough the decision was extended.
Only Lithuanian passports are valid for travel to other countries.
-Saulius Girnius

[As of 1200 CET]

Compiled by Wendy Slater and Charles Trumbull

















THE RFE/RL DAILY REPORT IS PRODUCED BY THE RFE/RL RESEARCH INSTITUTE
(A DIVISION OF RADIO FREE EUROPE/RADIO LIBERTY, INC.) with the
assistance of the RFE/RL News and Current Affairs Division (NCA).
The report is available by electronic mail via LISTSERV (RFERL-L@UBVM.CC.BUFFALO.EDU),
on the Sovset' computer bulletin board, by fax, and by postal
mail. For inquiries about specific news items, subscriptions,
or additional copies, please contact: in North America: Mr. Brian
Reed, RFE/RL, Inc., 1201 Connecticut Avenue NW, Washington, DC-20036
Telephone: (202) 457-6912 or -6907; Fax: (202) 457-6992 or 828-8783;
Internet: RIDC@RFERL.ORG or Elsewhere: Ms. Helga Hofer, Publications
Department, RFE/RL Research Institute, Oettingenstrasse 67, 8000
Munich 22, Germany;.Telephone: (+49 89) 2102-2631 or -2624; Fax:
(+49 89) 2102-2648, Internet: PD@RFERL.ORG 1993, RFE/RL, Inc.
All rights reserved.