No. 76, 22 April 1993

RUSSIA



CONSTITUTIONAL COURT RULES ON REFERENDUM QUESTIONS. On 21 April,
Russian TV newscasts reported, the Constitutional Court issued
a ruling on the forthcoming referendum, giving Yeltsin a partial
victory in the way votes will be counted. Yeltsin will need over
half of the votes cast to win the referendum on the first two
questions-namely, whether the Russians trust him and approve
of his economic policies; not over half of eligible votes, as
the Congress had ruled at its ninth session. This means that
just over 25% of eligible voters must vote "yes" for Yeltsin
to claim victory on these two points, as the law requires no
less than half of the eligible voters to vote in the referendum
for it to be regarded as valid. The court, however, agreed with
the Congress that over half of Russia's 107 million eligible
voters must vote "yes" on the third and fourth questions on the
referendum in order to hold early elections to either the presidency
or the Russian legislature. The Russian Law on Referenda stipulates
that over half of Russia's eligible voters must vote in favor
of a question which has a bearing on the Russian Constitution
for that question to be carried. Constitutional Court judge Boris
Ebzeev said at a news conference that a "yes" vote on the first
two questions would bring no legal obligations for either the
president or the Congress, whereas a positive vote on the other
two questions would force them to announce a date for early elections.
-Julia Wishnevsky

YELTSIN REGRETS MAKING RUTSKOI HIS DEPUTY. In an interview with
Argumenty i fakty of 22 April, President Yeltsin said that he
recognized his error in making Aleksandr Rutskoi his vice president,
claiming that analysts said it had brought practically no benefit
in the 1991 presidential elections. In response to a question
about who might succeed him should he lose the 25 April referendum,
Yeltsin, employing scare tactics, claimed that it would be "the
revanchists-those communist forces which have lost much, or practically
everything, over the past year or two." The communists, he said,
were "the strongest, most unrestrained, and best organized" of
political groups, and were active everywhere in the CIS. -Wendy
Slater

RUTSKOI URGES LIVE TV TIME TO PRODUCE EVIDENCE ON CORRUPTION.
Vice President Aleksandr Rutskoi has demanded air time to produce
the documents, for the benefit of viewers of Ostankino TV, containing
evidence for his allegations of corruption among members of Yeltsin's
close entourage, according to "Novosti" of 21 April. Rutskoi
urged that the broadcast be aired on 23 April, the Ostankino
newscast's added; the vice president also asked that it be broadcast
live in order to avoid potential censorship of the most startling
revelations of his presentation.--Julia Wishnevsky

RUSSIA WANTS DECENTRALIZATION OF PEACEKEEPING. Vasilii Sidorov,
a representative of Russia at the United Nations, told a gathering
of the UN Committee on Peacekeeping Operations on 21 April, that
Russia believes in "the division of duties" between the UN and
regional organizations, such as the CIS, for peacekeeping activities
on the territory of the former USSR. He said cooperation should
be improved, while responsibility in maintaining the peace should
be "decentralized." The "main responsibility" for peacekeeping
activities in the former Soviet Union lies with Russia, Sidorov
said. He argued that there is an urgent need for an information
center (as part of the UN peacekeeping infrastructure) to assist
in coordinating peacekeeping operations between the UN and the
CIS or other regional organizations, RFE/RL's UN correspondent
reported. -Suzanne Crow

PRIVATIZATION ADVANCES AGAINST GENERAL BACKSLIDE IN REFORM. Recent
statements made by government officials indicating further retreat
from radical economic policy received more confirmation in an
article by President Yeltsin in Rossiiskie vesti (as cited by
Reuters) on 21 April. Calling for more state support for enterprises
and the poor, Yeltsin stated ". . . not only do tactics have
to be changed, but some elements in our [reform] strategy also
have to be corrected." Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin last
week said that "the period of reformist romanticism is over,"
and various high-level economic governmental advisors have also
indicated backsliding in economic policy. Deputy Prime Minister
Anatolii Chubais, however, remains relatively up-beat about the
privatization component of the government's program. Chubais
reported that half of Russia's small businesses have been privatized
and two-thirds of the 6,000 firms to be transferred into private
hands this year have completed the preliminary organizational
step of transforming themselves into joint-stock companies. -Erik
Whitlock

COMMENTS ON REFERENDUM. Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Shakhrai
told journalists on 21 April that if President Boris Yeltsin
gathers enough support at the forthcoming referendum and if the
majority of Russians vote for new parliamentary elections, Yeltsin
will return to the position put forward in his televised speech
on 20 March where he announced the introduction of special rule,
ITAR-TASS reported. First Deputy Prime Minister Vladimir Shumeiko
said that if Yeltsin wins, he will concentrate his efforts on
the promulgation of a new constitution. Former Prime Minister
Egor Gaidar stated that if the conservatives win, liberal politicians
may be prosecuted. -Alexander Rahr

KOZYREV: REFERENDUM WILL DECIDE FOREIGN POLICY. Speaking at a
conference on the Barents Sea in the city of Arkhangelsk on 21
April, Russian Foreign Minister Andrei Kozyrev said the 25 April
referendum will determine the course of Russia's foreign policy
as well as its domestic policy. -Suzanne Crow

RESTRICTIONS ON THE MILITARY VOTE IN THE REFERENDUM. In Izvestiya
on 21-April, Aleksandr Kotenkov, head of the president's State
and Legal Administration, asserted that Russian military personnel
living outside of Russia had been unconstitutionally denied the
right to vote in the referendum, which he termed a "violation
of their human rights." The number of personnel involved is quite
high-estimates indicate that there are approximately 250,000
Russian troops deployed outside of Russia. (It is unclear whether
the exclusion also applies to their dependents.) According to
Kotenkov, both the Defense Ministry and the Central Electoral
Committee had supported the measure, which was reportedly intended
to prevent tensions from rising between troops with and without
Russian citizenship. In an interview with Krasnaya zvezda on
16 April, a member of the Central Electoral Committee, Evgenii
Popov, claimed that the decision had been based on the Ministry
of Defense's statement that the troops were under dual CIS and
Russian subordination and hence should not take part. Popov noted
that while he felt the military should not be allowed to participate
in the vote at all, provisions had been made to ensure fair voting,
such as providing voting stations outside military garrisons
where possible, and forbidding any agitation concerning the referendum
amongst the troops. -John Lepingwell

GRACHEV ON REORGANIZATION OF FAR EAST FORCES. At the end of his
visit to the Far East Military District, Russian Defense Minister
Pavel Grachev announced plans for a sweeping reorganization of
the command structure in the region. He called for the creation
by 1995 of a unified command for the region that would incorporate
naval, air, and land forces in one joint structure. Headquarters
for the command will be based in Komsomolsk on Amur. The commander
of the new unified structure is to become a deputy minister of
defense. After the Far East unified command is established, a
similar command may be established incorporating the Transbaikal
and Siberian Military Districts, with its staff located in Ulan-Ude.
Grachev noted that if the situation in the south of Russia continues
to become increasingly tense, then a similar command may be created
for European Russia. Grachev's comments were reported by ITAR-TASS
on 21 April. -John Lepingwell

PRESIDENTIAL DECREE ON WORKERS' RIGHTS. President Yeltsin has
issued a decree on additional measures to protect workers' rights,
according to ITAR-TASS on 21 April. The decree is designed protect
workers threatened by unemployment. To this aim, a "permissible"
level of unemployment will be established for certain regions,
and measures taken to retain existing workplaces. The decree
also envisages that workers laid off from bankrupt enterprises
be given priority in job allocation should a state enterprise
take over the bankrupt firm. They are also to be given priority
as bidders to buy the bankrupt enterprise, provided their offer
is equal to that of other potential buyers. The decree further
calls for the introduction of a monthly compensation for workers
at state or private enterprises, which for "objective reasons"
have to introduce short-time work. The compensation can be paid
for a maximum of six months. -Sheila Marnie

COUP DEFENDANTS HOLD PRESS CONFERENCE. Some of the 12 defendants
in the trial over the failed August 1991 coup held a press conference
in Moscow on 21 April. An RFE/RL correspondent reported that
they called for Boris Yeltsin to stand as a witness in the trial,
and accused former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev of provoking
the attempted coup by betraying the Soviet Union. The men repeated
their demand for the prosecution in the trial to be changed,
accusing them of bias against the defendants, and said that they
refused to "talk with the [current] so-called prosecution." -Wendy
Slater

TRANSCAUCASIA AND CENTRAL ASIA



ARMENIAN, AZERBAIJANI PRESIDENTS MEET. Armenian President Levon
Ter-Petrossyan and his Azerbaijani counterpart Abulfaz Elchibey
met twice in Ankara on 21 April during the state funeral of the
Turkish President Turgut Ozal, Western agencies reported. Ter-Petrossyan
told reporters that the talks had been "constructive", and that
he and Elchibey agreed on the need to resume negotiations on
Karabakh within the CSCE framework; Elchibey had previously made
further participation in the CSCE talks contingent on an Armenian
withdrawal from the territory in Kelbadzhar occupied earlier
this month. Meanwhile the Azerbaijani parliament met in Baku
in closed session to debate the implications of the current military
and political situation in Azerbaijan, AzerTadzh reported. Both
Armenia and Azerbaijan addressed complaints to the UN Security
Council accusing the other of continuing artillery fire, according
to an RFE/RL correspondent. The CSCE observer team held talks
with the Nagorno-Karabakh authorities on deploying observers
to monitor a ceasefire in the region; they then inspected the
Lachin humanitarian corridor connecting Karabakh and Armenia,
ITAR-TASS reported. -Liz Fuller

FOREIGN AID FOR KYRGYZSTAN. The Japanese government has decided
to offer Kyrgyzstan a low-interest loan amounting to $60 million,
according to ITAR-TASS on 21-April. This will be the first time
Japan has given official development assistance to a member of
the CIS. Western press agencies suggest that the loan is in fact
part of a $60-million structural adjustment facility from the
World Bank, which Japan is co-financing. The loan was announced
during President Akaev's visit to Tokyo, where he reiterated
Kyrgyzstan's intention of introducing its own national currency
in May 1993. The Kyrgyz parliament is due to vote on this when
it reconvenes after 10 May. Akaev also stated that 35% of state
enterprises would be privatized in 1993. -Sheila Marnie

CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPE



WALESA IN WASHINGTON. Polish President Lech Walesa met and talked
with President Bill Clinton for more than an hour on 21 April.
No details of their conversation were made public, but Clinton
was reported by Gazeta Wyborcza to have said before the meeting
that the United States will continue to support "Polish reforms
and those in other [East European] countries even while [America]
increases its aid for democracy in Russia." Walesa reportedly
added that "Poland needs American investments not money" and
that US economic involvement in Poland would not "be directed
against Russia." Walesa has proposed that Western governments
and companies invest in East Central Europe and the goods produced
there be sent to Russia as aid. Walesa, together with leaders
of other Central and Eastern European countries, is in Washington
to take part in the ceremonial opening of the Holocaust Museum.
-Jan de Weydenthal

KOVAC IN WASHINGTON. During the first day of his first official
visit to the United States, Slovak President Kovac has held meetings
with Ambassador to the UN Madeleine Albright and World Bank Vice
President Wilfried Thalwitz, TA SR reported on 21 April. Kovac,
along with Foreign Minister Jozef Moravcik, are in Washington
to attend the opening of the Holocaust Museum. According to the
Slovak news agency, Albright reassured Kovac of "American faith
in the development of Slovakia." Thalwitz reportedly told the
Slovak delegation that the Slovak Republic "aspires to establish
a functioning market economy." TA SR also reports that Kovac
was to meet with President Clinton on 21 April, but the meeting
has not yet been confirmed. -Jan Obrman

ILIESCU, ZHELEV MEET CLINTON. On 21 April Romanian President
Ion Iliescu was received by President Clinton. In its coverage
Radio Bucharest expressed hopes that the 15-minute meeting will
contribute to closer cooperation between the two countries. It
further quoted Clinton as saying that he expects better US-Romanian
relations in the future. On the same day, Iliescu discussed the
situation in former Yugoslavia with Slovenian President Milan
Kucan and met with Congressman Lee Hamilton. He also met leading
figures in the US Jewish community. Bulgarian President Zhelyu
Zhelev also met briefly with President Clinton on the 21st. Zhelev
informed the US President of recent changes in Bulgaria, but
he also spoke of future prospects for closer cooperation between
the West and the fledgling democracies in Eastern Europe. He
emphasized the need to dismantle trade barriers, including the
complete removal of the Jackson-Vanik Amendment. Zhelev is scheduled
to meet Vice President Al Gore separately. -Dan Ionescu and Kjell
Engelbrekt

MOLDOVA-US SIGN INVESTMENT TREATY. Moldovan Prime Minister Andrei
Sangheli and US Trade Representative Mickey Kantor signed a bilateral
investment treaty in Washington on 21 April, Western media report.
Under the accord, investors from the two countries will be guaranteed
equal treatment. Kantor said the treaty will help Moldova in
its transition to a market economy and will form an integral
part of the trade and investment relations with Moldova. -Charles
Trumbull

STATE DEPARTMENT LUNCH/WHITE HOUSE RECEPTION. US Secretary of
State Warren Christopher hosted a lunch for visiting dignitaries
from Central and Eastern Europe on 21-April at the State Department,
after which the leaders were received by President Bill Clinton
at a White House reception. Those in attendance included Bulgarian
President Zhelyu Zhelev, Czech President Vaclav Havel, Hungarian
President Arpad Goncz, Polish President Lech Walesa, Romanian
President Ion Iliescu, Slovak President Michal Kovac, and Moldovan
Prime Minister Andrei Sangheli. -Charles Trumbull

JEWISH OBJECTIONS TO TUDJMAN'S PARTICIPATION. Holocaust veteran
and Nobel Peace Prize winner Elie Wiesel says the presence of
Croatian President Franjo Tudjman at the dedication ceremonies
for the Holocaust Museum is "a disgrace," AFP reports. Wiesel
said that statements Tudjman has written help those who deny
the Holocaust's very existence, apparently referring to some
passages contained in Tudjman's 1988 book, Wasteland: Historical
Truth, that suggest that figures for the number of Jews who perished
in the Holocaust are exaggerated. The book is also critical of
Israel and contains a list of negative Jewish characteristics.
Tudjman has denied the allegations, saying key passages of his
book were mistranslated and citing his anti-Nazi activities and
efforts to assist Jews. An editorial in the 20 April Washington
Post makes the same point about the inappropriateness of inviting
the Croatian leader, commenting "Mr. Tudjman appears insensitive
to the resonances [of his writings]." The New York Times on 22-April
reports that the Holocaust Museum was advised by the US State
Department that the Bosnians, Slovenians, and Croatians, "those
three, who were democratically elected," should be invited to
the dedication. Israel has not commented officially on Tudjman's
participation, but has said it will not recognize Croatia as
long as Tudjman is president. -Charles Trumbull

BOSNIAN UPDATE. International media report on 22-April that the
UN announced the previous day that the disarming of the Muslims
in Srebrenica was completed on time. Most of the fighters left
the embattled town and took their weapons with them, however,
prompting the Serbs to call the disarming bogus. There are 145
Canadian UN troops in Srebrenica, but from reports on the BBC
and elsewhere it is not clear if they intend to defend it against
any Serb attacks, as some media accounts suggested on 21 April.
Meanwhile in central Bosnia, Croat and Muslim forces negotiated
a cease-fire, but it is not being fully observed. Reports continue
to emerge of atrocities on both sides but particularly by Croats
against Muslims, such as described in the 22 April Washington
Post. Borba carries a summary of the mutual accusations made
by the Croatian and Muslim media. On 21 April Serbia's "Radio
Yugoslavia" reported that Croats and Serbs in Bosnia agreed to
accept each other's civilian refugees fleeing the Muslims, but
this story is yet to be confirmed. Finally, Western news agencies
said that local authorities in Gorazde claim that 70,000 people
are dying of hunger there and have appealed to the Security Council
for aid. No relief convoy has arrived for a month, the report
noted. -Patrick Moore

OWEN IN ZAGREB AND BELGRADE. On 21 April international mediator
Lord Owen began a five-day Balkan peace mission in an attempt
to revive the stalled negotiations on ending the war in Bosnia-Herzegovina.
In Zagreb Owen met with Croatian defense minister Gojko Susak.
In Belgrade Owen met with Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic
and federal Yugoslav President Dobrica Cosic in an effort to
induce Belgrade to persuade Bosnian Serbs to sign a UN peace
plan for Bosnia. Owen also met with Bosnian Serb leader Radovan
Karadzic. Earlier Karadzic said he would not meet Owen because
he considers him "disqualified" as peace negotiator because of
his bias. Owen told reporters he would not waste any time commenting
on the details of the negotiations, explaining they "are too
serious an issue for me to discuss them publicly." He did say
that the talks covered many different issues concerning Bosnia
and its relations between Serbia and Croatia. Talks resume on
22 April in Belgrade. Owen is expected to return to the Croatian
capital at the end of his mission to meet with Croatian President
Franjo Tudjman, Bosnian President Alija Izetbegovic, and Bosnian
Croat leader Mate Boban. He is also scheduled to meet with officials
in Skopje, Athens, and Podgorica and will again stop in Belgrade
on 25 April. Belgrade and international media carried the reports
on 21 and 22 April. -Milan Andrejevich

VOJVODINA HUNGARIANS PREPARE AUTONOMY DOCUMENT. Two prominent
members of the Democratic Community of Hungarians from Vojvodina,
Andras Agoston and Bela Csorba, are in Hungary in order to inform
the leaders of the parliamentary parties and other political
organizations about a memorandum on the issue of autonomy that
Hungarians living in Vojvodina will soon address to the Serbian
head of state, MTI reported on 21 April. In a press conference
in Hungary Agoston told reporters that the DCHV must act now
because of the "psychological warfare" conducted by the Serbian
leadership against the DCHV. Agoston indicated that Hungarians
will ask the Serbian government to help them establish a three-faceted
autonomy: territorial, cultural, and personal. Agoston pointed
out that without this autonomy the Hungarians cannot survive
in Vojvodina and their numbers might drop by a third or even
one half by the next census. -Judith Pataki

MECIAR REJECTS SOCIALISM AND CAPITALISM. In an interview with
Narodna obroda on 21 April, Slovak Prime Minister Vladimir Meciar
rejected both, socialist and capitalist systems for his country
and described his own program as "gradualism." The prime minister
made it clear that a new foundation should be built for the Slovak
society "which will be neither socialist nor capitalist," because
"both systems are extreme." He said that the difference between
his government's economic reform and those of the Czech Republic,
Poland, and Hungary "lies in going from a restrictive shock therapy
to a gradual development with harmonious steps." Meciar's remarks
in the Slovak daily are apparently aimed at the second strongest
faction in the Slovak parliament, the ex-communist Party of the
Democratic Left, whose support is crucial for the survival of
his minority government. -Jan Obrman

HIGHER STEEL QUOTAS PROPOSED FOR CZECHS, SLOVAKS. EC Trade Commissioner
Leon Brittan said at a press conference in Strasbourg on 21 April
that he will ask EC industry ministers to accept higher steel
imports from the Czech and Slovak Republics, AFP reports. He
said that he will seek authorization to negotiate with the two
countries on higher imports of laminated steel in the next few
days. Brittan made it clear that an increase will not have any
impact on the EC's troubled market. -Jan Obrman

BULGARIAN TRADE UNION LEADER CHARGED WITH INCITEMENT. On 21 April
Bulgarian prosecutors formally charged Konstantin Trenchev, leader
of the Podkrepa Confederation of Labor, with arson, battery,
and hooliganism, Bulgarian and Western media report. Trenchev
was at the scene when the headquarters of the former communist
party, now the Bulgarian Socialist Party, was set ablaze on 26
August 1990. Prosecutors say he encouraged a crowd to attack
the building. Trenchev, among 30 defendants in the case, is denying
the charges. -Kjell Engelbrekt

ROMANIAN UNIONS ASK ILIESCU TO MEDIATE PAY TALKS. On 21 April
some of Romania's main trade union confederations, including
Alfa, Fratia, and the National Confederation of Romania's Free
Trade Unions, addressed a letter to President Ion Iliescu asking
him to mediate pay talks with the government. According to Radio
Bucharest, the letter accuses Nicolae Vacaroiu's leftist cabinet
of "total unwillingness to conduct real negotiations" over salaries.
The main bone of contention is the unions' insistence on having
the minimum monthly wage raised to 46,000 lei from the current
17,600. The government has offered around 26,000 lei. The unions
threaten a nationwide strike on 5 May in case negotiations fail.
An Iliescu spokesman said last week that the president is willing
to mediate if necessary. -Dan Ionescu

ROMANIAN EX-SECRET POLICEMEN ON TRIAL FOR KILLINGS. Two members
of the former secret police confessed on 21 April to having intentionally
killed two persons who tried to hijack a bus to the West in August
1981. Former Securitate officers Constantin Tecsan and Iulian
Laza admitted that they shot the captured hijackers in a forest
near Timisoara. A third hijacker is said to have been later strangled
in a Timisoara jail by a local Securitate doctor, Col. Gheorghe
Gornic. Gornic denies the accusation. Radio Bucharest said that
the hijackers had demanded a helicopter and $30,000 and were
killed on the order of former communist dictator Nicolae Ceausescu.
Six hostages were killed and twelve wounded when Securitate troops
fired on the bus. Two former interior ministers, Tudor Postelnicu
and Gheorghe Homostean, are also on trial for their roles in
this incident. -Dan Ionescu

HEROIN AND DIPLOMACY IN POLAND. Customs officials found 12.5
kilograms of heroin in the luggage belonging to Carlos Vargas,
Costa Rica's ambassador to Poland, Gazeta Wyborcza reports on
22 April. This was the largest single shipment of heroin ever
recorded in Poland. Ambassador Vargas enjoyed diplomatic immunity
in Poland and was not immediately arrested. His luggage was detained
by the Polish authorities, however. Later reports in the Polish
media say that Vargas has been recalled and will be asked to
give up his diplomatic immunity. -Jan de Weydenthal

UKRAINE RENEWS CALL FOR SECURITY GUARANTEES. Ukraine's ambassador
to the United Nations, Viktor Batyuk, called on the United States
and Russia to provide a legally binding political guarantee that
neither nuclear nor conventional weapons will be used against
Ukraine, an RFE/RL correspondent reports on 21 April. Batyuk's
remarks were made during debate in the UN Disarmament Commission
in New York. The ambassador noted that his country had the right
to "demand" such guarantees in view of territorial claims with
which it is confronted. -Roman Solchanyk

ESTONIAN CENTRIST LEADER RESIGNS. Founding member and presidential
candidate of the Estonian Center Party (a descendant of the Popular
Front), University of California-Irvine political science professor
Rein Taagepera, signed his letter of resignation from the party
during an interview with RFE/RL on 20 April. Taagepera said that
as a centrist he does not think the party should be in opposition
to political developments in Estonia while the democracy is still
young. He says he will not join any other party. Taagepera made
his final decision based on the results of a closed congress
of the party on 17 April, at which the party also changed its
name from the Estonian Popular Center Party. -Mart Laanemae

LITHUANIAN CONSTITUTIONAL COURT UNABLE TO WORK. The Constitutional
Court has been asked to rule on the legality of two controversial
issues: the dissolution of the Vilnius City Council and the transfer
of three Seimas deputy mandates from the opposition to the ruling
Lithuanian Democratic Labor Party. It said, however, that it
is unable to do this because the Seimas has not yet assigned
it a permanent office. President Algirdas Brazauskas has asked
the Seimas to suspend the enforcement of the dissolution until
the court makes a ruling. On 16 April the three new LDLP deputies
were sworn in, but the opposition argues that the Seimas does
not have the constitutional authority to take away the mandates
of the previously sworn in deputies who had not committed any
offenses. -Saulius Girnius

PAY INCREASES IN LITHUANIA. On 19 April Lithuanian Prime Minister
Adolfas Slezevicius said that the salaries of employees in the
public sector will be increased by about 40% from 1-May, Radio
Lithuania reports. In the future the salaries will be regularly
indexed. Social Security Minister Teodoras Medaiskas said that
social security benefits would most likely also be raised. The
official subsistence level, which determines many salaries, will
be raised from 2,430 to 4,300 coupons (Lithuania's provisional
currency) per month. It is not clear where the funds for the
increases will be found, but they will undoubtedly fuel inflation.
-Saulius Girnius

LATVIA, ESTONIA INITIAL FREE TRADE AGREEMENT. On 21 April in
Riga an Estonian delegation, headed by senior economics official
Tiit Reiman, initialed a free trade agreement with Latvia, BNS
reports. Deputy trade minister Andrejs Runcis led the Latvian
delegation. The document suggests that duties be imposed only
on goods such as sandstone, timber, and leather products brought
to Latvia. Agricultural products will be traded under a preset
quota system. The agreement also deals with issues of transit
and protection of intellectual property. -Saulius Girnius

[As of 1200 CET]

Compiled by Wendy Slater and Charles Trumbull







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