No. 127, 07 July 1993

RUSSIA



COUP TRIAL POSTPONED AGAIN. The trial of the leaders of the August
1991 attempted coup resumed for about an hour on 7 July and was
again postponed because of the illness of one of the co-defendents,
Aleksandr Tizyakov, and the absence of four defense lawyers,
according to the Ostankino TV news. The trial had been suspended
since May due to the court's request that new prosecutors, independent
of the Russian Prosecutor-General, be found. Julia Wishnevsky


NO-CONFIDENCE IN GOVERNMENT? THE SPEAKER OF THE COUNCIL OF THE
REPUBLIC OF THE RUSSIAN PARLIAMENT, VENIAMIN SOKOLOV, TOLD RADIO
ROSSII "NOVOSTI" ON 5 JULY THAT THE PARLIAMENTARY LEADERSHIP
WANTS TO HOLD A VOTE OF NO-CONFIDENCE IN THE GOVERNMENT AT THE
NEXT CONGRESS OF PEOPLE'S DEPUTIES. He said that the government
had only intensified the economic crisis in the country. Vice
President Aleksandr Rutskoi also maintained that the present
government should be replaced because of the involvement of its
officials in corruption. Deputy Prime Minister Boris Fedorov
told Ekho Moskvy the same day that Sokolov's annoncement was
"irresponsible." He asserted that the government has gained some
trust in society because it has succeeded in slowing inflation
for more than a month. Alexander Rahr

RUTSKOI IN NOVOSIBIRSK. Vice-President Aleksandr Rutskoi told
deputies of the Novosibirsk Oblast Council that he will not resign
because he sees his duty as preserving the interests of the electorate
in the executive structures, Radio Rossii "Novosti" reported
on 4 July. He said that subjects of the Russian Federation should
be granted wide autonomy in the formation of local budgets and
that no more than 20 percent of their tax revenues should go
into the federal budget. Alexander Rahr

COALITION FOR REFORM CALLS FOR CONGRESS SESSION IN JULY. Members
of the pro-Yeltsin Coalition for Reform parliamentary faction
began circulating a petition on 6 July calling for the convening
of a session of the Congress of People's Deputies on 20 July
to discuss the adoption of Russia's new constitution, an RFE/RL
correspondent reported from Moscow. Under existing legislation,
one fifth of the Congress's deputies must sign the petition for
the Congress to be convened. The majority of Moscow politicians
think that the Congress should not adopt a new constitution,
despite the fact that this is what the law stipulates. Parliamentary
speaker Ruslan Khasbulatov had earlier suggested that the Congress
should discuss a new draft constitution at its regular session
in November. Vera Tolz

SHAKHRAI ON HIS PARTY. Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Shakhrai
was quoted by Radio Rossii "Novosti" on 6 July as saying that
his newly created Party of Russian Unity and Concord will not
be in opposition to the present Russian leadership. Shakhrai
had already spoken with President Boris Yeltsin and Prime Minister
Viktor Chernomyrdin about the creation and orientation of his
party. Little is known about the membership and financial support
of Shakhrai's party but it will propagate a socially-oriented
economic policy and will develop close ties to regional political
forces "to the left of the center." The party is not connected
to the pro-Yeltsin electoral block created by former State Secretary
Gennadii Burbulis or the Democratic Russia Movement. Shakhrai
is frequently mentioned in the Russian press as a possible successor
to Yeltsin. Alexander Rahr

DEFENSE MINISTRY CRITICIZES FUNDING SHORTFALLS. Russia's First
Deputy Defense Minister with responsibility for military procurement
policy, Andrei Kokoshin, complained on 6 July that the failure
of parliament to pass a law on state defense orders has prevented
the Defense Ministry from moving to a contract system with defense
suppliers, ITAR-TASS reported. Kokoshin claimed that a failure
to transfer defense procurement funding to the Defense Ministry
has meant that it now owes nearly 400 billion rubles to defense
suppliers. Kokoshin warned that a failure to quickly pass a defense
procurement law could lead to the disintegration of the defense
industrial complex. Meanwhile, a battle also appears to be shaping
up between the Defense and Finance Ministries over a proposal
by the latter body that would, to curtail the federal deficit,
suspend the granting of some benefits recently extended to servicemen
and their families. Krasnaya zvezda has warned in recent weeks
that such actions could undermine stability in the military.
Stephen Foye

YELTSIN LIMITS OFFICERS' VISITS TO PARLIAMENT. On 5 July Boris
Yeltsin issued a directive forbidding Russian military leaders
to appear before parliamentary committees without the permission
of the President's office, ITAR-TASS reported. The directive,
which was justified by the claim that such visits entail unjustified
expenses and divert officers from their normal military duties,
appears to underline once again the competition between the executive
and legislative branches for control over military policy. Stephen
Foye

NO RESOLUTION TO ROCKET SALE DISPUTE. Reuter reported on 7 July
that a visit by top-ranking US officials to Moscow in recent
days had failed to settle a US-Russian dispute over the sale
by Moscow of missile technology to India. According to the same
report, US President Bill Clinton intends to make clear to Boris
Yeltsin during the G-7 meeting in Tokyo that Washington takes
the issue very seriously, although the US side will not attempt
further negotiations in Tokyo on the sale. The US imposed sanctions
on Russia last month for what it alleges is a violation of the
Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR), but immediately waived
them in hopes of reaching an agreement by the middle of this
month. Stephen Foye

KOZYREV MEETS CONGRESSMEN. Russian Foreign Minister Andrei Kozyrev
met with a group of US lawmakers on 6 July in Moscow to discuss
problems and perspectives in US-Russian relations. Kozyrev's
aide, Galina Sidorova, told reporters after the talks that Kozyrev
had raised two issues that Russia finds problematic in relations
with the United States: some US legislation still considers Russia
a communist country and Washington continues to link cooperation
with Moscow to specific policy questions. Sidorova offered Russian
cooperation with Iran and Russian troop withdrawals from the
Baltic states as examples of such issue areas and said Russia
opposes any linkage to cooperation with the United States, ITAR-TASS
reported. Suzanne Crow

NUCLEAR WEAPONS WORKERS ISSUE STRIKE WARNING. Workers at the
nuclear center in Chelyabinsk-70 have threatened to strike if
their demands are not met, according to ITAR-TASS on 6 July.
They set out their demands last week in a letter to President
Yeltsin, the Russian parliament and the government. These included
granting the center the legal status of a budget organization;
provision of funds to finance the work of the center, and payment
by 10 July of back salaries for May and June, with compensation
for the losses due to inflation. The demands echo those made
in late June by workers at Arzamas-16, another nuclear weapons
development center. Cessation of work at the center would affect
the destruction of nuclear weapons as well as security at the
center. Reuters reported that the Russian government has promised
to meet the pay demands, and was seeking the release of budget
funds for this purpose. Sheila Marnie.

DECLARATION OF ECONOMIC ACCORD. The government-parliamentary
round-table conference that was set up in January 1993 has produced
a document that ITAR-TASS of 5 and 6 July variously called the
"Declaration of National Economic Accord" and "Declaration of
National Economic Independence." This calls for such unexceptionable
measures to combat the economic crisis as halting the decline
in output, curbng inflation, averting mass unemployment, and
providing a social safety net. Representatives of the parliamentary
reform coalition decried the signing of the declaration by Prime
Minister Chernomyrdin as evidence of an anti-reform tendency
in the government, but Finance Minister Boris Fedorov downplayed
this, calling it a coming-together of the executive and legislature
to promote the cause of reform. Keith Bush

EX-IM BANK LOAN AGREEMENT WITH RUSSIA. On the eve of the G-7
summit in Tokyo, the US Export-Import Bank signed an agreement
on 6 July to provide at least $2 billion in loans and loan guarantees
to Russia to buy oil, gas, and petro-chemical equipment and services,
the New York Times and Reuters reported on 7 July. Several technical
issues reportedly remain before the money can be transferred,
but these are expected to be resolved by the beginning of September.
It is estimated that nearly a quarter of Russia's oil and gas
wells are currently out of commission. Keith Bush

NEW CHANGES IN OIL AND ELECTRICITY PRICES. President Yeltsin
has issued a decree which frees oil suppliers from penalties
for exceeding price limits, according to Kommersant on 7 July.
These penalties have been the main formal means of regulating
oil prices since the fall of 1992; their removal may in effect
constitute the liberalization of oil prices in Russia. Kommersant
also reported that the government's Commission on Operational
Management has approved a plan to raise the electricity rates
by 16 times for residential consumers. The proposal foresees
raising the rates per kilowatt-hour from 36 kopecks to 6 rubles
for urban residential consumers and 24 kopecks to 4 rubles for
rural residential consumers. A presidential decree to this effect
is expected in the near future. Erik Whitlock

NEW DRAFT DECREE ON LAND REFORM. The Russian government has prepared
a draft presidential decree on further land reform, according
to Radio Rossii on 5 July. The draft decree allows private farmers
to buy land shares which are distributed to peasants when collective
and state farms are turned into joint stock companies. Farmers
currently have an average of 42 hectares, and this is not enough
for many of them. On the other hand pensioners, teachers and
others are given an allotment of land when collective and state
farms are reorganized, and many of them cannot make use of the
land. Permitting farmers to purchase these allotments could be
the first step towards liberalizing the buying and selling of
land. Sheila Marnie.

RUSSIAN PARLIAMENT DISCUSSES ANTI-AIDS PROGRAM. A draft program
to help prevent the spread of AIDS was discussed on 6 July by
the Council of Nationalities of the Russian parliament, according
to ITAR-TASS on the same day. The number of deaths from AIDS
was 659 in 1992, but "hundreds of thousands" of the population
are infected. More funds are needed to fight the disease; in
1992 care of one HIV positive patient cost on average 500,000
rubles. Sheila Marnie

VARIOUS VIEWS ON EMERGENCE OF NEW REPUBLICS IN RUSSIA. On 6 July,
President Yeltsin urged the region of Sverdlovsk and the city
of Vologda to suspend their recent declarations that they are
assuming the status of republics. ITAR-TASS said that Yeltsin
called the declarations "ill-timed." The president proposed that
the declarations should be suspended until a final agreement
had been reached at the Constitutional Assembly on the new status
of republics and regions. The same day, a member of the Presidential
Council Georgii Satarov supported Sverdlovsk' declaration, condemning
the fact that so far Russia's republics have had a privileged
status compared to that of the regions, ITAR-TASS reported. According
to former Acting Prime Minister Egor Gaidar, Sverdlovsk's declaration
will make it difficult for the Constitutional Assembly to preserve
inequality of status between republics and regions in a new Russian
Constitution, Ostankino television reported. Vera Tolz

TRANSCAUCASIA AND CENTRAL ASIA



SHEVARDNADZE DECLARES MARTIAL LAW IN ABKHAZIA. The press center
of the Georgian Supreme Soviet announced that Georgian Parliament
Chairman Eduard Shevardnadze declared martial law effective 6
July throughout the territory of the Autonomous Republic of Abkhazia,
ITAR-TASS reported. Shevardnadze's decree stated that recent
exacerbation of the military conflict, the need to protect the
civilian population, and the necessity of eliminating the threat
to Georgia's territorial integrity dictated the measure. Addressing
a joint session of the Abkhaz Defense Council and Council of
Ministers in Sukhumi on 6 July, Shevardnadze stated that Georgia
has never questioned Abkhazia's autonomy. Meanwhile, both sides
report that intense fighting continued through 6 July in Ochamchira
district and along the Gumista front. Catherine Dale

UN SECURITY COUNCIL ADDRESSES ABKHAZ CRISIS. The UN Security
Council met on 7 July in a closed-door session to discuss the
possibility of deploying 50 UN military observers in the Georgian-held
Abkhaz capital of Sukhumi and in Ochamchira district, the RFE/RL
UN correspondent reported. UN Secretary General Boutros Boutros-Ghali
recommended this preventative measure on 1 July, just before
Abkhaz forces launched a large-scale offensive. In light of the
current intensity of fighting, the Council has decided to work
out a resolution to allow deployment of observers "in principle".
This plan would be activated only after a ceasefire goes into
effect and holds. Catherine Dale

AZERBAIJAN UPDATE. A contingent of Azerbaijani reinforcements
arrived in Agdam, east of Nagorno-Karabakh, on 6 July, Reuters
reported from Baku. The Information and Press Department of the
Nagorno-Karabakh Republic denied Azerbaijani media reports that
Armenian forces had taken the town, according to ITAR-TASS. Azerbaijani
Supreme Soviet chairman Geidar Aliev held talks in Baku with
his former ally, National Independence Party chairman Etibar
Mamedov, who criticized Aliev's leadership for imposing press
censorship and demanded the lifting of the state of emergency
in force since March; Mamedov reportedly declined Aliev's offer
of the post of foreign minister, Reuters reported. Liz Fuller


CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPE



UPROAR IN CROATIA OVER LAND SWAP WITH SERBS. The opposition Croatian
Social Liberal Party has lambasted President Franjo Tudjman for
remarks made at his 5 July press conference, in which he said
that Croatia would talk with Bosnian Serbs about a possible exchange
of territories. The Liberals, who for some weeks have regularly
beat out Tudjman's party in public opinion polls, said on 6 July
that Croatia's borders are set and internationally recognized,
and that only parliament had the right to change them. The opposition
statement added that Tudjman's remarks "shocked Croatian public
opinion." Hina also quoted government spokesmen who tried to
qualify or explain the president's comments, but it seems that
Tudjman has once again gotten himself into political hot water
by indiscreet remarks that put him at odds with much of the Croatian
public. Meanwhile, Croatian dailies on 6 July reported that the
previous 12-month inflation rate was over 1,700 percent. Patrick
Moore

BLEAK PICTURE IN SARAJEVO. The embattled Bosnian capital has
entered a new phase of suffering with the virtual collapse of
the power and water systems. The director of the city hospital
said on 6 July that his patients have had no hot food or hot
water for two days, and that only emergency cases are operated
on, given that it is not possible to sterilize instruments. Hina
added that city officials are on a hunger strike to call attention
to Sarajevo's plight, and to demand that the international community
take action to ensure that relief supplies get through. Meanwhile,
the BBC's Serbian and Croatian Services said that Muslims battled
Croats around Mostar and Konjic in Herzegovina, while Serbs fought
Muslims near Maglaj and Brcko in northern Bosnia. Fighting was
also reported around the northern transportation hub of Gradacac,
but the nature of the conflict there is unclear. Gradacac has
been one of the last major strongholds where Croat and Muslim
units have stood together against attacking Serbs. Patrick Moore


BELGRADE INTRODUCES ARMY REFORM. Federal Defense Minister Pavle
Bulatovic told reporters on 6 July that proposed legislation
on reforming the Yugoslav armed forces will completely free the
armed forces of "any ideological essence or party characteristics,"
and forbid union organizations even for civilian army or Defense
Ministry employees. Defense and military planning would be assigned
to the federal Supreme Defense Council made up of the president
of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia-as supreme commander-and
the presidents of Serbia and Montenegro. The bills also envisage
abolition of the defense ministries of the two republics. The
bills are expected to be passed by the Federal Assembly on 16
July and will supersede numerous regulations dating back to the
former Yugoslavia. Bulatovic also said that the new bills would
ensure a higher professional level for the standing army, while
retaining general military service. The reform measures also
call for the possibility of civil military service for those
recruits who chose to serve without arms; they would have to
serve twice as long as the standard military service of 12 months.
Mandatory service begins at the age of 19, but can be waived
for university students until the age of 27. Several parties
are opposed to parts of the proposed legislation. The Radical
Party rejects civil military service, while several Montenegrin
opposition parties are demanding separate armed forces for Montenegro
Radio Serbia carried the report. Milan Andrejevich

DRASKOVICS' CONDITION "PITIABLE". Danielle Mitterand, wife of
the French President, described the condition of imprisoned Serbian
Renewal Movement (SPO) leader Vuk Draskovic and his wife Danica
as "pitiable" after meeting the couple in Belgrade. She and the
French Justice Minister met with Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic
in an attempt to free the Draskovics' so they could be flown
to France for medical treatment and political asylum, according
to French media. Milosevic said this was a matter to be decided
by Serbia's Supreme Court. Meanwhile the high court rejected
an appeal by Draskovics' attorneys that they be freed pending
trial on charges that they incited the 1 and 2 June riots and
assaulted a policeman. Belgrade radio B92 commented on 5 July
that "the regime does not know if Vuk is more dangerous dead
or alive." Milan Andrejevich

HIGH COURT ACCEPTS DIMITROVA RESIGNATION. RFE/RL's Bulgarian
Service reported on 6 July that Bulgaria's Constitutional Court,
by a unanimous decision, accepted Vice President Blaga Dimitrova's
offer of resignation. Prior to rendering their verdict, the justices
had to establish that the letter of resignation was signed by
Dimitrova and was therefore authentic, and that the vice president
had made up her mind to leave office without being coerced into
doing so. The judgment is final and took immediate effect. Dimitrova
had originally submitted her resignation on 30 June and had cited
differences with the government as being a major reason for wanting
to leave the vice presidency. Stan Markotich.

NEW LATVIAN PARLIAMENT MEETS. On 6 July the newly elected Saeima
held two sessions, broadcast live by radio and television. After
confirming the reestablishment of the 1922 Constitution, it decided,
by a vote of 80 to 7 with 9 abstentions, to postpone approving
the mandate of Alfreds Rubiks until the conclusion of his trial
on charges of trying to overthrow the government. Latvia's Way
candidate Anatolijs Gorbunovs was elected Saeima chairman, defeating
Maris Grinbalts 65 to 25, with Andrejs Krastins of the Latvian
National Independence Movement and Aivars Berkis of the Farmers'
Union as his deputies and Imants Daudiss as secretary. The election
of a president was unsuccessful as candidates Gunars Meierovics,
Aivars Jerumanis, and Guntis Ulmanis received only 35, 14, and
11 votes, respectively, none of them winning the needed 51 votes.
Saulius Girnius

POLAND'S RIGHT-WING PARTIES REMAIN FRAGMENTED. There were new
signs on 6 July that Poland's numerous small right-wing and anti-communist
parties will fail to build a cohesive coalition in time for the
elections on 19 September. The conservative Christian National
Union, a partner in the ruling government coalition, gave up
its attempts to form a broad "Christian-peasant-national" bloc
on 6 July and announced that it will run an independent election
campaign. The party's potential ally on the right, the Polish
Convention, likewise announced that it would run a separate campaign.
Meanwhile, the Polish Union, a coalition hammered together recently
by a dozen parties supporting lustration and decommunization,
showed further signs of collapse. Supporters of former Prime
Minister Jan Olszewski broke away on 6 July to form a competing
"Coalition for the Republic." This fragmentation may hurt the
chances of the Right in the upcoming elections. The new election
law sets high thresholds-5% for parties, 8% for coalitions-for
representation. Opinion polls so far suggest that none of these
parties or coalitions will clear the threshold on its own, leaving
the field to the more stable Democratic Union, left-wing, and
postcommunist parties. Louisa Vinton

"OLD THEATER" IN AUSCHWITZ RETURNED TO STATE. PAP reported on
1 July that all the Carmelite nuns had left their former convent
in the "old theater" adjacent to the perimeter of the site of
the former Nazi concentration camp in Auschwitz (Polish: Oswiecim),
and that the premises had now formally returned to the state
treasury. The mayor of Oswiecim, Dariusz Dulnik, said that he
had declared the order's hereditary tenure void on 29 June since
the mother superior had violated the terms of the contract by
leasing it to the War Victims Association for purposes other
than that stated in the original contract. A final decision about
the future of the property has yet to be made. Anna Sabbat-Swidlicka


ROMANIAN TOP OFFICIAL DENIES CORRUPTION CHARGES. The general
secretary of the Romanian government, Viorel Hrebenciuc, told
journalists on 6 July that charges of corruption against him
were politically motivated. He suggested that the Democratic
Party (National Salvation Front), and especially a deputy for
that party, Mihaita Postolache, were behind a campaign to bring
him into disrepute. The charges were first leveled in April by
General Gheorghe Florica, the former head of the Financial Guard.
A recent preliminary report, drawn by a special parliamentary
panel, appeared to confirm Florica's allegations. But Hrebenciuc
resolutely denied any wrongdoing and insisted that all his actions
were based on the prerogatives of his position. He also pledged
to sue those who were guilty of libel, apparently meaning Florica
and the media. Hrebenciuc, who is seen as the most influential
person in the cabinet after Premier Nicolae Vacaroiu, directed
President Ion Iliescu's successful reelection campaign last fall.
Dan Ionescu

NINE CONVICTED FOR CEAUSESCU-ERA KILLINGS. On 6 July a military
court in Bucharest convicted nine men, including two former interior
ministers, for killing three people who tried to hijack a bus
to the West in 1981. The two former ministers, Gheorghe Homosteanu
and Tudor Postelnicu, were sentenced to 20 years for having ordered
the hijackers killed after their capture. Both men said during
the trial that they only relayed former dictator Nicolae Ceausescu's
orders to the Timisoara securitate staff. Six former securitate
officers got jail terms of 17 years, while Gheorghe Gornic, a
securitate doctor found guilty of having strangled in hospital
one of the wounded hijackers, was sentenced to 18 years. All
sentences were cut by half in accordance with a law dating from
Ceausescu's era (decree no. 18 from 1988), Radio Bucharest reported.
In the 1981 gunfight between police and hijackers, eight hostages
were killed and eleven wounded. Dan Ionescu

GAGAUZ INCURSIONS CONTINUE, FIGHT FOR HARVEST FEARED. In a statement
reported by Basapress on 6 July, Gagauz "Supreme Soviet" chairman
Mikhail Kendigelyan said that only isolated elements of the Gagauz
"republican guard" have been involved in the recent raids on
non-Gagauz villages; denied that Gagauz leaders protect criminal
groups; and warned Chisinau against sending police reinforcements.
Moldovan and, particularly, the more exposed Bulgarian villages
demand police protection from Chisinau against armed Gagauz groups,
which are plundering livestock and vehicles with impunity, and
apparently targeting the impending harvest. Moldovan authorities,
including President Mircea Snegur, who made a radio appeal to
the population of southern Moldova on 2 July, have voiced concern
that the use of force to stop Gagauz raids may touch off a wider
armed conflict. Yet Chisinau feels that it has little choice
but to protect the coming harvest and appears prepared to deploy
Carabinieri around the perimeter of the Gagauz area to that end.
Vladimir Socor

MOLDOVA INTERCEPTS RUSSIAN MISSILE CARGO. Moldovan authorities
on the Moldovan-Romanian border have intercepted a consignment
of five Russian surface-to-surface missiles on a train originating
from Russia and bound for Romania, Reuters and Moldovapres reported
on 5 July in separate stories, citing Moldova's Ministry of National
Security. The Ministry said in a communique that it is investigating
the case. Russia's charge d'affaires in Chisinau has declined
media requests for comment. A spokesman for Romania's Ministry
of Defense on 5 July and the Minister, General Nicolae Spiroiu,
both speaking on Radio Bucharest on 6 July, rejected the suggestion
that the missiles were destined for the Romanian military. Vladimir
Socor

HUNGARY, SLOVAKIA TO SIGN MILITARY AGREEMENT. Hungary's Defense
Ministry announced on 5 July that Hungary and Slovakia will sign
a wide-ranging military cooperation agreement before the end
of the year, MTI and Radio Budapest reported. According to Hungary's
military attache designate to Bratislava, Colonel Imre Pataki,
bilateral military relations are "quite good" and should guarantee
that no contentious political issues would affect the two countries'
military ties. Alfred Reisch

UKRAINIAN PRIME MINISTER IN BALTIC STATES. On 6 July Leonid Kuchma,
heading a 33-member delegation, held talks in Tallinn with Estonian
President Lennart Meri and Foreign Minister Trivimi Velliste,
BNS reports. With his Estonian counterpart Mart Laar he signed
a series of agreements regulating trade and travel between the
two countries and presented Ukraine's ratification of the friendship
and cooperation agreement signed in May 1992. Kuchma noted that
Estonia was well disposed to the local Ukrainian minority. He
travels to Lithuania on 7 July, where he will meet with President
Algirdas Brazauskas. Saulius Girnius

ANOTHER ESTONIAN CITY TO HOLD REFERENDUM. On 6 July the council
of Sillamae, a predominantly Russian populated city of 20,000,
voted to follow the example of Narva and hold a referendum on
local autonomy on 17 July, BNS reports. The actions were prompted
by the Estonian parliament's passage of a law on aliens and other
previously enacted laws that the council deemed discriminatory.
Estonian President Lennart Meri decided to send back the aliens
law for amendment in a special parliament session to be held
later this week, RFE/RL's Estonian Service reported. Meri will
make a television address this evening to explain his decision.
Saulius Girnius

CZECH ENVIRONMENTAL GROUP ALARMED BY GOVERNMENT INACTION. In
a report given to CTK on 6 July, the Society for a Sustainable
Existence expressed concern at "the disparaging and visionless
approach of the Czech government and parliament to the resolution
of serious ecological problems inherited form the former regime,
as well as problems created in the post-November period." It
charged the government of underestimating the gravity of environmental
degradation and thoughtlessly exploiting natural resources. It
also criticized the government for placing too little value on
international activity to improve the environment. Finally, it
drew attention to the lack of environmental planning in Czech
legislation. Led by former minister and chairman of the Czechoslovak
Federal Commission on the Environment, Josef Vavrousek, the Society
is non-political. Milada Vachudova

[As of 1200 CET]

Compiled by Anna Swidlicka & John Lepingwell