No. 161, 24 August 1993

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Inc.





RUSSIA



KHASBULATOV SUPPORTED BY HARD-LINERS. The head of the anti-Yeltsin
faction "Russian Unity" in parliament, Vladimir Isakov, told
Radio Rossii "Novosti" on 21 August that the right-wing opposition
will support parliamentary speaker Ruslan Khasbulatov as long
as he does not violate the constitution. The co-chairman of the
hard-line National Salvation Front, Valerii Smirnov, also said
that his political organization backs Khasbulatov. Smirnov said
Khasbulatov has acquired a "political face" and is now representing
the will of the majority of deputies in parliament. A few weeks
ago, nationalist hard-liners in the National Salvation Front
had still rejected Khasbulatov because of his non-Russian nationality.
-Alexander Rahr

RUTSKOI AND STEPANKOV AGAIN DENY CHARGES, ACCUSE CRITICS. Responding
to allegations of corruption leveled by President Yeltsin's anti-crime
commission, Vice-President Alexander Rutskoi again denied that
he had taken bribes from Russian companies and kept a secret
Swiss bank account, Russian and Western news agencies reported.
In a press conference at the Kremlin, Rutskoi accused Yeltsin
of hampering efforts to uncover top-level corruption and of continuing
the "communist ideology" of "he who is not with us is against
us." The vice-president also launched yet another attack on the
president's economic policies, saying that they were destroying
the country and predicting a nation-wide wave of protests. In
an interview on Ostankino Television, Prosecutor-General Valentin
Stepankov denied charges that he had plotted the murder of anti-crime
commission member Andrei Makarov. Stepankov verified the authenticity
of a tape-recorded conversation but insisted that his remarks
were taken out of context. -Dominic Gualtieri

ANOTHER ANTI-REFORM MOVEMENT TO BE SET UP. A new anti-reform
organization-the Movement for Protection of Parliamentarism-will
soon be set up by parliamentary speaker Ruslan Khasbulatov and
his followers. Nezavisimaya gazeta reported on 21 August that
a founding congress of that movement will be held on 25 September.
Last weekend, Khasbulatov convened the "all-Russian meeting of
public forces and movements for the protection of the constitutional
system, parliament and democracy" at which Yeltsin's policy was
attacked and the preservation of the Soviet-style parliamentary
system demanded. That meeting was the third of that kind organized
by Khasbulatov as a "counterweight" to the All-Russian Constitutional
Meeting set up by President Boris Yeltsin last June -Alexander
Rahr

USDA OPPOSES RUSSIAN RESCHEDULING. Through the week ending 13
August, Russia had missed payments totaling $1 billion on 3-year
loans under the GSM102 program of the US Department of Agriculture
(USDA), the Journal of Commerce reported on 23 August. This default
has obliged the USDA, as guarantor of these loans, to pay banks
about $970 million. Russia is expected to request rescheduling
at forthcoming bilateral talks in Washington. The acting general
sales manager of USDA told the newspaper that the department
is against any further restructuring of the Russian debt. -Keith
Bush

RESTRUCTURING OF SECURITY COUNCIL CONTINUES? KOMMERSANT-DAILY
REPORTED ON 21 AUGUST THAT, DESPITE COMPLICATIONS ARISING FROM
THE RESIGNATION OF SECURITY COUNCIL SECRETARY EVGENII SHAPOSHNIKOV,
REORGANIZATION OF THE COUNCIL CONTINUES. The newspaper claims
that Boris Yeltsin has already approved in principle the creation
of an Interdepartmental Commission for Scientific-Technical Questions
in the Defense Industries, which would be tasked with determining
priorities in military-technical policy and with resolving the
whole complex of problems that have arisen in this area. The
newspaper also claims that the creation of this commission, which
is to be but one of several, has been strongly opposed by several
of the relevant bureaucratic interests, including Russian Defense
Minister Pavel Grachev and his first deputy, Andrei Kokoshin.
They apparently have argued that the commission's creation would
lead to a dispersal of oversight responsibility for the defense
complex. -Stephen Foye

MORDOVIAN CONSTITUTIONAL COURT UPHOLDS PARLIAMENT AGAINST FORMER
PRESIDENT. The Mordovian Constitutional Court has recognized
as constitutional the 3-April decision of the Mordovian parliament
to abolish the posts of president and vice-president, Radio Mayak
reported on 21 August. At the same time it has recommended that
the parliament adopt a special law on social guarantees for the
former president (Vasilii Guslyannikov) and vice-president, and
that it elucidate the opinion of the population towards the abolition
of the presidency in the manner established by the present constitution.
The Russian Constitutional Court had earlier ruled that the matter
lay within the jurisdiction of Mordovia, but some had argued
that the removal of a popularly elected president in this way
was a violation of the population's human and civic rights. Yeltsin
had personally expressed his concern at the action of the Mordovian
parliament. -Ann Sheehy

DIFFERING VIEWS ON PROPOSED FEDERATION COUNCIL. Preparations
are going ahead to create the Federation Council, proposed by
Yeltsin on 13 August and approved by the Council of the Heads
of the Republics and since then by two meetings of regional leaders,
ITAR-TASS reported on 23 August. At the same time, according
to the agency, even some members of Yeltsin's administration
are unclear what its status will be. The first deputy head of
Yeltsin's administration, Sergei Krasavchenko, told ITAR-TASS
that it should be a consultative body, whereas Yeltsin said in
Petrozavodsk that it would acquire the status of "a completely
legitimate organ of power." Krasavchenko also said that its members
should be elected if it was to be the prototype of the new upper
house. Member of the Presidential Council Smirnyagin described
the creation of the council as "a step towards the crumbling
of the federation" and a "confederal construction." -Ann Sheehy


TRANSCAUCASIA AND CENTRAL ASIA



YELTSIN, SHEVARDNADZE MEET. Russian President Yeltsin and Georgian
parliament chairman Eduard Shevardnadze held talks in Moscow
on 23 August on the situation in Abkhazia and the future of Georgian-Russian
relations, ITAR-TASS reported. Shevardnadze subsequently told
journalists that "there are no grounds for concern" over a political
solution to Abkhazia's future status within Georgia; he also
said that a further round of talks on Russian-Georgian relations
will take place later this month in preparation for the signing
in September of a treaty on friendship and cooperation. Yeltsin
will visit Georgia at that time, Radio Mayak reported. -Liz Fuller


NEW ARMENIAN DEFENSE MINISTER APPOINTED. In a move that will
shed further doubt on Armenian disclaimers of military involvement
in Nagorno-Karabakh, Armenian President Levon Ter-Petrossyan
has appointed as Armenian Defense Minister 39-year old Sergei
Sarkisyan, ITAR-TASS reported on 21 August. Sarkisyan is deputy
to the parliament of the self-proclaimed Nagorno-Karabakh Republic
in Stepanakert, and to the Armenian parliament in Erevan; his
most recent position was head of the Nagorno-Karabakh self-defense
forces. -Liz Fuller

TALYSH LEADER FLEES. Alikram Gumbatov, who took advantage of
Surat Huseinov's June revolt to proclaim a Talysh-Mugan Autonomous
Republic on the frontier between Azerbaijan and Iran, fled from
the region's capital, Lenkoran, on 23 August after adherents
of the Azerbaijan Popular Front stormed his headquarters, resulting
in numerous dead and wounded, Western agencies reported quoting
Turan. In an emotional 45-minute TV address summarized by Radio
Moscow, Azerbaijan parliament chairman Geidar Aliev promised
that the unspecified problems plaguing the region would be solved.
Alluding to rumors that yet another coup was imminent, Aliev
called on the entire population of Azerbaijan to demonstrate
calm and restraint. -Liz Fuller

UN SECURITY COUNCIL DISCUSSES TAJIK SITUATION. On 23 August the
UN Security Council issued a statement expressing concern over
the continuing violence in Tajikistan, which it termed a threat
to the peace of Central Asia, and called for negotiations between
the Tajik government and all opposition groups aimed at an early
ceasefire and eventual national reconciliation, an RFE/RL correspondent
reported. The statement also noted the critical humanitarian
situation in the conflict region and called for further humanitarian
aid. -Liz Fuller

CIS

FOUR NATIONS AGREE TO FORM NEW RUBLE ZONE. Representatives from
Russia, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, and Armenia have signed an agreement
on the creation a "new type of ruble zone," the Frankfurter Allgemeine
Zeitung reported on 23 August. No details were given, but the
agreement seems to envisage a gradual transition to unified monetary,
fiscal and trade policies. Vladimir Mashchits, chairman of the
Russian State Committee on Cooperation with CIS nations said
that Tajikistan and Belarus are other candidates for joining
the new zone and that even Ukraine could potentially accept some
of the articles of the agreement. An article in Izvestiya on
23 August suggests that the document has been only initialled
at the moment and will be formally signed soon. The document
appears to follow from the declaration of intent to form such
a economic union signed by Russia, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan
earlier this month. -Erik Whitlock

CIS DEFENSE MINISTERS MAKE LITTLE PROGRESS. Participants of a
CIS Defense Ministers meeting in Moscow on 23 August made little
progress in their efforts to find a mechanism that would increase
defense cooperation among CIS member states. The issue that divided
the participants appeared to be the same as that which had led
to the dissolution of the CIS joint forces command earlier this
year; namely, the Russian Defense Ministry's unwillingness to
underwrite the maintenance of a permanent CIS command. Russian
Defense Minister Pavel Grachev, who chaired and addressed the
meeting, told the assembly that while Russia strongly supported
the idea of defense cooperation under the auspices of the CIS
Collective Security Treaty, Moscow continued to oppose setting
up permanent CIS military structures until other member-states
had established their own armed forces and until normative acts
were put in place to regulate defense cooperative efforts. According
to ITAR-TASS and Radio Mayak reports, Grachev urged reorganization
of the Council of Defense Ministers into a working body that
would coordinate military cooperation. -Stephen Foye

GRACHEV ON "COALITION FORCES; TAJIKISTAN." Prior to the meeting
Grachev proposed that, until CIS states had established armies
with similar structures, training techniques, and equipment,
temporary "coalition" groups of forces should be created when
needed to deal with specific security problems. He called for
such a group to be set up in Tajikistan. Tajik Defense Minister
Aleksandr Shishlyannikov, also quoted by ITAR-TASS before the
meeting, called Grachev's proposal "the most realistic variant"
for dealing with the border crisis in Tajikistan. He suggested
that Russian, Uzbek, Kazakh, and Kyrgyz units might take part.
Grachev, who said that Russia preferred a political solution
in Tajikistan, also suggested that the Russian 201st division
in Tajikistan was already working on the problem of setting up
coalition forces. -Stephen Foye

CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPE



RUSSIA WANTS NEUTRAL EASTERN EUROPE. In an interview with PAP
and the Polish weekly Polityka on the eve of President Boris
Yeltsin's visit to Poland, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia,
Russian Foreign Minister Andrei Kozyrev warned the three East
European states against joining NATO and reasserted Russian strategic
interests in the Baltic region. Attempts by Poland to gain NATO
membership would merely strengthen "reactionary forces" in Russia,
Kozyrev contended. The three East European countries' integration
with Western Europe would isolate Russia and force it to abandon
the community of democratic nations, he argued. Kozyrev urged
the three states to serve as a neutral bridge between Russia
and Germany, rather than a "buffer zone that could be crushed
in any situation." "East Central Europe has never ceased to be
a field of interest for Russia," Kozyrev cautioned. Russia has
rejected imperialist policies, he explained, but remains the
largest state in the region and thus "bears special responsibility
for the situation on post-Soviet territory." The interview also
contained bullying talk on the Baltic States. "If those states
do not wish to conduct partner-like talks on the withdrawal of
troops, Russia will take unilateral action, in keeping with its
own interests," Kozyrev said. Speaking the same day to a session
of the Aspen Institute in Warsaw, Polish Prime Minister Hanna
Suchocka said that "membership in NATO is one of the strategic
goals of our foreign policy." -Louisa Vinton

KOSTIKOV: RUSSIA CANNOT BE OUSTED FROM THE BALTIC REGION. Meanwhile,
on 23 August Yeltsin's press secretary, Vyacheslav Kostikov,
told reporters that for centuries Russia has invested large material
and intellectual resources in the Baltic region and it cannot,
and will not, ignore facts of history or permit its national
interests to be excluded from the region. -Dzintra Bungs

UPDATE ON LITHUANIAN-RUSSIAN RELATIONS. At a press conference
on 23 August, broadcast live by Radio Lithuania, Justas Paleckis,
presidential advisor for foreign affairs, and Albinas Januska,
director of the Foreign Ministry political department, gave more
information about their talks in Moscow on 21 August. Paleckis
denied Russian claims that Lithuania had come to Moscow with
nothing to offer, noting that they had brought a number of new
proposals, including one to place disputable provisions in a
separate declaration. Januska regretted that Moscow had assumed
a position of strength and blackmail. Foreign Minister Povilas
Gylys said that Lithuania's response would be "mild for the time
being" and it would try to have more talks on the troop withdrawal.
He said that the hard line of no compromise advocated by the
right-wing is not official Lithuanian policy and may be ignored.
Russian First Deputy Foreign Minister Vitalii Churkin dismissed
suggestions that relations between the two countries have reached
a crisis and said that contacts with Lithuania will continue
until a mutually acceptable solution is reached. -Saulius Girnius


SNEGUR WRITES TO YELTSIN. In a letter to Boris Yeltsin, partially
released to the Moldovan media on 23-August, Mircea Snegur again
complained of actions by "reactionary forces in Russia working
against Moldova's independence and territorial integrity" by
supporting the "Dniester republic." Moldova's president urged
Yeltsin to help "increase the level of confidence" in Russian-Moldovan
relations and build "a bilateral relationship up to contemporary
standards and free from prejudice." The letter has apparently
been prompted by recent instances of Russian military support
to the secessionist forces, which drew Moldovan protests last
week, and by the deadlock in the negotiations on the withdrawal
of Russia's 14th Army from Moldova. The officially released version
of the letter, however, only registers concern over the long,
drawn-out trial by a "Dniester" kangaroo court of six Moldovans
charged with terrorism. For the past two years Snegur has repeatedly
and publicly appealed to Yeltsin to exercise a restraining influence
on Russia's policies toward Moldova and on the "Dniester" leaders.
-Vladimir Socor

MECIAR VISITS RUSSIA. On 23 August Prime Minister Vladimir Meciar
and a group of Slovak businessmen made a trip to Moscow to discuss
the renewal of economic ties between the two countries, TASR
reports. In meetings with Russian Premier Viktor Chernomyrdin
and Deputy Premier Oleg Lobov, Meciar agreed to establish a Slovak-Russian
governmental commission to evaluate the state of economic relations,
in addition to trade centers in Bratislava and Moscow and national
funds for trade development. Slovakia's participation in the
proposed Russian-Polish gas pipeline as well as possibilities
for barter trade of crude oil, gas and nuclear power, was also
discussed. The issue of Russian debt to Slovakia, which was estimated
by Slovak officials at $1.5 billion, was not discussed but will
be negotiated within a few days by Slovak and Russian finance
ministers and national bank representatives, Meciar said. -Sharon
Fisher

SLOVAKS HAVE MIXED FEELINGS ABOUT NATO. According to an opinion
poll conducted by the Department of Social Affairs of the Slovak
Defense Ministry reported in TASR on 20-August, Slovaks "do not
have any clear-cut attitudes" towards foreign policy. Joining
NATO is overwhelmingly favored by businessmen, Bratislava residents,
university graduates, males and people aged 25-29. Students and
recent high school graduates largely oppose entry, while individuals
with high school education, women, and persons over 50 have no
firm opinion on the issue. -Sharon Fisher

BOSNIAN PEACE PLAN CALLED INTO QUESTION. Mediator Thorvald Stoltenberg
urged the UN Security Council to plan for an army of perhaps
65,000 to police and implement the latest peace plan, the Los
Angeles Times reports on 24 August. The package, accepted by
Bosnian Serbs and Bosnian Croats, has yet to be accepted by the
Bosnian parliamentary assembly, which is scheduled to meet on
27 August in Zenica. Bosnian President Izetbegovic said, "I will
not propose that they vote for such a proposal," while Bosnian
commander Stjepan Siber has warned that Bosnians could boycott
the peace talks unless UN peacekeepers ensure that aid reaches
trapped Muslim populations, Reuters reports on 23-24 August.
Meanwhile, Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic is quoted by
Tanjug as saying the country's Muslims won't receive any territory
his forces control unless the government accepts the plan. -Fabian
Schmidt

OTHER BOSNIAN DEVELOPMENTS. Elsewhere, the Italian Foreign Ministry
is checking reports that three Italian volunteer workers are
being held in a Muslim administered prison camp in Bosnia, international
news agencies report on 24 August. An Italian aid worker said
yesterday he had been told by an Italian mercenary that the workers
had been seized while delivering food and medicine to Bosnia.
Italian Foreign Minister Beniamino Andreatta has contacted his
Bosnian counterpart Haris Silajdzic. Elsewhere, the UN has ordered
a UN civilian police team to investigate allegations made by
local people and journalists that peacekeeping troops in Sarajevo
are more deeply involved in black marketeering than had been
suspected. So far 13 Ukrainian peacekeepers have been sent home
for offenses connected with war profiteering such as selling
cigarettes on the black market. -Fabian Schmidt

SITUATION IN MOSTAR REMAINS BLEAK. Reuters reports on 24 August
that Croat forces have agreed to let a UN relief convoy enter
the beleaguered Muslim east side of town on either that day or
the next. The exact nature of any arrangement is unclear, but
the Croats had previously insisted on a quid pro quo of aid shipments
for embattled Croats in central Bosnia as well as the Muslims'
disarmament. Meanwhile, AFP on 23-August quotes a NATO diplomat
in Brussels as saying that "if the situation continues to deteriorate,
it would be necessary to include Mostar as a safe area." Under
the latest peace plan the Herzegovinian capital is slated to
be placed under an EC interim authority for two years until a
long-term solution can be worked out between the Muslims and
Croats. Although that agreement has generally been presented
as take-it-or-leave-it, Bosnian Serb leader Karadzic told Politika
on 23 August that the question of a Serb outlet to the Adriatic
remains open and praised the "great statesmanlike talents" of
Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic. Finally, that same paper
on 19 August noted that the busy Karadzic has received this year's
Risto Ratkovic literary prize for poetry in his native Montenegro.
-Patrick Moore

SERB-CROAT TENSIONS BREWING. Western news agencies reported on
22 August that Serb rebels again shelled reconstruction work
by Croatian engineers on the crippled Maslenica pontoon bridge.
Politika on 23-August noted that this prevented the Croats from
meeting their own deadline to reopen traffic between the interior
and Dalmatia, whose economy is hurting badly from the collapse
of the tourist trade and of the old Yugoslav power grid. On 24
August, however, hard-line Croatian Defense Minister Gojko Susak
told Vecernji list that "Croatia will not withdraw from Maslenica,
[and the nearby areas of] Peruca, and Zemunik. Croatian authority,
and the Croatian army and police, remain there where we are."
Meanwhile, the Los Angeles Times says that at least some Serb
militia forces are now moving out of Bosnia toward Croatia in
anticipation of a renewed conflict there. -Patrick Moore

BULGARIAN KING'S HEART REBURIED. On 23 August a human heart,
presumably that of Bulgaria's King Boris, was buried in a short
ceremony at Rila Monastery in southern Bulgaria. The services
were organized by a promonarchist group lobbying to have King
Boris' exiled son, Simeon, returned to the throne. According
to Reuters, Simeon, who became king in 1943 upon his father's
death and was exiled three years later, declined to attend the
services, vowing to return to Bulgaria only as monarch, an idea
strongly resisted by the current government and the majority
of parliament. The funeral, originally scheduled for 28 August,
was moved back five days in order to keep large crowds from turning
the solemn event into an opportunity to voice political opinions.
-Stan Markotich

CHANGES IN BULGARIAN OFFICER CORPS. On 20-August BTA reported
that 502 army officers are due to be released from active duty,
with 302 of them transferring to the reserves of their own accord.
While some 3,000 officers are receiving promotions, 279 will
get a lower rank. In addition, approximately 26% of the officer
corps will be reassigned. The changes will take effect on 27
August, when Defense Minister Valentin Aleksandrov signs the
order. Chief of the general staff Gen. Lyuben Petrov told Standart
of 17 August that the new law on military service is likely to
prohibit officers from holding political office at the local
or national level while serving in the armed forces. However,
careers in research, teaching, and "creative" occupations will
not be excluded. -Stan Markotich

HUNGARIAN SMALLHOLDERS PREPARE FOR ELECTIONS. Smallholders Party
chairman Jozsef Torgyan told the party's general assembly in
Zalaegerszeg on 21-August that Hungary needs "to found a new
state" led by the Smallholders following the 1994 parliamentary
elections, MTI reports. Torgyan called for a new constitution
that will provide for the recall of parliamentary deputies, a
change in the jurisdiction of the constitutional court-or even
abolishing it entirely, and voiding the privatization measures
undertaken thus far because they "go against Hungarian interests."
Torgyan also announced plans to reduce the salaries of parliamentary
deputies to the level of those of unskilled workers and to reduce
taxes sharply. He condemned the government of Prime Minister
Jozsef Antall for "selling out the country," and pledged to force
the government to resign by blockading the parliament building
if a law is adopted that allows foreigners to buy agricultural
land. On 22 August the numerous party factions that broke away
from the Torgyan led party met in Balatonszarszo and accused
Torgyan of dividing the party. They called for a unification
of the various factions, because in their view only a united
party can achieve good results in the elections. -Edith Oltay


UNION LEADERS FACE CHARGES IN ROMANIA. The government is pressing
charges against eight union officials involved in the locomotive
drivers' strike that ended last week, Radio Bucharest reported
on 23-August. The radio quoted a Bucharest public prosecutor,
who said the eight are charged with undermining the economy,
disobeying a decision of the High Court of Justice, and endangering
transportation. If convicted, they face possible life sentences.
In a related development, also reported by Radio Bucharest, the
locomotive drivers' union in Brasov protested against the dismissal
of four of the strikers. They had refused to obey orders to resume
work and went on a hunger strike in protest against the measures
taken by the executive. -Michael Shafir

POLISH PRIVATIZATION MINISTER GETS APOLOGY-.-.-. A Warsaw court
on 23 August ordered Supreme Control Chamber chief Lech Kaczynski
to publish a retraction of charges directed at Privatization
Minister Janusz Lewandowski, PAP reports. The retraction must
be published in four major daily newspapers within 48-hours.
Kaczynski must also contribute 20-million zloty ($1111) to a
charity of Lewandowski's choice. In recent interviews with the
press, Kaczynski accused Lewandowski of deliberately choosing
a less advantageous offer in the sale of a state firm and hinted
that the ministry is corrupt. Lewandowski called this slander
and took Kaczynski to court under a clause of the new election
law that requires a ruling on "false accusations" in only 24
hours. The court accepted Lewandowski's contention that Kaczynski's
accusations were made in connection with the election campaign.
(Kaczynski's twin brother Jaroslaw heads the antigovernment Center
Alliance.) Kaczynski refused to apologize and said he will appeal
the decision. Louisa Vinton

.-.-.- AND ABUSE FROM SOLIDARITY. In related news Solidarity
staged a demonstration against "criminal privatization" in Walbrzych
on 23 August. Several thousand unionists took part. Signatures
were gathered on a petition demanding the privatization minister's
immediate ouster. Warsaw region union leader Maciej Jankowski
called privatization a "swindle," Polish TV reports. Solidarity
chairman Marian Krzaklewski charged that "privatization in Poland
is one huge theft," Gazeta Wyborcza reports. Krzaklewski urged
voters to support Solidarity as the only force capable of standing
up to the Left. -Louisa Vinton

TYPHOID AND DIPHTHERIA EPIDEMICS IN UKRAINE. On 21 August Ukrinform
reported an outbreak of typhoid in the western resort town of
Svalyava. The disease has already claimed the life of one woman
and resulted in the hospitalization of dozens of other people.
It has apparently been caused by poor water system standards
that allowed bacteria to seep into drinking water supply. On
the previous day, Ukrainian TV reported a steep rise in the incidence
of diphtheria, revealing that there have been about 1,500 reported
cases in the republic this year, with 43 deaths, a third of them
among infants. -Ustina Markus and Bohdan Nahaylo

TERRORISM IN BELARUS. A man from a St. Petersburg-based pro-Soviet
group called the Justice Party, has claimed responsibility for
a bomb that went off in Minsk last week, Reuters reported on
23 August. The bomb was detonated in a central square and shattered
windows, but caused no injuries. According to police in Minsk,
the man, identified as Mzhyslav Myzhaisky, said his group demands
"the rebirth of the Soviet Union" and is ready to take military
action to this end. -Ustina Markus

REGISTRATION OF ALIENS FOR ESTONIAN LOCAL ELECTIONS. Some 83,648
aliens and stateless residents in Tallinn have registered to
vote in the local elections on 17 October, BNS reported on 23
August. Estonian citizens are not required to register. The number
of candidates eligible to run in each election area, which is
based on the number of voters, will be determined on the basis
of date from this registration, which was completed on 20 August.
It is reported that 21,458 of the circa 80,000 residents in the
heavily Russian-populated city of Narva and 8,100 of the 12,000
residents of Sillimae have registered. -Saulius Girnius

[As of 1200 CET] Compiled by Ustina Markus and Charles Trumbull



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