No. 171, 07 September 1993

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Inc.





CIS

MORE DIVERGENT INTERPETATIONS OF MASSANDRA "AGREEMENTS". Both
the Russian and the Ukrainian sides have continued to present
conflicting interpretations about what was supposedly agreed
to at the Russian-Ukrainian summit in Massandra on 3-September.
On 6 September the Chairman of the Russian State Delegation for
Negotiations with Ukraine, Yurii Dubinin, told an RFE/RL correspondent
in Moscow that presidents Yeltsin and Kravchuk had agreed in
principle at their meeting on the sale of Ukraine's share of
the Black Sea Fleet to Russia in return for cancellation of Ukraine's
debts. Also on 6-September, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry issued
a statement accusing "Russian and other foreign media," as well
as "some Russian officials" of misinformation. -Bohdan Nahaylo


KRAVCHUK GIVES HIS VERSION ABOUT MASSANDRA. In what appeared
to be a rather belated attempt at damage control, President Kravchuk
held a press conference in Kiev on 6-September at which he presented
his version of what had occurred at the Massandra summit. The
conference was broadcast live by Radio Ukraine. He explained
that the Ukrainian side had been presented with a virtual ultimatum:
either Ukraine find a way of beginning to repay its debt to Moscow,
which he said was a little over two billion US dollars, or Russia
would cut off the oil and natural gas supplies on which Ukraine
is dependent. The Ukrainian delegation had been totally surprised
by President Yeltsin's proposal that Ukraine pay off its debt
by selling its share of the Black Sea Fleet and leasing Sevastopol
to Russia. The Ukrainian side had agreed only "to study" this
unexpected proposal. Kravchuk himself, however, indicated that
because of "economic realities" he favored the idea of selling
some part of Ukraine's share of the Fleet to Russia and leasing
Sevastopol to Russia. -Bohdan Nahaylo

WHAT WAS AGREED ON NUCLEAR WEAPONS? EXACTLY WHAT AGREEMENTS CONCERNING
NUCLEAR WEAPONS, IF ANY, WERE REACHED AT THE MASSANDRA SUMMIT
STILL REMAINS UNCLEAR. Initial reports indicated that Ukraine
had agreed to turn over all warheads from dismantled launchers
to Russia and that their fissile material would be reprocessed
and returned to Ukraine as reactor fuel. Furthermore, Russia
was reportedly willing to compensate Ukraine for the tactical
nuclear weapons withdrawn to Russia in early 1992. A statement
released by the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry on 4 September indicated,
however, that the warhead agreement was conditioned on the prior
conclusion of an agreement between the US, Ukraine, and Russia
on the disposition of the warheads. During a 7 September press
conference, Leonid Kravchuk noted that the warhead agreement
was also dependent upon ratification of the START-1 treaty and
that any formal treaty concerning warhead disposition would have
to be ratified by parliament. He also stated that an agreement
had been reached on servicing nuclear weapons and launchers.
-John Lepingwell

RUSSIA TO ASSUME KAZAKHSTAN'S DEBT. Under an agreement to be
signed on 7-September, Russia will assume responsibility for
Kazakhstan's share of the Soviet Union's foreign debts in return
for the Soviet assets on Kazakhstan's territory, Russian and
Western news agencies reported on 6 September. This agreement
was among the issues discussed by Kazakhstan's President Nursultan
Nazarbaev and Russian President Boris Yeltsin on 6-September,
in preparation for the signing by leaders of several CIS states
of an agreement on creation of a "new" ruble zone. In addition
to issues of economic, political, and military cooperation between
Kazakhstan and Russia the two leaders also discussed the future
of the Baikonur space center, which is drawing great interest
on the part of potential foreign investors. -Bess Brown

RUSSIA



GAIDAR CALLS FOR NEW ALLIANCE OF DEMOCRATS. Ex-Acting Prime Minister
Egor Gaidar told a conference of democratic forces in Ekaterinburg
on 6-September that the anti-Yeltsin opposition could gain strength
because the democratic forces projected weakness after their
victory in the August 1991 putsch, ITAR-TASS reported. He said
that democrats should have acted according to tougher political
rules. He indirectly accused President Yeltsin of having made
too many concessions to his opponents in personnel appointments.
Gaidar stated that in September, regional founding conferences
for the new pro-democratic bloc "Russia's choice" would be held
throughout Russia. In October, an all-Russian founding conference
of the bloc will be convened in Moscow. The bloc intends to unite
most potential pro-democratic parties and organizations for the
next parliamentary elections. -Alexander Rahr

GAIDAR THINKS OF COMEBACK. In an interview with Nedelya (no.
35) Gaidar said that he fears Yeltsin "may become tired" and
not capable of further performing his duties. He also complained
that the government is in a state of disarray and does not conduct
consistent market reforms and claimed that if he had remained
in charge, he would have acted differently. He said his current
aim is to form a strong democratic alliance capable of winning
a majority of seats in future parliamentary elections and to
confront reactionary forces. He deplored the fact that democrats
have so far failed to unite because of personal ambitions and
did not exclude his own political comeback. -Alexander Rahr

RUTSKOI TURNED AWAY FROM KREMLIN OFFICE. On the morning of 6
September Vice President Aleksandr Rutskoi was prevented from
entering his office in the Kremlin, apparently on the orders
of Kremlin commandant Aleksandr Barsukov and President Yeltsin's
chief of staff Sergei Filatov. Russian and Western media reported
that Rutskoi's access to telephone communications had also been
cut off. ITAR-TASS released a presidential press service statement
saying that the offices of Rutskoi and ex-First Deputy Prime
Minister Vladimir Shumeiko had been sealed to prevent any tampering
with documents. Both men were temporarily suspended by Yeltsin
over corruption allegations on 1 September. On 4-September Rutskoi
had demanded that the prosecutor general investigate why his
telephone links had been severed; on 6 September eight opposition
parliamentary factions backed him, asking the procurator general
to give "a legal assessment" of the affair. -Wendy Slater

LOBOV ON REFORM. First Deputy Prime Minister Oleg Lobov told
journalists that there still was hope that the executive branch
could gain parliament's agreement on the creation of the Council
of the Federation. ITAR-TASS on 3 September quoted him as saying
that if parliament rejects the idea, the subjects of the federation
would have the right to set up the Council of Federation without
parliament's approval. Lobov, who after the suspension of Vladimir
Shumeiko, became the second-ranking politician in the government's
hierarchy and has probably taken over most of Shumeiko's functions,
sought to project a new image as a reform-minded politician.
He said that economic reform proceeds slowly but successfully.
He deplored the fact that property has so far not become recognized
as a commodity on the market. -Alexander Rahr

TRAVKIN DID NOT ASK PERMISSION FROM HIS PARTY TO JOIN SKOKOV.
The chairman of the executive board of the Democratic Party of
Russia, Valerii Khomyakov, told Ekho Moskvy on 4 September that
the leader of the party, Nikolai Travkin, acted against his party's
will when he entered the new centrist bloc set up by former Secretary
of the Security Council, Yurii Skokov. Khomyakov said that the
Democratic Party's leadership agreed only to hold consultations
with Skokov but had taken no decision actually to join the new
bloc. The name of Travkin appeared among the members of the organizational
committee of Skokov's bloc "Concord For the Fatherland". -Alexander
Rahr

POLTORANIN QUESTIONED. Russian TV reported on 6 September that
Deputy Prime Minister Mikhail Poltoranin spent three hours in
Russian Prosecutor-General Valentin Stepankov's office. Poltoranin,
a close ally of Yeltsin, said that he was questioned as a witness,
rather then a suspect, on the case on abuse concerning the disposal
of the Russian state property in East Berlin. He added that investigators
made him to sign an obligation not to leave Moscow without their
permission-a measure that by law cannot be applied to a mere
witness. -Julia Wishnevsky

BLUEPRINT FOR CONVERSION. Writing in Nezavisimaya gazeta of 27
August, Mikhail Malei surveys the current disturbing state of
the military-industrial complex (MIC) and suggests a future way
to go. Formerly the president's chief adviser on conversion,
Malei is now head of the Interdepartmental Commission of the
Russian Federation on Scientific-Technical Problems of the Defense
Industry. He criticizes the Gaidar and Chernomyrdin administrations,
parliament, and the trade unions for their neglect and mishandling
of the MIC, and warns of frustration and insubordination in the
complex. In his view, the shift of the "peaceful and disciplined"
ranks of the MIC towards strikes and the political struggle would
be the last straw for the current government. Among his proposals
for reform are his own elevation to the cabinet and closer cooperation
with other CIS members. -Keith Bush

RETURN OF GOSAGROPROM? PARLIAMENT, "AT THE REQUEST OF PRESIDENT
YELTSIN," HAS FORMED A STATE COMMITTEE OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION
FOR MACHINEBUILDING AND THE SERVICING OF AGRICULTURE, THE FOOD
INDUSTRY, AND THE PROCESSING INDUSTRY, ITAR-TASS REPORTED ON
3-SEPTEMBER. Its formation is aimed at improving the standards
of repair and maintenance of equipment and machinery: these have
fallen, according to Deputy Prime Minister Aleksandr Zaveryukha,
to the levels obtaining in the late 1960s. The new organization
appears to be remarkably similar to the Gosagroprom-a "superministry"
lasting from November 1985 through March 1989-which gained notoriety
for its bureaucracy and inflexibility. The creation of the new
committee appears to constitute a large stride backwards from
the market. -Keith Bush

TRANSCAUCASIA AND CENTRAL ASIA



YELTSIN, ALIEV MEET. The talks in Moscow on 6-September between
Russian President Boris Yeltsin and Azerbaijani Parliament Chairman
Geidar Aliev yielded agreement on the principles for cooperation
to achieve a settlement of the Karabakh conflict, Aliev told
ITAR-TASS. Whether this would entail the deployment of Russian
peacekeeping troops is not clear, but Russian Defense Minister
Grachev told ITAR-TASS that Aliev had asked him to use "the authority
of the Russian army, the Defense Ministry, and personal relations
with the Armenian leadership." Aliev further said he would attend
the CIS summit in Moscow on 24-September and that he had been
authorized by the Azerbaijan parliament to explore the possibility
of Azerbaijan joining the CIS. -Liz Fuller

ABKHAZ PARLIAMENT ACCUSES GEORGIA OF VIOLATING CEASEFIRE AGREEMENT.
On 6 September the Abkhaz parliament in Gudauta charged that
Georgia is withdrawing only defective military equipment from
Abkhazia, leaving operable armor in place, and that Georgian
troops have remained in Abkhaz villages under the guise of police,
ITAR-TASS reported. The tripartite Russian-Georgian-Abkhaz commission
monitoring compliance with the agreement stated, however, on
6 September that Georgian and Abkhaz troops had been disengaged
and that remaining equipment will be destroyed the following
day by a special field engineering group. President Yeltsin has
decided to replace Sergei Shoygu as head of the Russian section
of the tripartite commission. -Liz Fuller

CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPE



ARE THE SERBS AND CROATS PLANNING SOMETHING IN BOSNIA? RECENT
STATEMENTS BY SOME LEADERS OF THESE TWO NOMINALLY ANTAGONISTIC
PEOPLES SUGGEST THAT THEY INDEED MAY INTEND TO MAKE GOOD ON THEIR
THREATS TO PARTITION BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA BETWEEN THEM IF THE MUSLIMS
CONTINUE TO DELAY IN ENDORSING THE GENEVA PEACE PLAN. The president
of the Bosnian Serbs' assembly wrote on 6 September to the Security
Council that Izetbegovic no longer represents any Bosnian polity
but only the Muslims, while Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic
warned again that time is running out and that the Serbs are
ready to proclaim their own republic and seek international recognition
if the Muslims continue to demand more territory. The BBC's Serbian
and Croatian Services also report on Croatian President Franjo
Tudjman's regular monthly press conference. He again told the
Muslims that they would not get the Herzegovinian Croat port
of Neum, and, perhaps more importantly, Tudjman went on to suggest
that Muslim demands for Neum indicate that they no longer regard
themselves as being part of any common Bosnian state with the
Croats and Serbs. He also stated that Croatia is interested in
all Croats in Bosnia-Herzegovina, not just in the minority who
will be included in the new "Croatian Republic of Herceg-Bosna."
The upshot of all this may be that Tudjman and Karadzic are indeed
setting the stage for some sort of declaration that the proposed
union of three republics in Bosnia is dead because of the Muslims'
own doings, and that the Croats and Serbs will now take matters
into their own hands. -Patrick Moore

MUSLIMS TELL OF TORTURE, INHUMANE CONDITIONS. International media
on 7-September quote a UN official who heard "horror stories"
from about 100-Muslim prisoners released from a Croat camp in
Herzegovina the previous day. The prisoners, who arrived at the
beleaguered town of Jablanica amid harsh conditions, said that
2,500 more are still being held, unable to lie down or to have
access to even elementary sanitation or medical care. Meanwhile,
the BBC's Serbian and Croatian Services report that Bosnian President
Alija Izetbegovic has complained that the UN has "passed a lot
of nice resolutions, nice words, and nice appeals, but there
have been no actions to back them up." He nonetheless intends
to appeal to the Security Council to help the Muslims get more
territory in a future peace settlement, a proposition that both
the Serbs and the Croats have said is a non-starter. Finally,
Hina reports on 6 September that the Bosnian Croats' two top
leaders have written UN Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali
protesting what they said was increased Muslim attacks on Croat
villages in recent weeks during the Geneva peace talks. -Patrick
Moore

MACEDONIA TIGHTENS BORDER WITH SERBIA. The Republic of Macedonia
will reportedly begin tightening sanctions against the rump Yugoslavia.
According to Reuters, which relied on information from the Belgrade
daily, Politika, the move came after a letter from US Secretary
of State Warren Christopher allegedly suggested that the opening
of a US representative's office in Skopje will depend upon strict
enforcment of UN-sanctions imposed on rump Yugoslavia, Macedonia's
largest trading partner. In the past this border has been porous.
-Robert Austin

MORE PROTESTS IN SOUTHERN ALBANIA. Reuters reports on 6 September
that 100 ethnic Greeks from southern Albania took part in a demonstration-but
this time they are protesting against the Greek government, not
the Albanian. Albania's Greek leadership, as well as officials
in Athens, have continually argued that the Tirana government
denies the Greek minority basic human rights. According to the
report, the protesters alleged that several of their conationals
were beaten by Greek police when they tried to cross into Greece
without valid papers. -Robert Austin

CROATIA AND BALKAN ECONOMIC INTEGRATION. Branko Horvat, a noted
economist and leader of the Social Liberal Union of Croatia,
explained in an interview with Globus that Croatia's only hope
for development and integration in Europe is to strive for Balkan
economic integration. He said the EC is not able to absorb the
multitude of new and underdeveloped countries, adding that Croatia
is doomed to meet the fate of Caribbean economies-which he characterized
as "waiters on the outside, peasants on the inside"-without regional
integration. He pointed out that the economic and social disintegration
now taking place in the former Yugoslavia happened before, during
World War II, when the level of brutality and deaths was much
higher-"and yet we were able to live together in a common state
after 1945." -Milan Andrejevich

POLISH FINANCE MINISTER ON COMMERCIAL DEBT. In a 6 September
interview with Reuters, Finance Minister Jerzy Osiatynski said
that spending on servicing the internal and external debt is
expected to increase from 64 to 115 trillion zloty ($3.2 to 5.8-billion)
in 1993, and that Poland will be unable to contain its spiraling
public debt without a substantial write-off on its $12-billion
debt to foreign commercial banks. The creditor banks have offered
30%, but Poland is hoping for a 50% write-off. Osiatynski stressed
the need to eliminate wastage in public spending on health and
education, and reform spending by state firms. -Anna Sabbat-Swidlicka


NEW YORK PROSECUTORS REJECT POLISH MEMO ON ARMS SUSPECTS. Gazeta
Wyborcza reported on 6-September that neither the US State Department
nor the prosecutors in the case of five Polish citizens accused
of having attempted to smuggle automatic rifles to Iraq in violation
of the UN embargo were swayed by a memorandum from the Polish
Foreign Ministry and a letter from Prime Minister Suchocka invoking
diplomatic arguments to support a request that the case be tried
by a Polish court. The accused have consistently denied knowledge
that the arms were destined for Iran and claim to have been the
victims of a trap prepared by US customs officials. The trial,
which opens in New York today, is seen by many Poles as involving
a violation of Polish sovereignty. -Anna Sabbat-Swidlicka

CZECH REPUBLIC: THE RUSHDIE CONTROVERSY. On 6 September, Czech
Prime Minister Vaclav Klaus distanced himself from a visit to
Prague by the British author Salman Rushdie, who had been sentenced
in absentia to death by Iran four years ago for publishing The
Satanic Verses, a novel that Islamic fundamentalists found to
be blasphemous. Rushdie, who visited Prague on 2-5 September
to participate in a conference, met on 5 September with President
Vaclav Havel, who expressed moral support for the writer. In
a statement issued on 6-September, Klaus said that he considers
Havel's meeting with Rushdie to be the private matter of the
president. He also said he hopes that the meeting "will not be
interpreted as an act aimed against Islamic states." The premier
claimed he had not been informed about Rushdie's visit in advance.
However, the spokesman for the president told Czech TV on 6 September
that he had personally informed Klaus's government about Rushdie's
visit before the British author's arrival. This is the latest
in a series of cases in which the president and premier have
crossed swords over procedural matters of state." -Jiri Pehe


SLOVAK PREMIER'S REMARKS ON ROMANIES CAUSE OUTRAGE. Vladimir
Meciar's alleged statements about Romanies have led to attacks
by several international groups. On 6-September Simon Wiesenthal,
accusing Meciar of "harboring Nazi sentiments," said "similar
remarks were made by the Nazis who deported thousands of Gypsies
from all European countries to extermination camps," Reuters
reports. The International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights
said such remarks "do not inspire confidence in Slovak policies
to realize human rights standards to which Slovakia has committed
itself" and called on Meciar to withdraw them. The Austrian group
Romano Centro said "Slovakia should be barred from the Council
of Europe until Meciar has left office," while Germany's leading
Gypsy group said Meciar should be barred from German soil. The
uproar began with a 3-September report by CTK that Meciar, in
reference to Romanies, said it is necessary to reduce family
welfare payments so that "the reproduction of socially unadaptable
and mentally retarded people drops." Although the story has been
picked up by several international news agencies, it has not
been officially confirmed. There was no similar report by the
Slovak press agency, and there was no immediate comment from
Meciar's office. -Sharon Fisher

RABBI ASSAULTED IN BRATISLAVA. In an unrelated instance, on 5
September Baruch Myers, a US citizen and the only rabbi in the
Slovak capital, was attacked by unknown assailants, who yelled
"Jews get out" in German. Although Myers suffered only minor
injuries, he is "shaken mentally," Reuters reports. Myers went
immediately to a police station following the assault, but the
policeman on duty failed to report the case. The investigation
was thus delayed more than seven hours, and the police have not
found the attackers, TASR reports. -Sharon Fisher

HUNGARY ON ROMANIA AND THE COUNCIL OF EUROPE. Hungary's parliamentary
foreign relations committee on 6 September heard a report by
Foreign Minister Geza Jeszenszky on Romania's request for Council
of Europe membership, due to be voted upon in Strasbourg in about
three weeks, MTI and Radio Budapest report. The committee confirmed
Hungary's interest in seeing Romania integrate into Europe but
said Bucharest should support its application with "well-defined,
broad, concrete guarantees" for the rights of Romania's large
Magyar minority. in order to meet the CE's requirements in that
sphere. No decision was taken as to how Hungary will vote on
the issue, and further consultations are planned with the Romanian
side and the CE. The Romanian government, caught between the
CE's and Hungary's demands and the attacks of Gheorghe Funar's
ultra-nationalist National Unity Party, on whose support it depends,
must soon make a decision with regard to bilingual signs in minority-inhabited
areas as their prohibition could further delay Romania's admission
into the Council of Europe. -Alfred Reisch

ROMANIAN PARLIAMENT DEBATES CORRUPTION. Parliament voted to invite
the dismissed chief of the Financial Police, Gen. Gheorghe Florica,
to the debate on the opposition's motion of censure over government
corruption. Western agencies reported on 6-September that Florica
failed to produce the expected new evidence. The debate, in which
Florica appeared to be incoherent, was broadcast live by Radio
Bucharest. Prime Minister Nicolae Vacaroiu said evidence produced
so far does not warrant the dismissal of members of the government
and called the motion "nothing but a scenario to prevent the
government from implementing its [reform] program." The debate
continues on 7-September. -Michael Shafir

LOW TURNOUT IN ROMANIAN LOCAL ELECTIONS. Partial local elections
were held in 57-electoral districts on 6 September, but most
failed to produce a winner because of a very low voter turnout.
Radio Bucharest said in 44 districts the turnout was less than
the required half of the electorate plus one, and new elections
will be held in two weeks. In five districts the turnout met
the legal requirement, but none of the candidates gathered enough
votes to be elected; in these districts, a runoff between the
candidates who placed first and second will also be held in two
weeks. Mayors were elected in only 8 of the 57 districts. -Michael
Shafir

LEBED FORESEES LONG-TERM ROLE IN MOLDOVA. Ostankino TV's "Itogi"
reported on 5-September that the forces of the Dniester republic
held an "impressive military parade, including armor and even
combat aviation," on the anniversary just celebrated in Tiraspol.
Noting the growing political role of Lt.-Gen. Aleksandr Lebed,
commander of Russia's 14th Army in Moldova, the program commented
that it reflects "Russia's increasingly strong influence on events
in the region." In an interview on the program, Lebed pointedly
said that his army is "based on Dniester territory" (not Moldovan)
and expressed confidence that he "will serve there for a long
time to come." On 2 September Lebed told Ekho Moskvy that he
is "confident that the recognition of the Dniester republic [by
Russia] is only a matter of time", reminding listeners that it
took the Soviet Union ten years to be recognized. -Vladimir Socor


GAGAUZ LEADERS "HAVE GREATER RUSSIA IN THEIR BLOOD." "The last
time I was in the Soviet Union was two weeks ago," a delighted
correspondent wrote in Pravda of 4-September 1993 upon returning
from the self-proclaimed Gagauz republic on Moldovan territory.
"Consider yourself on the territory of the renewed USSR," Gagauz
foreign minister Petr Zavrichko greeted the correspondent. "Gagauzia
is historic Russian land, our umbilical cord ties us to Russia,"
and "we have Greater Russia-the great union-in our blood," the
republic's president Stepan Topal told Pravda. -Vladimir Socor


CABINET OF MINISTERS DENIES KUCHMA RESIGNATION. In response to
reports by ITAR-TASS on 4-September that President Leonid Kravchuk
had accepted Prime Minister Leonid Kuchma's resignation, Dmytro
Tabachnyk, the press secretary of the Cabinet of Ministers, officially
denied that the government had confirmed Kuchma's resignation,
Ukrainian TV reported on 6 September. Earlier in the day ITAR-TASS
reported that Tabachnyk said that Kuchma had formally submitted
his resignation on 4 September. Neither the president nor the
prime minister has made a statement about such moves. -Ustina
Markus

QIAN QICHEN IN UKRAINE. Having arrived in Kiev on Ukrainian Airlines'
first flight from Beijing, China's Foreign Minister Qian Qichen
met with President Leonid Kravchuk on 6 September, Ukrainian
Radio reports. The two discussed the possibility of expanding
cooperation in a variety of areas along lines discussed during
Kravchuk's visit to China in October 1992. Ukraine is the first
stop on Qian's itinerary of five east European countries. On
7 September he is scheduled to meet with Parliament Chairman
Ivan Plyushch and Foreign Minister Anatolii Zlenko and attend
the opening of China's embassy in Kiev. -Ustina Markus

RUSSIA RESTORES GAS TO BELARUS. Russia has fully resumed shipments
following the government's payment of half of its $100-million
gas bill and promise to pay the remainder by October, Reuters
reported on 6 September. Leonid Zhakovich of the Belarus State
Planning Commission said that Belarus is now receiving 27 million
cubic meters of gas a day, the same level it received before
Moscow reduced supplies last month. The payment was made partly
in cash, and partly through barter deals. -Ustina Markus

POPE CONTINUES VISIT IN LITHUANIA. On 6 September Pope John Paul-II
traveled to Kaunas where he held an outdoor Mass attended by
his largest audience yet in Lithuania, Radio Lithuania reports.
In his sermon he condemned the disastrous environmental legacy
of the former USSR and appealed for renewing the earth. He met
with the Lithuanian Conference of Bishops, headed by Cardinal
Vincentas Sladkevicius. In the Darius and Girenas Stadium he
warned a crowd of about 20,000 young people about the dangers
of racism and brutality towards other people. He criticized the
"search for an artificial paradise," greater use of drugs, and
the marketing of sex and pornography. On 7-September the pope
will travel to the Hill of Crosses near the city of Siauliai
for another outdoor Mass and visit the shrine in Siluva. -Saulius
Girnius

ESTONIAN COURT NULLIFIES SILLAMAE REFERENDUM. On 6 September
the Estonian Supreme Court declared null and void the referendum
on local autonomy held in Sillamae on 17 July, BNS reports. The
court's chairman, Rait Maruste, explained that, according to
the Constitution, local governments do not have the right to
call referendums or the power to declare their own autonomy.
The decision was expected for on 11 August the court had declared
null and void a similar referendum held in Narva on 16-17 July.
Sillamae Council Chairman Aleksandr Maksimenko said that the
city authorities will abide with the court's ruling although
he still maintained that the Estonian laws that had prompted
the calling of the referendum discriminated against the Russian-speaking
minority. -Saulius Girnius

[As of 1200 CET] Compiled by Suzanne Crow and Charles Trumbull







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