No. 172, 08 September 1993

RUSSIA



MAJOR CHANGE IN ECONOMIC COURSE IMMINENT? A DRAFT PRESIDENTIAL
DECREE, TO BE COMPLETED BY 9 SEPTEMBER, WILL REPRESENT A MAJOR
REVERSAL OF THE REFORM POLICY HITHERTO CONDUCTED, BIZNES-TASS
AND OTHER AGENCIES REPORTED ON 7 SEPTEMBER. The new course originat
ed with First Deputy Prime Minister and Economics Minister Oleg
Lobov and reportedly has the support of President Boris Yeltsin
and Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin. The Lobov memorandum
noted the failure of current policies to stabilize the economy
and to check inflation (now reported to have exceeded 30% in
August). The proposals include increased subsidies for agriculture
and "essential" industries; the indexation of savings retroactive
to January 1992; and a large increase in credits extended to
ind ustry. -Keith Bush

WESTERN CREDITS ON HOLD. Western diplomats and representatives
of international financial organizations in Moscow are convinced
that economic reform in Russia is stalled and that no new Western
aid will be forthcoming in the near future, The Financial Tim
es reported on 7 September. Thus the second tranche ($1.5 billion)
of the IMF's transformation facility and the World Bank's $600-million
rehabilitation loan designed to support the budget are unlikely
to be paid this year. The fate of the G-7 package is also uncertain.
Only the World Bank's recent $610-million loan to the oil industry
is expected to go through. -Keith Bush

BUSINESSMEN PREPARE FOR ELECTIONS. A leader of the recently created
political bloc "Entrepreneurs for New Russia," Konstantin Zatulin,
told ITAR-TASS on 7-September that his bloc is currently setting
up branches in Russia's regions. Zatulin said that the bloc is
supported in the regions by local businessmen and directors of
enterprises. He said his bloc occupies a centrist position and
intends to cooperate with Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Shakhrai
who is setting up his own party with strong regional repr esentation.
Zatulin expressed confidence that his bloc will do well in parliamentary
elections, because it represents the interests of a distinct
group in Russian society and also because it has enough financial
resources to organize a successful election campaign. -Vera Tolz


BURBULIS ON PREVIOUS MISTAKES. Former State Secretary Gennadii
Burbulis told Rossiiskie vesti on 7-September that President
Yeltsin should, for tactical reasons, agree to early presidential
elections in order to force deputies to call early parliamentary
elections. He said that the first mistake the Yeltsin administration
committed after assuming power was its failure to create a strong
pro-Yeltsin party which could have allied all democratic forces
and would have served as a social base for reform. The s econd
mistake of the administration Burbulis named was the lack of
resistance to old bureaucratic structures which boycotted reforms.
He cited the failure to build "civilized relations" with the
deputy corps and the quarrel with parliament as the third ma
jor mistake. -Alexander Rahr

PRESIDENTIAL COUNCIL STRONGER. The work and structures of the
Presidential Council are being streamlined, Kommersant-daily
reported on 4 September. The body is developing from a pure debate
club into a more analytical-advisory body. Expert groups have
bee n established within the council, headed by well-known specialists.
Two major working groups are those for economic questions (headed
by former Acting Prime Minister Egor Gaidar) and regional and
interethnic problems (headed by the expert of the Gorbachev Foundation
Emil Pain and geographer Leonid Smirnyagin). The role of the
presidential advisors and their analytical expert staffs has
been significantly reduced after the departure of State Secretary
Gennadii Burbulis. -Alexander Rahr

COUP TRIAL REOPENS. The trial of the twelve men accused of treason
for their part in the attempted coup of August 1991 reopened
on 7 September in Moscow's Supreme Court, ITAR-TASS and Western
agencies reported. The trial had already been postponed three
t imes since April. This time, however, the court dismissed objections
from the defense which would have caused further delay. The court
ruled that the accused need not be tried together. One of them,
Aleksandr Tizyakov, is still in the hospital. The court also
rejected the request to replace the prosecution on grounds of
prejudice, although the judges did say that the court would bear
in mind the prosecution's potential bias. The judges also condemned
the Russian parliament for disrespect for having failed to meet
the court's request of four months ago to appoint independent
prosecutors. -Wendy Slater

RYABOV ON PROGRESS IN CREATING FEDERATION COUNCIL. Deputy chairman
of the Russian parliament Nikolai Ryabov told ITAR-TASS on 7
September that the significance of the Federation Council would
be reduced if it was formed by presidential decree. It must be
formed by the subjects of the federation themselves. However,
so far only 91 of the 176 representatives of legislative and
executive power in the republics and regions had approved the
documents on setting up the council, while 19-had expressed their
disa pproval, and the remainder had not yet decided. Ryabov said
that Yeltsin should be more active in promoting the council.
He added that the documents would need to be revised. There were
two major sticking points: how the opinion of the minority was
to be taken into account and the place of the chairman of the
Russian parliament in the council. -Ann Sheehy

CLINTON AND YELTSIN TALK. In a 7 September telephone conversation,
the Russian and US presidents discussed bilateral relations,
the events surrounding the Crimean summit meeting between Ukrainian
President Leonid Kravchuk and Yeltsin (3 September), the po sition
of the Russian-speaking population in the Baltic states, and
the prospects for settlements in Bosnia and the Middle East,
ITAR-TASS reported. In addition, Yeltsin and Clinton spoke about
legislation pending in the United States on aid for and trade
to Russia. -Suzanne Crow

TRANSCAUCASIA AND CENTRAL ASIA

DIPHTHERIA IN MOSCOW. A Moscow medical official announced that
50 people in the city have died of diphtheria in recent months,
Reuters and AFP reported on 7 September. Tatyana Pushkarenko
told reporters that the distrust of vaccine among the population
made it difficult to carry out an immunization program. She
also complained of shortages of antitoxins, antiserums, and antibiotics.
Pushkarenko was quoted as saying: "This is now the start of an
epidemic. We have not succeeded in stabilizing the situation.
" -Keith Bush

TURKEY/RUSSIA/IRAN/KARABAKH. Russian border guards
patrolling the Armenian-Turkish frontier twice came under fire
from Turkish territory on 6-September, but no one was injured,
ITAR-TASS reported on 7 September; the semi-official Anatolia
News Agency quot ed a Turkish military spokesman as denying that
Turkish troops were responsible. A Russian-Turkish hotline will
be set up during the official visit to Moscow starting 8 September
of Turkish Prime Minister Tansu Ciller; her talks with Russian
President Yel tsin will focus on Nagorno-Karabakh and bilateral
political and economic cooperation, Reuters and ITAR-TASS reported.
Talks in Moscow on 7 September between Azerbaijan's parliament
Chairman Geidar Aliev and Russian Deputy Prime Minister Sergei
Shakhrai yi elded an agreement on the need for an immediate ceasefire
in Karabakh, according to ITAR-TASS; an unnamed Russian Foreign
Ministry spokesman told RFE/RL that the possible deployment of
Russian troops in Azerbaijan will be discussed during the CSCE
talks d ue to begin on 9-September. A Russian Foreign Ministry
spokesman condemned the presence of Iranian troops in Azerbaijan,
according to AFP, while the Iranian Foreign Ministry on 7 September
again called for the immediate withdrawal of Armenian forces
from occupied Azerbaijani territory, The New York Times reported
on 8 September. -Liz Fuller

GEORGIAN UPDATE. Some 200 armed supporters of ousted Georgian
President Zviad Gamsakhurdia occupied local government buildings
in the town of Gali in southern Abkhazia during the night of
6-7 September, ITAR-TASS reported quoting a local official. At
an e mergency session of the Georgian parliament in Tbilisi which
endorsed a reduction in the number of ministries and government
departments, parliament chairman Eduard Shevardnadze announced
that he would make use of his additional powers personally to
appoi nt ministers to the new government in order to preclude
"inappropriate" stormy disputes among deputies, according to
Radio Rossii quoting the Iprinda news agency. -Liz Fuller

UN TO SPONSOR ABKHAZ PEACE CONFERENCE. Following several months
correspondence between the Abkhaz government in Gudauta and the
UN, it was announced on 7 September that the UN will sponsor
talks to open in Geneva on 13 September aimed at reaching a politi
cal solution to the Abkhaz conflict, AFP reported. The talks
will be chaired by Edouard Brunner, the Swiss Ambassador to Paris,
who led a UN factfinding mission to Abkhazia in late May. -Liz
Fuller

UZBEKISTAN WILL SWITCH TO THE LATIN ALPHABET. The Uzbek parliament
passed a law on 2 September to switch to the Latin alphabet instead
of reverting to Arabic script to replace the present Cyrillic,
Reuters and RFE/RL reported on 3-September. An academicia n interviewed
by Reuters said the choice of the new script, which will be based
on a modified version of the Turkish alphabet, reflects Uzbekistan's
desire to orient itself towards the West rather than the Islamic
world. An RFE/RL reporter in Tashkent sai d that the script will
be taught in Uzbek schools by 1995 and the switch will be completed
before the year 2000. -Yalcin Tokgozoglu

SIX SIGN NEW RUBLE ZONE AGREEMENT. Representatives of the governments
and national banks of six countries of the former Soviet Union
signed an agreement outlining measures for the creation of a
new ruble zone, according to Western and Russian news agencie
s on 7 September. The multilateral document signed by Russia,
Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan is intended
to be complemented with bilateral accords between Russia and
the others on specific measures for unifying national monetary,
fiscal, banking, and customs policies. A Russian-Uzbek accord
reportedly may be ready for signing in the next two weeks; the
others are expected to take longer. The current agreement permits
the circulation of national currencies in the signatory countri
es for a transitional period, but requires that the issue of
these non-ruble currencies be strictly regulated. The new monetary
regime is open to other nations besides the present signatories.
-Erik Whitlock

CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPE

RUSSIA TO TAKE OVER ARMENIAN, AZERBAIJANI DEBTS. Russian Prime
Minister Chernomyrdin and his Armenian counterpart Hrant Bagratyan
signed an agreement in Moscow on 7 September whereby Russia will
take over Armenia's $80 billion share of the former Soviet d
ebt in return for unspecified assets on Armenian territory, Reuters
reported. A similar agreement was signed between Deputy Prime
Minister Aleksandr Shokhin and Azerbaijani Deputy Prime Minister
Abbas Abbasov. -Liz Fuller

IZETBEGOVIC MAKES PLEA TO UN. International
media on 7 and 8 September report on the Bosnian president's
visit to New York. He urged the Security Council to "defend us
or let us defend ourselves. You have no right to deprive us of
both." His now familiar program included granting the Muslims
more territory than allowed under the Geneva plan, lifting the
siege of Sarajevo within a prescribed deadline, removing the
1,200 Serb artillery pieces from the surrounding hills and mountains,
ending ethnic cleansing , using NATO air strikes to end the fighting,
and ensuring delivery of relief supplies. Izetbegovic added that
he is willing to resume peace negotiations "unconditionally,"
but that the international negotiators must approach him to that
end. The BBC quote d diplomats as saying that talks could resume
as early as next week if all the parties agree. The Serbs and
Croats have said that the current plan is basically a take-it-or-leave-it
proposition and that they are not willing to discuss any significant
modifi cations with the Muslims. -Patrick Moore

NEW YUGOSLAV ARMY COMMANDERS APPOINTED. Radio Serbia reports
on 7 September that the Yugoslav Supreme Defense Council has
appointed new generals and admirals to major command posts following
last month's retirement of 42 senior officers. Key appointments
w ere made to the chiefs of staff, headed by Maj. Gen. Momcilo
Perisic, who replaced Col. Gen. Zivota Panic last month. Maj.
Gen. Nikola Mandaric was named deputy chief of staff. Also appointed
were Brig. Gen. Miloje Pavlovic as commander of the Air Force,
Maj. Gen. Jevrem Cokic commander of the First Army, Brig. Gen.
Bozidar Babic, commander of the Second Army, and Brig. Gen. Dusan
Samardzic, commander of the Third Army. Naval and corps commanders
were also named. -Milan Andrejevich

KOSOVO UPDATE. At the beginning of the new school year, the Serbian
police tried to prevent access to the underground system of Albanian
schools in Kosovo, Rilindja reports on 1 and 2 September. About
85% of the pupils go to these illegal but well-organiz ed private
schools, which have become a symbol of defiance of the Serbian
authorities. Elsewhere, the directors of the biggest state enterprises
in Kosovo-such as posts and telecommunications, electric power,
some banks, and other public companies-will be replaced by local
members of President Slobodan Milosevic's ruling party, Borba
reports on 7 September. At a press conference, two party officials
declared that this might happen as well to all Socialist Party
of Serbia cadres who "don't know or are unable to fulfill their
obligations." Meanwhile, Nevzat Halili, the chairman of the Party
for Democratic Prosperity, the strongest Albanian party in Macedonia,
was blamed by some other party members for the Albanians' failure
to obtain either autonomy or the sta tus of a "people of the
state" in Macedonia. At the party congress, the nationalist radical
wing tried to replace the executive committee, Borba reported
on 2-September. -Fabian Schmidt

GREECE BARS ENTRY OF MACEDONIAN MINISTER. AFP reports on 7 September
that Greece has refused entry to Macedonian Health Minister Jovan
Tofovski, preventing him from attending a conference of the World
Health Organization in Athens. Reaction in Skopje was reportedly
astonishment. The action by Athens follows an emerging parliamentary
crisis in Greece that could force early elections. Greek Prime
Minister Constantine Mitsotakis's parliamentary majority has
slipped to one seat after one deputy defected to th e Political
Spring Party of former Foreign Minister Antonis Samaras. Samaras's
party has repeatedly called for a harder line on both Macedonia
and Albania and Mitsotakis, by taking a stronger stand on Macedonia,
is no doubt trying to win over other potent ial defectors. The
decision to bar the Foreign Minister is most certainly linked
with last week's decision by the Mitsotakis's New Democracy Party
to block the entry of Albania's ruling Democratic Party into
the European Democratic Union, alleging that Al bania denied
basic rights to its Greek minority in southern Albania. -Robert
Austin

VISEGRAD DEFENSE OFFICIALS MEET IN POLAND. The Czech, Hungarian,
Polish, and Slovak military forces will develop a program of
supplying each other with military equipment and spare parts
for weapons systems, and will increase the volume of orders from
eac h other for technological improvements in their equipment.
This was the most important element in the communique issued
at the conclusion of a meeting of defense officials from the
Visegrad group of countries held in Cracow on 6-7 September.
In the subsequ ent statement, the Polish Deputy Minister of National
Defense Gen. Jan Kuriata told PAP that the program is designed
to "increase compatibility of equipment [used by the Visegrad
group] with that of NATO . . . [and] should be seen as a step
toward rapproc hement with NATO." -Jan de Weydenthal

POLISH-DANISH DEFENSE AGREEMENT. Denmark will sign a defense
agreement with Poland in October, the Danish Defense Ministry
announced,Western agencies report. The agreement would open the
way to joint Polish-Danish-German naval maneuvers, perhaps in
1994. In a related development, Die Welt said on 6-September
that joint Polish-German maneuvers would soon be held in Poland,
but a Polish defense spokesman denied the report. -Jan de Weydenthal


SWEDISH-HUNGARIAN MILITARY TALKS. During an official three-day
visit to Sweden that ended on 7-September, Hungarian Defense
Minister Lajos Fur and his Swedish counterpart Anders Bjoerck
discussed the preparations for a bilateral military agreement
and ways to coordinate peacekeeping activities. According to
Radio Budapest, a cautious remark by Fur that future possibilities
exist in the field of military technology cooperation, presumably
in the air defense sector, indicates that no concrete accord
is to be expected in the near future. Hungary had in the past
expressed an interest in the purchase of modern Swedish combat
aircraft but lacks the necessary financial means. -Alfred Reisch


HUNGARY WANTS FULL NATO MEMBERSHIP. In an interview in the 7
September issue of Magyar Nemzet, Ambassador Istvan Gyarmati,
the head of the Foreign Ministry's security policy department,
said full NATO membership in three stages is now an official
strategic goal of Hungary's foreign policy. Gyarmati advocated
the joint admission of the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, and
Slovakia, stressing that common NATO membership would help solve
Hungarian-Slovak differences in "a much more civilized manner."
and thus serve the interests of both countries. Next to a permanent
consultative system, Hungary wants closer military cooperation
with NATO in the fields of peacekeeping, joint maneuvers, and
humanitarian aid. -Alfred Reisch

EC OFFICIAL ON ACCORD WITH SLOVENIA. EC Commissioner for External
Affairs Hans van den Broek told reporters in Ljubljana on 7 September
that he wants to open preliminary talks soon with Slovenia on
a possible EC association agreement, a main foreign polic y goal
of the Slovenes since achieving independence from the former
Yugoslavia in 1991. Radio Slovenia carried the report. -Milan
Andrejevich

RUSHDIE CONTROVERSY IN PRAGUE CONTINUES. Czech President Vaclav
Havel indirectly attacked Prime Minister Vaclav Klaus on 7 September
when he said that "distancing oneself from the British author
Salman Rushdie" is wrong. As reported by CTK, Havel said tha
t support for Rushdie is support for justice and law-traditional
European values which should serve as a basis for European integration.
Havel argued that it is strange that someone who has officially
embraced these values and wants to participate in Europ ean integration
is at the same time searching for reasons why he should not get
involved with Rushdie. Havel's comments came in the wake of a
statement issued on 6 September by Klaus, in which the Prime
Minister distanced himself from Rushdie's 3-5 Septem ber visit
to Prague, during which the British author met with and received
moral support from Havel. Klaus said that the meeting was a private
matter of the president and expressed hope that Islamic states
would not see the meeting as an act aimed against them. On 7
September the Helsinki Citizens Assembly, which organized Rushdie's
visit to Prague, said that it was deeply disappointed by Klaus's
statement. Klaus told journalists on 7 September that he could
reply to Havel's criticism only by submitting a philosophical
essay and that Havel's own philosophical deliberations on the
Rushdie case have "absolutely nothing to do with politics." -Jiri
Pehe

SLOVAK GOVERNMENT DENIES CTK REPORT. TASR reports on 7 September
that the recent news release by CTK concerning Premier Vladimir
Meciar's statements on Romanies was misstated. The Slovak government's
press department gave TASR a tape recording of Meciar's speech,
which is translated as: " . . . what we [next] have to take into
consideration is the expanded reproduction of the socially unadaptable
and mentally retarded population. We simply cannot implement
a family policy based on family allowances, thus putting a family
under pressure in a way which supports this expanded reproduction.
In such a social group, where children are already giving birth
to children or grandmothers still have babies, it often happens
that these children are mentally ill, socia lly unadaptable,
and too heavy a burden for society. That is why we will interfere
with the family allowances system. Although we are taking a beating
for this action by trade unions, we cannot see any more just
way out. There is nothing to pay [for these allowances] with.
. . . " According to TASR, "some CTK reporters have been purposely
damaging the good name of Slovakia and its political and economic
interests abroad by giving slanted and distorted information
on life in Slovakia." In particular, this report on Meciar led
to "a remarkably negative response," both domestically and abroad,
against the premier and the Slovak Republic. CTK reported on
7-September that the Slovak government plans to sue CTK over
the matter. The brouhaha began with a 3-Septe mber 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." -Sharon
Fisher

SLOVAK MAGYARS PROTEST EDUCATION PROPOSAL. More than 45,000 ethnic
Hungarians sent a petition to Parliament Chairman Ivan Gasparovic
on 7-September, TASR reports. The petition protests "intentions
of the Ministry of Education to introduce so-called altern ative
education," meaning that natural sciences will be taught in Slovak,
while humanities will be taught in the language of the minority.
Erzsebet Poganyova, speaker for the Hungarian Coexistence movement,
said the petition was organized because discussi ons with ministry
officials "did not bring any results." -Sharon Fisher

ROMANIAN FOREIGN MINISTER IN PRAGUE. On 7-September, during a
visit to Prague by Teodor Melescanu, he and Czech Foreign Minister
Josef Zieleniec initialed a Czech-Romanian friendship and cooperation
treaty and signed an agreement on cooperation between th e two
countries' foreign ministries. Melescanu also met with Prime
Minister Vaclav Klaus and President Vaclav Havel. He invited
both officials to visit Romania. At a press conference after
his meeting with Melescanu, Zieleniec welcomed the willingness
of R omania to sign a repatriation treaty with the Czech Republic
governing the repatriation of illegal immigrants. -Jiri Pehe


HEAD OF BULGARIAN SECURITY SERVICE FACES DISMISSAL. In a TV interview
on 7 September Interior Minister Viktor Mihaylov confirmed reports
that Col.-Arlin Antonov, the Director of the National Security
Service, is about to be fired. Without specifying the acc usations,
Mihaylov said Antonov's "incompetent leadership" has led to violations
of the regulations under which the NSS is operating. The NSS
Director is one of several top state officials to be sacked by
the government over the last few months, and the mo ve will clearly
breed further speculation about political purges. Whereas 24
chasa seems convinced that Antonov is being ousted because he
allegedly allowed phone tapping of highly placed politicians,
businessmen, and trade union leaders, Novinar says he is the
victim of his own success against organized crime, claiming that
powerful groups affiliated with crime have been lobbying for
his demise. -Kjell Engelbrekt

ROMANIAN PARLIAMENT REJECTS CORRUPTION MOTION. An opposition
motion calling for the dismissal of three top officials allegedly
involved in corruption failed on the night of 6-7 September.
The vote (231-151) was not on an official censure motion, despite
ear lier reports that it would be one. On 7-September in parliament
former Prime Minister Petre Roman denied allegations that he
had been involved in corruption surrounding the purchase of three
Airbus planes for the Romanian national airline in 1991. A repor
t by a parliamentary inquiry commission dominated by the ruling
Party of Social Democracy of Romania said Romanian negotiators
received a $20-million bribe and that the deal was awarded despite
a lower bid by Boeing. But Roman said he had not been involve
d in the negotiations and that the report was based on documents
that smacked of reports of the Romanian Information Service,
Radio Bucharest and Western agencies report. Former Minister
of Transportation Traian Basescu also denied accusations of corrupti
on included in the report. -Michael Shafir

MOLDOVA HAS UNTIL 1 NOVEMBER TO JOIN CIS. Russia has agreed to
suspend until 1 November the prohibitive excise taxes and customs
duties it imposed on 1 August on goods imported from Moldova,
a non-CIS state, Radio Moscow reported on 7 September. The new
t ariffs price Moldovan goods out of the Russian market, their
largest by far, also nullifying Moldova's ability to pay for
Russian raw materials and fuel. The Moldovan leadership, which
favors ratification of CIS economic agreements and accession
to the pro posed economic community, recently requested suspension
of the barriers until 1 January, hoping to organize multiparty
elections to a new parliament that would ratify those documents.
The shorter deadline risks precipitating a constitutional crisis
in Chi sinau, pitting the government and parliamentary majority
against the minority that wields de facto veto power. -Vladimir
Socor

UKRAINIAN OFFICIALS ACCUSE RUSSIA OF "DISINFORMATION." The results
of the recent Russian-Ukrainian summit meeting in Massandra continue
to generate controversy and protests in Ukraine. On 7-September
Ukrainian TV broadcast a discussion on this theme with a group
of leading Ukrainian officials. Several of them stressed that
the meeting had its positive side in that progress had been made
on agreeing about the maintenance of nuclear warheads in Ukraine
and compensation for nuclear warheads transferred to Rus sia
for dismantling after the ratification of START-1. The general
view was that the subsequent problems were caused, as deputy
foreign minister Borys Tarasyuk claimed, because "the Russian
side broke the rules" by engaging in "disinformation" after the
me eting, presenting "wishful thinking" as something real. Anton
Buteiko, the president's advisor on foreign affairs, argued that
Russia used its "huge" mass media as a means of pressuring Ukraine
and damaging its "political prestige." Another participant, a
democratic opposition leader and deputy, Larysa Skoryk, emphasized
that Russia's mass media continue to have a "great influence"
in Ukraine, which facilitates the spread of "disinformation"
-Bohdan Nahaylo

POPE CONTINUES BALTIC VISIT. On 8 September Pope John Paul-II
flew from Vilnius to Riga, Radio Lithuania reports. On 7 September
he held an outdoor Mass at the Hill of Crosses, near Siauliai,
that was attended by about 40,000 people, far less than the 300,
000 expected. He mourned the victims of communist tyranny, but
stressed the need for forgiveness. After a brief stop in the
Jesuit high school in Siauliai where he met with Lithuanian bishops,
he traveled to the shrine of the Virgin Mary in Siluva. Expect
ations that there would be scores or even hundreds of thousands
of foreign pilgrims were proved overoptimistic, and fewer than
10,000 foreigners came to Lithuania to see the Pope. -Saulius
Girnius

[As of 1200 CET]

Compiled by Suzanne Crow and Charles Trumbull