No. 186, 28 September 1993

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Inc.





RUSSIA



POLITICIANS PROPOSE COMPROMISE. Liberal politicians have proposed
a compromise to end the constitutional impasse, Reuters reported
on 26 and 27-September. The substance of their proposals is that
simultaneous elections to the presidency and the parliament be
held on 12 December and that, pending the new elections, the
Supreme Soviet would reassemble, but not the Congress of People's
Deputies. The politicians, who include presidential candidate
Grigorii Yavlinsky and leading members of the Civic Union bloc,
also propose that Vice President Aleksandr Rutskoi be reinstated,
and that the opposition be allowed access to the broadcast media.
The group is supported by Valerii Zorkin, chairman of the Constitutional
Court, who has backtracked on his previous uncompromising criticism
of Yeltsin's actions. The proposal for simultaneous elections
has also been made by regional leaders. -Wendy Slater

YELTSIN REJECTS COMPROMISE. President Yeltsin, speaking on Russian
TV on 27-September, categorically rejected proposals to hold
simultaneous early elections because, he claimed, it would cause
a power vacuum. "Dual power is very dangerous, but absence of
all power is doubly so," he said. Yeltsin also refused to accept
Zorkin's proposed "zero option" which would allow both president
and parliament to cancel all decrees and laws passed since the
crisis began on 21 September. Yeltsin has decreed that elections
to the lower house of a new parliament will be held on 11 and
12 December, and that presidential elections will follow on 12
June 1994. -Wendy Slater

FEDERATION COUNCIL TO MEET SOON? IT SEEMS LIKELY THAT THE FEDERATION
COUNCIL THAT BRINGS TOGETHER THE HEADS OF LEGISLATIVE AND EXECUTIVE
POWER IN THE REPUBLICS AND REGIONS WILL MEET THIS WEEK TO DISCUSS
THE CRISIS, JUDGING FROM REPORTS IN THE RUSSIAN MEDIA OF 27-SEPTEMBER.
According to Ramazan Abdulatipov, chairman of the parliament's
Council of Nationalities, the Council will meet on 29 September.
Spokesmen for Yeltsin said that Yeltsin was ready to convene
the Federation Council, possibly this week. At the same time,
however, an aide said that Yeltsin had other options for regulating
the situation in the regions. It would be understandable if,
at this juncture, Yeltsin had doubts that he could convene such
a meeting. The chairman of the Constitutional Court, Valerii
Zorkin, said that the council should meet urgently since the
center of power had now moved to the regions. The group of political
and public figures who came out with their own program for solving
the crisis on 27-September called on the subjects of the federation
and the Constitutional Court to meet not later than 1 October.
It is clear that the regions are being regarded as very much
a force in their own right. -Ann Sheehy

DEPUTIES DEPART FROM WHITE HOUSE. The deputy chief of the presidential
administration, Vyacheslav Volkov, said that of the 384 deputies
who worked on a permanent basis in the parliament, 76 have expressed
their wish to be transferred to the executive organs of power
and 114 favor negotiations, ITAR-TASS reported on 27 September.
According to Volkov only between 170 and 180 deputies want to
continue to fight. He stated that the Russian parliament was
"clearly destroyed." Volkov said that 15,000 rubles are being
paid every day to those deputies and employees of the parliament
who remain in the White House. Two days ago, he claimed, 150,000
rubles were paid to those deputies who did not depart. -Alexander
Rahr

PARLIAMENT TO MOVE OUT OF MOSCOW? DEPUTY EVGENII KOZHOKIN TOLD
EKHO MOSKVY ON 25 SEPTEMBER THAT THERE IS A REAL DANGER THAT
AN ALTERNATE POWER CENTER WILL BE SET UP OUTSIDE MOSCOW, BECAUSE
MANY LEGISLATORS IN THE WHITE HOUSE ARE SERIOUSLY CONSIDERING
A MOVE FROM MOSCOW TO NOVOSIBIRSK OR THE KUZBASS REGION, IN ORDER
TO CONTINUE THEIR RESISTANCE TO PRESIDENT BORIS YELTSIN FROM
THERE. Parliamentary speaker Ruslan Khasbulatov has not ruled
out the possibility of such a move. -Alexander Rahr

BARANNIKOV DENIES HE SWITCHED SIDES. The heads of the three "power"
ministries convened a press conference on 27 September in the
White House to deny earlier rumors that the rival ministers for
security and interior affairs, Viktor Barannikov and Andrei Dunaev,
had defected to the presidential side, ITAR-TASS reported. Sources
close to Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin claimed that during
a meeting between Chernomyrdin and Barannikov on 26 September,
the latter said that he remained loyal to President Boris Yeltsin
and would soon leave the White House together with Dunaev. Barannikov
told journalists that he met with Chernomyrdin only to ask him
to restore water and electricity to the White House. Dunaev and
rival defense minister Vladislav Achalov claimed that they have
established firm contacts with the army and troops of the interior
ministry which promised them to refrain from the use of force.
-Alexander Rahr

CALLS FOR CREATION OF SIBERIAN REPUBLIC REVIVE. The chairman
of the Kemerovo Oblast Council, Aman Tuleev, told ITAR-TASS on
27 September that at the next session of the powerful "Siberian
Agreement" economic association he intended to revive the discussion
of the creation of a Siberian republic which would consist of
Siberia's regions (oblasts and krais). Tuleev said the creation
of a Siberian republic was the only way to defend Siberia's regions
from the arbitrary rule of Moscow. Tuleev is a strong critic
of President Yeltsin, and the Kemerovo Oblast Council has condemned
the dissolution of the Russian parliament on 21-September. -Vera
Tolz

YELTSIN DISMISSES LOCAL LEADER. Kommersant on 25 September identified
a small number of Russian oblasts where the Russian president
could count on the support of neither the local soviet nor the
head of administration (most of whom he himself appointed). The
defiant oblasts were Amur, Novosibirsk (which also offered to
provide the Supreme Soviet with a home), Belgorod and Bryansk.
Retribution was swift in Bryansk. On 25 September, Yeltsin replaced
the head of administration, Yurii Lodkin, with Vladimir Karpov.
Lodkin, who was said to have barricaded himself in his office,
complained that he had been forcibly evicted by interior ministry
troops who came to clear the building. Karpov denied that force
was used by either side, saying only that 12 drunk people left
along with Lodkin. On 26-September, local inhabitants demonstrated
against Lodkin's removal. -Elizabeth Teague

SOBCHAK FIRES HIS DEPUTY. St. Petersburg mayor Anatolii Sobchak
fired his deputy Vyacheslav Sherbakov on 24 September, ITAR-TASS
reported. Sobchak, who had firmly supported the dissolution of
parliament by President Yeltsin, said Sherbakov had defied Yeltsin's
decree of 21 September by continuing to act as an adviser to
parliamentary speaker Ruslan Khasbulatov. Sobchak's move was
condemned by the St. Petersburg City Soviet. -Vera Tolz

OFFICIAL UNIONS BACK RUTSKOI; INDEPENDENTS PREFER YELTSIN. The
Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Russia (the formerly
communist-dominated trade unions) issued a statement on 22-September
denouncing Yeltsin's decree dissolving parliament. The unions
called on their 50 million members to hold strikes and protests,
but no reports of strikes were received in the days immediately
following the decree. Even in Vorkuta, where miners had been
threatening to strike against threatened pit closures, miners
issued a statement in support of Yeltsin, ITAR-TASS reported
on 23 September. Russia's small but truly independent unions
also spoke in Yeltsin's defense. -Elizabeth Teague

LAND CHARGES TO BE INTRODUCED. "Significant" charges for land
are to be introduced, Radio Mayak reported on 20 September. Owners
of private plots will pay 130 rubles annually for each square
meter of land. There will be 5 types of land charge: a tax; a
rental charge; a payment for the temporary use of land; a payment
for the right to lease land; and a payment for acquiring land
as property. The rates of land tax would vary for each region,
and would take into account the site, the quality of land, and
its proximity to roads and reservoirs. -Keith Bush

1993 GRAIN HARVEST. According to ITAR-TASS of 24-September, the
Ministry of Economics has forecast a gross grain harvest outturn
of 110 million tons, while the Ministry of Agriculture puts the
final total at 107 million tons. Both of these are below recent,
fairly authoritative, prognoses which ranged as high as 125 million
tons and which provided the basis for optimistic statements to
the effect that grain imports would be sharply cut in the 1993/94
marketing year and eliminated thereafter. Losses between the
field and the elevators are expected to be high this year as
a consequence of the general disruption of the economy and owing
to shortages of fuel and equipment. -Keith Bush

TURKEY PROTESTS PLANNED RUSSIAN DEPLOYMENTS. Turkey has protested
to its NATO allies over Russia's plans to increase its conventional
forces in the North Caucasus, Reuters reported on 27 September.
A day earlier a Turkish Foreign Ministry statement said that
Turkish President Suleyman Demirel had received a message from
Russian President Boris Yeltsin outlining Moscow's intentions.
Yeltsin had apparently suggested that Russia would increase its
forces in the North Caucasus beyond the ceilings established
by the 1992 CFE Treaty. Among other things, that agreement limits
the military forces that can be deployed in Russia's "flank"
regions. As part of its military restructuring program, and in
view of growing instability in the south, Russian military leaders
have declared their intention to increase Russian forces deployed
in the north Caucasus, and have on a number of occasions suggested
that the CFE Treaty might be amended to accommodate their plans.
Turkey, which has close ties to Azerbaijan, has expressed concern
over Russia's military intentions in the region. -Stephen Foye


RUSSIAN NAVY CLAIMS FOREIGN SUB INTRUSIONS INCREASING. ITAR-TASS
reported on 20 September that the Russian Navy believes the activity
of foreign submarines near Russian territorial waters is increasing
rather than decreasing. It claims that up to eight submarines
were detected in the Barents Sea near Russian territorial waters
during one month in 1993. On 20 March 1993 a Russian and a US
submarine collided, and in June US Secretary of Defense Les Aspin
announced that the US Navy was changing its operations so as
to reduce the chance of a collision. -John Lepingwell





TRANSCAUCASIA AND CENTRAL ASIA



SUKHUMI FALLS TO ABKHAZ. Abkhaz forces took Sukhumi early in
the afternoon of 27-September and raised the national flag over
Shevardnadze's former headquarters, Western agencies reported.
In a statement carried by ITAR-TASS Shevardnadze, who fled with
his personnel staff to Gulripsh, 12 km south of Sukhumi, claimed
that hundreds of civilians had been killed in the fighting; he
blamed the fall of Sukhumi partly on the failure of forces loyal
to ousted president Zviad Gamsakhurdia to join the defending
troops and partly on Russia's failure to intervene. Some 7,500
civilians were evacuated by sea; in Tbilisi, the parliament convened
in emergency session and called on Shevardnadze to return, ITAR-TASS
reported. -Liz Fuller

ARMENIAN PARLIAMENT REJECTS CALL FOR EARLY ELECTIONS. On 27 September
the Armenian parliament rejected a proposal for early parliamentary
elections next year, ITAR-TASS reported. While support for the
ruling Armenian Pan-National Movement has plummeted, none of
the 30 rival parties can be considered a serious challenger,
with the possible exception of the Dashnak Party and the Armenian
CP, which is capitalizing on nostalgia for an era of stability
and comparative economic wellbeing. -Liz Fuller

CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPE



BIHAC POCKET "SECEDES" FROM BOSNIAN MUSLIM REPUBLIC. International
media report on 28-September that a 400-member constituent assembly
for this northwestern Bosnian enclave met in Velika Kladusa to
proclaim the "autonomous province of western Bosnia." The colorful
Fikret Abdic was elected president, and he made it clear that
"this is an act of secession" from the Muslim republic under
President Alija Izetbegovic, between whom and Abdic little love
is lost. The Bihac Muslims have long feared that Izetbegovic
might betray their interests in return for concessions in eastern
Bosnia nearer to Sarajevo, since the Bihac pocket, or Cazin region,
is cut off by Serb territories from the main Muslim area. Abdic
has long combined skills at wheeling and dealing with a strong
economic power base in the Agrokomerc company and with a regional
tradition of good interethnic relations even during World War
II to establish good working and trade relations with both Serbian-
and Croatian-controlled territories nearby. Meanwhile, the Bosnian
constitutional court responded to the developments in Bihac by
calling the setting up of autonomous regions unconstitutional.
Finally, about 350 leading Muslim figures met in Sarajevo under
Izetbegovic's leadership to consider their attitude to the latest
Geneva peace plan. The Guardian of 27 September says that they
have really already accepted the plan, and that the real issue
at the meeting is power relationships in the future Muslim republic.
-Patrick Moore

RUMP YUGOSLAV OFFICIALS RESPOND TO RUSSIAN DEVELOPMENTS. Despite
the fact that the Belgrade government has yet to issue a definitive
statement on developments in Russia, several ministers have made
comments of their own. In Borba of 23-September, Foreign Minister
Vladislav Jovanovic said that it was in rump Yugoslavia's interest
to have Russia, which he described as a "friendly" nation, remain
strong, stable, democratic, and prosperous. In the same issue
of that daily, federal assembly Vice-President Radmilo Bogdanovic
added that Russian developments could work against his country's
interests. According to Bogdanovic, Belgrade sees Russia as the
nation which could have been most effective in removing the UN
sanctions imposed against rump Yugoslavia. Yet with current domestic
confusion, he adds, Russia may be in no position to do so because
of its consequent weakness in international relations: "Now Russia
will be engaged . . . [with] . . . domestic problems. . . . [Rump
Yugoslavia] is waiting for Russia to be involved with removing
sanctions placed against our country, but now the big question
is if it can do that." -Stan Markotich

POLISH COALITION TALKS FALTER. Efforts to build a new government
coalition in Poland appear to have reached an impasse. In a deliberately
ambiguous statement, Polish Peasant Party (PSL) leader Waldemar
Pawlak informed the Democratic Left Alliance (SLD) on 27-September
that his party is prepared to enable the SLD to form a government
but will not necessarily participate in a formal coalition, take
seats in the cabinet, or support government measures with which
it does not agree. This maneuver seemed designed to scuttle the
SLD's efforts to form a government without openly appearing to
do so. The PSL's reluctance to join forces leaves the SLD with
the sole option of forming a minority government. SLD leaders
said they were "astonished" by the PSL's stance and accused Pawlak
of "playing for time," PAP reports. The SLD has indicated that
it will give up the effort to form a government if it is unable
to build a stable majority coalition. A formal announcement is
expected on 28-September. Pawlak appears to be bargaining for
the chance to build a government on his own, but it is not clear
whether he will have allies in this effort. In an interview with
Rzeczpospolita on 27 September, Democratic Union (UD) chairman
Tadeusz Mazowiecki did not rule out a coalition with the PSL,
but fellow party leader Jan Maria Rokita told Polish TV the same
day that the UD's participation in a government headed by the
SLD or the PSL is "out of the question." Leaders of the Nonparty
Reform Bloc (BBWR) also ruled out any such alliance. -Louisa
Vinton

WALESA TO DEFEND REFORM. In an interview with Wprost that was
summarized by PAP on 27 September, President Lech Walesa said
he will not allow the reform process in Poland to be delayed
or halted. "I came here not to pretend to be president, but to
be president," Walesa said. With characteristic bravado, he threatened
to apply the "Yeltsin variant," if necessary, to defend market
reforms. Poland needs an equilibrium between the right and left
wings, the president added. Whereas he had once buttressed the
"left leg" in Polish politics, the right leg now needed his assistance.
Some failed right-wing politicians would have to give up politics,
however, he said. Meeting with representatives of the Ford Foundation
the same day, Walesa placed some of the blame for the election
outcome on "egotistical" behavior by the EC, which refused to
open its markets to Polish products. -Louisa Vinton

JESZENSZKY CRITICIZES SLOVAK-ROMANIAN AGREEMENT. Hungarian Foreign
Minister Geza Jeszenszky said attempts by Romania and Slovakia
to coordinate their minority policies, as outlined in the friendship
treaty signed last week, seem directed toward Hungarian interests
and represent a violation of the principles of European integration,
Hungarian radio reported on 25 September. Comparing the treaty
with inter-war informal political alliances in Central Europe,
Jeszenszky said the agreement resembles the formation of an "entente"
and stands in contrast to contemporary European perceptions.
-Karoly Okolicsanyi

SLOVAKIA'S ETHNIC HUNGARIAN PARTY COMPLAINS. The Coexistence
movement, one of the ethnic Hungarian parties represented in
the Slovak parliament, issued a declaration on 26-September complaining
of "nationalist hatred in Slovakia," TASR reported on 27-September.
Coexistence claims that the situation in Slovakia has been poisoned
by hatred of Gypsies, Jews and Hungarians. According to the movement,
this is the result of a nationalist mentality, evident since
independence, which "has shown itself in hatred of all non-Slovaks."
The declaration was issued following a two-day leadership conference
in Patince, southern Slovakia. TASR says that the declaration
blames the governing Movement for a Democratic Slovakia and parties
that support it for deteriorating ethnic relations in the country.
It quoted movement chairman Miklos Duray as saying that there
can be no compromise between the government and minority advocates
until the overall political atmosphere changes and the claims
of "Slovak superiority are abandoned." -Jiri Pehe

CZECH-SLOVENIAN AGREEMENT ON MILITARY COOPERATION. On 27 September,
Czech Defense Minister Antonin Baudys and his Slovenian counterpart,
Janez Jansa, signed an agreement in Prague on military cooperation.
CTK reports that the agreement provides for cooperation between
the two countries' armed forces in military training, logistics
and armaments for the next five to eight years. Slovenia has
signed similar agreements with Hungary and Austria and is preparing
a military cooperation agreement with Croatia. -Jiri Pehe

RUSSIA TO PAY DEBT INTEREST TO CZECHS. Czech Finance Minister
Ivan Kocarnik said on 27 September that Russia has agreed to
supply wheat to the Czech Republic to pay for all or part of
the interest on its debt to that country. CTK reports that Kocarnik
made this agreement public after his meeting with Russian Finance
Minister Boris Fyodorov in Washington on 27-September. Kocarnik
said that Russia's readiness to pay the interest sends an important
signal, since it would be the first time Russia has repaid debt
to the Czech Republic. According to Kocarnik, Fyodorov said this
year's harvest will exceed Russia's needs. Russia owed some $5-billion
to the former Czechoslovakia. Two thirds of the debt- $3.3 billion-is
owed to the Czech Republic. -Jiri Pehe

ROMANIAN DIPLOMATIC OFFENSIVE. Romania's Foreign Minister Teodor
Melescanu met on 27 September with UN Secretary-General Boutros
Boutros-Ghali in New York. Melescanu, who is attending the current
UN General Assembly session, is scheduled to address the meeting
on 28 September. Meanwhile, Romania's delegation at the 44th
ordinary session of the Council of Europe's Parliamentary Assembly
held talks with leading figures in Strasbourg on the eve of the
assembly's vote on Romania's application to be accepted as a
full member to the Council. In another development, Romania's
Premier Nicolae Vacaroiu arrived on 27-September in Moscow on
a three-day official visit. Vacaroiu, who is seeking trade and
energy deals with Russia, seems to have ignored critics who urged
him to postpone the trip due to the current political turmoil
in Moscow. Radio Bucharest said that Vacaroiu is expected to
sign a number of bilateral agreements on cooperation in the areas
of trade, culture, science, and tourism. -Dan Ionescu

ROMANIAN STUDENTS STAGE PROTESTS. The Students' League of the
Bucharest University staged on 27 September a protest over living
conditions. About 500 students caused traffic chaos when they
blocked a road bridge in downtown Bucharest. They protested a
shortage of rooms on campus, shoddy accommodation, and the restricted
way in which scholarships are awarded. According to Radio Bucharest,
the students further demanded that they have a word to say on
the new Education Bill which is being drafted by the Ministry
of Education. -Dan Ionescu

ROMANIAN LAND REFORM FALLING BEHIND. In an interview with the
Bucharest daily Meridian, Gheorghe Antochi, Secretary of State
at the Agriculture Ministry admitted that the implementation
of a March 1991 land reform law is falling behind. Antochi said
that only 420,000 land property certificates have been issued
so far, and that a further five million Romanian citizens are
still waiting to get their ownership titles. The process of issuing
titles has been slowed down by disputes among farmers, which
often can be settled only in court. Most of Romania's farmland
had been taken away from peasants during the collectivization
drive of the 1950s. -Dan Ionescu

BULGARIAN TOURIST INDUSTRY ON THE WAY TO RECOVERY. Between January
1 and September 20 a total number of 700,000 tourists, 42% more
than during the same period last year, visited Bulgaria's summer
and winter resorts, the Committee on Tourism told journalists
on 27 September. The committee characterized the figure as "more
than promising." Most popular are the Black Sea resorts, which
thus far in 1993 have received 582,000 vacationers and a 48%
rise in visitors from Western countries as compared to 1992.
Germans, Britons, Turks and Israelis top the list of foreign
tourists to Bulgarians resorts. -Kjell Engelbrekt

KRAVCHUK TAKES OVER GOVERNMENT. Ukrainian President Leonid Kravchuk
issued a decree on 27-September naming himself head of government,
Ukrinform-TASS reported. The step was taken five days after appointing
Yefim Zvyagilsky acting prime minister in place of Leonid Kuchma,
who stepped down with his cabinet. The decree stated that the
move was taken in order to strengthen all structures of state
executive power at the center and on the local level, as well
as to deal urgently with the problems of economic reform. -Roman
Solchanyk

"DNIESTER" FIGHTERS DEFEND RUSSIAN SUPREME SOVIET. Russian Supreme
Soviet First Vice-Chairman Yurii Voronin told the Congress of
People's Deputies on 27 September that a detachment from the
"Dniester republic" had arrived and joined the defenders of the
Russian parliament building, ITAR-TASS reported. On the same
day Andrei Fedorov, senior aide to Russian Vice-President Aleksandr
Rutskoi, told journalists that the parliament building is being
guarded by at least 400 fighters, including "professionals" from
Abkhazia and the self-styled Dniester republic who are "very
well armed," Radio Ekho Moskvy reported. Officials in Chisinau
told AFP that 40 fighters headed by Dniester republic State Security
Minister Vadim Shevtsov and transporting a truckload of arms
had left Tiraspol for Moscow recently to join in the defense
of the Supreme Soviet. Basapress also on 27 September reported
from Tiraspol that a company of the special-force Dniester battalion,
commanded by the First Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs Nikolai
Matveev of the would-be republic, was among the defenders of
the parliament building in Moscow. Shevtsov and Matveev were
senior officers of the USSR MVD's OMON units in Latvia and Lithuania
who transferred to the Dniester republic after the collapse of
Soviet rule in the Baltics. -Vladimir Socor

CLINTON MEETS BALTIC PRESIDENTS. On 27 September US President
Bill Clinton met for an hour with Baltic Presidents Lennart Meri
(Estonia), Guntis Ulmanis (Latvia), and Algirdas Brazauskas (Lithuania),
the RFE/RL Lithuanian Service reports. Clinton expressed US support
for the early, unconditional, and rapid withdrawal of Russian
troops from Estonia and Latvia. While Meri demanded that Russian
President Boris Yeltsin should speed up the withdrawal, Ulmanis
raised concern about Russia's hopes to retain some military installations
in Latvia. Brazauskas said that he was worried about the military
build-up in Kaliningrad and supported its demilitarization. The
three presidents also gave Clinton a letter stating that the
termination of Radio Free Europe Baltic-language broadcasts is
"premature and unsettling for the Baltic countries." -Saulius
Girnius

LITHUANIAN PARLIAMENT'S COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN RESIGNS. On 27 September
Lithuanian Democratic Labor Party (LDLP) first deputy chairman
Gediminas Kirkilas resigned as chairman of the parliament's National
Security Committee, Radio Lithuania reports. He was replaced
by Vytautas Petkevicius, a LDLP deputy who has recently expressed
plans to form a second LDLP faction in the parliament. Kirkilas
said that his resignation was prompted by the recent unrest in
the Volunteer Home Guard Service in Kaunas for which he considers
himself to be partly responsible. Former Lithuanian Social Democratic
party chairman Kazimieras Antanavicius had resigned as chairman
of the parliament's Economics Committee on 21 September asserting
that the LDLP had been ignoring his recommendations. -Saulius
Girnius

CSCE COMMISSIONER INVITED TO ESTONIA. On 27-September the Representative
Assembly of the Russian Speaking Population of Estonia and the
city councils of Narva and Sillamae issued a letter sent to CSCE
High Commissioner on National Minorities Max van der Stoel inviting
him to urgently come to Estonia to continue his mediating efforts,
Baltic media report. The letter asserts that while the city councils
had fully complied with the agreement that van Stoel had arranged
between them and the Estonian government, the latter had refused
to have constructive talks with the councils, had delayed issuing
auxiliary regulations for obtaining Estonian citizenship, residence
permits, and aliens' passports while the situation in the northeast
areas of the country continued to deteriorate. -Saulius Girnius




[As of 1200 CET]

Compiled by Bess Brown and Kjell Engelbrekt









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