No. 198, 14 October 1993

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Inc.



RUSSIA



YELTSIN DENIES CHANGE IN PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION DATE. Russian
President Boris Yeltsin, who returned to Moscow on 13 October
after his official visit to Japan, was quoted by Ekho Moskvy
as angrily denying speculation by several of his own advisers
that the date of the presidential elections might be brought
forward to 12 December to allow presidential and parliamentary
elections to take place simultaneously. Yeltsin repeated that
presidential elections will be held on 12 June 1994 and said
he would not retain advisers who said otherwise, but he was nonetheless
careful to add that the final decision on the election date will
rest with the Federal Assembly-the new parliament that is to
be elected on 12 December. -Elizabeth Teague

YELTSIN AIDES ON PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS. Presidential aide Petr
Filippov told Reuters on 13-October that President Yeltsin should
not run for early presidential elections, but stay in office
until 1996-the date when his tenure officially expires. Filippov
said he hopes the new parliament would decide to cancel early
presidential elections on the grounds that last April's referendum
had already given Yeltsin the legitimacy he needs. Another close
Yeltsin associate, First Deputy Prime Minister Vladimir Shumeiko,
said that five polls should be held on the 12 December election
date: one for the Duma, one for the Federation Council, one for
local legislative bodies, one for president and one on the new
constitution. -Alexander Rahr

MORE ON PREPARATION FOR ELECTIONS. The list of 91 organizations,
permitted to take part in the parliamentary elections in December
was published by Kommersant-daily on 13-October. Of the 91 organizations,
35 are individual political parties and 56 are blocs uniting
several parties and movements. The overwhelming majority of the
organizations on the list are of democratic, pro-Yeltsin orientation.
The main centrist blocs to participate in the elections are the
Civic Union and the Entrepreneurs for New Russia. Only six opposition
groups are allowed to take part in the elections. Among them
are two small communist groups, the Christian Democratic Movement
and Vladimir Zhirinovsky's Liberal Democratic Party. In an interview
with RFE/RL on 13 October, a leader of the Christian Democratic
Movement, Viktor Aksyuchits, predicted that the opposition would
receive a very few seats in the new parliament, not only because
the most influential groups like the National Salvation Front
and the Russian Communist Party are banned, but also because
those opposition groups which are allowed to take part in the
elections cannot coordinate their activities and form a bloc.
-Vera Tolz

"POWER STRUCTURES" WANT TO HARDEN PRESIDENTIAL RULE. Yurii Baturin,
presidential counsellor on juridical questions, told Ekho Moskvy
on 13-October that he fears that the "power structures" in the
Russian executive are putting pressure on President Yeltsin to
tighten presidential rule. He criticized a project "On Measures
to Secure Law and Order for the Period of the Gradual Implementation
of Constitutional Reform" which will be presented for the president's
approval and which, according to Baturin, violates the Constitution
and Yeltsin's own decree of 21 September on the "Gradual Implementation
of Constitutional Reform." He said it will give authorities the
right to keep suspects up to 30 days in jail without courts'
approval and lift the immunity of former deputies, judges and
procurators. -Alexander Rahr

RUSSIAN PULLOUT FROM KURILS DENIED. A Japanese Defense Agency
officer on 13-October, apparently commenting on a remark made
earlier by Boris Yeltsin, denied that Russian ground forces on
the Kuril Islands have been halved, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun
reported. The Japanese officer said that intelligence reports
suggested that the number of troops on the islands had remained
constant, at roughly 9,000. In remarks to the press on 13-October,
Yeltsin reaffirmed that a full military withdrawal was a precondition
for reaching a settlement on the islands, a position that may
not be warmly embraced by the Russian military High Command.
In another sign of potential disharmony between the two sides,
Japan's Finance Minister was quoted by Kyodo on 13 October as
saying that Tokyo was holding firm to its insistence that the
issue of economic aid to Russia not be separated from resolution
of the territorial question. -Stephen Foye

RUSSIAN, JAPAN SIGN ECONOMIC DECLARATION. Among the official
documents signed by President Yeltsin and Japanese Prime Minister
Hosokawa on 13-October was an economic declaration on the prospects
for bilateral economic and scientific-technical relations, Reuters
and ITAR-TASS reported. The declaration called for the promotion
of mutually beneficial economic ties of various sorts, including:
Japanese support of Russia's effort to build a market economy;
increased bilateral collaboration in specific industries and
in biological and economic conservation measures in the North-West
Pacific; and cooperation within the international economic and
financial community. -Erik Whitlock

REGIONAL SOVIETS UPDATE. Regional soviets are continuing to react
to Yeltsin's decree calling for their abolition, Radio Moscow
said on 13 October. The soviets in Irkutsk, Arkhangelsk and Vologda
Oblasts were reported to have handed over their responsibilities
to the local Yeltsin-appointed executive heads. The soviet in
Rostov Oblast had refused to disband, and Kaliningrad Oblast
soviet had postponed its decision. The soviet in Novosibirsk
Oblast had reaffirmed its intention to continue functioning until
fresh elections are held (for which no firm date has yet been
announced). -Elizabeth Teague

FEDERAL COMMISSION ON REFORM OF REPRESENTATIVE POWER PREPARING
PROPOSALS. The Federal State Commission set up by Yeltsin to
draw up proposals for the creation of new organs of representative
power and local government in the regions is being chaired by
Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Shakhrai, ITAR-TASS reported on
13 October. Shakhrai had earlier objected to Yeltsin's plans
for a radical reorganization of the system of soviets. Anatolii
Sliva, a member of the commission, told ITAR-TASS that the commission
had 20 members, including the heads of administration of Nizhnii
Novgorod, and of Krasnodar and Krasnoyarsk krais, Moscow oblast,
and the Evenkii autonomous okrug. The presidents of Kabardino-Balkaria,
and the chairman of the parliaments of Chuvashia and Karelia
are also included, although Yeltsin's decree only recommended
the republics to follow suit. The commission was given until
15 October to come up with its proposals. -Ann Sheehy

HELSINKI WATCH PROTESTS DEPORTATION OF CAUCASIANS AND CENTRAL
ASIANS . The US-based human rights group, Helsinki Watch, and
human rights campaigners in Russia have protested the deportation
from Moscow in recent days of thousands of Caucasians and Central
Asians, Western media reported. Under the state of emergency,
the police have increased powers to search and detain people,
and have detained more than 14,000 people without residence permits
and deported almost 5,000, most of them from the south, Reuters
reported on 13 October. Human rights activists have charged that
the police are abusing their powers, openly discriminating against
those with dark skins. The police have denied the allegations,
and claim that most detainees have links with the criminal world.
-Ann Sheehy

RUSSIA, US NEARING URANIUM AGREEMENT? REUTERS REPORTED ON 14
OCTOBER THAT THE US AND RUSSIA HAVE ALMOST COMPLETELY AGREED
ON A $12 BILLION CONTRACT UNDER WHICH THE US WILL PURCHASE LOW-ENRICHED
URANIUM THAT RUSSIA WILL REPROCESS FROM ITS NUCLEAR WEAPONS.
The sales will take place over a ten year period. However the
deal is being held up by disagreements on how to share the proceeds
between Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, and Kazakhstan. Ukraine has
been demanding that it be compensated not only for the strategic
nuclear warheads to be withdrawn from its territory, but also
for the tactical nuclear weapons withdrawn in the spring of 1992.
At present Ukraine could stand to earn $2 billion from the deal,
but if it were to receive compensation for the tactical warheads
this sum could increase significantly. US Secretary of State
Warren Christopher will reportedly press for finalization of
the pact in a trip to Moscow and Kiev in late October. -John
Lepingwell

NO DECISION ON LENIN'S REMAINS. An RFE/RL correspondent in Moscow
reported on 13-October that no decision has yet been reached
on what to do with Lenin's embalmed remains. The authorities
in St. Petersburg have said they are willing to bury Lenin next
to his mother in the Volkogo cemetery there but, AFP said, such
a move is not favored by church leader Metropolitan Ioann of
St. Petersburg and Ladoga. Another suggestion is that Lenin should
be buried in Simbirsk (Ulyanovsk), next to his father. -Elizabeth
Teague

LAND OWNERSHIP DECREE. A draft decree on agrarian reform lifting
virtually all restrictions on land ownership has been prepared
and is expected to be signed by President Yeltsin soon, Commonwealth
TV reported on 13 October, according to Reuters. The government,
it was said, "intends to provide private owners with the right
to dispose of their land completely as they wish." Other recent
reports suggest that the decree will remove the 10-year ban on
land transactions imposed by parliament. It may, however, maintain
restrictions on the purchase of land by foreigners. -Keith Bush


TRANSCAUCASIA AND CENTRAL ASIA



GEORGIA UPDATE. Georgia may cede to Russia control of some military
bases in return for military help, Foreign Minister Aleksandr
Chikvaidze told Reuters on 13 October. Fighting between Georgian
government troops and forces loyal to ousted President Zviad
Gamsakhurdia continued on 12-13 October around the town of Samtredia,
Radio Tbilisi reported. On 13 October Georgian parliament chairman
Eduard Shevardnadze issued a decree on creation of a National
Guard subordinate to himself in his capacity as Commander-in-Chief
of the Georgian armed forces, and that will be based in Kutaisi
to coordinate its defense against Gamsakhurdia's troops, according
to Radio Tbilisi. This places a large question mark over the
status of the original National Guard commanded by former Minister
of defense Tengiz Kitovani, whose performance in the recent Abkhaz
fighting was not exactly illustrious. -Liz Fuller

AZERBAIJAN ULTIMATUM OVER ARMENIAN WITHDRAWAL. Addressing the
UN General Assembly on 12-October, the acting head of the Azerbaijani
delegation, Yashar Aliev, said that the complete and unconditional
withdrawal of Armenian forces from all occupied territory in
Azerbaijan is an essential precondition for convening the CSCE
Minsk conference on a settlement of the conflict, ITAR-TASS reported.
Azerbaijan had earlier objected that the preliminary "timetable
of urgent measures" drawn up by the CSCE contradicts the two
UN resolutions (822 and 853) on Nagorno-Karabakh in that it stipulates
preconditions for the Armenian withdrawal. -Liz Fuller

TURKMENISTAN DENIES RUSSIAN REPORTS OF AFGHAN AIRRAID. On 13
October Turkmenistan's Minister of Defense Danatar Kopekov issued
a statement denying Russian press reports that Afghan airforce
planes had bombed Turkmen territory on 11 October, ITAR-TASS
reported. Kopekov termed the reports "disinformation of a provocative
nature"; the Turkmen press on 13 October published a statement
by Afghanistan's Ambassador to the Russian Federation affirming
that the Turkmen-Afghan frontier has been declared "a line of
friendship and accord." -Liz Fuller

CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPE



POSTCOMMUNIST PARTIES FORGE COALITION IN POLAND. The former communist
Democratic Left Alliance (SLD) and the Polish Peasant Party (PSL),
a former communist ally, signed a coalition agreement on 13 October
that clears the way for the formation of a new majority government.
The coalition controls 303 of 460 seats in the Sejm and 73 of
100 seats in the Senate. A third potential partner, the Solidarity-origin
Union of Labor (UP), pulled out of the coalition at the last
minute, in a dispute over privatization policy and the degree
to which the new government will be run by former communist party
members. The new coalition hinges on a political bargain: the
prime minister's post goes to PSL leader Waldemar Pawlak, while
the SLD selects the Sejm speaker and takes control of the most
important economic ministries. The coalition agreement calls
for the continued construction of a market economy but with a
more just distribution of the costs of reform. The adoption of
a new constitution, preceded by a national referendum, is a priority.
The coalition vows to choose ministers for their "professional
and ethical" qualifications rather than party membership and
to limit personnel changes in the state administration to a minimum.
It pledges good will in its relations with President Lech Walesa,
but stresses the need for "strict adherence to the terms of the
constitution," a clause that hints at the coalition's determination
to curb Walesa's powers. The new coalition declined to accede
to President Lech Walesa's demand that it submit three prime
ministerial candidates and on 13 October formally proposed that
he appoint Pawlak. -Louisa Vinton

PAWLAK PROPOSED AS PRIME MINISTER. Although Walesa's spokesman
reiterated the president's demand for the names of three candidates
shortly after the coalition agreement was signed, Walesa received
Pawlak for an hour's meeting in the evening. Neither Pawlak nor
the president had any comment afterward. Once viewed as one of
Walesa's political pawns, Pawlak served as prime minister for
33 days after the fall of Jan Olszewski's government in 1992
but was then unable to build a majority coalition and had to
give up the mission. The Polish constitution, revised after the
Olszewski debacle, spells out clearly the process of forming
a government, but its terms are geared more for a situation of
parliamentary fragmentation than the existence of a clear majority.
The president has fourteen days to appoint a prime minister and
approve his cabinet; the Sejm then has fourteen days to confirm
the new government in a confidence vote. If the Sejm rejects
the president's choice, the initiative then passes to the parliament.
Walesa could conceivably choose not to appoint Pawlak, but he
does not have the votes to build an alternative. SLD leader Aleksander
Kwasniewski insisted on 13 October that the coalition has not
yet begun discussing the division of cabinet posts, but leaked
lists of potential ministers have been appearing in the press
for several days. Most predict that the crucial post of finance
minister will go to the economist Grzegorz Kolodko. -Louisa Vinton


NEW POLISH PARLIAMENT CONVENES. The newly elected Sejm convened
at 10:00 on 14-October, PAP reports. President Lech Walesa delivered
a short address in which he reminded the deputies that a large
portion of the electorate supported parties that are not represented
in the parliament. The Sejm leadership elections are to follow.
The SLD voted on 13 October to nominate the economist Jozef Oleksy
for the post of Sejm speaker; in a caucus ballot, Oleksy defeated
Wlodzimierz Cimoszewicz by a vote of 123 to 78. The SLD also
selected Kwasniewski as its floor leader. The Democratic Union
(UD), now assuming the role of the largest opposition party,
announced it will vote for Oleksy as Sejm speaker, in the expectation
that the coalition parties will support an UD candidate for one
of the deputy speaker posts. The PSL has proposed Jozef Zych
for deputy speaker; the UP has nominated Aleksander Malachowski.
Prime Minister Hanna Suchocka is also expected to submit the
resignation of the outgoing government during the first session
of the new parliament. The cabinet on 13-October approved the
final version of its "state of the nation" report, a testament
that cites sustained economic growth and privatization as the
government's chief successes and the budget and trade deficits
as the problems it could not solve. -Louisa Vinton

UN WARNS OF WAR IN CROATIA. Cedric Thornberry, Civil Affairs
Chief of UNPROFOR in the former Yugoslavia, told reporters in
Belgrade on 13 October that "there are ominous signs of war"
in Croatia. Thornberry stated that Croatian army and rebel Croatian
Serb forces in the Krajina region may be mobilizing for renewed
fighting in Serb-held areas of Croatia. He added there are clear
signs of troop movements on both sides and that new minefields
were being laid. UN monitors have reported increased shooting
and shelling along the truce lines in the four enclaves in Croatia
known as UN protected areas. Radios Croatia and Serbia and international
media carried the report. -Milan Andrejevich

ANOTHER AUTONOMOUS REGION IN BOSNIA? RADIO BOSNIA ON 12 OCTOBER
REPORTED THAT THE MAYOR OF THE NORTHEASTERN BOSNIAN CITY OF TUZLA
HAS DENIED REPORTS CLAIMING THAT SOME MUSLIMS WILL SOON PROCLAIM
TUZLA'S AUTONOMY AND CHARGED THAT SUCH REPORTS ARE "DISINFORMATION"
SPREAD BY THE CROATIAN AND SERBIAN MEDIA. In a letter to the
Bosnian presidency and government, Mayor Selim Beslagic stated
that Tuzla will continue to fight for the sovereignty of Bosnia-Herzegovina
and resist any autonomy moves similar to the one carried out
in the Cazinska Krajina by Fikret Abdic. Meanwhile, Radios Croatia
and Serbia cite a report from the London-based Arabic-language
newspaper Al-Hayah saying that Abdic has threatened to conclude
a separate peace with Bosnian Serb and Croatian representatives
if Bosnian President Alija Izet-begovic does not meet with him
to discuss the ongoing strife between Muslims in Cazinska Krajina-otherwise
referred to as the Bihac Pocket. Borba reports on 13-October
that more government troops are defecting to Abdic's forces which
continue to repel Bosnian Muslim government forces and quote
Abdic as saying that "the so-called army of the so-called Bosnia-Herzegovina
no longer exists." In central Bosnia, fighting between Bosnian
Muslim and Croatian forces canceled a scheduled exchange of prisoners.
-Milan Andrejevich

SERBIA POLITICAL AND SANCTIONS UPDATE. A parliamentary debate
over a no confidence motion proposed by the Serbian Radical Party
(SRS) concluded a fourth day of heated exchanges. About 100 of
the 140-deputies who are slated to take to the floor have presented
their views. Debate continues on 14 October. The SRS is demanding
the government's resignation, accusing it of mismanagement and
corruption. The ruling Socialists (SPS) have countered with similar
charges and underscore that the SRS demands are premature and
can lead to widespread political and social instability. B92
radio estimates that the citizens of Serbia do not care about
the parliamentary debate. According to one Belgrade resident,
"we have had enough of words, we are apathetic because we are
hungry." Radio Serbia, quoting government sources, says average
monthly wages have dropped 90-percent in Serbia and Montenegro
since the implementation of international sanctions in May 1992
and that Serbia will have "four million starving people" by the
spring of 1994. -Milan Andrejevich

CZECH REPUBLIC TO HAVE THREE INTELLIGENCE SERVICES. At its regular
session, the Czech government agreed to limit the number of intelligence
services to three, CTK reports on 13 October. Prime Minister
Vaclav Klaus told journalists after the session that the government
will prepare a draft law proposing the elimination of the Military
Intelligence Service of the General Staff. The other three services,
namely the Security and Information Service; the Office for International
Relations and Information; and the Military Counterintelligence
will, according to Klaus, remain. -Jan Obrman

A THIRD OF CZECHS ARE CONCERNED ABOUT UNEMPLOYMENT. According
to an opinion poll published on 13 October by CTK, over 36% of
the respondents said that they are concerned about the prospect
of unemployment. While 35.4% said that they are "absolutely not
concerned," 28.7% of the Czech citizens asked in the poll said
they are "rather not" concerned. The results of the poll revealed,
however, that the fear of unemployment is considerably greater
among Czech citizens who have a low educational background (42%);
are over 45 years of age (47%); or live in towns or villages
with less than 5,000 inhabitants (41%). In contrast to that,
only 19% of college and university graduates indicated that they
were concerned about losing their jobs. -Jan Obrman

MECIAR OPENS A SUMMIT OF DANUBE COUNTRIES. Slovak media report
that a summit of the prime ministers of so-called Danube countries
started in Bratislava on 13 October. The three-day summit is
chaired by Slovak Premier Vladimir Meciar. Various working groups
are to discuss environmental protection, economic cooperation,
cultural contacts, and tourism. The Association of Danube Countries
was founded in 1990 at the initiative of the Prime Minister of
Lower Austria as a working group of the countries and regions
through which the Danube is flowing. Currently, the organization
has 20 members. -Jiri Pehe

HUNGARIAN CONSTITUTIONAL COURT RULING ON 1956 CRIMES. On 12 October,
Hungary's constitutional court ruled that while the first paragraph
of the Law on the Rendering of Justice, a statute dealing with
the prosecution of certain war crimes and crimes against humanity
committed during and after Hungary's October 1956 Revolution
(passed by parliament in February 1993 but not yet promulgated),
was unconstitutional, its second paragraph was applicable. Therefore,
such crimes as defined in the valid part of the legislation do
not fall under a statute of limitations. Justice Minister Istvan
Balsai said the court's milestone ruling legitimized the government's
law on the rendering of justice, not yet signed by President
Arpad Goncz, and will enable judges and prosecutors to apply
it in accordance with the provisions of the Geneva Convention
on war crimes and crimes against humanity, Radio Budapest and
Nepszabadsag reported on 13 October. Goncz must next send the
law back to parliament for modification.--Alfred Reisch

ILIESCU MISINTERPRETED, SPOKESMEN SAY. On 13 October Traian Chebeleu,
a spokesman for Romania's President Ion Iliescu, expressed "perplexity"
over a statement of the Hungarian Foreign Ministry criticizing
a recent remark by Iliescu on Hungary's relationship with the
Magyar minority in Romania. Radio Bucharest quoted Chebeleu as
saying that Iliescu's remarks on "claims to political and organizational
tutelage" referred not to Hungary but to "some political circles"
in that country. A similar statement was made on the same day
by a spokesman for the Romanian Foreign Ministry. The spokesman,
Mircea Geoana, suggested that Iliescu's comments were misquoted
and misinterpreted. In another development, Iliescu denied at
a meeting with leaders of parties represented in Parliament that
he ever described Romania's admission to the Council of Europe
as a victory for the government and a defeat for the opposition.
Romanian media said Iliescu made the comment at a press conference
in Vienna on 9 October. -Dan Ionescu

ROMANIAN CABINET HAILS MFN VOTE IN WASHINGTON. In a statement
released on Radio Bucharest on 13 October, Romania's government
hailed the vote in the US House of Representatives in favor of
ratifying a bilateral trade agreement which includes restoration
of the most-favored nation trade status. The decision, the communique
said, was an acknowledgment of Romania's progress towards democratization.
The cabinet expressed hopes that the US Senate would vote in
a similar way. This would lead to "full normalization of Romanian-American
relations," the statement added. Former communist leader Nicolae
Ceausescu renounced the MFN status in 1988 just as Washington
was about to suspend it over human rights violations in Romania.
-Dan Ionescu

COURT DISMISSES HUNGARIAN PREMIER'S COMPLAINT. On 11 October
the Veszprem municipal court dismissed a complaint filed by Prime
Minister Jozsef Antall against the political scientist Laszlo
Lengyel, director of the Finance Research Co., MTI reports. In
a June lecture in Veszprem, Lengyel had alleged that there was
"complete corruption" in Hungary's public administration and
that ministers and department heads could be "bought." The court,
while reportedly admonishing Lengyel, ruled that his statement,
whose exact wording could not be remembered by most witnesses,
presented no significant danger to society.--Alfred Reisch

BULGARIA PRAISED FOR PROGRESS TOWARDS DEMOCRACY. An RFE/RL correspondent
said a report prepared last month and issued on 13 October by
the US Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, or the
US Helsinki Commission, observed that Bulgaria has made significant
strides towards democratization. According to the Commission,
Bulgaria "is evolving into a genuinely democratic state based
on the rule of law" and democracy there is "developing strong
roots." Furthermore, the Commission noted that Bulgaria's progress
towards democracy "is exceeding the expectations" of those observers
who, until recently, have seen the country "through the prism
of being the Soviet Union's '16th republic'." Nevertheless, the
Commission did suggest that progress, while significant and irreversible,
was stronger in some areas than others. The Commission remarked
that while the freedom of association is protected by law, this
right, in practice has been restricted. The Commission, for instance,
noted that political parties formed along religious and ethnic
lines have been prohibited. -Stan Markotich

BELARUS VIES FOR SEAT ON UN SECURITY COUNCIL. Speaking with journalists
during his visit to Britain, Belarusian foreign minister Piotr
Krauchanka said he hoped Belarus would be successful in its candidacy
for a non-permanent seat on the UN Security Council, Reuters
reported on 13 October. Voting for five of ten non-permanent
seats will take place on 29 October. Both the Czech Republic
and Belarus are competing for the East European seat. According
to Krauchanka, Belarus's voluntary renunciation of its nuclear
status and its record on disarmament should help the country
be successful in its bid for the seat. -Ustina Markus

LEBED ON "DNIESTER" INVOLVEMENT IN MOSCOW REBELLION. In public
statements on 11, 12, and 13 October in Tiraspol, Lt. Gen. Aleksandr
Lebed, commander of Russia's 14th Army, accused the "Dniester
republic's" Minister of State Security and Deputy Minister of
Internal Affairs of having sent armed fighters to Moscow who
defended the Supreme Soviet and participated in the rebellion
there. Lebed urged that the two officials, Col. Vadim Shevtsov
and Col. Nikolai Matveev, be dismissed and prosecuted, and warned
that failure to do so "would be a serious blow to the republic's
prestige" and might cause Russia to withhold economic support
from the "republic." Lebed also claimed that the "Dniester republic's"
other leaders were not aware of the dispatch of men and arms
to Moscow. Lebed is a protege of Russia's Defense Minister, General
Pavel Grachev, who played a major role in quelling the Moscow
rebellion. Basapress, Radio Ekho Moskvy, ITAR-TASS, and Reuters
reported the statements. -Vladimir Socor

LITHUANIAN-RUSSIAN BORDERS DISCUSSED. A commission of Lithuanian
and Russian representatives completed a two-day meeting on 13
October in Moscow on various issues concerning borders between
their respective countries, BNS reported. The meeting focused
on setting the boundaries between Lithuania and Kaliningrad;
a few of the problems concerning sea borders were also discussed.
The next meeting is to take place in early November in Kaliningrad.
-Dzintra Bungs

SWEDEN HELPS EQUIP ESTONIAN DEFENSE FORCES. On 13 October two
Swedish warships loaded with winter uniforms, bicycles, and equipment
for field kitchens and two field hospitals arrived in Tallinn.
The equipment is part of Sweden's effort to boost the capabilities
of the Estonian defense forces. The shipment did not include
any weapons. In November, Swedish specialists are expected in
Estonia to provide training in the use of the field hospital
equipment, BNS reported. -Dzintra Bungs

[As of 1200 CET] Compiled by Liz Fuller and Stan Markotich









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