No. 207, 27 October 1993

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Inc.





RUSSIA



MOVEMENT ON LAND REFORM. After years of debate, stout resistance
from the defunct parliament, and continuing dissension within
the cabinet, a decree liberalizing the ownership and sale of
farmland is awaiting signature by the president and a pilot program
has been launched in Nizhnii Novgorod, Russian and Western agencies
reported on 26 October. Details were provided by First Deputy
Prime Minister Egor Gaidar, Agricultural Minister Viktor Khlystun,
and Nizhnii Novgorod Governor Boris Nemtsov. The decree reportedly
drops the 10-15 year moratorium on reselling land that was voted
by parliament and lays the foundation for a mortgage system.
Foreigners will not be permitted to buy land but will be able
to lease it with some restrictions. -Keith Bush

KOZYREV IN BRITAIN. Foreign Minister Andrei Kozyrev was in Britain
for an official visit on 25 and 26-October, where he held talks
with Prime Minister John Major as well as with opposition Labour
Party leader John Smith. Kozyrev told reporters on 26 October
that a G-7 meeting in Moscow was under discussion, and his talks
with Major touched on problems in Russia's relations with the
G-7 states, ITAR-TASS reported. Kozyrev also met with UN Secretary
General Boutros Boutros- Ghali. In their 90-minute long meeting,
they discussed peacekeeping efforts around the world as well
as the possibility of holding another conference in London on
the former Yugoslavia, as a follow-on to the August 1992 London
conference. -Suzanne Crow

RUSSIA URGES IRAQI COMPLIANCE. In a 26 October briefing, Foreign
Ministry spokesman Grigorii Karasin said that Russia recognizes
"certain positive steps" taken by Iraq in implementing UN Security
Council resolutions, but nonetheless urges Baghdad to show compliance
with all UN resolutions. According to ITAR-TASS, Karasin said
that during recent talks between Deputy Foreign Minister Boris
Kolokolov and his Iraqi counterpart Riad al-Qaisi, the Russian
side stressed to Iraq that the only way for it to return as a
"full-fledged member" of the international community and to have
sanctions against it lifted would be through compliance with
UNSC resolutions. -Suzanne Crow

DEMOCRATS PREPARE FOR ELECTIONS. The coordinator of the pro-reform
bloc "Russia's Choice," Arkadii Murashov, told Ekho Moskvy on
25 October that he advocates a coalition with the democratic-oriented
blocs of St. Petersburg Mayor Anatolii Sobchak and economist
Grigorii Yavlinsky. Murashov rejected an alliance with the bloc
of Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Shakhrai on the grounds that
Shakhrai's party favors a stronger role for the state in economic
management. Shakhrai, in an interview with Izvestiya on 26 October,
did not exclude a coalition with "Russia's Choice." He suggested
that his bloc and "Russia's Choice" should form a coalition government
after the elections and stated that he will not betray the ideals
of democracy and market reforms. Shakhrai said that had President
Boris Yeltsin clearly favored "Russia's Choice," the democrats
would not have split into different blocs. -Alexander Rahr

CIVIC UNION SEEKS COALITION. The newly recreated Civic Union
wants a coalition in the parliament with the Agrarian Union led
by one of the leaders of the August 1991 putsch, Vasilii Starodubtsev,
and may also seek a coalition with the bloc of Deputy Prime Minister
Sergei Shakhrai, Ostankino TV's "Novosti" program reported on
26 October. The leader of the Civic Union, Arkadii Volsky, officially
distanced himself from the Civic Union's former leader Aleksandr
Rutskoi although he mentioned that the chairman of Rutskoi' party,
Vasilii Lipitsky, will run for parliament on the Civic Union's
list. Other names on the list include former deputy parliamentary
speaker Vladimir Ispravnikov, deputy Oleg Rumyantsev, cosmonaut
Svetlana Savitskaya and a number of well-known Moscow and regional
state enterprise directors. -Alexander Rahr

RUSSIAN COMMUNISTS PLAN FOR ELECTIONS. Gennadii Zyuganov, the
leader of the largest communist party in Russia, has called on
his supporters to participate in the December elections, despite
the fact that, according to him, the elections are illegal and
will only serve "as a screen to mask the lawlessness now reigning"
in Russia. The Communist Party of the Russian Federation was
briefly banned from participating in the elections, but is now
planning to contest them under the slogan "Labor, democracy,
justice." Zyuganov, whose remarks were reported by Ostankino
TV and Reuters on 26 October, told the delegates to the meeting,
who came from 67 regions, that only communists and true patriots
could rescue Russia from its current situation as an "OMON-state."
-Wendy Slater

DEPUTY SECRETARY OF SECURITY COUNCIL APPOINTED. Interfax reported
on 26-October that Aleksandr Troshin has been appointed deputy
secretary of the Security Council. Troshin appears to be a "technocrat"
who received his education at the Moscow Aviation Institute's
engineering and economics department, after which he worked in
Gosplan. Most recently he has served as first deputy minister
of economics. Troshin told Interfax that he expects to concentrate
on strengthening relations between the regions and the center.
-John Lepingwell

YAKUTIA TO BE ALLOWED TO RETAIN FEDERAL TAXES IN 1994. The Ministry
of Finance and the government of Sakha (Yakutia) have signed
an agreement under which Sakha will retain all federal taxes
raised on its territory in 1994, but will fund both local and
federal programs from its own budget, Russian television and
Interfax reported on 26 October. Sakha Finance Minister Vladimir
Ptitsyn said the deal also recognized de jure Sakha's withholding
of federal taxes since early 1993. Sakha's president, Mikhail
Nikolaev, has been one of the most consistent supporters of Yeltsin,
and the Sakha parliament was the only republican parliament to
have dissolved itself so far. -Ann Sheehy

PRESIDENT OF SAKHA TO RUN FOR FEDERATION COUNCIL. Sakha President
Mikhail Nikolaev is intending to stand for election to the Federation
Council of the Federal Assembly, Interfax reported on 26 October.
It had earlier been reported that the chairman of the North Ossetian
parliament Akhsarbek Galazov was doing likewise, but Tatarstan
President Mintimer Shaimiev told Interfax that neither he nor
other Tatarstan leaders would do so. Yeltsin is encouraging the
heads of regional administrations to stand for election, because
being a deputy in the Federation Council will not require the
same day-in day-out attendance as being a deputy in the lower
chamber, the State Duma. -Ann Sheehy

REFERENDUM ON INGUSH CONSTITUTION ON 12-DECEMBER. Ingush President
Ruslan Aushev told ITAR-TASS on 26 October that a referendum
on the Ingush constitution would be held simultaneously with
the elections to the Russian Federal Assembly on 12-December.
Ingushetia has not had a constitution since it split from the
Chechen-Ingush republic in 1992. Aushev said the draft defines
the constitution's main task as the complete political rehabilitation
of the Ingush people. He thinks it is possible to adopt the constitution
before the republic's frontiers are finally settled, mentioning
in this connection that he would observe the moratorium on possible
frontier changes decreed by Yeltsin to last until 1 July 1995.
-Ann Sheehy

TATARSTAN MAY BOYCOTT REFERENDUM ON CONSTITUTION. In an interview
with Interfax on 26-October, Tatarstan President Shaimiev said
that he thought the people of Tatarstan would boycott the referendum
on the Russian constitution if the sovereignty of the republics
was omitted from the draft, as has been threatened. The chairman
of the Komi Parliament, Yuri Spiridonov, told Interfax the same
day that the federal treaty must not be omitted from the constitution
either. The Udmurt parliament, which was scheduled to convene
on 23 November, has brought forward its session to 9 November
in response to statements by Moscow politicians that the federal
treaty was to be removed from the draft and the rights of the
krais and oblasts equated with those of the republics, Interfax
reported on 26-October. Shaimiev said he thought that the Council
of the Heads of the Republics would call for a meeting with Yeltsin
within the next few days. -Ann Sheehy

STATE MINT ROBBED. The state mint in Moscow has been broken into
and one half billion rubles stolen, ITAR-TASS reported on 26
October. An iron bar on a window that was not protected by an
alarm device was sawn through. The robbery might have taken place
up to a week before the loss was discovered. -Keith Bush

TRANSCAUCASIA AND CENTRAL ASIA



GEORGIA UPDATE. Georgian government troops retook the town of
Senaki (formerly Tskhakaya) on 26-October after fierce fighting
with Gamsakhurdia's forces that resulted in heavy casualties
on both sides, Western agencies reported. The extent of Russian
military support for Shevardnadze remains unclear: The Washington
Post reported on 26 October that Russian and Ukrainian tank crews
were now operating T-72 tanks on the side of Shevardnadze's forces,
but Russian military spokesmen in Tbilisi claimed that the men
involved were civilian volunteers; ITAR-TASS quoted the head
of the press center of the Group of Russian Forces in the Transcaucasus,
Colonel Gennadii Dolgachev, as denying that Russia had supplied
any military equipment to Georgia since September, 1992. -Liz
Fuller

RAFSANJANI IN BAKU. On arrival in Baku-the last stop in his tour
of the Muslim former Soviet republics-on 26 October, Iranian
President Ali-Akbar Rafsanjani expressed his conviction that
despite the conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh Azerbaijan would succeed
in preserving its territorial integrity, Tehran Radio reported.
Meanwhile Azerbaijani sources reported continued artillery attacks
by Armenian forces in the region of Zangelan. More than 18,000
Azerbaijani refugees who fled to Iran to escape the new offensive
have been sent back to Iranian-controlled refugee camps in Azerbaijan.
Meeting in Baku on 26 October with Azerbaijani President Geidar
Aliev, CSCE chairwoman Margaretha af Ugglas condemned the renewed
fighting, according to ITAR-TASS. Russian Ambassador for Special
Missions Vladimir Kazimirov, accompanying the CSCE delegation,
sought to counter local disillusionment with the CSCE mediation
effort and warned both sides against attempting to scare each
other with predictions of an internationalization of the conflict,
ITAR-TASS reported. -Liz Fuller

IMF ASSESSES KYRGYZ ECONOMY. A report published in the IMF weekly
newsletter commends "significant progress" in implementing an
"ambitious and comprehensive" program of economic reform in Kyrgyzstan,
including the introduction of its own currency, the som, in mid-1993,
but warns of the need for a further reduction in inflation, which
has fallen from 40-per cent per month at the beginning of 1993
to under 20 per cent in August-September, and a reversal of output
decline if overall positive trends are to be sustained. -Robert
Lyle and Liz Fuller

CIS

TWO WARHEADS MOVED TO RUSSIA. According to Reuters, Izvestiya
on 26 October reported that the two nuclear warheads that had
been sitting near the Ukrainian-Russian border for much of October
have been transferred to Russia. The movement of the two warheads
had been halted while Ukrainian officials sought reassurances
from Russia that they would be compensated for the materials
extracted from them. Reports indicated that the warheads were
in need of repair, and hinted that radioactive tritium used to
"boost" the explosive power of the weapon might have been leaking
from its container within the warhead. It is unclear, however,
whether any of the tritium escaped from the warhead itself. -John
Lepingwell

CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPE



PAWLAK'S GOVERNMENT SWORN IN. Waldemar Pawlak's coalition government
was sworn in by Polish President Lech Walesa on 26 October, for
the first time according to the procedure set down in the "Little
Constitution." Of the 21 ministers, 16 are former members either
of the Polish United Workers Party or its satellite, the United
Peasant Party. Pointing out that the outgoing government had
done most of the dirty work and left an economic upswing for
it successors, Walesa expressed the hope that the new government
will seek to reinforce these positive trends and not squander
the achievements of the past four years. After the ceremony the
new ministers took over from their predecessors in office. Most
of them were cautious in statements to the press, emphasizing
that there will be no revolutionary changes. Pawlak himself,
however, announced that he will ask the Sejm speaker to withdraw
all 55 pieces of draft legislation submitted by the government
of Hanna Suchocka in order to "reanalyze" them, PAP reports.
Pawlak has two weeks in which to present a government program
for approval by the Sejm. -Anna Sabbat-Swidlicka

POLISH FINANCE MINISTER PLANS BUDGET AMENDMENTS. The new deputy
premier and finance minister, Marek Borowski, told journalists
on 26 October that there will be changes in the preliminary outline
of the 1994 budget prepared by the outgoing government, although
he was unable to say "how far they would go." He also said that
the government will not be in a position to present a draft budget
to the Sejm by the statutory deadline of 15-November, and that
it should know by the end of December whether to submit an interim
budget or the full version. Answering questions about the future
of privatization in Poland, Borowski said there could be "no
question of any radical departure." He pledged, however, to "speed
up" the process of giving shares to workers of small and medium-sized
enterprises. -Anna Sabbat-Swidlicka

DELAY IN ANNOUNCEMENT OF SLOVAK CABINET. The recently formed
coalition of the Movement for a Democratic Slovakia and the Slovak
National Party will not announce the composition of the new cabinet
until later this week, Reuters reports on 26 October. Meanwhile,
Party of the Democratic Left Chairman Peter Weiss said his party
still regards preparation for elections as "a priority" and considers
early elections "very probable in the near future." Arpad Duka-Zolyomi,
deputy chairman of the ethnic Hungarian Coexistence Movement,
said the new coalition "will not be able to solve the present
economic and political problems" and that his party would also
welcome early elections. -Sharon Fisher

SLOVAK PARLIAMENT VOTES ON PRIVATIZATION, TELEVISION. In its
26 October session, the Slovak parliament voted to establish
a parliamentary Commission for Privatization, TASR reports. Economic
and Budget Commission Chairman Jan Michelko condemned the move,
saying it "unacceptably penetrates the cabinet's and ministries'
jurisdiction over the whole privatization process." All parties
voted in favor except the Movement for a Democratic Slovakia,
which currently controls the cabinet. In the election of the
commission's chairman, conducted by secret ballot, no candidate
received a majority. Also on 26 October the parliament passed
a vote of no confidence in Council of Slovak Television Chairman
Igor Ciel and council member Milan Leska. In a secret ballot,
seven new members were elected to the council, five from the
MDS and two from the Slovak National Party. Several top MDS officials
have complained recently that Slovak Television is too critical
of the government. -Sharon Fisher

HUNGARIAN TV EDITORS SUSPENDED. On 26 October the deputy chairman
of Hungarian Television, Gabor Nahlik, suspended from their posts
and started disciplinary proceedings against the chief editor
and three editors of the television news program Egyenleg [Balance]
on the ground that they seriously violated the principles of
news editing and misled the TV management. Nahlik cited evidence
that Egyenleg presented shots of right-wing radicals as original
shots taken at last year's 1956 commemorations when in fact they
were not taken at the scene. At last year's 1956 anniversary
celebrations President Arpad Goncz was prevented from delivering
his speech by a crowd of pro-government demonstrators including
skinheads. The League Trade Unions protested the suspension of
the TV editors and the decision on 25-October of Hungarian Radio's
deputy chairman to suspend the radio program Morning Press Survey.
A group of radio editors also condemned the suspension of the
radio program. -Edith Oltay

TUDJMAN WARNS AGAINST INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE. UN Secretary
General Boutros Boutros-Ghali has repeated his call for a successor
to the failed 1992 London conference to discuss "a global solution"
to the Yugoslav crisis, but has warned that the matter could
take years to solve. Vecernji list of 27 October, however, runs
an interview with Croatian President Franjo Tudjman from the
latest issue of Danas, in which he warns that such a forum could
easily become a "Pandora's box." He said that any such gathering
has to take the interrepublican frontiers of Tito-era Yugoslavia
as its starting point and could not be used as a ruse to partition
Croatia or continue the war in Bosnia. He also defended Zagreb's
support for the breakaway Bihac region of Bosnia, noting that
its leader, Fikret Abdic, recognized the area's "geopolitical...
links to Croatia" and expressed willingness to cooperate with
"Croatia and Croats." Tudjman also called for making a memorial
of the Jasenovac concentration camp, where Serbs, Gypsies, Jews,
and others suffered under the genocidal policies of the pro-Axis
Ustasa in World War II. -Patrick Moore

MASS GRAVE IN VUKOVAR UNDER INVESTIGATION. An RFE/RL correspondent
reported on 26 October that UN medical investigators this week
are looking into claims that 175 Croat military patients may
be in a mass grave near Vukovar, which fell to the Serbs on 17-November
1991 after being virtually obliterated. Local Serb authorities
have so far blocked any detailed examination of the area, which
was discovered about a year ago. Meanwhile, British media said
on 26 October that international observers are trying to confirm
Muslim reports of a Croat massacre of Muslim civilians at Stupni
Dol in central Bosnia. Elsewhere in that embattled republic,
the 27 October Washington Post says that new Prime Minister Haris
Silajdzic has had arrested two local Muslim commanders linked
to organized crime and warlordism. -Patrick Moore

GREECE RECALLS TIRANA AMBASSADOR. Western agencies and Greek
Radio on 25 and 26-October reported that Greece has recalled
its Tirana ambassador as well as the General Consul in Aryirokastro
for consultations following a series of border incidents and
alleged human rights abuses in Albania. Athens simultaneously
lodged a formal diplomatic protest with Tirana over what it termed
the "latest provocations by Sali Berisha against the Greek minority,"
a reference primarily to a recent crackdown on ethnic Greek demonstrators
by Albanian police in which one person was reported killed. Echoing
a speech by Prime Minister Andreas Papandreou held a few days
earlier, government spokesman Evangelos Venizelos told journalists
that Greece continues to be interested in improved relations
with its northern neighbor but that this can only be achieved
through better treatment of the Greek minority by Tirana. Regarding
Albanian charges that Greek border guards the previous week had
shot and killed three Albanians and injured another two within
Albanian borders, Venizelos totally dismissed the incident by
saying that it "took place inside Albanian territory among Albanians."
-Kjell Engelbrekt

KOSOVO UPDATE. The president of the self-proclaimed Republic
of Kosovo, Ibrahim Rugova, attacked the ethnic Albanian Democratic
Alliance party for sending a delegation to Belgrade. Rugova said
that, in so doing, "the Democratic Alliance marginalizes and
harms itself more than [it helps solve] the question of Kosovo,"
adding that "this visit marks the complete failure of this party.
This party does not have the right to speak in the name of Kosovo."
Meanwhile, police continued raiding ethnic Albanian underground
schools and arrested additional members of the Democratic League
of Kosovo, the leading Kosovar party, Rilindja reports on 23
and 25 October. Another exile newspaper, Zeri i Kosoves, which
is the organ of the smaller Kosovo People's Movement, added on
15 October that 75 Albanians have been arrested in the course
of two months. Serbian authorities have charged them with preparing
an armed uprising, and most of the 75 belong either to the People's
Movement for a Republic of Kosovo or to the National Movement
for the Liberation of Kosovo, the paper said. -Fabian Schmidt


ROMANIA, NATO AND RUMP YUGOSLAVIA. After meeting with President
Ion Iliescu, US Assistant Secretary of State Stephen Oxman said
in Bucharest on 26-October that Romania may enter into a proposed
"partnership for peace," in which Central and East European countries
develop closer ties to the NATO states, Reuters and Radio Bucharest
reported. However, Oxman added that Romania's leaders agree with
him that a rapid and selective expansion of NATO eastwards in
Europe would cause frustration in the countries left aside. Many
people, he said, would feel they were being treated by NATO as
second-class citizens. On another matter, Oxman said Washington
will not support any easing of UN sanctions against rump Yugoslavia,
as demanded in Bucharest by visiting Yugoslav premier Radoje
Kontic one day earlier. Oxman said Romania had played a key role
in the embargo and that fact, together with progress in minority
rights, had been the main cause for the recent US decision to
grant Romania MFN status. Prime Minister Nicolae Vacaroiu said
in a statement broadcast by Radio Bucharest that Romania will
give the UN a list of humanitarian aid that it intends to send
to rump Yugoslavia. -Michael Shafir

CHRISTOPHER IN BELARUS. On 26 October US Secretary of State Warren
Christopher met with Belarus's Chairman of the Supreme Soviet,
Stanislau Shushkevich, and Prime Minister Vyacheslau Kebich in
Minsk, ITAR-TASS reported. Christopher presented the US "partnership
for peace" initiative which would allow Belarus to collaborate
with NATO countries in military planning and exercises, and would
give Belarus the right to consult with NATO nations in case it
is threatened. Reuters reported that Christopher called Belarus
a "shining example" for other former Soviet republics in dismantling
nuclear weapons. Belarus has approved both the START-1 and NPT
treaties and has already shipped nine of its 72 SS-25 missiles
to Russia for dismantling. On the same day, Belarusian Defense
Minister Paval Kazlouski was in Washington for meetings with
US Defense Secretary Les Aspin. -Ustina Markus

UKRAINE WANTS CFE TREATY REVIEWED. Reuters reported on 26 October
that Ukraine's foreign ministry is asking for a review of the
CFE treaty. A ministry statement criticized the treaty as anachronistic,
as it is based on an outdated confrontation between two blocs.
As a result, Ukraine is being forced to move tanks and other
armored vehicles away from the Black Sea region and closer to
the central European states. The ministry says it had already
requested a review in September. Russia has raised the issue
of revising the CFE Treaty on a number of occasions, but NATO
countries have been reluctant to open new talks. -Ustina Markus


CHRISTOPHER: RUSSIAN TROOPS MUST LEAVE LATVIA. Upon arriving
in Riga on 26-October, US Secretary of State Warren Christopher
said the US wants an early and complete pullout of Russian troops
from Latvia. Most of the estimated 16,000-18,000 troops are officers.
Russia says that it has difficulties in withdrawing them because
of a housing shortage. The US Congress has authorized $160 million
to construct 5,000 housing units in Russia and about 460 were
financed last year, Western and Baltic media report. Christopher
also said that he favors full citizenship rights for the Russian-speaking
population of Latvia and plans to meet with their representatives.
-Dzintra Bungs

BELARUS DEMANDS LATVIAN SUPPORT IN THE UN. Belarusian Foreign
Minister Piotr Krauchanka has asked his Latvian counterpart Georgs
Andrejevs to reverse the Saeima foreign affairs commission's
decision to support the Czech Republic's bid for temporary seat
in the UN Security Council, Baltic media reported on 26 October.
Krauchanka said that Belarus may withdraw its support for the
Latvian-Belarusian frontier accord if Latvia refuses to support
to Belarus, Andrejevs said. -Dzintra Bungs

RUKH PREPARES FOR ELECTIONS. The Ukrainian opposition party Rukh
held a session of its Small Council on 24 October and decided
to call upon other "democratically oriented" parties and organizations
to form an electoral bloc called Elections-94 for the parliamentary
elections in March, Ukrainian television reported. Rukh intends
to form a delegation to conduct negotiations with other parties
on the electoral bloc, which it feels should be based either
on the oblast level or at the level of electoral districts. Earlier,
Rukh took the lead in calling for cooperation among democratic
groups in the electoral process; its appeal was endorsed by more
than a dozen parties and organizations. -Roman Solchanyk

CZECH TRADE MINISTER MEETS GATT LEADER. Industry and Trade Minister
Vladimir Dlouhy met with Peter Sutherland, General Director of
the General Agreement on Trade and Tariffs (GATT) in Geneva,
CTK reports on 26 October. At a press conference afterward, Dlouhy
warned of the possible consequences of the failure of the "Uruguay
round" of talks that has produced disagreements between the EC
and the US. He stressed that if the package to liberalize world
trade is not adopted, there will be "negative consequences for
trade in the short run, for the growth of the world economy in
the medium-term, and political instability in the long-term."
Dlouhy complained that the Czech Republic would be in a better
position if it had broader access to markets; he added that the
country still faces protectionism. The trade minister also stressed
that although his country is accused of "dumping and subsidizing,"
it has abolished farm export subsidies; at the same time, the
EC is flooding the Czech market with subsidized exports, which
gives "the completely wrong signal to our farmers," Dlouhy added.
-Jan Obrman

ROMANIAN GOVERNMENT AND UNIONS START PAY TALKS. Representatives
of the government and three of the largest trade union confederations
started talks on 26 October on compensation for rising living
costs. A fourth confederation will meet with government representatives
on 27 October. The government has proposed to raise the minimum
wage to 34,000 lei (just over $34 at the official exchange rate).
The unions have demanded a minimum wage of 69,000 lei and a 75%
indexation of salaries to the cost of living. The government
has proposed only 56%. -Michael Shafir

INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS SUPPORT MOLDOVA. Oliver Spencer,
Director of the Secretariat of the CSCE's Parliamentary Assembly,
held talks with Moldovan leaders in Chisinau and also traveled
to Tiraspol, Russian and Moldovan media reported on 22-October.
Interfax said Spencer "commended the Moldovan leadership for
its efforts to settle the armed conflict on the Dniester." Spencer
asked for more information on the activities of Russia's 14th
Army in order to take the matters up with Russian officials,
Basapress reported. In response to Moldovan requests, Spencer
also promised that the CSCE's mission in Chisinau will become
more active in seeking to reactivate the stalled negotiations
with Tiraspol; and that the CSCE will monitor Moldova's parliamentary
elections scheduled for February, in which Chisinau is concerned
that the left bank's population and particularly the Moldovans
there may be prevented from participating by Tiraspol. On the
same day, a team from the Council of Europe, in Chisinau to vet
Moldova's laws on parliamentary elections and on local elections,
told a news conference that those laws can ensure "truly free
and democratic elections." -Vladimir Socor

CSCE COMMISSIONER IN ESTONIA. On 26 October CSCE High Commissioner
on National Minorities Max van der Stoel began his latest visit
to Estonia. He expressed satisfaction with the recent local elections
and said that there had been a "positive shift" in the protection
of minority rights in Estonia since his last visit there in July,
Baltic media report. He stressed that if the withdrawal of Russian
troops from Estonia were out of the way, "there would be an enormous
improvement." -Dzintra Bungs

[As of 1200 CET] Compiled by John Lepingwell and Louisa Vinton