No. 10, 17 January 1994

RUSSIA

GAIDAR RESIGNS. First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Economy 
Egor Gaidar announced his resignation on 16 January, Russian and Western 
news agencies reported. In his letter of resignation, Gaidar claimed that 
recently he had not been consulted or had been overriden in the 
decision-making on various economic issues that have come before the 
government. He specifically cited the allocation of $500 million for the 
construction of a new parliament building and the pursuit of economic 
union with Belarus; two actions Gaidar has vigorously opposed. Gaidar also 
said that he does not want to be associated with the more general shift in 
economic policy away from fiscal and monetary austerity that appears 
imminent. Social Security Minister Ella Panfilova also resigned on 16 
January citing unfair criticism of her work, and Minister of Finance Boris 
Fedorov is also reported to be considering leaving the government owing to 
anticipated changes in economic policy. Erik Whitlock

RYBKIN ELECTED SPEAKER OF LOWER HOUSE. Ivan Rybkin, the leader of the 
communist faction in the former parliament and now a member of the 
Agrarian Party, was elected chairman of the State Duma on 14 January, 
Interfax and other agencies reported. The final vote was a run-off between 
Rybkin and nationalist sympathizer Yurii Vlasov, following a preliminary 
vote earlier in the day. Rybkin received an overall majority of 223 votes; 
Vlasov, who headed a 20-strong nationalist faction called "Russian Way", 
said that he would vote for Rybkin himself, and received 111 votes. 
Reformists in the Russia's Choice and the YABLOKO bloc supported neither 
candidate. Russia's Choice and four other reformist blocs have nominated 
candidates to the posts of deputy speaker: Mikhail Mityukov (Russia's 
Choice), Alevtina Fedulova (Women of Russia), and, to represent regional 
interests, former CPSU Politburo member, Aleksander Dzasokhov. The 
elections will take place on 17 January. Wendy Slater

CONSTITUTIONAL COURT JUSTICE REINSTATED. Viktor Luchin has been reinstated 
as a Constitutional Court justice and ended his hunger strike, Interfax 
reported on 14 January. He was reinstated by nine votes to four by the 
court in a secret ballot. Luchin went on hunger strike on 11 January to 
protest against his suspension for alleged political activities. [See DR 
no. 7]. Interfax reported, however, that the court had decided by seven to 
six votes not to consider reinstating its former chairman, Valerii Zorkin, 
whom it suspended together with Luchin on 1 December. Wendy Slater

FEDERATION COUNCIL ENDS ITS FIRST SESSION. The Federation Council ended 
its first session on 15 January, ITAR-TASS reported. During its opening 
session, the upper house had elected Vladimir Shumeiko as its chairman. On 
14 January, it had elected as his two deputies Ramazan Abdulatipov, 
chairman of the Council of Nationalities in the former parliament; and 
Valerian Viktorov, Prime Minister of the Chuvash republic. The house had 
also approved the creation of ten committees. The chairmen of six of them 
were elected on 15 January; the remainder will be elected when the 
Federation Council reconvenes on 31 January. Wendy Slater

RUSSIAN-AMERICAN MOSCOW DECLARATION. On 14 January, Bill Clinton and Boris 
Yeltsin signed a joint declaration heralding the achievement of "a new 
stage" in relations between Russia and the United States characterized by 
a "mature strategic partnership based on equality, mutual advantage, and 
recognition of each other's national interests." The declaration also 
stressed that Moscow and Washington are ready to "move forward on the path 
of openness and mutual trust" in their relations and pledged to continue 
efforts to overcome the division of Europe. Among the "urgent tasks" 
related to these efforts are "preventive diplomacy, peacekeeping and 
protection of human rights and the rights of national and other 
minorities," the declaration said, according to an ITAR-TASS report of 14 
January. Suzanne Crow

CLINTON SPEAKS TO RUSSIANS IN LIVE TV BROADCAST. On 14 January American 
President Bill Clinton addressed a Russian audience in the conference hall 
of Ostankino television. The address and the question-and-answer session 
that followed lasted 18 minutes more than scheduled (altogether 1 hour 18 
minutes) and was broadcast across all the states of the former Soviet 
Union. Apart from the people in the studio, the unprecedented session 
included hookups that allowed viewers from Red Square, as well as other 
cities--namely St. Petersburg, Stavropol and Nizhnii Novgorod--to ask 
Clinton questions. The questions ranged from problems of education to 
Clinton's biography. In a sharp departure from usual Russian practices, 
the questions did not seem to have been prearranged. Julia Wishnevsky

TRANSCAUCASIA AND CENTRAL ASIA

REFERENDUM IN TURKMENISTAN. In a referendum on 15 January, only 212 out of 
1,959,637 registered voters in Turkmenistan voted against exempting 
President Saparmurad Niyazov from reelection in 1997, Russian and Western 
news agencies reported on 16 January. The referendum had been proposed by 
Niyazov's Democratic (formerly Communist) Party and approved by the 
country's highest legislative body as ensuring Niyazov time to carry out 
his ten-year prosperity program. Niyazov's closest adviser, Deputy Prime 
Minister Valerii Ochertsov, was quoted by AFP as saying that the 99.9% 
vote in favor of the president was a guarantee of stability and the 
continuation of economic reform. The same source noted that Niyazov has 
been unable to stop the decline in the value of Turkmenistan's new 
currency. Bess Brown

CIS

ZLENKO: NUKES DEAL DOESN'T NEED RATIFICATION. Speaking on a talk show on 
Ukrainian radio on 15 January, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Anatolii Zlenko 
told reporters that the deal signed in Moscow was a "statement" not an 
agreement or treaty, and that therefore it does not require ratification 
by the Ukrainian parliament. Zlenko, together with Deputy Prime Minister 
Vitalii Shmarov and Defense Minister Vitalii Radetsky, emphasized that the 
statement represented the government's attempt to realize the conditions 
placed on START-1 ratification by the parliament, not a completely new 
policy. Nonetheless, the parliament is scheduled to debate the "statement" 
when its new session opens on 20 January. John Lepingwell

DETAILS, DISPUTES, CONCERNING NUKES DEAL. Even before Kravchuk left Moscow 
on 14 January, there were Russian-Ukrainian disagreements over what was 
agreed upon. Kravchuk stated at his press conference in Moscow that the 
deal provides for Russia to apply the value of the tactical nuclear 
weapons removed from Ukraine in late 1991 and early 1992 against Ukraine's 
energy debt. Russian Foreign Minister Andrei Kozyrev dismissed this 
interpretation in comments to ITAR-TASS on the same day, noting that the 
agreement only provided for provision of nuclear fuel and a portion of the 
proceeds of the sale of the resulting low-enriched uranium. The amount of 
compensation for tactical nuclear weapons has not yet been 
fixed--apparently a trilateral procedure for determining the quantity of 
fissile material in the weapons is to be worked out, and the weapons 
valued accordingly. The methodology and value of the material could prove 
to be a contentious issue, since the value of the fissile material in the 
2,600 tactical weapons may be equal to, or greater than, that in the 
strategic warheads now in Ukraine. John Lepingwell

DOMESTIC REACTION IN UKRAINE TO NUCLEAR DEAL. Politicians in Ukraine 
appear to be deeply divided over the trilateral nuclear deal, the 
Ukrainian and Western media report. Some, like Rukh's leader Vyacheslav 
Chornovil, are accusing President Kravchuk of "betrayal," while other are 
welcoming it as a wise compromise. A third group, including for example 
the influential speaker of the Ukrainian parliament, Ivan Plyushch, are 
reserving judgement until they have had a chance to study the relevant 
documents. President Kravchuk strongly defended the deal at a press 
conference which he gave on 14 January on his return from Moscow. It was 
shown that evening on Ukrainian TV. This was his first real effort to sell 
the trilateral nuclear agreement to the public and, especially, to 
parliament. He went out of his way to stress that the deal had taken into 
account the conditions which the parliament had set for the ratification 
of the START-1 treaty and that far from having been "forced to its knees," 
Ukraine had reaped economic, security and diplomatic benefits from the 
compromise. That same day the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry issued a 
statement about the deal that made the same points. Kravchuk's task of 
getting parliament to approve of the deal appears to have been facilitated 
by the fact that Ukraine's popular former defense minister Kostyantyn 
Morozov, who was effectively forced to resign by Kravchuk after 
criticizing the Russian-Ukrainian deal discussed last September at the 
Massandra summit, has voiced his support for the trilateral nuclear deal. 
Bohdan Nahaylo

CLINTON IN BELARUS. Following talks with Boris Yeltsin in Moscow, Bill 
Clinton arrived in Minsk for a six-hour visit on 15 January, various 
agencies reported. During the visit he met with the Chairman of the 
Supreme Soviet, Stanislau Shushkevich. While Belarus nuclear disarmament 
was the main subject on the agenda, Clinton also concluded several other 
agreements. Among them was a treaty which aims at attracting American 
businessmen to Belarus by offering legal protections for investments. 
Clinton also approved the formation of an American trade center and agreed 
to give an additional $25 million for the continued dismantlement of 
Belarus' nuclear weapons and the country's military conversion. (So far 
the US has contributed $75 million towards Belarus' nuclear 
dismantlement.) During the visit Shushkevich told Clinton that he would 
like Belarus to participate in NATO's Partnership for Peace Program, but 
this would entail amending the neutrality clause of the constitution. 
Before leaving Clinton stopped at the Kuropaty Memorial where tens of 
thousands Belarusians had been killed under Stalin's regime. The visit to 
Kuropaty sparked off protest among Belarus' communists and several dozen 
demonstrated against Clinton's visit. The US First Lady, Hilary Clinton, 
accompanied the President and paid a visit to a Minsk hospital for 
children affected by the Chornobyl accident. The US has promised to 
provide all necessary furnishings (except for the building) for a 500 bed 
hospital in Belarus. Ustina Markus

BELARUS REQUESTS COMPENSATION FOR NUCLEAR WEAPONS. US President Bill 
Clinton praised Belarus on 15 January for agreeing to transfer the nuclear 
weapons on its territory to Russia, and for its ratification of the 
START-1 and nuclear non-proliferation treaties, according to Western press 
agencies. The Belarusian government informed Clinton that it also wants a 
share of the proceeds from the sale of uranium from dismantled warheads. 
The US has been advocating sharing such proceeds since it signed a 
preliminary accord with Russia on uranium sales in February 1993. Interfax 
reported on 16 January that Prime Minister Vyacheslau Kebich stated that 
the Russian government has agreed to provide compensation for the tactical 
nuclear warheads that were withdrawn in 1992, as well as for ICBM 
warheads. There were only 81 single-warhead SS-25 ICBMs in Belarus at the 
beginning of 1992, and 27 of them have already been returned to Russia, 
where they are to be redeployed rather than dismantled. Were Belarus to be 
compensated for the ICBM warheads alone, the total amount would probably 
be approximately $50 million. If the tactical warheads are to be included, 
the level of compensation could increase severalfold, as Western estimates 
indicate there were several hundred to a thousand such weapons in Belarus. 
John Lepingwell

CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPE

ALBRIGHT WARNS SERBS OVER KOSOVO. Western news agencies reported from 
Tirana on 14 January that US ambassador to the UN Madeleine Albright waned 
that "Serbian-inspired force" against Kosovo's more than 90% Albanian 
majority would "be unacceptable and there will be a response." During the 
course of her visit to Albania, she said that Albania has been invited to 
join NATO's Partnership for Peace program; Tirana has energetically sought 
membership in the Atlantic alliance as protection against Serbia. Albright 
told her hosts, moreover, that developing democratic institutions and a 
market economy was the best "guarantee" of eventual NATO membership. She 
added that the US will provide $25 million to boost the private sector and 
foreign investment, as well as $5 million for future technical assistance. 
Finally, the 17 January Washington Post reports that Albright also warned 
Serbia to cooperate with the UN in prosecuting war criminals. Patrick Moore

POPE CONDEMNS "TORTURERS WITHOUT MORALS" IN BOSNIA. Vatican Radio said on 
15 January that Pope John Paul II used this phrase to describe various 
nationalist leaders in the embattled republic in his annual speech to the 
diplomatic corps. Meanwhile, the following day Radio Bosnia and 
Herzegovina claimed that Muslim-dominated government forces have 
successfully resisted a Serb assault on Olovo, and the Bosnian government 
rejected the Croatian proposal for an alliance made earlier in the week. 
Elsewhere, the 17 January New York Times says that the Serbs have been 
selling weapons to the Muslims to help perpetuate Muslim-Croat fighting. 
Finally, Croatian rumor mills are buzzing with reports that Mate Boban, 
president of the self-styled Croatian Republic of Herceg-Bosna, is about 
to be dumped in favor of his foreign minister, Mile Akmadzic. Boban is 
widely held responsible for the loss of many ancient Croat communities in 
central Bosnia, and made a major political mistake last May by sharply 
attacking the respected Primate of Croatia, Cardinal Franjo Kuharic. 
Patrick Moore

ALBRIGHT, MITTERRAND PRAISE BULGARIA'S SECURITY POLICY. Albright on 14 
January told journalists in Sofia that the US appreciates Bulgaria's 
"enthusiastic support" for the Partnership for Peace initiative, agencies 
report. Albright noted that the US has a "direct and material interest in 
the security of Bulgaria and other Central and East European countries and 
that the Partnership for Peace reflects that interest." Pledging further 
support for economic and political reforms, she said Washington is well 
aware that Bulgaria has been playing a constructive role on the Balkans 
and that the costs of that policy, in particular the economic consequences 
of the UN embargo against rump Yugoslavia, have been high. In interviews 
with Bulgarian media on 15 and 16 January, French President Francois 
Mitterrand similarly praised Bulgaria's security policy. Mitterrand, who 
is due in Sofia on 19 January, said Bulgarians and other East Europeans 
need to organize themselves in an all-European political and economic 
structure. He also urged Sofia reinforce its own security by conducting 
preventive diplomacy, expanding bilateral cooperation, and by approaching 
the existing collective security organizations. Kjell Engelbrekt

POLAND AND HUNGARY FIRM ON VISEGRAD. "Poland and Hungary have the best 
relations in all of Europe," Polish Foreign Minister Andrzej Olechowski 
observed during the one-day official visit to Warsaw of his Hungarian 
counterpart, Geza Jeszenszky, on 14 January. The climate was extremely 
amicable during Jeszenszky's meetings with Prime Minister Waldemar Pawlak 
and President Lech Walesa. The two sides restated their faith in the 
Visegrad arrangement. The foreign ministers called the Polish-Hungarian 
friendship the "motor" of Visegrad; and Walesa said he is confident 
Poland, Hungary, and Slovakia will "find a common language." In an 
elliptical reference to the Czech Republic's go-it-alone stance, Walesa 
said that the countries that do not now wish to work together will 
eventually become convinced of the virtues of regional cooperation. 
Jeszenszky also thanked Walesa for his hard-line stance on NATO 
membership. Both sides agreed on the need to complement bilateral 
friendship with more intense trade relations and to speed up the 
elimination of trade barriers among the Visegrad partners. Hungarian 
President Arpad Goncz is scheduled to visit Poland in the first half of 
1994, PAP reports. Louisa Vinton

ESTONIA ASKS TO JOIN PARTNERSHIP FOR PEACE. On 14 January President 
Lennart Meri and Prime Minister Mart Laar signed and sent a letter to NATO 
Secretary General Manfred Woerner officially expressing Estonia's desire 
to join the Partnership for Peace program, BNS reports. Meri noted that 
the program should have "a stabilizing effect not only on Estonia but on 
the entire northern Europe." He said that a democratic system of 
government offers greater reliable guarantees of peace than a system of 
agreements or a well-equipped army Saulius Girnius

ROMANIAN CABINET ENDORSES NATO'S PLAN. Radio Bucharest broadcast on 14 
January a statement by Romania's government on NATO's Partnership for 
Peace plan. The cabinet said it accepts the invitation addressed by NATO 
to the interested states to participate in that plan, considering it as a 
preliminary stage for Romania's eventual admission to NATO as a full 
member. In a related development, Albright on 15 January praised at a news 
briefing in Bucharest Romania's willingness to join the program. Romania 
was Albright's final stop on her tour of Balkan and Eastern European 
countries to promote the plan. Dan Ionescu

PRO-RUSSIAN LEADS IN CRIMEAN PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS. Early returns from 
the presidential elections in the Crimean autonomous republic give Yurii 
Meshkov a commanding lead over five other presidential hopefuls, Western 
news agencies reported early on 17 January. According to preliminary 
results, Meshkov has 40 percent of the vote. The electoral law requires a 
vote of at least 50 percent to win; otherwise a second round of voting is 
necessitated. Meshkov, who ran on a platform of Crimean independence and 
close ties with Russia, is trailed by Mykola Bahrov, chairman of the 
Crimean parliament, who is reported to have gained 20 percent of the vote 
thus far. Final results are expected later in the week. Roman Solchanyk

CZECH, SLOVAK INTERIOR MINISTERS RESOLVE SOME BORDER DISPUTES. The Czech 
and Slovak Interior Ministers, Jan Ruml and Jozef Tuchyna, met to discuss 
several border disputes between the two republics, CTK reported on 14 
January. They agreed that the Slovak village Sidonia will become part of 
the Czech Republic and the Czech border town U Sabotu will be ceded to 
Slovakia since residents in both settlements have held referendums 
expressing their wish to join the respective other country. The ministers 
also agreed to compensate Slovakia for several acres of previously Slovak 
territory that will become part of the Czech Republic when the course of 
the Morava river is straightened. A fourth disputed area, the Kasarna 
recreation ground, is still to be discussed. The agreement of the 
ministers is not binding as the governments and parliaments of the two 
states have to ratify them. Jan Obrman

REFUGEE ASSISTANCE CENTER OPENS IN BRNO. A UN.-supported refugee 
assistance center opened in the Moravian city of Brno, CTK reported on 14 
January. The center will offer advice for people seeking asylum or 
temporary refuge. It will extend its services to people living in two 
refugee camps and five humanitarian centers in Moravia. About 9,000 people 
in the Czech Republic are believed to be in the process of being granted 
asylum or are seeking temporary shelter. Jan Obrman

KOVAC MEETS WITH ETHNIC HUNGARIANS. On 14 January Slovak President Michal 
Kovac met with organizers of the 8 January gathering which took place in 
the southern Slovakia town of Komarno, TASR reports. The delegation 
included Coexistence Chairman Miklos Duray and Hungarian Christian 
Democratic Movement Chairman Vojtech Bugar, as well as Komarno mayor 
Istvan Pasztor. Presidential spokesman Anton Bodis said Kovac will take a 
stand on the Komarno initiative "after a thorough examination of the 
official documents adopted at the assembly." Kovac said he appreciated 
"the peaceful atmosphere" of the Komarno gathering, as well as the 
participants' pledge of loyalty to Slovakia. Duray said the discussion 
with the president was "very satisfying" and hopes to speak with 
parliament chairman Ivan Gasparovic as well. Sharon Fisher

VOTE AGAINST SLOVAK NATIONAL PARTY CHAIRMAN. In a closed session of the 
SNP executive council on 15 January, the party discussed internal 
conflicts as well as the coalition agreement with the Movement for a 
Democratic Slovakia, TASR reports. Chairman Ludovit Cernak lost a 
no-confidence vote. The council demanded that Cernak give up his post, but 
Cernak said that only the party congress can remove him. Sharon Fisher

MECIAR CRITICIZES KOVAC. In an interview with Slovak Radio on 14 January, 
Premier Vladimir Meciar criticized President Michal Kovac for calling for 
replacing the cabinet before the recent NATO summit, where membership of 
Central and East European nations in the organization was discussed. 
Meciar said Kovac's statement in his New Year's address, recommending that 
the current cabinet be replaced by a broad coalition of experts, sent "a 
negative signal" to the world. Sharon Fisher

HUNGARIAN RADIO JOURNALISTS PROTEST SACKINGS. Public Employees at 
Hungarian Radio and the Independent Radio Trade Union protested on 11 
January in a letter to deputy radio chairman Laszlo Csucs plans by the 
radio's management to lay off some 300 radio journalists, MTI reports. 
Csucs cited economic reasons for the reduction of personnel but 
journalists' organizations accuse him of seeking to carry out purges among 
journalists critical of the government. The managing body of the 
opposition party Alliance of Free Democrats said in a statement that the 
transformation of public radio into a "propaganda machine" and efforts to 
establish a monopoly of information prior to the 1994 national elections 
are continuing under the government of Prime Minister Peter Boross. Edith 
Oltay

HUNGARIAN JEWISH COMMUNITY'S APPEAL. Hungary's Jewish community and the 
Holocaust Committee issued an appeal for tolerance and called attention to 
the resurgence of anti-Semitism, MTI said on 14 January. The appeal made 
to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the liberation of the Budapest 
ghetto called on "sober citizens" to "help us stop the already regular 
intimidation" faced by Hungarian Jewry. Karoly Okolicsanyi

MASS GRAVE FOUND ON THE BUDAPEST EXPO SITE. Hungarian Radio reported on 13 
January that a mass grave with about 50 skeletons, mostly of young people, 
was found during construction work in September 1993. There was no 
information about the age of the grave, but officials said that it 
possibly dates from between World War II and 1956. Karoly Okolicsanyi

BULGARIAN INTERIOR MINISTER TENDERS RESIGNATION. On 16 January Bulgaria's 
Minister of Internal Affairs, Viktor Mihaylov, offered his resignation 
following an incident in which police officers killed two senior members 
of an anti-terrorist squad. The incident, which occurred in Sofia on 14 
January, primarily appears to be the result of lacking coordination 
between different branches of the MIA but accusations have also been made 
against individuals. Kjell Engelbrekt

BULGARIAN LAND REFORM PROGRESSES. On 11 January the Ministry of 
Agriculture said that 46% of the farm land nationalized during communism 
has now been restored to its former owners. Deputy Agriculture Minister 
Ventsislav Stoyanov told Reuters that the ministry intends to return all 
land by the end of 1994, despite the fact that serious problems have 
arisen due to excessive land claims being accepted by courts. At the same 
time, he said that land reform has been slowed down significantly by the 
lack of legislation offering compensation to former owners whose property 
for one or another reason, such as being used for industrial purposes, 
cannot be returned. Kjell Engelbrekt

POLISH UNIONS OPPOSE BUDGET. Meeting on 12 January, Solidarity union 
leaders scheduled a national demonstration for 9 February and threatened a 
general strike to protest price hikes planned in the government's proposed 
budget for 1994. The union is demanding additional protection against 
inflation for low-income households. Solidarity has no representatives in 
the Sejm. The OPZZ union federation, which in contrast controls 61 of 171 
deputies in the ruling Democratic Left Alliance (SLD), has also criticized 
the proposed budget. Louisa Vinton

FORMER LITHUANIAN COMMUNIST LEADERS ARRESTED. On 15 January Lithuanian 
authorities announced that Mykolas Burokevicius and Juozas Jermalavicius 
had been arrested in Vilnius, Radio Lithuania reports. Burokevicius had 
been elected the first secretary of the pro-Moscow Lithuanian Communist 
Party in December 1989 when the party formally declared its independence 
from the CPSU. Jermalavicius was the head of the party's ideology 
department. On 16 January Prosecutor General Arturas Paulauskas said that 
the two would be charged with treason as they played major roles in the 
attack on 13 January 1991 by Russian troops on the crowd around the 
Vilnius television tower that resulted in 15 deaths and more than 700 
injured, Interfax reports. Saulius Girnius

DECEMBER INFLATION IN LITHUANIA AND LATVIA. Kestutis Zaborskas, the 
Director-General of the Lithuanian Statistics Department, said that the 
consumer price index in December increased 6.2%, BNS reported on 7 
January. The greatest increase was for food, namely 9.2%, followed by an 
8% rise in expenditures for entertainment, education, and leisure; a 4.4% 
increase for clothing and footwear; and a 3% rise for housing. The rate of 
inflation was lower than in the previous two months (6.8% in November and 
7.3% in October), while the rate for 1993 was 188.6%. The Latvian State 
Statistics Committee reported that the consumer price index increased 5.1% 
in December with increases of 7.8% for food, 2.4% for clothing and 
footwear, 3.2% for tobacco and alcohol, and 2.7% for education and 
recreation. The rate of inflation in November was 8.8% and 3.8% in October 
and 34.7% for 1993.. Saulius Girnius

LATVIA, AZERBAIJAN AGREE TO COOPERATE. Baltic media reported on 11 January 
that Latvian Vice premier Ojars Kehris and his Azerbaijani counterpart 
Samed Sadykhov signed earlier that day in Baku an accord on economic 
cooperation and trade. According to the agreement Azerbaijan will supply 
Latvia with fuel and energy products, especially oil, in exchange for 
Latvian-made transport vehicles, locomotives and railway cars, and 
industrial instruments. Dzintra Bungs

BALTIC CONDITIONS FOR RUSSIA JOINING COUNCIL OF EUROPE. On 14 January 
Estonian, Latvian, and Lithuanian delegations to the Council of Europe met 
in Vilnius and coordinated their positions for the CE General Assembly 
which will begin in Strasbourg on 24 January, BNS reports. The delegations 
declared that Russia should not be admitted to the organization until all 
its troops are withdrawn from Latvia and Estonia. They will also insist 
that Russia solve national and ethnic problems on its territory and 
promise not to interfere with the internal affairs of other countries. 
Saulius Girnius

"DNIESTER" LEADERS ACCUSE LEBED. In several public statements in recent 
days, the "Dniester republic" authorities have accused Lt.-General 
Aleksandr Lebed, commander of Russia's 14th Army in Moldova, of planning 
to install a new leadership in Tiraspol through "civil war". As reported 
by Interfax on 15 January, the allegation follows fresh charges of 
corruption leveled by Lebed against the leaders in Tiraspol. Lebed has 
waged an anti-corruption campaign against the "Dniester" leadership for 
nearly a year, in the apparent realization that its identification with 
communism and the "red-brown" opposition in Moscow constitutes a liability 
to Russia's policy in the region. Vladimir Socor

[As of 1200 CET]

Compiled by Patrick Moore & Stephen Foye