No. 44, 4 March 1994

CIS


NUCLEAR WARHEAD TRANSFER TO BEGIN? There are conflicting reports about 
when the transfer of warheads from Ukraine to Russia will begin. On 2 
March, Western agencies said a shipment of 120 nuclear fuel rods was en 
route to Ukraine from Russia, and that the warhead transfer was expected 
to start as soon as it arrived. The Russian newspaper Segodnya reported on 
2 March that 60 warheads had already arrived in Russia, but that report 
was subsequently denied by both Russian and Ukrainian officials. On 3 
March, Interfax quoted Igor Sergeev, commander of the Russian Strategic 
Rocket Forces, as saying withdrawal would begin on 28 March. Meanwhile, 
Ukrainian President Leonid Kravchuk arrived on 3 March in Washington, 
where he is expected to deliver the instrument of ratification for the 
START-1 treaty and continue talks on implementation of the trilateral 
agreement on nuclear arms. According to The Los Angeles Times of 4 March, 
President Bill Clinton is expected to announce a doubling of aid to 
Ukraine, including a substantial increase in nuclear disarmament 
assistance. John Lepingwell, RFE/RL, Inc. 

GAS SUPPLIES REDUCED. On 3 March, Russia's Gazprom started to reduce its 
deliveries of natural gas to Ukraine and Belarus. It also threatened to 
halt all supplies by 5 March if payment was not received, Interfax and The 
Washington Post of 4 March reported. Deliveries to Moldova were maintained 
in the wake of intergovernmental agreements, and supplies to the Baltic 
states have not been affected. Differing reports have been received on the 
scale of arrears for past deliveries and the figures are disputed by the 
defaulting customers anyway, but Interfax gives ballpark estimates of 1.5 
trillion rubles for Ukraine, 400 billion rubles for Belarus, and 80 
billion rubles for Moldova. The Ukrainians allegedly continue to siphon 
off Russian gas on its way to Western Europe. It is not clear how much 
unused storage capacity is available to Gazprom. Keith Bush, RFE/RL, Inc. 

RUSSIA

BUDGET MANEUVERS CONTINUE. On 3 March, the cabinet approved "in principle" 
the draft budget for 1994, ITAR-TASS and Interfax reported. ("Agreement in 
principle" is a weasel phrase that generally denotes violent disagreement. 
The salient headings of planned revenue and expenditure were given in the 
RFE/RL Daily Report for 3 March.) Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin 
called it "probably the first truthful budget," but few observers believe 
that the projected revenues will be raised or that the projected 
expenditures will not be exceeded. Six cabinet ministers were reported to 
have protested the funding allocated to their ministries and sectors. 
Acting Finance Minister Sergei Dubinin charged that the defense ministry 
had already placed orders for 1994 with the defense industry worth 28 
trillion rubles, while the budget has allocated only 5 trillion rubles for 
this purpose. First Deputy Defense Minister Andrei Kokoshin complained 
that the proposed budget cuts meant that an extra 400,000 servicemen would 
have to be demobilized, no new armaments purchased, and scientific 
research stopped. Keith Bush, RFE/RL, Inc. 

SECURITY COUNCIL AND SECURITY SERVICES TO BE REORGANIZED? The role of 
Russia's Security Council is to be significantly upgraded to allow it to 
act as a counterweight to both the government and the parliament, 
according to Kommersant Daily of 3 March. The aim of the reorganization is 
to give President Boris Yeltsin a power-base outside the government while 
still allowing him to act within the framework of the constitution. At the 
same time, further reorganization of the Federal Counterintelligence 
Service (FSK) was predicted by Moskovsky komsomolets on 3 March. 
Responsibility for counter-espionage would be transferred from the FSK to 
the Ministry of Justice, while responsibility for military 
counterintelligence would pass to the General Staff of the Russian Army. 
However, a spokesman for Yeltsin's Presidential Office called the rumors 
"fabrications" and said there were no plans to reshuffle the security 
bodies, ITAR-TASS reported on 3 March. Victor Yasmann, RFE/RL, Inc.

DECREE ON REHABILITATION OF THE BALKARS. On 3 March Yeltsin signed a 
decree "On measures for the rehabilitation of the Balkar people and state 
support for its revival and development." The text of the decree, which 
was carried by ITAR-TASS, says that the President supports the proposals 
of the state organs of the Kabardino-Balkar republic on the need for 
measures to restore historical justice to the Balkars. The Balkars were 
deported en masse by Stalin in 1944. Yeltsin's decree calls for the 
revival of the cultural heritage of the Balkar people, the return of 
former historical names to settlements and localities, and for measures, 
to be agreed with the Kazakh and Kyrgyz governments, to repatriate Balkars 
still living in those republics (3,556 and 2,131 respectively in 1989). It 
also calls for consideration to be given to special pension arrangements 
for those who were deported. Ann Sheehy, RFE/RL, Inc.

YELTSIN WANTS SECRETS TRIAL DROPPED. Russian TV newscasts of 3 March cited 
Foreign Minister Andrei Kozyrev as saying Yeltsin is eager to see an end 
to the case of Vil Mirzayanov, the Russian scientist who has been accused 
of divulging secret information concerning Russian weapons production. 
Writing last year in the liberal weekly Moscow News, and in an interview 
with The Baltimore Sun, Mirzayanov claimed that Russia was continuing to 
test chemical and biological weapons in defiance of international 
agreements. Mirzayanov was released last month but a new investigation was 
ordered. Kozyrev said the President feels the "whole unfortunate episode" 
should be closed as soon as legally possible. Julia Wishnevsky, RFE/RL, 
Inc. 

JAPANESE-RUSSIAN SECURITY CONFERENCE. The third in a series of informal 
conferences between Russian and Japanese defense officials on Asia-Pacific 
security issues has ended in Tokyo without significant results, ITAR-TASS 
reported on 3 March. The Russian news agency suggested that the failure to 
reach some sort of consensus on the issue of promoting collective security 
in Asia was the result of timidity on the Japanese side. The Russian 
participants, on the other hand, reportedly emphasized the need to broaden 
contacts and consultations between Russia and Japan and to begin 
implementation of bilateral confidence-building measures that would also, 
over time, incorporate other states in the region. The two sides discussed 
allegations that North Korea is developing nuclear weapons, with the 
Russian side urging caution against isolating Pyongyang by introducing 
sanctions for its failure to allow inspections of its nuclear facilities. 
The two sides did reportedly agree to meet again this spring, and the 
Russian delegation, which was led by Maj. Gen. Anatolii Lukyanov, 
expressed the hope that that meeting might lead eventually to 
consultations between the defense ministers of the two countries. Stephen 
Foye, RFE/RL, Inc.

YELTSIN APPOINTS NEW ADVISER. Aleksandr Livshits has been appointed to 
head the Group of Experts advising President Yeltsin, ITAR-TASS reported 
on 2 March. Until now, Livshits has been deputy head of the Analytic 
Center in Yeltsin's administration, where he has recently been a member of 
a working party on regional policy. Livshits, who is aged 48, is a liberal 
economist who wrote one of the first Russian textbooks to explain the 
workings of the market economy from a favorable perspective. Elizabeth 
Teague, RFE/RL, Inc.

ZHIRINOVSKY ACCUSED OF FRAUD. Nationalist leader Vladimir Zhirinovsky has 
appealed against a court decision to annul his election to the State Duma, 
Western agencies reported on 28 February. Zhirinovsky was elected to the 
Duma last December on the party list of his Liberal Democratic Party. He 
was also elected as an individual candidate in the Shchelkovo constituency 
near Moscow, and chose to take that seat in the Duma. On 25 February, a 
Russian court ruled that election procedures were violated during the 
Shchelkovo election, and annulled the election. (There were complaints 
that Zhirinovsky got more TV time than other candidates. Moreover, Radio 
Mayak and another Russian station, Radio Galaktika, have complained that 
Zhirinovsky paid them for air time with forged banknotes.) Elizabeth 
Teague, RFE/RL, Inc.

ZHIRINOVSKY QUESTIONED. Vladimir Zhirinovsky, who is under investigation 
on charges of fomenting war propaganda, denied those charges when 
questioned on 28 February by a military prosecutor, ITAR-TASS reported on 
1 March. Zhirinovsky said that neither in his book, The Last Push to the 
South, nor in other publications and speeches had he called for war or for 
the annexation of other states. Meanwhile, Zhirinovsky's party has 
announced that he plans soon to publish a trilogy entitled Russia's 
Destiny. A spokesman told AFP on 23 February that the first part, The 
Lessons of History, would cover the period from the beginning of the 
Russian Empire until the 1917 Revolution. The second part would consist of 
the controversial The Last Push to the South; while the final part would 
be called In My Opinion. Elizabeth Teague, RFE/RL, Inc.


TRANSCAUCASIA AND CENTRAL ASIA

KARABAKH CEASEFIRE A NON-EVENT? Interviewed in Moscow on 3 March on their 
return from a trip to Baku and Erevan to implement the memorandum of 
understanding signed in Moscow on 18 February by the defense ministers of 
Armenia, Azerbaijan and the self-proclaimed Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, 
Russian Deputy Defense Minister Col. Gen. Georgii Kondratev and Special 
Envoy Vladimir Kazimirov told Interfax that the projected ceasefire, which 
should have gone into effect on 1 March, "may remain only on paper" unless 
the warring sides agree to disengage and withdraw their respective heavy 
artillery 10-15 kilometers from the present frontline, after which 30 
mobile observer groups consisting of Russian servicemen will be deployed. 
According to Kondratev, Armenia and Karabakh had assented to a withdrawal 
of Armenian forces, while the Azerbaijanis had agreed only to cease 
hostilities but not to withdraw. On 3 March Baku and Stepanakert each 
accused the other of violating the ceasefire by launching a new offensive 
in Fizuli raion, Interfax reported. Liz Fuller, RFE/RL, Inc. 

DEMIRCHYAN TO RETURN TO POLITICS? Karen Demirchyan, the notoriously 
anti-perestroika Armenian Communist Party first secretary who was 
unceremoniously fired in May 1988 for his failure to quash Armenian 
support for the transfer of Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenian jurisdiction, is 
being pressured by unnamed political circles to consider a return to 
active politics, according to Respublika Armeniya of 18 January. 
Demirchyan, who was appointed director of one of Armenia's largest 
industrial enterprises in 1991, is said to be the second most popular 
political figure in Armenia after President Levon Ter-Petrossyan. Liz 
Fuller, RFE/RL, Inc.

CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPE

TUDJMAN PRAISES CROATIAN-MUSLIM PACT. On 3 March Croatian President Franjo 
Tudjman made a major televised address on the preliminary agreement signed 
in Washington two days earlier between Croatian and Bosnian Muslim 
officials. The text, as carried by Vjesnik on 4 March, bristles with terms 
like "vital," "historic," and "paramount." His message is that the pact 
ensures the survival of Croats throughout Bosnia-Herzegovina and not just 
in the self-proclaimed Croatian Republic of Herceg-Bosna. He argues that 
this is the best solution not just for the Bosnian Croats, but for "the 
strategic interests of the Croatian state" as well, and claims that the 
confederation with Croatia guarantees the Muslims "their survival . . . as 
well as their links to Western civilization and democratic countries." 
Tudjman notes that Croatia has received in return for its support of the 
peace process international backing for solving its economic problems as 
well as for its integration into Europe and into NATO's Partnership for 
Peace program. He assures the Serbs that the agreement is not directed 
against them, urges Bosnian Serbs to find their place within a Bosnia 
encompassing all three peoples, and calls for "normal neighborly relations 
between the new Croatian-Bosnian Confederative Alliance on the one hand, 
and Serbia or Yugoslavia on the other." Tudjman again seeks a 
comprehensive peace agreement with the Serbs, but also warns Belgrade 
against supporting the Krajina Serbs, specifically mentioning the possible 
introduction of Belgrade's currency into the area as unacceptable to 
Zagreb. Patrick Moore, RFE/RL, Inc. 

UN WANTS 11,000 MORE PEACE-KEEPERS FOR BOSNIA. The pact with the Muslims 
under international pressure marks a reversal of Tudjman's well-known 
preference for partitioning Bosnia with the Serbs, and he now seems 
determined to make as much political capital as possible out of the 
changed circumstances. Meanwhile, Newsday on 4 March suggests that Bosnian 
Serb leader Radovan Karadzic is being nudged by Moscow into yielding 
territory to the Croats and Muslims in the interests of an overall 
settlement, and Politika quotes Karadzic as saying that he has nothing 
against the Croat-Muslim confederation "provided it is not directed 
against the Serbs." The BBC reported on 3 March, moreover, that top UN 
officials for the former Yugoslavia want almost 11,000 more UNPROFOR 
troops to go to Bosnia to help solidify a settlement. Washington, Paris, 
London, and Moscow quickly indicated, however, that the UN would have to 
look elsewhere for the men, and on 4 March the BBC said that the UN would 
now reconsider offers of troops it had previously not accepted from 
countries with historic links to the Yugoslav area. The BBC reporter had 
specifically asked a UN official about offers from Turkey and Italy. 
Patrick Moore, RFE/RL, Inc.

RADIO BROD ENDS BROADCASTING TO FORMER YUGOSLAVIA. After eleven months on 
the air, the Adriatic-based Radio Brod (Boat) has stopped broadcasting 
because of financial problems, Borba reported on 2 March. Programs were 
produced by a team of journalists from the entire Yugoslav area whose goal 
was to "stop the disinformation" in the media of the Yugoslav successor 
states. According to Borba, the radio has been attacked by the Croatian 
government-run media several times for being "Yugonostalgic," whereas 
Serbian officials dubbed the journalists "ustasa," or Croatian 
ultra-nationalist. Fabian Schmidt, RFE/RL, Inc. 

MILITARY MOVEMENTS IN KOSOVO. Inhabitants in several Kosovar towns have 
recently noted movements of the rump Yugoslav army in the region, Rilindja 
reported on 28 February. The convoys, which were seen near Pristina, 
Prizren and Podujevo, included tanks. According to Rilindja, recent days 
have also witnessed increased military flights at Pristina airport and 
elsewhere. The rump Yugoslav army denies any involvement in the internal 
conflicts of Kosovo, but there is admittedly a strong police presence 
there. Meanwhile, Rilindja on 2 March reported several cases of police 
raids, physical abuse of ethnic Albanians by Serb officials, and arrests 
of Albanians in Pristina, Pec and other towns. Fabian Schmidt, RFE/RL, Inc.

SEJM OPENS BUDGET DEBATE. Sejm debate on 3 March preceding the final vote 
on the 1994 budget suggested that the government has managed merely to 
defer, rather than dispel, pressures within the ruling coalition for 
increased deficit spending and more state intervention. The two coalition 
parties endorsed the budget as a "difficult compromise," while all four 
opposition parties opposed it. The budget commission avoided motions for 
additional spending by submitting a resolution requiring the government to 
try to increase revenues during the year (in part by imposing a tax on 
stock market transactions) and, at mid-year, to revise the budget. To the 
dismay of National Bank President Hanna Gronkiewicz-Waltz, the commission 
also proposed fiscal guidelines that would make possible an increase of 
169 trillion zloty in the money supply, rather than the 155 trillion 
proposed by the bank, and would also require the bank to finance more of 
the budget deficit than it believes wise. Acting Finance Minister Henryk 
Chmielak defended the budget before the Sejm, while the budget's author, 
former Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Marek Borowski, looked 
on from the gallery. The Sejm is expected to pass the budget by a wide 
margin on 5 March. The budget would then move on to the Senate for 
consideration. Louisa Vinton, RFE/RL, Inc. 

"WEIMAR TRIANGLE" AGREES ON DEFENSE CONTACTS. Meeting in Paris on 3 March, 
the defense ministers for France, Germany, and Poland agreed to urge the 
Western European Union to negotiate an association agreement with Poland. 
Polish Defense Minister Piotr Kolodziejczyk said the decision could come 
as early as May. The ministers agreed that cooperation with the WEU should 
complement rather than overshadow the Partnership for Peace program. Joint 
Polish-French military mountaineering exercises are planned for 1994, as 
are exercises involving German, Danish, and Polish troops on the Jutland 
peninsula. The ministers agreed to hold joint meetings at least once a 
year, as is already the practice with their countries' foreign ministers. 
The next meeting is scheduled for July in Warsaw, PAP reports. Louisa 
Vinton, RFE/RL, Inc. 

SLOVAKIA IMPLEMENTS IMPORT SURCHARGE. On 3 March a 10% import surcharge on 
consumer goods came into effect in Slovakia, TASR reports. According to 
Slovakia's IMF agreement, however, the duties must be decreased by 50% 
after six months. Finance Ministry officials said the move was implemented 
in accordance with the GATT and is targeted at boosting domestic 
production and easing the country's trade deficit, which stood at 26.7 
billion koruny in 1993. (Hard currency reserves of the Slovak National 
Bank--excluding gold--stood at $330 to 350 million on 15 February.) The 
move came as a surprise to some observers, since Slovakia agreed on 4 
February to speed up trade liberalization with other Visegrad countries. 
Also, it follows steps taken on 11 February to improve the country's trade 
balance by implementing new rules which require approval from Slovak 
authorities for food shipments entering the country. The Czech Republic, 
which has held a customs union with Slovakia since the two countries' 
currencies split on 8 February 1993, retaliated by devaluating the Czech 
koruna by 3% in the clearing system used in bilateral trade. Still, Czech 
Premier Vaclav Klaus told CTK that the surcharge is "a legitimate act by 
an independent sovereign state." Sharon Fisher, RFE/RL, Inc.

ROMANIAN PREMIER VISITS SLOVAKIA. On 3 March Nicolae Vacaroiu made a 
one-day official visit to Slovakia, where he met with his Slovak 
counterpart Vladimir Meciar, Deputy Premier Jozef Prokes and Economy 
Minister Jan Ducky, TASR reports. During his visit agreements were signed 
on cooperation in science, education, culture and sports, on trade 
liberalization, on prevention of double taxation and on protection of 
investments. Sharon Fisher, RFE/RL, Inc.

JACQUES DELORS IN BUDAPEST. European Commission chief started a three-day 
visit on Thursday, MTI reports. He held talks with Premier Peter Boross, 
who said that Hungary already achieved a lot in terms of political 
stability, economic restructuring and advancement in legal matters to 
prepare the ground for EU membership. Delors cautioned that admission 
procedures will take long. He also said that work on the so-called 
Balladur Plan, which would be an all-European final peace agreement, 
continues. Hungary is expected to officially apply for EU membership in 
April. Karoly Okolicsanyi, RFE/RL, Inc.

HUNGARIAN MASS PRIVATIZATION PROGRAM TO START IN APRIL. According to 
Western media, Hungarian government officials announced that a Small 
Shareholders Program (SSP) will be starting in April. Under the program, 
advantageous loans will be made available to those interested in 
purchasing shares in state-owned enterprises slated for privatization. 
Under the SSP, any citizen over the age of 18 who pays a $19 application 
fee is eligible to receive 100,000 forint, (about $1,000) worth of 
state-guaranteed, interest free loans, to be paid back within five years. 
The loans can be used only in framework of the SSP. Previously issued 
compensation bonds will also be exchangeable for shares in 70 privatized 
companies. By abandoning its so-far strictly market-based privatization, 
the Democratic Forum led government appears to try to boost its chances in 
the May elections. Karoly Okolicsanyi, RFE/RL, Inc. 

NEW RADIO-TELEVISION BILL PARTIALLY PASSED BY ROMANIAN PARLIAMENT. 
The Chamber of Deputies passed on 1 and 3 March some of the articles of a 
new radio and television bill, an RFE/RL correspondent and Radio Bucharest 
reported. The chamber passed by a narrow margin one controversial article 
stipulating that radio and television must observe the provisions of the 
constitution. The RFE/RL correspondent said the article was proposed by 
the ruling Party of Social Democracy in Romania, and the opposition fears 
that it is aimed at banning from broadcasting sympathetic references to 
exiled King Michael, on grounds that Romania is a constitutional republic. 
The bill would make radio and television independent of political parties, 
the government and the president, and subordinate them to parliament 
alone. On 3 March the discussion of the bill was interrupted after the 
passing of 16 out of the bill's 22 articles. PSDR deputies proposed 
amendments to the article dealing with the composition of the 
administrative councils of state radio and television. The amendments 
would practically do away with parliament's control of the two 
institutions. They were regarded by the opposition as attempts to 
introduce political controls via the back door. A similar bill has already 
been approved by the Senate last year, but it did not include the 
controversial article approved by the Chamber of Deputies. Michael Shafir, 
RFE/RL, Inc.

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL CONCERNED OVER RIGHTS IN ROMANIA. The London-based 
human rights organization Amnesty International says it is concerned that 
proposed revisions in Romania's penal code may violate international human 
rights treaties ratified by Bucharest. In a statement released on 2 March, 
the organization said it had written Chamber of Deputies chairman Adrian 
Nastase last month, expressing concern that some provisions "would impose 
arbitrary and excessive restrictions on the right to privacy, the right to 
free expression, assembly and association with others" and may lead "to 
imprisonment of people who would be considered prisoners of conscience." 
The statement cites provisions concerning homosexuality, defamation of the 
state or nation, and dissemination of false news. It says the provisions 
regarding defamation and false news "would not only particularly affect 
the right of journalists in Romania to freedom of expression and their 
right to impart information and ideas without interference by public 
authority, but also the right of other Romanians to receive such 
information and ideas." Amnesty International urged the Chamber of 
Deputies to reject the proposed changes and abolish the article in the 
penal code on homosexuality. Michael Shafir, RFE/RL, Inc.

ANTI-MOLDOVAN, ANTI-WESTERN SPEECHES IN ROMANIA'S SENATE. Radio Bucharest 
carried live on 3 March speeches made in the Romanian Senate in reaction 
to the heavy defeat of pro-Romanian parties in Moldova's legislative 
election. Senators across the political spectrum, including those of the 
democratic opposition, seconded the national-communist keynote speaker 
Adrian Paunescu, the former court poet of Ceausescu, in denouncing 
Moldova's leaders as undemocratic, uneducated, anti-Romanian, and 
pro-Russian. They also regretted that the Romanian government had 
recognized Moldova instead of demanding its outright reattachment to 
Romania. Paunescu, who had been an observer to the election, lamented 
Moldova's "anti-Romanian frame of mind . . . from the high authorities to 
the common citizen." He and other senators accused the Western observers 
of condoning or covering up electoral fraud in Moldova and acting against 
Romanian interests. With most of the votes counted, it appears that the 
Agrarian Democratic Party, strongly opposed to unification with Romania, 
will have 55 seats out of 104 in the new parliament, enabling it to govern 
alone; the pro-Russian Socialist/Interfront bloc possibly 30 seats, and 
the pro-Romanian parties a total of only some 20 seats. Vladimir Socor, 
RFE/RL, Inc.

BELARUSIAN FOREIGN MINISTER IN BONN. Pyotr Krauchanka told ITAR-TASS on 3 
March that Belarus was satisfied with the level of its relations with 
Germany, which were more solid than with any other country in Western 
Europe. Krauchanka, who is on an official visit to Germany, signed two 
agreements, one on cultural cooperation and the other on lessening the 
effects of the Chernobyl disaster. He said that work had begun on further 
agreements, which would be signed in the course of forthcoming visits at a 
higher level. Krauchanka noted that Germany was punctilious in fulfilling 
its obligations towards Belarus. As evidence of Germany's serious 
intentions he cited the second part of German government guarantees and 
credits which were equal to the credit given to Ukraine. Ann Sheehy, 
RFE/RL, Inc. 

BELARUS ECONOMY IN DECLINE. Industrial production in Belarus in January 
1994 was 37% lower than in the same month the previous year, PAP reported 
from Minsk on 26 February, citing the state statistical committee. Many of 
Belarus's major industrial plants did not work at all in January, 
including the giant "Homsielmash" agricultural machinery factory, where 
production has been at a standstill for almost three months. Louisa 
Vinton, RFE/RL, Inc. 

FREE TRADE TALKS BETWEEN EU AND BALTIC STATES. On 28 February Lithuania 
held the first round of talks in Brussels with the European Union on a 
free trade agreement, Reuters reports. Neither side presented formal 
proposals, but discussed their general positions with agriculture likely 
to be one of the most difficult points. The next round of talks will be 
held on 31 March. The talks, expected to conclude by the end of this year, 
are intended to end with a free trade agreement by 1 January 1995. On 28 
February Estonia's top negotiator Priit Kolbre told a press conference in 
Tallinn that in similar talks on 23 February it was decided that the 
agreement would consist of three parts, BNS reports. A preamble will set 
forth the fundamental principles of mutual relations and measures taken in 
case of breach of the agreement, The second part will abolish all customs 
duties and quotas on manufactured goods. The third part states that after 
the agreement is in effect one party will have to obtain the other's 
approval for establishing a free trade regime with a third country. The 
second round of talks will be held on 23 March. Latvia held its first 
round of talks with the EU on 21 February and will hold the second on 21 
March. Saulius Girnius, RFE/RL, Inc.

ESTONIA REASSESSES RELATIONS WITH RUSSIA. The Estonian cabinet of 
ministers is expected to discuss on 4 March whether to suspend the troops 
withdrawal talks with Russia. Russian Foreign Ministry official Aleksandr 
Udaltsov said that it would be "very sad and shortsighted" if Estonia 
broke off the talks and stressed that his country had no intention of 
delaying the setting of the date for the next round of negotiations. 
Udaltsov also said that Russia might well return to the earlier suggested 
31 August 1994 deadline for the pullout of its troops from Estonia if "the 
Estonian party abides by the conditions already spelled out by Russia." 
Udaltsov also accused Estonia of anti-Russian sentiment--an accusation 
that was leveled also by Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Mikhail 
Demurin against Estonian president Lennart Meri, BNS reported on 3 March. 
That same day, the Lithuanian Foreign Ministry expressed deep concern 
about Russia's 2 March statement that it would not withdraw its troops 
from Estonia by 31 August as promised earlier, and reconfirmed Lithuania's 
"position that the withdrawal of Russian troops from Latvia and Estonia 
must be carried in accordance with the requirements of the international 
community, which are indicated in the 47/21 resolution of the United 
Nations and article 15 of the CSCE 1992 Final Document." Dzintra Bungs, 
RFE/RL, Inc., RFE/RL, Inc.

MINISTER FOR HUMAN RIGHTS ENDORSED IN LATVIA. On 3 March the Saeima voted 
to approve the government's nominee, Olafs Bruvers, as the new State 
Minister for Human Rights. Bruvers, a theologian and a former dissident, 
is the first to hold this newly created position, placed under the aegis 
of the Ministry of Justice. That same day, Minister of Welfare Janis 
Ritenis survived a vote of no-confidence, Latvian media reported. Dzintra 
Bungs, RFE/RL, Inc.

[As of 1200 CET]

Compiled by Elizabeth Teague and Dan Ionescu The RFE/RL Daily Report is 
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