From: msirbu@next5.cs.umr.edu (Mihai Sirbu)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.romanian
Subject: RFE/RL Daily Report 30 SEP, 1992 (long)
Date: 1 Oct 92 00:17:02 GMT
Organization: University of Missouri-Rolla, Missouri's Technological University

The RFE/RL Daily Report is a digest of latest developments
in the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. It is published
Monday through Friday (except German holidays) by the
RFE/RL Research Institute (a division of Radio Free Europe/
Radio Liberty, Inc.). Copyright 1992 RFE/RL, Inc.


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                   RFE/RL Daily Report

                                       No. 188, 30 September 1992


                   SUCCESSOR STATES TO THE USSR

TENSE SITUATION IN TAJIKISTAN. Tajikistan's deposed President
Rakhmon Nabiev told an RFE/RL correspondent on 29 September that
he had not been beaten up and hospitalized, as had been reported
by the Nega news agency the previous day. The same day, Moscow and
Dushanbe news agencies reported that pro-Nabiev forces from Kulyab
Oblast were still in control of the town of Kurgan-Tyube, an
opposition stronghold, and that the town had sustained major
damage in the fighting.  The government in Dushanbe has devised a
plan to disarm the population by buying their illegal weapons, but
local authorities will have to put up the money.  An article in
the 30 September issue of Nezavisimaya gazeta draws attention to
the rising crime rate in Tajikistan and reports that leaders of
the opposing sides in the civil war say they have no control over
some 20% of their forces.  The same source says that anti-Nabiev
forces in Kurgan-Tyube are being led by radical members of the
Islamic Renaissance Party.  (Bess Brown, RFE/RL, Inc.)

STATUS OF BESIEGED RUSSIAN TROOPS IN TAJIKISTAN UNCLEAR. Russian
news agencies reported on 29 September that the Russian military
unit that was besieged near Kurgan-Tyube by fighters from Kulyab
has still not been able to drive off the Tajik fighters trying to
capture Russian arms and equipment.  Meanwhile, Western news
agencies reported on 29 September a statement by the Russian
Defense Ministry that a "limited military contingent" of Russian
reinforcements had arrived in Tajikistan to protect Russian troops
already deployed there, their families, and military facilities.
(Bess Brown, RFE/RL, Inc.)

FOREIGN HELP FOR TAJIKISTAN? In a speech to the UN General
Assembly on 29 September, Tajik Foreign Minister Khudoberdi
Kholiknazarov played down the scope of the fighting in his
country, saying that it is presently limited to the center of
Kurgan-Tyube Oblast, an RFE/RL correspondent reported. He appealed
for international help in ensuring that democracy prevails.  The
same day Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Velayati told Tajik
Minister of Culture Zakirdzhan Vazirov, on a visit to Tehran, that
Iran is ready to help in working out a peaceful settlement of the
civil war in Tajikistan, Western news agencies reported, quoting
the official IRNA news agency.  (Bess Brown, RFE/RL, Inc.)

SHANIBOV'S ESCAPE AND SITUATION IN KABARDINO-BALKARIA. Musa
Shanibov, president of the Confederation of the Mountain Peoples
of the Caucasus, was not released from custody, as earlier
reported, but escaped, Nezavisimaya gazeta reported on 30
September. Shanibov, who had been detained for his part in the
confederation's despatch of volunteers to Abkhazia, returned in
triumph to Nalchik, where he told a meeting of 30,000, reinforced
by delegations from North Ossetia, Checheno-Ingushetia, and
Karachaevo-Cherkesia, that he would continue the struggle for the
independence of the North Caucasus. The meeting called for the
removal of Russian troops from Kabardino-Balkaria and the
punishment of local officials. The article in Nezavisimaya gazeta
gives the impression that the Kabardino-Balkarian authorities are
no longer in charge of the situation. (Ann Sheehy, RFE/RL, Inc.)

UKRAINE REQUESTS SECURITY GUARANTEES, FOREIGN AID.  Speaking at
the United Nations on 29 September, Ukrainian Foreign Minister
Anatoly Zlenko said that his country expected "strict
international guarantees" of its national security against any
threat or use of force from nuclear-armed states.  In reports of
his remarks carried by Western agencies, Zlenko also urged a
complete ban on nuclear weapons testing. He said that Ukraine
intended to accede to the Treaty on Non-Proliferation of Nuclear
Weapons "in the nearest future," but at a subsequent press
conference he claimed Ukraine needed hundreds of millions of
dollars in foreign aid to dismantle its missiles.  (Doug
Clarke/John Lepingwell, RFE/RL, Inc.)

SHAPOSHNIKOV WARNS WEST AGAINST INTERFERENCE IN CIS TALKS. At a
conference in Paris on 29 September, CIS Commander in Chief
Evgenii Shaposhnikov warned European countries against interfering
in talks between CIS states over nuclear weapons control.
According to Reuters, Shaposhnikov stated that "when parents have
to make delicate decisions, the advice of third parties . . .  can
cause harm." Shaposhnikov argued that Russia should control all
former Soviet nuclear weapons immediately, regardless of their
location. Belarus and Kazakhstan have reportedly partly agreed to
Russian control, while Ukraine wants to exercise administrative
control over nuclear weapons on its territory. (John Lepingwell,
RFE/RL, Inc.)

BRITAIN OFFERS CREDITS TO RUSSIA.  UK State Secretary Michael
Heseltine and Russian Deputy Prime Minister Aleksandr Shokhin have
signed an agreement to provide $480 million worth of British
credits for modernizing Russian industrial and transport
facilities, Western news agencies reported on 29 September.  The
agreement follows last week's reports of British reluctance to
extend more loans to Russia before coming to an arrangement on
existing overdue payments to British creditors.  In a related
story, an IMF official, Ernesto Cata, suggested in Moscow that
current lax fiscal and monetary policies in Russia may endanger
the approval of a $3 billion IMF credit hoped for by the end of
this year.  (Erik Whitlock, RFE/RL, Inc.)

RUSSIA SETTING UP MORE CUSTOMS POSTS. Russia will soon increase
the number of customs points on its borders, Interfax reported on
29 September. The sixty-four such posts, up from twenty-four in
mid-June, will be functioning by 1 October along Russia's borders
with the Baltic states, Ukraine, Azerbaijan and Georgia. Interfax
cites "experts" claiming that these posts will be "enough to halt"
the illegal export of oil and raw materials.  Some Russian
officials have reckoned the value of illegal export of oil and oil
products at over $100 million in the first half of this year
alone.  (Erik Whitlock, RFE/RL, Inc.)

GORBACHEV TO FACE TRIAL FOR FAILURE TO TESTIFY?  On 29 September,
the Russian Constitutional Court devoted its entire afternoon
session to a discussion of former Soviet General Secretary Mikhail
Gorbachev's refusal to testify at the CPSU hearing (see RFE/RL
Daily Report, 29 September).  According to Russian TV, Chairman
Valerii Zorkin viewed the publication of Gorbachev's letter as an
"insult." The judges voted in favor of sending yet another summons
to Gorbachev with a warning of possible "legal consequences" if he
failed to appear. If necessary, the justices would then request
that the Russian General Prosecutor bring criminal charges against
Gorbachev.  (Julia Wishnevsky, RFE/RL, Inc.)

GORBACHEV HOLDS A NEWS CONFERENCE. At a press conference held at
the Gorbachev Foundation on 29 September, Mikhail Gorbachev
reaffirmed his earlier decision to ignore the summons to testify
at the CPSU hearing, Russian TV reported. Gorbachev termed the
hearing "a political trial" of seventy-five years of the Soviet
history.  He quoted rumors to the effect that the decision to
summon him and his Politburo colleagues to testify at court had
been motivated by a desire to sensationalize a trial that
otherwise would continue to draw little public interest.  While
addressing other issues, Gorbachev criticized the government's
privatization program.  He also said that if the right moment
comes along, he might form a new political party and become its
leader.  (Julia Wishnevsky, RFE/RL, Inc.)

RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTRY DEFENDS SUBMARINE SALE.  On 29 September
the Russian Foreign Ministry defended its sale of submarines to
Iran as a "purely bilateral matter," according to Western news
agencies. Despite the Russian government's apparent cancellation
of the sale on 25 September, one submarine is reportedly still en
route to Iran. (John Lepingwell, RFE/RL, Inc.)

SWEDEN'S "PERISCOPE SYNDROME" CRITICIZED. The Russian Foreign
Ministry on 29 September criticized Swedish allegations that a
Russian submarine had intruded into Swedish territorial waters.
Interfax and Reuters reported that the statement called Swedish
Prime Minister Bildt's comments "openly unfriendly towards Russia"
and dismissed Sweden's "periscope syndrome," claiming that Sweden
had no firm evidence that the submarine was Russian.  (John
Lepingwell, RFE/RL, Inc.)

RUSSIANS AND AMERICANS COOPERATE ON SPACE PROJECTS.  The American
firm McDonnell Douglas and the Russian Academy of Science's
Mechanical Engineering Research Institute announced on 28
September that they would cooperate on a series of space
technology research projects.  According to a McDonnell Douglas
press release, the agreement was part of a company initiative to
examine and perhaps utilize Russian expertise in materials,
advanced mathematics, space systems, and extended manned space
flight. (Doug Clarke, RFE/RL, Inc.)

MISSILE DEFENSE TALKS TO RESUME IN OCTOBER.  According to Western
agencies on 29 September, US and Russian negotiators will meet
again in Washington in October to continue negotiations over
cooperation in the field of joint early warning and ballistic
missile defense. (John Lepingwell, RFE/RL, Inc.)

HALF OF FORMER SOVIET TROOPS OUT OF GERMANY.  Half of the former
Soviet armed forces that were in Germany have left and the
withdrawal remains on schedule for their complete departure by the
end of 1994, the DPA news agency reported on 29 September.  Two
hundred and fifty soldiers and civilians have applied for
political asylum in Germany.  (John Lepingwell, RFE/RL, Inc.)

DROP IN RUSSIAN ARMS SALES.  The daily Nezavisimaya gazeta on 29
September reported that Russia exported $1.55 billion worth of
arms in 1991, resulting in what the paper described as a
thirteen-fold drop in profits when compared with the average level
of Soviet arms exports in the 1980s.  The report said that 69% of
the arms sold in 1991 went to the Near and Middle East. The paper
quoted officials as saying that this sharp drop in profits from
arms sales "was an extremely heavy blow" which, when coupled with
shrinking oil exports, led to the bankruptcy of the Bank for
Foreign Economic Relations. (Doug Clarke, RFE/RL, Inc.)

UKRAINIAN PARLIAMENT TO DEBATE ECONOMY. The Ukrainian parliament,
which postponed its debate of the economy because of the visit of
Canada's governor-general to Kiev, will discuss economic reforms
on 30 September, Western news agencies reported.  President Leonid
Kravchuk will address the lawmakers, and it is expected that the
embattled prime minister, Vitold Fokin, will also make a
presentation. The opposition is determined to force the
resignation of the present government headed by Fokin. Izvestiya
reported on 29 September that parliamentary speaker Ivan Plyushch
conceded that the government must go.  (Roman Solchanyk, RFE/RL,
Inc.)

CIS DEFENSE MINISTERS TO MEET BEFORE BISHKEK SUMMIT. Lieutenant
General Leonid Ivashov stated on 28 September that at a meeting of
Defense Ministers in Bishkek on 7 October, the question of forming
a joint concept of military security will be discussed. ITAR-TASS
reported that the ministers will also reexamine the functioning of
the CIS joint command in light of recent developments, possibly
turning it into a multinational command structure.  Ivashov
acknowledged that there remained differences between Ukraine and
the CIS joint command, but noted that there was "positive
movement" in their relations.  (John Lepingwell, RFE/RL, Inc.)

STALEMATE IN RUSSIA'S TALKS WITH TATARSTAN.  A session of the
collegium of the Russian government on 29 September noted that
Russia's talks with Tatarstan have not been crowned with success,
ITAR-TASS reported.  The head of the Russian government's press
center, Gennadii Shipitko, said that Russia was insisting that
Tatarstan was part of Russia, while Tatarstan wanted to be
considered completely independent in the legal sense and to be
treated by Russia according to the norms of international law.
Tatarstan also wanted to decide its own military policy, Shipitko
added, and was opposed to its citizens having Russian as well as
Tatarstan citizenship. (Ann Sheehy, RFE/RL, Inc.)

RUSSIAN REPUBLICS SUPPORT KHASBULATOV. On 28 September a statement
signed by the leaders of most of the republics of the Russian
Federation, in which they expressed their support for the Russian
parliament and its chairman Ruslan Khasbulatov, was made public,
Nezavisimaya gazeta reported on 29 September.  The newspaper's
correspondent suggests that the republics have an interest in
preserving an equal balance of power between the Russian
president, parliament, and government, but it also sees the
republics emerging more and more as a fourth force, which could
upset the other three if it is not taken into account.  (Ann
Sheehy, RFE/RL, Inc.)

MOLDOVAN PRIME MINISTER ON HIS WESTERN VISITS.  Back in Chisinau
from visits to Bonn and Washington, D.C. Moldovan Prime Minister
Andrei Sangheli told the Moldovan media on 27 September that
Germany and Moldova have agreed to open embassies in each other's
capitals and that a German delegation is due in Moldova shortly to
negotiate an intergovernmental political and economic agreement.
In Washington, Sangheli obtained the consent of the International
Monetary Fund for a stand-by agreement with Moldova effective 1
January and for a credit to enable Moldova to purchase feed grain
to offset crop losses caused by drought.  (Vladimir Socor, RFE/RL,
Inc.)

MOLDOVAN SOCIAL-DEMOCRATS ON NEED TO BUTTRESS INDEPENDENT
STATEHOOD.  At a consultative meeting with President Mircea Snegur
on 29 September, the leaders of Moldova's Social- Democrat Party
said that the opposition Popular Front's campaign for unification
with Romania risks causing a civil war in Moldova, Moldovapres and
ITAR-TASS reported.  The Social-Democrats agreed with Snegur on
the need to "buttress Moldovan independence" and develop Moldova
as "a state with the full attributes of sovereignty now and in the
future." The Social-Democrats also reserved the right to criticize
the Snegur administration for any policy errors.  (Vladimir Socor,
RFE/RL, Inc.)

                    CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPE

EXPERTS PREDICT MASSIVE DEATHS IN BOSNIA THIS WINTER.  The New
York Times on 30 September says that American analysts foresee at
least 150,000 deaths from hunger and exposure in the embattled
republic unless massive relief operations come into effect, while
UN sources predict up to 400,000 deaths in a worst-case scenario.
Winter usually arrives in October and is harsh in what even in
peacetime was one of the former Yugoslavia's poorer regions.  The
BBC's "Europe Today" program said that relief flights to Sarajevo
are likely to resume this week as a result of special envoys Cyrus
Vance and Lord Owen having "moved heaven and earth" to persuade
Washington in particular of the urgent necessity to do so.
Finally, it appears that UN representatives have convinced
Croatian officials to work to prevent a planned march by Croatian
refugees to return to their homes in Serb-controlled areas near
the Hungarian border.  (Patrick Moore, RFE/RL, Inc.)

BOSNIAN SERBS REJECT MASSACRE ALLEGATIONS.  Radio Serbia reports
on 29 September that Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic has
rejected US State Department allegations that Serb forces
massacred 3,000 Bosnian Muslims in a detention camp near the town
of Brcko. Karadzic said the US had been "duped by unsubstantiated
Muslim propaganda" and challenged US President George Bush to
produce the evidence. Karadzic added that if Bush can prove the
massacre took place, he will help arrest the perpetrators and hand
them over for trial.  Serb officials in Brcko also denied the US
claims and invited representatives of any international commission
to visit the town as soon as possible.  Serb officials added that
in the Brcko area some 1,500 Serbs are being held captive by
Muslims.  France has officially requested the UN and EC
immediately to open an investigation. (Milan Andrejevich, RFE/RL,
Inc.)

ALBANIA BLAMES SERBS FOR YUGOSLAV CONFLICT.  Addressing the UN
General Assembly in New York, Albanian Prime Minister Alexander
Meksi singled out "malicious Serbian nationalism" as responsible
for the failure to resolve the conflict in the former Yugoslavia,
RTR and Western agencies report. Albania is particularly concerned
that the fighting could spill over into the Serbian province of
Kosovo, which is 90% ethnic Albanian, and is similarly concerned
about the fate of the large number of ethnic Albanians in the now
independent ex-Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.  (Charles Trumbull,
RFE/RL, Inc.)

CZECHOSLOVAK PARLIAMENT DEBATES SPLIT. On 29 September 1992, the
Federal Assembly began debating a draft law on possible modes of
division of the Czechoslovak federation.  The law, based on
political agreements between Czech Prime Minister Vaclav Klaus and
Slovak Prime Minister Vladimir Meciar, provides for four different
ways of dissolving the federation: a referendum, a Federal
Assembly declaration, an agreement of republican parliaments, and
a secession by one republic. CSTK reports that virtually all
opposition deputies speaking on 29 September criticized the law
and called for a referendum on the split.  The debate was
adjourned and will continue on the 30th. (Jiri Pehe, RFE/RL, Inc.)

HUNGARIAN PARLIAMENT DEBATES MINORITIES LAW.  According to MTI,
Parliament began discussion of the long awaited law on minorities
on 29 September. The text was prepared in close cooperation with
minority leaders, and its codification took much longer than
expected.  The intention of the law is to stop assimilation of
minorities by assuring them collective minority rights and
parliamentary representation.  In the draft law under debate in
Budapest, members of minority groups would also retain a number of
individual rights. Collective rights did not figure in the
post-World War II treaties, but Hungary has brought the idea up on
a number of occasions since.  Under this concept, an official
representative body would be given legal status to pursue the
interests of an ethic or national group. (Judith Pataki, RFE/RL,
Inc.)

HUNGARIAN-SLOVAK CONTACTS.  Hungarian Prime Minister Jozsef Antall
received a delegation of the ethnic Hungarian parties represented
in the Slovak parliament, led by Coexistence Chairman Miklos
Duray, MTI reported on 29 September.  The two sides agreed on the
need for good relations between Hungary and an independent
Slovakia and for a mutually acceptable solution to the
disagreements over the Gabcikovo-Nagymaros hydroelectric project
and the sections of the Slovak constitution concerning national
minorities.  The same day a delegation of the opposition Alliance
of Young Democrats (FIDESZ) left Budapest for Bratislava for talks
with Slovak Foreign Minister Milan Knazko and other officials and
with representatives of Slovakia's Hungarian minority. The FIDESZ
delegation continues on to Prague for talks with Czech officials.
(Alfred Reisch, RFE/RL, Inc.)

TURKEY RESTRICTS VISITORS FROM BULGARIA. Bulgarian-Turkish
relations received a potential setback on 29 September when Turkey
unilaterally imposed restrictions on Bulgarian citizens seeking to
enter Turkey.  The move is intended to reduce the number of
Bulgarian Turks leaving Bulgaria in search of better job
prospects.  The Bulgarian Foreign Ministry indicated that no
advanced warning was given and is seeking clarification. Effective
immediately, Bulgarian citizens wishing to enter Turkey must
demonstrate that they have at least $70 for each day of their
stay, or $30 if they are part of an organized tourist group. Those
visiting relatives must pledge to return to Bulgaria.  Some
300-350,000 Bulgarian Turks fled to Turkey in 1989 as a result of
a Bulgarian assimilation policy. While perhaps as many as half
later returned, those remaining in Turkey burdening an economy
beset by inflation and high unemployment.  In a new wave an
estimated 40,000 have entered Turkey using tourist visas and have
failed to return to Bulgaria.  (Duncan Perry, RFE/RL, Inc.)

CONSTANTINESCU TO FIGHT ON. Emil Constantinescu, the presidential
candidate of the centrist Democratic Convention, vowed to continue
his fight for the Romanian presidency despite his clear
second-place position. Constantinescu urged all democratic forces
to block Ion Iliescu's reelection in the 11 October runoff. He
also warned that the parties supporting Iliescu might join into a
dominant political force powerful enough to block moves toward
free market reforms. Meanwhile, the vote counting is moving
forward quickly, and final results are expected much earlier than
originally planned.  The latest partial results from 29 September
(9:00 p.m.) are based on complete counts from 92% of all stations.
They show Iliescu leading with 47.6%, followed by Constantinescu
with 30.6% of the votes. (Dan Ionescu, RFE/RL, Inc.)

ILIESCU AIDE CALLS FOR GRAND COALITION. On 29 September Adrian
Nastase, Romanian foreign minister and top Iliescu aide, called
for a broad-based government coalition to include reformists from
the rival National Salvation Front and the Democratic Convention.
Nastase, who is widely tipped as Iliescu's choice to lead the
future cabinet, told journalists that the Democratic National
Salvation Front (DNSF) wants "national reconciliation." Latest
figures released by Romania's National Statistics Board show the
DNSF leading in the legislative elections with 28.6% for the
Senate and 27.7% for the Chamber of Deputies.  Nastase was quoted
as saying that "we shall be looking for a government formula that
will not handicap Romania." He was reacting to opposition fears
that a possible coalition of the DNSF, the revived communists, and
the nationalists would polarize the country and harm Romania's
image in the West. (Dan Ionescu, RFE/RL, Inc.)

HOUSE VOTES ON ROMANIA'S MFN STATUS. The US House of
Representatives is expected to vote on 30 September on whether to
restore Romania's most-favored nation trade status, an RFE/RL
correspondent in Washington says.  Restoration had been postponed
because members of the Congress wanted to see the results of the
Romanian elections.  On 29 September Assistant Secretary of State
Thomas Niles said that the elections appeared to have been
conducted freely and fairly.  Romania's opposition fears that
restoration of MFN status now might send the wrong signal, and
influence both the presidential runoff and the building of a
coalition government.  (Dan Ionescu, RFE/RL, Inc.)

POLISH ECONOMIC PLANS. The government met a legal deadline by
submitting its draft economic program for 1993 to the parliament
on 30 September. The program's central aim is to open a period of
sustained economic growth. Priorities are promoting the private
sector, defending fiscal stability, and reducing interest rates.
Half of any increase in GDP is earmarked for investment spending.
According to Polish TV, the final draft of the economic program
rejected earlier proposals to tax interest income and accelerate
the zloty's devaluation. Meeting in closed session, the cabinet
also agreed to ask the parliament to increase the 1992 budget
deficit ceiling from just over 65 to 80-82 trillion zloty.  Deputy
Prime Minister Henryk Goryszewski said that across-the-board
spending cuts are necessary, but none of them will be drastic.
(Louisa Vinton, RFE/RL, Inc.)

POLAND'S COALITION PARTNERS BICKER. Any final decision on the
shape of the revised 1992 budget was put off pending a "political
meeting" of the government coalition parties on 30 September. The
coalition partners failed on 29 September to agree on a common
assessment of Jan Krzysztof Bielecki's 1991 government, the
subject of an upcoming Sejm vote. This is a sensitive topic, as
Bielecki and some of his ministers serve in the current cabinet.
Rivalry over ministerial posts is also fraying tempers, as
ideological conflicts emerge between the two main coalition
partners, the liberal UD and the conservative ZChN.  Deputy Prime
Minister Henryk Goryszewski (ZChN) recently demanded the removal
of a "proabortion" deputy health minister (UD), while several ZChN
deputies called for the ouster of the Civil Rights Spokesman (UD)
because of his legal challenges to religious education in schools.
Prime Minister Hanna Suchocka admitted to Radio Z on 29 September
that she had also faced pressure over appointments from her own
party, the UD, but that the coalition was functioning adequately.
(Louisa Vinton, RFE/RL, Inc.)

DUTCH PRIME MINISTER LAUDS POLISH REFORMS. Dutch Prime Minister
Ruud Lubbers praised the Polish government's commitment to
economic reform at the start of a two-day visit to Poland. Lubbers
held talks with Prime Minister Hanna Suchocka on 29 September and
is to meet with President Lech Walesa on 30 September.  Lubbers
pledged to encourage increased Dutch investment in Poland.
According to PAP, he added that "it is better to export Dutch
capital to Poland than to import Polish labor to Holland." He
predicted that the Dutch parliament will ratify Poland's
association agreement with the EC by year's end. The EC's internal
problems will not mean "closing the community" to new members, he
said, but full integration will have to wait until EC members
settle differences over the pace of unification. (Louisa Vinton,
RFE/RL, Inc.)

RUSSIA WARNS BALTS AGAINST "ETHNIC CLEANSING." Russia's delegation
to the UN General Assembly on 29 September warned Estonia and
Latvia against pursuing a policy of "ethnic cleansing," BNS
reports.  Upon returning to Moscow from New York, Russian Foreign
Ministry press spokesman Sergei Yastrzhembsky told reporters that
his government is concerned about policies toward non-Balts in
Estonia and Latvia that could lead those two states "to slide down
the slope to the practice of ethnic cleansing." Last spring and
summer, the Russian Foreign Ministry used the term "apartheid" to
describe the Baltic stance toward nonlocal ethnics.  The same day
Russian Prime Minister Egor Gaidar told Interfax that the question
of sanctions against the Baltic States is to be resolved "either
tomorrow or the day after tomorrow." He added that Russian policy
toward these states will be conducted in light of their success in
finding solutions to their "human rights problems." (Riina Kionka
& Dzintra Bungs, RFE/RL, Inc.)

LITHUANIAN-POLISH MILITARY TALKS.  On 29 September Lithuanian
National Defense Minister Audrius Butkevicius began an official
three-day visit to Poland at the invitation of his Polish
counterpart Janusz Onyszkiewicz, Radio Lithuania reports.  The two
discussed the formation of joint work groups to deal with military
problems and creating greater mutual cooperation. Butkevicius also
held talks with National Security Bureau head Jerzy Milewski and
placed a wreath at the monument in Gruenwald, commemorating the
1410 Lithuanian-Polish victory over the Teutonic knights. On 30
September he will visit Cracow.  (Saulius Girnius, RFE/RL, Inc.)

WORK OF LATVIAN GOVERNMENT TO BE REASSESSED. Diena reported on 29
September that the work of the government will probably be
reassessed by the Supreme Council the week of 5 October. The
legislature has asked each minister to submit for evaluation a
detailed report of his performance.  Minister of State Janis
Dinevics said that he does not rule out the possibility that the
legislators might ask for the resignation of some members of the
government. The day before Diena reported that Supreme Council
Deputy Janis Kinna of the Farmers Union also supports the notion
of reevaluation of the government's performance, but neither his
party, nor three others--the Latvian Social Democratic Workers
Party, the Liberal Democratic Party, and the People's Party--are
calling for a resignation of the government at this time.
(Dzintra Bungs, RFE/RL, Inc.)

[As of 1200 CET]
Compiled  by Hal Kosiba & Charles Trumbull
The RFE/RL Daily Report is produced by the RFE/RL Research
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Newsgroups: soc.culture.romanian