TRIBUTES TO WALESA.

Commenting on the change of presidency in Poland, Ukrainian foreign minister Hennady Udovenko said that "Ukraine must express gratitude to outgoing president Lech Walesa for all he has done to advance comprehension, especially in the West, of the fact that Ukraine is an independent state." Lithuanian president Algirdas Brazauskas said on radio that "Walesa’s role in bringing about change throughout Central and Eastern Europe will not be forgotten," and that Poland and Lithuania shared the same goal of membership in the EU and NATO. (2) Such statements illustrate the post-Soviet sea change in the region’s political mentalities, away from the legacy of Ukraine’s and Lithuania’s ethnic, social, and territorial conflicts with Poland.

Eleven Killed in Russian Gang Shoot-out.