NORWAY AND RUSSIA MOVE PAST SPY SCANDAL.

Russian Foreign Minister Yevgeny Primakov and his Norwegian counterpart Knut Vollebaek announced in Bonn yesterday that their two countries had put the recent spy scandal behind them. (Russian agencies, March 25) On March 12, the Norwegian government declared five Russian diplomats persona non grata for various espionage activities. Norwegian Prime Minister Kjell Magne Bondevik announced simultaneously that he would cancel a visit to Russia, scheduled to begin only a few days later, as a result of the spy scandal. Moscow retaliated, and on March 17, expelled two Norwegian diplomats from Russia. (See Monitor, March 13, 18-19) There had been rumors at the time that Moscow might take additional actions against Norwegian diplomatic personnel in Russia, but that will apparently not be the case. The two foreign ministers said yesterday that they hoped a visit to Russia by Norway’s King Harald, scheduled for May, would provide a fresh boost to bilateral relations.

Chechen Parliament Renames Republic and Its Capital.