MOSCOW UNDER STRESS AFTER ESTONIAN COMMENT.

Russia’s Foreign Ministry yesterday condemned Estonian Foreign Minister Toomas Ilves’ remark that Russia displays the syndrome of “post-colonial stress.” Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Vladimir Rakhmanin described Ilves’ remark as “rude” and “abusive” and “full of open hostility toward Russia.” Ilves was discussing Russian-Estonian relations in an interview with the Canadian newspaper Ottawa Citizen, in which he also remarked that Estonia’s per capita GDP was triple that of Russia; and that Estonia had succeeded in carrying out difficult market reforms, while Russia had not. Rakhmanin did not comment on these latter remarks by Ilves. (BNS, Itar-Tass and other Russian agencies, June 16)

LAST NATIVE-LANGUAGE LYCEUM CLOSES IN MINSK.