BELARUSIAN ARMY LAUNCHES REFORMS.

The Belarusian army will be reduced in size and brought into conformity with both NATO and CIS standards, Academician Yevgeny Babosov told Znamya yunosti May 12. Babosov heads the working group that is in charge of the reforms. His group faces some enormous challenges: officers in the Belarusian army are deeply suspicious of reformist elements in the government. A poll published by the republic’s military paper April 28 showed that half of all officers blame their current plight on former Belarusian president Stanislav Shushkevich, and almost a third think that real power in the republic is in the hands of the mafia.

Moscow Retreats On Caspian Division.