Latest Monitor Articles
RUSSIA STUBBORN ON MOLDOVA.
Lt. General Valery Yevnevich, commander of Russia's forces in Moldova yesterday renewed the demand that Moldova grant those forces a peacekeeping mandate. (Dnestrovskaya pravda, March 4, cited by Interfax). Moscow ignores its January pledge to the Council of Europe to withdraw the troops from Moldova... MORE
ESTONIA WILL FIGHT.
Colonel Johannes Kert, the new commander of Estonia's armed forces, said yesterday that Estonia would offer "total resistance" in the event of a Russian attack and that all soldiers are instructed to fight back even in the absence of specific orders. According to Kert, Estonia's... MORE
LEADING INTELLECTUAL CALLS ON YELTSIN TO REPENT.
Interviewed on Russian television, Yegor Yakovlev said he was supporting Boris YeltsinÕs bid for re-election despite the presidentÕs many faults, failings, and mistakes. Yakovlev, who played an influential role as chief editor of Moscow News in the perestroika period and now edits the newspaper Obshchaya... MORE
CHICKEN FLAP CONTINUES.
Despite intense pressure from Washington and receipt of a letter from U.S. vice president Al Gore, a Russian Agriculture Ministry official said yesterday that the ban on imports of U.S. chicken products after March 16 remains in effect. The letter, addressed to Prime Minister Viktor... MORE
RUSSIAN TROOPS TO STAY IN TAJIKISTAN.
The director of Russia's border service, General Andrei Nikolaev signed yesterday in Dushanbe a package of documents on the Russian troops' deployment in guarding the Tajik-Afghan border and the rules of Tajik conscripts' service in Russian border troops. Russia and Tajikistan are each to bear... MORE
NO MOVEMENT ON NATO.
Russian prime minister Viktor Chernomyrdin reiterated to visiting Czech foreign minister Josef Zieleniec yesterday Moscow's continued opposition to NATO enlargement. During his two-day visit Zieleniec is also to meet with his Russian counterpart, Yevgeny Primakov, and with State Duma Chairman Gennady Seleznev. (Interfax, March 4)... MORE
MOSCOW CONDEMNS BOMBING IN ISRAEL.
Russia's Foreign Ministry has condemned the March 3 terrorist bombing of a bus in Jerusalem that left 19 people dead. The ministry's statement called the attack a "criminal and senseless action by extremists" and expressed the hope that the peace process would continue. (AP, March... MORE
GOVERNMENT LAUNCHES PR CAMPAIGN.
Responding to criticism by Russian president Boris Yeltsin that the public distrusts the governmentÕs social and economic policies because it does not understand the rationale behind them, Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin is to hold weekly meetings with the press and make regular Friday television appearances.... MORE
YELTSIN LASHES WEST ON TRADE.
President Boris Yeltsin, further confirming the protectionist trend in Russia, today criticized western barriers to Russian exports of textiles and complained that the Russian market was being flooded with low-quality foreign goods. "Frequent anti-dumping measures are blocking access to European and other world markets for... MORE