PresidentAleksandr Lukashenko said on Minsk television August 26 that "thereare no objective factors against Belarus-Russia unification"and blamed "hysterical politicians" for preventing it.Touting Belarus as a potential forward base for Russia's armedforces, Lukashenko called for redeployment of those forces, includingtank divisions withdrawn from Germany, to rent-... MORE

Russia'sMaster Bank wants to purchase the Bauskas Bank, BNS reported August25. Such a purchase would give Moscow additional leverage in Riga,the news service pointed out. Vilnius Alarmed by Latest Bombing of Newspaper.

YoungRussians believe that there is a 40 percent probability that theirchildren will grow up to become criminals, a 28 percent probabilitythat they will become drug addicts, and a 29 percent probabilitythat they will become alcoholics, according to a poll widely reportedby the Russian media August... MORE

The leadersof all three Baltic countries reacted angrily to suggestions byGerman media and German defense minister Volker Ruehe that Estonia,Latvia and Lithuania would not get into the Western defense allianceany time soon, BNS reported August 26. Estonian President LennartMeri spoke for all of them when... MORE

Approximately 80 percent of all Russian entrepreneurs report thatRussian bureaucrats have tried to extort money from them in returnfor granting licenses and other government benefits, Moscow'sEcho radio reported August 26. Russians Expect Their Children to Become Criminals.

Thenewly elected governor of Sverdlovsk Eduard Rossel told Itar-TassAugust 26 that he would press for more economic independence forhis region but would not resume his push for an independent UralsRepublic. He indicated that he had demanded such a republic earlieronly because the then-operative Russian constitution... MORE

RussianOrthodox Patriarch Aleksii II told Russian radio August 27 thatany efforts by the Afghan opposition group Taleban to force capturedRussian crewmen to convert to Islam could end the "confessionalcoexistence" that now exists in Russia and have a negativeimpact on Russia's Muslims. The current crisis began... MORE

Yeltsin'schief of staff Sergei Filatov and the head of the presidentialcommission on political repressions, Aleksandr Yakovlev, willhave to pay for their own protection in the future, Moscow's Echoradio reported August 26. The two men lost their government guardsas part of a cost-cutting measure. Russian Teachers... MORE

More than 10percent of the teachers in Moscow will not show up in the classroomthis fall because of low wages, Russian television reported August27. This report came as Yeltsin announced salary increases forgovernment officials. Moscow May Move Russians to China Border Region.

SeniorRussian officials discussed on August 24 the possibility of resettlingethnic Russians to regions along the Chinese border in order tosolidify Moscow's control there, Russian television reported.The ministerial level meeting went beyond a discussion of thisissue and proposed building special housing for them and creatingan interdepartmental... MORE