The Estonianparliament, which will convene in extraordinary session August1-2, may declare August 20 a national holiday, BNS reported July18. On August 20, 1991, in the midst of the attempted coup inMoscow, Estonia declared the reestablishment of its independenceas a state. Latvian Government Faces Parliamentary Opposition... MORE

The Latvian parliament has refused to pass three newbanking laws which the government says are required to get additionalfunding from international financial institutions for the purposeof reimbursing depositors for losses suffered in the Baltija Bankfailure, BNS reported July 18. This decision suggests that thebanking crisis... MORE

The Russian justice ministryhas granted official registration to an association of veteransof special forces units in the Russian and Soviet military, Izvestiyareported July 18. The new group, called "Rosa,"will try to provide assistance to the veterans and to keep themfrom going to work for criminal... MORE

Unless theRussian government provides them with their back pay within tendays--and many miners have not been paid since January--workersat the coal mines in the Russian Far East say they will strike,shutting down one of the country's major sources of coal, Russianradio reported July 18. A... MORE

Moscow is considering giving Daghestanthe status of a free economic zone, Segodnya reported July18, even though many Russian finance ministry officials believesuch a step would be a mistake. One reason for this step may beto improve the economic situation in a region which neighborsChechnya and... MORE

In 1994,the Russian authorities established a central forensic instituteto help fight crime, but that body is now virtually closed asa result of administrative inefficiency and the government's failureto fund it, Moskovsky komsomolets reported July 18. Alcohol-Related Deaths Rise 22 Percent.

55,000 Russiansdied from alcoholism in 1994, a 22 percent increase over the yearbefore, Moskovsky komsomolets reported July 15.

Several Moscow banks--includingthe Imperial Bank which has links to Premier Viktor Chernomyrdin--areclosely tied to the international drug trade including the Columbiancartel, the anti-Western and neo-imperial paper Zavtra(no. 26) has charged. Moscow Fears Finno-Ugric Subversion.

Federal Security Serviceofficials in Tyumen oblast told Krasnaya zvezda July 18that the secret services of Estonia, Finland and Hungary are engagingin espionage there, recruiting Gazprom employees, and encouragingseparatist movements among their linguistic cousins, the Finno-Ugricpeoples of the Russian north. This claim appears to be Moscow'sreaction... MORE

In an interview in this week's Argumenty i fakty, humanrights activist Sergei Kovalev said that the Russian SecurityCouncil had led the country into the Chechen war and should bedisbanded before it can do any more damage to the country. Moscow Brings Charges Against Central Paper.