Bulgarian deputy prime minister Rumen Gechev told a Moscowpress conference June 26 that his country could not afford the$20 billion it would cost to shift to NATO standards and thuswould restore its long-standing military ties with Russia andRussian military industry, Interfax reported. In other comments,Gechev... MORE

A group of Udmurtsin the central Russian city of Izhevsk picketed the city governmentheadquarters and then beat up the mayor because he had raisedtheir taxes in order to pay for the construction of a dacha, Kommersant-Dailysaid June 28. Such incidents reflect the rise in social... MORE

Having blamedWesterner governments for starting all ethnic conflicts on theterritory of the former Soviet Union, Russian nationalist VladimirZhirinovsky told a press conference that if his party comes topower, Moscow will turn the tables on the West and ignite ethnicstrife throughout Europe, Moscow radio reported June... MORE

Russian deputy foreign minister Sergei Krylov said that Moscowwould never recognize its 1920 Tartu Treaty as the basis of itsrelations with Estonia or as the defining document on the Russian-Estonianborder, BNS reported June 27. Tallinn has insisted on recognitionof the treaty--even if not on the... MORE

Latvianprime minister Maris Gailis said that the Council of Europe mustnot lower its standards on human rights in order to admit anycountry, including Russia, BNS reported June 28. Gailis also suggestedat a Council meeting that Russia should fulfill its commitmentsto Riga on the repatriation from... MORE

In its monthly survey of movesagainst the media in CIS states, Obshchaya gazeta (no.24) said that the Belarusian authorities had resumed jamming ofRadio Liberty. Western radio stations were jammed regularly duringthe Soviet era, but this is one of the few reports that this practicehas been... MORE

President LeonidKuchma said that his government would start to reinflate the economyto push growth and thus would not meet IMF-mandated targets forinflation next year, Kiev radio reported. Although inflation hasfallen dramatically in Ukraine in the last six months, so hasproduction and employment. In a related... MORE

The Crimean Tatar parliament has calledoff plans to hold a July 1 rally as part of an effort to calmtensions in the region, Interfax reported June 28. Moscow radioreported that Russians in the region say the Crimean Tatars areengaging in "terrorism" and that Kiev must... MORE

Former Ukrainian presidentLeonid Kravchuk told Narodnaya armiya June 22 that Russianpresident Yeltsin had told him at one of their meetings that "WhileCrimea is able to exist without Russia, Russia cannot exist withoutCrimea." Kravchuk suggested that Russia would continue topress its demands for the region regardless... MORE

Ata June 28 Moscow summit meeting with Moldovan President MirceaSnegur, Boris Yeltsin brushed aside the provisions of the 1994agreement between the two sides setting a three year term forwithdrawal and said that "the time period of the troops'stationing may be revised at any time." The... MORE