The Federal Security Service sent so many warnings to local officials about possible Chechen terrorist attacks that no one paid any attention to the warnings, Obshchaya gazeta ( no. 25) reported. But journalists at the paper also discovered that many local officials had never seen... MORE

Because of the lack of availability of alternative means of birth control, Russian women continued to lead the world in the number of per-capita abortions, Interfax reported June 22. The 3.5 million abortions last year works out to 98 abortions per 1,000 women or 225... MORE

Latvian officials sharply criticized Estonia's decision to mark the border between the two countries unilaterally, and called for international mediation, BNS reported June 22. Meanwhile, Estonian and Lithuanian officials met to try to resolve the "air war" between the two countries which began when Vilnius... MORE

264,591 non-citizens have applied for residence permits in Estonia far in advance of the July 12 deadline, Estonian officials told BNS June 22. Tallinn hopes that another 40,000 of the remaining 140,000 aliens will register before that date. But Estonian officials are also concerned about... MORE

Because of the consequences of the failure of the Baltija Bank, Latvia has been unable to sell all the treasury bills it uses to raise money, BNS reported June 22. The same day, the Latvian Central Bank asked the constitutional court to declare the Baltija... MORE

The call by Lithuanian prime minister Adolphs Slezevicius to mark the anniversary of the June 23, 1941, Lithuanian uprising against Soviet occupiers has drawn fire from Jewish groups, which point out that many of those involved in the uprising later participated in the holocaust, BNS... MORE

A special Lithuanian government commission has documented Russian violations of Lithuanian airspace, BNS reported June 22. Between April 1992 and May 1995, foreign--and overwhelmingly Russian--planes violated the country's airspace 5339 times. 3018 of these violations came from flights originating in Kaliningrad. The commission also noted... MORE

Estonian President Lennart Meri promoted Alexander Einseln to the rank of lieutenant general June 22, BNS reported. Meri said that he took this step to honor the impressive work done by the Estonian-American officer who returned to Estonia to command that country's defense forces. Lukashenko... MORE

During a visit by the Chinese premier to Minsk, Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko sharply criticized Beijing for its restrictive trade practices, even as he called on China to purchase more Belarusian goods, Russian radio reported June 22. While in Minsk, Li Peng signed an agreement... MORE

In yet another effort to diversify his country's external relations, Belarusian foreign minister Uladzimir Senka expressed Minsk's regret over its own expulsion of two Turkish diplomats for alleged espionage activities. On June 21, a spokesman for the Turkish foreign ministry welcomed Senka's statement to the... MORE