A mass rally by Crimean Tatars in Simferopol yesterday capped the commemoration of the fifty-five years since the deportation of Tatars by the Soviet authorities. An estimated 40,000 Tatars converged from seven directions on the peninsula's capital, many of them having marched on foot for... MORE

The Lithuanian parliament yesterday approved President Valdas Adamkus' nomination of Rolandas Paksas as prime ministerial candidate by an overwhelming margin. Yesterday was the constitutionally mandated deadline for Adamkus to present the nomination. Parliament Chairman Vytautas Landsbergis played a decisive role in securing approval of the... MORE

On a day of intense political maneuvering between Russia and the United States over Kosovo, some seven hours of talks apparently failed to produce a diplomatic breakthrough. Yesterday's Helsinki talks came amid signs of a split in NATO over the possible use of ground troops... MORE

Following talks with EU foreign ministers in Brussels on May 17, Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov had also highlighted the issue of bringing an end to the NATO air offensive against Belgrade. Those talks ended unsuccessfully. Ivanov also admitted, however, that Moscow intended to continue... MORE

Prime Minister Sergei Stepashin employed sticks as well as carrots in his meeting yesterday with the Duma leaders, warning that if the Duma fails to pass measures already introduced by Yevgeny Primakov's government aimed at meeting International Monetary Fund conditionalities, the new government will ask... MORE

Yesterday, an analysis by the Interfax news agency stated that President Boris Yeltsin really wanted Viktor Chernomyrdin, his special envoy on the Balkans crisis and a former prime minister, to again head the Russian cabinet. In this "version," the Kremlin was deliberately trying to undermine... MORE

The State Duma approved Sergei Stepashin as Russian prime minister today by a vote of 293 to 55, with 14 abstentions. President Boris Yeltsin, who was back at the Kremlin after rumors yesterday that he had bronchitis (which the Kremlin denied), immediately signed a corresponding... MORE

Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbaev has also decreed the creation of a special interministerial working group, mandated to examine "specific" complaints, requests and proposals by foreign investors and to respond with "corrective" actions. The presidential decree cited the "need to improve the investment climate in Kazakhstan... MORE

At President Imomali Rahmonov's initiative, the parliament of Tajikistan has approved a general amnesty for fighters of the opposition forces. Eligible for this amnesty are the approximately 5,300 to 5,500 fighters who have registered with government authorities and assembled at predesignated sites, awaiting demobilization or... MORE

President Nursultan Nazarbaev of Kazakhstan has issued a decree setting up an Agency for the Protection of State Secrets. The agency will be subordinated directly to the president. Its creation and operation are partly based on the law on the protection of state secrets, which... MORE