Parliament chairman Vytautas Landsbergis and other officials of the governing Fatherland Union support a proposal to create a radio station in Lithuania which would broadcast to Belarus. Parliamentary deputy Rimantas Pleikys, who was Communications Minister until 1998, is the author of the plan and has... MORE

According to the CIS Executive Secretariat, the share of intra-CIS trade in the total foreign trade of CIS countries dropped from 69 percent in 1992 to 33 percent in 1997 (full data for 1998 are not yet available). The shrinkage continued even after the 1994... MORE

The wave of violence in the North Caucasus continued yesterday when unidentified gunmen ambushed a police patrol in the republic of Ingushetia, killing four officers and wounding an undetermined number of others. Ingush law enforcement officials claimed that the attackers, reportedly ten of them, fled... MORE

In the meantime, a recent Russian government action has raised the hackles of some human rights activists. A government resolution, which went into effect on January 1, establishes a procedure to provide the Interior Ministry with the fingerprints of millions of citizens whose prints were... MORE

Russian Justice Minister Pavel Krasheninnikov has approved the main provisions of the government's draft federal program to counter political and religious extremism during the period 1999-2000. Last Wednesday (December 30), President Boris Yeltsin assigned Prime Minister Yevgeny Primakov and the government's "power" ministers--meaning the heads... MORE

Reports of that sort appear to have been at least partly responsible for a renewed push by the Clinton administration to compel the Kremlin to take more forceful measures aimed at stemming leaks of military technology. On December 9 U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright... MORE

On January 4 a key Russian lawmaker appeared to confirm that consideration of the START II strategic arms treaty has indeed been placed on the Russian State Duma's agenda for its upcoming spring session. Deputy Duma Speaker Vladimir Ryzhkov warned, however, that sentiment within the... MORE

In an apparent effort to address America's continuing concerns, Russian President Boris Yeltsin has reportedly moved to tighten government controls over the export of sensitive Russian military technologies. According to the Kremlin press service, Yeltsin has signed two decrees which amend and broaden the list... MORE

Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze yesterday declared his property and income in an interview on national radio. He stated that he owns substantial bank savings in Western currencies from lecture fees, interview honoraria and international awards for statesmanship. For the most part these funds date back... MORE

Latvia's ministers of defense and finance, Girts Kristovskis and Ivars Godmanis, were scheduled to have discussed yesterday the possibility of marginally increasing the country's 1999 defense allocations, which have been limited to a mere 0.9 percent of the projected GDP. Prime Minister Vilis Kristopans, who... MORE