Latvia's Socialist party, whose membership and electorate are mostly Russian, held a congress in Riga on May 2 to set strategy for the upcoming electoral campaign. Calling for rapid naturalization of the "Russian-speaking population," speakers defined the party's main goal as changing the Latvian government's... MORE

The appointment last week of Russian business mogul Boris Berezovsky as executive secretary of the Commonwealth of Independent States has elicited a somewhat surprising international reaction. While Berezovsky's appointment has received strong support from the leaders of other CIS countries--which unanimously approved Ukrainian President Leonid... MORE

Valery Zubov, who is facing a strong challenge from retired General Aleksandr Lebed in the second round of the gubernatorial election in Krasnoyarsk Krai, has issued an impassioned appeal for additional federal funds to pay the region's pensioners and wage arrears to defense sector workers.... MORE

Oksana Dmitrieva, an economist and member of the State Duma from the Yabloko faction, has been appointed minister of labor in the new Russian government. Dmitrieva earned widespread respect as chair of the budget subcommittee of the Duma's finance committee. (The finance committee was chaired,... MORE

Chechen and Russian law enforcement authorities joined forces to search for President Boris Yeltsin's representative to Chechnya, Valentin Vlasov, who was abducted on the border between Ingushetia and Chechnya, on May 1. The two sides are not yet agreed on which side of the border... MORE

news service reported on April 30 that Moscow is trying to win the appointment of a Russian national as a special political adviser to the United Nations inspection program in Iraq. UN diplomats said that the proposal had been made in a letter to Richard... MORE

A Russian daily reports that the country's armed forces are currently undergoing a personnel crisis that is longer and every bit as debilitating as that which until recently paralyzed the Russian government as a whole. According to Russky telegraf (April 22), the appointment of General... MORE

Nearly 200,000 people took part in demonstrations and meetings all over Russia on May 1, according to Interior Ministry estimates. All the rallies passed off peacefully. (Itar-Tass, May 1) In President Boris Yeltsin's hometown, Yekaterinburg, demonstrators called for state support for domestic manufacturers and the... MORE

The U.S. Senate voted overwhelmingly on April 30 to approve the extension of NATO membership to Poland, the Czech Republic and Hungary. The Senate also rejected two related amendments. One would have delayed admission of those three countries until they achieved membership in the European... MORE

The Tajik government this morning issued an ultimatum to opposition forces to withdraw from positions they hold in three locations: an eastern section of the capital Dushanbe, the Romit gorge some ten kilometers east of the capital, and a part of Kofarnikhon district some twenty... MORE