On February 6, Armenia's Central Electoral Commission officially called a presidential election and scheduled it for March 16. Prime Minister and Acting President Robert Kocharian has thus far deferred a decision about his candidacy, confessing some doubt about his citizenship qualifications. The constitution requires presidential... MORE

Belarusan KGB Chairman (still so titled) Uladzimir Matskevich charged over the weekend that Polish intelligence services have recently "intensified their activity in Belarus" and currently are "frantically recruiting Belarusan citizens." Speaking at a briefing, he continued by saying, "This activity has assumed proportions that clearly... MORE

Turning to the political situation in Chechnya, Aslan Maskhadov said "some so-called politicians and former field commanders," taking advantage of the economic difficulties in post-war Chechnya, are trying to destabilize the situation in the republic. (NTV, February 6; RTR, February 7) Most likely, Maskhadov was... MORE

In an interview distributed by the Kremlin yesterday, Russian President Boris Yeltsin stated that he was being "put on guard" by the recently signed U.S.-Baltic Charter, which envisages the Baltic states' possible accession to NATO. "I emphasize again that such a scenario remains unacceptable to... MORE

Speaking on Friday evening on Georgian television, Chechen President Aslan Maskhadov announced that Grozny intends to recall its representatives from the Russian capital because Moscow has not complied with the Russian-Chechen peace treaty signed last May. Maskhadov also announced that Grozny intends to cut off... MORE

Russian inflation reached a new post-reform low in January, when the year-on-year increase in the consumer price index was 10.1 percent. (Russian agencies, February 6) Nationalists Split.

Amid all the talk about the possibility of a coalition government with Communist participation, a split has appeared within the ranks of the nationalists who make up the Communists' closest parliamentary allies. One hard-line member of the Popular Power parliamentary faction has already quit the... MORE

Talks dragged on in Baghdad over the weekend as diplomatic efforts led by Russia and France failed to produce a breakthrough in the standoff between Iraq and the UN. Although he spoke again of growing "flexibility" on the part of Iraqi leaders, Russian Foreign Minister... MORE

Tatarstan's parliament is expected this week to debate a potentially explosive bill on Tatarstani citizenship. (Vechernyaya Kazan, February 4) The bill is controversial not because it would recognize the concept of republic citizenship -- this has long been a possibility, at least in theory, under... MORE

Armenia's new leaders announced yesterday that a presidential election is tentatively scheduled for March 16 in accordance with the constitution. Acting President Robert Kocharian pledged that the elections would be free and fair. Kocharian, who is widely expected to run, evidenced a reluctance to do... MORE