ADAMKUS MEETS THE POPE.

Lithuanian President Valdas Adamkus was received yesterday by Pope John Paul II in the Vatican library for an official audience which was followed by a tete-a-tete meeting. Adamkus’ visit coincided with the celebration of the Pope’s seventy-eighth birthday. The Pope and the president discussed Lithuanian affairs, church issues and relations between Lithuania and “neighboring countries.” Adamkus invited John Paul II to pay a visit to Lithuania. (BNS, May 18)

Adamkus’ two-day visit to the Vatican and Italy is his first official one to the West since his election in January as president of overwhelmingly Catholic Lithuania. The country is developing a special relationship with neighboring Poland, the Pope’s homeland.

LUKASHENKA’S SELECTIVE VIEW OF “UNITY” WITH RUSSIA.