MOVEMENT AND STASIS IN MOLDOVA.

On July 5, the RussianFederation Council rejected a Duma bill that would have blockedthe restructuring and withdrawal of the 14th Army from Moldova’sTransdniestr region until a political agreement was reached betweenMoscow and Chisinau, Interfax reported. Council members said thatthey had done so to keep Russia in conformance with its internationalagreements. But on the same day, an unnamed "senior Russianforeign ministry official" told the Russian news servicethat Chisinau would have to meet two conditions for the withdrawalof Russian forces: agreeing to help provide housing for Russianofficers and agreeing to establish joint Russian-Moldovan or Transdniestriancompanies to make use of the army’s immovable assets. In a relatedmove, a group of Russian generals arrived in the region to superviseremoving the moveable assets of Russian forces, defense ministerPavel Grachev said in widely reported remarks. Meanwhile, Moldovanpresident Mircea Snegur and Transdniestr leader Igor Smirnov metand signed accords rejecting the use of force or membership byeither in any bloc hostile to the other, allowing for the jointuse of Moldovan and Transdniestrian currency, and calling on Ukraineto participate in future talks about the region.

Georgia Sets Elections.