NEWSBRIEFS (06/01/97)

NEWSBRIEFS

Five-country summit held in Estonia

TALLINN - Following their summit meeting in the Estonian capital on May 27, the presidents of Ukraine, Poland and the three Baltic states issued a joint statement expressing their approval of the NATO-Russia Founding Act, signed in Paris earlier the same day, BNS reported. The five leaders stressed that NATO "should remain open" to all countries ready and able to join and that each state has the right to choose the best way to ensure its own security. They also called for the "further intensification of north-south European economic integration" through improved cooperation between regional organizations. During their meeting, the five presidents discussed the situation in Belarus, which, they said, "gives cause for concern." They agreed to "get together with Belarus to seek a solution to the problem." (RFE/RL Newsline)

Ukraine, Russia business bigs convene

KYIV - President Leonid Kuchma met the heads of the Russian and Ukrainian Unions of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs here on May 23 to hear their report on a meeting of their organizations in Kharkiv, UNIAN reported. Anatolii Kinakh from the Ukrainian side and Arkadii Volskyi of the Russian association said that during the Kharkiv session their organizations had sought to pave the way for Russian President Boris Yeltsin's visit to Kyiv (scheduled to begin on May 30). They said there is an enormous need for the Ukrainian and Russian heads of state to sign a basic intergovernmental free trade agreement providing equal duty and taxation levels for mutual exports. Messrs. Kinakh and Volskyi also informed Mr. Kuchma about a joint statement they had released appealing for cooperation in dealing with the aftermath of the Chornobyl catastrophe, ensuring Ukrainian-Russian energy sector cooperation, promoting mutual scientific research and jointly developing domestic consumer markets. At the Kharkiv meeting, it was resolved that Ukraine and Russia's potential for economic cooperation and mutual trade is not being realized, especially because existing free trade agreements are not being fully exploited. Participants in the meeting said economic cooperation should be based on agreement for coordinated economic reforms and that the governments in Kyiv and Moscow should promote mutual economic trust. Thus, measures are needed to create transnational economic structures and to bring legal codes into accord. It was decided that military exports outside the CIS hold good potential and that Ukraine and Russia should not compete and thereby weaken each other in pursuing foreign arms deals. (Eastern Economist)

Georgia and Ukraine firm up military ties

TBILISI - Georgian Defense Minister Vardiko Nadibaidze and his Ukrainian counterpart Col. Gen. Oleksander Kuzmuk signed six agreements on military cooperation, ITAR-TASS and BS-Press reported on May 27. The accords cover collaboration between the two countries' air forces and air defense systems, and the training of Georgian military personnel in Ukraine. Col. Gen. Kuzmuk reiterated that Ukraine supports Georgia's claim to a part of the Black Sea Fleet. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Yeltsin, Lukashenka sign union charter

MOSCOW - Russian President Boris Yeltsin and his Belarusian counterpart Alyaksandr Lukashenka have signed a charter on the Russian-Belarusian Union, local media reported on May 23. Messrs. Yeltsin and Lukashenka resolved the last outstanding differences over the terms of the charter in negotiations on May 22. The text of the charter has not been released, but according to the RFE/RL Moscow Bureau, it stipulates that decisions of the Russian-Belarusian Supreme Council must be signed by both presidents. A few hours before the signing, Mr. Lukashenka told Ekho Moskvy that he and Mr. Yeltsin agreed to remove a Russian-proposed clause under which the ultimate aim of the union of Russia and Belarus would have been to form a single federation. Mr. Lukashenka also said the charter will not move Russian-Belarusian integration further but "will confirm de jure what has existed de facto for quite a while." (RFE/RL Newsline)

Moroz sues Lazarenko over mandate

KYIV - Verkhovna Rada Chairman Oleksander Moroz has filed suit against Prime Minister Pavlo Lazarenko for retaining his parliamentary mandate while serving as head of the government, ITAR-TASS reported on May 23. Some 41 national deputies urged Mr. Moroz to take legal action following a ruling last week by the Constitutional Court that allowed Mr. Lazarenko to hold onto his seat in the Verkhovna Rada. The court ruled that national deputies cannot hold government positions but permitted lawmakers who were elected before June 1995 (prior to adoption of the present Constitution) and held state office continuously before that date to keep both. Mr. Moroz alleges Mr. Lazarenko does not qualify, because he was not appointed to a government position until July 1995, one month after the cutoff date. (RFE/RL Newsline)

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