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<TITLE>February</TITLE>
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<CENTER><FONT FACE="Palatino"><FONT COLOR="#000000"><FONT SIZE="+4">Events
of February 1997</FONT></FONT></FONT></CENTER>
<HR WIDTH="100%">
<CENTER><FONT FACE="Palatino"><FONT COLOR="#000000"><FONT SIZE="+1">Anne
D. Baylon</FONT></FONT></FONT></CENTER>
<CENTER> </CENTER>
<CENTER><B><I><FONT FACE="Palatino"><FONT COLOR="#000000"><FONT SIZE="+1">CENTRAL
EUROPE</FONT></FONT></FONT></I></B></CENTER>
<CENTER><B><I><FONT FACE="Palatino"><FONT COLOR="#000000"><FONT SIZE="+1"> </FONT></FONT></FONT></I></B></CENTER>
<CENTER><I><FONT FACE="Palatino"><FONT COLOR="#000000"><FONT SIZE="+0">Albania</FONT></FONT></FONT></I></CENTER>
<P><FONT FACE="Palatino"><FONT COLOR="#000000"><FONT SIZE="-1"><B>Feb.
8 </B>The police block an anti-government protest in Tirana over the
collapsed pyramid schemes that have engulfed the savings of most
Albanians, beating demonstrators and detaining several opposition leaders.</FONT></FONT></FONT>
</P>
<P><FONT FACE="Palatino"><FONT COLOR="#000000"><FONT SIZE="-1"><B>Feb.
9 </B>For the 5th consecutive day, anti-government protesters clash with
police forces in the southern port of Vlore, resulting in 1 death and 40
injured people.</FONT></FONT></FONT> </P>
<P><FONT FACE="Palatino"><FONT COLOR="#000000"><FONT SIZE="-1"><B>Feb.
10 </B>For the third time in one month, prominent anti-government figures
are beaten by anonymous attackers. While violent demonstrations in Vlore
continue, Prime Minister Alexander Meksi urges Albanians not to join the
unrest that "aims at pushing Albania into economic collapse."</FONT></FONT></FONT>
</P>
<P><FONT FACE="Palatino"><FONT COLOR="#000000"><FONT SIZE="-1"><B>Feb.
11 </B>Forty-thousand angry demonstrators set Vlore's ruling Democratic
Party headquarters on fire. Prime<B> </B>Minister Meksi announces a
partial state of emergency that allows the army to be brought in to
protect Vlore and other towns.</FONT></FONT></FONT> </P>
<P><FONT FACE="Palatino"><FONT COLOR="#000000"><FONT SIZE="-1"><B>Feb.
17</B> In Vlore, 2,000 people who lost money in the pyramid schemes call
for the resignation of the Mayor and city council. Although the government
denies responsibility for the schemes, the Mayor says that he will
consider resigning if his resignation can help resolve the crisis.</FONT></FONT></FONT>
</P>
<P><FONT FACE="Palatino"><FONT COLOR="#000000"><FONT SIZE="-1"><B>Feb.
22</B> Resisting pressure to resign, President Berisha admits the
government's responsibility for the pyramid schemes but claims it should
not be blamed: "The pyramid schemes were a bitter lesson for us, but
I guarantee everything will be resolved soon."</FONT></FONT></FONT>
</P>
<P><FONT FACE="Palatino"><FONT COLOR="#000000"><FONT SIZE="-1"><B>Feb.
25</B> According to a government report, the ruling Democratic Party
accepted a $50,000 contribution from one of the failed pyramid schemes
before elections in May. The Party, which had denied taking contributions
or profiting from the schemes until now, says that it will return the
contribution.</FONT></FONT></FONT> </P>
<CENTER><I><FONT FACE="Palatino"><FONT COLOR="#000000"><FONT SIZE="+0">Bulgaria</FONT></FONT></FONT></I></CENTER>
<P><FONT FACE="Palatino"><FONT COLOR="#000000"><FONT SIZE="-1"><B>Feb.
3 </B>The ruling Socialist Party defies opposition demands of early
elections by approving a draft cabinet whose essential posts are left
unchanged. In protest, over 20,000 people take to the streets in the
capital city of Sofia.</FONT></FONT></FONT> </P>
<P><FONT FACE="Palatino"><FONT COLOR="#000000"><FONT SIZE="-1"><B>Feb.
4</B> With Bulgaria virtually paralyzed by a transportation strike
organized by the opposition, the Socialists cave in to the demands and
agree to hold general elections by April 20. But President Petar Stoyanov,
who mediated the end of the political crisis, warns the tens of thousands
of jubilant protesters that "hard times are ahead."</FONT></FONT></FONT>
</P>
<P><FONT FACE="Palatino"><FONT COLOR="#000000"><FONT SIZE="-1"><B>Feb.
10 </B>Hundreds of army officers protest in front of the President's
office in Sofia, angry that their salaries are lower than those of other
government employees. Meanwhile, Parliamentary leaders, who are intent on
accelerating privatization and eliminating corruption, work on forming a
caretaker government before the April elections.</FONT></FONT></FONT> </P>
<P><FONT FACE="Palatino"><FONT COLOR="#000000"><FONT SIZE="-1"><B>Feb.
12</B> Ending two years of economically disastrous Socialist rule,
President Stoyanov swears in a new Prime Minister, Stefen Sofiyanski, and
calls for elections to be held on April 19th.</FONT></FONT></FONT> </P>
<CENTER><B><I><FONT FACE="Palatino"><FONT COLOR="#000000"><FONT SIZE="+1">EASTERN
EUROPE</FONT></FONT></FONT></I></B></CENTER>
<CENTER><I><FONT FACE="Palatino"><FONT COLOR="#000000"><FONT SIZE="+0">Kazakstan</FONT></FONT></FONT></I></CENTER>
<P><FONT FACE="Palatino"><FONT COLOR="#000000"><FONT SIZE="-1"><B>Feb.
8 </B>Until a pipeline to export Kazakstan's vast resources in oil is
completed in 1999, Kazakstan will be plagued by a cash and energy crisis.
The government owes almost $800 million in back wages and pensions,
causing workers to threaten to strike. The energy crisis is so large that
the country has been forced to rely on the support of former Soviet
Republics like Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan to obtain natural gas and
electricity.</FONT></FONT></FONT> </P>
<P><FONT FACE="Palatino"><FONT COLOR="#000000"><FONT SIZE="-1"><B>Feb.
13</B> Several residents of the northeastern town of Semipalatinsk, once
the Soviet Union's main nuclear testing ground, are arrested for
attempting to sell 2.2 pounds of radioactive uranium.</FONT></FONT></FONT>
</P>
<CENTER><I><FONT FACE="Palatino"><FONT COLOR="#000000"><FONT SIZE="+0">Romania</FONT></FONT></FONT></I></CENTER>
<P><FONT FACE="Palatino"><FONT COLOR="#000000"><FONT SIZE="-1"><B>Feb.
21 </B>The new centrist government restores exiled King Michael's
citizenship as "an act of reparation" almost 50 years after the
king was dethroned and exiled by Moscow-backed Communists.</FONT></FONT></FONT>
</P>
<P><FONT FACE="Palatino"><FONT COLOR="#000000"><FONT SIZE="-1"><B>Feb.
28 </B>Welcomed for the first time by the Romanian government and people,
King Michael has an emotional homecoming from exile in Switzerland. In
response to his eagerness to help, the government asks the King to serve
as a diplomat to promote Romania's inclusion as one of the new members of
an expanded NATO.</FONT></FONT></FONT> </P>
<CENTER><I><FONT FACE="Palatino"><FONT COLOR="#000000"><FONT SIZE="+0">Russia</FONT></FONT></FONT></I></CENTER>
<P><FONT FACE="Palatino"><FONT COLOR="#000000"><FONT SIZE="-1"><B>Feb.
10</B> Although he was dismissed in June by President Yeltsin for slander,
former chief of presidential security Gen. Aleksandr Korzhakov wins a seat
in the Russian Parliament, hereby gaining immunity from charges of
corruption. Gen. Korzhakov has hinted about his desire to "even the
score" with President Yeltsin and his aides.</FONT></FONT></FONT>
</P>
<P><FONT FACE="Palatino"><FONT COLOR="#000000"><FONT SIZE="-1"><B>Feb.
14</B> Confirming a recent statement by Defense Minister Igor Rodionov
that the armed forces are in a "horrifying" state, the Council
for Foreign and Defense Policy--a respected Russian research group--warns
that the "military is facing a collapse that can lead to a coup or
civil war." Since the breakup of the Soviet Union, the military's
morale has been very low and conscripts are underfed, poorly clothed, and
lodged in shoddy housing.</FONT></FONT></FONT> </P>
<P><FONT FACE="Palatino"><FONT COLOR="#000000"><FONT SIZE="-1"><B>NY
Times, Feb. 19 </B>Taxes, which represented 16.5% of Russia's gross
national product in 1992, only represent 9.5% today. Failure to collect
taxes has delayed wage and pension payments, increased the government's
debt, fueled inflation, and raised the temptation to print money. As a
result, Mr. Yeltsin has exhorted citizens to pay their taxes and announced
a crackdown, with Interior Minister Anatoly Kulikov appointed to the rank
of Deputy Prime Minister in charge of rooting out economic crime and
supervising the tax police.</FONT></FONT></FONT> </P>
<P><FONT FACE="Palatino"><FONT COLOR="#000000"><FONT SIZE="-1"><B>Feb.
24</B> Despite U.S. export controls, Russia's nuclear weapons
establishment boasts that, through a European middleman, it purchased a $7
million supercomputer in order to maintain Russia's status as a nuclear
superpower.</FONT></FONT></FONT> </P>
<P><FONT FACE="Palatino"><FONT COLOR="#000000"><FONT SIZE="-1"><B>Feb.
27</B> Defense Minister Gen. Igor Rodionov belittles Russia's forces in
hopes of getting a raise in military spending, claiming that "by 2000
or thereabouts, [Russia's] defenses will be in ruins." But the
Kremlin argues that the government lacks the funds ($18.5 billion have
been allocated for the military this year compared to the $250 billion the
Pentagon plans to spend) and proposes instead to reduce and restructure
the armed forces as soon as possible.</FONT></FONT></FONT> </P>
<CENTER><I><FONT FACE="Palatino"><FONT COLOR="#000000"><FONT SIZE="+0">Russia/Chechnya</FONT></FONT></FONT></I></CENTER>
<P><FONT FACE="Palatino"><FONT COLOR="#000000"><FONT SIZE="-1"><B>Feb.
4</B> Chechen authorities expel the head of the OSCE mission, who recently
declared Chechnya's presidential vote free and fair, for saying at a
recent news conference that Chechnya was part of the Russian Federation.</FONT></FONT></FONT>
</P>
<P><FONT FACE="Palatino"><FONT COLOR="#000000"><FONT SIZE="-1"><B>Feb.
24</B> Russian and Chechen authorities agree to search together for 1,500
missing Russian soldiers and civilians.</FONT></FONT></FONT> </P>
<CENTER><I><FONT FACE="Palatino"><FONT COLOR="#000000"><FONT SIZE="+0">Tajikistan</FONT></FONT></FONT></I></CENTER>
<P><FONT FACE="Palatino"><FONT COLOR="#000000"><FONT SIZE="-1"><B>Feb.
6 </B>Rebel leader Bakhram Sadirov kidnaps four U.N. workers in Dushanbe,
Tajikistan's capital, and demands that a guerrilla force led by his
brother be allowed to return from Afghanistan. The four hostages join 12
others who are already being held. (For four years, the Tajik government
has been fighting a rebel coalition of Islamic and nationalist forces with
the help of 25,000 Russian troops. A truce was concluded with the rebels
last December.)</FONT></FONT></FONT> </P>
<P><FONT FACE="Palatino"><FONT COLOR="#000000"><FONT SIZE="-1"><B>Feb.
7</B> Although the rebels have released two Red Cross workers, they refuse
to release the other 14 hostages--nine U.N. employees, four Russian
journalists, and their driver.</FONT></FONT></FONT> </P>
<P><FONT FACE="Palatino"><FONT COLOR="#000000"><FONT SIZE="-1"><B>Feb.
13</B> When their demands are not met, the rebels bluff that they have
killed one of their 14 hostages.</FONT></FONT></FONT> </P>
<P><FONT FACE="Palatino"><FONT COLOR="#000000"><FONT SIZE="-1"><B>Feb.
14</B> Just one day after claiming that they had started killing their
hostages, the rebels begin to free them.</FONT></FONT></FONT> </P>
<P><FONT FACE="Palatino"><FONT COLOR="#000000"><FONT SIZE="-1"><B>Feb.
17</B> Ending a two-week crisis, President Imomali Rakhmonov negotiates
the release of the remaining hostages.</FONT></FONT></FONT> </P>
<P><FONT FACE="Palatino"><FONT COLOR="#000000"><FONT SIZE="-1"><B>Feb.
22</B> The government and Islamic rebels agree to share power. President
Imomali Rakhmonov and opposition leader Sayid Nuri sign an agreement that
grants each side 13 seats in a new 26-member National Commission for
Reconciliation. After returning from exile in Afghanistan, Mr. Nuri will
become the commission's chairman.</FONT></FONT></FONT> </P>
<CENTER><I><FONT FACE="Palatino"><FONT COLOR="#000000"><FONT SIZE="+0">Ukraine</FONT></FONT></FONT></I></CENTER>
<P><FONT FACE="Palatino"><FONT COLOR="#000000"><FONT SIZE="-1"><B>Feb.
25</B> In a change that analysts predict will do little to improve the
nation's economy, Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma dismisses four
ministers with economic portfolios.</FONT></FONT></FONT> </P>
<CENTER><B><I><FONT FACE="Palatino"><FONT COLOR="#000000"><FONT SIZE="+1">THE
FORMER YUGOSLAVIA</FONT></FONT></FONT></I></B></CENTER>
<CENTER><I><FONT FACE="Palatino"><FONT COLOR="#000000"><FONT SIZE="+0">Bosnia</FONT></FONT></FONT></I></CENTER>
<P><FONT FACE="Palatino"><FONT COLOR="#000000"><FONT SIZE="-1"><B>Feb.
10 </B>Croat gunmen fire on 200 Muslims gathered at a cemetery in Mostar,
killing one and wounding 21 others. The attack casts doubts on the chances
for peace: if Croats and Muslims--who are partners in the federation that
controls 51% of Bosnia--cannot cooperate, there may be even less chances
of cooperation in the institutions that also include Serbs.</FONT></FONT></FONT>
</P>
<P><FONT FACE="Palatino"><FONT COLOR="#000000"><FONT SIZE="-1"><B>Feb.
11</B> Croats evict 100 Muslims from their homes in the Croat-controlled
part of Mostar. Prime Minister Hans Silajdzic denounces the violence as an
attempt to "stop the federation from working."</FONT></FONT></FONT>
</P>
<P><FONT FACE="Palatino"><FONT COLOR="#000000"><FONT SIZE="-1"><B>Feb.
27 </B>As the Serbs, Croats, and Muslims of Mostar continue to refuse to
honor the December 1995 Dayton peace agreement, frustrated international
organizations--including the European Union, the World Bank, and the U.S.
government--have quietly begun to withdraw from Bosnia.</FONT></FONT></FONT>
</P>
<CENTER><I><FONT FACE="Palatino"><FONT COLOR="#000000"><FONT SIZE="+0">Serbia</FONT></FONT></FONT></I></CENTER>
<P><FONT FACE="Palatino"><FONT COLOR="#000000"><FONT SIZE="-1"><B>Feb.
2 </B>The Serbian Orthodox Church has become a major force in the protests
over the government's annulment of opposition victories in municipal
elections, alarming critics who fear that the church may impede democratic
reform because it is "the main repository of Serbian nationalism"
and hostile to "Western political systems and ideas."</FONT></FONT></FONT>
</P>
<P><FONT FACE="Palatino"><FONT COLOR="#000000"><FONT SIZE="-1"><B>Feb.
4</B> Abandoned by key supporters and unable to get his army or police to
crush streets protests (now in their 77<SUP>th</SUP> day), President
Slobodan Milosevic pledges to restore the opposition victories in the
local elections. But opposition leaders greet the news with caution since
the President is known to feign compromise as a way to hold on to power.</FONT></FONT></FONT>
</P>
<P><FONT FACE="Palatino"><FONT COLOR="#000000"><FONT SIZE="-1"><B>Feb.
5</B> The opposition coalition that is taking control of Serbia's 14
largest cities lacks a general plan to restore the devastated economy or
control the political turmoil. And in order to develop a market economy
and a "civil society," opposition leaders must first dismantle
the political and economic underpinnings of Communism.</FONT></FONT></FONT>
</P>
<P><FONT FACE="Palatino"><FONT COLOR="#000000"><FONT SIZE="-1"><B>Feb.
11 </B>After 11 weeks of street protests, Serbia's democratic opposition
finally reaches its goal when Parliament reinstates opposition victories
in the local elections.</FONT></FONT></FONT> </P>
<P><FONT FACE="Palatino"><FONT COLOR="#000000"><FONT SIZE="-1"><B>Feb.
12 </B>American officials announce that the U.S. will increase fivefold to
about $2 million its aid to Serbian groups (newspapers, radio stations,
and trade unions) that oppose President Milosevic's rule. U.S. policy is
now shifting away from Mr. Milosevic, who was a "crucial supporter"
of the Dayton peace accords in Dec. 1995, but is "no longer critical"
to stability in Bosnia.</FONT></FONT></FONT> </P>
<P><FONT FACE="Palatino"><FONT COLOR="#000000"><FONT SIZE="-1">An
independence movement by ethnic Albanians is threatening the stability of
the southern province of Kosovo, in which 2.2 million ethnic Albanians
make up 90% of the population. The Kosovo Liberation Army, which surfaced
in 1996, has been fighting to create an independent ethnic Albanian state
here, and in recent weeks confrontation with Serbian authorities has
turned violent. (In 1989, President Milosevic decided to strip Kosovo of
the autonomy it enjoyed under the old Communist government of Yugoslavia,
prompting the population to mount a long campaign of peaceful civil
disobedience which led to the current rebellion.)</FONT></FONT></FONT>
</P>
<P><FONT FACE="Palatino"><FONT COLOR="#000000"><FONT SIZE="-1"><B>Feb.
21 </B>Serbia's opposition coalition takes control of the Belgrade City
Council, a main goal of its almost three months of street protests.</FONT></FONT></FONT>
</P>
<P><FONT FACE="Palatino"><FONT COLOR="#000000"><FONT SIZE="-1">Zoran
Djindjic is inaugurated as the first non-Communist Mayor of Belgrade since
1945. A former ally of President Milosevic, Mr. Djindjic is now leading
the opposition movement.</FONT></FONT></FONT> </P>
<P><FONT FACE="Palatino"><FONT COLOR="#000000"><FONT SIZE="-1"><B>Feb.
26</B> With opposition forces now installed in Belgrade's municipal
government, the city's once independent television station has been
returned from President Milosevic's control to the control of reporters
and editors. But the President still commands the only nationwide
television and radio network, prompting opposition forces to threaten a
resumption of their protests on March 9 if his network does not give the
opposition a voice.</FONT></FONT></FONT> <BR> </P>
<CENTER><B><I><FONT FACE="Palatino"><FONT COLOR="#000000"><FONT SIZE="+1">WESTERN
EUROPE/EASTERN EUROPE</FONT></FONT></FONT></I></B></CENTER>
<CENTER><B><I><FONT FACE="Palatino"><FONT COLOR="#000000"><FONT SIZE="+1"> </FONT></FONT></FONT></I></B></CENTER>
<CENTER><I><FONT FACE="Palatino"><FONT COLOR="#000000"><FONT SIZE="+0">France/European
Parliament</FONT></FONT></FONT></I></CENTER>
<P><FONT FACE="Palatino"><FONT COLOR="#000000"><FONT SIZE="-1"><B>Feb.
26 </B>Claiming that it would require denunciations similar to those that
the French were required to make against Jews during World War II, the
European Parliament attacks a French bill that cracks down on illegal
immigration.</FONT></FONT></FONT> </P>
<CENTER><I><FONT FACE="Palatino"><FONT COLOR="#000000"><FONT SIZE="+0">NATO/U.SA./Russia</FONT></FONT></FONT></I></CENTER>
<P><FONT FACE="Palatino"><FONT COLOR="#000000"><FONT SIZE="-1"><B>Feb.
6 </B>Visiting Washington, Russian Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin
confirms the 20-21 March summit meeting between President Yeltsin and
President Clinton. In order to accommodate President Yeltsin's health
conditions, however, the meeting will take place in Helsinki, Finland,
instead of Washington, D.C.</FONT></FONT></FONT> </P>
<P><FONT FACE="Palatino"><FONT COLOR="#000000"><FONT SIZE="-1"><B>Feb.
7 </B>Prime Minister Chernomyrdin reiterates Moscow's opposition to NATO's
enlargement, and calls for an "altered NATO" that would
demonstrate "more political and less military characteristics."
He also proposes a "binding treaty" to govern the security
relationship between an enlarged NATO and Russia; but Washington opposes
such a treaty that would in effect give Russia a veto over future NATO
actions and favors instead a "political agreement" that would
include Moscow in extensive consultation about security.</FONT></FONT></FONT>
</P>
<P><FONT FACE="Palatino"><FONT COLOR="#000000"><FONT SIZE="-1"><B>Feb.
18</B> Addressing NATO ministers in Brussels, U.S. Secretary of State
Madeleine Albright makes a speech intended to alleviate Russian concerns
over NATO expansion (which she qualifies as "inevitable"
although "not adversarial"). She proposes a joint NATO-Russian
unit, to be used for peacekeeping on the Bosnian model, as part of a
larger NATO offer to negotiate a NATO-Russia charter based on friendship
and cooperation that would govern their mutual relations. A NATO-Russia
Joint Council would also be created as a forum for discussion and
consultation on issues of European security.</FONT></FONT></FONT> </P>
<P><FONT FACE="Palatino"><FONT COLOR="#000000"><FONT SIZE="-1"><B>Feb.
20</B> In Moscow, Secretary of State Albright proposes an arms control
program intended to give assurances to Russia that NATO nations will not
try to build up their forces. The new proposal would put a cap on NATO's
military potential by limiting the number of arms, weapons, and forces
that each NATO country could possess (although countries would be allowed
to augment their forces in the case of a military crisis).</FONT></FONT></FONT>
</P>
<CENTER><I><FONT FACE="Palatino"><FONT COLOR="#000000"><FONT SIZE="+0">Turkey</FONT></FONT></FONT></I></CENTER>
<P><FONT FACE="Palatino"><FONT COLOR="#000000"><FONT SIZE="-1"><B>Feb.
12</B> Since it came to power eight months ago, the Muslim-oriented
Welfare Party of Prime Minister Necmettin Erbakan has begun to take steps
that many Turks fear will weaken the secular state and lead to "the
establishment of a strict Islamic state." These steps include quietly
moving Islamists into government positions or encouraging young people to
study at religious academies.</FONT></FONT></FONT> </P>
<P><FONT FACE="Palatino"><FONT COLOR="#000000"><FONT SIZE="-1"><B>Feb.
15</B> In the first public protest against the government's efforts to
move Turkey closer to Sharia, the strict law of the Koran, thousands of
Turks, most of them women, protest in the capital of Ankara in order to
prove that anti-fundamentalism is widespread in Turkey. Prime Minister
Erbakan has sought to end restrictions on women wearing veils or head
scarves in the civil service and on university campuses, a move that
critics regard not as a defense of the freedom of choices claimed by Mr.
Erbakan but rather as part of a campaign against secularism.</FONT></FONT></FONT>
</P>
<P><FONT FACE="Palatino"><FONT COLOR="#000000"><FONT SIZE="-1"><B>Feb.
22 </B>Geographically located at the border of Europe and Asia, Turkey has
been seeking to enhance its European identity by demanding entry into the
European Union. But European leaders say that, in order for Turkey to be
considered, it must improve its human rights record, end its war against
Kurdish rebels, and settle its disputes with Greece. Many Turks, however,
feel that Turkey is the victim of European prejudice against Muslims.</FONT></FONT></FONT>
</P>
<CENTER><I><FONT FACE="Palatino"><FONT COLOR="#000000"><FONT SIZE="+0">U.SA./France/NATO</FONT></FONT></FONT></I></CENTER>
<P><FONT FACE="Palatino"><FONT COLOR="#000000"><FONT SIZE="-1"><B>Feb.
17 </B>U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and French Foreign
Minister Herve de Charette pronounce a "working truce" in the
sometimes strained relations between America and France. According to Mr.
de Charette, both countries agree on the aims of NATO enlargement and will
cooperate amicably before the NATO summit meeting in Madrid in July. Mrs.
Albright calls bilateral relations "solid and warm" and
expresses Washington's wishes to see France reintegrated into NATO.</FONT></FONT></FONT>
</P>
<P><FONT FACE="Palatino"><FONT COLOR="#000000"><FONT SIZE="-1"><B>Feb.
22 </B>A year ago, the French government claimed that it would rejoin the
NATO commands it left in 1966, but it may now elect to stay out of the
alliance because the U.S. has not given up the right to name the officer
in charge of Allied Forces Southern Europe as France had requested. France
complains that, since the U.S. holds the two top posts of Supreme Allied
Commander for Europe (SACEUR) and Supreme Allied Commander Atlantic
(SACLANT), NATO lacks balance between American and European posts.</FONT></FONT></FONT>
</P>
<CENTER><I><FONT FACE="Palatino"><FONT COLOR="#000000"><FONT SIZE="+0">U.S.A./Russia</FONT></FONT></FONT></I></CENTER>
<P><FONT FACE="Palatino"><FONT COLOR="#000000"><FONT SIZE="-1"><B>Feb.
5 </B>Citing the 1993 Chemical Weapons Convention that forbids the use,
stockpiling, purchase, production, and development of poison gas, the
Clinton Administration asks Russia to stop producing A-232, a lethal nerve
gas, out of fear for Russia's chemical and biological capability. The
treaty, which was signed by 161 countries and ratified by 68, has not been
ratified by either Moscow or Washington.</FONT></FONT></FONT> </P>
<P></P>
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<P><BR>
<FONT COLOR="#083250"><FONT SIZE="-2">Copyright @ Center for Strategic
Decision Research 1998</FONT></FONT> <BR><FONT COLOR="#083250"><FONT SIZE="-2">Strategic Decision Press</FONT></FONT>
</P>
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