Word: baltics
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...afford to give up Soviet power, not to mention Soviet territory. Many American officials share this concern, although they must be careful about saying so. In a conceit of diplomatic formalism that until recently seemed quaint and futile, the U.S. Government has never recognized the legality of the Baltic annexation. Support for human and civil rights is, or is certainly supposed to be, a constant of American foreign policy...
...doesn't put it that way, nor does he like others to do so. But the fact remains that for the first time in 72 years, the U.S. has a stake in the survival and success of a particular Soviet leader. Bush does not want to see the Baltic laboratory blow up any more than do the people who live there. Therefore, the American President is plugging not just for the citizens of those tragic republics trapped by history within the Soviet Union, but also for the extraordinary scientist mixing his dangerous chemicals in the Kremlin...
...suffering discrimination in the Soviet Union? It sounds about as likely as the English becoming second-class citizens in parts of Great Britain. But that is how many of the 30 million Russians feel who live in the U.S.S.R.'s restive "ethnic republics" like Moldavia, the Ukraine and the Baltic states of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia. In the throes of a quest for their own independence, nationalists in those areas are denouncing the Russians living among them as "occupiers" and "migrants." They are enacting voting laws that disenfranchise many Russians and are forcing them to learn the local languages...
Gorbachev had once hoped to make the Baltic states a showcase for perestroika. But he now faces a painful dilemma. If he allows the nationalist movements to run unchecked, he risks worsening ethnic tensions on top of all the Soviet Union's other problems. But if he cracks down, he will hearten the enemies, who are already making rich political capital out of the discrimination against Russians. The Soviet leader met with Baltic party and government officials last week to seek some compromise of their demands. This week's oft-postponed plenum may show if he has found...
Hungary's open-door policy further fractures the Warsaw Pact. Meanwhile, back in Honecker land, there are feelings of frustration with an aging dictatorship. -- Are Russians the victims of discrimination in the Baltic states...