Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, March 22, 1990 TAG: 9003222675
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A/1 EDITION: EVENING
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: VILNIUS, U.S.S.R. LENGTH: Medium
The prime minister, Kazimiera Prunskiene, called Gorbachev's decree "an expression of mistrust in the whole population" of the Baltic state, which insists it will not be intimidated into backing down from secession.
President Vytautus Landsbergis of Lithuania, which declared itself independent on March 11, said in a statement that the Soviet leader's order Wednesday showed "the ghost of Stalinism is walking in the Kremlin."
Landsbergis said the Baltic republic would remain "serene and united" despite the decree, which he said "could be enforced only by brutal military force."
Gorbachev has called Lithuania's declaration of independence illegal but has also said he would not use force to keep it from seceding. Soviet troops have over the past week stepped up maneuvers in Lithuanian territory.
On Wednesday night, Prunskiene sent a telegram to Gorbachev demanding to know the number of Soviet troops and amount of military equipment sent to Lithuania over the past few days.
The telegram said the number of soldiers, especially paratroopers, appeared to be on the rise although the massive number of military flights to Lithuania over the weekend had been halted.
Prunskiene said today during a meeting of Lithuania's Parliament that it is up to the people if they want to keep arms. "It is up to each individual because sports guns are private property."
She said the Soviet Union had no right to tell Lithuanians what to do. "Nor does it have an excuse for the suspicion that these weapons will be used for any kind of bad event," she said.
However, the Soviet general who commands Lithuania's volunteer civil defense agency said he has partially complied with orders to turn over to the Soviet military the weapons and 16,000 vehicles under his command.
Gen. Ginutis Taurinskas told the Lithuanian Parliament he was ordered "to give all small caliber weapons to military units so there won't be any eventual theft of arms for inappropriate use."
He said firearms remained scattered among 500 to 600 units of volunteers who carry out air raid drills and train young people for military service. He gave no figures.
Gorbachev, using the powers he gained when the Congress of People's Deputies elected him the Soviet Union's first executive president last week, said Lithuanians had a week to turn in their firearms.
If they fail to do so, he said the Soviet Interior Ministry should be prepared to confiscate them.
Gorbachev also told KGB border troops to tighten their watch over the republic and told officials to reduce the number of visas issued to foreigners seeking to visit the republic.
His decree was the latest in a series of increasingly tough moves taken by Moscow in an attempt to discourage secession by the republic of 3.8 million people.
It came less than 24 hours after a strong protest from Lithuania's government over stepped-up maneuvers by the Soviet military in the state.
Lithuania was independent from 1918 until 1940, when it was forcibly annexed along with Latvia and Estonia. So far, no foreign country has officially recognized Lithuania as independent.
Lithuania had rushed to declare its independence before Gorbachev could gain broad powers that include authority to impose direct presidential rule on areas of the Soviet Union.
Asked late Wednesday whether Gorbachev was conducting psychological warfare on the small republic, Lithuanian legislator Algimontas Cekuolis said, "Yes, this is a war of nerves, but we are not nervous. We have the motivation, we have our country, and we know where we are going."
Most firearms are tightly controlled in the Soviet Union, so Gorbachev's directive primarily touched hunting weapons. Relatively few people own firearms, and they must be registered with authorities.
by CNB