Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, April 5, 1990 TAG: 9004040888
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: The Washington Post
DATELINE: MOSCOW LENGTH: Medium
Estonian President Arnold Ruutel said the Soviet leader called him Tuesday to express concern about moves toward secession. The Estonian legislature formally passed a resolution Friday that described Soviet rule as illegal but stopped short of declaring independence.
"Gorbachev said that, if we flagrantly break union agreements, he as president will take the same measures that have been adopted in Lithuania," Ruutel told journalists after a meeting of the Estonian Supreme Soviet in Tallinn.
Gorbachev's warning to Estonia suggests the Kremlin is concerned that the constitutional crisis posed by Lithuania's unilateral declaration of independence on March 11 could soon spill over to other parts of the Soviet Union. The Estonians had deliberately adopted a less direct approach to independence than Lithuania in the hope of avoiding a showdown with Moscow.
The resolution adopted by Estonia's legislature said the republic had embarked on "a transition period" leading up to complete sovereignty. The resolution said that the 1940 Soviet annexation of Estonia by a secret treaty with Nazi Germany had not disrupted "the continued existence of the Estonian republic de jure."
The Soviet Defense Ministry accused "separatist forces" in all three Baltic republics Wednesday of disrupting the spring call-up of young men into the Soviet army. It said extremists, supported in many cases by local authorities, were calling for an organized boycott of the draft in Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania.
The military conscription of young Soviets is one of the most contentious issues between the Kremlin and the Baltic republics as they seek to restore their prewar independence. The Soviet armed forces rely on draftees for the bulk of their manpower.
In an interview with the Communist Party newspaper Pravda earlier this week, armed forces Chief of Staff Mikhail Moiseyev said that the number of draft-dodgers had risen eightfold since 1985, when Gorbachev came to power. He singled out the Baltic and Transcaucasian republics - Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan - as the regions of greatest anti-military sentiment.
Despite a meeting Tuesday between Lithuanian officials and one of Gorbachev's key aides, Politburo member Alexander Yakovlev, negotiations between the Baltic republics and Moscow on the mechanics of independence have not yet started. A planned meeting between Lithuanian negotiators and the Soviet interior minister was called off Wednesday without explanation.
Lithuania's deputy prime minister, Romualdas Ozolas, told journalists that he had also been unsuccessful in arranging a meeting with Defense Minister Dmitri Yazov. Ozolas returned to the Lithuanian capital, Vilnius, Wednesday after talks with lower-level Soviet officials.
The state-controlled Soviet news media have been keeping up a daily barrage against Lithuania for its declaration of independence, hinting at the possibility Gorbachev could dissolve its legislature and rule by presidential decree unless Vilnius backs down. In recent days, however, commentaries have appeared in some liberal newspapers criticizing the display of military force on the streets of the Lithuanian capital.
A commentary in the government newspaper Izvestia signed by three Soviet legislators said the show of Soviet military force could be counterproductive by encouraging the notion that Lithuania is an "occupied" country.
by CNB