Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, April 5, 1990                   TAG: 9004060835
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A7   EDITION: EVENING 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Medium

HOUSE CALLS FOR SUPPORT OF LITHUANIA

The House voted 416-3 Wednesday for a resolution calling on Bush to reaffirm his commitment to an independent Lithuania and take steps as soon as possible to "normalize diplomatic relations" between Washington and the Baltic republic.

The resolution, which has no force of law, is similar to one passed earlier by the Senate.

Thirty-one senators, in a letter to Bush, said the president should take a more aggressive stand in support of Lithuania, which is attempting to secede from the Soviet Union.

The congressional appeals in support of an independent Lithuania came as Secretary of State James Baker raised the issue with visiting Soviet Foreign Minister Eduard Shevardnadze.

Shevardnadze said afterward, "I have no doubt we will be able to find a solution to that situation, that we will find a wise and fair solution."

The Senate letter to Bush was signed by 18 Republicans and 13 Democrats.

Lithuania's decision last month to declare itself an independent republic has put Bush in a difficult diplomatic spot. Some people, including Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., who recently met with President Mikhail Gorbachev, have told the president that taking too hard a line with Gorbachev could topple him, and that would not be in Washington's best interest.

But Sen. Malcolm Wallop, R-Wyo., said that if Gorbachev is too weak to withstand the challenge of Lithuania, the United States shouldn't stake any future claim on him.

The secessionist government of Lithuania has accused the Kremlin of backing forces bent on its overthrow, but it also appeared to improve the climate for formal talks by expressing a willingness to make major concessions.

In London, the republic's de facto spokesman expressed a willingness to agree to concessions including a continued Soviet military presence, the retention of current economic ties with Moscow and a referendum on independence.

The announcement came from Algis Cekuolis, a foreign affairs adviser to Lithuanian President Vytautas Landsbergis, and was the first such public offer from the Lithuanians.

Gorbachev declared Saturday that Moscow would not negotiate with the Lithuanians unless they repeal their March 11 declaration of independence.

High-ranking Kremlin and Lithuanian officials met Tuesday for the first time on the issue, indicating both sides were seeking compromise after weeks of tense confrontation.

More informal Moscow talks slated for Wednesday were postponed without explanation and word emerged of Gorbachev's harsh message to the new premier of Lithuania's equally independence-minded Baltic neighbor, Estonia.

Gorbachev told President Arnold Ruutel of Estonia that the republic must back off from its declaration of sovereignty, Ruutel said.

Estonia, which Moscow forcibly annexed with fellow Baltic states Lithuania and Latvia in 1940, is cautiously following Lithuania's lead. On Friday, its new Parliament declared Estonia to be under Soviet occupation and set an indefinite transition period for independence.