support for Georgia's
application for membership in the Council of Europe and promised that
Ukrainian lawmakers will soon debate Georgia's request that Kyiv provide a
peacekeeping unit to serve on the border between Abkhazia and the rest of
Georgia, Caucasus Press reported. Pustovoytenko said Ukraine is interested
in drawing up a long-term program of economic cooperation that would
increase bilateral trade. Zhvania, for his part, expressed support for
Ukraine's planned participation in the TRACECA transport corridor project.
LF
BELARUSIANS USE VALENTINE'S DAY TO PROTEST LUKASHENKA POLICIES. An
opposition group used a registered Valentine's Day march in Minsk to
protest the policies of President Alyaksandr Lukashenka, RFE/RL's
Belarusian service reported on 14 February. Some 1,000 protesters carried
signs with slogans such as "I Love NATO" and "I Love the EU" and also
shouted anti-Lukashenka slogans. The march was organized by the Youth
Front, whichseeks to orient Belarus more toward the West. Marchers
delivered letters to Western embassies calling for the release of political
prisoners and describing Lukashenka's policies as confrontational. Police
filmed the march but did not stop it because it was officially registered.
PB
AID FOR CHORNOBYL VICTIMS ARRIVES. A shipment of medical aid from the U.S.
for people suffering from the effects of the Chornobyl nuclear accident
arrived in Minsk on 14 February, ITAR-TASS reported. The aid, which
includes antibiotics and chemotherapy drugs, will be distributed in
hospitals in the Gomel and Mogilev regions and at three clinics in Minsk.
Belarus was harder hit than any other country by the 1986 Chornobyl
accident. PB
LATVIA'S ULMANIS WANTS GOVERNMENT STABILITY. President Guntis Ulmanis told
reporters on 13 February that he will seek a dialogue with the government
parties that will not undermine the cabinet's