Seeking a new order through violence?

• Position: Former Soviet Union - Includes related article

History had moved on, Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghaii told the Academy of Sciences in Belarus on 6 April, while on an official visit to that country. "Peoples and nations are seeking, too often with violence, to reconnect with their interrupted history. Today, the order and peace of States is being challenged in more places, and in more ways, than in the days of the cold war," he stressed. His statement reflected the situations in some former Soviet republics--particularly Azerbaijan, Armenia and Tajikistan--which continued to be monitored by the UN throughout April, May and June.

During his stay in Minsk--the capital of Belarus and the seat of the secretariat of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), a loose association of 12 former Soviet republics--Mr. Boutros-Ghali met with the Head of State of Belarus, Miacheslav I. Grib, and other top officials.

Among the subjects discussed were: disarmament and conversion: cooperation between the UN and the CIS in the area of peace-keeping; the situation in the Baltic States; difficulties of economies in transition; and consequences of the Chernobyl catastrophe.

Tajikistan

A definition of the notion of a ceasefire and cessation of hostile acts was elaborated and agreed upon by the Government of Tajikistan and the opposition at the second round of negotiations on national reconciliation 18-28 June, Teheran).

Held under UN auspices and led by Ramiro Piriz-Ballon, the Secretary-General's Special Envoy for Tajikistan, the talks were attended by observers from Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyztan, the Russian Federation, Iran, Pakistan and the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE).

Nevertheless, divergences on the entry into force of a possible ceasefire agreement had made it "impossible to conclude the work successfully during this round", the Secretary-General reported on 30 June.

Realizing their responsibility for the fate of the Tajik people, the parties reaffirmed their commitment to the political dialogue as the only means of achieving national reconciliation".

A first round (5-19 April, Moscow) had been "encouraging and met my expectations", the Secretary-General reported (S/1994/542) on 5 May The agreement on a comprehensive agenda for the negotiations--a political settlement, solutions to the problem of refugees and internally displaced persons, and "fundamental institutional issues and consolidation of the statehood of Tajikistan"--as well as the signing of a...