BEREZOVSKII ADVOCATES POSTPONING CIS INTERSTATE FORUM. Addressing a meeting convened in Minsk on 19 May to prepare for the CIS interstate forum tentatively scheduled for July, CIS Executive Secretary Boris Berezovskii proposed postponing that forum until the fall, Interfax reported. The forum is to debate reforming the CIS. Berezovskii said that he concluded from his meetings earlier this month with the presidents of Moldova, Ukraine, Belarus, Armenia, and Georgia that it is "unrealistic" to hold the forum in July, given that "no hasty moves will bring a radical improvement," according to ITAR-TASS. Almost all participants at the April CIS summit in Moscow expressed dissatisfaction with the way the CIS operates. Berezovskii positively assessed the role of the CIS in containing conflicts between its members. And he warned against blindly copying the experience of other international bodies such as the EU. LF

BEREZOVSKII ADVOCATES POSTPONING CIS INTERSTATE FORUM. Addressing a meeting convened in Minsk on 19 May to prepare for the CIS interstate forum tentatively scheduled for July, CIS Executive Secretary Boris Berezovskii proposed postponing that forum until the fall, Interfax reported. The forum is to debate reforming the CIS. Berezovskii said that he concluded from his meetings earlier this month with the presidents of Moldova, Ukraine, Belarus, Armenia, and Georgia that it is "unrealistic" to hold the forum in July, given that "no hasty moves will bring a radical improvement," according to ITAR-TASS. Almost all participants at the April CIS summit in Moscow expressed dissatisfaction with the way the CIS operates. Berezovskii positively assessed the role of the CIS in containing conflicts between its members. And he warned against blindly copying the experience of other international bodies such as the EU. LF

UKRAINIAN STRIKING MINERS CONVERGE ON DNIPROPETROVSK. Some 3,500 coal miners who have taken part in marches over the past few days arrived in Dnipropetrovsk on 19 May and gathered outside the oblast administration building to demand the payment of wage arrears, ITAR-TASS reported. They reacted angrily when acting Coal Industry Minister Volodymyr Radchenko pledged to pay only their wages for this month, saying the state has no funds to pay the miners for previous months. As of mid-May, the state debt to the coal mining sector totaled 2.1 billion hryvni (more than $1 billion). JM