European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - February 07, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse Page 4 the stars and stripes monday february 7,1994 Russia backs at partnership for peace. Brussels Belgium a a month after president Clinton and other nato leaders issued partnership invitations to former Warsaw pact foes four have accepted the offer and three More Are on the verge. Several others have shown interest. Russia though has still not sent its . At a Summit last month Clinton and other leaders of the North Atlantic treaty organization adopted the . Inspired partnership for peace As a Way of drawing one time enemies closer but without granting them full membership. The allies have refused for now to hand out coveted membership cards for fear of creating new divisions in Europe and isolating Russia. Russian president Boris n. Yeltsin has cautioned nato against any eastward expansion. Romania Lithuania Poland and Esto Nia the nations so far enrolled in the plan have barely been Able to hide their disappointment at being denied full membership. Polish prime minister Waldemar Paw Lak bluntly told the allies last week that the program did not fulfil All our expect tations.", Poland and the others Are worried about ethnic conflict and political turmoil spreading in their Region and feel nato membership is needed for Security. Under nato s treaty members agree to consider an armed attack on any one of them As an attack on All. Although refused membership Pawlak and officials from Romania Lithuania and Estonia left no doubt they View the partnership program As a waiting room of the exclusive club. Today Rny country is taking the first step toward full nato membership declared estonian foreign affairs min ister Juri Luik who last week signed up his Baltic nation. By joining the program the partner nations will be allowed for the first time to take part in peacekeeping military exercises and some other Alliance activities. In return for these close contacts the new democracies will be required to share information about defense budgets and defense forces Promise civilian control Over the military and standardize weapons systems. Hungary Ukraine and Slovakia Are scheduled to Register this week for the program and Albania later in the month. Bulgaria and the czech Republic Are also Likely to sign on in the coming weeks according to nato officials. Latvia and Turkmenistan also have expressed interest and Switzerland has asked for More information officials said. Adding to the list the former yugoslav republics of Croatia Macedonia Slove Nia and Bosnia and Herzegovina have voiced interest in the plan the officials said. It would be doubtful though that for Mer yugoslav republics some in conflict with each other would be Early entrants. None belongs to the North Atlantic co operation Council a Security forum set up in 1991 to tighten nato links with Eastern europeans. Serbia accused of fomenting civil War in Bosnia has a different View of the partnership Deal. Nato officials have been told that Yugoslavia s Lead Republic sees the plan As directed against its inter ests. The big question Mark though hangs Over Russia during Clinton s visit to Moscow last month Yeltsin told the american presi Dent that Russia intended to take part. But nato officials say Moscow has so far not responded to the invitation. With its neighbors viewing partnership As a first step toward membership Russia May be reluctant to join the Rush to . /. There Are discussions about sending Robert Hunter the . Ambassador to nato to Russia this week to give the giant More details about the plan. Crew tries again to release satellite space Center Houston a astronaut Jan Davis latched discovery s robot Arm onto a 12-foot disk shaped satellite Early sunday in a second attempt to release the experimental spacecraft. Plans to deploy the Wake shield facility on saturday were scrapped because of problems caused by radio interference and Sun Glare that prevented astronauts from seeing status lights. Project managers came up with simple solutions Tilting the satellite to improve transmissions and disregarding the indicator lights depending on electronic signals instead. They told Crew members to give it an other try. We re hanging in Here said shuttle commander Charles Boldenjr. Everybody s ready to go Davis started up the-50-foot Crane again sunday and mane Vered it Over the open cargo Bay then latched it onto the satellite slowly lifting it off a platform. The Craft resembling a flying Saucer was to be hoisted High Over the shuttle and dangled overboard so a Rush of atomic oxygen would cleanse its sensitive sur face of contaminants. A new problem cropped up however and prevented an on time release. The disk will be plucked out of orbit tuesday by cosmonaut Sergei Kri Kalev the first russian to ride in an american space shuttle. An experimental satellite hangs in space while attached to the robot Arm of the shuttle in a televised View sunday. Finland picks Diplomat for presidential Post Helsinki Finland a former . Peace broker Martti Ahti Saari has won Finland s first direct presidential election after promising to extend his Domain to help solve the country s worst economic troubles in 60 years. With 100 percent of sunday s vote counted Ahti Saari had 53.9 percent to defense minister Elisabeth Rehn s 46.1 percent. I would like to see the Economy improving and More jobs for the unemployed said Ahti Saari Leader of the main opposition social democratic party. As president i will try to improve the Security of the people in every Way Ahti Saari 56, who led negotiations for Namibia s Independence during his 20-year career abroad won a Post that traditionally has been limited to foreign policy questions. But with Finland experiencing a re Cord 20 percent unemployment and deep 3-year-old recession Ahti Saari campaigned against the economic policy of prime minister Esko Aho s Center right coalition. Aho of the Center party said the election result would not affect the government. The most important function of the president is to steer foreign policy and his Powers Are restricted in Domestic politics Aho said standing next to the victorious Ahti Saari. The parliament has More say in this Rehn 58, had to spend some Campaign time admitting the government s economic mistakes and also trying to overcome traditional finnish discomfort with women in positions of Power. Texas senator s ethics trial Clouds future of gop Star fort Worth Texas a just months after a landslide Victory . Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison is to stand trial today on criminal charges of Misus ing her former office of state treasurer and then trying to cover it up. Facing the possibility of conviction and imprisonment Hutchison a rising re publican Star has denied doing anything wrong legally morally or ethically. She says she is a victim of democrats who fear and resent her Success. In four indictments prosecutors from the Travis county District attorney s of fice say the real victims Are state taxpayers cheated by Hutchison. Hutchison has been charged with using lax dollars for her personal and political gain when she was treasurer a position she held from january 1991 to june 1993. Prosecutors say she ran political operations out of the Treasury using state employees and state computers on stat time. When investigators Learned of it they say she started changing computer records to hide Evi Dence. The indictments charge her with two felony counts and one Misdemeanour count of official misconduct and felony counts of tampering with a Hutchison government record and tampering with physical evidence. Since the alleged offences Are being tried together prosecutors say Hutchi son if convicted on All counts could face up to 20 years in prison. This Case is not about politics said first assistant District attorney Steve Mccleery. This Case is about ethics and1 honesty in
