SOVIET UNION EASTERN EUROPE

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP79T00865A000400210001-5
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: T
• Document Page Count: 20
• Document Creation Date: December 20, 2016
• Document Release Date: February 8, 2006
• Sequence Number: 1
• Publication Date: February 25, 1975
• Content Type: NOTES

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Ion 11-5 Secret
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HO
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Soviet Union
Eastern Europe
State Department review completed
Top Secret
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Februa 25,
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February 25, 1975
Demichev Tackles Corruption. . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Izvestia Commentator
Answers Soviet Critics of Detente. . . . . . . . 5
Balkan Style Triangular Diplomacy. . . . . . . . . 7
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CHRONOLOGY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
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Demichev Tackles Corruption
Deeply entrenched corruption, cronyism, and
self-serving intrigue on all levels within the
Ministry of Culture are among the targets of the
housecleaning initiated by the new minister and
candidate Politburo member, Petr Demichev.
The practice of soliciting and accepting bribes
from prominent Soviet performers and artists on the
international circuit is reportedly so common that
it has achieved the acceptability of custom. Min-
istry officials, especially those of the state book-
ing agency GoskontserAt, make it clear to the artists
that contracts involving foreign travel are contin-
gent on appropriate recompense in the form of gifts
brought back from abroad. so
many officials and artists have for so long engaged
in this practice that it may be very difficult for
Demichev to root out the problem; presumably there
are many skeletons in the closet.
In his attempts to streamline the bureaucracy
and increase the efficiency of the ministry, Demichev
is said to be relying mainly on the skills of his
supporter and protege, Anatoly M. Dyuzhev, whom Demi-
chev has put in charge of the ministry's personnel
affairs. Dyuzhev returned to the ministry after
having served nearly ten years in the diplomatic
service, where he dealt largely with cultural matters.
His last post was Washington. He has been described
by some Western officials as smooth, Americanized,
and confident..
February 25, 1975
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Demichev inherited the problem of corruption
within the culture ministry from his erratic and
sometimes emotional predecessor, Yekaterina Furtseva.
Under Furtseva, the ministry had a reputation for
Byzantine intrigue, protectionism, sycophancy and
cabalism--all sustained by Furtseva's reported weak-
ness for flattery and her predisposition to indeci-
siveness and self-doubt.
When Demichev spoke with Ambassador Stoessel
last December, he denied that his ministerial ap-
pointment, signaled any change in the ministry's
general approach to cultural policy. At the same
time, he gave the impression of a forceful person-
ality intent on applying policy in a more consist-
ent, careful, and sophisticated mariner. The re-
juvenation of the ossified and claquish bureaucracy
would seem to be a logical prerequisite for his
oafs
February 25, 1975
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Izvestia Commentator Answers
Soviet Critics of Detente
Izvestia political observer Aleksandr Bovin has
written a vigorous defense of detente which may in
fact be directed against critics within the USSR.
The article, published in the February 6 edition of
Izvestia, appeared at a time when Brezhnev's pro-
longed absence from public view was prompting specu-
lation at home and abroad about his political future
and the durability of his detente policy. Bovin has
in the recent past written several articles pressing
the case for arms control and has been criticized by
one military writer for departing from orthodox doc-
trine on nuclear war and the need for armaments. The
strong defensive tone of Bovin's latest article and
its apparent domestic audience suggest concern that
some aspects of Brezhnev's detente policy may be
vulnerable to attack at home.
Bovin observes that "one may ask" whether the
benefits of peaceful co-existence are "mere quixotry."
"After all, insofar as imperialism is preserved, the
underlying causes of aggressive policy are preserved."
This is clearly an attack Bovin hears from orthodox
Marxist--Leninists, not Western critics of detente.
Bovin responds by suggesting that the shift in the cor-
relation of forces may make it possible eventually to
"liquidate imperialism's" harmful effects even while
"imperialism" itself continues to exist.
Further progress in arms control is, in Bovin's
view, the "political pivot" of detente. Noting that
detente remains a "serious and difficult matter," he
admits that "it is more customary to forge swords than
to reforge them into plowshares." In the rhetoric of
his earlier writings on strategic arms limitation,
Bovin warns that the "threat of nuclear suicide" is too
serious for the US or any other government to ignore.
February 25, 1975
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The article seeks to placate the concerns of
orthodox ideologues in the Soviet elite and else-
where by arguing that detente will not halt the
struggles against capitalism; "it is naive to sup-
pose that nuclear missile parity predetermines the
preservation of the sociopolitical status quo. The
world is changing and will change.," Bovin asserts
that only an end to the "debilitating arms race"
can free the "necessary economic resources for fruit-
ful international cooperation."
Bovin addresses some harsh words at the West.
Further progress in detente, he notes, is dependent
not only on logic, but also on the prevalent psycho-
logical atmosphere. "Certain circles" of congress
who are guilty of "political extortion," as well as
"the highest US officials" who talk about "using
troops" to prevent the "strangulation" of the capi-
talist economy, undermine the trust necessary to im-
prove US-Soviet relations. Armed intervention in the
Middle East, according to Bovin, would lead to con-
sequences that would make "the present economic: chaos
and political troubles look like the embodiment: of
order and stability."
Bovin, who has in the past been credited with
ties to the Central Committee as an adviser to Brezh-
nev, is now a member of the editorial board of SShA,
the monthly publication of the USA. Institute.
February 25, 1975
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Balkan-Style Triangular Diplomacy
I Yugoslav Pre-
mier Bijedic--expected in Washington on March 19--
may also travel to Peking and Moscow this spring.
This array of visits reflects Belgrade's current
stress on demonstrating balanced relations with the
great powers.
Bijedic would be the highest Yugoslav official
to visit China since the end of World War II. Yugo-
slav-Chinese relations, which stagnated after Peking's
interest in Eastern Europe began to flag in 1972,
gained new impetus last fall after Tito revealed a So-
viet-aided subversive effort by a group of Cominform-
ists. The preliminary arrangements for Bijedic's
trip may well have been made during subsequent visits
of a Yugoslav parliamentary delegation to Peking and
of Chinese Deputy Foreign Minister Yu Chuan to Belgrade.
The Peking trip is a sensitive political issue,
mainly because such ventures displease the Soviets.
When Yugoslav Foreign Minister Tepavac went to China in
1971, the Kremlin was already highly incensed over Ro-
manian President Ceausescu's earlier talks there. The
upshot was a summer marked by an extensive Soviet pro-
paganda campaign and, allegedly, by other Soviet pres-
sures directed against the Balkan mavericks.
Ceausescu is planning another tour of the Far
East in April, but there is as yet no word that he plans
to stop in China. Should the two closely spaced trips
to Peking occur, it would rekindle sensitivities in Mos-
cow, even though the Soviets are now less nervous about
China's role in Eastern Europe than they were in 1971.
The Soviets might, as they did then, get their Eastern
Europe surrogates to denounce a budding "anti-Soviet
axis" in the Balkans.
February 25, 1975
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Given the close contacts between Belgrade and
Bucharest on all issues of mutual importance, it is
likely that the Tito-Ceausescu regimes have already
begun to coordinate their moves. Ceausescu's talks
with Tito's emissary Stane Dolanc two weeks ago pro-
vided a prime opportunity for such discussions
February 25, 1975
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CHRONOLOGY
February 18 Yugoslavia announces new protocol
procedures for VIP visits; key point
is to rescind any obligation for par-
ticipation by President Tito.
Egyptian Foreign Minister Fahmi publicly
confirms that, the USSR has resumed arms
shipments to Egypt.
Portuguese government delegation is
received in Moscow by Deputy Foreign
Trade Minister Manzhulo and D. M.
Girshiani, deputy chairman of the
state committee for science and
that there have been Israeli contacts
with Moscow and that the Soviets have
Israeli Foreign Minister Allon announces
kept Cairo informed of them.
technology.
February 19 The 16-party working group for the
proposed European communist party
conference concludes a three-day
meeting in East Berlin.
US textile delegation ends a four--
day visit to Poland.
February 25, 1975
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to the US before mid-March.
US embassy in Moscow is informed that
Ambassador Dobrynin will not return
An approved exhibit of abstract art
opens in Moscow for a one-week showing,
but a private show by Leningrad artists
in a Moscow apartment is cut short by
police on charges of disturbing the
peace.
February 20 Izvestia and Tass carry a brief
announcement that a V. G. Kalinin
has been convicted of high treason
by a Soviet military court and "punished
according to the law."
Romanian President Ceausescu reports
to the party executive committee on
his recent talks with Bulgarian arty/
state chief Zhivkov.
--
Yugoslav President Tito appoints
long-time proteges Kardelj and
Bakaric to senior advisory posts.
US and. East Germany conclude joint
review in Washington of prospects
for a consular convention; four key
issues remain unresolved.
Deputy Foreign Trade Minister Alkhimov
attends a two-day meeting in Washing-
ton of the US-Soviet Trade Council.
D
USSR formally delivers a protest to
the US over "slanderous attacks" on
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February 21
pressures from the regime.
Yugoslav scholarly journal Praxis
ceases publication as a result of
Soviet UN Ambassador Malik by colum-
nist Jack Anderson.
Yugoslav Foreign Minister Minic be ins
a four-day visit to Mexico.
Foreign Minister Chnoupek.
Foreign Minister Gromyko is host at
a luncheon for visiting Czechoslovak
below last ear's figures.
I I
Dutch official in Moscow informs the
US that Jewish emigration so far
this month remains about 40 percent
socialists and communists.
Lengthy Pravda editorial blasts
Western social democrats for trying
to drive a wedge between Portuguese
Brezhnev and Premier Kosygin lead
attendees at a Moscow exhibit of
battle paintings devoted to the 30th
anniversary of the end of World War
Deputy Premier Kirillin confers with
visiting Portuguese Secretary of
State for Industry and Energy Torres
Campos. F7 I
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Dissident Soviet writer Maramzin is
given a five-year suspended sentence
in Leningrad.
Czechoslovak Foreign Minister Chnoupek
concludes his visit to the USSR.
February 22 USSR and Egypt sign an
cooperation protocol.
industrial
Soviet-US negotiations in Washington
on Alaskan and Pacific coast fisheries
agreements are suspended at US ini-
tiative.
Belgrade announces that President Tito
will make a six-nation Latin American
tour in late 1975 or early 1976.
CPSU secretary Kapitonov is awarded
the Order of Lenin on the occasion
of his 60th birthday.
East German Foreign Minister Fischer
concludes a three-day visit to
Poland.
Romanian party secretary Andrei concludes
a four-day visit to Czechoslovakia.
Soviet vessels leave Mauritius after
providing disaster relief assistance.
February 23 New Zealand Prime Minister Rowling
i
a.
begins a visit co Roman
Soviet army and navy mark the 57th
anniversary of their founding; Defense
Minister Grechko writes that Soviet
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capacity of our state."
combat power must be maintained "at
the proper level of the defense
Hungarian party newspaper Nepszabadsag
announces increased prices in Soviet-
Hungarian trade for 1975, including
a 130 percent rise in the price of
Soviet oil.
President Tito returns to Belgrade
after an extended stay along Yugo-
slavia's Adriatic coast.
February 24 French parliamentary delegation led
by former foreign minister Couve de
Murville begins 4 visit to the USSR.
I
Yugoslav Federal Assembly president
Gligorov concludes a six-day visit
to Egypt.
Former Soviet Premier Bulganin dies at
ace 79 after a "protracted illness."
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Bulgarian Foreign Minister Mladenov
makes a one-day visit to the USSR.
gain military advantages.
attends.
US and USSR resume in Washington
their talks on an agreement to curb
effort to modify the environment to
Yugoslav Central Committee convenes
for a plenum session; President Tito
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Vatican "Foreign Minister" Casaroli
begins a three-day visit to Czecho-
slovakia.
minutes.
Defense Minister Grechko begins a
three-day visit to India and meets
with Defense Minister Singh for 45
Austrian Foreign Minister Bielka
be ins a three-day visit to Hungary.
Yugoslav Foreign Minister Minic begins
a four-day visit to Venezuela.
February 25 USSR and Iran sign an economic coopera-
tion agreement involving the construc-
tion of steel, paper and electrical
complexes and said to be valued at
$3 billion.
church--state relations.
Vatican negotiator Archbishop Poggi
arrives in Poland for talks on
Yugoslav dissident writer Mihajlov
goes on trial.
FUTURE EVENTS
February 26 Bulgarian Foreign Minister Mladenov
to commence a three-day visit to
Egypt.
February 27 Romanian Foreign Minister Macovescu
to begin a five-day visit to Greece.
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February 28 East-West trade union conference to
open in Geneva.
Early March Romanian Central Committee will probably
convene for a plenum meeting.
March 4 26-nation Geneva disarmament confer-
ence, co-chaired by the US and the
USSR, to convene for its first meeting
March 9 Elections for Romania's Grand National,
Assembly to be held.
March 11 Romanian chief of staff Coman to
begin a ten-day visit to the US, the
first by such a high-ranking officer
of a Warsaw Pact member-state.
March USSR to conduct a major military
exercise in the central part of its
European territory.
March 16 Swedish Prime Minister Palme to begin
a three-day visit to Yugoslavia.
March 17 Hungarian party congress to open.
March 18 GDR party boss Honecker to be in a
visit to the USSR.
Yugoslav Premier Bijedic to begin a
February 25, 1975
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March 19 French Prime Minister Chirac to
commence a six-day visit to the USSR.
March 21 Finnish President Kekkonen to begin
a five-day visit to Yugoslavia. I 25X1
Early April Romanian President Ceausescu to visit
Japan, the Philippines, Kuwait,
Jordan, and Tunisia. 25X1
February 25, 1975
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Top Secret
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