Yeltsin, Meri: Two Wise Presidents

As far as modesty is concerned, Boris Yeltsin's description of himself and his Estonian counterpart, Lennart Meri, as two wise presidents after they sealed an agreement on Russian troop withdrawals from Estonia Tuesday, may have been somewhat wanting. But the wisdom of completing the Russian troop withdrawal by the Aug. 31 deadline is beyond doubt, as was Meri's agreement to guarantee the rights of Russian military pensioners in Estonia.


The West can now heave a sigh of relief. Yeltsin's threat to halt the troop withdrawals had clouded his talks with President Bill Clinton at the Group of Seven summit in Naples earlier this month, while the subsequent vote by the American Senate to suspend further aid to Russia threatened to sour relations between the superpowers.


Moreover, the Senate vote, while nonbinding, was sufficient to rally Russia's hardline nationalists for ritual intonements on national pride and dignity and against U.S. interference in Russian affairs. Amid all this clamor, it was clearly going to be very hard for Yeltsin to soften his stance.


In fact it took five hours of wrangling in the Kremlin, but in the end it looked as if everyone would get what he wanted. Meri would get the troops out, Russia could keep its dignity, and Clinton could set aside any lingering doubts about letting Yeltsin into the club of politically acceptable nations.


The trouble is that a great deal can happen between now and the end of August and there are plenty of people on both sides ready to throw any number of spanners into the works. The Russian nationalists are sure to cry foul and rant on about a betrayal of the country's interests. Such calls will find a ready audience in an impoverished population where more and more people hark back to Soviet days -- and borders -- with nostalgia.


And in Estonia, there is no shortage of right-wing politicians willing to prey on lasting resentment against the Russian occupation and absorption of the country 54 years ago. Anti-Russian sentiment runs high in all three Baltic states, where many still regard the Russian minority as occupiers.


It is perhaps just as well that both the Russian and Estonian parliaments are in recess, depriving some of the most outspoken opponents of conciliation in both countries of a platform from which to make trouble between now and Aug 31.


Afer his talks in the Kremlin on Tuesday, Meri spoke of a turning point in the Baltic states' relations with Russia. He could well be right. But both Meri and Yeltsin could yet be forced to fight for their agreement over the next month. On the question of the two presidents' wisdom, we reserve judgement until the last Russian troops have returned home.