Russia must launch a crash effort to combat crime in 1994 and make free-market reforms less painful, President Boris Yeltsin told parliament Thursday in his first State of the Nation address.
"The problem of the year is curbing crime," Yeltsin told both houses of parliament, meeting together for the first time in the Kremlin. "Organized crime . . . is trying to take the country by the throat."Looking healthy and speaking energetically, the 63-year-old Russian president asked for cooperation from the same Communist and nationalist lawmakers who had slapped him Wednesday by approving an amnesty for the leaders of the 1991 Soviet coup and the hard-liners he battled last October.
Yeltsin said free-market reforms must continue, but the government should help the poor and make economic changes bearable for ordinary citizens.
"Our task is to find a reasonable balance between the pace of reform and the social cost," he said.
Although the speech focused on domestic issues, Yeltsin indicated that military spending would rise and said Russia would no longer make "unilateral concessions" in foreign policy.
"Russia has the right to be tough and firm when it is necessary to protect its national interests," he said.
Some lawmakers complained afterward that the 50-minute speech was long on rhetoric but short on specific proposals. "We need more concrete and decisive actions," said ultranationalist Vladimir Zhirinovsky.
The speech didn't mention the arrest of an alleged Russian "mole" in the CIA or the parliament's amnesty of coup leaders and hard-liners Wednesday.
ITAR-Tass, the state news agency, said Yeltsin and his aides worked late Wednesday night finishing his speech, which grew from the original 70 pages to more than 100. Yeltsin delivered only key excerpts from the written version distributed to lawmakers.
Titled "Strengthening Russian Statehood," the speech stressed the need to maintain a unified state with a strong central government, despite efforts by Russia's 89 republics and regions to win more economic and political autonomy.
Many Russians fear that unless Yeltsin takes a strong hand with the regions, they could spin away from Moscow, and Russia could follow the Soviet Union's path to disintegration.
"A strong Russia is the only guarantor of peace and stability across the former Soviet Union," Yeltsin said. "Strengthening the state is a clear goal that can and must unite all Russian people at this dramatic moment."
Encouraged by Russia's success in persuading Serb commanders to silence their artillery around Sarajevo, Yeltsin promised that Moscow's foreign policy would become more active in 1994.
He said Russia would engage in peacekeeping across the former Soviet Union, fight discrimination against ethnic Russians in neighboring states and continue to object to any expansion of NATO as long as Russia is excluded from the Western alliance.
Reflecting the frustrations of many Russians, Yeltsin called for major efforts to combat corruption and petty bureaucracy along with crime.
"State organs are still permeated with the spirit of irresponsibility. A person's life is still tangled in petty limitations and restrictions," he said. "A shameful bribe is often part of the answer to many problems."
Yeltsin listed his priorities for 1994 as: strengthening legality, fighting crime, continuing economic reforms, supporting culture, maintaining good relations with Russia's regions, protecting Russians living abroad and pursuing a peaceful foreign policy.