Party Directs Gorbachev to Visit Lithuania
MOSCOW — The Communist Party Central Committee today directed Mikhail S. Gorbachev and other top party officials to travel to Lithuania to try to heal the break with that independent-minded Baltic republic’s party.
Gorbachev on Monday bitterly criticized Lithuanian Communists for their declaration of an independent party--the first crack in the unity forged by V. I. Lenin before the 1917 Bolshevik revolution.
Lithuanian Communist leader Algirdas Brazauskas was quoted as telling Lithuanian radio that such a visit by Kremlin officials would be “good and useful.”
The two-day meeting of the policy-making party Central Committee found it “reasonable for Soviet Communist Party General Secretary Mikhail S. Gorbachev to make a trip to Lithuania,” said an announcement by Tass press agency.
Gorbachev and other officials will meet with Lithuanian party officials and members of the public to find out their opinions on Lithuania’s drive for independence.
After a visit by Gorbachev and other officials, another Central Committee meeting will be held to make a firm decision on the dispute with Lithuania, Tass said.
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