Europeans Give Soviets $1 Billion in Food Relief

STRASBOURG, France —  The European Parliament on Friday released more than $1 billion in Soviet food aid that was held up in the wake of Moscow’s crackdown on the Baltic republics.

The European Community’s 518-seat popular assembly put the program back on track by a hand vote. But the body expressed worries about distribution of the food and urged officials to act to ensure that it goes to those who need it most.

The Europeans fear that the central Soviet government might keep the aid away from the parts of the population that are trying to secede from the country.

The EC foreign ministers put the aid plan on hold during last month’s Soviet crackdown on the secessionist Baltic republics. The Kremlin’s measures to assert control left 22 people dead.

During a debate Tuesday, Parliament members repeated their condemnation of the Soviet crackdown, but said it was wrong to use food aid as a political tool.

The EC has adopted a policy of cooperation with the Soviet Union to encourage peaceful reform and gradual independence for republics that request it.

The Parliament also suspended the Soviet aid program because of problems in raising such a vast sum. Officials agreed to a funding scheme in negotiations earlier this month, Budget Committee Chairman Alain Lamassoure said.