Soviet officials have categorically denied reports that Jewish emigrants would in the future be required to travel via Bucharest directly to Israel.
Jews applying for exit visas will still have the option to emigrate by way of Vienna, where they may decide which country to go to, Karl Blecha, the Austrian interior minister, told reporters in Moscow on Tuesday.
Blecha, who is visiting the Soviet Union to coordinate anti-drug enforcement measures, said the Soviet officials informed him that Jewish emigres would still have freedom of choice.
Blecha said he expects an increase in Jewish emigration through Vienna this year because of a more liberal Soviet policy in granting exit visas. The number of Jews leaving the Soviet Union rose from around 1,000 in 1986 to more than 8,000 in 1987. During the first four months of 1988, nearly 4,000 Soviet Jews passed through Vienna, Blccha said.
Israeli authorities, concerned over the high rate of “drop-outs” — Soviet Jews who go to countries other than Israel after leaving the Soviet Union with Israeli visas — have been urging direct flights from Moscow to Tel Aviv in order to bypass Vienna.
This past year, direct flights have been inaugurated via Bucharest, where Soviet Jews can pick up their visas at the Israeli mission. Romania is the only Eastern bloc nation that has full diplomatic relations with Israel.
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