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GV PAN INT. Delegates seated at Communist Party meeting in Sofia, Bulgaria
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LV & CU Speaker addressing delegates (2 shots)
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CU & CU PAN Delegates listening (12 shots)
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LV & MV Delegates seated (2 shots)
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Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved

Background: Top-ranking officials from nine ruling Communist Parties wound up two days of talks in Sofia, Bulgaria, on Thursday (3 March). The talks were held to co-ordinate ideology in the face of mounting challenges from dissidents in eastern Europe and the Eurocommunist movement in the West.

SYNOPSIS: It was the third Soviet bloc ideological conference in six months. Informed sources quoted by Reuters said it underlined the Kremlin's desire to close ranks at a time of increasing activity by the independent communist parties of Italy, France and Spain.

The meeting was attended by politburo members and party secretaries from Cuba, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Hungary, Mongolia, Poland, Rumania, Bulgaria and the Soviet Union. A conference communique said the officials discussed the common struggle of the Marxist-Leninist parties and the countries of the socialist community to lower international tension. It added that they also discussed problems of ideological work and the strengthening of co-operation in this field. It said the talks were held in a cordial and friendly atmosphere. This meeting attracted many more senior party officials than the two previous ones, both of which were also held in Sofia.