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In her parliamentary post, Lauristin operates from the inside. Rather than lead the debates, she more often wields her influence in drafting the new laws that will govern the country. "My work is to put our ideas into legislation," she says, "and it is often more important than leading the debate." Aided by a natural, direct manner and an air of honesty that works well on television, she is responsible for communicating the government's programs and ideas to the Estonian people.
For Lithuania's Prunskiene, the challenge is far greater. Working alongside a President she outspokenly disagrees with, she has been the leader in seeking a negotiated agreement with Moscow to give Lithuania its independence. An economist for much of her 47 years, Prunskiene has become Lithuania's voice of reason. She made the short leap from economics to politics two years ago when she helped found Sajudis, the independence movement. "I was very unhappy seeing what should be done but was not done," she says. From the beginning she has reached out for Western expertise and advice.
But her innate skill at negotiation and compromise is what has made Prunskiene such a forceful leader. She always expresses herself firmly and directly, she says, but "in such a way that when the conversation is over, it can end without conflict and leave open the possibility of continuing later." Her private discussions with Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev, she says, have been marked by this ability to disagree without insulting or demeaning the Soviet leader. Yet if her tactics are nonconfrontational, she is unwilling to compromise her goals. "The most important thing," she says, "is to reach our independence."
Her methods have earned her a working relationship with Gorbachev, but not with Vytautas Landsbergis, Lithuania's fiery President. While he represents the mystic Lithuanian dreams, she concentrates on practicalities. The two have disagreed strongly about how to deal with Moscow, and many emotional Lithuanians share with Landsbergis his dismay at her conciliatory moves. Prunskiene dismisses the criticism as irrelevant: "As a leader I do not have to follow what I believe is the wrong way just to show unity."
Germany's Bergmann-Pohl has the poise of a practiced politician, despite her background as a physician. She has been a member of the Christian Democratic Union since 1981 because it was the only way, she says, to have an impact on her country's social problems. But she rose to prominence chiefly because of the swiftness of the East German revolution and its need for new people without Communist ties to take over government jobs. The CDU urged her to run for parliament last March, and when her faction won the most seats, she was named president.
Taking on such a post without any training, says Bergmann-Pohl, "was like a person who can't swim jumping into a river." But she clearly felt comfortable with her position several months later, despite criticism that she is disorganized and dwells unnecessarily on details. When she meets a reporter, she is all careful calculation. "We have got to show that women have competence in politics," she says. She will be a member of the united Bundestag until national elections are held in December. Upon unification she was named a Minister Without Portfolio.