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OMRI Daily Digest, Vol. 2, No. 96, 96-05-17
From: Open Media Research Institute <http://www.omri.cz>
Vol. 2, No. 96, 17 May 1996
CONTENTS
[A] TRANSCAUCASIA AND CENTRAL ASIA
[01] GEORGIAN-OSSETIYAN MEMORANDUM ON CONFIDENCE BUILDING SIGNED.
[02] ANTI-GOVERNMENT DEMONSTRATIONS SPREAD IN TAJIKISTAN.
[03] OIL, PIPELINE UPDATE.
[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[04] SLOVENIAN GOVERNMENT COALITION BREAKS UP.
[05] INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY SUPPORTS SACKED BOSNIAN SERB PREMIER.
[06] PRESSURE TO CATCH KARADZIC GROWS.
[07] FIRST CROATIAN JOURNALISTS TO APPEAR IN COURT FOR NEW PRESS LAW VIOLATION.
[08] CROATIA'S FUTURE WITH THE COUNCIL OF EUROPE UNCLEAR.
[09] SERBIAN PRESIDENT MEETS GERMAN FOREIGN MINISTER.
[10] MACEDONIA ASKS FOR EXTENSION OF UN MANDATE.
[11] ILIESCU, LILIC SIGN BASIC TREATY.
[12] ROMANIAN COALITION TO BREAK UP.
[13] MOLDOVAN, RUSSIAN PRESIDENTS MEET.
[14] BULGARIAN PRESIDENT CRITICAL OF GOVERNMENT REFORMS.
[15] ALBANIA AND GREECE TO SIGN AGREEMENT ON SEASONAL LABOR.
[16] ALBANIAN OPPOSITION PARTY COMPLAINS ABOUT POLICE BEATINGS.
[A] TRANSCAUCASIA AND CENTRAL ASIA
[01] GEORGIAN-OSSETIYAN MEMORANDUM ON CONFIDENCE BUILDING SIGNED.
On the sidelines of the CIS summit, on 16 May representatives of Russia,
Georgia, and North and South Ossetiya signed a memorandum intended to expedite
a settlement of the continuing standoff between the Georgian authorities in
Tbilisi and the breakaway region of South Ossetiya, Russian and Western media
reported. Under the terms of the agreement, which was mediated by Russia and
the OSCE, Georgia and South Ossetiya renounce the use or threat of force
political and economic pressure against each other. -- Liz Fuller
[02] ANTI-GOVERNMENT DEMONSTRATIONS SPREAD IN TAJIKISTAN.
Demonstrations entered their fifth day in the northern city of Khojent on 16
May, with new rallies taking place in the cities of Shakristan and Isfana,
Russian and Western media reported. The protesters are demanding more
representation for northerners in the regional governments as well as greater
economic rights. RFE/RL reported that approximately 300 members of the
Presidential Guard has been sent from Dushanbe to Khojent, where an estimated
10,000 people are participating in the demonstration. Meanwhile, fighting
continued in the Tavil-Dara region, as opposition forces advanced to the city
of Komsomolabad, NTV reported. Russian Defense Minister Pavel Grachev has
stressed that Russian peacekeepers will not become involved in the conflict. --
Roger Kangas
[03] OIL, PIPELINE UPDATE.
Kazakhstan has decided to resume oil exports to Russia's Yukos-owned
refineries in Samara, ITAR-TASS reported on 16 May. The head of Yukos
described the agreement as the first step toward his company's expanded role
in Kazakhstan's oil sector. Meanwhile, talks are underway in Ankara between
the U.S. firm Chevron and Turkish officials, Reuters reported the same day. It
appears that Chevron, while indicating it is prepared to discuss all options
including the Baku-Ceyhan pipeline, is attempting to persuade Turkey to permit
Tengiz oil to pass by tanker through the Turkish Straits. Earlier in the week,
company representatives told a pipeline conference in Istanbul that full-
stream Tengiz output could add one tanker (with a capacity up to 150,000
metric tons) to daily traffic in the Bosporus. In other news, Mobil
Corporation announced that it had paid $1.1 billion for a 25% interest in the
Tengiz oil field, AFP reported on 16 May. -- Lowell Bezanis
[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[04] SLOVENIAN GOVERNMENT COALITION BREAKS UP.
Slovenian Premier Janez Drnovsek on 16 May broke up the coalition alliance
between his Liberal Democratic Party (LDS), which holds 30 seats in the 90-
seat parliament, and the Christian Democratic Party (SKD), which has 15 seats,
Radio Slovenija reported. This move followed a no-confidence vote in Foreign
Minster and LDS member Zoran Thaler. The vote, supported by the SKD, was split
48-26, with Thaler tendering his resignation in the wake of the result. Thaler
had come under increasing criticism in recent months, with Christian Democrats
questioning his general level of competence and claiming he failed to improve
ties with Italy and to bring Slovenia closer to EU membership. However,
Drnovsek said on 17 May he will try to maintain the working relationship with
the SKD. -- Stan Markotich
[05] INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY SUPPORTS SACKED BOSNIAN SERB PREMIER.
The international community has strongly criticized the 15 May dismissal
of moderate Bosnian Serb Premier Rajko Kasagic by Bosnian Serb leader
Radovan Karadzic. NATO Secretary-General Javier Solana met on 16 May with
Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic urging him to see to it that Kasagic
remain Prime Minister, Nasa Borba reported on 17 May. Meanwhile, Milosevic
told U.S. government officials he would ignore the dismissal, Reuters reported
on 16 May. Both Serbian and rump Yugoslav governments condemned the dismissal,
calling it "illegal, null and void." High Representative for Bosnia Carl Bildt
and Kasagic himself issued on 16 May a joint statement saying they will
continue to work together to break the forces of isolationism that threaten
implementation of the peace agreement. Kasagic said that Karadzic was not a
"legitimate leader" of Bosnian Serbs because "he had not been elected by
people as called for in the constitution but by a self-proclaimed parliament."
-- Daria Sito Sucic and Stan Markotich
[06] PRESSURE TO CATCH KARADZIC GROWS.
At the conclusion of meetings in Washington D.C. to shore up the shaky Croat-
Muslim federation, federal Vice President Ejup Ganic again demanded that IFOR
capture indicted Bosnian Serb war criminals Radovan Karadzic and Gen. Ratko
Mladic, while the U.S. maintained that Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic is
responsible for arresting and handing them over to the war crimes tribunal in
The Hague, AFP reported on 17 May. Diplomats in Sarajevo are nonetheless
considering pursuing Karadzic given his role in the current Bosnian Serb power
struggle and the growing feeling that there will be no free elections while he
remains free. Meanwhile in The Hague, the indicted Bosnian Serb Goran Lajic
told the court that he is not guilty and that the case against him is one of
mistaken identity. -- Patrick Moore
[07] FIRST CROATIAN JOURNALISTS TO APPEAR IN COURT FOR NEW PRESS LAW VIOLATION.
Viktor Ivancic and Marinko Culic, two editors from the independent Croatian
satirical weekly Feral Tribune, will be the first journalists tried under a
new press law that forbids journalists to "offend" leading officials, Novi
List reported on 17 May. The Prosecutor-General's Office on 16 May sent the
journalists a court summons. They are accused of making Croatian President
Franjo Tudjman "an object of libel and slander." Many international media
organizations, political forums, and the Croatian opposition parties have
condemned the law, which in the case of these journalists stipulates a maximum
sentence of one year imprisonment for libel and up to six months for slander,
Novi list reported. -- Daria Sito Sucic
[08] CROATIA'S FUTURE WITH THE COUNCIL OF EUROPE UNCLEAR.
The Croatian Foreign Ministry issued a statement that "the Republic of Croatia
confirms its commitment to the process of democratic development, thereby
respecting the Council of Europe's criteria and norms," Reuters reported on 16
May. This is the first official comment on the Council's 14 May decision to
block Croatia's admission, over which the Croatian statement also "expressed
regret." The Council's move is widely viewed in Croatia as an attempt to hold
the country to higher standards than those required of some member states like
Russia, Romania, or Albania (see ). Those who hold
this opinion say Croatia is being "punished" by Britain, France, and their
allies for regarding the U.S., and not the EU, as its main partner. An
editorial in the pro-government daily Vjesnik on 17 May said that Croatia
wants eventual "entrance into Europe" but that its chief interest now is in
close ties with the U.S. In Washington D.C., Croatian Foreign Minister Mate
Granic said that Croatia will "fulfill all its obligations [toward the
council] in the required time." He went on, however, to deny charges made by
that body that the Croatian government controls the media, has violated
democratic principles regarding the Zagreb city government, and shelters
indicted war criminals. -- Patrick Moore
[09] SERBIAN PRESIDENT MEETS GERMAN FOREIGN MINISTER.
Slobodan Milosevic met Klaus Kinkel on 16 May to discuss bilateral relations
and Belgrade's commitment to the Dayton peace process, particularly Belgrade's
willingness to cooperate with the International Criminal Tribunal for the
Former Yugoslavia, Tanjug reported. Kinkel also met with his Belgrade
counterpart, Milan Milutinovic, who raised the issue of the Serb refugees from
Bosnia and Croatia in rump Yugoslavia. Milutinovic said he hoped Germany might
use its influence to help Belgrade integrate into international organizations
such as the UN and the IMF.-- Stan Markotich
[10] MACEDONIA ASKS FOR EXTENSION OF UN MANDATE.
Macedonian Foreign Minister Ljubomir Frckovski has asked UN Secretary General
Boutros Boutros-Ghali to extend the mandate of the UN peacekeeping troops for
another year. The current mandate is due to expire at the end of May, AFP
reported on 16 May. Frckovski said the situation in the former Yugoslavia
remains unstable despite the Dayton peace accord and added that Macedonia is
unable to defend its borders. The UN force, which has been in Macedonia since
1992, includes 500 U.S. troops and 500 soldiers from Nordic countries. --
Fabian Schmidt
[11] ILIESCU, LILIC SIGN BASIC TREATY.
Romanian President Ion Iliescu and rump-Yugoslavia's President Zoran Lilic on
16 May signed in Belgrade a bilateral basic treaty, Romanian and international
media reported. The document was initialed last month in Bucharest by the two
countries' foreign ministers and emphasizes Belgrade and Bucharest's desire to
integrate in European structures. The Romanian media played up the event,
saying that the document is the first of its kind signed by rump Yugoslavia
and that Iliescu is the first president to visit the federation since the
cease-fire. Iliescu is scheduled to meet federal Prime Minister Radoje Kontic,
as well as Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic. -- Matyas Szabo
[12] ROMANIAN COALITION TO BREAK UP.
With local elections scheduled for next month and against the background of
repeated clashes between the two, the Party of Social Democracy in Romania
(PSDR) on 16 May decided to "start procedure" for breaking the alliance with
its last coalition partner, the Party of Romanian National Unity (PUNR),
domestic media reported. On 22 March the PSDR had already announced this
intention, but nothing was concretely done to implement it. The coalition
accord between the PSDR and the PUNR stipulates several steps before the
alliance can be dissolved. Also on 16 May, Premier Nicolae Vacaroiu, hitherto
officially a non-party affiliated technocrat, joined the PSDR and was
immediately elected vice-chairman of the party, Romanian and international
media reported. -- Michael Shafir
[13] MOLDOVAN, RUSSIAN PRESIDENTS MEET.
On the eve of the CIS summit in Moscow, Mircea Snegur met with Boris Yeltsin
mainly to discuss the situation in Moldova's breakaway Dniester region,
Romanian media reported on 16 May. The two presidents agreed the existing
problems should be resolved in the spirit of the Moldovan-Russian-Ukrainian
joint declaration on the Dniester issue. They also discussed better economic
cooperation within the CIS. -- Matyas Szabo
[14] BULGARIAN PRESIDENT CRITICAL OF GOVERNMENT REFORMS.
Zhelyu Zhelev on 16 May criticized the Bulgarian Socialist Party government,
saying its strategy to reform the economy and steer the country away from
impending financial and economic ruin lacked vision. He said that, "The
controversial statements by representatives of the government...give the
impression that they are launching structural reforms without a clear concept,
" Reuters reported. Presidential spokesman Valentin Stoyanov added on Zhelev's
behalf, "It is disconcerting that decisions related to structural reform are
taken in the dark, in closed party plenums without dialogue between state
institutions and political forces." -- Stan Markotich
[15] ALBANIA AND GREECE TO SIGN AGREEMENT ON SEASONAL LABOR.
Albanian Foreign Minister Alfred Serreqi will visit Athens on 17 May to sign a
number of bilateral agreements with his Greek counterpart, Theodoros Pangalos,
including one regulating the status of illegal Albanian immigrants to Greece,
Albania reported. Some 330,000 Albanians are currently estimated to do
seasonal work in Greece, but large numbers of them are expected to return for
the 26 May Albanian elections. The foreign ministers are also to sign an
agreement opening consulates in Thessaloniki and Korca. -- Fabian Schmidt
[16] ALBANIAN OPPOSITION PARTY COMPLAINS ABOUT POLICE BEATINGS.
Democratic Alliance (AD) parliamentary candidate Blendi Gonxhe accused a
police chief of beating legislator Ridvan Peshkepia. Police allegedly detained
Peshkepia while searching his car. Gonxhe also said that five AD members were
arrested by police after a rally in the Tirana Student city, Reuters reported
on 16 May. He alleged plain-clothed officers also beat up an AD candidate and
an accompanying journalist in the south and charged police with obstructing
the party's campaign rallies there. The Interior Ministry denied the
allegations and accused the AD of using dirty campaign tactics, including
provoking incidents with the police, to win votes in the May 26 elections. A
statement from the ministry said, "The leaders of the AD cannot help but
demonstrate this kind of behavior which is more characteristic of villains
than of politicians." -- Fabian Schmidt
Compiled by Victor Gomez and Deborah Michaels
News and information as of 1200 CET
This material was reprinted with permission of the Open Media
Research Institute, a nonprofit organization with research offices in
Prague, Czech Republic.
For more information on OMRI publications please write to info@omri.cz.
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