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OMRI: Daily Digest, Vol. 2, No. 235, 96-12-06
From: Open Media Research Institute <http://www.omri.cz>
Vol. 2, No. 235, 6 December 1996
CONTENTS
[A] TRANSCAUCASIA AND CENTRAL ASIA
[01] TROUBLES FOR UN OBSERVERS IN TAJIKISTAN.
[02] KAZAKSTAN WILL DEVELOP CASPIAN DEPOSITS IN 1997.
[03] GEORGIA TO CREATE ITS OWN NAVY?
[04] MEDIA CRACKDOWN IN AZERBAIJAN.
[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[05] MASS PROTESTS CONTINUE IN SERBIA . . .
[06] . . . AND BEGIN TO HAVE IMPACT.
[07] LONDON CONFERENCE ON BOSNIA ENDS . . .
[08] . . . FOLLOWING ADOPTION OF NEW AGENDA.
[09] BOSNIAN EX-SOLDIERS STAGE HUNGER STRIKE.
[10] BOSNIA, CROATIA GRANTED LOANS FOR RECONSTRUCTION.
[11] CROATIAN JOURNALISTS' ASSOCIATION CRITICIZES UN.
[12] ROMANIA'S RULING ALLIANCE ELECTS NEW LEADER.
[13] ROMANIA, IMF TO RENEGOTIATE CREDIT PROGRAM.
[14] BULGARIA CLOSER TO CURRENCY BOARD ADOPTION?
[A] TRANSCAUCASIA AND CENTRAL ASIA
[01] TROUBLES FOR UN OBSERVERS IN TAJIKISTAN.
The UN Mission of Observers in Tajikistan (UNMOT) issued a press release on
3 December, condemning the treatment of its people by members of the Tajik
government's military, Nezavisimaya Gazeta and RFE/RL reported. According
to UNMOT, three of its officials sent to the Garm area to report on the
fighting there were stopped by government troops at the Chorsada post where
they were physically abused and threatened with their lives. In order to
return to the Tajik capital, Dushanbe, the three had to travel first to
Kyrgyzstan. The United Tajik Opposition is cited by UN Special Envoy to
Tajikistan Gerd Merrem as being instrumental in procuring safe passage
through opposition-held territory en route to Kyrgyzstan. The Tajik
government apologized and claimed the incident was the action of
individuals and promised to investigate the matter. UNMOT has reportedly
recalled all its representatives to Dushanbe. -- Bruce Pannier
[02] KAZAKSTAN WILL DEVELOP CASPIAN DEPOSITS IN 1997.
Despite lack of agreement between the five littoral states, Kazakstani Oil
and Gas Minister Nurlan Balginbayev announced his country would begin oil
production in the Caspian Sea in 1997, RFE/RL reported on 5 December.
Balginbayev said the organizations involved in the international consortium
will sign a production-sharing agreement in the near future and work will
start shortly after that. Companies with shares in the project are Agip,
British Gas, British Petroleum, Statoil, Mobil and Total. -- Bruce Pannier
[03] GEORGIA TO CREATE ITS OWN NAVY?
Speaking at a press conference in Tbilisi on 5 December, Georgian Foreign
Minister Irakli Menagharishvili said the country's present level of
economic development is adequate to finance a navy, which he said would be
used exclusively to protect Georgia's maritime borders, ITAR-TASS reported.
Visiting Kyiv in September, Menagharishvili had submitted to the Ukrainian
government an official claim by the Georgian leadership to part of the
Black Sea Fleet, and Ukraine's ambassador in Tbilisi, Anatolii Kasyanenko,
recently told Svobodnaya Gruziya that Ukraine supports this request. --
Liz Fuller
[04] MEDIA CRACKDOWN IN AZERBAIJAN.
The speaker of Azerbaijan's Milli Mejlis (parliament), Murtuz Alesqerov, on
3 December gave instructions that the accreditation of Azadlyg journalist
Azer Huseynbala be revoked, and warned other opposition journalists that
their accreditation will also be revoked if they publish materials "that
show parliament in a bad light," Turan reported on 5 December.
Parliamentary correspondents for opposition papers decided on 5 December to
take turns in supplying coverage of the proceedings of the Milli Mejlis for
publication in Azadlyg, the newspaper of the opposition Azerbaijan
Popular Front. -- Liz Fuller
[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[05] MASS PROTESTS CONTINUE IN SERBIA . . .
For the 17th consecutive day, protesters gathered in Belgrade and other
cities throughout Serbia on 5 December to protest the government decision
to nullify the 17 November local election results, local independent media
reported. The opposition Zajedno coalition had scored significant
victories in those elections. Nasa Borba estimated that 150,000 people
were out in the Serbian capital on 5 December. Some demonstrators threw
paper planes at landmarks such as the RTS broadcasting facility and the
Politika publishing house. Others lit candles to the memory of truth and
freedom, which, they said, were extinguished by Serbian President Slobodan
Milosevic's regime. -- Stan Markotich
[06] . . . AND BEGIN TO HAVE IMPACT.
In one of several developments signaling that the government is succumbing
to public pressure, Belgrade's election commission has requested that the
Supreme Court ruling validating the annulment of the 17 November returns be
re-examined, Nasa Borba reported on 6 December. The regime has also
lifted its crackdown on the independent media covering the demonstrations.
Belgrade's Radio B 92 is back on the air after being taken off for two
days. Finally, Reuters on 6 December reported that one prominent member of
the ruling Socialist Party of Serbia who did not wish to be named said the
authorities were preparing to "ease tensions" and recognize opposition
victories in Nis, the second-largest city in Serbia. -- Stan Markotich
[07] LONDON CONFERENCE ON BOSNIA ENDS . . .
The two-day international meeting to take stock of the implementation of
the Dayton agreement ended on 5 December, international and regional media
reported. Commentators noted that one of the gathering's main
accomplishments was that the Serbs sat down with the Muslims and Croats as
one delegation, but it is unclear whether the inter-entity cooperation will
go much beyond that. British Foreign Secretary Malcolm Rifkind warned the
three parties that they are responsible for their own future and that the
international community has neither the will nor the intent to provide open-
ended military or economic support. Bosnian President Alija Izetbegovic
said that he expects military assistance to last up to another two years
and economic help at least another ten. -- Patrick Moore
[08] . . . FOLLOWING ADOPTION OF NEW AGENDA.
The conference heard much tough talk about the need to catch war criminals,
but Judge Louise Arbour of the Hague-based tribunal noted that cooperation
on the ground is "severely lacking." Additional responsibilities will be
given to the international community's High Representative, Carl Bildt, but
catching war criminals will still be dependent on the cooperation of the
local authorities. The conference also adopted a new timetable to implement
concrete provisions of the Dayton agreement, many of which are overdue.
Local elections must now be completed in summer 1997 and the arms reduction
program by 31 October. -- Patrick Moore
[09] BOSNIAN EX-SOLDIERS STAGE HUNGER STRIKE.
About 100 workers from the construction firm GP Sarajevo went on a hunger
strike to protest poor wages and living conditions, AFP reported on 5
December. The group includes many demobilized solders, reflecting the
problem across Bosnia-Herzegovina that tens of thousands of men on all
sides have little or no work. Fighting is the only trade that many of them
know. The situation is particularly bad in the Republika Srpska, which has
received only 2% of the international reconstruction aid to date. Aid
agencies blame the attitude of the local Serbian authorities for the
problem. -- Patrick Moore
[10] BOSNIA, CROATIA GRANTED LOANS FOR RECONSTRUCTION.
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development on 5 December signed a
$32.7 million loan with Bosnia-Herzegovina to improve the war-damaged
Sarajevo airport and roads and bridges throughout the country, Reuters
reported. Officials said it was the first loan to be signed by both
Bosnia's Serb and Muslim-Croat entities. But the international community
warned that they would not support the country's economy forever. They also
stressed future aid would depend on how the Bosnian sides comply with the
Dayton peace agreement. Meanwhile, Croatia and the World Bank on 4 December
signed a $102 million loan agreement on the reconstruction of road networks
and mine clearance in Croatia, Hina reported. -- Daria Sito Sucic
[11] CROATIAN JOURNALISTS' ASSOCIATION CRITICIZES UN.
The Croatian Journalists' Association on 5 December accused the UN of doing
nothing to protect Croatian journalists at a Serb-led demonstration the
previous day in the town of Vukovar, in eastern Slavonia (see OMRI Daily
Digest, 5 December 1996), AFP reported. The journalists have sent a
protest letter to UN administrator for eastern Slavonia Jacques Klein
saying that "if the UN invites us to cover an event, their officials should
guarantee the security of journalists." In other news, the Croatian
Journalists' Union has said that pressure on and threats to journalists
have increased since Croatia was admitted to the Council of Europe,
Vecernji List reported on 6 December. Also, the Croatian official media
have begun a campaign against journalists who work for the foreign media,
accusing them of being communist agents paid to create "a poor image of
Croatia in Europe," AFP reported on 5 December. -- Daria Sito Sucic
[12] ROMANIA'S RULING ALLIANCE ELECTS NEW LEADER.
The Democratic Convention of Romania (CDR) on 5 December elected Ion
Diaconescu as its leader, Romanian media reported. The 78-year-old
Diaconescu spent 17 years in jail during the communist period. He is
chairman of the National Peasant Party--Christian Democratic, the leading
member of the CDR. Diaconescu replaces Emil Constantinescu, who resigned
after his election as Romania's president last month. The CDR won the
November parliamentary elections and is currently forming a coalition
government with the Social Democratic Union of former Premier Petre Roman
and the Hungarian Democratic Federation of Romania. -- Dan Ionescu
[13] ROMANIA, IMF TO RENEGOTIATE CREDIT PROGRAM.
The new Romanian government and the IMF are to renegotiate a three-year
stand-by credit program suspended in early 1996 by the IMF, Reuters and
Romanian media reported on 5 December. IMF chief negotiator Poul Thomsen
said in Bucharest that renegotiation is necessary because of the
"significant deterioration in the [Romanian] economy." Next week, a team of
IMF experts will evaluate the state of the economy. IMF Managing Director
Michel Camdessus is due to visit Romania later this month. Negotiations
will start in January 1997, and an agreement is expected by March. The IMF
credit program is essential for Romania, which has a slow privatization
rate and a low level of direct foreign investment (just over $2 billion). --
Zsolt Mato
[14] BULGARIA CLOSER TO CURRENCY BOARD ADOPTION?
Ivan Kostov, chairman of the opposition Union of Democratic Forces (SDS),
has said he will present to the 9 December extraordinary meeting of the SDS
National Coordinating Council a plan for reaching national consensus on the
adoption of a currency board, RFE/RL and Demokratsiya reported. Over the
past week, Kostov has held talks with IMF, World Bank, and U.S. government
officials. Bulgarian politicians have so far failed to agree on if and how
the board should be introduced. Kostov said he supports the idea of a board
but is against having one set up by the current government. He added that
his plan would offer the basis for a stable new program for governing
Bulgaria and could be supported even by some members of the ruling
Bulgarian Socialist Party. However, he gave no details of the plan. In
other news, a 10,000-lev bank note will go into circulation on 8 December
as inflation continues to soar. -- Maria Koinova
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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