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OMRI Daily Digest, Vol. 2, No. 146, 96-07-29
From: Open Media Research Institute <http://www.omri.cz>
Vol. 2, No. 146, 29 July 1996
CONTENTS
[A] TRANSCAUCASIA AND CENTRAL ASIA
[01] GEORGIA AND RUSSIA SIGN MILITARY TREATY.
[02] AZERBAIJANI TRADERS BEATEN.
[03] UZBEK ECONOMIC FIGURES RELEASED.
[04] TAJIK CEASEFIRE AGREEMENT NEAR TOTAL COLLAPSE.
[05] OSH OBLAST GOVERNOR SACKED.
[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[06] EU WARNS CROATIA OVER MOSTAR BOYCOTT.
[07] SERBS IN EASTERN SLAVONIA RALLY FOR AUTONOMY.
[08] CROATIAN SERBS BRING LEGAL ACTION AGAINST BELGRADE.
[09] EXPLOSIONS AT CROATIAN ARMS FACTORY INJURE 18.
[10] BOSNIA, IRAN SIGN MEMORANDUM ON ECONOMIC COOPERATION.
[11] RUMP YUGOSLAV PRESIDENT ON UPCOMING BOSNIAN ELECTIONS.
[12] MONTENEGRIN ELECTIONS SCHEDULED.
[13] ILIESCU NOMINATED PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE.
[14] UPDATE ON BULGARIAN GRAIN CRISIS.
[15] BULGARIAN CHURCH TO ANATHEMATIZE ANOTHER CHURCH'S HEAD.
[16] U.S. URGE NEW ELECTIONS IN ALBANIA.
[A] TRANSCAUCASIA AND CENTRAL ASIA
[01] GEORGIA AND RUSSIA SIGN MILITARY TREATY.
Georgia's defense ministry on 28 July revealed that Defense Minister Lt.-Gen.
Vardiko Nadibaidze signed a military cooperation treaty with his Russian
counterpart during his visit to Moscow the previous week, ITAR-TASS reported.
The statement emphasized that Nadibaidze had been the first foreign military
official to be received by newly appointed Russian Defense Minister Igor
Rodionov. On 27 July, a Russian military spokesman had said the two would
discuss the operation of Russian military bases in Georgia and the "flanks"
restrictions of the Conventional Forces in Europe (CFE) treaty. Georgia has
agreed to "loan" Russia some of its entitlements. -- Doug Clarke
[02] AZERBAIJANI TRADERS BEATEN.
Some 40 Azerbaijani traders were beaten by police during a 26 July raid on the
Krasnogvardeiskii market in southern Moscow, RTR reported. One man was
hospitalized. The ostensible purpose of the raid was to check the traders'
residence papers, but witnesses reported that the police tore up the men's
passports and registration documents. The Azerbaijani ambassador lodged a
protest, and a Ministry of Interior investigation into the police action is
under way. -- Peter Rutland
[03] UZBEK ECONOMIC FIGURES RELEASED.
A government report summarizing Uzbekistan's economic development for the
first half of 1996 highlights several positive trends, ITAR-TASS reported on
26 July. According to the report, the budget deficit is currently 2.1% of GNP,
compared to 3.5% in the same period last year. The inflation rate dropped by
over half from last year (now at 4-5% per month), real income rose by 16%
comapred to the first half of 1995, and only 80 businesses are listed as in
debt, compared to 630 last year. President Islam Karimov was reported as
saying that the private sector now accounts for over 50% of industrial output
and 95% of agricultural output, and that "the current year will become the
year of economic growth for Uzbekistan." -- Roger Kangas
[04] TAJIK CEASEFIRE AGREEMENT NEAR TOTAL COLLAPSE.
With fighting continuing in the Tavil-Dara region despite the Ashgabat
ceasefire agreement signed on 20 July, the Tajik Defense Ministry says it will
no longer hold back its forces in central Tajikistan, Russian Independent
Television (NTV) reported on 27 July. Tajik Radio reported that two government
soldiers were killed and five wounded in the Tavil-Dara region since the
ceasefire came into effect. Hostilities continue to spread in the region with
the town of Jirgatal being the latest area to report fighting. Opposition
forces shelled the town for two hours on 25 July, according to ITAR-TASS. --
Bruce Pannier
[05] OSH OBLAST GOVERNOR SACKED.
During President Askar Akayev's visit to the Osh Oblast of southern Kyrgyzstan
on 27 July, the Osh "Kenesh" (regional council) voted to sack Governor Janysh
Rustenbekov, Vechernii Bishkek reported on 29 July. Rustenbekov was critical
of the results tallied from his oblast during the December 1995 presidential
elections. Akayev reportedly won more than 50% of the vote from the Osh Oblast,
where he is rumored to be unpopular. -- Bruce Pannier
[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[06] EU WARNS CROATIA OVER MOSTAR BOYCOTT.
The EU on 26 July warned Croatia that it will be responsible if Mostar's
Croats continue to boycott the Mostar City Council, AFP reported. The city
council was elected last month in Bosnia's first post-war poll. Dutch
ambassador Jozef Scheffers informed the Croatian Foreign Ministry that Croatia
will face consequences in its relations with the EU if it does not convince
the Bosnian Croats to accept the election results. Croatian President Franjo
Tudjman said he will "seriously consider" the EU ultimatum but stressed he
will not accept "solutions that are degrading or unjust for the Croatian
people," Vecernji list reported on 29 July. But Croatia's hard-line defense
minister, Gojko Susak, said he backed the Croatian boycott because "the
Bosnian Croats would have no chance in the [September] general elections" if
they accepted the results of the Mostar poll. -- Daria Sito Sucic
[07] SERBS IN EASTERN SLAVONIA RALLY FOR AUTONOMY.
An estimated several thousand Serbs rallied in the town of Vukovar on 28 July,
demanding autonomy and the extension of the one-year mandate for the U.N.
Transitional Authority in Eastern Slavonia (UNTAES) before the Serb-held
enclave comes under Croatia's jurisdiction in January 1997, Reuters reported.
Rally organizers also demanded "civil rights guarantees for Serbs and
political and economic autonomy from the central government in Zagreb." The
news agency observed that the Serbs' demands for autonomy may be "unrealistic,
" particularly at this stage and particularly since rump Yugoslavia has agreed
to the Croatian army's jurisdiction over its internationally recognized
borders. -- Stan Markotich
[08] CROATIAN SERBS BRING LEGAL ACTION AGAINST BELGRADE.
Thirty Serbian refugees from Croatia are to bring legal action against
Belgrade on charges of knowingly violating and ignoring internationally
recognized regulations and conventions on the treatment of refugees, Onasa
reported. Natasa Kandic, head of the Belgrade-based Humanitarian Law
Foundation, said the thirty are among the some 40,000 ethnic Serbian refugees
from Croatia's Krajina region who were systematically press-ganged by Belgrade
authorities and forced to fight in front-line combat units. According to Onasa,
an estimated 4,000-6,000 ethnic Serbs from Croatia who were forcibly
conscripted by Belgrade continue to be listed as killed, wounded, captured, or
missing. -- Stan Markotich
[09] EXPLOSIONS AT CROATIAN ARMS FACTORY INJURE 18.
Two major explosions and six minor ones rocked the arms factory in Slavonski
Brod, 250 kilometers east of Zagreb, injuring 18 people, AFP reported on 26
July, citing Croatian radio. The factory, which produced weapons for the
Croatian army during the 1991-1992 war against the rebel Croatian Serbs, was
razed to the ground. -- Daria Sito Sucic
[10] BOSNIA, IRAN SIGN MEMORANDUM ON ECONOMIC COOPERATION.
Bosnian Prime Minister Hasan Muratovic and First Iranian Vice President Hasan
Habibi, meeting in Sarajevo on 27 July, signed a memorandum on trade and
economic cooperation, Onasa reported. The two countries will also cooperate in
civilian air traffic. The officials discussed the reconstruction of the Zenica
steel works, with the Iranian side agreeing to release this year a fifth of
the $50 million credit pledged to Bosnia-Herzegovina for setting up small
companies and for reconstruction. -- Daria Sito Sucic
[11] RUMP YUGOSLAV PRESIDENT ON UPCOMING BOSNIAN ELECTIONS.
Signaling that relations between Belgrade and the current Bosnian Serb
leadership in Pale are under strain, Zoran Lilic has said that the 14
September elections in Bosnia will "eliminate from power the illegal
regimes...[whose mandates] ran out a long time ago." He added that the
elections will pave the way for the consolidation of democratic institutions,
AFP reported on 28 July, citing local Belgrade media reports. Lilic also
praised the international community's peace efforts in Bosnia, noting that the
normalization of relations with the other republics of the former Yugoslavia
was one of Belgrade's priority. -- Stan Markotich
[12] MONTENEGRIN ELECTIONS SCHEDULED.
Montenegrin President Momir Bulatovic on 27 July announced that republican
parliamentary elections will be held on 3 November, Tanjug reported. Balloting
is expected to take place in accordance with recent controversial legislation
dividing Montenegro into 14 electoral districts and stipulating a proportional
representation system of voting (see ). It is speculated that parliamentary elections in Serbia will be held on or around the same day. -- Stan Markotich
[13] ILIESCU NOMINATED PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE.
The Party of Social Democracy in Romania (PDSR) on 26 July nominated Ion
Iliescu as its candidate in the fall presidential elections, Romanian and
Western media reported. PDSR Executive Chairman Adrian Nastase made the
announcement at a nationwide convention. Iliescu, 66, was elected Romania's
first post-communist president in 1990 and re-elected in 1992. The PDSR fared
poorly in the June local elections, and its image has been seriously damaged
by accusations of corruption. Opinion polls suggest that Iliescu may retain
his post but is unlikely to win an outright majority in the first round of
voting, scheduled for 3 November. His main rivals are Emil Constantinescu,
leader of the Democratic Convention of Romania, and Petre Roman, former prime
minister under Iliescu and chairman of the Democratic Party--National
Salvation Front. -- Dan Ionescu
[14] UPDATE ON BULGARIAN GRAIN CRISIS.
EU Agriculture Commissioner Franz Fischler on 27 July announced that the EU
will help Bulgaria to deal with its grain shortage, Reuters reported. He said
specialists will visit Bulgaria in September to help analyze its agricultural
problems, adding that the EU is ready to provide assistance but needs a clear
picture of the country's grain and land market to plan investment credits. He
urged the government to speed up agricultural reforms in order to raise
productivity. Bulgarian farmers are reluctant to undertake extensive planting
because the state-run grain purchasing agency pays only a fraction of world
market prices. Prime Minister Zhan Videnov on 26 July told the parliament that
Bulgaria must import 1.5 million metric tons of grain to secure sufficient
supplies. Demokratsiya on 27 July reported that Videnov has unblocked the
military and state grain reserves and that the opposition may ask the
prosecutor-general to investigate the case. -- Stefan Krause
[15] BULGARIAN CHURCH TO ANATHEMATIZE ANOTHER CHURCH'S HEAD.
The official Bulgarian Orthodox Church, headed by Patriarch Maksim, on 26 July
announced it will anathematize Metropolitan Pimen, Reuters reported. Pimen
heads clergymen who oppose Maksim and accuse him of collaborating with the
former communist regime. Pimen's followers also claim that Maksim was
appointed rather than properly elected patriarch when he took office in 1971.
Their election of Pimen as the new patriarch on 3 July has not been recognized
by the state or the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople. The
anathematizing is expected to be carried out in March 1997, a priest said.
Declaring someone anathema is a final and irrevocable act formally severing
that person from the Church. So far, the Holy Synod has expelled all rebel
bishops from it ranks but has not anathematized them. -- Stefan Krause
[16] U.S. URGE NEW ELECTIONS IN ALBANIA.
U.S. State Department spokesman Nicholas Burns on 27 July demanded that new
elections be held in Albania, Reuters and Gazeta Shqiptare reported. Burns
said Tirana did not respond satisfactorily to foreign observers' complaints
about the recent parliamentary elections. He also noted that re-runs in 17
constituencies in mid-June were also unsatisfactory. Until now, the U.S. had
only asked for a partial re-run to correct obvious irregularities. Deputy
Assistant Secretary of State Rudolf Perina said the U.S. is reviewing its ties
with Albania, including financial aid. Meanwhile in Tirana, the ruling
Democratic Party blamed the Greek lobby in the U.S. for the change in the
American position. Visiting EU Commissioner for External Affairs Hans van den
Broek the previous day said the local elections in October will be a test
influencing Albania's future ties with the EU. -- Stefan Krause
Compiled by Steve Kettle and Jan Cleave
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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