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OMRI Daily Digest, Vol. 2, No. 215, 96-11-06
From: Open Media Research Institute <http://www.omri.cz>
Vol. 2, No. 215, 6 November 1996
CONTENTS
[A] TRANSCAUCASIA AND CENTRAL ASIA
[01] MORE KARABAKH DIPLOMACY.
[02] ARMENIAN OPPOSITION CRITICIZES CONSTITUTIONAL COURT.
[03] UKRAINIAN PRIME MINISTER IN GEORGIA.
[04] TAJIK GOVERNMENT AND OPPOSITION COURT NATIONAL REVIVAL MOVEMENT.
[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[05] BOSNIA'S PRESIDENCY MEMBERS DISAGREE OVER CABINET.
[06] FEDERAL YUGOSLAV ELECTION RETURNS UPDATED . . .
[07] . . . WHILE OPPOSITION REMAINS CRITICAL OF THE PROCESS.
[08] FATE OF SERBIAN LABOR LEADER MAY STILL BE IN LIMBO.
[09] CROATIA ENTERS COUNCIL OF EUROPE . . .
[10] . . . BUT OPPOSES EU'S REGIONAL APPROACH ON MEMBERSHIP.
[11] VICTORY OF OPPOSITION CONFIRMED IN ROMANIA.
[12] ARMS STOLEN FROM DNIESTER MILITARY BASE.
[13] BULGARIAN OPPOSITION RULES OUT COALITION WITH SOCIALISTS.
[14] ALBANIAN APPEALS COURT UPHOLDS SENTENCES FOR EX-COMMUNISTS . . .
[15] . . . AND JUDGE'S HOUSE GETS BOMBED.
[A] TRANSCAUCASIA AND CENTRAL ASIA
[01] MORE KARABAKH DIPLOMACY.
The chairman of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, Xavier Ruperes, held talks in
Baku on 5 November with Azerbaijan's President Heidar Aliev, Foreign Minister
Hasan Hasanov, and representatives of the opposition Azerbaijan Popular Front
and Party of National Independence of Azerbaijan, Turan and ITAR-TASS
reported. Ruperes advocated direct bilateral talks between Armenia and
Azerbaijan to expedite a political solution to the Karabakh conflict. On 4
November, Aliev's special advisor, Vafa Gulu-Zade, left Baku to meet at an
undisclosed European location with his Armenian counterpart, Zhirair
Liparitian. They were to discuss the progress achieved on the Declaration of
Principles that is due to be signed by the presidents of Armenia and
Azerbaijan at the OSCE heads of state summit in Lisbon in early December. --
Liz Fuller
[02] ARMENIAN OPPOSITION CRITICIZES CONSTITUTIONAL COURT.
Shavarsh Kocharyan, the Constitutional Court representative of defeated
presidential candidate Vazgen Manukyan, said the court "violates the
principles of equality and transparency" in validating the 22 September
election results, Noyan Tapan reported on 5 November. The opposition appealed
to the court on 24 October, asking it to annul the vote. Kocharyan claimed
that numerous documented cases of irregularities are not being addressed.
According to him, Manukyan asked the court to return property and documents
from his campaign headquarters seized by the Interior Ministry, but this was
refused on the grounds that the court "is not empowered to solve this
problem." Kocharyan said the Ministry's actions amount to a virtual suspension
of the party, which, according to Armenian law, only the Constitutional Court
has the right to decide. -- Emil Danielyan
[03] UKRAINIAN PRIME MINISTER IN GEORGIA.
Pavlo Lazarenko arrived in Tbilisi on 4 November for a three-day visit and met
with Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze to discuss bilateral cooperation,
ITAR-TASS reported. On 5 November Ukrainian and Georgian officials signed a
series of bilateral agreements, including one on military technical
cooperation. The issue of transporting Caspian oil from Azerbaijan via Georgia
to Ukraine was also discussed, according to Radio Mayak. -- Liz Fuller
[04] TAJIK GOVERNMENT AND OPPOSITION COURT NATIONAL REVIVAL MOVEMENT.
Since the start of November, both the Tajik government and opposition have
made overtures to the National Revival Movement founded last spring by three
former prime ministers. The United Tajik Opposition (UTO) announced that the
movement would be included at the next round of peace talks, and that one UTO
leader, Ali Akbar Turajonzoda, had met with the movement's co-founder,
Abdumalik Abdullajonov, in Tashkent recently. Following this meeting, UTO
leader Said Abdullo Nuri said that cooperation with the movement was possible,
according to a Voice of Free Tajikistan radio broadcast monitored by the BBC.
ITAR-TASS reported on 5 November that President Imomali Rakhmonov met with the
other two leaders of the movement, Jamshed Karimov and Abdujalil Samadov,
after they arrived in Dushanbe on 3 November, and appointed Karimov as a
senior aide for foreign affairs. -- Bruce Pannier
[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[05] BOSNIA'S PRESIDENCY MEMBERS DISAGREE OVER CABINET.
The three members of Bosnia's presidency on 5 November failed to agree on
cabinet portfolios, AFP reported. According to a Western diplomatic source in
Sarajevo, the disagreement of Bosnian Muslim Alija Izetbegovic, Bosnian Serb
Momcilo Krajisnik, and Bosnian Croat Kresimir Zubak is due to the competing
interests of Bosnia's communities. The presidency is responsible for foreign
policy, the budget, and appointing ambassadors, while each of the two entities
is in charge of its own interior, justice, and defense ministries. Krajisnik
has complained about some of Bosnia's ambassadors, whom he felt were
representing only Muslims. The prime minister's post also represents a
problem; it should go to a Bosnian Serb, as it is the country's second-biggest
community, but it is unlikely representatives will propose a moderate rather
than a hardliner, whom the other communities are unlikely to accept. -- Daria
Sito Sucic
[06] FEDERAL YUGOSLAV ELECTION RETURNS UPDATED . . .
With nearly 85% of the votes tabulated from the 3 November federal elections,
the leftist coalition of Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic and those
parties supportive of the left are projected to have secured at least 64 of
138 seats. The main opposition Zajedno coalition trails with 22 seats, while
the ultranationalist Serbian Radical Party controls 16. Vecernje novosti on
5 November reported that 63.11% of eligible voters cast ballots federally. The
daily also observed that of the 30 federal seats apportioned to Montenegro, a
full 21 may be controlled by the Montenegrin governing party, the Democratic
Socialist Party. Meanwhile, in Montenegrin republican elections, the governing
party won 45 of 71 legislative seats. Its main rival, the National Unity
coalition, picked up 19, while the Party of Democratic Action won 3, and the
Democratic League of Montenegro and the Democratic League of Albanians each
won two. -- Stan Markotich
[07] . . . WHILE OPPOSITION REMAINS CRITICAL OF THE PROCESS.
Belgrade's independent daily Nasa Borba on 6 November continues to probe
into allegations of electoral improprieties. Harun Hadzic, leader of the Party
of Democratic Action, which secured 3 seats in Montenegro and one federally,
observed that overall the elections "were neither free nor democratic," the
paper reported. In addition to charges already leveled, Hadzic said that names
of voters were not included on some rolls, thereby precluding eligible voters
from exercising their franchise. -- Stan Markotich
[08] FATE OF SERBIAN LABOR LEADER MAY STILL BE IN LIMBO.
Dragoljub Stosic, head of the Belgrade municipal transit union, may still be
in custody. Beta, on 4 November, reported that lawyers for the imprisoned
Belgrade trade union leader were seeking his release by petitioning justices
of the Fourth Municipal Court in Belgrade. On 1 November, public prosecutors
raised objections and halted moves that may have resulted in Stosic's release.
Stosic was arrested in late October when Belgrade police--including
paramilitaries--broke up a transit strike (see ). Witnesses said Stosic
was not involved in any criminal wrongdoing. And for their part, trade
unionists involved in the strike have maintained their job action was both
lawful and peaceful. -- Stan Markotich
[09] CROATIA ENTERS COUNCIL OF EUROPE . . .
Croatia became the 40th member of the Council of Europe on 6 November,
international media reported. Membership was first approved in April, then
delayed in May in an unprecedented decision over misgivings about Croatia at
home and abroad. In October, the Council agreed to admit Croatia, citing its
cooperation with Bosnia's peace accord, improvement of human rights and a
"satisfactory" record of cooperation with the UN International Criminal
Tribunal for Former Yugoslavia. But deputy head of the Croatian Helsinki
Committee for Human Rights Zarko Puhovski said that Croatia "has not met all
the conditions," AFP reported on 5 November. The UN Security Council has
repeatedly criticized Croatia for its treatment of Croatian Serbs in that
country. The International Crisis Group, a watchdog organization, on 5
November protested Croatia's admission to the Council before turning over
indicted war criminals, Onasa reported. -- Daria Sito Sucic
[10] . . . BUT OPPOSES EU'S REGIONAL APPROACH ON MEMBERSHIP.
Foreign Minister Mate Granic said on 5 November that Croatia is opposed to the
EU's group approach to bids for membership by the countries of former
Yugoslavia, AFP reported. Granic said that making Croatia's entry into the EU
conditional upon an association with the countries of southeast Europe was
unacceptable. Granic said to his Italian counterpart Lamberto Dini that
Croatia insists on an individual approach "taking into account the level of
development and democratization of each of the states concerned." Italy and
Croatia on 5 November signed a treaty on protection for Croatia's Italian
minority, and a treaty on the promotion and protection of bilateral
investments, Hina reported. -- Daria Sito Sucic
[11] VICTORY OF OPPOSITION CONFIRMED IN ROMANIA.
With 99% of the votes counted in the 3 November elections, the Democratic
Convention of Romania (CDR) seems a sure winner, capturing around 30% of the
votes, Romanian media reported. Observers from the Council of Europe and the
OSCE on 5 November described the elections as free and generally fair. The
monitors, however, cited irregularities and some lack of transparency.
Meanwhile, the Bucharest-based Adevarul on 6 November wrote that talks for
forming a new cabinet had already begun between the CDR and the Social
Democratic Union (USD) of former Premier Petre Roman, which came in third with
around 13% of the votes. The USD is said to claim 30% of cabinet portfolios,
while the Hungarian Democratic Federation of Romania, another potential
participant in the coalition ruling, wants the justice and finance cabinet
posts. -- Dan Ionescu and Zsolt Mato
[12] ARMS STOLEN FROM DNIESTER MILITARY BASE.
A gang of masked men attacked a former Soviet military barracks in the
Dniester region and stole more than 30 automatic rifles, Reuters reported on 5
November. The incident, in which one sentry was killed, took place in the town
of Bendery. According to a local official, the guns were stolen by a group of
Dniester gangsters to settle scores with rival criminal groups. Gang warfare
has become endemic in the region. -- Dan Ionescu
[13] BULGARIAN OPPOSITION RULES OUT COALITION WITH SOCIALISTS.
Union of Democratic Forces (SDS) Chairman Ivan Kostov on 5 November said the
opposition will not form a coalition with the ruling Bulgarian Socialist Party
(BSP) "in this parliament," international media reported. He called on the BSP
to continue restitution of farmland, privatization of state-owned enterprises,
and to protect the private sector. Kostov's statement came only one day after
19 leading BSP members from various inner-party platforms demanded Prime
Minister Zhan Videnov's resignation, and two days after the opposition's Petar
Stoyanov won the presidential elections with a 20% margin over the BSP
candidate, Culture Minister Ivan Marazov. Recently, speculation sprung up that
the BSP might try to form a coalition government, but also that early
elections might be held next spring if the crisis within the BSP is not
resolved or splits the party. -- Stefan Krause
[14] ALBANIAN APPEALS COURT UPHOLDS SENTENCES FOR EX-COMMUNISTS . . .
The appeals court led by chief judge Prel Martini on 5 November has upheld
prison sentences of up to 20 years on nine high ranking communist-era
officials, Reuters reported on 6 November. The nine were sentenced on 28
September for sending thousands of dissidents into internal exile. They
included party leaders from Tirana, Lushnja, Fier, and Kruja, as well as
secret police and Interior Ministry officials. -- Fabian Schmidt
[15] . . . AND JUDGE'S HOUSE GETS BOMBED.
An explosion wrecked the apartment of appeals court judge Martini shortly
after midnight on 6 November, Reuters reported. The bomb severely injured his
five-year-old daughter and also wounded Martini, his seven-year-old son and
two women in adjoining apartments. The fourth and fifth floors of the building
in central Tirana were badly damaged. Prime Minister Alexander Meksi visited
the scene and described the explosion as a terrorist act with a political
motive. -- Fabian Schmidt
Compiled by Steve Kettle and Valentina Huber
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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