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OMRI: Daily Digest, Vol. 3, No. 1, 97-01-02

Open Media Research Institute: Daily Digest Directory - Previous Article - Next Article

From: Open Media Research Institute <http://www.omri.cz>

Vol. 3, No. 1, 2 January 1997


CONTENTS

[A] TRANSCAUCASIA AND CENTRAL ASIA

  • [01] GEORGIAN PRESIDENT CALLS FOR NATIONAL RECONCILIATION
  • [02] GEORGIA HIT BY NATURAL DISASTERS
  • [03] ARMENIAN PRESIDENT ON 1997
  • [04] KYRGYZ PRESIDENT SEES ECONOMIC GROWTH
  • [05] TAJIK-IRANIAN RELATIONS

  • [B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE

  • [06] SERBIAN OPPOSITION RINGS IN NEW YEAR
  • [07] MILOSEVIC PROMISES ECONOMIC TRANSFORMATION
  • [08] SERBIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH ADDRESSES POLITICAL SITUATION
  • [09] CIA SAYS BOSNIA HAS BROKEN MILITARY, INTELLIGENCE TIES WITH IRAN
  • [10] STEINER VOTED BOSNIA'S "FOREIGN PERSONALITY" OF 1996
  • [11] RUGOVA REJECTS CRITICISM ABOUT HIS STRATEGY
  • [12] FORMER ROMANIAN DEFENSE MINISTER DIES
  • [13] BULGARIAN PRESIDENT APOLOGIZES FOR ECONOMIC DOLDRUMS
  • [14] ALBANIAN NATIONAL FRONT UNITES WITH MONARCHISTS

  • [A] TRANSCAUCASIA AND CENTRAL ASIA

    [01] GEORGIAN PRESIDENT CALLS FOR NATIONAL RECONCILIATION

    In his New Year's address to the nation, Eduard Shevardnadze said he hopes 1997 will be a year of reconciliation among Georgians, Abkhaz, and South Ossetians, ITAR-TASS reported on 31 December. Shevardnadze condemned the calls by some Georgian politicians to resolve the Abkhaz conflict by force as "thoughtless" while adding that Georgia will never agree to Abkhazia's outright independence. Shevardnadze called for a "more active" Russian mediation in the Abkhaz conflict and said despite "certain difficulties and problems" in relations with Russia, his government will continue the strategic partnership policy with the latter. -- Emil Danielyan

    [02] GEORGIA HIT BY NATURAL DISASTERS

    Rescue workers on 30 December managed to clear a path into a 4 km-long tunnel connecting Georgia and Russia that had been blocked off by an avalanche in the Caucasus Mountains on 26 December, international agencies reported. Some 300 people, including one newborn baby who died of hypothermia, were trapped in the tunnel. Some 60 truck drivers, fearing that their vehicles and cargoes could be stolen, decided not to leave the tunnel until traffic is resumed. The avalanche followed floods in West Georgia that, according to ITAR-TASS, washed away more than 50 bridges and destroyed several hundred houses and buildings, causing an estimated $10 million in damages. -- Emil Danielyan

    [03] ARMENIAN PRESIDENT ON 1997

    Speaking on national TV, Levon Ter-Petrossyan said that in 1997 Armenia will have to end the trade-route blockade and deal with international pressure due to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, ITAR-TASS reported on 1 January. The president said the two challenges can be successfully overcome if people maintain solidarity and the country remains stable. He also said that the new year will be marked by an economic revival, an improvement in living standards, and a stronger rule of law. -- Emil Danielyan

    [04] KYRGYZ PRESIDENT SEES ECONOMIC GROWTH

    Askar Akayev on 28 December told government officials that while living standards had not improved during 1996, "new dynamic sectors of the national economy" would correct that trend in 1997. Akayev was alluding to the Kumtor gold mining operation which is scheduled to begin production in 1997. Akayev said the government will take measures to keep the national currency, the som, stable at the present rate of 15-17 some/$1, cut annual inflation to 15%, and raise the minimum wage and pensions by 30%. -- Bruce Pannier

    [05] TAJIK-IRANIAN RELATIONS

    Iranian Vice President Hassan Habibi arrived in Tajikistan on 30 December at the head of an 80-member delegation, the largest Iranian group to visit the Central Asian state so far, international press reported. Habibi on 31 December signed agreements with Tajik Prime Minister Yakhye Azimov on double taxation, cooperation in education, culture, trade, and industry, and a memorandum on developing auto and rail transportation. ITAR-TASS reported on 30 December that Tajikistan is seeking help in exploiting its gas reserves, estimated at 800 billion cubic meters, and its 130 million tons worth of oil reserves. In Tehran, United Tajik Opposition leader Said Abdullo Nuri met with Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Velayati on 30 December to discuss the recently signed Tajik peace agreement. -- Bruce Pannier

    [B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE

    [06] SERBIAN OPPOSITION RINGS IN NEW YEAR

    At least 200,000 people braved the bitter cold to attend a gala open-air New Year's Eve party in central Belgrade, international media reported. Leaders of the Zajedno movement congratulated their followers and predicted victory over President Slobodan Milosevic, whom they accuse of having stolen the 17 November local elections. The crowds were entertained by some of the country's leading rock groups, and the once ubiquitous riot police were nowhere to be seen. The next day, demonstration organizers urged their followers to stay home and make as much noise as possible with pans, drums, and other implements during Serbian TV's main evening newscast to protest its biased coverage. The event was a success, although some 5,000 students also demonstrated on the streets of the city center. The protests show no sign of losing momentum. -- Patrick Moore

    [07] MILOSEVIC PROMISES ECONOMIC TRANSFORMATION

    Meanwhile, the Serbian president made a New Year's speech on television but did not directly refer to the protests, VOA noted. However, he mentioned in passing internal and external attempts to destabilize the country. He also promised a new economic program that would "change the face of Serbia." Such grandiose rhetoric has long been typical of his political style, but it is doubtful whether his promises will meet with the eager popular approval they did in the late 1980s. On 31 December, Dutch diplomat Minno Censtro discussed the question of the election results with federal Yugoslav Foreign Ministry officials, who said they would "respect the will of the people," the BBC reported. It is unclear, however, what this will mean in practice. On 1 January, Montenegrin parliament speaker Svetozar Marovic urged Serbian authorities to accept an OSCE report that backs the opposition's position on the elections. -- Patrick Moore

    [08] SERBIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH ADDRESSES POLITICAL SITUATION

    Patriarch Pavle opened a two-day synod of 30 bishops on 2 January, AFP noted. Only the five bishops from Bosnia-Herzegovina did not attend the session aimed at discussing the ongoing protests. The church has openly embraced Serbian nationalism since the disintegration of the communist system, but many believers and some of the bishops feel it has been too close to the political authorities both under the communists and under the ex-communist Milosevic. Such persons identify more readily with the Bosnian Serb leadership under Radovan Karadzic, who does not have a communist past. In any event, Pavle called on the authorities not to use violence against the demonstrators, Vatican Radio reported on 1 January. -- Patrick Moore

    [09] CIA SAYS BOSNIA HAS BROKEN MILITARY, INTELLIGENCE TIES WITH IRAN

    The Clinton administration on 31 December said that Bosnia-Herzegovina has severed intelligence and military ties with Iran, international agencies reported. The statement followed a story published the same day in the Los Angeles Times claiming the CIA has evidence that Iranian agents secretly delivered some $500,000 in cash to Bosnian President Alija Izetbegovic before his party's campaign for the September general elections in Bosnia. The newspaper said the story was based on classified documents it had obtained. Meanwhile, the CIA has provided U.S. Congressional committees with a classified report on Iranian activities in Bosnia. An unclassified version is expected to follow soon. State Department spokesman John Dinger said Izetbegovic recognizes his relationship with the U.S. is more important than that with Iran. As a result, the U.S. will go ahead with a plan to train and equip the Bosnian Federation forces with military gear, Dinger added. -- Daria Sito Sucic

    [10] STEINER VOTED BOSNIA'S "FOREIGN PERSONALITY" OF 1996

    Michael Steiner, who is deputy to the international community's High Representative for Bosnia-Herzegovina, Carl Bildt, has been chosen Bosnia's foreign personality of the year, Dnevni Avaz reported on 31 December. The poll was organized by Bosnian publications. The biweekly magazine Dani said Steiner's work "brings back the almost-lost credibility of international diplomacy and the existence of morality." In other news, Bosnian President Alija Izetbegovic has said that 1997 will be a year of consolidation for the country, AFP reported. But Izetbegovic also said he is dissatisfied with the slow progress of peace implementation in Bosnia, adding that time is running out. He added that he hoped the current situation would soon be eased. But if it is not, "it will be time for us to wonder if we want a peace of this nature," he commented. -- Daria Sito Sucic

    [11] RUGOVA REJECTS CRITICISM ABOUT HIS STRATEGY

    Kosovar shadow-state President Ibrahim Rugova has rejected criticism that his strategy is too "passive," Koha Jone reported on 31 December. He countered that "our policy is active" and that "this is appreciated by the international [community]." Political activists in Kosovo and Albanian President Sali Berisha have recently urged that Kosovar Albanians take to the streets to support the Serbian opposition in its struggle against the regime of Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic. Rugova pointed out that the "resistance of the people of Kosovo is institutional." He added that as a result of its peaceful policy, Kosovo has "many friends abroad." At the same time, he noted that only the U.S. government has helped Kosovo. -- Fabian Schmidt

    [12] FORMER ROMANIAN DEFENSE MINISTER DIES

    Nicolae Militaru, Romania's first post-communist minister of defense, has died of a heart attack, aged 71, international agencies reported last week. Militaru belonged to a group of military men and politicians who unsuccessfully plotted against communist leader Nicolae Ceausescu in the 1970s and again in the 1980s. That group also included former President Ion Iliescu. The authorities reportedly found about the plot, but Militaru suffered nothing more than harassment. After 1989, it was alleged that Militaru had gotten off lightly because he had links with the KGB, whom Ceausescu did not want to annoy. Those and other allegations played a role in Militaru's resignation a few months after his appointment as national defense minister in late 1989. Militaru, who repeatedly denied any KGB links, ran for president in the 1996 elections. He came in last of 16 candidates, garnering less than 1% of the vote. -- Michael Shafir

    [13] BULGARIAN PRESIDENT APOLOGIZES FOR ECONOMIC DOLDRUMS

    In a televised address to the nation on New Year's Eve, Zhelyu Zhelev apologized for the country's economic crisis, Bulgarian media reported. He said no other politician would make such an apology but would prefer instead to blame others. Zhelev, however, pointed out that he was not responsible for the economic and social misery, adding that the president in Bulgaria has merely ceremonial functions. Zhelev characterized 1996 as "perhaps the most difficult year" since 1989, because people lost even their hopes for a better future. He called for compassion for the socially weak and for "merciless analysis" and public debate over developments during the past seven years. Zhelev also demanded that politicians explain why "the Bulgarian transition failed while [the transition of] other nations was successful." -- Maria Koinova in Sofia

    [14] ALBANIAN NATIONAL FRONT UNITES WITH MONARCHISTS

    The nationalist Balli Kombetar and the monarchist Legality Movement have formed an alliance. According to ATSH on 29 December, the parties have said they want to unite nationalist forces "in order to prevent the restoration of communism in Albania and [to establish] a powerful opposition" to the governing Democratic Party. The parties demanded a referendum about Albania's future constitutional status, adding that citizens should decide whether there is to be a parliamentary or presidential democracy or a constitutional monarchy and whether King Leka Zogu should return from his South African exile. The two parties do not intend to create a single formation and want to keep their separate identities. They have invited other right-wing parties to join the alliance. Meanwhile, Balli Kombetar deputy leader Hysen Selfo has confirmed that Abaz Ermenji is still party leader, Zeri i Popullit reported on 31 December. Ermenji left Albania for France last year following a dispute with Selfo over Balli Kombetar's recognition of the May election results. -- Fabian Schmidt

    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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