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