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OMRI: Daily Digest, Vol. 3, No. 16, 97-01-23
From: Open Media Research Institute <http://www.omri.cz>
Vol. 3, No. 16, 23 January 1997
CONTENTS
[A] TRANSCAUCASIA AND CENTRAL ASIA
[01] UN RECOMMENDS RENEWAL OF OBSERVER MISSION IN GEORGIA.
[02] MORE ON MANSUROV CASE.
[03] ARMENIAN GOVERNMENT, GAZPROM TO START JOINT VENTURE.
[04] DEMONSTRATION IN KYRGYZSTAN.
[05] TAJIK GOVERNMENT'S VIEW OF NATIONAL REVIVAL MOVEMENT.
[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[06] BOSNIAN CROAT-MUSLIM COALITION ON VERGE OF COLLAPSE?
[07] BOSNIA'S IZETBEGOVIC LEAVES HOSPITAL.
[08] TUDJMAN SLAMS BALKAN INTEGRATION.
[09] TUDJMAN GIVES NO HINT OF PLANNING CHANGES IN CROATIAN PRESIDENCY.
[10] FORMER MUNICIPAL OFFICIAL DESCRIBES SERBIAN VOTE RIGGING.
[11] TOP U.S. OFFICIAL MEETS WITH SERBIAN STUDENTS.
[12] SERBIAN, MONTENEGRIN PRESIDENTS MEET.
[13] WORLD BANK TO GRANT MOLDOVA LOANS FOR REFORMS.
[14] DISPUTE OVER NEXT BULGARIAN GOVERNMENT CONTINUES.
[A] TRANSCAUCASIA AND CENTRAL ASIA
[01] UN RECOMMENDS RENEWAL OF OBSERVER MISSION IN GEORGIA.
Secretary-General Kofi Annan on 22 January recommended that the mandate of
the 125-member UN Observer Mission in Georgia (UNOMIG) be extended by
another six months, Reuters reported. UNOMIG and the Russian peacekeeping
forces are responsible for monitoring and securing the 1993 ceasefire
agreement between Georgia and the breakaway Republic of Abkhazia. The
latest UN report on the situation in the region said that the conflict's
key issues, namely Abkhazia's future political status and the return of the
refugees, have yet to be resolved. Commenting on the recent direct talks
between Georgian and Abkhaz officials, Annan said the UN should help the
two sides in their "apparent attempt to unblock the peace settlement."
Annan called on the conflicting parties to "take effective measures" to
counter the terrorism and acts of violence that periodically occur in
Abkhazia. -- Emil Danielyan
[02] MORE ON MANSUROV CASE.
Azerbaijani State Ecology Committee Chairman Arif Mansurov has been accused
of helping to prepare the escape from jail of several prominent figures
allegedly involved in what is officially described as the October 1994 coup
attempt, Turan reported on 22 January. According to the agency, Mansurov is
purported to have helped Rahim Gaziev and Alikram Humbatov escape from
prison and travel to Lenkoran. Mansurov is also alleged to have cooperated
with former Prime Minister Suret Huseinov on the purported coup attempt.
One of Mansurov's employees at the committee, Asad Kyazimov, was arrested
on 19 January. He is accused of failing to turn in Mansurov. -- Lowell
Bezanis
[03] ARMENIAN GOVERNMENT, GAZPROM TO START JOINT VENTURE.
During their 17 January meeting in Moscow, Prime Minister Armen Sarkisyan
and the president of Russia's natural gas giant Gazprom, Rem Vyakhirev,
agreed that Armenia will receive natural gas from a pipeline that will run
from Russia to Turkey via Armenia, Noyan Tapan reported on 22 January. The
pipeline has a projected annual capacity of up to 9 billion cubic meters of
gas. Turkmenistan has been Armenia's sole natural gas supplier to date. --
Emil Danielyan
[04] DEMONSTRATION IN KYRGYZSTAN.
Thirty people gathered in front of the Kyrgyz government building in
Bishkek to protest the jailing of Erkin Kyrgyzstan Party Chairman Topchubek
Turgunaliyev, RFE/RL reported. The group handed a petition, addressed to
President Askar Akayev, to government officials. They then marched to the
Supreme Court building and delivered another petition. Turgunaliyev is
facing a 10-year prison term on charges of embezzling $10,000. The case is
being appealed. -- Bruce Pannier and Naryn Idinov
[05] TAJIK GOVERNMENT'S VIEW OF NATIONAL REVIVAL MOVEMENT.
Tajik Foreign Minister Talbak Nazarov has said that Abdumalik
Abdullajonov's National Revival Movement will not have a role in the
current negotiations between the government and the United Tajik Opposition
(UTO), ITAR-TASS reported on 21 January. However, Nazarov added that the
UTO is free to give up some of its allotted seats on the anticipated
National Reconciliation Commission in order to make room for other groups.
Nazarov described Abdullajonov's movement as a regional group, representing
the interests of Tajikistan's northern Leninabad Oblast. The minister said
the next round of talks is scheduled to begin on 26 February in either
Moscow or Tehran. -- Bruce Pannier
[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[06] BOSNIAN CROAT-MUSLIM COALITION ON VERGE OF COLLAPSE?
The Croatian Democratic Community (HDZ) made good on its threat to boycott
parliament and government sessions of the mainly Croat and Muslim
federation, Oslobodjenje wrote on 23 January (see OMRI Daily Digest, 22
January 1997). Some opposition politicians spoke of a "collapse" in the
coalition between the federation's two ruling nationalist parties, the HDZ
and the Muslim Party of Democratic Action (SDA). Matters were further
complicated when Muslim Prime Minister Edhem Bicakcic pressed for the
removal of his deputy and finance minister, the Croat Drago Bilajdzija,
Dnevni avaz reported. Bicakcic has accused Bilandzija of giving special
treatment to a Herzegovinian Croat company that cost the government $23
million in lost revenue, Onasa added. Political as well as economic motives
may well be behind Bicakcic's move, given the generally poor relations
between the SDA and HDZ. -- Patrick Moore
[07] BOSNIA'S IZETBEGOVIC LEAVES HOSPITAL.
Alija Izetbegovic, the Muslim member of the three-man Bosnian presidency,
left Sarajevo's Kosevo Hospital on 22 January after a five-day stay. He
underwent a planned checkup approximately one year after he suffered a
heart attack that removed him from public life for some time. His doctor
said tests showed his "condition is satisfactory," Reuters reported. --
Patrick Moore
[08] TUDJMAN SLAMS BALKAN INTEGRATION.
Croatian President Franjo Tudjman, delivering his annual state of the
nation speech before parliament on 22 January, attacked recent attempts by
the EU and the United States to persuade Croatia to join regional
cooperation arrangements for southeastern Europe (see Pursuing Balkan
Peace, 21 January 1997). For most Croats -- and for most Slovenes -- such
groupings are anathema as they smack of an attempt to resurrect some form
of Yugoslav state. Tudjman got hearty applause when he said: "Reintegration
of Croatia into the Balkans is totally unacceptable for the Croatian people
... Croatia belongs to Central European and Mediterranean circles. A short
Balkan episode in Croatian history [i.e. its inclusion in Yugoslavia] must
never be repeated ... We should add a new article, a constitutional ban on
attempts to merge Croatia with any Yugoslav or Balkan state or federation."
He warned that any ostensibly economic regional project could lead down a
slippery slope toward unacceptable political links. Tudjman said Croatia
would enter into agreements with Balkan countries only when it was a member
of the EU and could act together with its EU partners. -- Patrick Moore
[09] TUDJMAN GIVES NO HINT OF PLANNING CHANGES IN CROATIAN PRESIDENCY.
During his 22 January state of the nation address, President Franjo Tudjman
said presidential elections should go ahead in the second half of 1997 as
scheduled, but did not say whether he would seek a third term. Independent
newspapers had suggested that his health problems are so serious that he
would try to postpone that vote and would propose sweeping constitutional
changes to prevent any future head of state from having the French-type
presidential powers he enjoys. But Tudjman did not even mention such
changes. Western news agencies suggested that he looked thin but not as
gaunt as immediately following his week-long stay at Washington's Walter
Reed Army Hospital last November. At that time, American papers quoted
unnamed diplomats saying Tudjman had inoperable cancer and perhaps only
months to live. -- Patrick Moore
[10] FORMER MUNICIPAL OFFICIAL DESCRIBES SERBIAN VOTE RIGGING.
Branko Todorovic, a former deputy head of the municipal authority in the
industrial city of Nis, was quoted by the weekly Nedeljni Telegraf on 22
January saying the ruling Socialist Party of Serbia was involved in massive
vote rigging during the 17 November municipal runoffs. According to
Todorovic, two confidantes of Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic, Nikola
Sainovic and Gorica Gajevic, were largely responsible for the vote rigging.
"Before the elections, between 15,000 and 20,000 forged ballots were handed
to the Socialist Party of Serbia, along with the instruction to stuff them
into ballot boxes," Todorovic said. In other news, the Belgrade electoral
commission has again ruled that the opposition Zajedno coalition did in
fact win the 17 November election in the capital, garnering 64 of a
possible 110 seats in the Belgrade Assembly. -- Stan Markotich
[11] TOP U.S. OFFICIAL MEETS WITH SERBIAN STUDENTS.
Assistant Secretary of State John Kornblum met with representatives of
Serbian students protesting the regime of Serbian President Slobodan
Milosevic, Reuters reported on 22 January. "It was important for us to hear
their views ... we were able to stress to them our support for what they
are doing," Kornblum said. Meanwhile, thousands of students continued their
round-the-clock demonstration in front of a police barricade in downtown
Belgrade, designed to prevent protesters from marching along the capital's
main streets, Nasa Borba reported on 22 January. -- Stan Markotich
[12] SERBIAN, MONTENEGRIN PRESIDENTS MEET.
Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic met with Montenegrin President Momir
Bulatovic in Belgrade met on 22 January. Afterward the two presidents
issued a joint communique stressing their commitment to unity. According to
Nasa Borba, the main purpose of the meeting was for the two leaders to
emerge denying a spate of recent reports of a rift in relations between the
two republics of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. The Montenegrin and
Serbian leaderships have at times appeared divided over how to resolve the
ongoing mass protests in Serbia, with some Montenegrins, notably Premier
Milo Djukanovic, advocating that at least partial concessions be made to
end the crisis. Federal Yugoslav Foreign Minister Milan Milutinovic's
failure to attend the 18 January funeral of Montenegrin Foreign Minister
Janko Jeknic had been interpreted as a sign that relations between Serbia
and Montenegro were deteriorating. -- Stan Markotich
[13] WORLD BANK TO GRANT MOLDOVA LOANS FOR REFORMS.
Moldova will get $100 million of credits from the World Bank in 1997,
Moldpres reported on 22 January. The money is for various projects,
including programs to speed up industrial restructuring and stimulate
private investment. James Parks, the bank's permanent representative in
Moldova, said the bank has been "encouraged" by recent statements made by
Moldova's new President Petru Lucinschi and Premier Ion Cebuc in favor of
speeding up economic reforms and the transition to a market economy. "The
slowdown in structural reform has contributed to a further decline in
industrial output," Parks said, speaking of the previous government.
According to official data released on 21 January, the gross domestic
product and industrial output both fell by a record 8% in 1996. -- Dan
Ionescu
[14] DISPUTE OVER NEXT BULGARIAN GOVERNMENT CONTINUES.
Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) leader Georgy Parvanov denied his party
plans to organize "counter-rallies" against the opposition's protests,
Standart reported on 23 January, but said the BSP could undertake
"civilized mass action" to support the formation of a new BSP government.
Stefan Savov, co-chairman of the opposition People's Union, said that if
President Petar Stoyanov gives a mandate to the BSP, the BSP's attempt to
form a cabinet would lead to "unwanted consequences" for Bulgaria. Union of
Democratic Forces Chairman Ivan Kostov was cited by Trud saying that if
the opposition agrees to a new BSP cabinet that would mean accepting that
the Socialists hadn't failed and giving them a grace period. Stoyanov and
Vice President Todor Kavaldzhiev, elected on the opposition ticket in the
fall 1996 presidential election, took office in an official ceremony on 22
January. -- 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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