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RFE/RL Newsline, Vol. 1, No. 68, 97-07-08Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty: Newsline Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty <http://www.rferl.org>RFE/RL NEWSLINEVol. 1, No. 68, 8 July 1997CONTENTS[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA
[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[C] END NOTE
[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA[01] ABKHAZIA CLAIMS GEORGIA IS PREPARING NEW OFFENSIVEThe Abkhaz Security service issued a statement on 7 July claiming that Georgia is concentrating armed units and heavy weaponry in the Kodori Gorge in preparation for a new offensive, Interfax reported. Georgia has not commented on the allegations. In his weekly radio broadcast, President Eduard Shevardnadze said that Russian Security Council Deputy Secretary Boris Berezovskii recently made "non-standard, interesting, and useful" proposals for resolving the conflict, according to Russian Public Television (ORT). Spokesmen for the ethnic Georgians who fled Abkhazia in 1992-3 believe, however, that Russia is motivated solely by the desire to prolong the presence of its peacekeeping forces on the border between Abkhazia and the rest of Georgia, "Kavkasioni" reported on 4 July. Talks on resolving the conflict are to resume when Shevardnadze returns from the NATO summit in Madrid.[02] AZERBAIJANI-TURKMEN OIL ROW CONTINUESTurkmen Foreign Minister Boris Shikhmuradov on 7 July proposed creating a Turkmen-Azerbaijani commission to delineate the dividing line between the two countries' sectors of the Caspian Sea, ITAR-TASS reported. Two days earlier, the Turkmen Foreign Ministry had protested the signing of an agreement between Azerbaijani and Russia oil companies on the joint development of the Kyapaz deposit, which Turkmenistan claims is located in its sector (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 7 July 1997). Turkmen Deputy Foreign Minister Yolbas Kepbanov said on 7 July that Ashgabat may appeal to an international court over two other Caspian oil fields claimed by Azerbaijan and currently being developed by a major international consortium. Azerbaijani Deputy Foreign Minister Halan Halafov and Khoshbakht Yusif-Zade, the deputy chairman of the state oil company SOCAR, both told TURAN on 7 July that they have not received any official protest from Ashgabat.[03] TAJIKS ASK FOR INTERNATIONAL HELPTajik President Imomali Rakhmonov and United Tajik Opposition leader Said Abdullo Nuri sent a letter to UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan on 7 July requesting that an international conference of donor nations be held to assist in the rebuilding of Tajikistan, ITAR-TASS reported. The two Tajik leaders confirmed their commitment to the Peace and National Reconciliation Accord signed in Moscow on 27 June but said "UN assistance and support will be absolutely indispensable during the transition period." The letter emphasized the need for humanitarian aid to the Tajik people.[04] KAZAK PRESIDENT ELIGIBLE TO RUN FOR TWO MORE TERMS?Vitalii Voronov, a former opposition parliamentary deputy, has claimed that since Nursultan Nazarbayev was elected as "president of the Kazak Republic of the USSR" in 1991 and since his term was extended in a 1995 referendum, he could be considered a first-time candidate for president of the Republic of Kazakstan in the scheduled 2001 presidential elections, "Moskovskii komsomolets" reported on 8 July. Under such an interpretation, Nazarbayev could run for another two five-year terms in office. Meanwhile, the newspaper also reported that "mountain climbers" who scaled a 4,376 meter peak once known as "Komsomol Peak" have erected a placard renaming it "Nazarbayev Peak." Nazarbayev, who celebrated his 57th birthday on 6 July, was reported to have expressed surprise at hearing the news.[05] TOXIC MATERIAL STOLEN FROM KAZAK PLANTAuthorities in Kazakstan are searching for the last containers stolen from the warehouse of the Ulbinsky steel plant's warehouse in Ust-Kamenogorsk, ITAR-TASS reported on 7 July. Thieves stole aluminum containers with Beryllium dioxide, which is used in synthesizing the rare earth metal beryllium. They dumped the contents near the plant and then sold the containers at the market in Ust-Kamenogorsk. The material is described as "highly toxic" and warnings have been issued to the local population not to use the containers for storing water or milk. Police have recovered 28 of the containers. According to ITAR-TASS, more than 100 kilograms of uranium fuel for nuclear power plants, radioactive thorium, indium, and thallium have been stolen from the Ulbinsky plant so far this year.[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE[06] ROMANIA STILL HOPES FOR NATO MEMBERSHIP...Before leaving for the NATO summit in Madrid, Emil Constantinescu said his country is hoping that the "most favorable possible solution" to his country's bid for integration into the alliance will be reached. He added that admission to NATO was a "complex process" and this is why Romania wishes it to start "immediately," RFE/RL's Bucharest bureau reported. Foreign Minister Adrian Severin, who is accompanying Constantinescu, reiterated Romania's determination to fight for admission in the first wave "up to the very end" of the summit. U.S. President Bill Clinton has said the two countries "could well be strong candidates for future admission" but noted that "other nations" might also qualify later.[07] ...AS DOES SLOVENIAPrime Minister Janez Drnovsek wrote in the "Wall Street Journal" on 8 July that his country deserves to be invited to join the alliance at the Madrid summit. Drnovsek noted among the would-be members, only his country never belonged to the Warsaw Pact and hence Slovenia's admission could not be regarded as offensive to Russia. He added that Slovenia could play a stabilizing role in the neighboring Balkans if it were part of NATO. Drnovsek also pointed out that Slovenia's military already cooperates with its Hungarian and Italian counterparts and that Slovenia could provide a land bridge between Italy and Hungary, which currently borders no NATO country. Italian President Luigi Scalfaro said in Ljubljana on 7 July that Slovenia should become both a member of NATO and an associate member of the EU.[08] ALBANIAN DEMOCRATIC PARTY LEADER RESIGNSTritan Shehu said in Tirana on 7 July that he is quitting his post as chairman of the Democratic Party following its overwhelming defeat in two rounds of parliamentary elections. Latest unofficial figures for the 155- seat legislature give the Socialists at least 77 mandates and the Democrats only 15. The Socialists and their coalition partners will probably secure the two-thirds parliamentary majority necessary to change the constitution. In quitting his post, Shehu blamed what he called "armed Stalinists" for his party's poor showing. President Sali Berisha is likely to succeed Shehu on resigning the presidency, which Berisha has promised to do. Since Balkan political parties have traditionally been organized around charismatic individuals rather than around programs or ideologies, it is no surprise that Berisha will stay in charge of his party, despite its electoral losses.[09] OPERATION ALBA TO END BY MID-AUGUSTItalian Chief of Staff Admiral Guido Venturoni, who heads the 7,000-strong multinational Operation Alba, said in Rome on 7 July that the foreign troops will begin to withdraw from Albania on 20 July and that the withdrawal will be complete 20 days later "if there are no complications." Italian forces make up about half of the 11-nation mission. Venturoni said that Operation Alba had "performed miracles" by getting Turkish and Greek forces to work together and by persuading the French to accept foreign command. He defended the policy of not disarming looters and gangs, saying that a more aggressive approach toward armed civilians would have touched off banditry and street fighting on a level worse than that in Somalia. Meanwhile, U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright has written Italian Foreign Minister Lamberto Dini to praise Italy's role in Operation Alba.[10] ALBRIGHT CALLS FOR SUPPORT FOR PLAVSICU.S. President Bill Clinton said in Madrid on 7 July that he does "not expect there to be a statement [at the NATO summit] explicitly dealing with the rules of engagement [for SFOR troops] in Bosnia." Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, however, said the U.S. will call on its allies to take "coordinated action" against the Bosnian Serb leaders opposed to the Dayton agreements, especially Radovan Karadzic. Albright added that she will urge her NATO colleagues to support the embattled President Biljana Plavsic as "the duly-elected leader of the Republika Srpska." Also in Madrid, U.S. Secretary of Defense William Cohen refused to rule out the possibility of swift action to bring Karadzic and other indicted war criminals to justice.[11] BOSNIAN SERB UPDATEMomcilo Krajisnik, the Serbian member of the Bosnian joint presidency, on 7 July criticized attempts by what he called "busy bodies from the international community" aimed at telling the Serbs how to run their affairs. Plavsic invited Krajisnik to meet with her in Banja Luka, adding that she fears for her safety in areas controlled by her opponents. She noted that she and Krajisnik have been "old allies from the start" of the Bosnian conflict. Meanwhile in Belgrade, opposition leader Vuk Draskovic pledged support for Plavsic. He threatened to call "democratic Serbia" out onto the streets if President Slobodan Milosevic intervenes in the Bosnian Serb feud on behalf of Plavsic's opponents.[12] MILOSEVIC UPSTAGES OPPOSITION OVER NATIONAL CELEBRATIONThe Serbian authorities quickly implemented their own plans on 7 July to welcome home the Yugoslav national basketball team, who have just won the European championships in Barcelona. The officials at the same time overruled opposition plans to organize celebrations for the team. The players returned on a government plane to Belgrade. State television covered the welcoming festivities, which attracted more than 100,000 people, an RFE/RL correspondent reported from the Serbian capital. Basketball is highly popular throughout the former Yugoslavia. The federal Yugoslav national team's victory after a war-time ban from international sport was widely reported as a major boost to national pride and self-confidence.[13] REFUGEE RETURN BEGINS IN EASTERN SLAVONIACroatian Development Minister Jure Radic announced in Zagreb on 7 July that the planned return of 80,000 Croatian refugees to eastern Slavonia has begun. The government wants to resettle as many people as possible in time for the start of the school year and sowing season in the fall. Some 40,000 Croats are expected to go home by the end of the year, starting with those whose former homes suffered little or no damage. The government has launched a special program to build 10,000 flats in Vukovar, which the Serbs leveled in the 1991 siege. As part of the overall resettlement project, some 2,100 Serbian families will leave eastern Slavonia for their old homes elsewhere in Croatia. An additional 2,400 Serbian families have opted to leave Croatia entirely.[14] ROMANIAN SENATE RATIFIES TREATY WITH UKRAINEBy a vote of 65 to 50 with three abstentions, the Romanian Senate on 7 July ratified the treaty with Ukraine signed by the two country's presidents in early June, RFE/RL's Bucharest bureau reported. The Chamber of Deputies had approved the treaty on 26 June; the document must now be promulgated by the two countries' presidents. The three opposition parties voted against the approval. In other news, dozens were hurt in southern Romania when a passenger train left tracks that had buckled in the sun following a long heat wave.[15] FOREIGN INVESTMENT IN ROMANIAAs of 1 July, foreign investment in Romania totaled $2.57 billion, Mediafax reported, citing the Romanian Agency for Development. The largest investments benefited Daewoo Automobile Romania ($57.5 million), Daewoo Mangalia Heavy ($53 million), New Holland Romania ($50.1 million), Shell Romania ($47 million), Shell Petroleum NV ($44 million) and Coca Cola Bucharest ($32.8 million). Holland is the biggest investor in Romania ($294.5 million), followed by Germany ($238.2 million), Korea ($235 million), France ($225.1 million), Italy ($197.6 million) and the U.S. ($193.6 million).[16] MOLDOVAN ECONOMIC UPDATEMoldova's foreign trade in the first five months of 1997 amounted to $753.9 million, an official of the Foreign Economic Relations Department told BASA- press on 7 July. While this total is similar to the 1996 level, the trade balance has worsened. Exports dropped by 6.9 percent compared with 1997 to $294.2 million, and imports rose by 5.5 percent to $459.7 million. BASA- press also quotes an official of the Statistics Department as saying that inflation was 2 percent in June, up from 0.6 percent in May 1996. Since the beginning of 1997, annual inflation has stood at 8 percent.[17] BULGARIAN PRESIDENT ON NATOBefore leaving for NATO's Madrid summit on 7 July, Petar Stoyanov said previous governments had wasted years "dithering at Europe's gates," while other former communist countries knew how to choose "the right course" to integration with Western organizations, BTA reported. Stoyanov added that the "first obstacles" would not stop the country's new ruling authorities from seeking membership, emphasizing that "NATO's southern flank is not complete without Bulgaria." He said membership in NATO "for us means not only reforms in the army, but [also] democracy, a developed economy, a [high] living standard, free journalists, motivated young people, and, above all, that way of life that has been chosen on the eve of the 21st century."[18] BULGARIAN CABINET APPROVES DRAFT LAW ON COMMUNIST POLICE FILESThe cabinet on 7 July approved a bill on opening the files of the former state security service, Reuters reported. The bill makes mandatory the opening of all files of members of the parliament, ministers, senior government officials, and high-ranking judges, who will be given one month to admit their past activities. Those who comply will not have their names read out in the parliament and will be left to decide themselves whether to resign. Deputy Premier Vesselin Metodiev said that people who were spied on by the state security will have access to their personal files but will not be allowed to give information about other people mentioned in them. One year after the law is enforced, the files will be transferred to the National Archives and be made available to the general public.[C] END NOTE[19] Council of Europe's ÔSoft' Standards for East European Membersby Joel BlockerControversy has erupted in some Central and East European circles following the recent publication of an interview in an Alsatian newspaper ("Les dernieres Nouvelles d'Alsace," 26 June 1997) with the Council of Europe's outgoing number-two man. Deputy Secretary-General Peter Leuprecht told the daily he was taking early retirement this month in protest at what he called a lowering of the Council's human-rights standards for its new Central and East European members. Leuprecht characterized those once rigid Council standards as "soft" for Eastern members. Leuprecht is the first Council official to say in public what many in the Council of Europe Secretariat have said in private for years. The majority of Council officials clearly believe that, under pressure from West European member states like France and Germany, the 40-state organization has granted membership too fast and uncritically to many of the 16 former communist nations that have joined over the past seven years. Leuprecht told the Alsatian newspaper that he has always considered the Council of Europe to be a "community of democratic values." But he argued that in recent years, Council officials' references to democracy and human rights have become a "ritual." The organization, he continued, enlarged too fast and paid the price in the dilution of its values. "Some admissions [to the Council] stick in my throat," he remarked. Leuprecht mentioned only one such admission by name: Croatia, the newest Council member state, having joined some eight months ago. He described a recent meeting of the Council's Committee of Ministers (the body's chief policy- and decision- making organ) at which Croatian Foreign Minister Mate Granic argued at length that his country is a model democracy that fully respects human and minority rights. Leuprecht recounted: "None of the ministers present said a word. Not even one said, 'What do you take us for, idiots?' There was only a soft, soggy consensus." But in a second interview, which he gave to Bosnia's independent TV-International station one day later, Leuprecht did name other Eastern European member states, notably Romania and Russia. He said that the Council began "to go soft" four years ago, when it admitted Romania, which, he said, was still far from meeting the organization's human-rights standards at that time. He was careful to add, however, that Romania has made significant democratic progress since it became a member. As for Russia, which was admitted in early 1996, Leuprecht dismissed that country's human-rights record as even further removed from Council standards. Those standards were established nearly a half-century ago when, in 1949, the Council of Europe was created to promote democracy, the rule of law, and human rights across the continent. Until the collapse of European communism in 1989, the organization largely languished in Strasbourg without much clout. But soon after the fall of the Berlin Wall, the Council--then with only 21 members, all from Western Europe--began to expand its membership to include Central and Eastern European countries. Eventually, it became the only multilateral body on the Continent with what it calls a "pan-European vocation." Now that he has bared his soul in public, the Austrian-born Leuprecht has become the object of controversy-- not so much in the Secretariat, which largely agrees with him, as in Central and East European member states. According to one Council official who requested anonymity, Romanian Foreign Minister Adrian Severin--himself a long-time human-rights activist and former member of the Council's Parliamentary Assembly--telephoned Secretary-General Daniel Tarschys to complain about Leuprecht's candor. The official said Severin was worried that Romania's candidacy for both NATO and the EU might be affected by Leuprecht's remarks. Tarschys reportedly replied that Leuprecht was no longer a Council of Europe staff member and therefore could say whatever he liked to whomever he liked. According to some diplomats in Strasbourg, both Russian and Croatian officials have also made known to the Council their countries' displeasure over Leuprecht's remarks. Neither Tarschys nor any other high Council official has yet commented publicly on the controversy. But within the Secretariat, there is reported to be real pleasure that Leuprecht has voiced many staffers' views. A high official of the Council's human-rights division told RFE/RL that the Council "was simply overwhelmed by human- and minority-rights violations in several Eastern member states." The official mentioned Slovakia and Ukraine as well as Russia and Croatia as among the regular violators of Council standards. As for Albania, the official added, "it's impossible to keep track of anarchy." Now that Leuprecht has spoken out, the Council of Europe can expect a lot more criticism from outside observers. By letting the wind out of the Council's human-rights sails, he has paved the way for what will doubtless be a very public and heated debate. The author is a senior correspondent for RFE/RL who regularly reports on developments at the Council of Europe. Reprinted with permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
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