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RFE/RL Newsline, Vol. 1, No. 194, 98-01-13Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty: Newsline Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty <http://www.rferl.org>RFE/RL NEWSLINEVol. 1, No. 194, 13 January 1998CONTENTS[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA
[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[C] END NOTE
[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA[01] GEORGIAN PRESIDENT AGAIN DISCUSSES "BOSNIA OPTION" FOR ABKHAZIA...In his traditional weekly radio address, Eduard Shevardnadze on 12 January again argued that a "peace enforcement" operation in Abkhazia similar to that carried out by the international community in Bosnia would not violate UN statutes, Caucasus Press reported. He condemned the Abkhaz leadership's policy as "a cynical challenge to the world community" but added that "peace enforcement" should be considered only if negotiations fail to produce a political settlement. Shevardnadze also stressed that the "Bosnia option" does not imply the division of Abkhazia into ethnic enclaves. Before the mass exodus during the 1992-1993 fighting, ethnic Georgians constituted a majority in the southern raions of Abkhazia. Abkhaz President Vladislav Ardzinba warned on 8 January that any attempt at peace enforcement would inevitably lead to renewed hostilities in Abkhazia and involve a broader circle of participants, Interfax reported. LF[02] ...ASSESSES RELATIONS WITH RUSSIA...Shevardnadze affirmed his commitment to resolving all outstanding problems in bilateral relations with Russia by means of negotiations, Interfax reported. But he conceded that "a lot of problems" surfaced during the 5-8 January talks in Tbilisi between Russian and Georgian Defense Ministry officials, noting it will probably take several years to resolve those problems. Colonel- General Leonid Ivashov, the head of the Russian delegation, had rejected the Georgian Defense Minister Vardiko Nadibaidze's demand that Russia pay compensation for military equipment and arms worth several billion dollars that were removed from Georgia in 1992-1993. The Russian and Georgian officials agreed, however, to draw up regulations for the transfer to Georgia of 10 sites belonging to the Russian Defense Ministry, according to "Izvestiya" of 10 January. LF[03] ...RULES OUT REPATRIATION OF MESKHETIANSShevardnadze also affirmed during his 12 January radio address that under present economic conditions, it is not feasible to resume the repatriation to Georgia of the Meskhetians deported en masse by Stalin to Central Asia in 1944, Caucasus Press reported. Shevardnadze signed a presidential decree in December 1996, giving the green light for the return to Georgia of the Meskhetians (predominantly ethnic Georgians who converted to Islam). Shevardnadze added, however, that he considers it was "a mistake" to halt the small-scale repatriation of the Meskhetians begun in the mid-1980s (at which time Shevardnadze was first secretary of the Georgian Communist Party). Thousands of Meskhetians fled Uzbekistan during ethnic clashes in 1989. In October 1997, Russian human rights activist Sergei Kovalev charged that Meskhetians are subject to blatant discrimination in Krasnodar Krai. LF[04] GEORGIAN REFUGEE SPOKESMAN IN BOMB SCARETamaz Nadareishvili, the chairman of the Abkhaz parliament-in-exile (which is composed of ethnic Georgian deputies in the Abkhaz parliament) told a news conference in Tbilisi on 12 January that an attempt to kill him and his family had been thwarted two days earlier, Caucasus Press reported. The Georgian National Security Ministry has denied, however, that any such attempt took place. Nadareishvili claimed that unnamed Russian political circles wanted to eliminate "the legitimate Abkhaz authorities", because the latter had attempted to prevent the transportation of valuable property from Abkhazia to Russia during the 1992- 1993 war. Nadareishvili ruled out any involvement in the alleged attempt to kill him by a rival organization representing the interests of ethnic Georgian displaced persons from Abkhazia. Nadareishvili further claimed that only a face-to-face meeting between himself and Ardzinba could yield a solution to the Abkhaz conflict. LF[05] AZERBAIJANI HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVIST CAUTIONEDEldar Zeinalov, the director of the Human Rights Center of Azerbaijan, was summoned on 12 January by Prosecutor-General Eldar Hasanov. Hasanov warned Zeynalov that an article on political prisoners published in the opposition newspaper "Azadlyg," to which Zeynalov had contributed information, constituted a violation of the Azerbaijani media law since "there are no political prisoners in Azerbaijan." LF[06] RASUL GULIEV DEFENSE COMMITTEES UNDER PRESSURERegional branches of the committee created to defend former Azerbaijani parliament speaker Rasul Guliev have complained that the Azerbaijani authorities are trying to prevent the collection of signatures in Guliev's support, Turan reported on 12 January. Some 8,000 signatures have been collected to date. Guliev was forced to resign as parliamentary speaker in September 1996 and has lived abroad since then. Following the Azerbaijani parliament's 16 December decision to strip him of his deputy's mandate, Guliev announced he plans to return to Baku to run in the 1998 presidential elections (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 17 and 18 December 1997). LF[07] TAJIK OPPOSITION UNHAPPY ABOUT DELAYSA spokesman for Said Abdullo Nuri, the leader of the United Tajik Opposition (UTO), said on 12 January that the UTO is prepared to quit the National Reconciliation Commission, RFE/RL correspondents in Dushanbe reported. Nuri, who is also chairman of the commission, claims the Tajik government has waited too long to anounce which cabinet posts will be given to the opposition under last June's peace agreement. Nuri said he may appeal to the UN secretary-general. The opposition expects a response from the government "in the next few days." BP[08] INDONESIAN FIRM WINS KAZAKH CONTRACTIndonesia's Central Asia Petroleum Ltd. has signed a contract with Kazakhstan to explore and develop 15 hydrocarbon sites in the Mangistausky region, Interfax reported on 12 January. Sagyn Krymkulov, the president of the Indonesian-Kazakh joint venture Mangistaumunaigaz, told journalists that production over 25 years is expected to total 106 million tons of oil and 10.6 billion cubic meters of natural gas. Investment over a 20-year period will be at least $4.1 billion, with $2 billion being invested in the first five years. The contract is valid for 31 years. BP[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE[09] MONTENEGRIN HARD-LINERS KEEP UP PROTESTSSome 15,000 supporters of outgoing President Momir Bulatovic, who is an ally of Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic, demonstrated late into the night of 12-13 January in Podgorica, an RFE/RL correspondent reported from the Montenegrin capital. Police loyal to incoming reformist President Milo Djukanovic confiscated guns and explosives from the demonstrators, who called for new presidential and legislative elections. Bulatovic urged his backers to keep up the protests and denied remarks made by visiting U.S. special envoy Robert Gelbard that Bulatovic has accepted Djukanovic's victory. PM[10] U.S. PLEDGES AID TO MONTENEGROGelbard said after meeting with Bulatovic and Djukanovic in Podgorica on 12 January that Washington welcomes Djukanovic's election and pledges $2 million to help him launch political and economic reforms. Gelbard warned Bulatovic's supporters that it would be a "serious error to oppose in any way the will of the people expressed in that election." PM[11] YUGOSLAV ARMY GIVES PRIORITY TO KOSOVOChief-of-Staff General Momcilo Perisic and other Yugoslav military leaders consider the danger of ethnic unrest in Kosovo very real and have made dealing with it their top priority, "Nasa Borba" reported on 13 January, citing sources close to Perisic. The military are determined to avoid having to fight opponents of President Slobodan Milosevic on two fronts and consequently do not want to be involved in the political dispute in Montenegro (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 12 January 1998). PM[12] MORE INCIDENTS IN KOSOVOUnidentified gunmen killed an ethnic Albanian regarded as a supporter of the Belgrade authorities in the Glogovac area on 12 January. In Stimlje in southwestern Kosovo, gunmen sprayed a Serbian police station with bullets. Both incidents bear the hallmarks of the clandestine Kosovo Liberation Army (UCK, see also "End Note," "RFE/RL Newsline," 9 January 1998). An RFE/RL correspondent in Pristina said, however, that Serbs are suspected in the death of a prominent ethnic Albanian diver, who may have been a UCK sympathizer. PM[13] BELGRADE TRANSPORT WORKERS STRIKESome 8,500 transport personnel stopped work in the Serbian capital on 12 January. They demand back pay, better working conditions provided, and the payment by the Serbian government of $70 million that it owes their company, an RFE/RL correspondent reported from Belgrade. PM[14] STILL NO PRIME MINISTER FOR BOSNIAN SERBSBosnian Serb legislators meeting in Bijeljina on 12 January re-elected Dragan Kalinic of Radovan Karadzic's Serbian Democratic Party (SDS) as speaker. Kalinic's deputies are Nikola Poplasen of the ultranationalist Serbian Radical Party and Jovan Mitrovic of Republika Srpska President Biljana Plavsic's Serbian People's League. The Socialist Momir Malic was elected parliamentary secretary. Legislators did not vote on a prime minister, despite previous demands by Carlos Westendorp, the international community's representative in Bosnia, that they elect Mladen Ivanic, who is Plavsic's nominee. Also on 12 January, the SDS rejected Ivanic's request to address the parliament and turned down his offer of six seats in his proposed cabinet, an RFE/RL correspondent reported from Bijeljina. Ivanic said he will ask Plavsic to nominate someone else as prime minister if the hard-liners continue to oppose him. PM[15] WESTENDORP ACTS ON BOSNIAN FLAGSpokesmen for Westendorp said in Sarajevo on 12 January that he has appointed a committee of seven well-known intellectuals to make recommendations to him by 15 February for a new Bosnian flag. The Serbian, Croatian and Muslim authorities failed to meet a 31 December deadline set by the international community to agree on a joint flag. PM[16] MACEDONIA, GREECE TIGHTEN VISA RULESMacedonian authorities announced in Skopje on 12 January that Greek citizens wanting to cross into Macedonia can no longer receive a visa at the border but must apply in Athens for one instead. The move follows a Greek decision in November to stop granting Macedonians visas at the border and requiring Macedonians to apply for visas in Skopje. PM[17] NATO HAS NO STAND ON CROATIAN ROLENATO Supreme Commander General Wesley Clark told Croatian Defense Minister Gojko Susak in Zagreb on 12 January that the Atlantic alliance has "no position" on Croatia's request to join the Partnership for Peace program. Clark, who is on his first visit to Croatia, stressed that Zagreb "must fulfill all of its responsibilities that it signed for in Dayton" before NATO can consider a closer relationship with it. President Franjo Tudjman is anxious to join European and Atlantic institutions and sees Croatia as a key strategic ally of the U.S. in the region. PM[18] CROATIA TO DEFEND SOVEREIGNTYSpokesmen for the Croatian Foreign Ministry said on 12 January that Croatia is determined to assert its sovereignty throughout its territory, an RFE/RL correspondent reported from Zagreb. The spokesmen mentioned specifically not only eastern Slavonia, which will return to full Croatian control on 15 January, but also Prevlaka peninsula, Ploce, and the Gulf of Piran. Belgrade would like to acquire Prevlaka, which controls access to Yugoslavia's only deep-water naval base. Zagreb suspects Sarajevo of seeking to annex Ploce, which is Bosnia's natural outlet to the sea. Croatia and Slovenia differ over their maritime border in the Gulf of Piran, which Slovenia would like redrawn so as to give Slovenia access to the Adriatic. PM[19] COMMISSION SAYS BERISHA WANTED TO BOMBARD SOUTHERN ALBANIAThe parliamentary commission investigating the unrest in southern Albania in March 1997 has found Defense Ministry documents, signed by former President Sali Berisha, ordering the bombarding of Tepelena, "Republika" reported on 13 January. The newspaper also claims that other documents signed by Berisha ordered preparations for the use of chemical weapons and for the movement of forces from the northern border to the south. The parliamentary commission will present its findings to the parliament later this month. Berisha's main electorate was in the north of the country. FS[20] ALBANIAN, ITALIAN POLICE SEIZE 30 TONS OF CIGARETTESAlbanian and Italian customs police stopped a ship carrying 30 tons of cigarettes worth $1.25 million in southern Albania's Bay of Karavasta. Five Albanians were arrested. It was the second large-scale seizure of tobacco this year. In early January, police stopped another ship carrying cigarettes with a market value of some $1 million. FS[21] ROMANIA'S PEASANT PARTY ON COALITION CRISISAt a press conference on 12 January, National Peasant Party Christian Democratic (PNTCD) leader Ion Diaconescu stressed that his party backs Premier Victor Ciorbea. He said the present cabinet was "the best Romania can get" and that the coalition must continue, RFE/RL's Bucharest bureau reported. The PNTCD wants to let its coalition partners know that it wants "not merely peace for the moment" but also " assurances that the [crisis situation] will not be repeated." Diaconescu added that the PNTCD does not "accept the idea of a minority government and even less so that of early elections." Ciorbea, meanwhile, has said he will not respond to Democratic Party attacks on himself, adding that reform "cannot be carried out by the PNTCD without the [Democrats], but neither can it be carried out by the Democrats without the PNTCD." MS[22] DEMOCRATS RESPOND TO PEASANT PARTY PROPOSALSRadu Berceanu, a deputy chairman of the Democrats, said in reaction to the government's program for 1998, presented at the 12 January press conference, that what is important is not the program but making sure that it is carried out in practice. Berceanu said that last year's program was also good but remained on paper only. A term should be set for each of the objectives the program specifies, he commented. Berceanu also rejected the PNTCD's proposal that the coalition partners sign a new protocol on cooperation. Adrian Severin, who is also a deputy chairman of the Democratic Party, said that at a party meeting scheduled for 13 January, the National Council will "carefully analyze" the PNTCD's statements. MS[23] ROMANIAN FOREIGN MINISTER IN NORWAYAndrei Plesu, on his first official visit abroad, met with Norwegian Prime Minister Kjel Magne Bondevik and Foreign Minister Knut Vollebaek in Oslo on 12 January. The talks concentrated on bilateral relations and Romania's quest to join NATO. A spokesman for the Romanian Foreign Ministry said Plesu received assurances that Norway will back Romania's NATO membership bid and its candidacy for the chairmanship of the Organization on Security and Cooperation in Europe beginning 2001. MS[24] MOLDOVAN COMMUNIST LEADER LAUNCHES ELECTION CAMPAIGN...Vladimir Voronin, the leader of the Party of Moldova's Communists (PCM), on 12 January presented his party's election program at a press conference in Chisinau, RFE/RL's bureau reported. He said the PCM wants to replace the transition to a market economy with a "pluralist economy" based on the strengthened role of the state. Voronin said the PCM is not against private property but wants it "to serve the interests of the state." It also does not oppose private ownership of land but is against the sale of land to foreigners. The party further argues that the present crisis can be ended only by "the gradual restoration of socialist relations in the economy" and "full political and economic integration with CIS members." MS[25] ...REFUSES TO COMMENT ON PROPOSED MILITARY INTEGRATION INTO CISVoronin refused to comment on the draft law recently submitted by 22 PCM deputies providing for Moldova's integration into the CIS's military and political structures. He said the PCM's election program "says nothing" about military integration, adding that the deputies are "entitled to their own opinions." Fiodor Angheli, the deputy chairman of the parliamentary Foreign Relations Commission, said the initiative was "populist" and contravened the constitution, which provides for Moldova's neutrality, BASA- press reported. MS[26] BULGARIAN INFLATION NOW UNDER CONTROLData released by the National Statistics Institute on 10 January show that Bulgarian inflation is under control after having soared in early 1997. The monthly inflation rate in December 1997 was 1.5 percent but the figure for the entire year was 578.6 percent, largely owing to the tumbling of the lev in January-February 1997, under the rule of the Socialist Party. In other news, deputy chairman of the State Energy Committee Kiril Guegov told journalists after returning from Moscow on 11 January that he has been unable to reach an agreement on gas deliveries but that Russia will continue to supply gas under the terms of the accord that expired in August 1997. MS[27] BULGARIA RETURNS MANUSCRIPT TO GREECEBulgaria on 12 January returned to Greece an 18th century manuscript stolen from monastery on Mount Athos in 1985. The manuscript, titled the "The History of the Slavs and the Bulgarians," emerged in 1996 in Sofia, when it was handed over to an official at the national museum, AFP reported. It was later on display there and attracted some 700,000 visitors. The museum's curator vehemently opposed returning the document, but President Petar Stoyanov insisted it must be given to its rightful owners. MS[C] END NOTE[28] SLOVAKIA PREPARES FOR PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONSby Jolyon Naegele Ivan Gasparovic, speaker of the Slovakia parliament, announced last week that lawmakers will convene on 23 January to hold the first round of elections for president. He also called on deputies to submit presidential nominations in writing by 12 January.But opposition leaders warn that it is quite likely that the parliament will be unable to agree on a new president in the first round, or in the second round 14 days later, or even in the third round 30 days after that. Two candidates backed by the opposition and one independent are in the running. The Party of the Democratic Left (SDL) is sponsoring academician- agronomist Juraj Hrasko, who until 1989 was a member of the Slovak Communist Party (KSS) and served briefly in 1993 as environment minister. The centrist Slovak Democratic Coalition (SDK) is backing Stefan Markus, who does not belong to any party, is a science secretary of the Academy of Sciences, and chairs the Slovak Helsinki Committee. Augustin Kurek, an independent, was proposed by a single deputy who has split from a junior partner in Vladimir Meciar's coalition. No candidate appears to have a chance of being elected. The opposition has only 63 of the 150 seats in the parliament, and in order to win, a candidate must have the support of at least 90 deputies. Prime Minister Vladimir Meciar's Movement for a Democratic Slovakia (HZDS) has 61 seats in the assembly and can block any candidate not to its liking. Meciar is already on record as saying no one will be elected in the first round and has branded Hrasko and Markus as "unacceptable" candidates. Neither the HZDS nor its two coalition partners intend to nominate anyone in the first round. The leftist SDL considered several compromise candidates, including Constitutional Court Chief Justice Milan Cic and populist mayor of Kosice Rudolf Schuster, a member of Slovakia's small Carpathian-German minority. Schuster was viewed as a rising star on the political scene during the final years of communist rule, having served as speaker of the Slovak Parliament during and immediately after the 1989 Velvet Revolution. Meciar, however, labeled Schuster as unacceptable owing to alleged "character faults." The most likely scenario appears to be that once President Michal Kovac's five- year term expires on 2 March, the country will be without a head of state until after parliamentary elections, scheduled to take place in the fall. Meanwhile, some of the president's functions, including the role of commander and chief, will be assumed by Meciar himself. The timing of the first round does not appear to be arbitrary. President Kovac is due to be out of town that day, hosting a summit of 11 Central European presidents in Levoca, eastern Slovakia. The presidents of Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Germany, Poland, Austria, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Italy, and Ukraine are due to meet in Levoca on 23-24 January. Kovac has proposed that the gathering discuss the emergence and maintenance of civic society. Kovac, whose resignation has been demanded for several years by Meciar's HZDS, is not running for re-election. Former Prime Minister Jan Carnogursky has ruled out supporting Meciar as a compromise presidential candidate, saying electing him "would not be a good signal at home or abroad." But Carnogursky added that who is elected is less than important than ensuring regular elections. To prevent any attempts at election fraud, he argues, foreign observers should be invited. Meciar, however, has already rejected that proposal on the grounds that "Slovakia is not Albania." Both Carnogursky and SDL leader Jozef Migas say it is unlikely that a president will be elected before the fall parliamentary elections. Carnogursky says he still supports a change in the constitution that would enable the voting public to elect the president. A referendum question on enabling the president to be elected directly was retracted last May by Meciar's Interior Minister Gustav Krajci just hours before voters were to go to the polls. That happened, despite half a million petition signatures calling for the president to be elected directly. For its part, Meciar's HZDS claims it wants a president elected soon. HZDS deputy chairman Arpad Matejka warns that if no one is elected president., the legislative process will be paralyzed since the constitution allows only the president to sign bills into law. But SDL chief Migas suspects various factors may be involved in the HZDS's refusal to nominate a candidate for the first two rounds. He told the Bratislava daily "Sme" that the HZDS may be holding back their candidate on tactical grounds until a later round. He added that "it cannot be excluded that the HZDS is not interested in a head of state being elected." Meanwhile, "Sme" reported last week that the rooftop digital clock that faces the presidential palace in Bratislava and counts the time Kovac has left in office has been switched off. A small group of anonymous citizens wanting to express their dissatisfaction with the current situation were allegedly behind that move. 13-01-98 Reprinted with permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
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