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RFE/RL Newsline, Vol. 2, No. 49, 98-03-12Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty: Newsline Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty <http://www.rferl.org>RFE/RL NEWSLINEVol. 2, No. 49, 12 March 1998CONTENTS[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA
[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[C] END NOTE
[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA[01] RUSSIA PROTESTS PLAN TO HOLD ELECTIONS IN ABKHAZIAThe Russian Foreign Ministry released a statement on 11 March criticizing Abkhazia's plans to hold local elections on 14 March, Interfax reported. The statement said any such vote cannot be seen as "legitimate" and that "Abkhazia lacks the necessary legal and political conditions for such an event." Moreover, the Moscow statement continued, any vote of this kind in advance of a final settlement on the status of the breakaway region would lead to "a further aggravation" of conditions there. PG[02] ARMENIAN COMMUNIST CANDIDATE CRITICIZES DEMIRCHYANSergei Balayan, the leader of the Armenian Communist Party and a candidate in the upcoming presidential elections, told RFE/RL on 11 March that former party boss Karen Demirchyan is surrounded by the "most dangerous people" from the former nomenklatura and that as a result Demirchyan is losing support. In other comments, Balayan outlined his own plans. He said that if he is elected, he will form a government of "professionals" and will not require his ministers to be communist party members. PG[03] ARMENIAN ELECTION HEAD RESPONDS TO CRITICISMKhachatur Bezirjian, the chairman of Armenia's Central Electoral Commission, told "Azg" on 11 March that he cannot not approve calls for opening polling stations in Nagorno-Karabakh. "Even if we assume that Karabakh is part of Armenia, it does not have the status of a province," he said. In other comments, he repeated his view that acting President and Prime Minister Robert Kocharian qualifies as a candidate, not least because he has traveled abroad on an Armenian diplomatic passport. And Bezirjian said that complaints about the commission's failure to allow Armenians abroad to vote should be directed at the Foreign Ministry, which, he said, has not yet provided a list of expatriate voters as required by law. PG[04] AZERBAIJAN, GEORGIA DISCUSS POLICIES ON CISAzerbaijani President Heidar Aliev and Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze spoke by telephone on 10 March about their plans for the 19-20 March CIS summit in Moscow, ITAR-TASS reported on 11 March. The two leaders also discussed broader cooperation in the export of Caspian oil. PG[05] CAUCASIAN COMMON MARKET TO OPEN LONDON OFFICEThe Caucasian Common Market, an economic cooperation group currently being set up by Azerbaijan, Chechnya, Georgia, and Ossetia, will soon open an office in London to promote trade and investment, Chechen Deputy Prime Minister Khozh-Akhmed Nukhayev told ITAR-TASS on 12 March. Nukhayev, who also heads the new organization and who has accompanied Chechen President Aslan Maskhadov to the British capital, said Turkey, Iran, and other countries may eventually join. PG[06] KAZAKHSTAN TO RELEASE IRANIAN CHARGED WITH ESPIONAGEAccording to Tehran IRIB Television on 11 March, Kazakh authorities will soon release the three Iranian nationals being held on espionage charges. The report also claimed that Kazakh Foreign Minister Kasymjomart Tokayev will pay a visit to the Iranian capital on 13 March. BP[07] TAJIK PRESIDENT JOINS DEMOCRATIC PARTYTajik President Imomali Rakhmonov has joined the Tajik People's Democratic Party, ITAR-TASS reported on 10 March. Until now, Rakhmonov had not belonged to any party, but in order to be nominated as a candidate for the next presidential elections, he needs the support of a least one registered party. BP[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE[08] U.S. CHARGES SERBS WITH "ETHNIC CLEANSING"A State Department spokesman said in Washington on 11 March that the U.S. does not want to see a repetition of the "ethnic cleansing" recently carried out by the Serbian authorities in Kosovo. Referring to the hasty burial of dead Albanians by the Serbian police, the spokesman added that "his action suggests that [Yugoslav] President [Slobodan] Milosevic has something to hide. We are concerned that the burials have destroyed and damaged evidence before it could be properly examined by independent forensic experts (see also below)." PM[09] CLINTON COMPARES KOSOVO TO BOSNIAIn Washington on 11 March, U.S. President Bill Clinton said that "we do not want the Balkans to have more pictures like we've seen in the past few days, so reminiscent of what Bosnia endured." The president added that sanctions "give us some hope that we can resolve this" before the conflict gets out of hand." PM[10] FRENCH CONCERN OVER KOSOVOA spokesman for President Jacques Chirac stated that in Paris on 12 March that "President Chirac telephoned President [Boris] Yeltsin to express the hope that Russia will use all its influence with authorities in Belgrade to convince them to cease repressive operations and engage in a dialogue aimed at finding a political solution." Premier Lionel Jospin told a campaign rally in Toulouse that "we cannot accept a recurrence of the nightmare of massacres, violence and ethnic cleansing on the European continent. That is why...this government calls on the international community to stand by the Albanians of Kosovo in their hour of distress." PM[11] SERBIAN LEADERS OFFER TALKSSerbian Information Minister Radmila Milentijevic said in Belgrade on 11 March that Deputy Prime Minister Ratko Markovic and three cabinet ministers will hold "an open dialogue" with "Albanian representatives" in Pristina (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 11 March 1998). She added that the basis of the talks will be the Serbian Constitution because Serbia "is a state based on the rule of law." Milentijevic regretted that women and children were killed in the recent police action in Kosovo, but she claimed that the Kosovar "terrorists" used the civilians as "human shields." The Kosovar position is that Kosovars cannot accept the constitution because it stipulates that Serbia is a unitary state and because they had no say in its being approved. Kosovar spokesmen charge that Serbian security forces deliberately killed women and children as part of a program of "state terrorism." PM[12] KOSOVARS SAY SERBIAN OFFER OF TALKS "NOT SERIOUS"Fehmi Agani, a leader of the key Democratic League of Kosovo, said in Pristina on 12 March that no Kosovar leader has received an invitation to the talks. He added that, if the Serbs come, "they will have no one to speak to." Veton Surroi, the editor of the daily "Koha Ditore," said Belgrade's offer of talks is "not serious." He stressed that the Serbs did not specify either what they want to talk about or with whom they wish to speak. Surroi said the offer was made "urbi et orbi" and therefore applies as much to "the Kosovar Pigeon Admirers' Society" as to the Kosovar political leadership. He stressed that the "gap of confidence" between Serbs and Albanians is so wide at present that he cannot envision any serious negotiations without international mediation. PM[13] RED CROSS PULLS OUT OF KOSOVOThe International Red Cross and Red Crescent officials in Pristina were recalled to Belgrade on 11 March after receiving anonymous death threats. The Serbian authorities had previously turned down requests by the Red Cross to send officials into the Drenica region or to speak to Albanians arrested during the recent assault by security forces there. In the village of Prekaz, Albanians exhumed the bodies of their relatives, whom the Serbian authorities had buried the previous day in a mass grave, and reburied them according to Islamic custom. The Albanians demand that forensics experts be allowed to examine the bodies to determine the causes of death. The Serbian authorities have repeatedly refused. PM[14] NATO TURNS DOWN ALBANIAN REQUESTSecretary-General Javier Solana said in Brussels on 11 March that the 16 ambassadors of NATO member countries voted down Tirana's recent request for troop deployments along Albania's border with Yugoslavia. Solana said it is "too early" to send in peacekeepers and that diplomacy must first have a chance to end the crisis. NATO nonetheless pledged technical and financial assistance to Albania to enable it to prevent arms from being smuggled into Kosovo. NATO will also help the Albanian authorities deal with any influx of refugees. Albania requested the meeting with the ambassadors to discuss the Kosovo emergency, which it is entitled to do as a member of the Partnership for Peace Program. It is the first time that a member of the program has exercised the right to consultation. PM[15] ALBANIAN HEALTH MINISTRY PREPARES FOR POSSIBLE CONFLICTThe Ministry of Health on 11 March ordered all hospitals in the region bordering Yugoslavia to perform "emergency" surgery only , to remain on call, and to stockpile blood supplies. It announced the measures after a meeting of its emergency commission that was called to make preparations for a possible regional conflict or a large influx of refugees from Kosovo, "Gazeta Shqiptare" reported. Meanwhile, the Yugoslav embassy in Tirana has asked the Albanian government to increase security at the embassy, saying it has received intelligence reports from the Foreign Ministry in Belgrade warning of possible terrorist attacks. Elsewhere, unnamed military sources are quoted by "Republika" on 12 March as saying fewer than 100 refugees arrived in northern Albania over the past week, all of whom were women and children. FS[16] PLAVSIC TO RUN AGAINRepublika Srpska President Biljana Plavsic told BETA on 12 March that she intends to run for reelection in the upcoming Bosnian general elections so that she "can see the process of democratization through to the end." She regretted that Momcilo Krajisnik, the hard-line Serbian member of the Bosnian joint presidency, "has broken off all contact" with her and her staff. PM[17] STRASBOURG VS. ZAGREBIn Strasbourg on 11 March, the Council of Europe issued a statement criticizing a recent recommendation by Croatian President Franjo Tudjman's National Security Council as "undemocratic." That recommendation called for a ban on "anything that could cause provocations, create a situation of uncertainty, or hinder the further normalization of life throughout the state". The Security Council said the ban is necessary in order to end a series of provocative Croatian nationalist demonstrations in tense eastern Slavonia. PM[18] U.K. NON-COMMITTAL ON ROMANIA'S NATO MEMBERSHIPPresident Emil Constantinescu, who is currently in London to attend an EU conference, has discussed with British Defense Minister George Robertson Romania's aspirations to be admitted to NATO in a second wave of the organization's enlargement. Romanian state radio on 12 March reported that Robertson gave a "diplomatic answer," saying that "the door of the alliance remains open" and the decision will be made by NATO members when the time is ripe. He added that Romania is a "serious candidate" that has " a military and strategic potential." MS[19] SNEGUR ON HIS PARTY'S POLITICAL AIMSFormer President Mircea Snegur, who is the leader of the Democratic Convention of Moldova (DCM) and is running in the upcoming parliamentary elections, told Reuters on 11 March that the alliance is not aiming at Moldova's re-unification with Romania. Re-unification has long been a priority target of the Christian Democratic Popular Front, the ally of Snegur's Party of Revival and Accord within the DCM. Snegur said the DCM intends to change Moldova's main orientation from the CIS to the West and Romania. He said the DCM seeks to solve the Transdniester conflict "only through peaceful negotiations, aiming at granting autonomous status to the region." He added that lack of progress in the negotiations with the separatists is explained by the fact that "the Kremlin's interests in that region are too strong." MS[20] FORMER MOLDOVAN DEFENSE MINISTER LAUNCHES BOOKGeneral Pavel Creanga, who is an independent candidate in the 22 March presidential elections, has accused Snegur of having provoked the military conflict with the Transdniester separatists in 1992. Creanga, who was dismissed by Snegur in 1996, launched his Russian-language memoirs in Chisinau on 11 March, RFE/RL's bureau in the Moldovan capital reported. He admitted to journalists that the timing of the book's release is "somewhat connected" with the current election campaign. He said the book has not been translated into Romanian because of the "translation difficulties" of military terminology. MS[21] BULGARIAN PRESIDENT DEMANDS DISMISSAL OF ARMY GENERALPetar Stoyanov on 11 March asked the government to dismiss the commander of Bulgaria's missile and artillery forces for meddling in politics, an RFE/RL correspondent in Sofia reported. Stoyanov said that General Angel Marin has expressed opinions about reforms in the army that are " unacceptable and populist." On 9 March, Marin had blamed Stoyanov, the government, and "military bureaucrats" for planning to cut the country's armed forces, although "they are necessary." Marin also accused them of "rushing" into NATO membership in a "humiliating manner" before being "properly invited" to join. Marin is the second high ranking general to be dismissed in recent days. On 9 March, the commander of the construction troops, General Radoslav Peshleevsky, was fired for having participated in rallies organized by the opposition Socialist Party. MS[C] END NOTE[22] IS MILOSEVIC PREPARING CONCESSIONS ON KOSOVO?by Kitty McKinsey In one of history's ironic twists, Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic, who came to power by inflaming Serbian nationalist passions over Kosovo, may now see his political survival in making concessions to the Kosovars.On 10 March, the official Yugoslav news agency Tanjug reported that the Serbian government--which consists of hand-picked Milosevic supporters--is willing to hold an "open dialogue" with the leaders of the mainly ethnic Albanian province of Kosovo. The Serbian government, under strong international pressure to reign in its police crackdown on Albanian nationalists, for the first time appeared to attach no conditions to opening talks. Earlier, the government had said the Kosovars must renounce terrorism and secession for talks to take place. The Tanjug statement said that dialogue "is the only way to improve political processes" to solve "vital issues." Keeping Milosevic's past behavior in mind, however, it is far too early to be optimistic over the prospects for such talks, which may or may not solve the long-festering Kosovo crisis. Analysts say the offer may only be Milosevic's latest attempt to sow confusion in the West and forestall threatened sanctions. It is far from clear what Serbia's terms for talks are. There may be conditions that are unacceptable to the ethnic Albanian leaders in Kosovo. But Milos Vasic, editor of the Belgrade magazine "Vreme," says talks may offer a way for the two sides to save face. Both sides have taken comfort from the words of U.S. Balkans envoy Robert Gelbard, who criticized the Serbian government for using "brutal, disproportionate, and overwhelming" force against the Kosovars but who also called the Kosovo Liberation Army (UCK) a terrorist organization. Vasic says it may be to the benefit of both sides to appear to reluctantly give in to Western pressure to sit down and negotiate--much as the three sides in the Bosnian war were dragooned into the Dayton Peace talks that ended that war. Kosovo has for centuries been considered sacred to all Serbs, and the Battle of Kosovo Polje in 1389 is the central defining moment in Serbian history. Although the Serbs lost both the battle and their state to the Turks and became subjects of the Ottoman Empire for almost five centuries, the memory of Kosovo has been lovingly enshrined in Serbian folk songs and poems through the centuries. The anniversary of the battle, 28 June, is still celebrated as the Serbian national holiday. Although outsiders might consider the Serbs to be one of the few nations in the world to commemorate a massive defeat in this way, in Serbian mythology Kosovo has come to be seen as a victory in which the Serbs take credit for slowing the advance of the Turks into Europe, and saving European Christianity from Islam. As one young Serb told RFE/RL: "If it weren't for the Battle of Kosovo, you would be wearing a headscarf today." No one has exploited Serbian sentiment about Kosovo more adroitly than Milosevic. In his historic 1987 visit to the province, he ignited the flame of Serbian nationalism that was to destroy Yugoslavia by stridently defending Serbs who felt they were mistreated as a minority in Kosovo. In words that were to mobilize Serbs for a succession of battles as Yugoslavia blew apart, Milosevic told a Serb crowd in Kosovo that, "No one is allowed to beat you." Launching a campaign against what he called Albanian separatism, Milosevic whipped up near hysteria among Serbs throughout Yugoslavia. Following Milosevic's 1987 visit to Kosovo, the Belgrade media disseminated invented tales of rapes and murders by ethnic Albanians until Serbia stripped Kosovo of its autonomy and imposed a virtual police state. (The Serbs' claims then became a self-fulfilling prophecy, with the emergence of the Kosovo Liberation Army by the end of 1996, after some Kosovars lost patience with their leaders' pacifist approach.). Although Kosovo remains a rallying point for many Serbs, it is now also clear that for many others, the attachment to Kosovo is little more than something they have learned by rote. Since Milosevic made his emotional speech in 1987, Serbs, who were already a minority in the province, have continued to leave Kosovo. Serbs who live in other parts of the republic almost never pay even a tourist visit to Kosovo, the supposedly cherished cradle of their civilization. And the points of contact between Serbs and Albanians are even fewer than between the Serbs and the other nations they have battled recently--the Croats and the Bosnian Muslims. Although the Serbs could claim the Croats were Ustashe (fascists) and the Muslims fundamentalists when it served their propaganda purposes, all three were at least Slavic people who shared a common language and frequently intermarried. But in Kosovo, the separation of Serbs from Albanians is total. They speak different languages, have different ethnic roots, and live apart, with virtually no intermarriage. (In one recent survey, 95 percent of Kosovo Albanians said they would not even consider marrying a Serb.) The author is an RFE/RL correspondent who has written extensively on Yugoslav affairs. 12-03-98 Reprinted with permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
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