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RFE/RL Newsline, Vol. 2, No. 66, 98-04-06Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty: Newsline Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty <http://www.rferl.org>RFE/RL NEWSLINEVol. 2, No. 66, 6 April 1998CONTENTS[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA
[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[C] END NOTE
[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA[01] FIVE KILLED IN WEST GEORGIAN SHOOTINGUnknown assailants opened fire and threw a hand grenade at a crowd of 1,000 mourners on 5 April at the funeral in Zugdidi of Gocha Esebua. The attack killed five people and wounded seven. Esebua was leader of the group of supporters of former president Zviad Gamsakhurdia that took four UN observers hostage in February. Georgian police shot him on 31 March when he refused to surrender. Zugdidi Governor Bondo Djikia on 6 April said that the town is calm, but that security measures have been intensified, ITAR- TASS reported. LF[02] GEORGIA PROTESTS SHOOTINGS, ABDUCTIONS IN ABKHAZIAOn 4 April the Georgian National Security Council lodged a protest with the government of the breakaway Black Sea region of Abkhazia. The protest followed an incident in Abkhazia's Gali region on 2 April in which Abkhaz guerrillas shot dead three Georgians and abducted 19 others. The statement called on the Abkhaz authorities to secure the release of those kidnapped and apprehend and punish those responsible. It warned that if such instances of "ethnic cleansing" continue, Tbilisi will resort to retaliatory measures in order to protect Gali's Georgian population. LF[03] OSCE TO EXTEND ARMENIAN ELECTION MISSIONThe Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe announced on 3 April that it will extend its election observer mission in Armenia for an unspecified period, RFE/RL's Yerevan bureau reported. An official ODIHR statement said that "new evidence of serious irregularities" during the 30 March presidential runoff continues to come to light, but gave no details. The mission says it will release a final report this week. LF[04] AZERBAIJAN DENIES PLANS TO PURCHASE F-16 BOMBERSThe Azerbaijani Defense Ministry issued a statement on 4 April denying reports that Baku plans to buy an unspecified number of U.S. F-16 bombers from Turkey, Interfax reported. The previous day, Interfax had quoted unnamed military sources in Baku as saying that the Azerbaijani air force commander, Major General Ramil Rzaev, had announced the planned purchase during an official visit to Ankara. LF[05] AKAYEV NAMES NEW KYRGYZ GOVERNMENTPresident Askar Akayev reformed the Kyrgyz government on 4 April, RFE/RL correspondents reported. A text of Akayev's structural and personnel changes showed the number of ministries cut from 17 to 14 and the number of deputy prime ministers from three to one. Kubanychbek Jumaliev remains prime minister, and his new deputy is Bishkek Mayor Boris Silayev. The ministers of foreign affairs, defense, interior, health care and ecology remain the same. Among the changes are Kemelbek Nanaev, replacing Jan Fisher as CIS affairs minister; Nelly Beishenalieva, replacing Larisa Gutnichenko as justice minister; Sovetbek Toktomyshev, replacing Askar Kakeev as education, science and culture minister; Orosmat Abdykalykov, replacing Andrei Iordan as minister of industry and foreign trade, and Imankadyr Rysaliev, replacing Asylgul Abdurekhmenova as minister of labor and social affairs. BP[06] TURKISH FOREIGN MINISTER IN TURKMENISTANTurkish Foreign Minister Ismail Cem was in the Turkmen capital Ashgabat on 3-4 April, ITAR-TASS reported. ITAR- TASS said Cem met with Turkmen President Saparmurat Niyazov and that "the participants expressed appreciation for economic interaction... in the textile industry and the field of construction." Ankara TRT television reported on 4 April that Cem told reporters upon his return that he conveyed a message from the Turkish president to Niyazov on natural gas. The message was "Turkmen must act speedily... as the Turkmen need to export their gas is as great as Turkey's need to import it." BP[07] SITUATION IN TAJIK REGION STABILIZESGovernment and opposition forces began withdrawing from the Kofarnikhon region on 6 April, ITAR-TASS reported. Representatives from the government, National Reconciliation Commission and UN observers have been negotiating with leaders of armed groups following the outbreak of fighting in the area 30 kilometers east of Dushanbe on 24 March. While the latest talks were being held, fighting erupted in a village ten kilometers west of Kofarnikhon on 5 April. One officer from the Interior Ministry was killed and two wounded. This prompted the government to issue an ultimatum demanding the armed groups of the opposition leave Kofarnikhon by 2:00 p.m. local time or face retaliation by government forces. BP[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE[08] U.S. SAYS MILOSEVIC 'GAMBLING WITH FUTURE'The EU, NATO, the Kosovar leadership, the Albanian government and the United States quickly rejected as demagoguery and a delaying tactic Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic's call for a referendum on international mediation in Kosova (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 3 April 1998). A U.S. State Department spokesman said in Washington on 3 April that "President Milosevic's call... is... another in a long line of diversionary tactics, one that shows clearly that he remains defiant, unwilling to meet the minimum conditions set forth by the international community." The spokesman urged Milosevic to stop "gambling with his nation's future" and "put aside the dangerous games, put aside the diversionary tactics, and start focusing on what would improve the lives of his citizens and improve his nation's role in the world." Speaking in Prishtina, Kosovar shadow- state President Ibrahim Rugova called international mediation a necessity. PM[09] DJUKANOVIC CALLS KOSOVA DEMOCRATIC, NOT TERRITORIAL, ISSUE...Montenegrin President Milo Djukanovic said in Podgorica on 3 April that the referendum "is a serious challenge to international factors and playing games with the destiny of the people." The next day he added that Milosevic follows a "policy of staying in power at any price... His only program is to isolate us even more from the world, and chained by the burden of sanctions, we will sink to the bottom." Djukanovic argued that "Kosova is a democratic, not a territorial issue" and warned the Yugoslav president that "playing with the emotions of citizens and inflaming national feelings ... is looking for trouble and can really lead to tragedy." Djukanovic said in response to Milosevic's assertion that isolation helps Yugoslavia retain its dignity: "We have already tasted how dignity looked on an income of $5 a month and we do not want to repeat the experience." PM[10] ...AND UNVEILS REFORM PROGRAMPresident Djukanovic, who took office in January on a platform of reform, autonomy, and good relations with the outside world, sent the Belgrade authorities a comprehensive reform proposal on 3 April, an RFE/RL correspondent reported from the Montenegrin capital. He stressed that Yugoslavia is "riding a train... that is rushing toward a wall." He said, "It will be smashed if we do not change the direction of the locomotive." His initiative centers on social and economic opening to the world, economic reform and privatization, respect for the rule of law, political democratization, social justice, and security. He urged Belgrade to join the Central European Free Trade Area (CEFTA) and the South East European Economic Integration Initiative (SECI). Djukanovic added that Yugoslavia should return to the Council of Europe and International Monetary Fund, apply to join the EU, and seek access to the EU's Phare aid program. PM[11] SERBS RETURN FIRST HIGH SCHOOL TO ALBANIANSThe Serbian authorities in Podujeva on 4 April returned to Kosovar representatives the first high school in Kosova to be given back to the Albanians under the March education agreement (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 1 April 1998). The first building to change hands, Prishtina's Albanian Studies Institute, did so on 31 March. The process of restoring public educational facilities to majority ethnic Albanian control is slated to end on 30 June. PM[12] NGO'S SEEK PROTECTIVE FORCEThe International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights and its affiliates from Kosova, Serbia, Montenegro, Albania, Macedonia, and Greece issued a statement in Vienna on 3 April calling for an international preventive force for Kosova on the model of the Macedonia-based UNPREDEP. The statement dubbed Milosevic's call for a referendum "an ominous signal, recalling similar gestures that preceded ethnic aggression in Croatia and Bosnia. " It said, "We consider that such a proposal is aimed at kindling flames of nationalistic hysteria and xenophobic confrontation, as a prerequisite for increasingly autocratic policies." PM[13] SERBS WARN OF DESTABILIZATION IN VUKOVARThe leading Independent Democratic Serbian Party, the Joint Township Council, and the Serbian People's Council condemned the arrest of three ethnic Serbs in Vukovar on 3 April. The three groups said in a statement there the following day that arrests for crimes allegedly committed during 1991 will only serve to destabilize the delicate political balance in the region, RFE/RL reported. The statement added that none of the three appears on a list of 25 persons formally charged with wartime offenses. PM[14] CROATIAN BANKING SCANDAL GROWSCroatian police arrested Neven Barac, the former director of the scandal- plagued Dubrovacka Banka, in Zagreb on 3 April. He is wanted in conjunction with losses totaling $250 million through questionable business practices, to which press reports have linked some officials of the governing Croatian Democratic Community (HDZ). The independent weekly "Globus" wrote on 1 April that the bank at one point transferred $150 million to HDZ loyalists in Herzegovina. In recent days, spokesmen for the Croatian National Bank have issued a series of statements aimed at restoring consumer confidence in Dubrovacka. PM[15] "FERAL TRIBUNE" CHARGES CAMPAIGN AGAINST ITThe editors of the independent weekly "Feral Tribune" said in a statement issued in Split on 3 April that the paper is the victim of an ongoing campaign by state-run television and other HDZ-controlled media. The editors charged that the HDZ "wants to liquidate the weekly financially and physically." PM[16] ALBANIA'S NANO THREATENS CABINET WITH DISMISSALSPrime Minister Fatos Nano hinted in a press release on 3 April that some government ministers may soon lose their jobs in a reshuffle. He admonished them to improve their performance. Nano said there is a lack of coordination among ministers and added that "I do not doubt some of you are acting from interests other than our mandate and the responsibilities we have undertaken." President Rexhep Meidani said he hopes that the five- party coalition will remain intact following the expected reshuffle. Meanwhile, Interior Minister Neritan Ceka from the small Democratic Alliance Party told a party assembly in Tirana on 4 April that he has proof that some -- unnamed -- politicians are involved in smuggling, "Koha Jone" reported. He pledged to investigate all allegations and threatened to leave the coalition if he faces opposition from within the government. FS[17] TWO POLICEMEN KILLED IN SHKODERUnknown assailants killed two off-duty policemen in the night of 4 April in Shkoder near the police headquarters, "Koha Jone" reported. In a separate incident, an unidentified man shot dead one man and wounded another in Tirana's central Skanderbeg Square. FS[18] ROMANIAN PRIME MINISTER-DESIGNATE DISCLOSES POLICY-CHANGE PLANSPrime Minister Radu Vasile on 3 April made public his plan for boosting Romania's lagging reforms. Vasile, chosen last week to form a government, said he will lower income taxes, raise import duties, and subsidize the country's farmers. Vasile said that a decrease in salary taxes would lead to greater foreign investment. Vasile led negotiations with probable coalition parties on 4 April. Valeriu Stoica, the deputy president of the National Liberal Party, said he hoped talks on forming the cabinet would be finished and announced early this week. Under the constitution, Vasile has 10 days to submit a government to parliament. Vasile said he also will ask the parliament to reduce the number of ministries in an effort to streamline the government. PB[19] MOLDOVAN PRESIDENT, DNIESTRIAN LEADER, IN HOSPITALPresident Petru Lucinschi is in a Chisinau hospital for treatment of lumbago, AFP reported on 3 April. Lucinschi was admitted last week and is reported to be working while in the hospital. In Tiraspol, the capital of the separatist Transdniester region, secessionist leader Igor Smirnov has been hospitalized for several days after reportedly suffering a heart attack, INFOTAG reported on 4 April. In other news, the parliament in Tiraspol fired central bank President Oleg Natakhin and his deputy, Vladimir Kharchenko, INFOTAG reported on 3 April. The firings come on the heels of a three-fold devaluation in the Transdniestrian ruble, followed by crippling inflation. PB[C] END NOTE[20] WHEN COMMUNISTS WIN ELECTIONSby Paul GobleThe impressive showing of Communist Party candidates in the Ukrainian and Moldovan parliamentary elections has prompted some observers to make apocalyptic predictions about the future of those countries. The day after the Ukrainian vote, one Kyiv newspaper asked whether the results constituted a new "red dawn." Other commentators suggested that the vote for the Communists meant a return to the past and a reorientation toward Moscow. But an examination of both the returns in those countries and what actually happened in the elections suggests that the future of the two states is unlikely to proceed in that direction. On 23 March, the Communist Party in Moldova received 30 percent of the vote, far more than any other party but also far less than a majority in the parliament. Not surprisingly in such a situation, the party's leader, Vladimir Voronin, indicated that the Communist deputies would seek to form a coalition with the country's main centrist bloc and would not demand that a Communist be named prime minister. And while Voronin said that his party would seek to promote the economic "rebirth" of the country, he also said that the Moldovan Communists would not oppose privatization, a key part of the reformist program. Six days later, on March 29, the Communist Party in Ukraine received approximately one vote in four, giving it 25 percent of the 225 seats allocated by party list, far more than any other political party in that election. But the Communists triumphed in fewer than 40 of the 225 parliamentary seats chosen in single-member districts and thus will be forced to seek allies among other parties if they hope to participate in the government or determine policy outcomes. More to the point, in both countries, there are three important reasons to think that this increase in the vote for Communist deputies does not presage a return to the past, either domestically or internationally. First, the Ukrainian and Moldovan Communists won in competitive elections rather than through the use of revolutionary methods. As such, they are far more like leftist parties in Europe than their Bolshevik predecessors. They have had to make promises to voters. They have not won a majority that would allow them to run roughshod over others. And they are forced to seek coalitions to be effective. Second, the Communists won as the result of a protest vote by those who have suffered owing to social and economic dislocations of the past decade. As one of the more thoughtful Ukrainian newspapers said earlier this wee, "Ukraine voted in protest -- not for the Greens or other colors of the spectrum but against the way we are living." Pensioners and many workers there have not been paid for months. Many people are suffering from the decline in public services. And still more are frightened about what will happen next. Not surprisingly, they voted for Communist candidates who promised to ease their situation. If those making promises cannot keep them any better than the parties they defeated, they too will lose at the next election. And third, the vote for the Communists was not necessarily a vote for closer ties with Moscow, let alone a return to some kind of revived Soviet Union. While some people in both countries may have voted communist out of a misplaced nostalgia for the past, most voted the way they did out of domestic considerations rather than foreign policy calculations. And even if some Communist candidates did promise to improve ties with Moscow, they also spoke out in favor of strengthening the national governments they hoped to be elected to. Indeed, precisely because of the legacy of the past, many of the Communists adopted campaign rhetoric as nationalist as any of the other candidates. To say all this is not to welcome the votes for the Communists in either Moldova or Ukraine. On the one hand, the vote for them represents a repudiation, at least for a time, of those who have sought to promote democracy and free markets. On the other hand, Communist deputies in both countries are likely to be able to block or at least water down further efforts toward those two goals. Rather, it is to suggest that this pattern of voting may be part of the birth pangs of a democratic system in Moldova and Ukraine, instead of its death knell as some fear. 06-04-98 Reprinted with permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
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