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RFE/RL Newsline, Vol. 2, No. 69, 98-04-10Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty: Newsline Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty <http://www.rferl.org>RFE/RL NEWSLINEVol. 2, No. 69, 10 April 1998CONTENTS[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA
[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[C] END NOTE
[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA[01] ARMENIAN PRESIDENT MEETS WITH PREDECESSORRobert Kocharyan met on 9 April with Levon Ter- Petrossyan, who attended his inauguration ceremony, Armenian agencies reported. Ter-Petrossyan refused to answer journalists' questions, but Vano Siradeghyan, chairman of the Armenian Pan-National Movement (HHSh), told RFE/RL's Yerevan bureau on 9 April that he does not exclude Ter-Petrossyan's return to mainstream Armenian politics. ("Hayk" reported on 3 April that Ter-Petrossyan is currently occupied in compiling his personal archive, reading, and playing chess against a computer.) Siradeghyan pledged that the HHSh will support Kocharyan and the new Armenian government as long as it implements a liberal economic policy. The HHSh constituted Ter- Petrossyan's power base. LF[02] KARABAKH PRESIDENT, DEFENSE MINISTER IN YEREVANA delegation from the unrecognized Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh also attended Kocharyan's inauguration on 9 April, as did Russian acting Deputy Prime Minister Ivan Rybkin. Karabakh President Arkadii Ghukasyan told journalists that Karabakh will continuing pursuing an independent policy and has the potential to achieve its political and economic goals. He expressed confidence that Armenia will continue to protect Karabakh's interests at international forums, Noyan Tapan reported. Karabakh Defense Minister Samvel Babayan said he hopes that Armenia's policy vis-a- vis Karabakh will become "more precise" following Kocharyan's election as Armenian president. He also said he hopes Kocharyan will insist on direct negotiations between Karabakh and Baku. Babayan denied reports that he will become the next Armenian defense minister, "Nayots Ashkhar" reported on 10 April. LF[03] GEORGIAN PARLIAMENT, GOVERNMENT AT ODDSMeeting on 8 April, the Georgian government rejected a law on the status of public officials drafted by the parliamentary committee for procedural issues, Caucasus Press reported. The government objected to the draft's identical approach toward all three branches of power and its failure to differentiate between relations between the president and the executive on the one hand, and between the chairman of the supreme court and his subordinates on the other. The draft also reportedly fails to subordinate a number of leading officials--including the head of the state chancellery, the secretary of the National Security Council, the Constitutional Court chairman, the mayor of Tbilisi and the National Bank chairman--to any of the three branches of power. The parliament passed a law on public service last October. LF[04] U.S.-AZERBAIJANI MILITARY COOPERATION ASSESSEDU.S. Senator John Warner and Admiral Joseph Lopez, the commander of NATO forces in Southern Europe, held talks in Baku on 8 April with Azerbaijani President Heidar Aliev, Interfax and Turan reported. Warner noted Azerbaijan's geo-strategic importance as a transit country of oil and gas, while Lopez positively assessed bilateral military cooperation within the framework of NATO's Partnership for Peace program. He added that he hopes cooperation will be expanded. LF[05] INDIA TO BUY INTO AZERBAIJANI OIL CONSORTIUM?Indian Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas Vajapadi Ramamurti said on 9 April that India is considering participating in various CIS oil projects, ITAR-TASS reported. (Some 60 percent of oil consumed in India is imported.) Ramamurti said India is particularly interested in Azerbaijan and wants to acquire a 10 percent equity share in the consortium created last September by Italy's AGIP and the Azerbaijani state oil company SOCAR to exploit the Kyurdashi oil field, which has estimated reserves of 100 million tons. Also on 9 April, an assistant to SOCAR's president said Azerbaijan will not cut its oil output from present levels, despite the fall in world prices. LF[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE[06] 30,000 KOSOVARS MARCH IN PRISHTINAMore than 30,000 ethnic Albanians demonstrated in the Kosovar capital on 9 April to protest Serbian repression and police violence and to demand peace and independence. Riot police were present in force and blocked the path of the protesters, preventing them from crossing downtown. The demonstration took place without incident. The organizing committee has appealed to Kosovars to observe a half- hour silence on main streets throughout the province at noon each day beginning 10 April. Serbian state-run television called the protesters "clowns" and "parrots" who are "blindly loyal to their foreign sponsors." And in Belgrade, a spokesman for Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic's Socialist Party of Serbia said the Kosovars "are bent on secession." On 10 April, some 20,000 Kosovars again staged a peaceful march through Prishtina. PM[07] ALBANIAN MINISTRY SAYS CONFLICT COULD INVOLVE "ENTIRE NATION"A spokesman for the Albanian Defense Ministry said in Tirana on 9 April that an expansion of the conflict in Kosova will not only affect the Albanian army but will involve "the entire Albanian nation." He stressed that the situation on the Albanian-Yugoslav border is tense and that "it could easily explode at any moment," BETA news agency reported. In recent weeks, Albanian officials have emphasized the need for a peaceful solution in Kosova and have generally avoided blunt talk about a possible war. PM[08] YUGOSLAV REFORMER QUITSFederal Deputy Prime Minister Danko Djunic said in Belgrade on 9 April that he has resigned his post to protest what he called the bureaucratic "blockade" against efforts aimed at economic reform. Djunic's brief in the cabinet was to prepare far- reaching economic change. He was the only top- ranking federal official from Serbia who publicly praised the victory of reformer Milo Djukanovic in the Montenegrin presidential elections in 1997, RFE/RL reported. Also in Belgrade, a spokesman for Milosevic's Socialist Party of Serbia said Djukanovic's recently announced program for change will be "his political demise" (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 6 April 1998). PM[09] KARADZIC ABOUT TO GO TO HAGUE?The Paris daily "Le Monde" wrote on 9 April that U.S. lawyers for the former Bosnian Serb leader and indicted war criminal Radovan Karadzic are negotiating with representatives of the Hague-based war crimes tribunal. The lawyers want to make a deal on the conditions under which Karadzic might appear before the court to face two charges of genocide. In Washington, a State Department spokesman declined to comment on the report on negotiations but denied a further suggestion by "Le Monde" that Karadzic may be hiding in Belarus. The spokesman did not elaborate on Karadzic's whereabouts but stressed that the former leader is "increasingly isolated" and that "it is time for him to turn himself in" (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 8 April 1998). "The Boston Globe" on 10 April quoted Karadzic's lawyer as saying he cannot confirm the story about the negotiations and calling the entire matter "very sensitive." PM[10] KRAJISNIK CALLS ARRESTS "BLOW TO PEACE"Momcilo Krajisnik, the Bosnian Serb member of the joint presidency, told Pale's news agency SRNA on 9 April that NATO's recent arrest and deportation to The Hague of two indicted Bosnian Serb war criminals constitutes "a blow to peace" (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 9 April 1998). Krajisnik warned that NATO's seizure of individual Serbs might lead to "uncontrolled resistance by [all] Serbs." PM[11] CROATIAN RAILROAD AGREEMENT REACHEDRepresentatives of Croatian Railroads and of seven labor unions signed an agreement on labor-management relations in Zagreb on 9 April, RFE/RL reported. The agreement marks the culmination of two years of negotiations. Talks are continuing about an agreement on wages and working conditions. Railroad workers recently staged a warning strike to protest low pay. Also in Zagreb, representatives of four labor unions agreed to establish the Croatian Bloc of Democratic Unions, which will represent two-thirds of the entire work force. Elsewhere, more than 500 teachers demonstrated for higher pay. There has been considerable labor unrest since January, when the government introduced a value-added tax. PM[12] ALBANIA LEGALIZES COMMUNIST PARTYThe parliament voted on 9 April to repeal a 1992 law banning Communist parties. The proposal, which was introduced by Maksim Hasani, a Communist who was elected to the legislature as an independent, provides for "the free activity of all political forces that respect the laws of the democratic state [but not] those that have programs and activities that are anti-national, anti-Albanian, anti- democratic, and totalitarian." It is unclear who will determine whether a party's program or activities meet those criteria. FS[13] ALBANIAN MEDIA LEADERS RESIGNSix members of the governing board of state-run radio and television resigned on 9 April, "Koha Jone" reported. They include former radio and television chief Bardhyl Pollo and his deputy, Antoneta Malaj. All six were appointed by the previous, Democratic- dominated parliament. In their letter of resignation, the six charged that the current Socialist-appointed board functions like an "inquisition [controlled by] red votes" and that state television and radio do not broadcast the views of the opposition. Parliamentary speaker Skender Gjinushi called the letter a case of "simple fraud," pointing out that the terms of the six were about to run out in any case. FS[14] ROMANIAN SENATE PASSES BILL ON SECURITATE FILESThe upper house of the parliament approved a bill on 9 April that would allow people to check if journalists or public officials worked for the Communist-era secret police, the Securitate. The bill must still be passed by the Chamber of Deputies. The successor to the Securitate, the Romanian Intelligence Service, has said that virtually all files on informers were destroyed immediately after the 1989 overthrow of the Communist government. Also on 9 April, Ioan Ghise, the mayor of Brasov, acknowledged he had worked as an informer for the Securitate. He told the daily "Libertatea" that he was doing his "patriotic duty as a citizen." PB[15] ROMANIAN PRESIDENT WANTS TO KNOW TRUTH ABOUT 1989 UPRISINGEmil Constantinescu said on 9 April that the parliament should consider legislation pardoning some officers involved in the suppression of the anti- Communist revolt in 1989, Rompres reported. In a statement, Constantinescu said such a law could help reveal the truth about the events in which more than 1,000 demonstrators were killed around the country. He said some witnesses are leery of testifying for fear of prosecution. And he noted that even in the case of an amnesty, he is sure that "military honor will force the officers to ask for a full investigation." The president's statement comes two days after the defense minister said he is considering a pardon of some officers involved in suppressing the revolt. PB[16] CZECH FOREIGN MINISTER SUPPORTS BULGARIA INTEGRATIONJaroslav Sedivy said in Sofia on 9 April that he fully supports Bulgaria's accession to the EU and NATO and will help it achieve those goals, Reuters reported. Sedivy said Prague could help Sofia avoid "repeating our mistakes" on the road to integration. Bulgarian President Petar Stoyanov said he is surprised that the Czech Republic is considering requiring visas for Bulgarians once it joins the EU. Sedivy pointed out that this is not a Czech issue, but an EU one. Sedivy and his counterpart, Nadezhda Mihailova, agreed on several joint measures aimed at cracking down on organized crime and drug trafficking and on preventing double taxation. PB[C] END NOTE[17] MOSCOW'S USE OF ABUSEby Paul GobleThe Russian government's campaign of vilification and threats against Latvia has three political goals. First, it is intended to punish Riga for what Moscow finds objectionable in that country's approach to its ethnic Russian minority. Second, it is designed to help acting Russian Prime Minister Sergei Kirienko gain support from nationalists and Communists in the Russian State Duma, whose votes he needs to win confirmation by the Russian parliament. And third, it is part of a broader Russian effort to weaken the governments and economies of former Soviet republics, isolate those countries from the West, and prompt Western governments to reconsider plans to include them in Western institutions anytime soon. Latvia is obviously the primary target of that campaign. Since 1991, Russian political figures in Moscow have repeatedly claimed that Latvia is violating the human rights of ethnic Russians living there because it did not give them automatic citizenship when that country recovered its independence. Instead, and relying on a fundamental principle of international law, Latvia refused to give citizenship to those individuals and their descendants who were moved into Latvia while it was occupied by the Soviet Union. Many of those people are ethnic Russians, and consequently, Russian politicians often have portrayed Latvia's position on this issue as a form of "Russophobia." And those Moscow leaders have demanded that Latvia modify its laws, even though international human rights bodies have confirmed that Latvia is within its rights on this question. Consequently, when something happens in Latvia that angers many Russians or when attacking Latvia appears to promise Moscow broader political rewards, some Russian politicians are prepared to play this card regardless of the actual situation of ethnic Russians in that country. Since the beginning of this year, a series of events in Latvia--from Riga's handling of a demonstration by ethnic Russian pensioners last month to a bomb explosion outside the Russian embassy early this week --have infuriated Russians and led to the current campaign, despite the fact that it remains unclear just who was behind either event. Moscow's vilification of Latvia and its threats to use its economic power against that Baltic country have already had significant consequences. Latvia has been weakened politically, the government coalition destroyed, and public opinion polarized. Moreover, Latvia has already been weakened economically, even though Russia has not yet imposed any sanctions. Since the start of this latest campaign, the Riga stock market has fallen by nearly a third, as investors flee to safer havens, despite the economic fundamentals in Latvia that should make that country attractive to them. This latest campaign has also isolated Latvia geopolitically, with ever more Western commentators and governments apparently prepared to accept Russian charges at face value and to see them as a reason for not moving more quickly to include Latvia in Western institutions. Russian presidential spokesman Sergei Yastrzhembskii said on 9 April that Moscow's statements and actions have no implications beyond Latvia, but both the timing and the nature of this campaign suggest Moscow has two other reasons, one immediate and domestic and the other longer term and geopolitical. The immediate, domestic reason is the effort by Russian President Boris Yeltsin and reformers such as First Deputy Prime Minister Boris Nemtsov to win support in the Duma for Kirienko. They clearly believe that by targeting Latvia, they can distract Russian public attention from economic difficulties at home and win communist and nationalist support in the Duma for Kirienko by portraying themselves as sympathetic to a key part of the Russian nationalist agenda--defending ethnic Russians abroad. But the longer-term, geopolitical reason is likely to prove more important. By targeting Latvia now, Moscow sends a powerful message to all its neighbors that it considers them part of its sphere of influence and has found a tactic--economic pressure--that the West is unlikely to oppose, especially Moscow justifies its use on "human rights" grounds. And it has sent an equally powerful message to the West that Moscow will take measures against these countries if Europe and the U.S. try to include them in Western institutions in the near future. To the extent that Western countries accept those messages, the countries around Russia's periphery will find themselves in ever greater difficulties- -both political and economic. And any such difficulties will ultimately make life more problematic for Russia and the West. 10-04-98 Reprinted with permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
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