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RFE/RL Newsline, Vol. 2, No. 208, 98-10-27Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty: Newsline Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty <http://www.rferl.org>RFE/RL NEWSLINEVol. 2, No. 208, 27 October 1998CONTENTS[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA
[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[C] END NOTE
[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA[01] FORMER COMMUNIST CHIEF SAYS ARMENIA IN 'DEEP CRISIS'Speaking to the first major gathering of his new political party on 25 October, the People's Party of Armenia (HZhK), Karen Demirchian said the group must work to help the country overcome what he called "a deep political and economic crisis," RFE/RL's Armenian Service reported. Failure to do that would have "catastrophic consequences for the people," added Demirchian, who served as first secretary of the Armenian SSR Communist Party from 1974 to 1988. The party's first task, he continued, is to ensure that the parliamentary elections in 1999 will be genuinely free and fair. "This time there will be no pardon" for those who violate election laws, Demirchian said. PG[02] KARABAKH CONDEMNS COUNCIL OF EUROPE'S 'RETREAT'The government of the self-proclaimed Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh released a statement on 26 October deploring the Council of Europe's decision to delay a hearing on the Karabakh dispute, RFE/RL's Armenian Service reported. Arguing that Azerbaijan's position was weakened by "the recent presidential elections," the Karabakh authorities deplored what they called the Council of Europe's "retreat" as a result of "Azerbaijani pressure." PG[03] PIPELINE ACROSS GEORGIA TO BEGIN OPERATIONS IN APRIL 1999Natik Aliev, the head of Azerbaijan's state oil company, said in Tbilisi on 26 October that the Baku-Supsa pipeline intended to carry oil from the Caspian basin to the West will begin operations in April 1999, ITAR-TASS reported. He said that the Azerbaijani portion is now ready to carry oil. Speaking on national radio the same day, Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze said he has received a draft treaty on oil transit from Azerbaijan. Thanking the U.S., Turkey, and world oil companies, Shevardnadze said the accord will be signed "within days." PG[04] SHEVARDNADZE SAYS MUTINEERS TRIED TO DESTROY DEMOCRACYAlso during his 26 October radio address, President Shevardnadze said that the military mutiny on 19 October was yet another effort by those seeking to undermine the country's independence and democracy. "Such attempts," the Georgian leader said, "are predictable at the transitional stage of development" and will likely take place in the future as well. But he expressed confidence that Georgians will rebuff all such attempts, citing a recent poll that showed 90 percent of Tbilisi residents condemned the mutiny. Meanwhile, Shevardnadze has accepted the resignation of the country's security minister, Dzhemal Gakhokidze. And Georgian officials continued on 26 October to look for coup leader Akaky Eliava, who is believed to be hiding out in the Chkhorotskusk district in western Georgia, ITAR-TASS reported. PG[05] UNITED TAJIK OPPOSITION STILL TROUBLED BY 'SECULAR' STATEThe leadership of the United Tajik Opposition (UTO) wants the issue of changing the constitutional article that refers to a "secular state" resolved by the time the parliament meets on 12 November, Reuters reported on 26 October. Since the return of UTO deputy leader Hoja Akbar Turajonzoda in February, the topic has been a sticking point between the government and the UTO. The UTO argues Tajikistan is a majority Muslim state, while the government maintains the issue is not open for discussion. Also on 26 October, a meeting of the National Reconciliation Commission resulted in a promise from the government to give another 19 UTO members government posts, which would complete the second phase of the Tajik peace process. BP[06] CANDIDATES FOR KAZAKH PRESIDENCY REGISTERCommunist Party leader Serikbolsyn Abdildin and independent candidate Engels Gabbasov have both applied to register for the January presidential elections, Interfax reported on 26 October. Abdildin was the first candidate to announce his intention to run following the Kazakh parliament's 8 October decision to hold early elections. The two passed the Kazakh language test, a prerequisite for running. Incumbent President Nursultan Nazarbayev and former Prime Minister Akezhan Kazhegeldin have already passed that test. On 23 October, Baltash Tursunbayev, the Kazakh ambassador to Turkey, who also announced his intention to run earlier in October, was named deputy premier. This means he will not run in the elections. Interfax reports that the Kazakh presidential press service "did not say exactly what Tursunbayev will be in charge of." BP[07] CUSTOMS UNION PARTNERS WORRY ABOUT KYRGYZSTAN, WTOThe deputy chairman of the Russian State Customs Committee, Vladimir Meshcheryakov, has said that Kyrgyzstan's recent admission to the WTO has raised "serious concern" within the integration committee of the four customs union countries (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Belarus and Russia), Interfax reported on 26 October. Meshcheryakov said that when Kyrgyzstan applied for WTO, membership, it did not specify preferential treatment in trade with the other customs union countries. He added that it is now too late to make changes because the WTO has approved Kyrgyzstan's membership documents. Meshcheryakov said he did not think there will be any problems in trade with Russia but added that there will be "lots of problems and questions within the framework of the customs union." BP[08] TURKMEN PRESIDENT RECEIVES NATIONAL AWARD FOR THIRD TIMESaparmurat Niyazov received the Golden Moon award on 26 October, on the eve of Turkmen Independence Day, ITAR-TASS and Interfax reported . The decision to award the medal to Niyazov was made by the cabinet and parliament in July following reports that country had fulfilled its target figure for the grain harvest for the first time since 1991. It is the third time that Niyazov has received the medal. He was first awarded it in 1992, on the occasion of the first anniversary of independence, and then in 1995 when Turkmenistan was recognized by the UN as a neutral country. BP[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE[09] SERBIA SAYS WITHDRAWAL FROM KOSOVA COMPLETEBelgrade independent Radio B-92 quoted army and paramilitary police sources on 27 October as saying that troop levels in Kosova are back to the levels where they were in March at the start of the crackdown. There has been no official or independent confirmation that the military and police have indeed completed the withdrawal as the UN has demanded. NATO officials are slated to meet in Brussels later in the day to decide whether Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic has complied with UN demands or whether NATO will launch air strikes against Serbian military targets after the alliance's deadline for Milosevic to comply runs out at 7:00 p.m. local time on 27 October. In Washington the previous day, a State Department spokesman said that NATO wants to be sure that the Serbian forces do not return to Kosova after they withdraw. PM[10] EU MONEY FOR OSCE MISSIONEU foreign ministers agreed in Luxembourg on 26 October to provide $100 million for the OSCE's 2,000-strong monitoring mission to Kosova. The entire operation is expected to cost $150 million, RFE/RL's South Slavic Service reported. In Prishtina, Adem Demaci, who is the spokesman for the Kosova Liberation Army (UCK), said that the guerrillas will continue to fight the Serbian forces until Kosova gains independence. PM[11] KOSOVARS AFRAID TO GO HOME?Kosovar shadow-state President Ibrahim Rugova told officials of the European Parliament in Prishtina on 26 October that displaced persons are afraid to return to their homes lest Serbian forces come back and harass them. But the next day, Reuters reported that many Kosovars began to return to their homes in the Malisheva area after hearing radio broadcasts that reported the Serbian forces' departure. In Luxembourg on 26 October, the EU's chief official for humanitarian issues, Emma Bonino, said that 50,000 Kosovars are living in refugee camps and an additional 10,000 are hiding in the hills. The EU has made funds available to repair at least one room in all damaged houses so that displaced persons can go home before the harsh Balkan winter begins in a few weeks' time. PM[12] ALBANIAN PRIME MINISTER PLEDGES CHANGE IN KOSOVA POLICYPandeli Majko said in Tirana on 25 October that Albania will stop "giving recipes" for solving the Kosova problem, "Albanian Daily News" reported. He added that the Kosovars should decide about the future status of their province themselves. Majko nonetheless stressed that all Kosovar politicians should regard Albania as a "point of union" where they may come together to openly debate controversial political issues. Kosovar politicians strongly criticized Majko's predecessor, Fatos Nano, for promoting Kosova's status of a republic inside Yugoslavia rather than complete independence, which all leading Kosovar politicians demand. FS[13] DIENSTBIER URGES DEMOCRATIZATION OF SERBIASerbian court officials confiscated equipment from the offices of the banned daily "Dnevni Telegraf" and the weekly "Evropljanin" during the night of 25-26 October (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 26 October 1998). More than 20 armed police also took furniture and other items from the apartment of Slavko Curuvija, the newspaper's editor in chief, according to "The Guardian." The previous day, Jiri Dienstbier, who is the UN's chief envoy for human rights, said on a visit to "Dnevni Telegraf's" offices that he will inform the international community that the problem in the region is not only Kosova but, on a much broader level, the question of promoting democracy in Serbia, RFE/RL's South Slavic Service reported. Observers have often pointed out that peace in the Balkans is not possible without a democratic Serbia because the Serbs are the most numerous people from the former Yugoslavia and occupy a strategically important region in the center of the peninsula. PM[14] CROATIAN JOURNALISTS CALL FOR MEDIA REFORMMembers of the Croatian Journalists' Society adopted a declaration in Opatija on 26 October calling for media independence from control by the government and the governing Croatian Democratic Community (HDZ). They journalists said that Croatian Radio and Television (HRT) have suffered in quality because of their close links with the authorities and the HDZ. They also appealed to the parliament to pass legislation to transform HRT into a public corporation. The declaration urged the publication of the names of the owners of any radio stations or periodicals, especially "Vecernji list, " "Slobodna Dalmacija," "TV Mreza," "Glas Slavonije" and some local newspapers. All are widely believed to be in the hands of persons close to the HDZ. PM[15] ONE KILLED IN ALBANIAN TRADE UNION RIVALRYAstrit Balluku, a local leader of the Independent Trade Unions, was killed in Tirana on 26 October when supporters of two rival wings clashed in a dispute over who should occupy the national leadership's offices, "Albanian Daily News" reported. A second union member was wounded, but it remains unclear who fired the shots. Police arrested 20 people including rival national leaders Xhevdet Lubani and Fatmir Musaku. The leadership dispute dates back to 1995, when the late Democratic Party leader Azem Hajdari set up a rebel faction within the trade unions. Hajdari then ceased all work for the trade union after failing to be elected union leader. Musaku, Hajdari's successor as leader of the rebel faction, won a court case earlier this year against Lubani, who refused to vacate the leadership's offices. Former President Sali Berisha told journalists the same day in Tirana that the government and secret service were behind Balluku's killing. FS[16] SIX DIE IN REFUGEE BOAT ACCIDENT OFF ALBANIAAn inflatable dinghy carrying 25 refugees, most of whom were Kosovars, exploded and sank after colliding with a small boat near Vlora on 26 October. Six people were killed in the accident. The same day, police discovered 44 illegal immigrants, including eight Turkish and 31 Iraqi Kurds and five Pakistanis, in a forest near Vlora, AP reported. They had arrived from Greece and were waiting to be smuggled into Italy. FS[17] ROMANIAN PRESIDENT CRITICIZES WEST OVER NATO EXPANSIONAddressing the Nobel Institute in Oslo on 26 October, President Emil Constantinescu said NATO's decision not to include Romania in first wave of expansion "has been a serious mistake and mistakes must be paid for." He said all risks to NATO security come from its southeastern tier and that Romanian membership would have provided a solution to that problem. Constantinescu added that his country must be integrated into NATO in the second wave of expansion. And he commented that the West has become "cynical and uninterested" in East-Central Europe, after initially having "massively invested" in such countries as Poland or Slovenia. MS[18] FORMER ANTONESCU GOVERNMENT OFFICIAL REHABILITATEDThe Romanian Supreme Court on 26 October rehabilitated Toma Petre Ghitulescu, who after only seven weeks in office quit his post as deputy state secretary in the government headed by wartime ruler Ion Antonescu. The court said the crimes of the Antonescu government were committed after Ghitulescu's short tenure. The court rejected, however, the Ghitulescu family's plea for the rehabilitation of Marshal Antonescu (executed for war crimes in 1946) and seven other members of his cabinet who were sentenced to jail, along with Ghitulescu, in 1949. The request for the cabinet members' rehabilitation was originally made by former Prosecutor-General Sorin Moisescu but later withdrawn following protests by the U.S. (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 24 November 1997 and 27 January 1998). MS[19] ROMANIAN UPROAR OVER MEDAL TO COMMUNIST TORTURERPresident Constantinescu on 26 October said the award of a medal to a former commander of the Sighet prison, where many political prisoners perished during the 1950s, is "a grave matter." Constantinescu says he granted the medal to Vasile Cioplan on Army Day (24 October) at the recommendation of the Association of War Veterans, stressing that he had not been familiar with Cioplan's past. The Ministry of Defense said that the law on the World War II award "makes no distinctions" between the various participants in the war, entitling all of them to the medal. The Movement of Civic Alliance has called on Constantinescu to punish those responsible for "transforming into a hero" a person who stands for communist terror, RFE/RL's Bucharest bureau reported. MS[20] SNEGUR RE-ELECTED PARTY CHAIRMANThe Party of Rebirth and Conciliation on 24 October re-elected former President Mircea Snegur as its chairman, BASA-press reported. Snegur called on right-wing forces in Moldova to rally behind his party following the communists' victory in this year's parliamentary elections. On 25 October, a congress of the extraparliamentary National Liberal Party approved a merger with the Moldovan Liberal Party. The new party will be called the National Liberal Party of Moldova. On 23 October, the pro- presidential Movement for a Democratic and Prosperous Moldova said it is forming a "centrist alliance" with nine other extraparliamentary formations that back President Petru Lucinschi. MS[21] GAZPROM HAS MAJORITY SHARE IN MOLDOVAN GAS COMPANYMoldovan Deputy Premier Ion Sturdza has signed an agreement providing for the setting up of the Molodovagaz company, in which Gazprom will hold a 51 percent share, the independent Flux agency reported on 26 October. The agreement, which was signed in Moscow in partial settlement of Moldova's debt to Gazprom, was approved by the parliament in February and by the government in October. MS[22] BULGARIAN PRESIDENT IN INDIAPetar Stoyanov, who is currently on a six-day official visit to India, has held discussions with his Indian counterpart K. R. Narayanan and Premier Atal Behari Vajpayee to discuss bilateral relations, international issues, and the improvement of bilateral trade and investments, dpa reported on 26 October. Stoyanov also attended the signing ceremony of three bilateral trade agreements and an accord aimed at protecting mutual investments. MS[C] END NOTE[23] THREE QUESTIONS FOR MACEDONIAby Patrick MooreMacedonia's main opposition coalition emerged victorious in the first round of parliamentary elections on 18 October. That coalition seems likely to win most seats in the second round on 1 November as well, but questions remain regarding the eventual composition of the new government and what it will be able to accomplish. Macedonian voters indicated in the first round that they feel it is time for a change in country that has over 30 percent unemployment and has had little success in attracting vital foreign investments. The coalition consisting of the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (VMRO- DPMNE), led by Ljubco Georgievski, and the Democratic Alternative (DA) of Vasil Tupurkovski won 21 seats, followed by the governing Social Democrats (SDSM) with 14. The Liberals took two mandates, and the Socialists one. The two main ethnic Albanian parties--the moderate Party of Democratic Prosperity (PPD), which is part of the SDSM's current governing coalition, and the more radical Democratic Party of the Albanians (PDSH)--had formed an electoral coalition so as not to split the Albanian vote. Between them, they took 20 legislative seats. The first question facing Macedonia as it approaches the second round of voting to decide the remaining 62 seats is whether the VMRO-DA coalition will maintain its lead. Observers in Skopje say that not only is this likely but the coalition could emerge with 70 out of 120 seats and therefore be able to govern without entering into a broader coalition with other parties. The second issue is whether the VMRO-DA, if victorious, will prefer to govern alone or seek to enter into a broader coalition. Some of the smaller parties might try to make a deal with Georgievski and Tupurkovski even before 1 November in an effort to jump on what appears to be the winning bandwagon at the earliest opportunity. At the heart of the question regarding a broader coalition are, however, the political relations between the Macedonian majority and the ethnic Albanian minority, which makes up about 23 percent of the population. The VMRO was founded in 1990 on a strong Macedonian nationalist platform, but Georgievski told "RFE/RL Newsline" in Skopje recently that his main interest now is reforming the economy, ending corruption, reducing taxes, eliminating regulations on investments, and attracting foreign investment. In short, he has reinvented his party as a bastion of neo-liberalism in order to oust an ex-communist establishment that many regard as ineffective and corrupt. He underscored his change of approach by avoiding nationalist rhetoric and speaking almost exclusively about economic issues. (Ironically, it was the Social Democrats who most openly appealed to nationalist passions during the campaign by carrying out a series of well-publicized arrests of "Albanian terrorists.") Furthermore, Georgievski chose as his main ally the DA, which is committed to the principles of a civil society and whose membership includes prominent Albanians, Turks, Roma, and others. Georgievski could thus govern with the DA alone in a cabinet in which Albanians and other minorities would be represented. But while some of the DA's Albanian intellectuals may enjoy personal prestige, they lack the power base among the Albanians that only the PPD or PDSH could provide. Speculation has therefore come to center on the possibility of a coalition involving VMRO-DA and one of those two main Albanian parties. Since the PPD is "tainted" in the eyes of many of Georgievski's backers because it was a partner in the SDSM's outgoing coalition government, attention has focused on the PDSH as a possible partner for VMRO-DA. This might seem ironic, in view of the fact that VMRO and the PDSH were both founded as militantly nationalist parties. But the two have since made a power-sharing pact at the local level in Skopje, and there seems to be little reason why they could not apply that model to a national government. Both VMRO-DA and PDSH have left the door open for coalition talks with each other, and a spokesman for the PDSH recently told "RFE/RL Newsline" that "all options are open" once the second round of voting is over. Were Georgievski to head a government including the PDSH as well as the VMRO and DA, he would govern with the backing of a clear majority of the population, including powerful representatives of the two main ethnic groups. This leads to the third question facing Macedonia, namely whether Georgievski's government would be able to deliver the development and prosperity he has promised. His supporters--and those of his coalition allies--will be watching to see if he will indeed produce the "changes" he promised in his campaign rhetoric, or if he and his allies will prove to be as corrupt and ineffective as the coalition they replaced. 27-10-98 Reprinted with permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
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