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RFE/RL Newsline, Vol. 2, No. 237, 98-12-10Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty: Newsline Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty <http://www.rferl.org>RFE/RL NEWSLINEVol. 2, No. 237, 10 December 1998CONTENTS[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA
[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[C] END NOTE
[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA[01] ARMENIAN DEPUTY DEFENSE MINISTER SHOT DEADColonel Vahram Khorkhoruni was shot dead outside his home in Yerevan early on 10 December, Western agencies reported, citing Interfax. Khorkhoruni, who was 47, began his career in the Russian Interior Ministry and then in its Armenian counterpart, before transferring to the Ministry of Defense. His most recent responsibility was for armaments. Armenian Presidential aide Aram Sargsian told Reuters that the motives for the killing are unclear. LF[02] ARMENIAN PARLIAMENT STARTS DEBATING BUDGET...The Armenian parliament began debating the 1999 draft budget on 8 December, RFE/RL's Yerevan bureau reported. The draft budget provides for revenues of 187.9 billion drams (some $360 million), expenditures of 239.1 billion drams, and a deficit of some 57 billion drams. Economics and Finance Minister Eduard Sandoyan told deputies that the government intends to strengthen its social policy and will introduce a system of modest family allowances for some 230,000 needy families. Employees paid from the state budget will receive a 20 percent wage increase and the basic pension will rise by 30 percent. The opposition Hayrenik parliamentary group is boycotting the debate. Its members argue that the budget protects the shadow economy without alleviating the plight of the population. LF[03] ...WHILE DASHNAK PARTY CRITICIZES DRAFTLeading members of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (Dashnaktsutiun), which has only one parliamentary deputy, told a news conference on 9 December that some provisions of the 1999 budget run counter to election promises made by President Robert Kocharian, Noyan Tapan reported. Noting that "people are running out of patience," they predicted that the financial situation of many Armenian families relying heavily on money from relatives in Russia may deteriorate as a result of the financial crisis in that country. The ARFD strongly backed Kocharian's presidential bid. LF[04] GEORGIAN DEFENSE MINISTER PROPOSES GUAM PEACEKEEPING FORCEDavit Tevzadze has proposed that Georgia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan, and Moldova form a peacekeeping force to promote regional security and guard the proposed export oil pipeline for Azerbaijan's Caspian oil, Turan reported on 9 December. Tevzadze said experts from all four countries have discussed the possibility of cooperation with NATO to create such a force within the framework of the Partnership for Peace program. Tevzadze said that the proposed force could also interact with the Balkan peacekeeping force set up earlier this year. Tevzadze was speaking in Bucharest, where he signed a bilateral agreement on defense cooperation with his Romanian counterpart, Victor Babiuc, on 8 December. LF[05] GEORGIAN RULING PARTY LOSES CONTROL OF TBILISI CITY COUNCILLado Kakhadze of the opposition Labor Party was elected chairman of the Tbilisi City Council on 9 December, Caucasus Press reported, citing "Rezonansi." The Union of Citizens of Georgia, the majority party within the parliament, did not participate in the vote. The union failed to win an absolute majority in most areas in the 15 November local elections. LF[06] GEORGIA'S CHECHEN MINORITY LAUNCHES PROTESTThe Chechen population of two villages in the northeastern Sighnaghi Raion have blocked a local highway to protest delays in paying wages and pensions, Caucasus Press reported on 10 December, citing "Akhali kartuli gazeti." There are an estimated 10,000-15,000 Chechens in Georgia. LF[07] TAJIK OPPOSITION PARTY BANNEDThe Supreme Court has banned the National Unity Party, Interfax reported on 9 December. The party was headed by former Tajik Prime Minister Abdumalik Abdullojonov, who is wanted by Tajik law enforcement agencies for his part in the November rebellion in northern Tajikistan. All the party's property and assets have been nationalized. The Supreme Court noted that the party has not held a congress since its founding in 1994, has not issued any membership cards, and has not decided on a seal or letterhead. The party's leadership attempted to distance itself from Abdullojonov in November (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 2O November 1998) condemning Abdullojonov for his role in the November violence. BP[08] AKAYEV SACKS HEAD OF ADMINISTRATIONKyrgyz President Askar Akayev signed a decree on 10 December dismissing the head of his administration, Omar Sultanov, ITAR-TASS reported. Akayev's press secretary told journalists that in the future, Akayev will deal firmly with those who are engaged in intrigue." He declined to comment further on the reasons for Sultanov's dismissal. ITAR- TASS, meanwhile, noted that Foreign Minister Muratbek Imanaliev has accused Sultanov of interfering in his ministry's work. Sultanov was appointed head of the presidential administration in March 1998. BP[09] QUESTIONS ARISE ABOUT TURKMEN GRAIN HARVESTDespite the Turkmen government's claims that this year's grain harvest exceeds target figures, RFE/RL correspondents reported on 8 December that the price of government-subsidized flour has quadrupled since 1 November. The government announced at the end of the summer that farmers had harvested slightly more than the planned 1.2 million tons of grain. While the Agricultural Ministry has claimed many times that 800,000 tons would be enough to supply all domestic needs, there are reports that in some areas that flour is scarce and the price of government-subsidized flour, which only the poor and families with many children are eligible to receive, has risen from 25 manat ($1=5,200 manat) per kilogram to 100 manat. The government admitted at the end of November that less than half the targeted amount of cotton has been gathered. BP[10] KAZAKHSTAN, WESTERN OIL COMPANIES SIGN AGREEMENTKazakh officials were in Washington on 9 December to sign an agreement with representatives of Royal Dutch Shell and the U.S. companies Mobil and Chevron on conducting feasibility studies for a pipeline connecting the eastern and western coasts of the Caspian Sea, ITAR-TASS and dpa reported. The pipeline will connect oil and gas fields in western Kazakhstan with Baku. Russian Minister of Oil and Fuel Vladimir Stanev was also present at the signing and said his country "need not be concerned about the deal." He noted that under the terms of the Caspian Pipeline Consortium agreement, participants can ship oil via any route they choose but must nonetheless pay Russian tariffs for oil they originally agreed to pump to Novorossiisk. BP[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE[11] RUGOVA WARNS OF 'BIGGEST MASSACRE TO DATE'Kosovar shadow-state President Ibrahim Rugova said in Paris on 9 December that "if there is an escalation of the situation [in the province], that will mean the biggest massacre seen to date." He added that such a conflict could quickly lead to "a mass ethnic-cleansing." Rugova called the current cease-fire "very fragile" and added that he hopes the current diplomatic "efforts of the U.S., European Union, [and] France...will achieve something." French President Jacques Chirac, for his part, urged both sides in the Kosova conflict to "start discussions without delay." PM[12] MILUTINOVIC REJECTS HILL PLANSerbian President Milan Milutinovic and other top government officials issued a statement in Belgrade on 9 December formally rejecting U.S. envoy Chris Hill's plan for an interim political settlement in Kosova as "not acceptable." The statement contained few details but noted that the Hill plan fails to include unspecified "key elements" from the Serbian government's own proposal. The text argued that "the form for solving the problem...is the broadest possible democratic self-rule within the legal system of Serbia and Yugoslavia" and with equal rights for all ethnic groups regardless of their size. Observers suggested that Belgrade rejects the idea of broad autonomy for Kosova at a provincial--as opposed to a local--level. The Serbian authorities also oppose extending the principle of majority rule to Kosova, where some 90 percent of the population is ethnic Albanian (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 9 December 1998). PM[13] HILL SAYS TALKS 'STILL ON TRACK'Hill said in Prishtina on 9 December that negotiations to end the Kosova dispute are "still on track," despite the rejection of his plan by both sides. He added that "ultimately the responsibility of reaching a settlement rests with both sides.... They have to be interested in a settlement more than we [are]." Wolfgang Petritsch, who is the EU's special envoy for Kosova, said that "this is a very decisive point in time. We mustn't lose the momentum." PM[14] SERBIAN POLICE BLOCK ROAD TO FINNISH FORENSICS EXPERTSAP reported on 10 December that a "Serb police contingent consisting of an armored personnel carrier and about two dozen policemen wearing flak jackets and carrying automatic rifles stopped...[a] convoy [of 19 Finnish forensics experts] on the road in Trstenik." The Finns were en route to the Drenica region to exhume a site where some 22 ethnic Albanian victims of a massacre by Serbian forces in September are believed to be buried. The Finns returned to Prishtina after the police refused to let them pass unless the Finns took the Serbs with them. A spokesman for the Kosova Liberation Army (UCK), which controls the Drenica area, said that "the Finnish team is free to come on their own but they cannot come with the police." A spokeswoman for the Finns said that the Serbian police committed a "clear obstruction" of what was to have been a pioneering investigation into atrocities in Kosova. PM[15] ALBANIAN PRESIDENT SAYS KOSOVA WITHIN SERBIA IS NOT A SOLUTIONRexhep Meidani said in Sofia on 9 December that "no solution within Serbia would help to permanently solve the problem" of Kosova. He did not rule out a solution within the framework of the federal Yugoslavia, but he did not elaborate, AP reported. Meidani and his Bulgarian counterpart, Petar Stoyanov, signed agreements on preventing double taxation and promoting cultural cooperation. During his visit, Meidani is to discuss the planned construction of an east-west highway and railway linking the Bulgarian port of Burgas with the Albanian port of Durres via Macedonia. Many observers have hailed the Turkish-backed project as a key to promoting economic cooperation and political stability in the region by developing east-west infrastructure links. FS[16] GREECE SEES NO ALTERNATIVE TO MILOSEVICGreek Foreign Minister Theodoros Pangalos said in Brussels on 9 December that there is no alternative to Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic on the Serbian political scene. Pangalos added, "We must consider that on [Kosova], the positions of all the other [Serbian] political forces are either identical to those of Mr. Milosevic, in the best case, or in most cases they're worse.... We're not happy also in Athens with Mr. Milosevic. But he's there. He has been elected, and he has cooperated to some extent. And we have to make him cooperate to a larger extent. That's the aim, so let's not divert our efforts." Pangalos said that he made his remarks in response to recent criticism of Milosevic by U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and other U.S. diplomats (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 9 December 1998). PM[17] MONTENEGRO TO OPEN BORDER UNILATERALLY?Montenegrin Minister of Industry Vojin Djukanovic said in Belgrade on 9 December that the Montenegrin economy requires the opening of the border with Croatia at Debeli Brijeg, RFE/RL's South Slavic Service reported. He added that Montenegro will "soon" open the crossing unilaterally if the federal Yugoslav authorities continue to oppose it. Croatian authorities, for their part, have shown understanding for the Montenegrin position but have said that border issues can be decided only with Belgrade's approval. PM[18] UN HAILS AGREEMENT ON BOSNIAN SERB POLICEIn Banja Luka on 9 December, Elisabeth Rehn, who heads the UN mission to Bosnia, met with President Nikola Poplasen and Prime Minister Milorad Dodik and signed an agreement to reorganize the Republika Srpska police. She praised the document as a commitment to setting up a "professional police force" that will include Croats and Muslims as well as Serbs. The parliament must ratify the agreement. PM[19] WESTENDORP CALLS HAGUE TRIALS KEY TO STABILITYThe international community's Carlos Westendorp said in Sarajevo on 9 December that "Bosnia is not going to be a normal country until [all indicted war criminals face justice], until they are all in The Hague." He noted that the influence of indicted war criminal Radovan Karadzic is decreasing in the Republika Srpska. But he cautioned that the influence of Milosevic and Serbian Deputy Prime Minister Vojislav Seselj is on the rise, which, he said, "is not the best alternative" to Karadzic. PM[20] SLOVENIAN PRIME MINISTER WINS VOTEJanez Drnovsek survived a no- confidence vote in the parliament on 9 December. Opposition leader Janez Jansa obtained the support of only 24 out of 90 legislators for his motion to unseat the prime minister. Jansa sought to hold Drnovsek responsible for the fact that the intelligence services concluded a secret agreement with their Israeli counterparts in 1995. The Slovenian Constitution requires all "legal acts" by government authorities to be public. PM[21] ALBANIA CHANGES POLICY TOWARD ISLAMIC CONFERENCEThe parliamentary Foreign Affairs Committee on 9 December recommended that Albania formally reactivate its membership in the Organization of the Islamic Conference, dpa reported. The move marks a major shift in the foreign policy of the governing Socialist Party. The previous Socialist government of Fatos Nano cut ties with the OIC but never formally left the organization, which Albania joined in 1995 under President Sali Berisha (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 21 October 1998). Current Prime Minister Pandeli Majko, for his part, has called for an improvement in relations with the OIC for economic reasons. FS[22] ALBANIAN POLICE CATCH MURDER SUSPECTSPolice in Mallakaster on 8 December arrested four suspects in a bus robbery and the murder of a policeman, ATSH reported. The four are believed to have robbed the Tirana-Athens bus near Tepelena two days earlier (see "RFE/RL Newsline" 8 December 1998). FS[23] ROMANIAN CABINET DETERMINED TO CLOSE UNPROFITABLE FIRMS...Premier Radu Vasile and members of his cabinet told journalists on 9 December that they intend to go ahead with plans to close loss-making state enterprises this month, RFE/RL's Bucharest bureau reported. Vasile said some of those enterprises generate about 15 percent of total losses to the economy. State Property Fund chief Radu Sarbu said that as a result of the liquidation of the 49 loss-making companies, 70,000 people will lose their jobs. Industry Minister Radu Berceanu said the large mining companies head the list of those earmarked for closure. Berceanu said that the combined losses of the non-ferrous Minvest mining company, the hard coal pits in the Jiul Valley, and the lignite mines in Ploiesti were 1.3 trillion lei ($124.9 million) so far this year, while production costs exceed the value of total production by six times. MS[24] ...BUT UNIONS REJECT GOVERNMENT-PROPOSED MORATORIUMDumitru Costin, head of the National Trade Union Bloc, has said his group will not support a six-month moratorium on industrial action proposed by Premier Vasile, RFE/RL's Bucharest bureau reported on 9 December. Leaders of the Confederation of Democratic Trade Unions, who also met with Vasile on 9 December, said later they are postponing a decision MS[25] MOLDOVAN PARLIAMENT COMMISSION SAYS PRESIDENT, PREMIER ACTED ILLEGALLYA parliamentary commission set up to review the legality of the sale of Moldovan military and civil aircraft has ruled that President Petru Lucinschi, Premier Ion Ciubuc, Defense Minister Valeriu Pasat, Foreign Minister Nicolae Tabacaru, and other officials acted illegally in promoting and approving the sale of 21 MiG-29 military planes to the U.S. as well as six TU- 154 civil aircraft to a Russian company in 1997-1998. The commission said the sales contravene a 1997 privatization law. Parliamentary deputy chairman Iurie Rosca, said the commission does not intend to make claims against the U.S. or Russia. The parliament voted 83 to zero to ask the commission to make recommendations within one month on the personal responsibility of those involved. It also voted to invite President Lucinschi to explain his conduct to deputies. MS[26] NATO TO AID BULGARIAN ARMY REFORMSupreme Allied Commander Europe General Wesley Clark, meeting with Bulgarian Foreign Minister Nadezhda Mihailova in Brussels on 8 December, that Sofia has played an important role in the Kosova crisis and the support it extends to NATO has helped defuse the situation by peaceful means, BTA reported. Clark reasserted NATO's intention to provide Bulgaria with "all possible assistance for the implementation of reform in its armed forces" and particularly to achieve interoperability with NATO forces. On 9 December Defense Minister Georgi Ananiev told Bulgarian Radio that regardless of what decision is taken at the Washington summit next year on expanding NATO, Bulgaria must reform its armed forces. He spoke after meeting with Admiral James Ellis, commander of NATO troops in southern Europe, who is in Bulgaria for the official opening of a NATO command staff exercise. MS[C] END NOTE[27] CROAT-BOSNIAN AGREEMENT: RAISING MORE QUESTIONS THAN IT ANSWERSby Andrej KrickovicThe long-awaited agreement on special relations between Croatia and the Bosnian-Croat Federation (the Muslim and Croatian component of Bosnia- Herzegovina) was recently signed in Zagreb by representatives of the Croatian government and the federation. The agreement, which promised to be a crucial step toward the final implementation of Dayton, provided the basis for peaceful coexistence between the two nationalities within the federation. Implementation of the agreement, however, may prove a tall order for the signatories. The details of the agreement have yet to be worked out, and both sides face stiff opposition within their own camps. It is questionable if the agreement will provide a lasting solution for the stability of the federation. By signing the agreement, the Bosnian Croats have agreed to finally dismantle their separate government institutions and to accept the institutions of the federal government. The question of their security as a minority within the federation will be addressed through the development of special ties between the federation and Croatia proper. So far, this has been agreed to only in principle. The separate annexes of the agreement that will work out the details of special relations still have to be worked out. Those annexes will have to cover some very sensitive ground. The Croatian government's direct financing of the HVO (the Bosnian Croat army which operated during the war in Bosnia and still continues to operate today) has been a bone of contention for years. Through the agreement, the Bosnian Muslim side has accepted the right of the Croats to provide military aid to Bosnian Croatians as long as that aid is transparent. Yet its unclear exactly what form this aid will take and how transparency will be implemented. The Bosnian Muslim side is also sensitive about such other issues as the formation of a free trade zone between the two countries, education, and a joint system of social security. They fear they may be giving up too much of their sovereignty to their larger and economically more developed neighbor. Indeed, the Bosnian Muslim side was reluctant to come to the signing table and only did so finally through pressure from the international community and the colossal efforts of Jacques Klein, the principle deputy of the international community's high representative for Bosnia-Herzegovina. While Croatia's nationalist president, Franjo Tudjman, praised the signing, leading politicians on the Muslim side--Ejup Ganic, president of the Bosnian-Croat Federation, and Alija Izetbgovic, the Bosnian Muslim member of the joint presidency of Bosnia-Herzegovina--were noticeably reserved. Many in Sarajevo remember Tudjman as one of the biggest proponents of the division of Bosnia-Herzegovina and are wary of Croatian expansionism. While Ganic and Izetbegovic may tacitly support the agreement, there is no guarantee that it will be ratified by the Bosnian parliament. Tudjman has enthusiastically touted the agreement as a continuation of Croatia's commitment to Dayton, but Tudjman's motives may have more to do with internal politics in Croatia. Tudjman's ruling Croatian Democratic Community (HDZ) faces a serious threat from the opposition in the upcoming parliamentary elections. Croatia's international isolation will be an issue in the election campaign, and Tudjman sees the agreement as a way to decrease that isolation and get Croatia back on track toward European integration. Nonetheless, there may be problems from the Croatian side as well. The hard- liners in the HDZ have been the biggest supporters of a separate Croatian state in Bosnia. They are often identified as the "Herzogovinian lobby" because of the close ties of many of their leading politicians to the Croat- populated region in Bosnia. In recent months, these hard-liners have strengthened their position within the HDZ and the Ministry of Defense by forcing many of their more moderate opponents out of the political limelight. And they have done so with Tudjman's blessing. Dismantling separate Croatian institutions in the federation may be a difficult task even for Tudjman, and it will be interesting to see how much control he has over his hard-line supporters within the HDZ. The international community has firmly backed the agreement as the solution to the problem of making the federation function as one self-governing body rather than separate Croatian and Muslim entities. Whether the leaders of the Croats and Muslims of Bosnia will be willing to implement the promises they have made on paper remains to be seen. Nor is it clear whether the U.S. and other members of the international community are willing to take sufficient steps to ensure that they do so. The author is a free-lance journalist in Zagreb. 10-12-98 Reprinted with permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
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