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RFE/RL Newsline, Vol. 3, No. 80, 99-04-27

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty: Newsline Directory - Previous Article - Next Article

From: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty <http://www.rferl.org>

RFE/RL NEWSLINE

Vol. 3, No. 80, 27 April 1999


CONTENTS

[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA

  • [01] ARMENIAN PARLIAMENTARY ELECTION CAMPAIGN BEGINS
  • [02] AZERBAIJANI PRESIDENT WANTS GREATER U.S. SUPPORT, INVESTMENT...
  • [03] ...APOLOGIZES TO KAZAKHSTAN FOR IMPOUNDING MIGS
  • [04] AZERBAIJANI JOURNALISTS ARRESTED, BEATEN
  • [05] GEORGIAN-ABKHAZ CONSULTATIONS 'NOT A SUCCESS'
  • [06] KYRGYZ PARLIAMENT PASSES NEW ELECTION LAW IN FIRST READING
  • [07] TAJIK OPPOSITION SLAMS PRESIDENT'S REJECTION OF CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS
  • [08] UZBEKISTAN'S ECONOMY SLOWING DOWN

  • [B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE

  • [09] MILOSEVIC SENDS TROOPS TO MONTENEGRO
  • [10] EU APPROVES MEASURES AGAINST SERBIA
  • [11] 'THOUSANDS' OF REFUGEES HEAD FOR MACEDONIA
  • [12] UNHCR: SERBIAN FORCES USE KOSOVARS AS HUMAN SHIELDS
  • [13] FOOD CRISIS LOOMS IN KOSOVA
  • [14] RED CROSS TO RETURN TO KOSOVA?
  • [15] MACEDONIANS DISAPPOINTED BY WEST
  • [16] NATO PUTS KUMANOVO BASE ON SECURITY ALERT
  • [17] MORE ALBANIAN-YUGOSLAV BORDER CLASHES
  • [18] ALBANIAN FOREIGN MINISTER URGES NATO GROUND TROOPS IN KOSOVA
  • [19] UNITED ARAB EMIRATES BUILD AIRPORT IN NORTHERN ALBANIA
  • [20] CROATIA FEARS TOURIST LOSSES OVER KOSOVA
  • [21] CROATIAN NGO: HUNDREDS OF SERB CIVILIANS KILLED SINCE 1995
  • [22] ROMANIAN LEADERS LUKEWARM ON NATO SUMMIT
  • [23] IMF DIRECTOR PRAISES ROMANIA
  • [24] KOSTOV WANTS WEST TO TACKLE POVERTY IN BALKANS
  • [25] BULGARIAN, MACEDONIAN MINISTERS MEET IN SOFIA

  • [C] END NOTE

  • [26] AFTER THE BOMBING STOPS

  • [A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA

    [01] ARMENIAN PARLIAMENTARY ELECTION CAMPAIGN BEGINS

    Campaigning for the 30 May parliamentary elections began on 26 April, one day after the Central Electoral Commission formally registered 21 parties and blocs that will participate in the poll, Noyan Tapan reported. Of the 131 seats in the new parliament, 56 will be allocated under the proportional system and the remaining 75 in single candidate constituencies. More than 800 candidates are contesting those seats. Also on 26 April, the 21 members of the Central Electoral Commission resigned in accordance with the electoral law. A new commission, three of whose members are appointed by the government and the remainder by the five parties or blocs that collected the largest number of signatures in their support, will be named on 27 April. Outgoing commission chairman Khachatur Bezirjian told RFE/RL's Yerevan bureau that his successor will be subjected to public criticism if even a single irregularity in the voting procedure is reported. LF

    [02] AZERBAIJANI PRESIDENT WANTS GREATER U.S. SUPPORT, INVESTMENT...

    Speaking in Washington on 26 April, Heidar Aliev called for greater U.S. engagement and investment in the Caspian, a correspondent for RFE/RL reported. In a clear reference to Russia, Aliev criticized attempts to undermine political stability in Azerbaijan and to call into question the size of its untapped oil reserves. He also again expressed his displeasure at Russia's deployment of S-300 missiles and MiG-29 fighter aircraft at its military base in Armenia. He argued that Russia's policy of military cooperation with Armenia undermines Moscow's efforts, in its capacity as one of the three co-chairmen of the OSCE Minsk Group, to mediate a solution to the Karabakh conflict. LF

    [03] ...APOLOGIZES TO KAZAKHSTAN FOR IMPOUNDING MIGS

    Aliev has telephoned his Kazakh counterpart, Nursultan Nazarbaev. to apologize for the impounding at Baku's Bina airport last month of six obsolete MiG fighter aircraft being transported from Kazakhstan to a firm in the Czech Republic that had purchased them for training purposes, Interfax reported on 26 April, citing the Kazakh weekly "Panorama" (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 24 March and 21 April1999). That publication quoted a senior Kazakh transport official as blaming the incident on the over- reaction of Azerbaijani intelligence. LF

    [04] AZERBAIJANI JOURNALISTS ARRESTED, BEATEN

    Rovshan Ismaylov, a correspondent for the journal "Ganun," was detained by police on 13 April, beaten, and held in custody for two days before being charged with resisting arrest, Turan reported on 26 April. According to the annual report of the Paris-based organization Reporters Sans Frontieres, at least 24 journalists were arrested in Azerbaijan in 1998 and 40 beaten by police. Ten newspapers were subjected to total or partial censorship in 60 separate incidents. LF

    [05] GEORGIAN-ABKHAZ CONSULTATIONS 'NOT A SUCCESS'

    Abkhaz Prosecutor-General Anri Djergenia met with Georgian Minister of State Vazha Lortkipanidze outside Tbilisi on 26 April to discuss the "Decision on Further Measures Toward a Settlement of the Conflict in Abkhazia, Georgia," adopted by the CIS heads of state at their 2 April summit, Caucasus Press reported. That document advocates the withdrawal from Abkhazia of the CIS peacekeeping force currently deployed there if Tbilisi and Sukhumi fail to agree by 2 May on the texts of two agreements, one of which is on preventing a resumption of hostilities and the other on the repatriation to Abkhazia of Georgian displaced persons and measures to restore the region's economy. Lortkipanizde said the meeting "was not a success." He said he and Djergenia had focused primarily on the fate of the Georgian fishing crew detained in Abkhaz territorial waters on 3 April, but they had failed to agree on the conditions for the crew's release. LF

    [06] KYRGYZ PARLIAMENT PASSES NEW ELECTION LAW IN FIRST READING

    Central Electoral Commission chairman Sulaiman Imanbaev said in Bishkek on 26 April that the Legislative Assembly--the lower chamber of parliament-- has passed in the first reading a new election code drafted by the government, RFE/RL's Bishkek bureau reported. A special Conciliatory Commission, formed by the parliament and government, will consider the bill next month. The draft provides for 15 out of a total of 60 members of the new Legislative Assembly to be elected on party lists. Interfax on 23 April quoted Communist Party chairman Absamat Masaliev as saying he backs that provision, which he said will ensure a democratic approach in adopting crucial legislation. Imanbaev also announced that local elections will be held in Kyrgyzstan in October,1999. The parliamentary elections are scheduled for 23 March 2000, and the next presidential poll will take place in the fall of that year. LF

    [07] TAJIK OPPOSITION SLAMS PRESIDENT'S REJECTION OF CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS

    In a statement released on 23 April, the United Tajik Opposition criticized President Imomali Rakhmonov's refusal to endorse constitutional amendments agreed on by the Committee for National Reconciliation, which is composed of both government and opposition representatives, AP-Blitz reported on 27 April. The UTO said Rakhmonov's intransigence is paralyzing the work of the committee, and it called on the president to adopt the proposals in order to ensure its continued functioning. It also urged international organizations and the Contact Group for Tajikistan to exert pressure on Rakhmonov, according to Interfax. On 25 April, two Tajik border guard officers were shot dead by unknown assailants in a suburb of Dushanbe. LF

    [08] UZBEKISTAN'S ECONOMY SLOWING DOWN

    The head of the Asian Development Bank's Tashkent office, Nagaradja Gnanathurai, predicted on 26 April that Uzbekistan's industrial output will decline in 1999, Interfax reported. Gnanathurai noted that while the impact on Uzbekistan of the Russian economic crisis was less severe than on other countries in the region, GDP grew by only 2.8 percent in 1998, compared with 5.7 percent the previous year. In addition, the Uzbek som lost in value, while the country's foreign debt rose to $2.8 billion. The ADB approved loans to Uzbekistan last year totaling $110 million. Uzbekistan's GDP increased by 2.9 percent during the first quarter of 1999, while the budget deficit was on target at 1.1 percent, Interfax reported on 19 April, quoting Deputy Prime Minister Bakhtiar Khamidov. LF

    [B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE

    [09] MILOSEVIC SENDS TROOPS TO MONTENEGRO

    The Yugoslav army on 26 April deployed 1,500 troops to Montenegro, some 500 of whom were reservists sent to the port of Bar. The remaining 1,000 soldiers went to other places in the mountainous republic, including the border region with Croatia. The deployment follows reports that some Yugoslav army officers in Montenegro have refused to obey orders from Belgrade to "stoke up tension between the army and the Montenegrin police," who are loyal to Montenegrin President Milo Djukanovic, "The Independent" reported. A legislator representing Bar told the London-based daily that the soldiers may try to take control of Bar's oil storage facilities and port. Bar has oil reserves sufficient for two months. Many of its 1,800 port workers have received army induction notices, "The Daily Telegraph" reported. Elsewhere, Djukanovic appealed to Western countries to exempt Montenegro from any oil embargo they may place on Serbia. PM

    [10] EU APPROVES MEASURES AGAINST SERBIA

    EU foreign ministers agreed in Luxembourg on 26 April to tighten some existing economic sanctions against Belgrade. These include a travel ban on Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic and his associates, banning export credits guaranteed by private banks, tightening restrictions on investments, and preventing companies from providing services or technology to targets destroyed by NATO. The ministers agreed to end all commercial air links with Belgrade, AP reported. They also approved a ban on shipments of oil and oil products to Yugoslavia but left to NATO the question of how to enforce the prohibition. Italy and Greece, which have important business interests in Serbia, agreed to the ban only reluctantly. They succeeded in blocking a proposed prohibition on sporting contacts with Yugoslavia. The ministers also discussed German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer's long- term plan for promoting political and economic stability in southeastern Europe. PM

    [11] 'THOUSANDS' OF REFUGEES HEAD FOR MACEDONIA

    Several hundred Kosovars arrived at Macedonia's Blace transit camp by bus on 27 April and more are continuing to come to the camp, Reuters reported. Some 3,000 arrived the previous day, a spokeswoman for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said. She added that the UNHCR has run out of land on which to accommodate new arrivals. She noted that additional refugees arrive as soon as the UNHCR succeeds in sending people from Blace to other camps. A further 800 Kosovars arrived at Lojane, which is not an official border crossing but has become a point of entry for Kosovars seeking to avoid Macedonian soldiers or police. Some refugees at Blace told the UNHCR that "thousands" of additional displaced persons are en route to Macedonia from the Ferizaj area. The refugees added that Yugoslav trains carrying Kosovars are often so full that they do not stop at some stations, which are filled with displaced persons. PM

    [12] UNHCR: SERBIAN FORCES USE KOSOVARS AS HUMAN SHIELDS

    UNHCR spokesman Kris Janowski said in Geneva on 26 April that some refugees report that "women and children are being held in a three-storey building in Prizren, where the first storey is being used to store ammunition for troops, the second storey as living quarters for the military and the highest floor is full of hostages." He added that these and other refugee reports of the Serbian forces using Kosovar civilians as human shields "have substantial foundation." In Blace, aid worker Van Generen Stort told Reuters that Serbian forces have surrounded up to 20,000 Kosovars in Stuble, just north of the Macedonian border. She added that some refugees reported that Serbian forces killed up to 100 people in Slavina. PM

    [13] FOOD CRISIS LOOMS IN KOSOVA

    An aid worker for the UN's World Food Program told Reuters in Skopje on 26 April that many refugees fled Kosova because they had no food. She added that Serbian shops will not sell food to ethnic Albanians. The aid worker stressed that this year's harvest is lost and that any Kosovars who go home will be dependent on aid. PM

    [14] RED CROSS TO RETURN TO KOSOVA?

    A spokeswoman for the International Committee of the Red Cross said in Geneva on 27 April that ICRC representatives will soon begin discussions with authorities in Belgrade to enable Red Cross representatives to return to Yugoslavia. The spokeswoman noted that "all parties will have to be informed of our return. It is a country at war and we will need security guarantees" from the Kosovars and NATO as well as from Milosevic. The previous day, Milosevic promised ICRC President Cornelio Sommaruga that Red Cross officials will be able to move "freely and safely" throughout Yugoslavia to aid civilians. Sommaruga also met briefly with the three U.S. soldiers held by Serbian forces. PM

    [15] MACEDONIANS DISAPPOINTED BY WEST

    Macedonian President Kiro Gligorov told CNN on 26 April in London that some European countries, which he did not name, have broken promises to the Macedonian authorities to take in Kosovar refugees. He praised Germany, Turkey, and Norway for accepting refugees. Elsewhere, Economics Minister Zanko Cado announced his resignation to protest what he said is the failure of the international community to make good on its promises to provide Macedonia with financial assistance. PM

    [16] NATO PUTS KUMANOVO BASE ON SECURITY ALERT

    A spokesman for the Atlantic alliance said in Skopje on 27 April that security has been tightened at the Kumanovo military base following "two large explosions" during the night, AP reported. NATO officials said that hand grenades caused the blasts, which produced neither damage nor injuries. French troops are stationed in the area. Macedonian police are investigating. PM

    [17] MORE ALBANIAN-YUGOSLAV BORDER CLASHES

    Yugoslav soldiers and Albanian border guards exchanged fire near Qafe e Prushit on 26 April, RFE/RL's South Slavic Service reported. Albanian officials said that the skirmish, which lasted for several hours, began after Yugoslav troops entered Albanian territory. They later withdrew. Yugoslav forces also fired several mortar shells at Tropoja. Meanwhile, the last six of a total of 24 U.S. Apache helicopters arrived in Albania. They will target mobile units in Kosova. One helicopter was destroyed when it crashed during a training mission north of Tirana airport that night. The two crewmen sustained only minor injuries. FS

    [18] ALBANIAN FOREIGN MINISTER URGES NATO GROUND TROOPS IN KOSOVA

    Paskal Milo told Reuters in Luxembourg on 26 April that "it is necessary now to start [NATO] ground operations," adding that "the international community [must] act much more strongly [and] much faster, because Milosevic is again trying to gain time." Milo welcomed the proposed oil embargo against Yugoslavia but said he suspects some neighboring countries will not respect it. He did not name any of those countries. Milo added that "maybe some Mafia will try to profit in an illegal way from this black trade" and called for strict controls to prevent violations of the embargo. Albanian gangs smuggled large amounts of oil to Montenegro during the Bosnian war from 1993-1995 and Albanian authorities did not stop that illicit trade. FS

    [19] UNITED ARAB EMIRATES BUILD AIRPORT IN NORTHERN ALBANIA

    "Al- Ittihad" reported in Dubai on 26 April that the United Arab Emirates' armed forces will reconstruct a disused airport in Kukes to speed up the flow of aid to Kosova refugees, AP reported. The airport will be capable of receiving 150 tons of aid a day. It has a 3,000 foot runway and will be equipped with a mobile control tower and an area for storing cargo. Meanwhile, no refugees arrived in Kukes on 26 April. The total number of refugees there is currently estimated at 90,000. Elsewhere, Deputy Minister of Local Government Liri Jani on 26 April denied earlier press reports about theft of foreign aid, dpa reported. Police officials in Tirana, however, said last week that police have seized four truckloads with aid diverted from refugee camps to private homes in Durres and Tirana. FS

    [20] CROATIA FEARS TOURIST LOSSES OVER KOSOVA

    Tourism Minister Ivan Herak said in Zagreb on 26 April that the government will spend an additional $10 million to help the tourist industry minimize its losses stemming from the reluctance of many tourists to travel to Croatia on account of the Kosova crisis. Herak said that the industry, which is one of the main sources of hard currency, expects losses of up to 50 percent compared with 1998, "Novi List" reported. Herak noted that Croatian hoteliers will seek to attract customers through low prices. PM

    [21] CROATIAN NGO: HUNDREDS OF SERB CIVILIANS KILLED SINCE 1995

    The Croatian Helsinki Committee, which is a prominent non- governmental organization, said in a statement on 26 April that at least 410 Serbian civilians died during the Croatian army's Operation Storm against Krajina Serb forces in August 1995, "Novi List" reported. At least 24 Serbs died in ethnically motivated violence between 1996 and 1999, the study added. Croatian troops burned, destroyed, or mined some 22,000 homes in the Krajina region in 1995. PM

    [22] ROMANIAN LEADERS LUKEWARM ON NATO SUMMIT

    Foreign Minister Andrei Plesu said on 26 April in Washington that he is "partially satisfied" with the results of the NATO summit, Rompres reported. Plesu said Romania has upgraded its status in the eyes of NATO members. At the same time, he said Romania had hoped to receive a more detailed evaluation of its status and a list of political, economic, military, and legal criteria that it needs to meet in order to be accepted as a member. Romanian President Emil Constantinescu said the same day that "an admittance date some time beyond 2002 is an unjust and far-away prospect for our countries, which have assumed the same risks as any other NATO countries." He called for the quick admission of Bulgaria, Romania, and Slovenia to strengthen the alliance's southern flank. PB

    [23] IMF DIRECTOR PRAISES ROMANIA

    Michel Camdessus said on 26 April that Romania is committed to the economic reforms contained in a new IMF lending program for the country, Reuters reported. Camdessus said he "totally trusts" President Constantinescu in guiding the implementation of the agreement. Romania and the IMF agreed on a $500 million IMF standby loan last week. In other news, the government announced that several trains will be made available for Catholics in Transylvania to take them to Bucharest during Pope John Paul II's 7-9 May visit. PB

    [24] KOSTOV WANTS WEST TO TACKLE POVERTY IN BALKANS

    Bulgarian Prime Minister Ivan Kostov urged Western countries on 26 April to increase their economic and political support for democracies in southeastern Europe. In an interview with the daily "Standart," Kostov said that "poverty is the common cause of Balkan problems." He said "it will be tragic if [the West] doesn't understand that, they will never be able to cope with problems here." A poll by the National Public Opinion Center released on 25 April showed that 60 percent of respondents supported Bulgaria's granting NATO an air corridor along its western border. Other opinion polls have shown a majority of Bulgarians opposed to the NATO air campaign against Yugoslavia. PB

    [25] BULGARIAN, MACEDONIAN MINISTERS MEET IN SOFIA

    Bulgarian Deputy Premier Evgeniy Bakurdzhiev and his Macedonian counterpart, Dosta Dimovska, held talks on 26 April, BTA reported. The two sides are seeking EU funding for the construction of a railway line from Kyustendil to Kumanovo as well as technical aid to establish a power line between the countries. Dimovska also appealed to Bulgarian companies to purchase Macedonian goods that normally are bought by Serbia, which accounts for some 40 percent of Macedonia's total exports. Bakurdzhiev said Sofia is determined not to let the war in Yugoslavia "stamp out the fragile democracy in Macedonia." He also pledged to help build pre-fabricated shelters for Kosovar refugees in Macedonia. PB

    [C] END NOTE

    [26] AFTER THE BOMBING STOPS

    By Paul Goble

    Even as NATO continues its air strikes against Yugoslavia, ever more Western leaders are beginning to focus on what the Western alliance should do in the Balkans after the bombing has stopped.

    Such discussions are likely to intensify now that the alliance has issued a communique that suggests its member states are at least as interested in a diplomatic resolution of the conflict as in continuing to use military power to achieve their original aims.

    So far, most of the discussions have centered on some kind of Marshall Plan for the Balkans. Such a program, named for and modeled on U.S. assistance to Western Europe after World War II, would apparently involve massive, multilateral aid from NATO countries to the war-ravaged states of the former Yugoslavia.

    By invoking the name of the largest and most successful foreign assistance program in history, officials in NATO countries clearly hope not only to put additional pressure on Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic to reach a settlement but also to redirect the efforts of the Western alliance in a non-military direction.

    But there are at least three reasons why a new "Marshal Plan for the Balkans" will have to be very different from its model if it is to help bring peace and stability to that turbulent region.

    First, the original Marshal Plan was funded and directed by one country, the U.S. A new such plan for the Balkans would be funded and directed by a group of states and thus subject to the kinds of decision by committee that appear to govern much of NATO's activities. That would almost certainly guarantee that any program announced would suffer from inevitable differences of opinion within the alliance and might even make it impossible for any program announced ever to be realized.

    Second, the original Marshall Plan took shape to counter a single, overriding threat to Western Europe. While the U.S. had hoped to extend assistance to all Europe, Soviet leader Joseph Stalin's veto dashing that hope probably had the unintended consequence of making the Marshall Plan more successful than it would otherwise have been.

    On the one hand, it meant that U.S. assistance was focused on a smaller number of countries and thus had a bigger impact than would have been the case if it had been spread more widely. On the other, Soviet opposition had the effect of generating more domestic U.S. support for it because Washington was able to point to the way in which the Marshall Plan was contributing to U.S. security interests in Europe.

    Any aid package to the Balkans will not have that external disciplining factor. Not only will that mean that the domestic constituencies in many countries will be reluctant to fund a new plan at the levels that would be needed; it will also mean that the lack of an external threat will almost certainly guarantee that the members of the alliance will stay less united on this issue, just as they are on so many others.

    Third, the original Marshall Plan was intended to restore the economies of the countries of Western Europe, not to create something fundamentally new. Any aid package to the Balkans would have to address the far larger and more complicated issues of nation- and economy-building, issues that few foreign aid programs have been successful at resolving.

    In many ways, the discussions about a new Marshall Plan for the Balkans reflect the difficulties of finding a solution to the conflicts in that region. Obviously, the people there will need massive amounts of aid to overcome the tragedies visited upon them by Milosevic and his supporters.

    But before the West can design an aid package that will help them, these conflicts will have to be addressed and some resolution found. Once that occurs, a genuine assistance program can be developed to meet the specific needs of the people and political structures that will then be in place.

    In thinking about the future, those proposing a new Marshall Plan for that region should remember that the original Marshall Plan was not proposed until more than two years after the bombs had stopped falling.

    27-04-99


    Reprinted with permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
    URL: http://www.rferl.org


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