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RFE/RL Newsline, Vol. 3, No. 126, 99-06-30Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty: Newsline Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty <http://www.rferl.org>RFE/RL NEWSLINEVol. 3, No. 126, 30 June 1999CONTENTS[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA
[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[C] END NOTE
[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA[01] ARMENIAN CATHOLICOS DIESGaregin I died in Echmiadzin on 29 June after a long struggle against cancer, RFE/RL's Yerevan bureau reported. Garegin, who was born in Syria in 1932 and studied theology there and in Oxford, was ordained bishop in 1964. He had served in Iran, the U.S., and Lebanon before his election as Catholicos in April 1995. President Robert Kocharian has canceled his participation in the World Economic Forum in Salzburg, Noyan Tapan reported on 30 June. Kocharian has decreed a three-day period of national mourning from 6-8 July, the date set for Garegin's state funeral. LF[02] ARMENIAN PRESIDENTIAL SPOKESMAN CONDEMNS NAGORNO-KARABAKH BUGGINGSpeaking at a press briefing in Yerevan on 29 June, Vahe Gabrielian said the installation of a surveillance device in the office of the president of the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh Republic is "disgraceful" and that those responsible should be punished. He affirmed the support of the Armenian president and leadership for Nagorno-Karabakh President Arkadii Ghukasian, Noyan Tapan reported. LF[03] AZERBAIJANI INTELLIGENCE ACCUSES FORMER PARLIAMENTARY SPEAKERAzerbaijan's National Security Ministry issued a statement on 28 June claiming that Rasul Guliev plans to visit Iran next month with the aim of organizing acts of terrorism directed against Azerbaijan's President Heidar Aliev and other leaders, Turan reported. The statement added that Guliev's business partner Sheri Shahnavaz, who is of Iranian origin, traveled to Tehran in May to arrange Guliev's visit with Iranian security services officials. Guliev, who has lived in the U.S. since resigning as parliamentary speaker in 1996, and Shahnavaz have both denied the allegations. A secretary at the Iranian Embassy in Baku told Reuters that the statement was "absolute lies." The Azerbaijani National Security Ministry and Prosecutor- General's Office accused Guliev last year of large- scale embezzlement and planning a coup in Azerbaijan (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 16 January 1998). LF[04] WORLD BANK APPROVES NEW CREDITS FOR GEORGIAThe World Bank on 9 June approved a $114.9 million credit to finance four projects in Georgia, dpa and Caucasus Press reported. The first $60 million tranche, to be released on 1 July, is to support structural reforms, including privatization. The remaining credits of $16.5 million, $25 million, and $13.4 million are earmarked for support for private sector development, public sector reform, restructuring of Georgia's hospitals, encouraging investment in the energy sector, and judicial reform. LF[05] UKRAINIAN FOREIGN MINISTER VISITS TBILISIBoris Tarasyuk held meetings in Tbilisi on 28-29 June with President Eduard Shevardnadze, Minister of State Vazha Lortkipanidze, senior energy sector officials and his Georgian counterpart, Irakli Menagharishvili, Caucasus Press reported. Speaking at a joint press conference on 29 June, Menagharishvili said they had discussed the entire spectrum of bilateral relations and reached "complete understanding" on all issues. Tarasyuk repeated Kyiv's willingness to participate in resolving the Abkhaz conflict, offering to supply peacekeepers to serve under the aegis of the UN or OSCE. He added that Ukraine may participate in the economic reconstruction of Abkhazia once a formal settlement of the conflict is reached. Tarasyuk also unveiled proposals for creating special coordinating bodies in each of the GUUAM member states to enhance the effectiveness of that alignment, according to "Nezavisimaya gazeta" on 30 June. LF[06] KAZAKHSTAN'S FOREIGN MINISTER IN MOSCOWOn an official visit to Moscow on 28-29 June, Kasymzhomart Toqaev met with top Russian government officials, including Prime Minister Sergei Stepashin and Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov. Talks focused on all aspects of bilateral cooperation, and both Toqaev and Ivanov said progress was made toward resolving outstanding problems. Specifically, Toqaev noted that talks are continuing on the delimitation of the Russian and Kazakh sectors of the Caspian Sea on the basis of an agreement signed 11 months ago by Russian President Boris Yeltsin and his Kazakh counterpart, Nursultan Nazarbaev. Under that agreement, the seabed is divided into national sectors while the waters remain the common property of all littoral states. Toqaev said talks on the Baikonur space complex were likewise "positive" and focused on an inventory of its property and social guarantees for its employees. Under a 1998 agreement, Moscow agreed to pay $115 million annually for the use of the Baikonur complex. LF[07] KAZAKHSTAN'S BORDER GUARDS SUBORDINATED TO NATIONAL SECURITY MINISTRYPresident Nazarbaev has signed a decree transferring the country's border troops from the Ministry of Defense to the Ministry of National Security, RFE/RL correspondents reported from Astana on 30 June. LF[08] KAZAKH NEWSPAPER RESUMES PUBLICATIONThe independent Russian-language weekly "Nachnem s ponedelnika" has resumed publication in Almaty after being forced to close temporarily, RFE/RL correspondents in the former capital reported on 30 June (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 25 June 1999). Following a letter from Minister of Information and Social Accord Altynbek Sarsembaev to the Almaty City Prosecutor's Office, the Almaty City Court's decision to freeze the newspaper's bank account has been rescinded. LF[09] RUSSIA SAYS TAJIK OPPOSITION JEOPARDIZING PEACE PROCESSRussian Foreign Ministry spokesman Vladimir Rakhmanin expressed concern on 29 June at what he termed increasingly frequent attempts by the leadership of the United Tajik Opposition to present ultimatums to the government, including on issues not covered in the 1997 peace agreement, ITAR-TASS reported. He said only "full compliance" with that agreement can guarantee a "comprehensive" settlement and provide for stability in Tajikistan. UTO leader Said Abdullo Nuri warned on 26 June that he may resign as chairman of the Commission for National Reconciliation because of the Tajik leadership's ongoing refusal to appoint opposition field commander Mirzo Zieyev to the post of defense minister (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 28 June 1999). LF[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE[10] MILOSEVIC OPPONENTS RALLY IN CACAKSome 10,000 persons defied a police ban and attended a demonstration organized by the opposition Alliance for Change in Cacak on 29 June. Police set up roadblocks outside the town to prevent the arrival of busses bringing in demonstrators from elsewhere. Mayor Velimir Ilic, who has been in hiding from Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic's police for several weeks, told the crowd that Milosevic's regime had "made Serbia ashamed of its own name. They made us into monsters and God punished us," the London- based daily "The Independent" quoted him as saying. Balkan studies expert Milan Protic added: "This government has shamed us in front of ourselves, in front of God, and in front of the whole world," "The New York Times" reported. Alliance leader Vladan Batic said: "We'll go from town to town, house to house, man to man and light the torch of democracy in Serbia," according to the "Financial Times." It was the first large opposition political rally in Serbia since NATO ended its bombing campaign earlier in June. PM[11] CLAIMANT TO SERBIAN THRONE CALLS FOR MILOSEVIC TO GOCrown Prince Aleksandar Karadjordjevic said at the historical seat of the Serbian Orthodox Patriarchate in Peja on 29 June that Milosevic is a "monster." The son of Yugoslavia's last king added: "Milosevic must go for the sake of Yugoslavia." Aleksandar joined Serbian Orthodox Patriarch Pavle in urging Serbian civilians not to leave Kosova. The prince said the purpose of his trip is to promote democracy in Serbia. He visited Montenegro on 28 June. The British-born prince does not openly seek to restore the monarchy but has repeatedly said he will serve if asked by the Serbian people. The "Los Angeles Times" reported on 30 June that Aleksandar's portrait hangs in place of Milosevic's in many city halls in Serbia and that some protesters in Cacak carried pictures of the royal family. PM[12] MILOSEVIC SEEKS TIES TO WESTMilosevic said in a statement reported by the official Tanjug news agency on 29 June that "reconstruction and reforms, reestablishment of economic and cultural ties with all [countries]--above all with the progressive and democratic countries--on an equal footing, as well as affirmation of an open system of market economy, are our top goals in this period." PM[13] THOUSANDS HOMELESS IN KOSOVAA spokesman for the UNHCR said in Prishtina on 29 June that many refugees have returned to Kosova only to find that their homes have been destroyed. He estimated that some 40 percent of the houses in the Gjakova- Peja area are no longer standing, the "Berliner Zeitung" reported. The spokesman stressed that providing accommodations for the homeless is a major problem for the UNHCR. PM[14] RIVAL KOSOVAR GOVERNMENTS START WORK IN PRISHTINABoth the Kosova shadow-state government of Bujar Bukoshi and the provisional government of Hashim Thaci held cabinet meetings in Prishtina on 29 June. Bukoshi's government agreed to pay teachers' salaries for June and July, RFE/RL's South Slavic Service reported. That cabinet also decided to provide some money as compensation to war invalids and families who lost all their possessions during the recent Serbian campaign. Thaci's spokesman Jakup Krasniqi told AFP that the provisional government is willing to cooperate with the shadow state's leader Ibrahim Rugova and his Democratic League of Kosova (LDK). Krasniqi made the remarks after Thaci met with representatives from 13 out of Kosova's 17 political parties. The LDK did not participate in that session. It recognizes only Bukoshi's government as legitimate. FS[15] ALBANIAN GOVERNMENT DENIES INVOLVEMENT IN UCK KILLINGSAlbanian Foreign Ministry spokesman Sokol Gjoka on 29 June denied a report in "The New York Times" four days earlier claiming that Albanian police were involved in the murder of a rival of UCK leader Thaci (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 28 June 1999). Gjoka told an RFE/RL's South Slavic Service correspondent in Tirana that the New York daily's sources were not reliable, and he claimed that the Albanian government has never interfered in internal conflicts on the Kosovar political scene. Sabri Godo, who is the chairman of the parliament's foreign affairs committee and belongs to the small opposition Republican Party, told the correspondent that "the UCK leaders must answer these accusations themselves. I agree [with Gjoka] that the Albanian state is not involved in such things." He acknowledged, however, that "mysterious killings happened here." Opposition leader Sali Berisha declined to comment on the "The New York Times" report. FS[16] ARE CRIMINAL GANGS FROM ALBANIA LOOTING IN KOSOVA?A senior official in the German Defense Ministry told the "Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung" of 30 June that there are indications that criminal gangs from Albania are systematically looting houses in Kosova. He said that German troops will not be able to stop the looting in their sector even if their numbers are doubled because they can not monitor all small villages there. FS[17] NATO TAKES OVER TIRANA AIRPORT DURING STRIKENATO specialists took over operations at Tirana's airport on 29 June following a strike by Albanian ground personnel (see "RFE/RL Newsline" 29 June 1999). Officials from the Albanian Ministry of Transportation told dpa that "work at the airport cannot be stopped at this moment as we are expecting more humanitarian aid for the Kosovar refugees." The airport staff demands a 50 percent wage increase. Negotiations between the strikers and government officials have produced no results. FS[18] HOMBACH WINS BALKAN POSTEU heads of government meeting in Rio de Janeiro have agreed to accept German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder's controversial nomination of Bodo Hombach to be the EU's coordinator for the Balkan stability pact (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 28 June 1999), the "Sueddeutsche Zeitung" reported on 30 June. Hombach was approved after the Austrian government withdrew its nomination of Balkan expert and former Deputy Chancellor Erhard Busek. PM[19] PETRITSCH TO REPLACE WESTENDORPAustrian Balkan expert Wolfgang Petritsch will soon replace Carlos Westendorp as the international community's chief representative in Bosnia- Herzegovina, Austrian Radio reported on 30 June. Westendorp returns to his political career in his native Spain. Petritsch is a member of Carinthia's Slovenian minority and has repeatedly said that he is therefore able to understand the concerns of ethnic minorities in the Balkans. He first attracted public attention in his role as the press spokesman of Chancellor Bruno Kreisky in the 1970s. Petritsch most recently served as an EU negotiator during the Kosova crisis. Westendorp's two deputies--the U.S.'s Jacques Klein and Germany's Hanns Schumacher--will soon be replaced by people of the two men's respective nationalities. PM[20] CROATIAN POLICE WARN FARMERSThe Interior Ministry issued a statement on 29 June calling upon farmers to remove roadblocks on many important roads throughout the country (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 29 June 1999). The statement warned that the roadblocks are illegal. Elsewhere, Agriculture Minister Ivan Djurkic said the farmers' demands are unrealistic and that negotiations have proven fruitless, RFE/RL's South Slavic Service reported from Zagreb. Finally, the National Security Council condemned the protest on the grounds that the farmers have blocked several border crossings. President Franjo Tudjman chaired the meeting. PM[21] ROMANIAN DEFENSE MINISTER IN U.S.U.S. Defense Secretary William Cohen on 29 June thanked Romania for supporting the NATO strikes in Yugoslavia but told his visiting Romanian counterpart, Victor Babiuc, that while NATO's door remains open, "the steps leading to that door are very high," an RFE/RL correspondent in Washington reported. Cohen said that Romania must cut the size of its military forces and improve training. The U.S. has presented Romania with a study recommending actions that will strengthen its case for membership. Babiuc said that he and Cohen will examine "modalities of strengthening the defense of Romania's eastern border, making it militarily impenetrable." AFP, cited by Mediafax, said that Babiuc's statement is linked to the recent violation of Romanian air space by Russian planes (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 28 June 1999). MS[22] ROMANIAN GOVERNMENT EXTENDS DEADLINE FOR BELL HELICOPTERS OFFERThe government on 29 June announced it is extending by 30 days the deadline for receiving an offer from Bell Helicopters Textron for the privatization of the IAR Ghimbav aircraft company. One day earlier, Romanian media reported that the U.S. company no longer makes buying a majority stake in the company conditional on government guarantees for the purchase of 92 military helicopters produced there. Babiuc said in the U.S. that Bell has presented "eight or nine proposals" for "future collaboration," which are now being examined. Premier Radu Vasile has on several occasions indicated that he now expects a more advantageous offer to be made by the German- French Eurocopter consortium. MS[23] ROMANIAN PARLIAMENT APPROVES MINORITIES-FRIENDLY BILLThe Chamber of Deputies on 29 June passed a law on the status of the civil service. The new law stipulates that members of the service whose duties involve direct contact with the public in localities where ethnic minorities make up 20 percent or more of the population be able to speak the language of those minorities, RFE/RL's Bucharest bureau reported. The Senate had approved the bill last month (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 26 May 1999). MS[24] BULGARIAN JOURNALIST STABBEDAleksei Lazarov, who works for the independent weekly "Kapital," was attacked by unidentified assailants near his home in Sofia on 28 June, AP reported the next day, citing the daily "Demokratsia." Lazarov was stabbed and badly beaten. Police were unable to specify the reason for the assault but said Lazarov was not robbed. Lazarov's father heads the information department of the Foreign Ministry. He is the second journalist to fall victim to violence in recent years. A man accused of throwing acid last year into the face of a popular "Trud" journalist specializing in criminal investigative reporting is currently on trial in Sofia. MS[C] END NOTE[25] PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION REMAKES LATVIA'S POLITICAL LANDSCAPEby Martins ZvanersLatvia's presidential election, which took place in the parliament on 17 June, has been hailed by many observers as a turning point in the country's political development. Not only was a returned emigre, Vaira Vike-Freiberga, elected as Latvia's head of state--the country's first-ever woman in that post and one of only four worldwide. Latvia's political establishment was also turned on its head by the failure of the center-right "party of power," Latvia's Way (LC), to have its own very popular candidate, Anatolijs Gorbunovs, elected. Gorbunovs's defeat, LC's petulant reaction, and accusations of attempted vote-buying by persons close to the party all threaten LC's dominant role in Latvian politics as well as the stability of the LC-led three-party minority government. Five hopefuls took part in the presidential race: Gorbunovs, well-known Soviet-era pianist and composer Raimonds Pauls, People's Party (TP) deputy chairwoman Vaira Paegle, Latvian UN Ambassador Janis Priedkalns, and parliamentary deputy Arnis Kalnins. Gorbunovs, along with Pauls, was considered a favorite. However, he suffered from handicaps that his party, LC, could not overcome. Gorbunovs had earned credit for helping Latvia renew its independence in 1991. He also helped LC dominate the country's post-independence political scene. But many in Latvia could not forget his Soviet-era post as the ideology chief of the Latvian Communist Party and were horrified that a former senior Communist official might again rise to the top of the political pyramid, this time in a Latvia freed from Communist occupation. Not least on account of his "on- again, off-again" presidential aspirations, Gorbunovs was seen as an unwilling front-man for party members and supporters who want total control over Latvia's political and economic structures. When voting began, Gorbunovs was still considered an odds-on favorite to become Latvia's next president. But by the end of the first round of five votes, he had been eliminated, having received the lowest vote total in the fourth vote. The candidates remaining at the end of the round, Pauls and Paegle, withdrew when it became clear they would not win. New candidates were sought, and a coalition of three parties--the left-center Latvian Social Democratic Workers' Party (LSDSP), the right-center For Fatherland and Freedom" (TB/LNNK), and center-right TP, with a combined 55 deputies-- agreed on a winning compromise: Vaira Vike- Freiberga. However, even before deputies stopped congratulating the newly-elected president, LSDSP leader Juris Bojars announced that an unnamed businessman with ties to LC had offered his party 70,000 lats ($116,200) to back Gorbunovs. Before the second round of votes began, the same businessman called to offer Bojars "anything you want" to secure LSDSP support for LC's new candidate, Foreign Minister Valdis Birkavs. Dubbed "Bojargate", the LSDSP leader's charges gained credibility when TB/LNNK deputy Juris Dobelis revealed that he, too, had received several offers from businessmen of money in exchange for not supporting Vike- Freiberga. As a result of Dobelis's revelations, the parties backing Vike- Freiberga agreed to use colored-ink pens to mark their secret ballots during the first vote of the second round, in order to prevent violations of party discipline. Both Bojars and Dobelis have provided information to the Latvian Prosecutor- General's Office to support their charges. According to "Diena" on 26 June, acting Prosecutor-General Olgerts Sabansks doubts whether any bribery charges will ever be filed. The accusations have, however, further tarnished the image of LC at a time when it is already perceived as playing a much too dominant role in Latvian politics. Commentators in Latvia reacted positively to the election of the 62-year- old Vike-Freiberga, who was born in Latvia but lived in exile in Canada during the Soviet occupation. A psychologist and linguist who has held high academic, government, and NGO posts in Canada, Vike-Freiberga is considered intelligent and honest, unencumbered by domestic Latvian political entanglements, and able to offer Western know-how and the experience of working in a multiethnic democracy. Some, however, expressed reservations about the President-elect's lack of political experience and unfamiliarity with political processes in Latvia. Most of the commentary, however, was devoted to what "Diena" journalist Aivars Ozolins called on 22 June "the fundamentally different political landscape" that resulted from "the first decision of national import to have been made against the will " of LC since the first post-occupation parliament was elected in 1993. No one in Latvia predicts any deviation from the country's pro-NATO and pro-EU orientation. However, the presidential election and its fallout have led to a situation where, according to "Neatkariga Rita Avize" on 19 June, LC can "no longer dictate the rules of the game to its coalition partners." The result, according to "Diena's" Ozolins, will be the eventual fall of the current government--either when agreement is reached on a new one or when it becomes clear that no agreement is possible. The election will also force LC to deal more openly and honestly with its coalition partners and other political forces in the parliament. "LC earned the support of a little less than one-fifth of the electorate [during last fall's parliamentary elections], and it is doubtful that it will any longer be able to manipulate national politics, divide up jobs, appoint and remove prime ministers as it sees fit," Ozolins wrote. "This time [I] have to agree with [Prime Minister Vilis] Kristopans--the government is stable, it is sitting on a powder keg." The author is assistant director of RFE/RL Communications Division. 30-06-99 Reprinted with permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
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