 |
Compact version |
|
 |
        |
|
 |
||
|
Sunday, 22 December 2024
|
||
 |
 |
|
|
|
RFE/RL Newsline, Vol. 3, No. 134, 99-07-13Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty: Newsline Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty <http://www.rferl.org>RFE/RL NEWSLINEVol. 3, No. 134, 13 July 1999CONTENTS[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA
[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[C] END NOTE
[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA[01] ARMENIA, LIKE GEORGIA, ASPIRES TO EU MEMBERSHIPSpeaking in Yerevan on 10 July at a ceremony marking the entry into force of the Partnership and Cooperation agreement between Armenia and the EU, Armenian Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian said Armenia's goal is ultimately to join the EU, however unreal that aspiration may currently appear, Noyan Tapan reported. Oskanian's Georgian counterpart, Irakli Menagharishvili, had said earlier this month that Georgia's desire for full integration into European structures includes EU membership (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 2 July 1999). LF[02] AZERBAIJAN'S OFFSHORE GAS RESERVES EXCEED EXPECTATIONS...A spokesman for BP Amoco PLC announced in Baku on 12 July that test drilling at the Shah Deniz offshore field 60 kilometers south of Baku suggests the field contains gas reserves of more than 400 billion cubic meters, according to the "Wall Street Journal" of 13 July. BP Amoco is the operator of a consortium that was created in 1996 to exploit Shah Deniz's oil reserves and also comprises Norway's Statoil, Azerbaijan's SOCAR, and Russian, French, Italian, Iranian, and Turkish companies. Azerbaijan's President Heidar Aliev expressed delight at the size of the Shah Deniz gas reserves and suggested that the Azerbaijani government consider construction of an export pipeline to transport the gas via Georgia to Turkey. Aliev said Turkish President Suleyman Demirel has expressed Turkey's willingness to buy gas from Shah Deniz, according to Turan. LF[03] ...CASTING DOUBT ON VIABILITY OF RUSSIAN, TURKMEN PIPELINE PROJECTS"Zerkalo" noted on 26 June that reconstruction of the existing gas pipeline from Azerbaijan via Georgia will cost between $100-150 million. The Shah Deniz reserves are sufficiently large to supply Turkey with enough gas to meet its rapidly growing energy needs, thus calling into question the need for two planned alternative projects-- Russia's "Blue Stream" pipeline under the Black Sea, which poses serious technical problems, and the trans-Caspian pipeline to transport Turkmen gas to Turkey via Azerbaijan and Georgia. Failure to proceed with the latter project could, "Zerkalo" suggested, further strain relations between Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan. The two countries dispute ownership of several offshore Caspian oil fields. LF[04] AZERBAIJANI PRESIDENT FIRES FINANCE MINISTER...Aliev issued a decree on 11 July dismissing 43-year-old Fikret Yusifov from the post of finance minister, Reuters and Turan reported the following day. Avaz Alekperov, a trained economist who worked in the Azerbaijan SSR Council of Ministers apparatus from 1981-1991 until his appointment as chairman of the Fund for the Social Protection of the Population, was appointed to succeed Yusifov. Aliev also created a special commission charged with investigating mutual accusations by the Ministries of Finance and Defense. The Defense Ministry has accused the Finance Ministry of non- payment of funds to the budget, while the latter claims the former has misused government funds. LF[05] ...ANNOUNCES AMNESTYAlso on 11 July, Aliev signed a decree pardoning 91 prisoners and reducing by half the prison terms of another 25, Turan reported. Observers have suggested the amnesty is to mark the 30th anniversary of Aliev's election as first secretary of the Azerbaijan Communist Party Central Committee. Beneficiaries include journalist Fuad Gakhramanly, who was sentenced in November 1998 to 18 months' imprisonment for an unpublished article deemed subversive (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 30 November 1998), former Agriculture Minister Mizammil Abdullaev, who was charged with complicity in financing alleged coup attempts by former Premier Suret Huseinov; Rasim Agaev, press spokesman to former President Ayaz Mutalibov; and Balash Abbaszade, an assistant to former parliamentary speaker Rasul Guliev. LF[06] RUSSIAN FRONTIER TROOPS LEAVE ABKHAZIAThe last contingent of Russian border troops left Abkhazia on 10 July in accordance with an agreement signed last year by Moscow and Tbilisi, Caucasus Press reported. Over the previous month, the Russians had handed over control of eight frontier posts to Abkhaz frontier guards, who now control the full length of the breakaway republic's border, according to Abkhaz Deputy Security Minister Sergei Tsargush. It is unclear whether the departing Russians took with them all their movable property, as stipulated in the 1998 agreement, or ceded some equipment to the Abkhaz. LF[07] RUSSIA STILL HOPING FOR KAZAKH COMPROMISE ON BAIKONOURRussian and Kazakh officials failed to reach agreement during their 12 July talks on the 14 July launch from Baikonur of a Russian cargo rocket intended to carry supplies to the orbiting "Mir" space station. Conditions after 26 July for launching that rocket to dock with "Mir" are said to be "unfavorable," and Russian Space Agency head Yurii Koptev told journalists in Moscow on 12 July that "Mir" may go out of control and crash to earth at some point next year unless the new navigation system to be transported by the cargo rocket is installed. Reuters on 13 July quoted unidentified Russian space officials as expressing the hope that the Kazakh authorities will permit the launch of the cargo rocket on 18 July. Both that rocket and a Ukrainian-Russian satellite due to have been launched from Baikonur on 12 July will remain on the launch pad "as long as technical resources permit," Interfax reported. LF[08] KAZAKH PREMIER ORDERS SALARIES TO BE PAID TO HUNGER-STRIKERSNurlan Balghymbaev chaired a cabinet session on 12 July devoted to the social and economic situation in the town of Ekibastuz in northern Kazakhstan, RFE/RL's Kazakh Service reported. Several dozen employees at the Ekibastuz power station began a hunger-strike two weeks ago to demand payment of back wages for the past two years, totaling 125 million tenge (approximately $900,000). Balghymbaev ordered Energy, Trade, and Industry Minister Mukhtar Abliyazov to pay off the wage arrears within one week. LF[09] TAJIK LEADERSHIP ASSESSES AFTERMATH OF LANDSLIDESPresident Imomali Rakhmonov chaired a government session on 12 July to evaluate the damage inflicted by last week's mudslides and coordinate emergency aid to the population of the regions affected, AP-Blitz reported. Also on 12 July, Rakhmonov telephoned with his Uzbek counterpart, Islam Karimov, who expressed his condolences and offered material aid in coping with the aftermath of the disaster. LF[10] TURKMENISTAN REGISTERS ECONOMIC UPSWINGInterfax on 12 July quoted Turkmenistan's National Institute for Statistics and Prognosis as reporting that during the first six months of 1999 GDP increased by 15 percent, compared with 1998. Total GDP growth for 1998 was 5 percent. Oil and gas extraction for the first five months of 1999 rose by 10.7 percent, compared with 1998. Meanwhile, Turkmenistan recently completed its best-ever grain harvest of 1.5 million tons. That amount, as "Nezavisimaya gazeta" observed on 26 June, will make Turkmenistan self- sufficient in grain for the second consecutive year. LF[11] HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVIST DETAINED IN UZBEKISTANAmnesty International issued a press release on 12 July expressing concern over the detention two days earlier of Ismail Adylov, a member of the unregistered Independent Human Rights Organization of Uzbekistan. Interior Ministry officers subsequently searched Adylov's home in Tashkent and confiscated documents related to his human rights activities. The following day, police refused to inform Adylov's wife where he is being held. Also on 12 July, Amnesty International called on the international community to protest the forcible deportation from the Russian Federation to Uzbekistan of Bakhadir Ruzmetov, whom Uzbek officials suspect of involvement in the 16 February bombings in Tashkent. LF[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE[12] VIOLENT PROTEST IN VALJEVOAt least 4,000 people followed maverick local artist Bogoljub Arsenijevic in storming the Valjevo town hall on 12 July. Police quickly evicted the intruders. Some four people were taken to hospital as a result of the violence. Arsenijevic told the crowd that "the international community should not try [Yugoslav President Slobodan] Milosevic. We should try him and punish him for what he did to the Serbian people over the past 10 years, " Reuters quoted him as saying. Arsenijevic also called on his followers to storm the local offices of Milosevic's Socialist Party of Serbia and stay there "until we hear that Milosevic is dead." The United Yugoslav Left, which is headed by Milosevic's wife, Mira Markovic, issued a statement accusing the protesters of trying to "create a jungle here." The protest in Valjevo was the second spontaneous one in a Serbian provincial town in approximately one week (see "RFR/RL Newsline," 7 July 1999). PM[13] WHICH WAY FOR OPPOSITION TO MILOSEVIC?BBC Television on 13 July showed footage from the previous day of Arsenijevic kicking in glass at the Valjevo town hall ahead of his followers. The footage also showed the artist vandalizing the town council's meeting room. A BBC reporter in Belgrade said that the spontaneous and violent nature of the Valjevo protest suggests how potentially explosive the situation in Serbia is. Serbian Renewal Movement leader Vuk Draskovic, who recently served in Milosevic's government, said that he wants a "constitutional" end to Milosevic's rule. He added, however, that he will soon take part in street protests, which he has not done this year. Elsewhere in Belgrade, spokesmen for the anti-Milosevic petition drive said that they have collected well over 100,000 signatures, despite the police's efforts to prevent them from doing so. In Vranje, some 500 army reservists continued their protest to demand back pay. PM[14] CLARK: MILOSEVIC BODES ILL FOR KOSOVA PEACENATO Supreme Commander Europe General Wesley Clark said in Milan on 12 July that if Milosevic "remains in power and in control, there will be strong internal pressures to violate the demilitarization agreement [for Kosova], to be prepared for the worst possible outcome: a return of Serb efforts directed against Albanians" in the province. The general added: "I encourage the growing demonstrations by the people of Serbia to hold Mr. Milosevic accountable. He is the source of their problems and should be removed from office," Reuters reported. PM[15] COHEN WARNS OF CONTINUED DANGER IN KOSOVAU.S. Secretary of Defense William Cohen said in Budapest on 12 July that "the situation in [Kosova] remains dangerous. It is likely to remain dangerous for some time to come by virtue of the tensions, the passions that are running very high. It's all the more important that the remaining forces that are to be contributed to KFOR arrive there as soon as possible." He added that KFOR will "remain neutral and balanced" in its dealings with the rival ethnic communities. Kosova, he stressed is "still a very dangerous environment and all of the forces there must be prepared to encounter that kind of danger." PM[16] SERBS, ALBANIANS WORK IN REOPENED PRISHTINA CITY HALLJ. F. Carter, who heads the UN's civilian administration in Kosova, officially reopened the Prishtina city hall on 12 July. He called the move "a step in the return to normality." Two "municipal co-presidents" (mayors) head an administration consisting of 80 ethnic Albanians and 60 Serbs. One mayor is the Serb Zvonimir Stevic, while the other is the ethnic Albanian Mexhid Syla. AP reported that tensions between the respective Serbian and ethnic Albanian groups of municipal workers were evident. PM[17] RED CROSS RECEIVES LISTS OF KOSOVARS IN SERBIAN JAILSThe Serbian Justice Ministry on 12 July handed to officials from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)a list containing the names of 1,438 Kosovars currently held in Serbian jails. An ICRC spokesman told an RFE/RL South Slavic Service correspondent in Prishtina that earlier this month, Serbian officials handed over another list containing 481 names. He added that ICRC representatives have so far visited 381 imprisoned ethnic Albanians and are still seeking confirmation about missing people who are not on the lists. UN Human Rights Commissioner Mary Robinson recently estimated that up to 5,000 Kosovars are still in Serbian prisons. FS[18] LDK OFFICIAL URGES QUICK UNIFICATION OF KOSOVARSMelazim Krasniqi, who is a senior official of the Democratic League of Kosova (LDK), told RFE/RL's South Slavic Service on 12 July that "I do not know what the real reasons are why [LDK leader Ibrahim] Rugova does not return to his homeland. I believe that he should be here and [help] unite the [various] Kosovar political groups.... I am also concerned that Rugova has...covered himself with a disturbing silence." Krasniqi stressed that "the LDK must face the new realities in Kosova, and it cannot do so with an old mentality.... The membership demands concrete actions and clear positions toward current problems.... If it fails to [meet the challenge], the LDK [may face] very severe [internal] divisions." FS[19] THACI CONDEMNS SERBIAN WALK-OUTKosova Liberation Army (UCK) leader Hashim Thaci on 12 July condemned a decision by local Serbs to stop cooperating with Kosovar Albanians and international organizations (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 12 July 1999), Reuters reported. Thaci appealed to the Serbs to reverse their decision, saying that "my wish is that these people do not continue Milosevic's game of boycott, a game which is not in the interests of...the Serbian people themselves.... I believe that this was a rash decision...and I hope that these people will realize there is a new reality and new life" in Kosova. Thaci also said: "I have no comment on why Rugova has not come back. It is his personal decision but it's not a smart one.... He must realize that no one can hold Kosova to ransom." FS[20] MORE ALBANIAN REFUGEE CAMPS LOOTEDAn RFE/RL South Slavic Service correspondent reported from Tirana on 12 July that Albanian villagers looted a refugee camp near Peshkopi the previous day. The camp previously accommodated about 3,000 refugees. Unidentified persons also looted a camp in the village of Shtoj near Shkodra. The incidents follow the raid on the Italian camp in Vlora on 10 July (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 12 July 1999). Most refugees had left the camps before the villagers began plundering them. The correspondent reports, however, that refugees remaining in Albania now fear that their accommodations could also become the scene of uncontrolled looting and robbery. Meanwhile, NATO soldiers have begun to reinforce security around remaining camps. FS[21] YUGOSLAV ARMY DENIES TROOP INCREASE IN MONTENEGROThe Yugoslav Army said in a press statement in Belgrade on 12 July that recent comments by several top NATO officials that the army has raised its troop levels in Montenegro are "propaganda-style fabrications and allegations." The statement added that NATO is deliberately circulating false reports about alleged tensions within Montenegro and between Podgorica and Belgrade in order to mask NATO's own "destructive intentions toward our fatherland." PM[22] KLEIN TO REPLACE REHN IN BOSNIAJacques Klein, who is currently a deputy to the international community's High Representative Carlos Westendorp in Bosnia, will soon replace Elizabeth Rehn as the UN's chief representative in that country, RFE/RL's South Slavic Service reported from Sarajevo on 12 July. Rehn will return to her political career in Finland. PM[23] CROATIA GETS FIRST NATIONAL INDEPENDENT TV STATIONZagreb- based Nova TV received a license on 12 July, thereby becoming Croatia's first nationwide private television broadcaster. Nova's main share-holders include Europa Press Holding, which also owns the independent daily "Jutarnji list" and the weekly "Globus." Another main share-holder is "Vecernji list," which is close to the governing Croatian Democratic Community (HDZ). The top managers of the station will be veteran broadcasters Miroslav Lilic and Tomislav Marcinko, "Jutarnji list" reported. State-run television is currently the only nationwide television broadcaster and is widely regarded as a mouthpiece of the HDZ. PM[24] CROATIAN RAILWAY WORKERS DEFEND RIGHT TO STRIKELocomotive drivers halted railway traffic across Croatia for half an hour on 12 July to defend their right to strike, RFE/RL's South Slavic Service reported. The railway management has taken the drivers' union to court in conjunction with a strike in April. Union spokesmen say that management has gone to court in the hope of deterring future strikes. Strikes are not unusual at the loss-making state-run railway. PM[25] LANDSLIDES, FLOODS CLAIM VICTIMS IN ROMANIA, HUNGARYAt least 13 people were killed and 23 injured in a landslide caused by heavy rain and floods near a dam on the Raul Mare River in the Retezat mountains in western Romania. Romanian Radio reported on 13 July that one person drowned in Cluj County. Prime Minister Radu Vasile met with cabinet members to examine ways of helping victims and coordinating rescue works. Heavy rains are expected to continue in western Romania. Reuters reported that at least six people were killed as the result of landslides caused by floods in Hungary. Three persons were buried in a wine cellar in Siklos, south of Budapest, and three drowned in Heves County, in northwestern Hungary. In Bulgaria, floods caused heavy damage in two villages near the town of Montana, north of Sofia. MS[26] MOSCOW-HELD ROMANIAN TREASURE UNDER CE EXAMINATIONTakis Hadjidemetriou, special rapporteur for the Council of Europe's Cultural Commission, met in Bucharest on 12 July with members of the Senate's National Security and Foreign Policy Commissions to discuss Romanian treasure held in Moscow since World War I, RFE/RL's Bucharest bureau reported. AP said that Hadjidemetriou will study Romanian archives and report to the council, which has recommended that member countries return illegally-held foreign patrimony. The treasure is one of the main bones of contention hindering the signing of the treaty between the two countries. MS[27] MOLDOVAN PRESIDENT DENIES INVOLVEMENT IN PARLIAMENTARY CRISISPresidential spokesman Anatol Golea on 12 July "categorically" denied that President Petru Lucinschi played any role in the parliamentary crisis triggered by the dismissal of Party of Democratic Forces (PDF) leader Valeriu Matei from the post of deputy parliamentary chairman, RFE/RL's Chisinau bureau reported. Golea said that the crisis was "a purely internal affair" of the legislature and that Lucinschi hopes the stalemate will be solved "as soon as possible" to avoid "undesirable consequences for all of [Moldovan] society." He also denied that Lucinschi may exploit the crisis as "an argument for promoting a presidential system" (see End Note below). MS[28] PDF SAYS IT WILL NOT LEAVE MOLDOVAN RULING COALITIONIn a statement released on 12 July, the parliamentary group of the PDF said the party does not intend to leave the ruling Alliance for Democracy (ADR) in retaliation for Matei's dismissal. PFD deputy Vasile Soimaru told journalists the same day that the present parliamentary crisis has "demonstrated" that a new majority can "easily be formed" by the Party of Moldovan Communists' 40 deputies and the 12 deputies representing the pro-presidential For a Democratic and Prosperous Moldova Bloc. The PFD, Soimaru said, believes that only if the party stays in the ADR can Moldova's "integration into European structures" be safeguarded. MS[29] IMF SAYS BULGARIA MAKING PROGRESSThe head of the IMF mission in Bulgaria on 12 July said that Bulgaria is making "satisfactory economic progress," despite the effects of the Kosova crisis, AFP reported. Juha Kahkonen said that because of the impact of the Kosova conflict on Bulgaria's economy, economic growth is likely to be less than was forecast at the start of 1999. He said that exports have fallen, which, he argued, could affect the current account of the balance of payments. Kahkonen predicted that Bulgaria's budget deficit will total some 5.5 percent of GDP this year and that the economy will grow by 1.5 percent, instead of the 3.7 percent growth predicted at the start of the year. However, the IMF expects that in 2000 economic growth will total 4-5 percent and inflation will be less than 2 percent, he said. MS[C] END NOTE[30] LUCINSCHI BABA AND THE MOLDOVAN PARLIAMENTARY DEPUTIESby Michael ShafirNo political system is totally immune to corruption and nepotism. But when these maladies become the rule, rather than the exception, one faces what political scientists call "systemic entropy." In systems making the transition from authoritarianism to democracy, the risk of entropy is higher than in "established democracies": while such democracies deal with corruption and nepotism by applying the rule of law, transitional systems may be faced with a situation where the authority of those making the law (the parliament), those applying it (the executive), and those adjudicating it (the judiciary) is questioned because those institutions lack credibility. Credibility may be acquired through the historical experience of those granting it (a factor often absent in "transitional systems"), but this is not a lasting factor unless it is quickly complemented by proof of more immediate experience. Conversely, the lack of credibility can be the outcome of some psychological factors, but by and large it exists when those called upon to rule are not up to the task. In democratic systems, the instrument through which credibility is supposed to be restored is changing the powers that be through elections or changing some systemic elements that induced entropy--for example, some provisions in the constitution. The deficiency of the former solution is that it can require considerable time, while the latter may mean "throwing away the democratic baby" with the bath water. Last week, a typical situation of entropy emerged in Moldova. On 9 July, the parliament dismissed one of its deputy chairmen, Party of Democratic Forces (PFD) leader Valeriu Matei. Matei had long been accused by the opposition Party of Moldovan Communists (PCM) of corruption, an accusation that appears not totally unfounded. Earlier this year, a tribunal in Chisinau ordered him to pay General Nicolae Alexe, chief of the government's Department for Fighting Crime, the equivalent of 100 monthly wages. The tribunal had found Matei guilty of insulting Alexe during a search of the premises of a dubious commercial company with which Matei was linked. The ruling Alliance for Democracy and Reforms (ADR) repeatedly postponed voting on the Communists' demand to dismiss Matei from his parliamentary position. Since the PFD is a member of the unstable ADR, few political observers were surprised by that delay. All of a sudden, however, Matei's coalition colleagues from the pro-presidential For a Democratic and Prosperous Moldova Bloc (PMPD) were ready to join the Communists, and the legislature dismissed him by a vote of 59 to four during the evening of 9 July. The Christian Democratic Popular Front (FPCD)--a party that since March, when it failed to obtain the portfolios it wanted in Ion Sturza's cabinet, has been unable to make up its mind whether it is in the coalition or out--also supported the motion. The other ADR component, the Democratic Convention of Moldova (CDM), did not participate in the vote, to protest what happened in the parliament earlier that day. That earlier development may partly explain the twist leading to Matei's dismissal. On 8 July, the legislature began debating a report by its Committee for National Security and Public Order. Among other things, the report criticized the activities of Prosecutor-General Valeriu Catana, who had long been accused by FPCD leader Iurie Rosca of covering up the illicit activities of parliamentary chairman Dumitru Diacov. Again, the accusation may not have been entirely unfounded. Shortly after being named prosecutor-general earlier this year, Catana had appointed Diacov's brother, Ion, as Chisinau's top prosecutor. Whether this was "merely" a case of nepotism or whether Rosca's 8 July statement denouncing Diacov's "Mafioso activities" was based on insider's knowledge is hard to say. Nonetheless, as late as 8 July the communists were demanding that the committee's report be debated in the house. But rather than permit such a development, Diacov announced that Catana had tendered his resignation. In line with Moldovan legislation, Catana's departure should have been debated and then approved by the parliament. But Diacov proposed that a resolution be adopted merely "taking note" of the resignation. The resolution passed with the support of the PCM, as well as that of Diacov's own PMPD. It was at this point that former President Mircea Snegur's CDM walked out of the meeting, thus missing the vote on Matei's dismissal. But Snegur then joined Rosca in demanding the dismissal of Diacov as parliamentary chairman. The PCM's action is not hard to explain. By joining forces with Diacov and his supporters, the party seems very close to writing the ADR's obituary. But a lot more happened on the eventful day of 9 July. First, all those throwing punches in the Moldovan parliamentary arena seem to have knocked one another out. Not even the PCM has emerged untainted, for the electorate is unlikely to forget that the Communists' attack on Matei was triggered by Matei's denunciation of the son of PCM leader Vladimir Voronin for his involvement in seemingly illicit business activities. With entropy looming large, President Petru Lucinschi's argument for curtailing the powers of the parliament and instituting a presidential system can only gain ground. Lucinschi finds himself in the fortunate position of an Ali Baba whose path to the treasure has been opened by the thieves who guarded it. But as Aladdin put it, "Who will change old lamps for new ones?" Or, in other words: Will a presidential system fare any better? This is first in a series of two articles. 13-07-99 Reprinted with permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
|
|
 |
|
 |
 |
|
All Rights Reserved.