RFE/RL Newsline, Vol. 3, No. 137, 99-07-16

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

RFE/RL NEWSLINE

Vol. 3, No. 137, 16 July 1999

CONTENTS

[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA

[01] ARMENIAN GOVERNMENT OBTAINS COURT INJUNCTION

[02] SUSPECT IN ARMENIAN ELECTION VIOLENCE RELEASED

[03] AZERBAIJANI OFFICIAL SHEDS LIGHT ON ALIEV-

[04] AZERBAIJAN OPPOSITION DENIES INVOLVEMENT IN

[05] ABKHAZ PARLIAMENT-IN-EXILE CHAIRMAN DEMANDS

[06] MOLDOVAN PRESIDENT VISITS KAZAKHSTAN

[07] KAZAKHSTAN PROTESTS RUSSIAN BAN ON MEAT

[08] RUSSIAN, UZBEK FOREIGN MINISTERS MEET

[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE

[09] RUGOVA ENDS 'MYSTERY VISIT' TO KOSOVA...

[10] ...AFTER CALLING FOR COOPERATION WITH UN

[11] LDK DOES NOT PARTICIPATE IN KOUCHNER'S

[12] THACI 'FEELS GOOD' ABOUT RUGOVA

[13] EXPLOSION INJURES 20 IN KOSOVA

[14] ALLIANCE CALLS FOR SERBIAN OPPOSITION TO UNITE

[15] PENSIONERS STAGE PROTEST

[16] SERBIAN POLICE HARASS OPPOSITION PETITION DRIVE

[17] SERBIAN PARLIAMENT MAKES 'WARTIME' MEASURES

[18] DRASKOVIC POINTS FINGER AT ALBANIANS

[19] MACEDONIA TO OPEN ALBANIAN-LANGUAGE

[20] GREEK POLICE KILL ALBANIAN HIJACKER

[21] HAGUE COURT OPENS DOOR FOR MORE INDICTMENTS

[22] BOSNIA TO CUT MILITARY EXPENDITURES

[23] UN EXTENDS PREVLAKA MANDATE

[24] NATO SUPREME COMMANDER EUROPE IN BUCHAREST

[25] ROMANIAN GENERALS SENTENCED

[26] FIRST MOLDOVAN-RUSSIAN PEACEKEEPING EXERCISES

[27] BULGARIA RAISES DANUBE BRIDGE DISPUTE WITH EU

[28] ISRAELIS CIRCUMVENT ARAB BOYCOTT OF BULGARIAN

[C] END NOTE

[29] HUNGARIAN ARMY CHIEF RESIGNS

[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA

[01] ARMENIAN GOVERNMENT OBTAINS COURT INJUNCTION

The Armenian government has

obtained a court order against Greece's OTE, which owns a

90 percent in Armenia's ArmTelecom monopoly, allowing it to

seize shares worth $140 million in ArmTelecom, Noyan Tapan

reported on 15 July. Armenia brought a lawsuit against OTE in

late June for non-payment of at least $18 million in profit tax.

OTE acquired its share in ArmTelecom when the

communications monopoly, previously owned by the Armenian

government and the U.S. registered Trans World Telecom,

was privatized in 1997. LF

[02] SUSPECT IN ARMENIAN ELECTION VIOLENCE RELEASED

Ashot Aghababian, whose supporters

are accused of opening fire on supporters of a rival

candidate during the local elections in Yerevan's Ajapniak

district on 11 July, was taken into custody for questioning on

15 July but released later the same day, Noyan Tapan

reported on 16 July. A spokesman for the Prosecutor-

General's Office told the agency that Aghababian has not

been formally arrested (as erroneously reported in "RFE/RL

Newsline," 16 July 1999). LF

[03] AZERBAIJANI OFFICIAL SHEDS LIGHT ON ALIEV-

Presidential administration

department head Novruz Mamedov told RFE/RL's Armenian

Service on 15 July that the 16 July meeting in Geneva

between the presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan was

arranged at the urging of the U.S. Mamedov also said that in

a letter to both presidents following their meeting in

Washington in late April, U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine

Albright outlined additions to the most recent Karabakh draft

peace plan proposed by the co-chairmen of the OSCE Minsk

Group. He added that one of those additions deals with the

repatriation of refugees and displaced persons. The two

presidents had planned to met in Luxembourg last month, but

Aliev's doctors dissuaded him from making that trip (see

"RFE/RL Newsline," 15 June 1999). LF

[04] AZERBAIJAN OPPOSITION DENIES INVOLVEMENT IN

Husein Djavadov, a leading

member of the Nakhichevan branch of the Azerbaijan Popular

Front Party, has rejected allegations by Azerbaijani Interior

Minister Ramil Usubov that members of his party arriving in

Nakhichevan from Ukraine instigated the violence at the

Sadarak border crossing between the Azerbaijani exclave

and Turkey earlier this month (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 14 July

1999). A spokesman for residents of Sadarak similarly denied

any involvement by the Popular Front, attributing the clash to

customs officials' unfair treatment of local residents, Turan

reported on 16 July. The Azerbaijan Popular Front Party's

Nakhichevan branch and some Azerbaijani newspapers have

attributed the fighting to rivalry between mafia groups. LF

[05] ABKHAZ PARLIAMENT-IN-EXILE CHAIRMAN DEMANDS

Tamaz

Nadareishvili, who is chairman of the Abkhaz parliament-in-

exile (composed of the ethnic Georgian deputies to the

Abkhaz parliament elected in late 1991, has cancelled

international travel plans and will remain in Tbilisi until the

persons responsible for the 9 July kidnapping of the entire

Abkhaz government-in-exile are found, Caucasus Press

reported on 16 July. Nadareishvili blamed the abduction on

"those who cannot reconcile themselves to the existence of

legitimate Abkhaz authorities, especially on the eve of

parliamentary elections" (see "RFE/RL Caucasus Report," Vol.

2, No. 28, 15 July 1999). He has founded his own political

party to contest those elections. Nadareishvili planned to

visit Azerbaijan and Ukraine to discuss the possible

participation of those countries in an international

peacekeeping force for Abkhazia. He also intended to

address the UN Security Council in New York. LF

[06] MOLDOVAN PRESIDENT VISITS KAZAKHSTAN

Lucinschi arrived in Astana on 14 July at the head of a

government delegation that also included First Deputy Prime

Minister Nikolae Andronic and Foreign Minister Nicolae

Tabacaru, INFOTAG reported. Lucinschi held talks on 15 July

with Kazakhstan's President Nursultan Nazarbaev on boosting

bilateral trade and Kazakhstan's repayment of its $5.5 million

debt to Moldova. Nazarbaev noted that some Kazakh

bankers believe the breakaway Transdniester Republic has

outstanding debts to Kazakhstan that accumulated before

1991, but his country will not press for repayment, according

to Interfax. The two presidents expressed satisfaction at the

overall level of bilateral relations and reached agreement on

setting up a joint commission for economic cooperation. They

also signed a convention on avoiding dual taxation. LF

[07] KAZAKHSTAN PROTESTS RUSSIAN BAN ON MEAT

Kazakhstan's Veterinary Agency issued a

statement on 16 July terming Moscow's recent imposition of

a ban on imports of meat from Kazakhstan "politically

motivated," RFE/RL's Kazakh Service reported. Russia had

said the ban was prompted by the discovery of hoof-and-

mouth disease among cattle in the Qostanay Oblast of

northern Kazakhstan. The Kazakh agency claimed the ban

was in retaliation for Astana's temporary ban on the launching

of Russian rockets from the Baikonur cosmodrome. LF

[08] RUSSIAN, UZBEK FOREIGN MINISTERS MEET

met with his Uzbek counterpart, Abdulaziz Kamilov, in

Tashkent on 15 July to discuss bilateral relations, regional

problems, and the conflicts in Tajikistan and Afghanistan,

Interfax reported. The two ministers also assessed

preparations for Russian Prime Minister Sergei Stepashin's

planned visit to Uzbekistan and for the 19-20 July meeting in

Tashkent under UN auspices of the "Six Plus Two" group of

states (Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan, Iran,

and Pakistan, all of which border on Afghanistan, plus Russia

and the U.S.) to discuss the situation in Afghanistan.

Representatives of both rival factions in Afghanistan have

also been invited to that meeting, but it unclear whether the

Taliban will send a representative (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 2

and 4 June 1999). LF

[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE

[09] RUGOVA ENDS 'MYSTERY VISIT' TO KOSOVA...

shadow-state President Ibrahim Rugova left Kosova on 15

July, only a few hours after arriving in the province, VOA

reported. The "Los Angeles Times" noted that his quick

departure "puzzled observers." The daily added that

Rugova and his wife briefly returned to their home in the

late evening after meetings with UN officials and

journalists. While she remained in the car, he went into the

house, "rushing out" after a few minutes and departing

without smiling, stopping only to wave briefly to a few

children. His Democratic League of Kosova (LDK) Vice

President Edita Tahiri said that Rugova will return next

week to "restart work as president of Kosova." FS

[10] ...AFTER CALLING FOR COOPERATION WITH UN

Earlier on 15 July, Rugova met with

several UN officials in Prishtina, including newly appointed

UN Special Representative Bernard Kouchner. Rugova

indicated at press conference that he is not willing to

share power with his rival Hashim Thaci of the Kosova

Liberation Army (UCK). Rugova stressed that "the

objective of the people and political groups of Kosova

[must be] to cooperate with the international community,"

an RFE/RL South Slavic Service correspondent reported.

Rugova added that "the priority is the economic,

democratic, and social reconstruction of Kosova and

especially the building of pluralism." Rugova said that

elections could be held after "some months." FS

[11] LDK DOES NOT PARTICIPATE IN KOUCHNER'S

Kouchner told AFP on 16 July that the LDK

did not participate at the first meeting of an UN-sponsored

roundtable in Prishtina, which included various political

groups. The meeting was intended to support the

reconstruction of public administration. Kouchner said: "I

am sad that the LDK has chosen not to participate.... They

are unhappy about the current composition" of the

roundtable. The previous day Kouchner told Reuters that

"in our hearts and minds we know this is all about

reconciliation. In our heads, we know real peace will take

time...." FS

[12] THACI 'FEELS GOOD' ABOUT RUGOVA

15 July: "I've been inviting Rugova to come back to Kosova

for a long time.... I feel very good that he accepted." He

noted that "there is enough space in Kosova for Rugova."

The main positions in the new administration "belong to

Kosovars, not to people who are losers, who have been

losers before the war, during the war, and now after the

war," he commented, adding that he is "not talking

specifically about Rugova" but about "the ones...who have

placed obstacles in the resistance's path." Thaci said that

Kouchner can help "create a better climate among the

political factions in Kosova." He also commented that the

UCK wants to "build a multi-ethnic, open, and tolerant

society, [and] create democratic institutions including [the

participation of] Albanians, Serbs, and Montenegrins." FS

[13] EXPLOSION INJURES 20 IN KOSOVA

said in Prishtina on 16 July that some 20 people received

shrapnel injuries the previous day in Vitina in the U.S.-

controlled sector. A U.S. helicopter evacuated seven of the

most seriously wounded people to U.S. military hospital

facilities elsewhere. KFOR detained two unidentified males

after the blast. Witnesses reported seeing unidentified

persons dropping a box from a car in the area shortly before

the explosion, AP reported. PM

[14] ALLIANCE CALLS FOR SERBIAN OPPOSITION TO UNITE

15 July in Kragujevac, some 10,000 persons attended an

anti-Milosevic rally called by the Alliance for Change, VOA

reported. Cacak Mayor Velimir Ilic and former General Vuk

Obradovic told the crowd that they hope that Vuk Draskovic

and his Serbian Renewal Movement (SPO) will join with the

alliance in "a united front fighting for a new Serbia."

Democratic Party leader Zoran Djindjic urged all of Milosevic's

opponents to sink their partisan differences and support "a

social revolution of a people deprived of its rights." Some of

the people attending the demonstration told Reuters that

they do not care which party organizes rallies so long as the

protests are anti-Milosevic. Some of those people added that

they plan to attend the Kragujevac rally called by the SPO for

17 July. In Leskovac, some 1,000 people took part in the

11th consecutive day of protests aimed at freeing a local

television journalist from prison (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 14

July 1999). PM

[15] PENSIONERS STAGE PROTEST

pensioners" gathered in Belgrade on 15 July to demand

higher retirement benefits and Milosevic's resignation, AP

reported. Among those attending was Dragoslav Avramovic,

the former governor of the National Bank, who is widely

credited with having stopped hyper-inflation in 1994.

Avramovic has recently begun to take an active role in

opposition politics. Some observers have suggested that he

might hold a high post in a post-Milosevic government if his

health permits. PM

[16] SERBIAN POLICE HARASS OPPOSITION PETITION DRIVE

several "regime thugs" beat eight party workers who were

collecting signatures on the opposition's anti-Milosevic

petition in Novi Beograd. The officials added that they have

the license plate numbers of the attackers' car and will press

criminal charges. In Novi Sad, police harassed several

opposition party workers who were putting up signs urging

people to sign the petition. In Gornji Milanovac, police

prevented opposition activists from collecting signatures on

the petition on streets and in a park. The party workers

continued the petition drive at the entrance to a church after

the priests gave them permission, RFE/RL's South Slavic

Service reported. In Sremska Mitrovica, police detained four

persons who were gathering signatures, Reuters reported.

PM

[17] SERBIAN PARLIAMENT MAKES 'WARTIME' MEASURES

The Serbian legislature voted on 15 July to

enact into law several economic measures that the

government temporarily instituted under its "state of war"

during NATO's air campaign in the spring. The SPO, the

League of Vojvodina Hungarians, and the Vojvodina Coalition

did not take part in the voting. Before the ballot,

parliamentary speaker Dragan Tomic of the governing

coalition announced that the New Democracy Party has left

the coalition. The other members of the coalition thereupon

"cancelled" the five legislative mandates that New Democracy

received under a pre-election agreement between the

coalition parties. New Democracy's Dusan Mihajlovic called

the move "illegal" and motivated by a desire for revenge. PM

[18] DRASKOVIC POINTS FINGER AT ALBANIANS

said in Athens on 15 July that the situation in Kosova "is more

than dramatic. Now there is ethnic cleansing against the

Serbs by the Albanians. They burn their houses, their

churches, their fields." Referring to the recent hi-jacking of a

Greek bus by an Albanian (see below), Draskovic added:

"This should show that the Serbs are not the problem, but

the Albanians who want to create a Greater Albania," Reuters

reported. PM

[19] MACEDONIA TO OPEN ALBANIAN-LANGUAGE

Macedonian Foreign Minister Aleksandar

Dimitrov told Reuters on 15 July in Skopje that the

Macedonian government will allow the ethnic Albanian

minority to establish its own university. He did not indicate

when this will happen. Dimitrov added that "it is the

inviolable right of everyone to have education in their

mother tongue, including higher education." Observers

note that the statement marks a milestone in Macedonian

politics. Efforts by ethnic Albanians to establish an

Albanian-language university in Tetovo in 1994 were met

with a violent crackdown by the police. At the time, the

Social Democratic government argued that establishing

such a university would be tantamount to secession. Prime

Minister Ljubco Georgievski told "RFE/RL Newsline" in

September 1998, when he was still an opposition leader,

that he would allow the establishment of the university if

the ethnic Albanian leaders ceased raising ethnically-

related issues and joined him in concentrating on economic

development. FS

[20] GREEK POLICE KILL ALBANIAN HIJACKER

killed an Albanian who had hijacked a bus after a stand-off

near Florina on 15 July (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 15 July

1999). Special police stormed the bus and freed the last

five hostages unharmed, AP reported. FS

[21] HAGUE COURT OPENS DOOR FOR MORE INDICTMENTS

Dusan Tadic, the appeals chamber of the Hague-based war

crimes tribunal concluded on 15 July that the Bosnian war of

1992-1995 was "an international armed conflict" and not

merely a civil war. In light of this ruling, persons inside and

outside Bosnia can now be prosecuted for violations in

Bosnia of the Geneva conventions that protect civilians in

wartime. The court also ruled that there was a "direct chain

of military command" from Belgrade to the Bosnian Serbs. PM

[22] BOSNIA TO CUT MILITARY EXPENDITURES

Permanent Committee for Military Issues, which is chaired by

officials from the international community, decided in Sarajevo

on 15 July to cut military spending in the Republika Srpska

and the mainly Muslim and Croatian federation by 15 percent

this year. A spokesman for the committee said that its

members hope their decision will serve as an example to

other Balkan countries. PM

[23] UN EXTENDS PREVLAKA MANDATE

voted on 15 July to extend by six months the mandate for

the 27-member UN military observer mission in Croatia's

Prevlaka region (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 14 July 1999). The

new mandate runs until 15 January 2000. PM

[24] NATO SUPREME COMMANDER EUROPE IN BUCHAREST

Constantinescu, Prime Minister Radu Vasile, and Chief of

Staff General Constantin Degeratu, General Wesley Clark

told journalists the Kosova crisis has demonstrated that

"Romania is fully prepared to participate in the NATO spirit

of shared risks, burdens and benefits in security," RFE/RL's

Bucharest bureau reported. At the same time, he said the

decision on Romania's NATO entry is a "political one." For

now, he said, one can discuss only the "gradual integration"

of Romania's armed forces into NATO under "concrete

cooperation programs." Clark stressed that his statement

last month on the Trianon Treaty did not envisage a

change of borders (see "RFE/RL Newsline,"28 June 1999).

MS

[25] ROMANIAN GENERALS SENTENCED

Stanculescu and Mihai Chitac on 15 July were sentenced by

the Supreme Court to 15 years in prison for their part in

the attempted quashing of the December 1989 popular

revolt in Timisoara, which sparkled the toppling of the

communist regime. They were also stripped of their military

rank and ordered to pay 500 million lei ($ 31,400)

compensation to the relatives of the 72 people who were

killed and the 253 wounded during those events. The

judges rejected the defendants argument that they had

been carrying out orders from dictator Nicolae Ceausescu,

saying "military discipline excludes blind subordination and

does not annul responsibility for a crime." After the

toppling of the Ceausescu regime, Stanculescu became

industry and later defense minister, while Chitac was

interior minister. MS

[26] FIRST MOLDOVAN-RUSSIAN PEACEKEEPING EXERCISES

Russian-Moldovan peace-

keeping forces began exercises on 16 July in the vicinity

of Moscow, Infotag reported. The exercise is the first ever

involving troops from the two countries and is taking place

within the framework of a military cooperation agreement

signed earlier this year. MS

[27] BULGARIA RAISES DANUBE BRIDGE DISPUTE WITH EU

Foreign Minister Nadezhda Mihailova on 15 July

handed Bodo Hombach, the EU official in charge of Balkan

reconstruction, a file on Bulgaria's decade-old dispute with

Romania on building a second bridge over River Danube,

Reuters reported. Hombach, was asked to intervene to

persuade the Romanian side to drop its objections to the

construction of the new bridge and its location (see

"RFE/RL Newsline," 24 February and 22 June 1999). From

Sofia Hombach went to Bucharest, where he conducted

talks with President Constantinescu, Premier Vasile, and

other officials. MS

[28] ISRAELIS CIRCUMVENT ARAB BOYCOTT OF BULGARIAN

Gad Zeevi, chairman of the board of

one of two Israeli companies that recently acquired a 75

stake in Balkan Air, told journalists in Sofia on 15 July that

the Zeevi-Arkia consortium has transferred its shares to a

Dutch subsidiary in response to Lebanon and Syria's

annulment of landing rights. He refused to name the new

shareholder and said that "the next flight of Balkan Air to

Beirut will take off as scheduled, unless the [Bulgarian]

Foreign Ministry stops it," AP reported. MS

[C] END NOTE

[29] HUNGARIAN ARMY CHIEF RESIGNS

Chief of Staff and Commander of the Hungarian Armed

Forces Colonel-General Ferenc Vegh's resignation last week

came as no surprise. Since early June, Budapest dailies have

reported on the sharp disagreements between Vegh and

Defense Minister Janos Szabo over a government plan to

increase the Defense Ministry's control over the armed

forces. Paradoxically, Vegh's resignation came at a time when

both sides claimed to uphold one and the same principle:

namely, that of civilian control over the military. Opinions

diverged, however, on how that control was to be achieved.

Vegh, a graduate of the Hungarian Military Academy who

also studied at the Soviet Union's Military College of Tank

Units and the U.S. Army's War College, was promoted to

commander in chief in 1996 under Socialist Defense Minister

Gyorgy Keleti and played a leading role in preparing the army

for accession to NATO. Vegh believes that the 1990 decision

to separate the military command and the Defense Ministry

was a wise one and that the status quo should be

maintained. He told Hungarian Radio on 6 June that he has

"always respected civilian control over the army, but the

General Staff was established two years ago to ensure

conformity with NATO, and it would be a mistake to touch

that."

Viktor Orban's government, however, thought

differently. "We cannot have a situation whereby on the

grounds of professional decisions the politicians have no say

in how public funds are spent," administrative state secretary

at the Defense Ministry Tamas Wachsler said two weeks

before Vegh's resignation. "The duty of the military is to

execute political decisions. This is what civilian control is all

about," he concluded.

The conflict peaked on 16 June when Orban told Szabo

very firmly that he expected a better performance from the

ministry. The same day, Vegh accused Szabo of managing a

400-strong "shadow General Staff" at the Defense Ministry

that advises decision-makers, while army commanders are

pushed to the background.

The ministry's response, transmitted to the media

through anonymous sources, was quick and firm: "The General

Staff must merge with the ministry and not vice versa. We

shall quash anyone who opposes the government program."

Szabo broke his long silence by admitting that he had

differences with Vegh. He said he was ready to compromise

but noted that "there are matters within the ministry that can

be settled only through orders."

Szabo won Orban's support for personnel changes in

the ministry. The first person to be removed, however, was

not Vegh, but one of his deputies, Nandor Hollosi. As for his

own status, Vegh refused to make a statement until the

situation was fully clarified. The daily "Magyar Hirlap" on 1 July

reported that NATO military leaders had already been

informed about Vegh's dismissal and that he would be

offered a diplomatic post should he volunteer to resign.

In early July, Orban ordered his military adviser, Jeno

Poda, to bring the dispute to an end within one week. Vegh

had to choose between three options: accept the new

organizational concept, resign, or be fired. Vegh submitted

his resignation to President Arpad Goncz on 9 July, thereby

ending weeks of guessing about the outcome of the rift

between the armed forces and the Defense Ministry.

Owing to the laconic statements of all the parties

involved in the conflict, it is difficult to say whether questions

of principle or of personnel were behind the dispute. The

opposition Hungarian Socialist Party believes that "the

ministry was obviously acting in accordance with a scenario."

According to the party, the unjustified dismissals and

personnel changes in the ministry and General Staff as well as

internal tensions and operational disorders cast doubt on the

competence of the ministry's leadership. The party also

noted that Hungary's constitutional system includes the

principle of the army's civilian control and that the present

government coalition ignored the parliament's role in shaping

military decisions.

According to some military experts, the merger of the

General Staff and the ministry would contravene NATO's basic

requirement about civilian control over the army.

Paradoxically, those who are in favor of the merger refer to

the lack of civilian control in the existing structure. In their

opinion, civilian control would be achieved if military

commanders were supervised by civilians.

Military diplomats, however, are mainly concerned about

Vegh's replacement. On 15 July, Lajos Fodor, deputy state

secretary at the Defense Ministry, was recommended to

succeed Vegh. Surprisingly, both the governing coalition and

the opposition--but more important, the ministry and the

General Staff--would be satisfied to see Fodor appointed

chief of staff. And there is consensus that the personnel

change will not affect Hungary's relationship with NATO.

Indeed, visiting U.S. Defense Secretary William Cohen said on

12 July in Budapest that Vegh's departure is Hungary's

internal affair.

16-07-99

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

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