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RFE/RL Newsline, Vol. 3, No. 153, 99-08-09Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty: Newsline Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty <http://www.rferl.org>RFE/RL NEWSLINEVol. 3, No. 153, 9 August 1999CONTENTS[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA
[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[C] END NOTE
[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA[01] CIS TOP OFFICIAL VISITS AZERBAIJANOn a working visit toBaku on 6-7 August, CIS Executive Secretary Yurii Yarov discussed the ongoing streamlining of CIS executive structures with Azerbaijani President Heidar Aliev, ITAR-TASS and Turan reported. Yarov said that the creation of alliances such as GUUAM by CIS member states does not detract from the viability of the CIS, which, he argued, would be more effective if its members could agree on creating a CIS free trade zone. (Turkmenistan in June rejected that proposal). Turan quoted Yarov as saying that the CIS Executive Committee wants individual CIS member states to give Russia plenary powers to negotiate with international organizations, such as the UN, the IMF, and the World Bank, on behalf of the presidents of CIS states. LF [02] AZERBAIJANI OPPOSITION POLITICIAN'S TRIAL POSTPONEDThetrial of Geyrat Party chairman and former presidential candidate Ashraf Mehtiev has been postponed indefinitely, Turan reported on 6 August. Mehtiev was charged with insulting the honor and dignity of President Aliev by alleging the latter is an ethnic Kurd. Mehtiev's trial opened in Baku last month but was subsequently adjourned. LF [03] SUSPECTS WALK FREE AS KAZAKH LAWYERS CONTINUE STRIKECriminal suspects are being released from jail without trialbecause of the ongoing strike by Kazakhstan's lawyers, AP reported on 7 August. Under Kazakhstan's constitution, suspects can be detained without trial for no longer than six months. The lawyers' union estimates that in Almaty alone, more than 100 persons charged with violent crimes have been released. Lawyers in Kazakhstan launched a strike in early April to demand that the government pay their back wages for the previous six months (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 2 April 1999). LF [04] KAZAKHSTAN RELEASES DETAINED KYRGYZThe 17 Kyrgyz detainedthree weeks ago at a holiday home near the Kazakh town of Taraz were released on 6 August, Human Rights Movement of Kyrgyzstan chairman Tursunbek Akunov told RFE/RL's Bishkek bureau the following day. The Kyrgyz were among 78 people who had gathered to hold common prayers (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 20 July and 6 August 1999). LF [05] RUSSIAN INTERIOR MINISTER VISITS TAJIKISTANOn a two-dayworking visit to Dushanbe on 6-7 August, Vladimir Rushailo held talks with Tajik President Imomali Rakhmonov and with Tajik colleagues on cooperation in combating organized and economic crime, terrorism, as well as arms- and drug- trafficking, ITAR-TASS reported. They focused on the performance of joint working groups created for that purpose earlier this year. LF [06] TAJIK COTTON HARVEST A WASHOUTMinister of AgricultureSherali Safarov told Interfax on 6 August that this year Tajikistan is likely to harvest only 380,000 tons of cotton or just over half the planned target of 600,000 tons. He blamed the shortfall on shortages of fuel and spare parts for agricultural machinery and on the torrential rains in Khatlon Oblast last month. In 1997, Tajikistan harvested 385,000 tons of cotton. LF [07] TURKMEN GAS PIPELINE AGREEMENTS SIGNED...Representatives ofShell and PSG signed three agreements in Ashgabat on 5 August on the extraction of Turkmen natural gas and its export via the planned Trans-Caspian gas pipeline, Interfax reported. Shell and PSG signed a letter of intent on the implementation of that project, under which Shell undertook to raise 50 percent of construction costs. Shell also signed an "agreement of strategic alliance" with the Turkmen government on exploring and developing gas deposits from which gas can be exported via the planned pipeline. And PSG signed a preliminary agreement with the Turkmen government on the commercial and legal basis for operating the pipeline. LF [08] ...AS AZERBAIJAN EXPRESSES INTERESTSpeaking in Baku thefollowing day, Azerbaijan state oil company president Natik Aliev said his country hopes the Trans-Caspian gas pipeline will transit Azerbaijan and Georgia, ITAR-TASS reported. Aliev said the pipeline will have an annual capacity of 30 billion cubic meters, and he expressed the hope that Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan will be able to reach an agreement allowing Azerbaijan to use part of that capacity to export its own gas. US State Department adviser for the Caspian John Wolf said in Baku the same day that PSG will conduct talks on this issue in Baku "soon." LF [09] TURKMENISTAN, UKRAINE AGAIN AT ODDS OVER GAS SUPPLIESUkrainian Premier Valeriy Pustovoytenko said on 6 August thatagreement had been reached during talks with Turkmen government officials the previous day on resuming supplies of Turkmen natural gas to Ukraine before the end of this month, Interfax reported. Turkmenistan halted exports to Ukraine in late May. But in Ashgabat, the chairman of Turkmenistan's state gas company, Berdymurat Redjepov, said the same day that supplies will not be resumed any time soon because Ukraine has not yet made the required payment in hard currency for 6 billion cubic meters of gas it received between January and late May 1999. Forty percent of that debt was to be paid in hard currency and the remainder in barter goods, not all of which have been supplied. LF [B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE[10] ETHNIC ALBANIANS CLASH WITH KFOR IN MITROVICA...Up to 1,000ethnic Albanians clashed with French KFOR soldiers from 7 through 9 August at Mitrovica's central bridge leading into the Serb-dominated northern part of the city, Reuters reported. The soldiers were hindering the protesters from entering that part of the city, fearing bloodshed between armed ethnic Serbs and Albanians. The protesters punched, spat, and threw cans at the soldiers. KFOR detained one ethnic Albanian. A KFOR spokesman said that "these mobs on the bridge were certainly orchestrated by the Kosova Liberation Army (UCK) to crank up the pressure on us [to let them take over northern Mitrovica]. But this would cause major violence." French troops also arrested four Serbs in the northern part of Mitrovica for possession of weapons. Meanwhile, unknown attackers fired a rifle-propelled grenade from the south into northern Mitrovica, but there were no injuries or serious damage. FS [11] ...CAUSING CONCERN THAT UCK LOST CONTROL OVER HARD-LINERSReuters reported on 9 August that KFOR commander General SirMike Jackson told "The Scotsman": "I can't say I'm fully confident that [the UCK is] in full control [among ethnic Albanians]. They are going to have to work with their own people to show that they have a [Kosova] now which is hugely different from the [Kosova] they had three months ago.... They've got a great deal of what they fought for--O.K. not independence--but they have a free [Kosova], which is almost the same thing." Jackson warned: "We may get some difficulty with fringe hotheads and we will deal with it. But for the [UCK] to do anything other than conform to the [demilitarization] undertaking they have assigned themselves...would be the most foolish thing to do, and I'm sure they are not going to be that foolish." FS [12] INTERNATIONAL POLICE BEGIN WORK IN KOSOVAThe first 500international policemen formally assumed their duties in Kosova on 8 August, AP reported. The UN Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) plans to deploy a total of 3,100 international police. So far, Bangladesh, Canada, Chile, Denmark, Germany, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Sweden, and the U.S have all contributed to the force. Meanwhile, 10 people, including eight Serbs, were injured in four separate grenade attacks that day in various parts of Kosova. In Prishtina on 6 August, KFOR raided the house of the UCK's interior minister, Rexhep Selimi. The peacekeepers found a submachine gun, a hand grenade, ammunition, and 20 radio frequency scanners, along with illegal identity cards, marked "Ministry of Public Order," allowing the holder of the card to make arrests. FS [13] RUGOVA WANTS TO REMAIN KOSOVAR PRESIDENTModerate Kosovarleader Ibrahim Rugova told "Der Spiegel" of 6 August that he will run in the Kosova presidential elections in 2000. Rugova was elected as president of the Kosovar shadow state twice in underground elections, namely in 1992 and 1998. He stressed that "I remain the president of Kosova and insist on a direct vote shortly before or after [parliamentary] elections." Rugova added that "within three years we will hold a referendum [on independence]. After that the Serbs can only accept our independence." FS [14] TRAJKOVIC: MILOSEVIC'S DEPARTURE IS KOSOVA'S HOPEMomciloTrajkovic, who heads Kosova's Serbian Resistance Movement, said in Belgrade that Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic must leave office if Kosova is to remain multiethnic and part of Serbia. He stressed that Serbia must become democratic if the Serbs are to have a future in Kosova, the daily "Danas" reported on 9 August. Trajkovic said that he will seek the establishment of five special "cantons" in the province as an interim solution. Each canton would be multi-ethnic, and Serbs and ethnic Albanians would share political power. The five would be centered on the cities of Prishtina, Mitrovica, Gjilan, Prizren, and Peja. PM [15] GJILAN SERBS BOYCOTT UN AUTHORITYThe local Serbian "Churchand People's Committee" in Gjilan has turned down a request by the UN's civilian administration to take part in local government bodies. Committee leaders said that they will not take part in UN-sponsored bodies until the security situation for Serbian civilians improves, "Danas" reported on 9 August. PM [16] MILOSEVIC BLASTS OPPOSITIONMilosevic told a gathering ofSerbian emigres in Belgrade on 6 August that his opponents are "corrupt politicians" seeking to destabilize Serbia. He charged that NATO is using those politicians to achieve "the aims it failed to do with 22,000 tons of bombs dropped on our country." On 7 August, Deputy Prime Minister Nikola Sainovic told state-run television that "big powers have their agents in Yugoslavia." He was apparently referring to the opposition. PM [17] SERBIAN OPPOSITION REMAINS ADAMANTVladan Batic, who is oneof the leaders of the Alliance for Change, told more than 2,000 protesters in Vrbas on 7 August that Milosevic should have responded to his critics sooner. The president has "only now peeked out from his mouse hole to call us traitors. But who is the traitor after all," Batic added. His remarks reflect the view of many Serbs that Milosevic betrayed Serbian interests by provoking and losing a conflict with NATO. In Zabalj, Democratic Party leader Zoran Djindjic told 800 people that the only way to oust Milosevic is to continue to hold meetings in cities and towns across Serbia, the Frankfurt-based Serbian daily "Vesti" reported. He urged the people to "take their destiny in their hands [and oust] "tyrants, thieves, and criminal gangs." PM [18] DRASKOVIC SAYS TRANSITION MUST BE GRADUALSerbian ResistanceMovement leader Vuk Draskovic told RFE/RL's South Slavic Service on 7 August that Milosevic will leave office only if there is a "political agreement" between his government and the opposition leading to the establishment of a transitional government. Draskovic added, however, that Milosevic's Prime Minister Momir Bulatovic must resign as soon as possible because Montenegro does not recognize him. PM [19] MOST SERBIAN RESERVISTS END HUNGER STRIKEMiodrag Stankovic,who heads the local veterans' association in Nis, said on 8 August that out of a group of nine reservists, he is the only one who will continue the hunger strike for back wages (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 6 August 1999). Stankovic noted that the other men ended their 13-day-old protest on doctors' advice. He added that he has received no response from other veterans to his recent call for a joint protest in Belgrade, Reuters reported. PM [20] CROATIAN ARCHBISHOP IN VOJVODINAZagreb's Archbishop JosipBozanic arrived in Subotica on 7 August for a three-day visit to Vojvodina. He appealed to local Croats to remain in Subotica, "Jutarnji list" reported. PM [21] BOSNIAN SERB LEADER CALLS FOR REVISING BORDER AGREEMENTPetar Djokic, who is speaker of the Republika Srpska'sparliament, said in Banja Luka that the recently signed border delineation agreement between Bosnia and Croatia should be changed (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 5 August 1999). He stressed that the Una River should form the boundary between the two republics, RFE/RL South Slavic Service reported on 7 August. PM [22] BOSNIAN-CROATIAN BORDER CROSSING OPENSRepresentatives ofthe office of the international community's high representative in Bosnia opened the border crossing near Ivanica on the Dubrovnik-Trebinje road on 6 August. No local Croatian officials took part, RFE/RL's South Slavic Service reported. The route linking southern Dalmatia with the eastern part of the Republika Srpska had been closed for eight years. PM [23] CROATIA EXTRADITES WAR CRIMES SUSPECTCroatian authoritiesplaced Vinko "Stela" Martinovic on a flight bound for The Hague on 9 August. The war crimes tribunal previously indicted him for crimes committed in Bosnia during the 1992- 1995 war (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 20 July 1999). The Croatian authorities' refusal until now to extradite him has been a source of tension between Zagreb and the tribunal. PM [24] MACEDONIA, TAIWAN SIGN ECONOMIC AGREEMENTSTaiwanese andMacedonian officials signed several economic cooperation agreements in Skopje on 7 and 8 August, AP reported. Taiwan will invest $200 million in a tax-free industrial zone near Skopje. The signing of the agreements came at the end of a visit by Premier Vincent Siew and a high-ranking Taiwanese delegation (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 5 August 1999). Macedonian President Kiro Gligorov, who is opposed to Macedonia's recognition of Taiwan, refused to meet with Siew. FS [25] ROMANIAN AMBASSADOR HAILS U.S. CONGRESS DRAFT RESOLUTIONRomanian Ambassador to the U.S. Mircea Geoana, in aninterview with Romanian Television on 6 August, hailed the draft resolution on Romania that was submitted to the House of Representatives on 3 August but warned not to overestimate its significance, which, Geoana said, is "mainly political." Among other things, the draft says the U.S. will "support Romania's territorial integrity and will insist on that integrity being respected by all neighboring countries" as well as by all political formations in Romania or in other countries. The draft also recommends that the U.S. assist Romania in overcoming the costs incurred by the Kosova war and in rescheduling or writing off debts to foreign creditors. President Emil Constantinescu is currently on a private visit to the U.S. MS [26] MINERS' COMMEMORATION STIRS UP ROMANIAN CONTROVERSYFormerPresident Ion Iliescu, addressing a gathering in Lupeni, Jiu valley, on 6 August to mark the 70th anniversary of a miners' strike that was quashed by the army, said that "unfortunately, history repeats itself," noting that the current government has again used violence against the miners. Iliescu called on those present to "hold on" till he returns to power and repairs the damage caused by the country's rulers. Alliance for Romania chairman Teodor Melescanu also attended the gathering, an RFE/RL correspondent in Lupeni reported. A Ministry of Defense press release on 7 August said the ministry views the "presence of certain politicians" at the ceremony as "an insult to the army." It said the 1929 miners' strike was a "Comintern provocation" and the army's "energetic intervention" at the time "re-established peace and the rule of the law." MS [27] IMF APPROVES TRANCHE DISBURSEMENT FOR MOLDOVAThe IMFexecutive board on 6 August approved the disbursement of a $34 million tranche of a $195 million loan approved in 1996, Reuters reported. The board said that the financial crisis in Russia has had a severe impact on Moldova, and it praised the steps taken by Ion Sturza's cabinet toward tightening monetary policy and accelerating privatization and structural reform. But the board added that it is "concerned" about the fact that "domestic arrears continue to mount" and about Moldova's foreign-debt servicing difficulties. It urged Chisinau to "seek a prompt negotiated settlement with its creditors." The conditions for disbursing further tranches include keeping the decline in GDP below 5 percent this year, not allowing inflation to exceed 24.2 percent, and ensuring that the budget deficit is below 3 percent of GDP. MS [28] MOLDOVAN PRO-PRESIDENTIAL PARTY DISTANCES ITSELF FROMLUCINSCHIThe Executive Bureau of the pro-presidential For a Democratic and Prosperous Moldova movement has urged President Petru Lucinschi to renounce the intention to hold a referendum on changing the country's system to a presidential one, Infotag and BASA-press reported on 6 August. The bureau said the presidential initiative might "negatively impact" Moldova's image abroad and that it runs contrary to "the fundamental European democratic principles." It also said it is ready to initiate a debate in the parliament on strengthening the president's executive prerogatives. MS [29] LUKOIL BID SELECTED FOR BULGARIAN REFINERY PRIVATIZATIONLUKoil's bid for a 58 percent stake in the Neftochimrefinery, the largest in Bulgaria, has been selected by the Privatization Agency from among several bids, AP and BTA reported on 6 August. The Russian oil giant has undertaken to pay $107 million for the stake and to invest a "much larger" sum in the refinery's modernization. The daily "Demokratsia," cited by AP, said the price of the stake could be revised after LUKoil experts carry out by the end of next month a detailed examination of the refinery and its equipment. MS [C] END NOTE[30] TILTING THE CHESSBOARD IN MOSCOWBy Paul GobleOnce again, Boris Yeltsin has tilted the political chessboard in Moscow, giving himself new room for maneuver by upsetting the calculations of others--at the cost of throwing the Russian government into turmoil. Earlier today, the Russian president fired his prime minister, Sergei Stepashin, along with the entire government, and replaced him with Vladimir Putin, until now head of Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) and a longtime KGB agent. In making this change, Yeltsin said that he wants to put Putin in a position to succeed him as president, thus highlighting Yeltsin's growing unhappiness with the political coalitions now being formed against him and hinting at his approach in the upcoming parliamentary and presidential elections. Further, this latest move--particularly in the context of the renewed fighting in the North Caucasus--raises the possibility that Yeltsin will seek to postpone those votes by declaring a state of emergency or will try to gain more influence over the electoral process by putting himself in a position to do precisely that. But any short-term gains he may have made in the overheated politics of Moscow may be swamped both by the probable reaction of his political opponents and the even more predictable reaction of international financial markets and Western governments. Precisely because most of Yeltsin's opponents are likely to view his motives as a transparent threat to themselves and because Yeltsin has used similar tactics in the past, political leaders in the State Duma and in Russia's regions are likely to redouble their efforts to gain power at his expense. The electoral coalitions that have emerged in the last few weeks are likely to consolidate rather than crack as a result of Stepashin's departure and Putin's appointment. Those involved in such coalitions will doubtless conclude that Yeltsin's move is directed not only against their current clout but also their future power in the Russian state. That may make the confirmation of Putin more rather than less difficult. It may also lead to new demands for Yeltsin's impeachment and possibly trigger other kinds of political maneuvers against an action that many political figures, not to mention the Russian public, are likely to view as the latest indication of Yeltsin's arbitrariness and unfitness for office. Thus, August is likely to once again prove the hottest month politically in the Russian capital. Moreover, this pattern of domestic unhappiness with Yeltsin's move may be compounded by the reaction of the West. Both financial markets and international financial institutions are likely to react negatively to this latest indication of instability within the upper echelons of the Russian state. The reaction of the markets is almost certain to be both quick and negative, driving down the ruble's exchange rate, reducing still further the willingness of private firms to invest there, and thus further exacerbating Russia's economic difficulties. All those developments will only highlight the conditions that are behind the growing opposition to Yeltsin among the Russian people. The initial reaction of Western governments is likely to be more cautious. On the one hand, many are likely to view Yeltsin's latest move the same way they viewed earlier ones of this kind--as a high risk but as perhaps the necessary step by someone many have come to view as the only reliable partner they have in Moscow. On the other, precisely because Yeltsin has used this stratagem so often and precisely because it is once again threatening to destabilize the political situation in Moscow, ever more voices in Western capitals are likely to begin to ask questions about Yeltsin's reliability and about relations with Moscow after Yeltsin. The latter response is particularly likely because of Yeltsin's suggestion that he would like to see Putin as his successor. Some are certain to be concerned by the prospect of a longtime Soviet spy at the head of the Russian government, while others will be worried by the possibility that Yeltsin may suddenly transfer power to Putin as a means of avoiding a loss in the upcoming parliamentary elections. Each time Yeltsin has tossed the Russian chessboard into the air in order to maintain power, there have been suggestions that he has used this strategy once too often. That is certain to be the case once again this week. And regardless of whether this is Yeltsin's final August ploy, the suggestions themselves will cast an ever larger shadow over Russian politics, the Russian people, and Russia's relations with the West. 09-08-99 Reprinted with permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
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