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RFE/RL Newsline, Vol. 3, No. 163, 99-08-23Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty: Newsline Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty <http://www.rferl.org>RFE/RL NEWSLINEVol. 3, No. 163, 23 August 1999CONTENTS[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA
[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[C] END NOTE
[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA[01] ARMENIAN, AZERBAIJANI PRESIDENTS MEET IN GENEVAArmenian President Robert Kocharian and his Azerbaijanicounterpart, Heidar Aliev, met for two hours in a lakeside villa near Geneva on 22 August, a correspondent for RFE/RL's Armenian Service reported. After an interlude, the talks resumed in a relaxed atmosphere in the presence of the two countries' foreign ministers, Vartan Oskanian and Tofik Zulfugarov, as well as Armenian National Security Minister Serzh Sarkisian and Azerbaijani State Foreign Policy Advisor Vafa Guluzade. President Aliev told journalists later that he and Kocharian agree that the conflict must be resolved through a peaceful compromise. He added that the two countries' defense ministers will meet shortly to discuss measures to strengthen the cease-fire that has been in force since May 1994. Both presidents characterized the talks as productive and useful. LF [02] ARMENIAN FORMER MINISTER REPORTEDLY BEATEN INPRE-TRIAL DETENTIONLawyer Karo Karapetian told journalists in Yerevan on 20 August that his client, former Education Minister Ashot Bleyan, was beaten in pretrial detention in Nubarashen jail two days earlier, Noyan Tapan reported. Bleyan, who now heads the opposition Nor Ughi party, was arrested in May and charged with embezzlement (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 26 March and 14 May 1999). LF [03] DETAILS EMERGE OF AZERBAIJAN TV STATION MURDERTuran on 20 August reported that Telman Didirov, who wasmurdered three days earlier on the premises of the independent DM TV station in Balakan Raion, was a technician, not a journalist, as reported earlier (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 20 August 1999). Didirov's brother was fired as president of the local TV company on 6 June. LF [04] UNKNOWN FIGHTERS AGAIN VIOLATE GEORGIANAIR SPACETwo unidentified aircraft crossed the border from Daghestan into Georgian airspace on 19 August and circled the village of Omalo before heading toward Chechnya, Caucasus Press reported the following day. Russian aircraft mistakenly crossed from Daghestan into Georgian air space earlier this month and dropped mines in the vicinity of Omalo (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 10 August 1999). LF [05] KAZAKH OFFICIALS DENY GOVERNMENT INVOLVEMENTIN MIG SALES TO NORTH KOREAMeeting in Astana on 20 August with Kazakhstan's Prime Minister Nurlan Balghymbaev, Japanese Foreign Ministry official Keizo Takemi demanded clarification of media reports that Kazakhstan sold the six MiG fighter aircraft impounded in Baku in March to North Korea, Reuters and ITAR-TASS reported (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 24 March and 13 August 1999). Balghymbaev said the Kazakh government "had nothing to do" with the sale of the MiGs. He refused to divulge details of the ongoing investigation into the scandal. U.S. experts are participating in that investigation. Also on 20 August, Kazakhstan's Foreign Minister Kasymzhomart Toqaev told ITAR-TASS that Kazakhstan did sell a consignment of some 35-40 planes, some of which ended up in North Korea. But he stressed that the transaction "went out of control of the president and the government." LF [06] GUERRILLAS IN KYRGYZSTAN TAKE NEW HOSTAGESKyrgyz government troops on 23 August launched anoperation against two groups of guerrillas from Tajikistan who took new hostages in two separate incidents on 22 and 23 August, RFE/RL's Bishkek correspondent reported on 23 August quoting presidential spokesman Kanybek Imanaliev. On 22 August, a band of some 20 guerrillas crossed into Kyrgyzstan from Tajikistan and took some 320 villagers hostage. The following morning, a second band seized the commander of the Kyrgyz Interior Ministry forces, General Anarbek Shamkeev, and four Japanese specialists near the Altyn-Jailoo goldmine. It is unclear whether either band is the one which took four Kyrgyz officials hostage earlier this month. Defense Minister Myrzakan Subanov said on 22 August that the operation to neutralize that group has been completed. Presidential administration security and defense department head Bolot Januzakov told Reuters on 20 August that some of those guerrillas were killed or wounded as a result of bombing and artillery raids launched by Kyrgyz forces on 19 August. LF [07] ONE NEW POLITICAL PARTY REGISTERED INKYRGYZSTAN...The Ar-Namys party founded in June by former Bishkek Mayor Feliks Kulov has been formally registered by Kyrgyzstan's Ministry of Justice, RFE/RL's Bishkek bureau reported on 20 August quoting a party spokesman. Kulov resigned as mayor in April, accusing President Askar Akaev of condoning actions by his subordinates that violate democratic norms and the rule of law (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 28 April and 12 July 1999). LF [08] ...AND ANOTHER FORMEDSome 125 delegates fromthroughout Kyrgyzstan attended the founding congress in Bishkek on 21 August of a second communist party, RFE/RL's Bishkek bureau reported. The party split from the Party of Kyrgyz Communists, headed by Absamat Masaliev, who is a former First Secretary of the Central Committee of the then Kirghiz Communist Party. LF [09] TAJIKISTAN'S PARLIAMENT HIGHLIGHTS PRESSSHORTCOMINGSThe Tajik parliamentary committee for international affairs, international relations and culture met with editors of a dozen of the country's newspapers on 19 August to discuss the media situation, Asia Plus-Blitz reported the following day. Committee chairman Ibrohim Usmonov told the agency that newspapers are "full of information on violence, cruelty, and wars" and ignore the promotion of "high human values" and "protecting the national dignity of the Tajik people." There are currently some 30 weekly newspapers in Tajikistan, of which 10 are state- owned. However, there is no daily newspaper. LF [10] UZBEK PARLIAMENT ENDORSES ELECTION DATESDeputies on 20 August approved the election timetableproposed the previous day by President Islam Karimov, Russian agencies reported. Elections to a new 250-seat parliament will take place on 5 December, together with elections to city and local councils. The presidential poll will be held on 9 January. The parliament also voted to amend the existing election legislation, abolishing the 5 percent threshold for parliamentary representation. Karimov told deputies that he anticipates that "a large number of alternative candidates" will contest the parliamentary poll. All five registered political parties will be entitled to field candidates. LF [11] SAUDI GOVERNMENT DELEGATION VISITS UZBEKISTANPresident Karimov on 20 August received a delegationheaded by Saudi Minister of Trade Osama Jaafar Faquieh, Interfax reported. The Saudi delegation is attending the first session of the Uzbekistan-Saudi Arabia intergovernmental commission for economic cooperation, which opened in Tashkent on 18 August. Addressing that gathering, the Saudi minister noted an increase in trade between the two countries but added that the potential for expanding trade ties is not being fully realized. LF [B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE[12] OPEN SPLIT IN SERBIAN OPPOSITION RANKSVukDraskovic, who heads the Serbian Renewal Movement (SPO), said that "there will be [no alliance] of the opposition under any circumstances," "The Daily Telegraph" reported on 23 August. He stressed that any new government must come to power through elections, repeating his call for an early vote. Draskovic added that he will not recognize any "street cabinet elected on the streets" through mass protests. He warned that mass demonstrations could lead to civil war. Democratic Party leader Zoran Djindjic, who is Draskovic's main rival, again demanded the resignation of Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic as a precondition for holding new elections. Djindjic stressed that "politics is not made in cabinets any more, but on the streets and squares," according to the London-based daily. PM [13] WHAT MAKES DRASKOVIC SO ADAMANT?Many membersof the opposition Alliance for Change believe that Draskovic has concluded at least a tacit alliance with Milosevic, the "Berliner Zeitung" reported on 21 August. Both men support early elections (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 19 August 1999). The Berlin daily added that Milosevic's secret police may have incriminating evidence about corruption among Draskovic's supporters in the Belgrade city government. PM [14] OPPOSITION ALLIANCE TELLS MILOSEVIC TO GOVladanBatic, who is one of the leaders of the Alliance for Change coalition, said in Belgrade on 20 August that Milosevic must resign by 21 September. If he does not, the opposition will hold protests throughout Serbia until he goes. Forms of protests will include civil disobedience and a general strike, he added. Batic stressed that "there will be no turning back" for the alliance. PM [15] EIU SAYS YUGOSLAVIA POOREST COUNTRY IN EUROPEThe London-based Economist Intelligence Unit said in a reportreleased on 23 August that the recent conflict in Kosova will ultimately cost Yugoslavia some $64 billion. The study added that the war inflicted "tremendous damage" on the economy and infrastructure. This will cause GDP to shrink by more than 40 percent in 1999, making Yugoslavia Europe's poorest country. The per capita GDP in Yugoslavia for 1999 is expected to be $880, compared with $905 in Albania. GDP will remain at a level well below that of 1989 for some time to come, the report concluded. PM [16] VOJVODINA'S ETHNIC HUNGARIANS SET UP PROVISIONALNATIONAL COUNCILThree out of the six political organizations representing the region's ethnic Hungarians-- the Alliance of Vojvodina Hungarians (SVM), the Democratic Union of Vojvodina Hungarians, and the Vojvodina and Hungarian Civic Movement--have formed the National Council of Vojvodina's Hungarians, the BBC reported, citing Tanjug of 20 August. Subotica Mayor and SVM chairman Jozsef Kasza was elected head of the 55-strong council, which is composed of federal, republican, and regional ethnic Hungarian deputies, as well as municipal councilors representing the three organizations. Hungarian Radio said that the council will act as a "mini-parliament" of ethnic Hungarians living in Yugoslavia. A meeting of the Vojvodina branch committee of the Socialist Party of Serbia said the setting up of the council is a "political provocation." MS [17] DRASKOVIC SAYS WEST SEEKS 'GREATER ALBANIA'Draskovic told Belgrade's Studio-B Television on 21 Augustthat NATO seeks to set up "a large Albanian Islamic state in the Balkans." He added that Western countries intervened recently in Kosova "to purge all Serbs from [the province], to take part in the biggest crime...to help create a large Albanian state in the Balkans. That's what they are doing." He did not elaborate. Draskovic also charged that unnamed Western countries "even want to mark all Serbian houses in [Kosova], saying it would help protect them. But that would mean yellow ribbons, like those Nazis imposed on Jews," AP reported. Observers note that Serbian paramilitaries instructed local Serbs to clearly identify their homes as Serbian during the Operation Horseshoe ethnic cleansing campaign in the spring of 1999. PM [18] SERBS DEMAND OWN ENCLAVES IN KOSOVAKosovaSerb leader Momcilo Trajkovic said in Prishtina on 21 August that Kosova's dwindling Serbian minority is not secure from attacks by ethnic Albanians. He concluded that "the multi- ethnic [Kosova] has failed. We think that cantonization could stop the ongoing tragedy of the Serbian people." UN Special Representative Bernard Kouchner said he "will study" the proposal, but observers note that the UN is committed to a multi-ethnic Kosova. Ethnic Albanian spokesmen rejected Trajkovic's demand outright. Observers note that "cantonization" was one of the models suggested at various times between 1992-1995 as a possible solution for the Bosnian conflict. Critics charged that it would make permanent the results of ethnic cleansing. PM [19] KOSOVA ALBANIANS PREVENT RUSSIANS FROMENTERING RAHOVEC...Russian peacekeepers heading for Rahovec on 23 August turned back after encountering a "huge roadblock" set up by local ethnic Albanians, Reuters reported. Dutch troops have been deployed in that town, but KFOR commander General Sir Mike Jackson on 20 August ordered them to leave to make room for the Russian contingent. An older man who emerged as the ethnic Albanians' spokesman told Colonel Andrei Serdukov, who is the deputy commander of the Russian contingent, that his troops are not welcome. The man argued that Russian mercenaries took part in Serbian atrocities in the area earlier this year. He added: "We will stay here until someone comes to tell us that Russians are not coming to Rahovec." Serdukov replied that "no one will come to tell you that because there is an international agreement that the Russian army will come" to the town. FS [20] ...AFTER SERBS TURN IN 600 WEAPONSAnunspecified number of Serbian inhabitants of Rahovec had handed over around 600 weapons to KFOR as of 22 August, Reuters reported. KFOR the previous day put up posters throughout the town's Serbian neighborhood listing the names of those who had received weapons from Serbian forces during the recent conflict. The posters ordered them to turn in their weapons or face arrest. They also warned that the peacekeepers will begin house-to-house searches after the deadline expires. KFOR nonetheless extended the deadline, arguing that the collection of weapons is proceeding successfully but not yet finished. KFOR also arrested three Serbian war crimes suspects there on 20 August. Meanwhile in Prishtina, KFOR officials declined to confirm claims by Kosova Liberation Army (UCK) General Agim Ceku that the UCK has met the second disarmament deadline, which expired on 19 August. They argued that KFOR must draw up a complete inventory before confirming compliance (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 20 August 1999). FS [21] UNMIK TAKES OVER MITROVICA HOSPITALA UNadministration was installed on 22 August in a hospital in northern Mitrovica, which will employ ethnic Albanian and Serbian medical workers. Kouchner said that the hospital--located in the Serbian-dominated part of the city--is "a symbol in my eyes and it must be a symbol of the future [of Kosova].... It will be a place where everyone [will] work in tolerance, a symbol of life together." On 20 August, French KFOR troops escorted two Albanian families back to their homes in northern Mitrovica, while angry Serbs shouted curses at the peacekeepers. FS [22] DEL PONTE: TIME TO ARREST MAJOR WAR CRIMINALSCarla Del Ponte told the "International Herald Tribune" of 21August that she intends "to go after [top war criminals] aggressively because they should be brought to trial." She was referring specifically to Milosevic, paramilitary Zeljko "Arkan" Raznatovic, former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic, and former Bosnian Serb military commander General Ratko Mladic. Del Ponte is slated to succeed Louise Arbour in September as chief prosecutor for the Hague- based war crimes tribunal. PM [23] CROATIAN VETERANS PROTEST REOPENING BORDERCROSSSINGSome 500 Dubrovnik-area veterans of Croatia's 1991-1995 conflict with Serbian forces rallied on 21 August to protest the recent reopening of the Ivanica border crossing to Serbian-held eastern Herzegovina and the town of Trebinje (see "RFE/RL Newsline, 6 August 1999). The veterans charged that the international community and Croatian government did not take local sensitivities into account when they decided to reopen the crossing, RFE/RL's South Slavic Service reported. The veterans and many local people want several people living in eastern Herzegovina charged with war crimes for their alleged roles in the 1991 shelling of Dubrovnik. They include Trebinje Mayor Bozidar Vucurevic. That town has long been a Serbian nationalist stronghold. PM [24] ALBANIAN PREMIER ORDERS CHECKS ON HIGH OFFICIALSPandeli Majko on 20 August ordered the Finance Ministry toconduct checks on the personal business activities and the wealth of high-ranking government, customs, and tax officials, dpa reported. Majko also instructed the ministry to report its findings to him on a monthly basis. The orders come amid persistent press allegations of government personnel's involvement in corruption and smuggling. A government spokesman said that "the government is concerned that the high [level] of corruption may pose a serious threat to its efforts to revive the economy and to the future of the country in general." He added that unspecified international donors have asked "the government...to fight corruption and smuggling in order to benefit from the [Balkan stability] pact's economic projects." Majko also ordered the National Information Service to install hidden cameras at border crossing points. FS [25] ANTI-DEFAMATION LEAGUE REBUKES ROMANIANFOOTBALL FEDERATIONKenneth Jacobson, assistant national director of the U.S. Anti-Defamation League, said on 20 August that the Romanian Football Federation (FRF) is "sidestepping the issue" in its response to the International Federation of Amateur Football (FIFA) complaint about the anti-Semitic activities of FRF Vice President Dumitru Dragomir, AP reported. In response to FIFA's request that the FRF launch an inquiry into the anti-Semitic articles printed in the weekly "Atac la persoana," whose director is Dragomir, FRF president Mircea Sandu replied that the Romanian Information Service and the Prosecutor-General's Office informed him that "there are no anti-Semitic organizations in Romania." Jacobson says that the question is whether the Romanian authorities "are willing to stand up against racialism and do something about it," not whether organizations openly declare that they are anti-Semitic. MS [26] OPPOSITION PARTY DEPUTY LAUNCHES ANTI-SEMITICATTACK ON SENATE CHAIRMANParty of Social Democracy in Romania (PDSR) deputy Miron Mitrea told a PDSR meeting in Focsani that Senate Chairman Petre Roman, who recently announced his candidacy for the presidency, should run rather "for chief rabbi," "National" reports on 23 August. Roman's father, a communist official, was Jewish. In response to a query by the daily, Mitrea denied his remarks were anti- Semitic, saying that "he who believes that being a Jew is shameful must be considered an anti-Semite." He added that it is apparently for this reason that Roman hides his Jewishness. Roman has said that he is a member of the Romanian Orthodox Church and has even published his baptism certificate. MS [27] MOLDOVAN CONSTITUTIONAL COURT REJECTSCOMMUNIST PARTY APPEALThe Constitutional Court on 20 August rejected an appeal by the Party of Moldovan Communists (PCM) against the parliament's confidence vote in Ion Sturza's cabinet in March, Infotag reported. The PCM said the vote was invalid because the majority vote resulted from the absentee ballot of deputy Ilie Ilascu, who is imprisoned in Tiraspol. The court said it is not within its prerogatives to rule on the matter, since this would constitute a "breach of the principle of division of power" between the three branches of government. MS [28] BULGARIANS FAIL TO DEMOLISH DIMITROV MAUSOLEUMAn attempt to demolish the mausoleum of Bulgaria's firstcommunist leader ended in failure on 21 August. The building did not collapse as planned after engineers set off a remote- controlled blast of some 600 kilograms of explosives. The building remained standing, although it tilted slightly to the left. A second attempt also failed. Reuters quoted an onlooker as saying the building was "just as stiff as communism," while AP quoted a communist sympathizer as commenting that "there is just not enough ammunition to destroy our ideas." The mausoleum will now be demolished by bulldozers and cranes. MS [C] END NOTE[29] LONG SHADOW OF AN OLD AGREEMENTBy Paul GobleToday marks the 60th anniversary of the Molotov- Ribbentrop Pact, the deal between Hitler and Stalin that touched off World War II and that continues to cast a shadow over Eastern Europe and relations between Moscow and the West. On 23 August 1939, German Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop and his Soviet counterpart, Vyacheslav Molotov, signed a non-aggression pact between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union. Because this agreement eliminated the immediate threat to Germany of a two-front war, it freed Hitler to launch the attack on Poland that began World War II. And because it allowed Germany to acquire numerous militarily important supplies from the USSR, it helped to power Nazi victories in Europe in 1939 and 1940. But even more important, this agreement--and especially a secret protocol, the existence of which both Berlin and Moscow long denied--drew a new line in Eastern Europe between a German and a Russian sphere of influence, a line that allowed Stalin to put pressure on and then absorb the three Baltic countries. If much of the importance of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact was made irrelevant by Hitler's decision to attack the Soviet Union in June 1941 and by the eventual defeat of Nazi Germany in 1945, the sphere of influence the pact gave to Moscow over Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania has had a much longer life. Virtually all Western governments followed the U.S. in refusing to recognize as legitimate Stalin's occupation of these three small countries. Most maintained ties with the diplomatic representatives of the pre-occupation authorities and adopted other measures to show their non-recognition of what the Soviet Union had done. And that policy, one that Baltic leaders have always said encouraged them in their struggle against the occupation, continued until August 1991 when Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania successfully achieved the restoration of their state sovereignty as full members of the international state system. But in an important sense, Moscow's sphere of influence as defined by this pact continues to play a role in the thinking of both Russian and Western leaders. Until almost the end of the Soviet period, Moscow officials denied the existence of the secret protocol to the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact. And when they could no longer deny that, they retreated to an insistence that the Sovietization of the Baltic States in 1940 had nothing to do with that accord. However, as Baltic, Russian, and Western historians have demonstrated, Stalin occupied Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania when he did only because of the assurances Hitler had given him that these countries lay within Moscow's sphere of influence. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, the situation has changed again, but it is still the case that many in Moscow call for Western recognition that the Baltic countries lie within a Russian sphere of influence. And they advance as the basis for that claim the notion that Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania were part of the Soviet Union. In the past, most Western officials were careful to speak about the existence of 12 Soviet republics and three occupied Baltic states and thus to implicitly reject Moscow's pretensions in this regard. But more recently, senior Western officials and various Western academic experts have made ever more references to the supposed existence of "15 former Soviet republics." These call into question the West's non-recognition policy. Moreover, they are taken by Moscow as an implicit recognition that the Soviet borders are still a dividing line in Europe. That pattern, in turn, has encouraged some in the Russian capital to assume that Moscow can deal with the Baltic countries in much the same way it has dealt with its other neighbors, an assumption that threatens not only the security of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania but also the stability of Europe as a whole. As a result and despite all the talk about a Europe without new lines of division and about the future inclusion of everyone in all international structures, such comments and assumptions appear to reinforce just such a line--one drawn 60 years ago by two of the most evil figures of our time. 23-08-99 Reprinted with permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
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