RFE/RL Newsline, Vol. 3, No. 169, 99-08-31

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

RFE/RL NEWSLINE

Vol. 3, No. 169, 31 August 1999

CONTENTS

[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA

[01] ARMENIAN PREMIER OUTLINES PARLIAMENT'S TASKS

[02] GEORGIA OPPOSES RUSSIAN PROPOSAL TO LIFT ABKHAZ SANCTIONS

[03] KAZAKH PRESIDENT REDEFINES ROLE OF STATE OIL COMPANY

[04] KAZAKHSTAN DELAYS DECISION ON RESUMPTION OF PROTON ROCKET

[05] KAZAKHSTAN'S OPPOSITION POLITICIANS, PENSIONERS MARK

[06] SECRET AMMUNITION CACHE DISCOVERED IN KAZAKHSTAN

[07] KYRGYZ TROOPS HALT MILITANTS' ADVANCE...

[08] ...AS OFFICIALS PONDER OPTIONS

[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE

[09] U.S. WARNS UCK...

[10] ...BUT ARE THE KOSOVAR GUERRILLAS LISTENING?

[11] RAHOVEC DEADLOCK CONTINUES

[12] UN SECURITY COUNCIL WANTS END TO VIOLENCE

[13] UNMIK CALLS ON KOSOVA FIRMS TO REGISTER

[14] 'FIRST SHOCK WAVES' FROM SERBIA'S NEW REFUGEES

[15] ALBANIAN LEADERS URGE VOJVODINA HUNGARIANS TO BE MORE

[16] KFOR, MACEDONIA TRADE CHARGES

[17] BATIC SETS CONDITIONS FOR SERBIAN ELECTIONS

[18] DODIK SAYS NO ELECTIONS IN REPUBLIKA SRPSKA

[19] EXPERTS FIND MASS GRAVES IN BOSNIA

[20] CALL FOR ETHNIC SERBS TO VOTE IN CROATIAN ELECTIONS

[21] 'TUTA' TO THE HAGUE THIS WEEK?

[22] MENINGITIS EPIDEMIC POSTPONES ROMANIAN SCHOOLYEAR

[23] ROMANIAN JOURNALIST SAYS HE WAS ORDERED TO WRITE ANTI-SEMITIC

[24] MOLDOVA TO RESTORE BULGARIAN DISTRICT?

[25] BULGARIAN CHIEF OF STAFF CRITICIZES PLANNED CUTS

[26] BULGARIAN COURT ORDERS REGISTRATION OF CONTROVERSIAL PARTY

[C] END NOTE

[27] FISCHER WINS, KLAUS LOSES

[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA

[01] ARMENIAN PREMIER OUTLINES PARLIAMENT'S TASKS

appealed to parliamentary deputies on 28 August to cooperate

with the government in overcoming Armenia's current problems,

Noyan Tapan reported on 30 August. Sargsian identified three

factors contributing to those problems: "confusion" following

the collapse of the USSR and the war with Azerbaijan;

inappropriate policy decisions by previous governments; and

the "criminal activities" of unnamed individuals whom he said

should be brought to account. Sargsian proposed that the

parliament appoint special commissions to assess

controversial privatization deals and to supervise the

implementation of credit programs. He also urged deputies to

enact legislation on credits, audits, and the civil service.

"Iravunk" on 27 August estimated that more than 100 of the

131 parliamentary deputies are either members of the

Miasnutyun bloc, which unites Sargsian's Republican Party amd

Karen Demirchian's People's Party of Armenia, or back the

government's policies rather than risk falling out of favor

with Sargsian. LF

[02] GEORGIA OPPOSES RUSSIAN PROPOSAL TO LIFT ABKHAZ SANCTIONS

briefing, President Eduard Shevardnadze strongly criticized

Russian Border Guards commander General Konstantin Totskii's

proposal that Moscow might unilaterally lift the "economic

blockade" imposed on Abkhazia in 1996. That proposal,

Shevardnadze said, is "unjustified" and exceeds the general's

sphere of competence, Caucasus Press reported. Totskii had

argued that Russia is entitled to take its own decisions

regarding controls and restrictions on its borders.

Shevardnadze claimed that the ban on allowing residents of

Abkhazia to cross the border into the Russian Federation or

Russian citizens from bringing goods into Abkhazia does not

constitute a blockade, but rather economic sanctions. He

added that such statements create tensions in bilateral

relations. Georgian Border Guards chief General Valerii

Chkheidze said any unilateral attempt by Russia to raise the

blockade would violate bilateral agreements. In a 30 August

statement, the Georgian Border Guard Service condemned

Totskii's statement as directed against Georgia's sovereignty

and territorial integrity. LF

[03] KAZAKH PRESIDENT REDEFINES ROLE OF STATE OIL COMPANY

and duties of the state oil company KazakhOil, Interfax

reported on 30 August. The law has not yet been published,

but a spokesman for KazakhOil told Interfax that the company

has approved its content. The law defines KazakhOil as a

state company in which the state owns 100 percent of shares.

It assigns KazakhOil the duty of monitoring the work of

foreign oil companies operating in Kazakhstan to ensure they

comply with Kazakh law and the terms of their contracts. And

it includes a provision requiring all oil companies to engage

the services of local companies to provide goods and

services. LF

[04] KAZAKHSTAN DELAYS DECISION ON RESUMPTION OF PROTON ROCKET

Kazakhstan has secured the indefinite postponement

of a 30 August meeting between the Russian and Kazakh

government commissions that assessed the damage caused by the

July explosion of a Russian Proton rocket shortly after

blastoff from the Baikonur cosmodrome, Interfax reported on

30 August, quoting Russian Space Agency Deputy Director Boris

Ostroumov. Ostroumov said that Kazakh experts have found more

debris from the rocket and sent it to Moscow to determine

whether it is contaminated with toxic heptyl fuel. The

government commissions were to have agreed at the 30 August

meeting on lifting the Kazakh ban on further launches of

Proton rockets from Baikonur. LF

[05] KAZAKHSTAN'S OPPOSITION POLITICIANS, PENSIONERS MARK

Pensioners in Almaty gathered in the city's

central square on 30 August, the anniversary of the 1995

adoption of Kazakhstan's Constitution, for their monthly

demonstration to protest inadequate pensions, RFE/RL

correspondents in the former capital reported. Opposition

leaders Madel Ismailov (Workers Movement), Seydakhmet

Quttyqadam (Orleu Party), and Ghaniy Qasymov (an independent

presidential candidate who failed in his bid for that office

earlier this year) took advantage of the public holiday to

engage in electioneering, trying to persuade voters not to

support the pro-presidential Otan (Fatherland) Party in the

upcoming parliamentary poll. LF

[06] SECRET AMMUNITION CACHE DISCOVERED IN KAZAKHSTAN

detonators, and two explosive devices have been discovered

during the demolition of garages in Astana belonging to the

Interior Ministry, ITAR-TASS reported on 30 August. It is

unclear who owns the ammunition. LF

[07] KYRGYZ TROOPS HALT MILITANTS' ADVANCE...

Kyrgyzstan's President Askar Akaev issued a statement on 30

August saying that earlier that day Kyrgyz troops engaged the

guerrillas who had seized control of several villages in Osh

Oblast and taken several dozen hostages, thereby preventing

the guerillas from advancing further into Kyrgyz territory.

The fighting took place in the Chon-Alai district. Also on 30

August, General Bolot Djanuzakov, who heads the Defense and

Security Department within the presidential administration,

told journalists that Kyrgyzstan has lodged an official

protest with Uzbekistan over Uzbek bombing raids the previous

day over Chon-Alai and Batken Raions, in which several

civilians were killed. The raids were intended to target the

guerrillas. LF

[08] ...AS OFFICIALS PONDER OPTIONS

Muratbek Imanaliev said in Bishkek on 30 August that the

Kyrgyz authorities are capable of localizing and neutralizing

the guerrillas without outside help, Interfax reported. But

the same day, Kyrgyzstan's First Deputy Prime Minister Boris

Silaev met in Moscow with Russian Defense Minister Igor

Sergeev to discuss the optimum tactics to use against the

militants. In Almaty, Kazakhstan's acting Defense Minister

Bakhytzhan Yertaev told Khabar News Agency that Kazakhstan

will this week give Kyrgyzstan ammunition and some military

hardware (but not armored vehicles) to combat the militant

threat, Interfax reported. LF

[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE

[09] U.S. WARNS UCK...

said in Prishtina on 30 August that "ethnic differences in

this region really are...just racism. The Serbs of this

region have a historic right to live here, too." The

ambassador stressed that Kosova is the "ultimate test for the

UN's capability and its potential." Speaking at the same

press conference, U.S. Senator Joseph Biden warned the Kosova

Liberation Army (UCK) that it must meet its 19 September

deadline to disarm completely: "If it appeared as though the

very forces...and people we came to help were now not engaged

on a path that was moving toward democratization, support

from the U.S. Congress would evaporate overnight," Biden

said. The senator warned against any attempts to partition

Kosova on an ethnic basis. PM

[10] ...BUT ARE THE KOSOVAR GUERRILLAS LISTENING?

with Holbrooke, General Agim Ceku, who heads the UCK General

Staff, said in Prishtina on 30 August that his organization

will meet the deadline. He added, however, that "the UCK will

transform in several directions.... One part will become part

of the police, one part will become civil administration, one

part will become the Army of Kosova, as a defense force. And

another part will form a political party." Holbrooke refused

to comment on Ceku's remarks. The June agreement between NATO

and the UCK does not refer to any Kosova army. PM

[11] RAHOVEC DEADLOCK CONTINUES

began their second week of protest aimed at preventing

Russian KFOR troops from entering their town (see "RFE/RL

Newsline," 24 August 1999). Russian officers called off a

planned meeting with local Albanians when the Russians

learned that General Wolfgang Sauer could not be present at

the talks. It is unclear why the German commander was not

available. PM

[12] UN SECURITY COUNCIL WANTS END TO VIOLENCE

body said in a statement on 30 August that it condemns

violence against civilians in Kosova, especially against

members of ethnic minorities. The text also reaffirmed "the

principle of respect for the sovereignty and territorial

integrity of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia," AP

reported. PM

[13] UNMIK CALLS ON KOSOVA FIRMS TO REGISTER

United Nations Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) called on import-

export firms to register with UNMIK, RFE/RL's South Slavic

Service reported on 30 August. UNMIK officials said that they

want to introduce import-export permits to put an end to the

current "chaos," which, they added, has been exploited by

organized criminals from Albania. PM

[14] 'FIRST SHOCK WAVES' FROM SERBIA'S NEW REFUGEES

year is about to begin in Serbia, which for many communities

has led to the first serious problems in conjunction with the

170,000 refugees from Kosova, Belgrade's "Danas" reported on

30 August. Many of the refugees are housed in schools, and

alternative quarters are proving difficult to find. In

Kraljevo, which is north of Kosova, there are 350 teachers

and 3,500 school-age children among 26,000 refugees, but few

of those children will be allowed to register for classes

there. The Belgrade authorities insist that, wherever

possible, refugee children return to schools in Kosova.

Failing that, the children are to register in districts

bordering the province. The only pupils who will be allowed

to register elsewhere in Serbia are those whose parents were

sent there by the government or their employer. PM

[15] ALBANIAN LEADERS URGE VOJVODINA HUNGARIANS TO BE MORE

President Rexhep Meidani and Prime Minister

Pandeli Majko told visiting Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor

Orban in Tirana on 30 August that Vojvodina should have a

"new status." The Albanian leaders did not elaborate, dpa

reported. Majko said that unnamed Serbian politicians are

speaking more about Serbia and less about Yugoslavia.

Vojvodina Hungarians should also "think more about

themselves," the Albanian prime minister commented. PM

[16] KFOR, MACEDONIA TRADE CHARGES

Skopje on 30 August that a Norwegian peacekeeper being held

by Macedonian authorities can be investigated or tried only

by Norway in conjunction with a recent fatal traffic accident

(see "RFE/RL Newsline," 30 August 1999). Macedonian media

accused KFOR of "arrogant, violent, and insensitive behavior"

since the peacekeepers arrived in the spring, Reuters

reported. Interior Minister Pavle Trajanov demanded tighter

controls by Macedonian authorities over the movements of KFOR

forces. He called for a ban on helicopter flights over Skopje

at night and for "regulation" of troop movements and

soldiers' leaves. In Brussels, top NATO officials met with

the Macedonian ambassador. The outcome of the talks is not

known. PM

[17] BATIC SETS CONDITIONS FOR SERBIAN ELECTIONS

who is one of the leaders of the opposition Alliance for

Change, said in Belgrade on 30 August that the alliance will

not take part in any elections in which there are candidates

whom the Hague-based war crimes tribunal has indicted. The

alliance also insisted that persons whom the EU has banned

from travel to EU states not be allowed to run for office.

Observers note that these two conditions are tantamount to a

rejection of any election in which Yugoslav President

Slobodan Milosevic and his top officials participate.

Elsewhere, a spokesman for Milosevic's Socialist Party said

that there is no need for foreign monitors to observe any

elections in Serbia. He added that "the stories of electoral

fraud are unreal and so are the [opposition's] demands for

OSCE monitors," AP reported. PM

[18] DODIK SAYS NO ELECTIONS IN REPUBLIKA SRPSKA

whom the international community's Carlos Westendorp has

sacked as Republika Srpska president but who refuses to step

down, wrote caretaker Prime Minister Milorad Dodik and

parliamentary speaker Petar Djokic that parliamentary

elections must be held soon. He argued that early elections

are the only way out of a deadlock that has left the Bosnian

Serb entity without a government for nearly a year, the

Frankfurt-based Serbian daily "Vesti" reported on 31 August.

Dodik replied that Poplasen is no longer president and has no

right to seek new elections. Dodik added that Poplasen's move

was instigated by unnamed persons in Serbia in order to

destabilize the Republika Srpska. He did not elaborate,

Reuters reported. PM

[19] EXPERTS FIND MASS GRAVES IN BOSNIA

the Muslim Commission for Missing Persons found a mass grave

near Serb-held Teslic, in the Doboj region, Sarajevo's

"Dnevni avaz" reported on 31 August. A commission spokesman

said that the grave may contain the remains of more than 40

Muslims. Experts recently exhumed a grave containing 10

Muslims or Croats in the Serbian Sarajevo suburb of Grbavica.

PM

[20] CALL FOR ETHNIC SERBS TO VOTE IN CROATIAN ELECTIONS

Pupovac, who is a political leader of Croatia's ethnic Serbs,

told the Belgrade daily "Vecernje novosti" of 30 August that

he wants Zagreb to allow Croatian Serb refugees living in

Serbia to vote in the upcoming parliamentary elections. He

added that he believes that the international community will

support his efforts. Observers noted that prior to the

dissolution of former Yugoslavia in 1991, ethnic Serbs formed

some 12 percent of Croatia's population. They now form

perhaps 2 percent. The Croatian authorities are unlikely to

allow the refugees to vote lest they tip the political

balance in many districts. PM

[21] 'TUTA' TO THE HAGUE THIS WEEK?

expert told "Jutarnji list" of 31 August that the authorities

might extradite indicted war criminal Mladen "Tuta" Naletilic

to The Hague as early as 2 September (see "RFE/RL Newsline,"

30 August 1999). On 30 August, a Zagreb court ruled that Tuta

is well enough to stand trial, overturning an earlier ruling

that he is too ill to do so. In The Hague, chief prosecutor

Louise Arbour told the Zagreb daily that Croatian President

Franjo Tudjman actively sought the partition of Bosnia during

the 1992-1995 conflict. She added, however, that this in

itself does not constitute a war crime. PM

[22] MENINGITIS EPIDEMIC POSTPONES ROMANIAN SCHOOLYEAR

of the new school year has been postponed for at least one

week in five Romanian counties and in Bucharest, RFE/RL's

bureau in the capital reported. Nearly 4,000 cases of

meningitis have been registered so far. Health Minister Hajdu

Gabor said school directors who ignore the order will be sent

to prison. MS

[23] ROMANIAN JOURNALIST SAYS HE WAS ORDERED TO WRITE ANTI-SEMITIC

Mihai Antonescu, told prosecutors that his former

boss, publisher of "Atac la persoana" Dumitru Dragomir,

ordered him to write anti-Semitic articles. Antonescu quit

his job as the weekly's deputy chief editor last week and

currently is being investigated on charges of incitement to

racial hatred. Dragomir, who is one of the three deputy

chairmen of the Romanian Soccer Federation (FRF), denies the

allegation and claims Antonescu bears sole responsibility for

the articles he wrote, Reuters reported on 30 August. The

International Federation of Amateur Football has asked the

FRF to investigate Dragomir's responsibility, following

complaints by the New York-based Anti-Defamation League (see

"RFE/RL Newsline," 23 August 1999). MS

[24] MOLDOVA TO RESTORE BULGARIAN DISTRICT?

chairman of the Bulgarian National Committee for the

Protection of Bulgarians Beyond Borders, told journalists in

Sofia on 30 August that the Moldovan government has decided

to restore the separate status of the Taraclia district, BTA

reported. The district, whose population is 60 percent

Bulgarian, was incorporated in the newly established Cahul

County earlier this year. Konstantinov said this is the first

time that the Bulgarian minority in Moldova has successfully

protected its rights. He added that if the legislature

rejects the government decision, the Bulgarians of Taraclia

will hold elections on setting up a "self-governing

authority." MS

[25] BULGARIAN CHIEF OF STAFF CRITICIZES PLANNED CUTS

Miha Mihov on 30 August criticized the government's plans for

cuts in the military over the next four years, AFP reported.

Mihov told the daily "Standart" that the plans are

"increasingly demoralizing and infuriating" members of the

armed forces, creating "tension" and "insecurity" among them.

Under the government plans, the armed forces will have only

7,000 officers by 2004, instead of the current 15,000. The

government, Mihov said, hopes this will improve Bulgaria's

chances of joining NATO. Mihov also criticized the Defense

Ministry for having no plans to help soldiers who are

demobilized. MS

[26] BULGARIAN COURT ORDERS REGISTRATION OF CONTROVERSIAL PARTY

decision of the Central Electoral Commission to refuse to

register the Ilinden United Macedonian Organization-PIRIN.

The decision is final and cannot be appealed, BTA reported on

30 August. PIRIN is the Bulgarian abbreviation for "Party of

Economic Development and Integration of the Population" but

is also the name of part of historical Macedonia that now

belongs to Bulgaria. PIRIN was set up in 1998 and strives to

preserve the traditions of Pirin Macedonians and refugees

from Aegean Macedonia. The Constitutional Court has still to

rule on an appeal by 61 deputies of various political stripes

who want PIRIN outlawed on grounds of violating the

constitutional provision that bans parties set up on ethnic

or religious lines. MS

[C] END NOTE

[27] FISCHER WINS, KLAUS LOSES

Something is stirring in the Czech Republic's political

morass. The overwhelming victory of a travel agency owner in

a Senate by-election has galvanized both the media and the

public and shaken up the country's political power-brokers.

Riding on the fame of his successful travel agency and a

large amount of campaign spending, Vaclav Fischer has swept

into the Senate with the support of more than 71 percent of

those who voted in his Prague district. In so doing, he

crushed seven candidates who were all supported by political

parties.

However, it is easy to over-estimate the importance of

high-profile by-elections. First, only 34 percent of eligible

voters bothered to participate. The low turnout is in keeping

with previous elections to the upper house and belies the

ongoing public impression that the Senate is a useless and

largely powerless public body. It should also be remembered

that Fischer is by no means the first independent candidate

to run in a Czech election. While Fischer may certainly have

benefited from growing public frustration with politicians

and parties, it should also be noted that few independent

candidates have so much money and name-recognition. Thus,

Fischer's success does not automatically mean that dozens of

other Fischers will appear on the Czech political horizon in

the near future.

That said, this particular by-election is important for

at least two reasons--one practical and the other symbolic.

First, the election means that the parties of Prime Minister

Milos Zeman and Chamber of Deputies Chairman Vaclav Klaus no

longer have a constitutional majority in the Senate. This

will make it more difficult for Klaus and Zeman to fulfill

one of the key aspects of their so-called "opposition

agreement." Under that agreement, the two parties are to use

their constitutional majority to push through a package of

constitutional and legal amendments designed to change the

country's electoral system and alter the powers of certain

state bodies. While the parties are still haggling over the

electoral changes, they have come to a preliminary agreement

on amendments that would limit certain presidential powers.

For his part, Fischer has made it clear that he is

opposed to the "opposition agreement" between Zeman and

Klaus, as well as to their decision to use their parties'

combined majority in the parliament to pass constitutional

amendments. While Fischer has also said he is not opposed in

principle to changing the electoral system, his animosity

toward the "opposition agreement" itself makes it unlikely

that he would support any major constitutional changes

initiated by Zeman and Klaus. Since four of the other five

parties represented in the Senate have said they are opposed

to the package of amendments, that leaves the four Communist

senators. The Communists have sent out mixed signals on the

issue. On the one hand, the party has been a vocal opponent

of the "opposition agreement." On the other hand, it has

voiced support for the idea of restricting the president's

powers.

The issue appears to be a delicate one for the purveyors

of the "opposition agreement." Neither Zeman nor Klaus will

want to be seen making deals with Communist senators in order

to pass changes to the constitution. Despite its recent

success in public opinion polls, the Communist Party remains

anathema to many Czechs and particularly within Klaus's Civic

Democratic Party (ODS). Aware of this problem, some ODS

members have started emphasizing that constitutional changes

require the support of only a three-fifths majority of all

Senators present at the time the vote is taken. In other

words, the ODS has been reduced to hoping that at least one

senator takes ill on the day the upper house is to vote on

major changes to the constitution. In sum, Fischer's victory

seems to have thrown a wrench into the workings of the

"opposition agreement."

However, this does not mean that Zeman and Klaus cannot

go ahead with plans to change the electoral law. At present,

the two parties are discussing the possibility of introducing

"majoritarian elements" into the lower house's proportional

representation system. Such changes would not require a

constitutional amendment, and the two parties have a strong

enough majority in both houses to pass any law they agree on.

This leads to the second key aspect of Fischer's

election. The fact that Klaus's party was defeated in the

heart of a city considered an ODS stronghold is significant

in its own right. Nevertheless, the defeat would not have

acquired as much symbolic significance as it did if Klaus had

not become so actively involved in the election campaign. He

personally pushed his party into accepting the actress Jirina

Jiraskova as its candidate. He attended many of her rallies

and exhorted voters to support her. And he signed his name

under advertisements and posters that not only emphasized the

crucial importance of the vote but also contained personal

attacks against Fischer.

Thus, the result was not so much Fischer's victory as

Klaus's defeat. Klaus staked his own popularity on a by-

election that was supposed to result in a "comfortable"

victory for his party--and lost. One wonders what voters

might do if he forces through changes to the electoral system

that are clearly designed to give his party a "comfortable"

majority in the parliament.

31-08-99

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

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