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RFE/RL Newsline, Vol. 3, No. 170, 99-09-01Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty: Newsline Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty <http://www.rferl.org>RFE/RL NEWSLINEVol. 3, No. 170, 1 September 1999CONTENTS[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA
[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[C] END NOTE
[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA[01] ARMENIAN JOURNALIST SENTENCED FOR 'DEFAMATION'A Yerevandistrict court handed down a one-year prison sentence to Nikolai Pashinian, editor of the daily "Oragir," on 31 August, RFE/RL's Yerevan bureau reported. Pashinian was found guilty of insulting a law enforcement official carrying out his duties, refusing to publish a refutation of earlier reports printed in the newspaper, and two counts of slander. Pashinian said he will appeal the sentence, which is the first handed down to a journalist in a criminal, rather than civil, suit. "Oragir" was closed in June after it refused to pay $25,000 in damages to the trade company Mika-Armenia, which it alleged had links with Interior and National Security Minister Serzh Sarkisian. "Oragir" also lost a libel suit for damages brought by Sarkisian. LF [02] AZERBAIJAN 'CLOSE TO AGREEMENT' ON OIL EXPORT PIPELINEValeh Aleskerov, who heads the department for foreigninvestment at Azerbaijan's state oil company SOCAR, told journalists in Baku on 31 August that talks in Washington last week between Azerbaijani and Turkish government working groups "were a success," Turan reported. Those talks focused on four draft documents that constitute the legal frame work for proceeding with construction of the planned Baku-Ceyhan oil export pipeline. But Interfax reported that the Azerbaijan International Operating Company (AIOC), the largest Western consortium operating in Azerbaijan, and the Turkish government have not yet reached agreement on Turkish guarantees to meet additional costs if construction exceeds the planned $2.4 billion. Nor are they agreed, according to the news agency, on the construction schedule or the division of shares in the company that will operate the completed pipeline. Azerbaijani Deputy Premier Abid Sharifov had told journalists in early August that the four main framework agreements could be signed within one month (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 6 August 1999). LF [03] AZERBAIJAN TO MONTOR TURKISH CONSTRUCTION COMPANIESNotingthat shoddy construction compounded the devastation wrought by the earthquake in western Turkey last month, the Baku Mayor's Office has given instructions to stop granting permission to Turkish companies to engage in construction projects in the city, according to "Vremya MN" on 31 August. Up to 90 percent of construction projects currently under way in Azerbaijan are being carried out by private Turkish firms, which have completed more than 5,000 buildings in 10 Azerbaijani cities in recent years, some of them of dubious quality. The newspaper quoted a leading Baku city architect as saying that already completed buildings will be carefully inspected and the practice of issuing building licenses to Turkish construction companies reviewed. LF [04] GEORGIA BLASTS PLANS FOR ABKHAZ REFERENDUMAbkhazPresident Vladislav Ardzinba on 31 August signed a decree on holding a referendum simultaneously with the 3 October presidential poll, in which he is the sole candidate, ITAR- TASS reported. Voters will be asked whether they approve the constitution adopted by the breakaway republic's parliament on 26 November 1994, which describes Abkhazia as "a sovereign and democratic republic." They will also be asked to approve or reject a planned constitutional amendment reducing the term for which judges are appointed from life-long to five years, according to Caucasus Press. In Tbilisi, Georgian presidential foreign policy adviser Levan Aleksidze termed the proposed referendum "an abuse of moral and international law," given that the ethnic Georgian population of Abkhazia fled in 1992-1993. LF [05] KAZAKHSTAN'S CABINET DISCUSSES BUDGET FOR 2000PrimeMinister Nurlan Balghymbaev told cabinet members on 31 August that the budget for next year will be fulfilled by 101 percent, and that revenues are likely to total 22.7 percent of GDP, Interfax reported. Terming the budget as a whole "difficult and rigorous, but absolutely realistic," Balghymbaev said the budget deficit will be gradually reduced from 3.6 percent in 1999 to 2 percent by 2002. He added that the 2000 draft budget contains a provision barring cuts in expenditure on pensions and on medical services in rural areas. He predicted that the 1999 budget will be fulfilled by 98 percent. LF [06] ANOTHER KAZAKH OFFICIAL OPPOSES SALE OF STAKE IN OIL JOINTVENTUREImanghali Tasmagambetov, who is governor of Western Kazakhstan Oblast, told Interfax on 31 August that the government should find alternative ways to cover this year's budget deficit rather than sell part of the country's stake in the Tengizchevroil consortium. Tasmagambetov said that beginning in 2001, Kazakhstan stands to make an annual profit of up to $150 million from its involvement in that joint venture. Kazakhstan has reportedly invited 20 international oil companies to bid for a 10 percent stake, worth between $800 million and $1.6 billion, in Tengizchevroil, which is equivalent to 40 percent of the Kazakh government's share in the consortium. The chairman of Kazakhstan's state oil company was fired last week for expressing his opposition to the planned sale (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 25 August 1999). LF [07] THREE MORE HOSTAGES RELEASED IN SOUTHERN KYRGYZSTAN...General Bolot Djanuzakov, who heads the defense andsecurity department within the Kyrgyz presidential administration, told journalists in Bishkek on 1 September that the previous night, ethnic Uzbek guerrillas entrenched in southern Kyrgyzstan released three of the police officials they took hostage on 22 August, RFE/RL's bureau in the Kyrgyz capital reported. Djanuzakov said the release was negotiated during talks between the Uzbek militants and local village elders. He added that the militants' headquarters are in the village of Kojo-Achkan in Batken Raion. Kyrgyz government troops had sustained an unknown number of casualties during a two-hour gun battle with the militants earlier on 31 August, Interfax and AP reported. LF [08] ...AS BISHKEK VETOES EXCHANGE OF PRISONERS WITHUZBEKISTAN...Reuters on 1 September quoted Djanuzakov as saying that a man claiming to represent the militants had proposed the previous day exchanging the Kyrgyz hostages for prisoners held in Uzbekistan. But Dzhanuzakov said Kyrgyzstan has no power to conduct talks over such an exchange. "We cannot meddle in Uzbekistan's affairs," he said. "In terms of a prisoner swap, they must put this question to Uzbekistan." LF [09] ...AND MOSCOW RULES OUT SENDING TROOPSKyrgyzstan's FirstDeputy Prime Minister Boris Silaev told journalists after talks in Moscow on 31 August with Russian Premier Vladimir Putin that Moscow is ready to provide Bishkek with materiel support but will not send troops to assist the Kyrgyz armed forces in neutralizing the militants, Interfax and "Nezavisimaya gazeta" reported. Silaev said the Kyrgyz forces need uniforms and ammunition. In Almaty, a spokesman for the Kazakh airforce told Interfax on 31 August that plans are being drafted to transfer aircraft and ammunition to Kyrgyzstan. LF [10] KYRGYZ PAPER APPEALS TO PRESIDENT TO QUASH HARASSMENTTheeditorial board of the independent daily "Vechernii Bishkek" announced in Bishkek on 31 August that it has appealed to President Askar Akayev to stop government pressure on the newspaper, RFE/RL's correspondent in the Kyrgyz capital reported. The board members said that although the newspaper's finances are in order, presidential administration head Medet Sadyrkulov has organized a campaign against the paper. The State Tax Inspection accused the chief editor of the newspaper, Alexandr Kim, of tax evasion and opened a criminal case against him last week (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 26 August 1999). LF [11] TAJIK OPPOSITION LEADER VISITS IRANTajikistan's FirstDeputy Premier Ali Akbar Turadjonzoda met with Iranian President Muhammad Khatami during a working visit to Iran, Asia Plus-Blitz reported on 31 August. Turadjonzoda briefed the Iranian leader on the current political situation in Tajikistan, in particular on preparations for the 26 September referendum on amendments to the constitution and the subsequent presidential and parliamentary elections. LF [12] TURKMENISTAN PRESIDENT FOLLOWS IN FOOTSTEPS OF HAROUN AL-RASHIDPresident Saparmurat Niyazov toured Ashgabat and Geoktepe on 28-29 August, disguised in a wig and false beard, presidential press service head Kakamurad Balliev told Turan on 31 August. Niyazov met with local peasants and enquired about their living conditions. According to Balliev, Niyazov frequently conducts such fact-finding tours. LF [B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE[13] CROATIAN ELECTION TALKS COLLAPSEVlado Gotovac, who headsthe Liberal Party and is a spokesman for the six-party opposition coalition, said in Zagreb on 31 August that talks between the coalition and the governing Croatian Democratic Community (HDZ) have broken down and will not be continued. The talks were aimed at revising the electoral law in time for the parliamentary elections expected by the end of 1999 (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 17 August 1999). Gotovac said that the reason for the breakdown was the refusal of HDZ negotiator Vladimir Seks to discuss a revision of legislation governing state-run television (HTV) as part of the talks on the electoral law. The opposition, the EU, and the U.S. insist on changes to the current electoral law and on the transformation of HTV into a public broadcaster based on the West European model. PM [14] KOSOVA'S SCHOOLS REOPENA new school year began in Kosovaon 1 September. Most ethnic Albanian children have not attended a government-run school since Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic ended the province's autonomy in 1989. Rather, they attended classes in a private school system organized by Ibrahim Rugova's shadow state. Serbian government schools closed during NATO's bombing campaign in the spring. Albanian and Serbian children will now share the same school buildings. Pupils of one nationality will have classes in the morning, while those of the other will receive instruction in the afternoon. PM [15] RUGOVA'S PARLIAMENT MEETSKosova's unofficially electedparliament met in Prishtina on 31 August. It was the first session of the legislative body elected in March 1998 and the first session of any Kosovar assembly in years. Rugova, whose Democratic League of Kosova has a majority in the legislature, said the assembly must begin to prepare new legislation for the province in close cooperation with Bernard Kouchner's UN administration and with KFOR. Critics charged, however, that the composition of the assembly does not reflect changed political realities after more than one year of armed conflict. Critics called for a new election. Most observers expect the Kosova Liberation Army (UCK) to emerge as the strongest party in any such vote. PM [16] THACI MEETS WITH JACKSONHashim Thaci, who heads the UCK'sprovisional government, held a closed-door meeting with KFOR commander General Sir Michael Jackson on 31 August. They discussed the stalemate in Rahovec, where ethnic Albanian civilians have blocked the main road for more than one week in an effort to prevent Russian peacekeepers from taking up positions in the town. Thaci is slated to make a speech in Rahovec on 1 September. He later leaves on a trip to five European capitals, AP reported. PM [17] SCHARPING: KFOR TO STAY FOR FIVE YEARSGerman DefenseMinister Rudolf Scharping said in Dresden on 31 August that he expects Germany's peacekeepers to remain in Kosova for approximately five years. Germany contributes 8,500 soldiers to the 40,000-strong force. The Germans control KFOR's southwestern sector, which is centered on Prizren. PM [18] KOUCHNER SWEARS IN NEW KOSOVA JUDGES...Kouchner swore inseven new judges and two prosecutors in Mitrovica on 31 August. He stressed the need to build up a completely new legal and judicial system in the province. Kouchner argued that Kosova needs laws in line with "international conventions, including that on human rights." He ruled out a return to the previous Serbian legal system, which discriminated against ethnic Albanians. PM [19] ...BUT FORGETS ESCORT FOR COUNCIL MEMBERSKouchner said inPrishtina on 1 September that Serbian representatives did not attend a meeting of his advisory council that morning because he forgot to send them an escort. He stressed: "It was my mistake." Turning to other topics, he said he will dispatch an international police force to Rahovec. However, he did not elaborate, AP reported. PM [20] WHY DID HOLBROOKE SKIP ALBANIA?U.S. Ambassador to the UNRichard Holbrooke cancelled a planned trip from Prishtina to Tirana on 31 August. He flew instead to Skopje and then to Sarajevo. In the Macedonian capital, he met with President Kiro Gligorov and praised Gligorov's policies for having kept Macedonia out of war. A spokeswoman for Holbrooke said that he cancelled the trip to Albania because of heavy rain. In Tirana, opposition spokesmen said that the real reason was because of dissatisfaction with the Albanian government or because of security concerns. Observers note that regional media have been speculating for days as to what the "real mission" of Holbrooke in the Balkans might be. His sudden cancellation of a key segment of his trip is bound to fuel further speculation about possible changes in U.S. policy in the Balkans. PM [21] NORWAY DEMANDS MACEDONIA FREE PEACEKEEPERA Norwegianmilitary spokesman told Reuters in Skopje on 31 August that the Norwegian government insists that the Macedonian authorities hand over to KFOR Military Police a Norwegian KFOR soldier they are holding (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 31 August 1999). Macedonian Deputy Justice Minister Rubin Dvojkov told the news agency, however, that the government will treat the soldier as any other foreigner who breaks Macedonian law. The minister argued that the soldier is part of KFOR and based in Kosova and therefore not covered under an agreement between Macedonia and NATO regarding peacekeepers based in Macedonia. PM [22] DID MILOSEVIC HEAD FOR THE HILLS?Miki Janosevic, who ispresident of Vuk Draskovic's Serbian Renewal Movement in the eastern Serbian town of Bor, told the private Beta news agency on 31 August that Milosevic has spent the past two months at his home on a nearby mountain close to the town of Zlot. Janosevic added that Zlot has been under tight police security controls during that time. He said Milosevic has made the mountain residence his permanent home and travels to Belgrade only for meetings. PM [23] DJUKANOVIC BLASTS 'DICTATORSHIP'Montenegrin PresidentMilo Djukanovic said in Athens on 30 August that federal Yugoslavia "is ruled by the dictatorship of one man," namely Milosevic. In Podgorica, a spokesman for Djukanovic called for Serbia and Montenegro to compete separately in international sporting events, RFE/RL's South Slavic Service reported on 31 August. PM [24] TALIC PLEADS 'NOT GUILTY'Bosnian Serb General Momir Talicpleaded "not guilty" to charges of war crimes at the Hague- based tribunal on 31 August (see "RFE/RL Balkan Report," 31 August 1999). PM [25] MUSLIMS WITHDRAWING SUPPORT FROM DODIK?A spokesman for themainly Muslim Coalition for a Single and Democratic Bosnia- Herzegovina told Reuters in Sarajevo on 31 August that the coalition "has decided to withdraw" its parliamentary backing from the moderate Republika Srpska Prime Minister Milorad Dodik. The coalition wants Dodik to give it some cabinet posts and to speed up the return of non-Serbian refugees to their pre-1992 homes as a condition for continuing support. The news agency suggested, however, that the coalition has no real intention of abandoning Dodik lest he join forces with Serbian hard-liners. Reuters quoted an unnamed Western diplomat as saying that "I don't think we've heard the last" about the coalition's bargaining with Dodik. PM [26] SLOVENIAN POLICE HOLD GREENPEACE ACTIVISTSSlovenianpolice on 1 September detained 16 Greenpeace members who tried to block the shipment of a 666-ton generator from the port of Koper to the nuclear power plant at Krsko. The 16 included 12 Austrians, two Swiss, one Slovak, and one Slovene, AP reported. Police in Postojna charged them with blocking traffic. An Austrian Greenpeace spokesman told Reuters that Krsko is a "time bomb...for Central Europe" because it lies close to a major geological fault line. The generator will extend the life of the communist-era nuclear plant until 2023. PM [27] WORLD BANK APPROVES ROMANIAN LOANThe World Bank on 31August approved a $44.5 million loan for closing down 29 loss-making mines in Romania, an RFE/RL correspondent in Washington reported. The bank said the loan is intended to help reduce the burden on the national budget. Some of the money is to be used to provide compensation for laid-off miners. MS [28] MOLDOVAN PRESIDENT USES NEW DESIGNATION FOR STATELANGUAGE...In a speech delivered on the occasion of Moldova's Language Day, Petru Lucinschi on 31 August for the first time spoke of "our Romanian language" RFE/RL's Chisinau bureau reported. "Moldovan" remains the official designation for the country's state language. MS [29] ...BUT SAYS 'NO SPECIAL RELATIONS' WITH ROMANIAIn aninterview with the Hungarian daily "Nepszabadsag" on 31 August, Lucinschi said that although Moldova and Romania have a "nearly identical" language, culture, and tradition, these are insufficient to "transform our relationship into a special one," as "some Romanians would like." He said that raising the status of Moldova's relations with Romania to a "special one" might "irritate" the 35 percent of the Moldovan population who belong to the country's national minorities, RFE/RL's Chisinau bureau reported. Reports in the Romanian press say Bucharest wants mention of a "special relationship" to be included in the pending basic treaty between the two countries. MS [30] BULGARIAN LOCAL ELECTIONS PROMPT PARTY REALIGNMENTSocialist Party (BSP) leader Georgi Parvanov said in thesecond round of the local elections scheduled for October, his party will back opposition candidates who fare better than BSP ones, BTA reported on 30 August. He said he believes that cooperation between the BSP, the Euro-Left, the Social Democracy Union, and the Movement for Rights and Freedoms will bring about the defeat of the ruling United Democratic Forces. On 31 August, BTA quoted BSP spokesman Angel Naidenov as saying that in the first round the BSP will field Socialist candidates for 121 mayoralties. It will also support candidates for 28 mayoralties who run in coalition with other parties and candidates for 11 mayoralties who are nominated by other opposition parties. MS [C] END NOTE[31] HUNGARIAN 'BUNDISM': CAN IT WORK?by Michael ShafirWhen Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said at the 19 August inauguration of the Office for Hungarians Beyond Borders that "all citizens of Hungary and Hungarians beyond its borders are members of a single and indivisible nation," many must have recalled the late Joszef Antall's 1991 statement that he was not merely the premier of Hungary but of "15 million Hungarians." Foreign Minister Janos Martonyi commented the next day that the government "does not want to change borders, but the nature of borders." Changing the nature of borders, as envisaged by the Hungarian government, has to do with the link between Magyars beyond borders and "territorial Hungary" or, in other words, ethnic Hungarians' relationship to their "kin- state." As Orban told the "Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung" on 26 August, this kinship must extend beyond the envisaged European integration. The Hungarians, he said, are "a small nation, culturally unrelated to any other in Europe." Their language makes them "conscious on a daily basis" that "despite their European allies, they are nonetheless alone." Without naming it by name, Orban was, in fact, speaking about "ethnicity." But how can ethnicity survive in a context of renouncing territorial claims and of an integrated Europe in which the dominant nations will likely be the larger and economically stronger entities? The Hungarian solution, as it has evolved over the last several years, could be said to be a "Bundist" one. Unlike Zionism, which offered a political solution to the Jewish national identity problem, Bundism sought at the turn of the century to provide a cultural solution. Preserving a separate identity (based on the Yiddish language) in a multinational environment of shared socialist values was how the Jewish socialist Bundists envisaged their future in Russia, Poland, and other places. The Jewish-Hungarian parallel can be drawn further. The extreme nationalist Justice and Life Party and some irredentist Hungarian emigres could be viewed as the Hungarian version of "revisionist" Zionism, for which only a Jewish state established within its biblical borders can redress "historical injustice." Why a "Zionist" solution is unacceptable to the Budapest leadership is not difficult to understand. Not only would the mass immigration of ethnic Hungarians from Romania, Slovakia, Serbia, and Ukraine plunge Hungary's economy into havoc; nothing would be more welcome to the nationalists in those countries than this elegant form of "ethnic cleansing." "Let my people stay," rather than "Let my people go," is the plea in the Orban-conducted Hungarian choir. Safeguarding ethnicity while foregoing irredentism requires, however, political and social instruments. The participation of parties representing ethnic Hungarians in ruling coalitions (as in the case of Romania since 1996 and of Slovakia since 1998) and the envisaged participation of such parties in an autonomous Vojvodina government could be viewed as a device for representing specific ethnic interests while sharing the burden of responsibility for the general (Romanian, Slovak, Vojvodinian) interest. Yet ethnicity in a multicultural environment lives, agonizes or dies on the "periphery", not at the center. To be able to use a minority language in arguing with a policeman writing a traffic ticket and to post local council decisions in such a language ("local autonomy"); to self-manage funds for cultural preservation in areas with a large minority population ("territorial autonomy"); and to participate in electing minority representatives regardless of place of residence ("personal autonomy")--all are as important for the survival of ethnicity as is access to higher education in minority languages. This three-pronged autonomy concept developed by the Hungarian Democratic Federation of Romania comes close to offering a "Bundist" solution. Budapest embraced it as a possible solution for Vojvodina Hungarians, and it is likely to "spill over" into Slovakia soon. Can "Hungarian Bundism" work? There is one possible precedent--interwar Estonia, where Germans, Jews, and Russians, though territorially scattered, were allowed to establish self-governing bodies with powers over culture and education, as well as some limited taxation capacity. Like the Jewish Bundists, the Estonians were influenced by the ideas of Karl Renner and Otto Bauer. But for "Hungarian Bundism" to work in post-communist Central and Eastern Europe, numerous problems would have to be overcome. First, the envisaged solution is unacceptable not only to the Romanian, Slovak, or Serbian partisans of "exclusive nationalism"--for whom ethnic minorities are "historical intruders" without entitlement to any rights--but also to the more moderate "inclusive nationalists." The latter accept equality of rights but reject any form of "positive discrimination," without which ethnicity islands cannot survive. Second, the "Bundist" solution might well suit the economically and culturally more developed ethnic Hungarians, but they are not the only minority around. And unlike in interwar Estonia, levels of national minorities' social development are strikingly unequal. Can "Bundism" be applied unilaterally? What about the Roma, for instance? Would the solution not exacerbate, rather than alleviate, divisions among the already overly partitioned Romany political representation? And does it not carry the risk of offering the Roma that "Birobidjan- like" solution that racialists advocate when wanting to send them off to enclaves? Zionism continues to pay a heavy price for ignoring the realities of "the others." It would be tragic if the revived "Bundism" made the same mistake. 01-09-99 Reprinted with permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
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