RFE/RL Newsline, Vol. 3, No. 186, 99-09-23

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RFE/RL NEWSLINE

Vol. 3, No. 186, 23 September 1999

CONTENTS

[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA

[01] ARMENIA-DIASPORA CONFERENCE OPENS IN YEREVAN

[02] ARMENIA RECEIVES NEW WORLD BANK LOAN TRANCHE

[03] AZERBAIJAN OPPOSITION LOBBIES FOR RIGHT TO CONVENE

[04] FORMER PREMIER'S PARTY UNDER PRESSURE IN KAZAKHSTAN

[05] NORTH KOREA DENIES ACQUIRING MIGS FROM KAZAKHSTAN

[06] OIL CONSORTIUM IN KAZAKHSTAN REJECTS POLLUTION CHARGES

[07] STALEMATE IN SOUTHERN KYRGYZSTAN CONTINUES

[08] TAJIK, RUSSIAN TROOPS HOLD JOINT MANOEUVRES

[09] SOME SUSPECTS IN UZBEK BOMBING RELEASED

[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE

[10] SERBIAN OPPOSITION PROTESTS DWINDLING...

[11] ...AS PRO-GOVERNMENT MEDIA ATTACK DEMONSTRATIONS

[12] MONTENEGRIN PRESIDENT SAYS MILOSEVIC MAY PROVOKE ANOTHER

[13] MEDIA WATCHDOG PROTESTS CONFISCATION OF WEEKLY

[14] SERBIAN LEADERS IN KOSOVA RESIGN FROM COUNCIL OVER NEW CORPS

[15] NATO COUNTRIES DEFEND CREATION OF CORPS

[16] UN TRIBUNAL SAYS THOUSANDS EXHUMED FROM MASS GRAVES

[17] U.S. OFFICIAL WARNS CROATIA OVER STANCE ON TRIBUNAL

[18] IZETBEGOVIC CRITICIZES PEACEKEEPERS

[19] GERMAN CHANCELLOR PLEDGES SUPPORT FOR ALBANIA

[20] ILIESCU, PDSR CONTINUE TO LEAD IN ROMANIAN POLL

[21] IMF AGREES TO HIGHER ROMANIAN BUDGET DEFICIT

[22] MOLDOVA TO RENOUNCE WEAPONS SHARE IN TRANSDNIESTER ARSENAL?

[23] COUNCIL OF EUROPE APPROVES BULGARIAN LOCAL ELECTION LAW

[24] BULGARIAN PRESIDENT DENIES OFFERING U.S. MILITARY BASES

[C] END NOTE

[25] LITHUANIA'S PRESIDENT ADAMKUS LOOKS BACK, FORWARD

[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA

[01] ARMENIA-DIASPORA CONFERENCE OPENS IN YEREVAN

representatives of Armenian communities world-wide attended

the opening in Yerevan on 22 September of a two-day pan-

Armenian conference intended to boost ties between the

Republic of Armenia and the world diaspora community, Noyan

Tapan and RFE/RL's Yerevan bureau reported. Addressing

delegates, President Robert Kocharian said Armenians need to

set priorities in the political, economic, scientific,

cultural, and other spheres and develop programs to achieve

those aims. He said that the most important pan-national

problems facing the Armenian nation are resolving the

Karabakh conflict and expediting Armenia's economic

development. LF

[02] ARMENIA RECEIVES NEW WORLD BANK LOAN TRANCHE

who is the World Bank's representative in Yerevan, told

journalists on 22 September that the bank released the

previous day the second tranche, worth $25 million, of a $65

million credit approved in December 1998, Reuters and

RFE/RL's Yerevan bureau reported. The 21 September payment

was originally scheduled for June but was delayed until the

passage of the government's proposed austerity measures to

counter a larger-than-anticipated budget deficit. Last month,

the Armenian parliament approved those measures (see "RFE/RL

Newsline," 30 August 1999). The newly released payment is

intended to support the budget and will enable the government

to pay pensions and public-sector wage arrears within two

weeks. Saadat noted that the Armenian government "had to

overcome many obstacles" to receive the new credit, adding

that the cabinet "has kept economic reform on track." LF

[03] AZERBAIJAN OPPOSITION LOBBIES FOR RIGHT TO CONVENE

Police dispersed members of the opposition

Musavat Party who were picketing the office of Baku City

Mayor Rafael Allakhverdiev on 22 September to protest his

refusal to allow opposition parties to organize a

demonstration in the city on 25 September, Turan reported.

Eleven demonstrators were arrested. Musavat Party Chairman

Isa Gambar told the agency that Allakhverdiev has no right to

ban the demonstration, which is intended to protest the

Azerbaijani leadership's approach resolving the Karabakh

conflict. Also on 22 September, a spokesman for the

Democratic Party of Azerbaijan said the party has permission

to stage a rally in front of the Baku town hall on 24

September to demand that Allakhverdiev sanction the

demonstration planned for the following day. LF

[04] FORMER PREMIER'S PARTY UNDER PRESSURE IN KAZAKHSTAN

Qosanov, deputy chairman of the Republican People's Party of

Kazakhstan, which is headed by former Premier Akezhan

Kazhegeldin, told journalists in Almaty on 23 September that

the city authorities have disconnected all telephone lines to

the five-story building where the party has its offices,

RFE/RL's bureau in the former capital reported. Qosanov

claimed that move was politically motivated, but a city

official said it was due to non-payment of bills by other

organizations that rent offices in the same building. Also on

23 September, Marat Qabanbay, who is editor of the newspaper

"Sol-Dat," told RFE/RL's Kazakh Service that all copies of

the latest issue of that paper, which contained materials on

the Kazakhstan prosecutor-general's recent abortive attempt

to extradite Kazhegeldin from Moscow, were confiscated by

Kazakh customs officials earlier this week. "Sol-Dat" is

printed in the Russian Federation (Altai Krai) because

publishing houses in Kazakhstan refuse to issue it. LF

[05] NORTH KOREA DENIES ACQUIRING MIGS FROM KAZAKHSTAN

Washington on 22 September that Astana has requested that

North Korea return 38 decommissioned MiG-21 fighters sold to

that country without the knowledge of the Kazakh government

but that North Korea denied receiving those aircraft, Reuters

reported. Also on 22 September, Interfax reported that Askar

Gabidullin, president of the Metallist company, which

organized the abortive transport of six MiGs to Bratislava,

has been dismissed. LF

[06] OIL CONSORTIUM IN KAZAKHSTAN REJECTS POLLUTION CHARGES

Offshore Kazakhstan International Operating Company (OKIOC)

issued a statement on 21 September denying claims by the

Atyrau Environmental Protection Agency that mud discharged

into the Caspian Sea during drilling of the consortium's

first well contains many times the permitted levels of

certain pollutants, Interfax reported. The environmental

agency claimed that OKIOC had violated the terms of its

contract with Kazakhstan's government by ignoring

environmental norms. In May, Atyrau's regional prosecutor

opened court proceedings against a second international

consortium, Tengizchevroil, claiming that it was causing

ecological damage by extracting from test wells larger

amounts of oil than legally allowed (see "RFE/RL Newsline,"

27 May 1999). LF

[07] STALEMATE IN SOUTHERN KYRGYZSTAN CONTINUES

Security Council Secretary General Bolot Djanuzakov told

journalists in Bishkek on 22 September that the guerrillas

holding 13 hostages in south Kyrgyzstan's Osh Oblast

attempted again the previous night to break through to the

Uzbek exclave of Sokh, RFE/RL's bureau in the Kyrgyz capital

reported. They were prevented from doing so by Kyrgyz

government forces, one of whom was injured in the clash.

Djanuzakov added that government forces are training in

Batken Raion for an assault on the guerrillas. LF

[08] TAJIK, RUSSIAN TROOPS HOLD JOINT MANOEUVRES

Tajik forces on 22 September concluded two-days of joint

maneuvers with an exercise to deter an invasion by armed

gangs, ITAR-TASS reported. Tajikistan's President Imomali

Rakhmonov and Russian Ambassador Yevgenii Belov observed the

22 September exercises, which reportedly drew on Russian

forces' recent experience in Daghestan. LF

[09] SOME SUSPECTS IN UZBEK BOMBING RELEASED

Ministry spokesman Batyr Zieev said on 22 September that more

than 700 people detained in connection with the 16 February

bombings in Tashkent have been released in recent months,

RFE/RL's Tashkent bureau reported. He added that most of

those released were members of the Islamic political movement

Hezbi Takhrir. The deputy head of Uzbekistan's human rights

agency, Abdurashid Irisbaev, said the initial charges brought

against the suspects could not be corroborated. LF

[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE

[10] SERBIAN OPPOSITION PROTESTS DWINDLING...

turned out on the second day of opposition protests against

the government of Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic,

Reuters and AP reported. A crowd estimated at 6,000-10,000

demonstrated in Belgrade on 22 September, compared with the

20,000 who protested on the previous day. Only about one-

third of the 10,000 people who protested on the first day in

Novi Sad showed up on the second day--a pattern repeated in

most of the nearly 20 cities in which protests were

organized. Zoran Djindjic, a leader of the movement Alliance

for Change, said the opposition is "doomed" if Serbs "do not

find the energy" to attend the protests. PB

[11] ...AS PRO-GOVERNMENT MEDIA ATTACK DEMONSTRATIONS

controlled media have been deriding the opposition movement.

Tanjug called the coalition "NATO mercenaries" who want to

"create chaos [and] provoke upheavals and clashes." The

state-run daily "Politika" said that all the opposition does

is "deliver empty promises for a handful of dollars donated

by their foreign mentors." Independent news agency Beta also

reported on 22 September that there is no sign that the

Association of Free and Independent Unions' call for a

general strike the previous day was heeded. PB

[12] MONTENEGRIN PRESIDENT SAYS MILOSEVIC MAY PROVOKE ANOTHER

Milo Djukanovic said in Strasbourg on 22 September

that he "cannot rule out" the possibility of Yugoslav

President Milosevic's initiating a crisis in Yugoslavia,

Belgrade-based Radio B2-92 reported. Djukanovic, who gave an

interview to the radio station one day before he is to

address the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe,

said such a crisis could take the form of using force against

demonstrators in Serbia, attempting to gain control of

Montenegro, forcibly suppressing a referendum there, or even

sending troops into Kosova. Djukanovic said that the

international community would defend both Kosova and

Montenegro in the face of such an attack. He blamed Milosevic

for the current situation in Kosova, saying "Milosevic's whip

always resulted in a backlash for his own people." PB

[13] MEDIA WATCHDOG PROTESTS CONFISCATION OF WEEKLY

watch group Reporters sans Frontieres sent a letter to

Serbian Interior Minister Vlajko Stojiljkovic on 22 September

protesting the seizure of the latest issue of the independent

weekly "Reporter" as it was being transported from Bosnia-

Herzegovina into Serbia (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 22 September

1999), Beta reported. The letter urged that the impounded

copies of the weekly be released immediately and that

Belgrade allow future issues of the publication and other

Bosnian Serb press to be sold freely in Serbia. PB

[14] SERBIAN LEADERS IN KOSOVA RESIGN FROM COUNCIL OVER NEW CORPS

Prizren Bishop Artemije on 22 September resigned from the

multiethnic Kosova Transitional Council to protest the

formation of the Kosova Protection Corps, Beta reported.

Trajkovic said "the international community wants to solve

Kosovo's problems on an ethnic basis, and by forming this

Kosovo Corps, it's over for [a] multiethnic Kosovo."

Trajkovic and Bishop Artemije were seen as influential

moderate leaders of the Serbian community in Kosova. Bernard

Kouchner, the head of the UN Mission in Kosova, said "they

did not refuse to cooperate and we will remain in everyday

contact.... We need them." He said time is needed to

establish trust between the Serbian and ethnic Albanian

communities. PB

[15] NATO COUNTRIES DEFEND CREATION OF CORPS

ministers of Britain, France, Italy, Germany, and the U.S.

defended the decision to transform the Kosova Liberation Army

(UCK) into the civilian protection force for Kosova, AP

reported on 22 September. During a press conference at the UN

in New York, U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said

she thought it is "quite remarkable" that ethnic Albanians

have been handing in weapons. She said it is "very hard to

ask people to give up their weapons and not give them

something in exchange." But at a rally for the corps in

Skenderaj, at which many people were still wearing their UCK

uniforms, former UCK political leader Hashim Thaci told

onlookers, many of whom were armed, that "this force will

guard and protect every foot of Kosova." PB

[16] UN TRIBUNAL SAYS THOUSANDS EXHUMED FROM MASS GRAVES

Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia said on 22 September that

war crimes investigators have recovered thousands of bodies

from some 150 mass graves in Kosova and that more are exhumed

each day, Reuters reported. Tribunal spokeswoman Kelly Moore

said there are still some 350 suspected mass grave sites to

investigate. She added that more charges of genocide will be

filed for crimes committed in Kosova. Meanwhile in that

republic, one Turkish soldier was killed and five German

peacekeepers were injured in separate incidents on 22

September. PB

[17] U.S. OFFICIAL WARNS CROATIA OVER STANCE ON TRIBUNAL

government official said on 22 September that Croatia's

economy has a real opportunity to "revive" if Zagreb

cooperates with the UN war crimes tribunal at The Hague and

extradites an indicted suspect, AP reported. But David Aaron,

U.S. undersecretary for commerce, added that if Croatia does

not hand over Mladen Naletilic to the tribunal, its economy

could suffer "extremely negative" consequences. Aaron made

his comments in Zagreb at the end of a tour of Balkan states.

He did not elaborate. The U.S. is the largest foreign

investor in Croatia. Naletilic is in custody in Zagreb and is

awaiting a verdict on an appeal he made to the Croatian

Supreme Court to block his extradition to The Hague. Local

newspapers claim the U.S. has given Croatia two weeks to hand

over Naletilic. PB

[18] IZETBEGOVIC CRITICIZES PEACEKEEPERS

Muslim member of the Bosnian-Herzegovinian presidency, said

on 21 September in Kuwait City that the NATO peacekeepers in

Bosnia are ineffective, the Kuna news agency reported.

Izetbegovic said the situation is Bosnia is negatively

affected by the "presence of leading criminals who are at

large but cannot be caught." He said it would be better if

NATO forces were "more active" in detaining them. Izetbegovic

left Kuwait the following day for an official visit to

Turkey. In other news, Rajko Vasic, a member of the Bosnian

Serb government of Premier Milorad Dodik, denied a report by

the Onasa news service that Dodic recently met with Yugoslav

President Milosevic (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 21 September

1999). PG

[19] GERMAN CHANCELLOR PLEDGES SUPPORT FOR ALBANIA

Albania on 22 September, Gerhard Schroeder thanked Albanian

Premier Pandeli Majko for the government's support during the

war in Kosova and pledged that Germany will aid Tirana in

securing an association agreement with the EU, Reuters

reported. Schroeder said that because of Albania's

"stabilizing" role during the Kosova conflict, it has "the

right to enjoy the solidarity of Europe." He said this means

that an EU association agreement will be reached "as soon as

possible." Schroeder, the first German chancellor to visit

Albania, praised the government's fight against corruption

and lawlessness and said winning such a fight "is important"

in attracting foreign investment. Majko told Schroeder that

Germany has played an important role in the history of

Albania. Germany is Albania's second-largest donor country.

PB

[20] ILIESCU, PDSR CONTINUE TO LEAD IN ROMANIAN POLL

President Ion Iliescu and his Party of Social Democracy in

Romania (PDSR) top a public opinion poll conducted in early

September by the Center for Public Opinion and Market

Research. Both Iliescu and the PDSR are backed by 40 percent

of the electorate, well ahead of President Emil

Constantinescu (17 percent) and the Democratic Convention of

Romania (CDR, 21 percent). The findings are in line with a

survey conducted by the same institute in June. The September

poll also shows former Foreign Minister Teodor Melescanu with

14 percent backing, followed by Greater Romania Party (PRM)

leader Corneliu Vadim Tudor (9 percent). The extremist PRM is

third in party preferences, with 9 percent support. Nearly

half of those polled (48 percent), however, were either

undecided or did not respond, Mediafax reported. MS

[21] IMF AGREES TO HIGHER ROMANIAN BUDGET DEFICIT

agreed to a deficit of 4.1 percent of GDP this year, instead

of 3.9 percent as previously agreed. The chief IMF negotiator

for Romania, Emmanuel Zervoudakis, made that announcement at

the end of his visit to Romania on 22 September, Mediafax

reported. Zervoudakis said the higher deficit is a result of

budgetary allocations for orphanages. He said that during its

fact-finding mission over the previous two weeks, the fund

established that the program agreed on earlier this year with

the Romanian authorities has been "by and large implemented

within its established parameters." He added that some

positive developments have been noted as a result of reducing

the current account deficit. On the other hand, inflation has

been higher than planned and the economic decline steeper

than envisaged. Zervoudakis said Romania will have to borrow

$470 million from international financial lenders to cover

its budgetary deficit. MS

[22] MOLDOVA TO RENOUNCE WEAPONS SHARE IN TRANSDNIESTER ARSENAL?

earlier this month, Moldovan President Petru Lucinschi

proposed that Chisinau renounce its share of the Russian

arsenal deployed in Transdniester and in return have its debt

for deliveries of Russian natural gas written off, Infotag

reported on 22 September, citing the Russian daily

"Izvestiya." MS

[23] COUNCIL OF EUROPE APPROVES BULGARIAN LOCAL ELECTION LAW

inconsistent" with the European Charter on Local Self

Government, the Council of Europe's Congress of Local and

Regional Authorities of Europe said in a note to the

Bulgarian parliament, BTA reported on 22 September. The

opposition Socialist Party had requested that the council

rule on the amendments after the Constitutional Court refused

last month to deem them unconstitutional. MS

[24] BULGARIAN PRESIDENT DENIES OFFERING U.S. MILITARY BASES

Bulgarian officials recently conducted talks with the U.S. on

setting up military bases on Bulgarian territory, BTA

reported on 22 September. However, Stoyanov remarked that "we

must not approach this problem shyly [sic] if Bulgaria wishes

to prove its orientation toward NATO." He said that the

devastating earthquake in Turkey has destroyed a large U.S.

military base there and that "it is possible [that] U.S.

warships [will] take shelter in Bulgarian ports, if the U.S.

navy command makes [such] a request." MS

[C] END NOTE

[25] LITHUANIA'S PRESIDENT ADAMKUS LOOKS BACK, FORWARD

It's a big step from being a worker in a Chicago

automobile factory to becoming the head of state of

Lithuania. But Valdas Adamkus has managed such a leap in the

course of a lifetime marked by sharp contrasts. In fact, it

could be said that his life reflects the kaleidoscope of

events in the Baltics over most of this century.

Born in Kaunas in 1926, when Lithuania and neighboring

Estonia and Latvia were independent, the young Adamkus was

caught up in the tragedies of the Soviet annexation and the

German occupation. A teenage resistance member during the war

years, he and his family fled westward in 1944. Five years

later, in 1949, they emigrated to the U.S., where Adamkus

began working at the Chicago auto plant and then went on to

study civil engineering.

In the early 1970s, Adamkus joined the new U.S.

Environment Protection Agency, eventually becoming U.S.

coordinator for the Baltic states on environmental

protection.

Adamkus then rose through the U.S. federal civil

service, before returning to his homeland to contest

Lithuania's 1998 presidential election. He won that ballot by

a narrow margin and has managed to steadily increase his

popularity since then.

This week, Adamkus paid his first state visit to the

Czech Republic for talks with President Vaclav Havel and

other Czech leaders. While in Prague he visited RFE/RL's

headquarters, where he spoke to foreign and domestic

journalists.

Asked about how the time he spent in the U.S. impacted

on his political thinking, Adamkus said that "50 years is

almost a lifetime for the grown individual, and I have to say

that definitely I grew up within a democratic society, with

democratic principles. Like I said, democracy cannot be

learned from books, and I feel I am part of that system, part

of the principles and thinking."

On the broader theme of democratization, Adamkus spoke

of his pleasure at the slow but steady transformation in

social consciousness now taking place in Lithuania. He said

the whole country seems to be striving toward accepting

individual responsibility, the new philosophy so different

from that of the last half-century: "What really is

delightful is that the attitude, philosophy, and outlook

among the people is changing, especially I would say among

the younger generation. What is disappointing for me is that

these changes, in terms of the economy, in terms of improving

standards of living for people, are not happening as rapidly

as I would like."

Turning to foreign policy issues, Adamkus noted that

Lithuania's geo-political situation is very sensitive and its

policy based on the EU's guidelines of recognizing states but

not becoming internally involved in them. He said Lithuania

is strongly committed to good working relations with its

eastern neighbors, Russia and Belarus. Asked specifically

about ties with Belarus, Adamkus replied: "I believe there is

a very warm feeling [on the part of Lithuanians] toward the

people of Belarus, but the difficulty we have right now is

the very uncertain situation as to whom we should speak to,

because the [Belarusian] people are divided on that issue.

Legally they say that the present regime does not represent

actually the people, it represents only the government, the

bureaucracy. And of course this is not for us to decide;

that's what makes things very difficult".

Turning to the issue of Lithuania's integration into

Western structures, the president expressed confidence in

prospects for joining both the EU and NATO.

He said he believes there are good prospects that at

its Helsinki summit in December, the EU will invite Lithuania

to begin formal membership negotiations. He played down

Lithuania's dispute with the union over the timetable for

closure of the Ignalina nuclear power plant, which the EU

considers unsafe. He said there is a common European

understanding of the need for safety in nuclear power issues.

As for NATO, he said he believes that barring unexpected

developments, Lithuania will become a member early next

century. Commenting that all signs are positive, he noted

that Lithuania is already playing a supporting role in

international peacekeeping operations, such as in Kosova.

23-09-99

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

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