RFE/RL Newsline, Vol. 3, No. 239, 99-12-10

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

RFE/RL NEWSLINE

Vol. 3, No. 239, 10 December 1999

CONTENTS

[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA

[01] GUNMAN TAKES HOSTAGES IN ARMENIAN INSTITUTE

[02] GEORGIAN PARLIAMENT EXPRESSES CONCERN OVER WAR

[03] KAZAKHSTAN'S PRESIDENT CONCLUDES VISIT TO JAPAN

[04] OPPOSITION PARTY IN KAZAKHSTAN COMPLAINS OF

[05] TAJIK PARLIAMENT PASSES ELECTION LAW

[06] OSCE DECLINES TO MONITOR TURKMEN PARLIAMENTARY

[07] TURKMENISTAN ASKS EBRD TO RECONSIDER LOAN

[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE

[08] YUGOSLAV ARMY WARNS MONTENEGRO OVER AIRPORT...

[09] ...AS DOES SESELJ

[10] MONTENEGRO PLAYS DOWN INCIDENT

[11] U.S., NATO EXPRESS CONCERN

[12] BELGRADE REGIME'S CAMPAIGN AGAINST OPPOSITION

[13] SERBIAN COURT SENTENCES KOSOVAR RIGHTS ACTIVIST

[14] STATE DEPARTMENT PUTS KOSOVA DEATHS AT 10,000

[15] KOUCHNER 'SUSPENDS' OPPONENT OF FRENCH

[16] CROATIAN OPPOSITION SLAMS STATE-RUN TV

[17] ROMANIAN RAILWAY STRIKE ENTERS FIFTH DAY

[18] ROMANIAN PARLIAMENT PASSES RESTITUTION LAW

[19] ROMANIA SEEKS TO IMPROVE TRADE TIES WITH IRAQ

[20] MOLDOVAN PRESIDENT NAMES NEW PRIME MINISTER-

[21] U.S. LAUNCHES AID PROGRAM FOR BULGARIA

[22] BULGARIAN GOVERNMENT PREPARES FOR Y2K

[C] END NOTE

[23] TIMOTHY GARTON ASH DISCUSSES 1989

[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA

[01] GUNMAN TAKES HOSTAGES IN ARMENIAN INSTITUTE

17-year-old sportsman identified as Artem Minasian armed

with two hunting rifles briefly took a group of students

hostage at Yerevan's Pedagogical Institute on 9 December,

RFE/RL's Yerevan bureau reported. He suffered serious

gunshot wounds when police entered the building to disarm

him. Noyan Tapan quoted the Prosecutor-General's Office as

saying that the gunman hoped to pressure the Armenian

government into ensuring that his sporting achievements

were entered in the Guinness Book of Records. But student

hostages quoted the gunman as saying he wanted to protest

the government's policies and as demanding that President

Robert Kocharian come to negotiate with him personally.

Minasian also said that two of his associates were on

standby to blow up seven buildings in the city in the event of

his death or arrest. Kocharian negotiated with the five

gunmen who killed eight people and held deputies hostage in

the Armenian parliament in late October (see "RFE/RL

Newsline," 29 October 1999). LF

[02] GEORGIAN PARLIAMENT EXPRESSES CONCERN OVER WAR

Parliamentary deputies adopted a resolution

on 9 December describing Russia's ongoing military campaign

in the North Caucasus a threat to peace and stability in

Georgia, Caucasus Press reported. The statement affirmed

Georgia's recognition of the territorial integrity of the Russian

Federation and Georgia's desire for friendly relations with all

neighboring states, including Russia. But it also rejected

Russian demands for permission to launch operations against

Chechen militants from Georgian territory and called on the

Russian government to negotiate an end to the conflict. Also

on 9 December, Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze

convened a meeting of power ministers to discuss the

situation on the Georgian-Chechen border and to assess

Russian allegations that the intelligence services of unnamed

countries are planning to perpetrate terrorist acts in Georgia

in order to destabilize that country's internal political

situation. LF

[03] KAZAKHSTAN'S PRESIDENT CONCLUDES VISIT TO JAPAN

talks with Japanese Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi and with

Foreign Minister Yohei Kono. Nazarbaev and Obuchi signed a

joint statement on friendship and partnership in the 21st

century. Japan agreed to advance $1.2 million in credits for

eight construction projects, including repair of highways in

western Kazakhstan, modernization of the Atyrau oil refinery,

and construction of an oil pipeline from Atyrau to Kenkiyak.

LF

[04] OPPOSITION PARTY IN KAZAKHSTAN COMPLAINS OF

Lawyer Oleg Sunkov, who represents the

Azamat Party, told journalists in Almaty on 10 December that

tax police searched his office earlier this week and

confiscated materials on the activities of the pro-presidential

Civic Party, RFE/RL's bureau in the former capital reported.

The previous day, Temirtas Tleleusov, author of a book

detailing the illegal activities of some members of the

leadership of the South Kazakhstan Oblast, was attacked and

badly beaten in the town of Shymkent. His son told RFE/RL

that he has been hospitalized. Local police deny any

knowledge of the attack. LF

[05] TAJIK PARLIAMENT PASSES ELECTION LAW

on 10 December passed the law on parliamentary elections

agreed on by the government and opposition last week, Asia

Plus-Blitz reported (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 7 December

1999). Also on 10 December, "Nezavisimaya gazeta" noted

that despite President Imomali Rakhmonov's recent decree

calling for measures on political liberalization, the Supreme

Court has annulled the registration by the Justice Ministry of

the Democratic Party of Tajikistan (Tehran Platform) on the

grounds that the information provided by that party of the

number of members in its local branches was inaccurate. The

Supreme Court earlier banned the Agrarian Party and the

Party of National Unity and annulled the registration of both

the Justice and Development and the Renaissance of

Tajikistan parties. The Justice Ministry has refused to

register the Party of the National Movement of Tajikistan. LF

[06] OSCE DECLINES TO MONITOR TURKMEN PARLIAMENTARY

An OSCE spokesman said in Vienna on 9

December that the organization will not send even a "limited

assessment" mission to monitor the 12 December

parliamentary elections in Turkmenistan, an RFE/RL

correspondent reported. President Saparmurat Niyazov had

requested a full monitoring mission during talks in Ashgabat in

October with OSCE Chairman In Office Knut Vollebaek. But the

OSCE said that the election framework "falls far short of what

is required for democratic elections." Specifically, he noted

that no provision has been made for non-government political

parties to contest the poll, the executive controlled the

nomination of candidates, and freedoms necessary for any

level of political activity were severely restricted. A total of

102 candidates, some independents and some representing

the Democratic Party of Turkmenistan, are competing for the

50 mandates in the new parliament. LF

[07] TURKMENISTAN ASKS EBRD TO RECONSIDER LOAN

$50 million loan for the reconstruction of the Ashgabat-Mary

highway, Interfax reported on 8 December quoting an

unidentified government source. Turkmenistan rejected the

EBRD's terms for that loan last month, saying it will raise

alternative funding for the project. On 9 December, Interfax

reported that President Niyazov had completed a visit to

western regions of the country, during which he witnessed

the beginning of construction of the Geoktepe-Turkmenbashi

highway. That project, which will cost an estimated $525

million, is being implemented by a Turkmen-Iranian joint

venture and financed by Turkmenistan's state transport and

communications fund. LF

[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE

[08] YUGOSLAV ARMY WARNS MONTENEGRO OVER AIRPORT...

Montenegro's leaders should not do anything to challenge

the army's authority in the military areas of Podgorica airport

(see "RFE/RL Newsline," 9 December 1999). The army

command warned against further attempts by Montenegrin

police to build a hangar for their helicopters on what the

army regards as its property. According to the statement,

"attempting to perform work in this manner, and provoking a

situation likely to lead to an incident, could have

unfathomable consequences for peace and stability in

Montenegro." The army "will continue to prevent illegal

usurpation attempts against its property and land," RFE/RL's

South Slavic Service reported. PM

[09] ...AS DOES SESELJ

Deputy Prime Minister Vojislav Seselj also warned the

Montenegrin authorities: "The Podgorica airport is both

civilian and military. It is of strategic importance for the

defense of the country.... The federal air control [sic] must

have all authority in Montenegro as far as air traffic is

concerned and control of all [air] entries into the country,"

AP reported. PM

[10] MONTENEGRO PLAYS DOWN INCIDENT

Foreign Minister Branko Perovic told the BBC on 10

December that his government reached an "arrangement" the

previous day with the Yugoslav military, which led to the

reopening of the airport without further incident. He denied

that the government has backed down from its intention to

take full control of the airport, saying that a decision on that

issue will be announced at the next meeting of the cabinet.

He added, however, that that session has been "postponed"

because of unspecified "other reasons." Perovic thanked

Western leaders for their warnings to Belgrade over the

incident, adding that such statements should be made "every

day." PM

[11] U.S., NATO EXPRESS CONCERN

Madeleine Albright told a news conference in Egypt on 9

December that "we have concerns about what is going on" in

Montenegro, AP reported. She stressed U.S. support for

Podgorica. In Washington, NATO commander U.S. General

Wesley Clark noted that "the situation is very tense in

Montenegro. We know that there are pressures and

intimidation coming from Serbia and [Yugoslav President

Slobodan] Milosevic. We are watching this very, very

closely.... It has been made very clear to Mr. Milosevic that he

should not--and must not--interfere" in Montenegro. PM

[12] BELGRADE REGIME'S CAMPAIGN AGAINST OPPOSITION

Third Army Commander General Nebojsa

Pavkovic said that former army chief-of-staff General Momcilo

Perisic "worked for a long time in the interest of the Western

powers" before Milosevic fired him in November 1998.

Pavkovic characterized Perisic's behavior toward the EU and

NATO as "servile," the Frankfurt-based Serbian daily "Vesti"

reported on 10 December. Perisic now heads a small

opposition party, the Movement for a Democratic Serbia. In

Belgrade on 9 December, an unspecified number of police

forced their way into the offices of Vuk Draskovic's Serbian

Renewal Movement. They "were looking for" three of

Draskovic's aides who had previously accused the authorities

of conducting "state terrorism" against their leader, RFE/RL's

South Slavic Service reported. PM

[13] SERBIAN COURT SENTENCES KOSOVAR RIGHTS ACTIVIST

that she has sentenced Kosovar medical doctor and human

rights activist Flora Brovina to 12 years in prison for

providing aid and comfort to "terrorists" of the Kosova

Liberation Army (UCK) during the recent conflict in the

troubled province. Brovina has denied the charges and called

the trial "political." Gradimir Nalic, who leads an organization of

Yugoslav human rights lawyers, said that the sentence will

only encourage Albanian judges in Kosova to pass tough

sentences on Serbs. He added that Milanovic's ruling "reveals

the state's negligence towards Serbs" in Kosova. In

Washington, the State Department's special Balkan envoy

James Dobbins said that the trial was "severely flawed" and

urged Belgrade to overturn the conviction. PM

[14] STATE DEPARTMENT PUTS KOSOVA DEATHS AT 10,000

destroyed may never be known, but enough evidence has

emerged to conclude that probably around 10,000 Kosovar

Albanians were killed by Serbian forces" in the conflict in the

first half of 1999. This was the principal finding of the study

"Ethnic Cleansing in Kosovo: An Accounting," which the U.S.

State Department released on 9 December in Washington. PM

[15] KOUCHNER 'SUSPENDS' OPPONENT OF FRENCH

On 9 December, the UN's Bernard

Kouchner suspended Agron Dida as head of the post and

telecommunications service in Kosova. Kouchner said that

Dida was "uncooperative" by refusing to sign an agreement

with the French firm Alcatel to establish a mobile telephone

system in the province (see "RFE/RL Balkan Report," 23

November 1999). Dida argued that a rival offer by the

German firm Siemens was more advantageous to Kosova,

RFE/RL's South Slavic Service reported. Kouchner is French.

PM

[16] CROATIAN OPPOSITION SLAMS STATE-RUN TV

main opposition parties said in a statement in Zagreb on 10

December that state-run television continues its long-

standing bias toward the governing Croatian Democratic

Community (HDZ). The parties charged that broadcasts paint

an idyllic picture of the current situation and spread fear of

change. The parties called for an end to the bias in the runup

to the 3 January parliamentary elections, AP reported. For

years, the opposition, EU, U.S., and numerous NGOs at home

and abroad have criticized the pro-HDZ orientation of state-

run television and demanded that it present more balanced

coverage. PM

[17] ROMANIAN RAILWAY STRIKE ENTERS FIFTH DAY

on 10 December after union leaders the previous day had

again failed to reach an agreement with the Transport

Ministry on wage hikes. Prime Minister Radu Vasile took part

in the 9 December negotiations. Union leader Gheorghe

Sultana said Transport Minister Traian Basescu "showed no

understanding for our problems." The unions are calling for a

70 percent raise, while Basescu has offered a 20 percent

hike. The Supreme Court is expected to decide on 10

December on the legality of the strike; if it declares the

action illegal, railway employees will have to resume work.

Meanwhile, an official from the Jiu Valley coal field said that if

the strike continues, coal production may have to stop on 11

December owing to a lack of trains to transport cargo,

Reuters reported. VG

[18] ROMANIAN PARLIAMENT PASSES RESTITUTION LAW

limited restitution of farmland seized by the former communist

regime. The bill provides for the restitution of up to 50

hectares of farmland and 10 hectares of forest to original

owners. The parliament passed the bill in a joint sitting of the

lower and upper houses. The bill must now be signed by

President Emil Constantinescu. VG

[19] ROMANIA SEEKS TO IMPROVE TRADE TIES WITH IRAQ

the Iraqi Transport Ministry's senior undersecretary, Jameel

Ibrahim, on 9 December in Baghdad for talks on improving

trade relations, according to an INA report cited by Reuters.

Iraqi Communications and Transport Minister Ahmed Murtada

Ahmed Khalil said he hopes Romanian firms can help meet his

country's transportation needs as part of the UN oil-for-food

deal with Iraq. VG

[20] MOLDOVAN PRESIDENT NAMES NEW PRIME MINISTER-

Presidential spokesman Antol Golea on 9

December confirmed that President Petru Lucinschi will ask

Ion Casian to form a new government, BASA-Press reported.

The 49-year-old Casian is the deputy manager of the Ericsson

company's office in Moldova and a former communications and

information minister. Casian on 9 December said a majority

should be formed among the parties in the parliament to

support his candidacy, Infotag reported on 10 December. VG

[21] U.S. LAUNCHES AID PROGRAM FOR BULGARIA

9 December inaugurated a $4 million aid program for

Bulgarian towns along the River Danube that have been

affected by the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia earlier this year,

an RFE/RL correspondent reported. The towns depend

heavily on the Danube as a trade route, but the river has

been blocked since the bombing. VG

[22] BULGARIAN GOVERNMENT PREPARES FOR Y2K

Bulgarian government on 9 December declared 3 January a

non-working day in preparation for any potential Y2K

problems, AP reported. Meanwhile, the Plama oil refinery

announced that it will temporarily suspend operations at the

turn of the new year to deal with potential disruptions in

electricity and natural gas supplies. In other news, an

explosion took place on Sofia's Narodno Subranie Square

across from the parliament building, BTA reported. The blast

broke the windows of a nearby cafe and bank, but no injuries

were reported. Police are investigating the incident. VG

[C] END NOTE

[23] TIMOTHY GARTON ASH DISCUSSES 1989

contemporary historian and a fervent advocate of rapid EU

expansion to Eastern Europe, spoke to Elena Nikleva of

RFE/RL's Bulgarian Service last month. Garton Ash was in

Prague to moderate a high-level conference commemorating

the 10th anniversary of the Velvet Revolution in the former

Czechoslovakia (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 19 November 1999).

Asked about the several new dividing lines in Europe

that he believes have replaced the Berlin Wall, Garton Ash

responded that "there are now many dividing lines instead of

one, and I think in 10 years' time there will be still many

dividing lines. But I think one of the most dangerous

doctrines of the [1990s] has been what I call vulgar

Huntingtonism--the idea propagated by the [U.S.] political

scientist Samuel Huntington that the great and enduring

divide in Europe is precisely between the area that had

Western Christianity and the area that had Orthodox

Christianity or Islam."

Garton Ash said that he has never supported "that sort

of cultural determinism and I think it is both analytically wrong

and politically misguided. I think it is terribly important that

the process of the enlargement of the European Union and of

Western structures continues and remains open not just to

countries like Bulgaria, but also to parts of the former Soviet

Union."

Nikleva asked Garton Ash whether he agreed that only

politicians--not ordinary people--were celebrating the 10th

anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. Wasn't this another

new dividing line, one between elites and the people?

"You are absolutely right that the celebrations of the

10th anniversary have been largely media events and political

events rather than popular events. Both in Berlin and here in

Prague, I think there is a painful contrast between then and

now, but that's perhaps not surprising. And of course one of

the new divisions which you get, particularly in capitalism, is

the division between rich and poor. But I don't think,

whatever the odd public opinion poll says, that a majority of

East Germans or even a significant minority of East Germans

would want the old system back. Nor would I think [does]

anyone else in post-communist Eastern and Central Europe."

How long does Garton Ash think it will take for the three

Baltic States and the Balkan countries to attain full EU

membership?

"I think that there is a good chance that in the next 10

years southeastern Europe and indeed the Baltic States

could come into a larger EU. I think the process of [EU]

enlargement will continue and I think that the great challenge

of the next 10 years is probably not southeastern Europe

actually--because I think that this process has already begun,

the process of enlargement--but the former Soviet Union, and

there I think you could see a big dividing line between the

former Soviet Union and the West of Europe. I believe [that]

because of the West's engagement in the Kosovo war most

politicians in the West now recognize that we have to get

serious about reintegration of the Balkans [into Europe].

Whether deeds will follow words, I'm not sure, but I believe I

am going to be cautiously optimistic about that in the medium

term."

If "Europe" doesn't end in Central Europe, then where in

his view does it end?

"Europe doesn't end, it fades away. It fades away

across the Eurasian continent somewhere between Moscow

and Vladivostok. And it fades away into Turkey. These are

the two open frontiers of Europe, and only a fool would say

Europe ends here and draw a sharp line on the map. Frankly,

[in the past] for most West Europeans, Europe ended on the

East German border; and even today for many West

Europeans, Europe ends on the Polish frontier. That's actually

a considerable achievement for those of us who have

advocated enlargement--that the definition of Europe even

extends this far, and it even includes...Central Europe. My

point is that that has set a precedent. And indeed the new

European [Union] Executive Commission under [President]

Romano Prodi has recognized this fact and they now

envisage an EU of 30 to 35 states."

Finally, Nikleva asked Garton Ash about the paradox that

while there is much talk about the new millennium, there is not

much talk about a new morality. Doesn't Europe need a new

morality for the new millennium?

"Well, it would be very nice, wouldn't it? There is a

sense that something is going wrong in the sort of model of

consumer democracy that post-communist Europe is taking

over from the West--a bad copy of the West. I think in this

part of the world--and by this part of the world I mean

Bulgaria as well as the Czech Republic [and elsewhere]--you

sense this malaise of consumer democracy. My contribution

as a writer is to analyze the malaise, to expose it and

certainly I think that better political leadership--a leadership

that puts the long term before the short term--is one of the

answers we need. But we also need more critical intellectuals

who point out these problems and try to drag people away

from the television screens."

10-12-99

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

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