RFE/RL Newsline, Vol. 4, No. 37, 00-02-22

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

RFE/RL NEWSLINE

Vol. 4, No. 37, 22 February 2000

CONTENTS

[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA

[01] ARMENIA APPEARS SET TO HAVE COALITION GOVERNMENT

[02] AZERBAIJAN, TURKMENISTAN AT ODDS OVER GAS EXPORT PIPELINE...

[03] ...ENABLING RUSSIA TO MUSCLE IN

[04] AZERBAIJANI OPPOSITION LEADER APPEALS ON BEHALF OF CHECHENS

[05] GEORGIAN OFFICIAL WELCOMES CHECHEN OFFER OF MILITARY HELP IN

[06] STALIN'S GRANDSON BARRED FROM GEORGIAN PRESIDENTIAL POLL

[07] SIX PARTIES WIN REPRESENTATION IN NEW KYRGYZ PARLIAMENT...

[08] ...BUT OVERALL RESULTS UNCLEAR

[09] HIGH-LEVEL KIDNAPPING, MORE SHOOTING IN TAJIKISTAN

[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE

[10] KOSOVSKA MITROVICA REMAINS TENSE

[11] ROBERTSON WARNS TROUBLE-MAKERS

[12] HOW DID ALBANIANS GET THROUGH?

[13] HOLBROOKE, CLARK SLAM BELGRADE ROLE IN KOSOVA UNREST

[14] WHAT IS BELGRADE DOING IN KOSOVA?

[15] HAGUE COURT TO ADD CHARGES AGAINST MILOSEVIC

[16] MONTENEGRO SLAMS BELGRADE'S 'WAR PROPAGANDA'

[17] CROATIAN CONSULATE OPENED IN MONTENGRO

[18] MESIC NAMES MORE TOP ADVISERS

[19] CONTINUITY AFTER ALL IN REPUBLIKA SRPSKA?

[20] NEW RULE AGAINST CORRUPTION IN BOSNIA

[21] ROMANIAN GOVERNMENT ATTEMPTS TO APPEASE STRIKING TEACHERS

[22] WILL ROMANIAN DEFENSE MINISTER ALSO RESIGN FROM GOVERNMENT?

[23] ROMANIAN 'HOLOCAUST MINIMIZERS' DEALT BLOW

[24] BULGARIAN TELEVISION STARTS TURKISH PROGRAM

[C] END NOTE

[25] WHAT FUTURE FOR THE EAST-WEST CORRIDOR?

[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA

[01] ARMENIA APPEARS SET TO HAVE COALITION GOVERNMENT

meeting in Yerevan on 19 February, Armenian Prime Minister

Aram Sargsian invited representatives of all eight political

parties represented in the parliament to propose candidates

for a coalition government, RFE/RL's Yerevan bureau reported

on 21 February. Vartan Ayvazian, leader of the Kayunutiun

(Stability) parliamentary faction, told RFE/RL that the

parties have accepted the invitation and will nominate their

ministerial candidates "in the next few days." Sargsian and

the eight parties also signed a joint statement pledging to

work together to extricate Armenia from its present economic

crisis. Noyan Tapan political commentator David Petrosian

predicted last week that some ministries may be merged. He

identified as possible victims of the reshuffle Finance

Minister Armen Darpinian, Health Minister Hayk Nikoghossian,

Social Security Minister Razmik Martirossian, and Energy

Minister David Zadoyan. LF

[02] AZERBAIJAN, TURKMENISTAN AT ODDS OVER GAS EXPORT PIPELINE...

President Eduard Shevardnadze confirmed that "some problems"

have arisen between Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan over the use

of the planned Trans-Caspian export gas pipeline, Russian

agencies reported. Shevardnadze said the problems derived

from the discovery last year of huge quantities of gas in the

Azerbaijani sector of the Caspian. That discovery prompted

Baku to demand 50 percent of the throughput capacity of the

pipeline to export its own gas. Turkmen President Saparmurat

Niyazov on 17 February said the Azerbaijani demand runs

counter to Turkmenistan's interests and could render the

entire project economically inexpedient, Interfax reported.

According to a declaration of intent signed last November in

Istanbul by Georgia, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, and Turkey, a

framework agreement on the Trans-Caspian pipeline was to have

been concluded in April 2000. LF

[03] ...ENABLING RUSSIA TO MUSCLE IN

declared that Turkmenistan is ready to export 100 billion

cubic meters of gas annually to Russia, according to

Interfax. Two days later, Niyazov discussed that possibility

with visiting Gazprom chief Rem Vyakhirev, with whom he

signed an agreement in December on the resumption of exports

of Turkmen natural gas via Russia (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 20

December 1999). Caucasus Press noted that Ashgabat will not

be forced to renege on its previous agreement to export gas

to Turkey, as Turkmen gas exported to Russia can be

transported to Turkey through the Blue Stream pipeline across

the Black Sea. Construction of that pipeline began earlier

this month and is expected to be completed next year. LF

[04] AZERBAIJANI OPPOSITION LEADER APPEALS ON BEHALF OF CHECHENS

chairman Isa Gambar condemned the atrocities, humiliation,

and "unbelievable brutality" inflicted on the Chechen

civilian population by the Russian military. Gambar called on

the international community and international human rights

organizations to pressure the Russian government to halt the

"massacres and genocide." LF

[05] GEORGIAN OFFICIAL WELCOMES CHECHEN OFFER OF MILITARY HELP IN

Tamaz Nadareishvili, who is chairman of the Abkhaz

parliament in exile (composed of the ethnic Georgian deputies

elected to the Abkhaz parliament in 1991), said on 21

February that he appreciates an alleged offer by unnamed

Chechen militants to help Georgian guerrilla formations to

return Abkhazia's southernmost Gali Raion to Georgian control

by military means, Caucasus Press reported. But Nadareishvili

stressed that the operation should be conducted by the

country's armed forces, rather than by Georgian guerrillas.

The Chechen offer, reportedly made by Chechen guerrillas

already in Gali, was reported in "Alia" on 21 February. But

Chechnya's official representative in Georgia, Khizri

Aldamov, told Caucasus Press on 22 February that he does not

know of any such Chechen detachment in Abkhazia. Aldamov said

new hostilities in Abkhazia would not be "the best solution."

LF

[06] STALIN'S GRANDSON BARRED FROM GEORGIAN PRESIDENTIAL POLL

presidential elections because he is a citizen of Russia, not

of Georgia, Reuters reported on 21 February, quoting Georgian

Central Electoral Commission Deputy Chairman Giorgi

Zesashvili. LF

[07] SIX PARTIES WIN REPRESENTATION IN NEW KYRGYZ PARLIAMENT...

the 20 February parliamentary elections surmounted the 5

percent barrier to win representation in the new legislature,

RFE/RL's Bishkek bureau reported on 21 February. They were

the Communist Party (27 percent support), the pro-government

Union of Democratic Forces (17 percent), the Women's

Democratic Party (13 percent), the Party of War Veterans (9

percent), the pro-presidential "My Country" (5.7 percent),

and the moderate opposition Ata-Meken (5.6 percent). Those

parties will share the 15 seats (of a total of 60 in the

lower house of parliament) to be allocated under the

proportional system. The Agrarian party, the Agrarian-Labor

Party, Asaba, the Erkin Kyrgyzstan party, and the Manas bloc

each polled less than 5 percent. LF

[08] ...BUT OVERALL RESULTS UNCLEAR

5 or 12 March in most single-mandate constituencies,

including those contested by Ar-Namys party leader Feliks

Kulov, El (Bei-Bechara) chairman Daniyar Usenov, and

Democratic Movement of Kyrgyzstan Chairman Djypar Djeksheev,

RFE/RL's Bishkek bureau reported, citing the Central

Electoral Commission. The very few candidates who won

outright in the first round of voting include Turdakun

Usubaliev, who was first secretary of the Kirghiz Communist

Party Central Committee from 1961-1985, and Asankul Akaev,

elder brother of Kyrgyzstan's President Askar Akaev. LF

[09] HIGH-LEVEL KIDNAPPING, MORE SHOOTING IN TAJIKISTAN

younger sister of Deputy Premier Nigina Sharopova was

abducted on 21 February outside the Dushanbe hospital where

she works, ITAR-TASS reported. Later the same day, two

unidentified groups of armed men exchanged fire in central

Dushanbe after the vehicles in which they were travelling

collided near the presidential palace. Two passers-by were

injured. Meanwhile, Interior Minister Khomidin Sharipov has

ordered the country's entire police force confined to

barracks until after the first round of parliamentary

elections on 27 February. LF

[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE

[10] KOSOVSKA MITROVICA REMAINS TENSE

positions on the bridge separating the mainly Serbian north

and mainly Albanian south of the northern Kosova town on 22

February. The previous day, KFOR troops from several

countries used tear gas to turn back up to 10,000 ethnic

Albanians who tried to force their way across the bridge into

the north (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 21 February 2000). KFOR's

General Klaus Reinhardt said: "The key thing really was to

prevent an escalation in which somebody fired on the other

one. It would have been a disaster. My soldiers were very

reasonable. They used just the amount of power needed and did

not overreact." PM

[11] ROBERTSON WARNS TROUBLE-MAKERS

General Lord Robertson called the clashes between

peacekeepers and ethnic Albanians an "indefensible disgrace,"

BBC Television reported on 22 February. He warned that

"anybody who seeks to be provocative in that part of the

world, on whatever side of the divide they may be..., [should

know that] we will not tolerate action being taken." A BBC

commentator noted, however, that peacekeepers in Mitrovica

are vastly outnumbered by Albanians and Serbs alike. PM

[12] HOW DID ALBANIANS GET THROUGH?

question remains as to how up to 75,000 ethnic Albanians

arriving on 21 February from Prishtina and other parts of

Kosova managed to get through or circumvent U.K. KFOR cordons

erected to keep the protesters out of the center of town. A

BBC correspondent said that many of the demonstrators came

from the Drenica region, which is a stronghold of the former

Kosova Liberation Army (UCK). He suggested that the UCK's

Thaci hoped to use the demonstration to strengthen his own

political hand at the expense of the shadow-state's Ibrahim

Rugova. Several of Thaci's aides were "prominent" in the

crowd, the reporter added. PM

[13] HOLBROOKE, CLARK SLAM BELGRADE ROLE IN KOSOVA UNREST

Ambassador to the UN Richard Holbrooke said in New York on 21

February that "the situation in Mitrovica is dangerous and

requires the immediate attention of all the countries

concerned. I think there is no question who's responsible for

it. It's Belgrade. The leadership in Belgrade is fomenting

trouble north of the Mitrovica bridge. There's no question.

The problem here comes from Belgrade" (see "RFE/RL Newsline,"

21 February 2000). Speaking with Kosova's Hashim Thaci and

Macedonia's Arben Xhaferi in Tirana, NATO's Supreme Commander

in Europe General Wesley Clark took a similar stand: "There

is an influence by Belgrade in the area," AP reported. PM

[14] WHAT IS BELGRADE DOING IN KOSOVA?

officer told Reuters in Belgrade on 21 February that "only

regular and planned activities [by Serbian forces] are going

on in the region." He did not elaborate The Yugoslav

government said in a letter to the UN Security Council that

U.S. and German KFOR troops had engaged in "unprovoked [and]

arrogant behavior...against the [local] Serbs," AP reported.

Unnamed NATO sources in Brussels told Reuters that four

companies of Serbian paramilitary police recently moved into

a region of Serbia just east of Kosova where up to 100,000

ethnic Albanians live (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 21 February

2000). In Brussels on 21 February, Robertson himself referred

to "large numbers of additional Yugoslav troops [moving] into

the area," but he did not elaborate. A BBC correspondent said

in Mitrovica on 22 February that unnamed Serbs used mobile

phones to "control" the crowd in mainly Serbian northern

Mitrovica during the recent unrest. PM

[15] HAGUE COURT TO ADD CHARGES AGAINST MILOSEVIC

the Hague-based war crimes tribunal said on 21 February that

the list of charges against Yugoslav President Slobodan

Milosevic will be expanded, RFE/RL's South Slavic Service

reported. He did not elaborate. Referring to recent reports

by an Athens-based radio station that China has offered

Milosevic asylum, the spokesman stressed that no country can

legally offer refuge to an indicted war criminal. PM

[16] MONTENEGRO SLAMS BELGRADE'S 'WAR PROPAGANDA'

Deputy Prime Minister Dragisa Burzan said that the new

television station set up by Milosevic's backers in northern

Montenegro is aimed at polarizing society in the runup to

local elections, "Danas" reported on 22 February (see "RFE/RL

Newsline," 17 February 2000). Burzan stressed that the

setting up of the television station is part of a larger

campaign that Belgrade is staging against Podgorica and in

which economic measures also play a part. PM

[17] CROATIAN CONSULATE OPENED IN MONTENGRO

Mayor Petar Poljanic officially opened the Croatian consulate

in Kotor, Montenegro. The town is near the Croatian frontier

and is home to most of Montenegro's 15,000-strong Croatian

minority. Poljanic stressed, however, that he is interested

in promoting good relations with all the people in

Montenegro, "Slobodna Dalmacija" reported on 22 February. PM

[18] MESIC NAMES MORE TOP ADVISERS

appointed several key aides on 21 February, "Jutarnji list"

reported (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 21 February 2000). They

include: military specialist Imre Agotic, chief of the

president's office Damir Vargek, foreign affairs expert

Stanko Nick, and economics advisor Stjepan Zdunic. Elsewhere,

Mesic said that Croatia must reform and become a "safe"

country in order to attract foreign investment. He stressed

that the country's geographic location could help enable it

to become an "economic and financial center in this part of

Europe." PM

[19] CONTINUITY AFTER ALL IN REPUBLIKA SRPSKA?

Milorad Dodik told a press conference in Banja Luka on 21

February that the governing coalition will continue its work,

despite the announcement by Milosevic's Socialist allies that

they are leaving the coalition (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 21

February 2000). He called on Socialist parliamentary speaker

Petar Djokic to give up that office but added that he will

not accept the resignations of four Socialist ministers.

Dodik said that the most important thing for the Republika

Srpska is to have a functioning government and avoid

instability, "Vesti" reported. Dodik blamed Milosevic for the

imbroglio. In Sarajevo, "Oslobodjenje" suggested that some

Socialist politicians may have decided to remain loyal to the

governing coalition. PM

[20] NEW RULE AGAINST CORRUPTION IN BOSNIA

Election Commission has decided that anyone elected to

municipal councils in April's elections cannot remain

director or a member of the governing board of a company in

which the government owns more than 25 percent of the

capital. OSCE spokesmen said in Sarajevo on 21 February that

the ruling is aimed at preventing elected officials from

misusing their position to protect, discriminate in favor of,

or extend patronage to companies in which they have a vested

interest. The OSCE's Robert Barry noted that it is not

unusual in Bosnia for elected officials to hold top positions

in several corporations simultaneously. PM

[21] ROMANIAN GOVERNMENT ATTEMPTS TO APPEASE STRIKING TEACHERS

teachers' salaries by 60 percent on 1 April and another 40

percent on 1 September, Romanian radio reported the next day.

Arrears dating back to 1998 are also to be paid if the

necessary funds can be found at a cabinet meeting scheduled

for 24 February. The teachers are also to be paid a 13th

monthly wage for 1999, as provided for in their collective

contract. A spokesman for the striking teachers said the

unions will examine the decision on 22 February. In response

to a journalist's question as to whether he will withdraw his

resignation, Education Minister Andrei Marga said he hopes to

return to the Cluj Babes-Bolyai University, of which he is

dean. MS

[22] WILL ROMANIAN DEFENSE MINISTER ALSO RESIGN FROM GOVERNMENT?

Minister Victor Babiuc to resign from the government

following his resignation last week from the party. The

Democrats urged Prime Minister Mugur Isarescu to dismiss him

if he fails to resign from the cabinet. Citing "political

sources," Romanian Television on 21 February said Babiuc

continues to enjoy the trust and support of President Emil

Constantinescu, who believes the defense minister has the

necessary experience and international reputation to see

through the process of reforming the army. Also on 21

February, the opposition Party of Social Democracy in Romania

(PDSR) signed an agreement with Fratia, the largest trade

union confederation, stipulating that union leaders will run

on PDSR lists in the local and general elections. The PDSR is

to consult the unions about its program, and the unions will

support the party's electoral effort. MS

[23] ROMANIAN 'HOLOCAUST MINIMIZERS' DEALT BLOW

Voicu on 21 February was elected dean of the Political

Science Faculty of the Bucharest University. The author of an

1998 article criticizing "Holocaust minimization" on the part

of Romanian intellectuals, Voicu was recently attacked in the

Romanian press after his article was reprinted in the

prestigious French journal "Les Temps Modernes." MS

[24] BULGARIAN TELEVISION STARTS TURKISH PROGRAM

television on 20 February began broadcasting a 20-minute

weekly program in Turkish, the BBC reported, citing the

Turkish Anatolia agency. The program, which has Bulgarian

subtitles, covers news, music, and features and is sponsored

by the International Center for Cultural Cooperation and

Minority Problems. The editor in charge of the program told

Anatolia that for now it can be seen only in the Sofia region

but that she expects it to draw a great deal of interest. MS

[C] END NOTE

[25] WHAT FUTURE FOR THE EAST-WEST CORRIDOR?

"Koha Jone" reported on 6 February that the Albanian

government has recently focused most of its efforts on

building a north-south highway and has virtually stopped

construction of the important east-west Corridor 8, which is

to link the Adriatic port of Durres with Skopje and Istanbul

via Bulgaria.

The east-west route is of both economic and political

importance. Development of a modern and reliable east-west

highway would strengthen links between the countries involved

and weaken their dependency on other routes. In the case of

Macedonia, the north-south axis linking it to Serbia and

Greece would no longer be so important and would give

Macedonia better access to Italy and Bulgaria, thus reducing

its dependency on the port of Thessaloniki and the highway

through Serbia.

"Koha Jone" stressed that the delay in the construction

of Corridor 8 comes at a time when the Greek government has

begun construction of a highway linking the Greek Adriatic

port of Igoumenitsa with Thessaloniki and subsequently with

Istanbul. Athens will receive some 450 million euros ($450

million) from the EU for the project. Interestingly, the

Greek project is called "Via Egnatia," referring to the

ancient road that once linked Thessaloniki with Durres and

ran through an area that is now central Albania; this is the

very route of Corridor 8.

Francesco Divela, one of the organizers of the joint

Tirana-Bari international trade fair, warned that the Greek

road project will reduce the attractiveness of the Corridor 8

project by connecting the Adriatic with the largest Balkan

port, namely Thessaloniki. (One could also add that the Greek

project will not do much to increase east-west economic

integration, given that the highway runs across only Greek

territory and does not link Greece with any neighboring

former communist countries.)

"Koha Jone" also quoted Italian Trade Ministry and U.S.

officials as criticizing Tirana for dragging its heels on the

construction of Corridor 8. It added that unnamed officials

at the Albanian Transport Ministry's Department of Road

Construction indirectly admit that they are not pursuing the

Corridor 8 project very vigorously. "We do not implement a

policy of [planning] roads or corridors, but we deal with the

construction of road segments that we are charged with

building," they commented.

But in practice, new contracts have been signed for

parts of the major new north-south highway that will

eventually link Montenegro and Greece. Shortly before leaving

office last November, then Transportation Minister Gaqo

Apostoli signed three contracts for parts of the highway that

are worth a combined total of $50 million.

"Koha Jone" argues that Albania has given priority to

developing the north-south connection to economically strong

Greece rather than to much poorer Macedonia. This puts

Albania in a difficult position vis-a-vis its two EU

neighbors. Italy is interested in developing markets to the

east via Corridor 8 and intends to invest in the upgrading of

the port in Durres. Greece, for its part, is afraid that it

will lose some of the turnover at the Thessaloniki port

through the construction of Corridor 8 and is thus promoting

the construction of the north-south highway. As for Albania,

Prime Minister Ilir Meta maintains that the government

considers the two highways of equal importance.

So far, construction of Corridor 8 has begun only

between Tirana and Durres--in which stretch Italy has

invested some $17 million--and between Rrogozhina and

Elbasan, on which a Turkish company is currently working. For

the section between Elbasan and Librazhd, Albania has so far

received only financial pledges from the European Bank for

Reconstruction and Development. For the stretch between

Librazhd and Qukes, Albania has signed a $15 million contract

with the Macedonian company Mavropi, but construction had to

be interrupted because of archeological discoveries along the

ancient Via Egnatia.

The last part of the road--between Qukes and Qafe Thane-

-will be constructed with support from Kuwait, but the

Albanian government has not yet set a date for beginning work

there.

Currently, there appears to be deadlock over the

beginning of construction between Durres and Rrogozhina. A

Greek company won the tender and was supposed to have begun

work by 19 January 2000. However, the company failed to meet

that deadline and is accusing the Albanian government of

causing the delay by failing to nationalize the property on

which the road will be built. The Agricultural Ministry,

which is responsible for such action, has done nothing.

The World Bank, meanwhile, has drawn up a project for

the reconstruction of existing roads crossing the east, west,

and north of the country. The bank has granted a loan worth

$66 million, but the government has so far made use of only

$7.7 million. The project provides for the construction of 90

kilometers of road, 60 kilometers of which would form part of

Corridor 8, while another 30 kilometers would be part of the

north-south highway, linking Fushe Kruja with Lezha.

Finally, "Koha Jone" also reported that some of the work

on the north-south highway has been marred by

"irregularities" and the use of shoddy construction

materials.

In short, the day that Albania has a viable road network

linking north and south, and east and west--with all the

political and economic advantages that implies--is still a

long way off.

22-02-00

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

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