 |
Compact version |
|
 |
        |
|
 |
||
|
Sunday, 22 December 2024
|
||
 |
 |
|
|
|
RFE/RL Newsline, Vol. 4, No. 53, 00-03-15Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty: Newsline Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty <http://www.rferl.org>RFE/RL NEWSLINEVol. 4, No. 53, 15 March 2000CONTENTS[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA
[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[C] END NOTE
[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA[01] ARMENIAN PRESIDENT PROMOTES SENIOR WAR VETERANSRobertKocharian issued a decree on 14 March promoting two leading members of the Yerkrapah Union of veterans of the Karabakh war, RFE/RL's Yerevan bureau reported. That organization's chairman, Major General Manvel Grigorian, and a second leader, Colonel Seyran Saroyan, were appointed deputy defense minister and commander of the Second Army Corps respectively. Major General Yurii Khachatrian, commander of the Fourth Army Corps, Colonel General Artur Aghabekian and Colonel General Gurgen Melkonian were also named deputy defense ministers. Grigorian's promotion was unexpected insofar as Yerkrapah is the military wing of the Republican Party of Armenia, one of the two components of the Miasnutiun parliamentary faction that is engaged in an apparent struggle for power with the president. Grigorian is also a close associate of Prime Minister Aram Sargsian. LF [02] ARMENIAN NATIONAL TV DIRECTOR RESIGNSTigran Naghdalian, thedirector of Armenian National Television, submitted his resignation on 13 March, RFE/RL's Yerevan bureau reported the following day. On 4 March, Naghdalian had rejected a demand by the Miasnutiun parliamentary majority faction that President Kocharian dismiss him for Armenian National Television's allegedly biased coverage of the investigations into the 27 October parliament shootings. Naghdalian said that demand constituted an attempt to limit media freedom in Armenia (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 6 March 2000). In his 13 March statement, Naghdalian again denied the accusations against him. He explained his resignation in terms of the need to maintain political stability in Armenia and the impossibility of continuing to work under "constant political pressure," according to Snark. Naghdalian denied that he had been pressured by Kocharian to resign. LF [03] DOZENS OF CONSCRIPTS DESERT FROM GEORGIAN ARMYDuring thenight of 12-13 March, 65 Georgian conscripts went absent without leave from the Kodjori training center to protest living conditions there, including inadequate food supplies, Caucasus Press and AP reported. Some of the conscripts have since returned to their unit, while the remaining 30 have been formally declared deserters. Defense Minister Davit Tevzadze has called for an investigation into conditions at the camp, where the Georgian peacekeeping contingent serving with KFOR in Kosova undergoes training. Defense Ministry spokesman Koba Liklikadze said in late January that some 3,000 soldiers had deserted from the Georgian armed forces over the previous four years. LF [04] KAZAKH PRESIDENT, OSCE SECRETARY-GENERAL DISCUSS SECURITYTHREATSJan Kubis told journalists in Astana on 14 March after talks with Kazakhstan's President Nursultan Nazarbaev that he has information that militant Islamic groups based in Afghanistan may launch incursions into the territory of the Central Asian states this year. Reuters and Interfax reported. Nazarbaev had issued a similar warning in his address to the OSCE Permanent Council in Vienna last month and appealed for OSCE help to deal with that threat (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 25 February 2000). LF [05] LEADING KAZAKH INTELLECTUAL CALLS FOR PRIVATIZATION OF LANDSpeaking at a meeting of his National Congress Party inAlmaty on 14 March, writer Olzhas Sulaimanov, who is also Kazakhstan's ambassador to Italy, appealed to NGOs in Kazakhstan to lobby the parliament to enact a law on the distribution of land among the country's citizens, RFE/RL's correspondent in the former capital reported. But fellow writer Sapabek Asip rejected that proposal, pointing out that much of Kazakhstan's territory is desert and that disputes would invariably arise over the limited amount of arable land available. Draft legislation on sales of farm land was withdrawn from the parliament last year after a series of popular protests (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 28 July and 2 August 1999). LF [06] DEFEATED KYRGYZ PARLIAMENTARY CANDIDATE ALLEGES FRAUD...Opposition Ar-Namys Party Chairman Feliks Kulov toldjournalists in Bishkek on 14 March that he has appealed to the local court in the Talas Oblast constituency of Kara- Buura to annul the results of the 12 March runoff election, RFE/RL's Bishkek bureau reported. Kulov said that his supporters had registered more than 350 violations of voting procedure, many of which were recorded on video. The official results gave Kulov 40 percent of the vote and his rival Alymbai Sultanov 56 percent. Kulov claimed that local officials pressured the population to vote for Sultanov. He said the parliamentary elections testify to the Kygyz leadership's rejection of the principles of freedom and democracy and will compound tensions between the leadership and the population at large, according to Interfax. LF [07] ...WHILE PROTESTS AGAINST POLL OUTCOME CONTINUEMeanwhile,between 700 and 1,000 Kulov supporters continued on 14 March to picket the local administration building in Kara-Buura to protest the poll outcome, RFE/RL's Bishkek bureau reported. In the southern town of Djalalabad, some 1,000 people gathered outside the local administration building to protest the election defeat of candidate Kamchybek Tashiev, while in the town of Balykchy 200 people gathered to protest the local court's decision to annul the results of the 20 February vote in one Issyk-Kul constituency where opposition candidate Omurbek Subanaliev polled the largest number of votes. According to the Central Electoral Commission, 99 of the total 105 seats in both chambers of the new parliament have been filled. LF [08] TURKMEN PRESIDENT PROPOSES CASPIAN SUMMITMeeting on 14March with Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Namdar-Zanganeh, Saparmurat Niyazov proposed convening a meeting of the presidents of the five Caspian littoral states (Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Russia, and Turkmenistan) to try to resolve disagreements over the status of the Caspian Sea under international law. Interfax reported. Niyazov added that he discussed that proposal with acting Russian President Vladimir Putin, who expressed his support for it. LF [09] RUSSIA FAILS TO HELP BAPTISTS DEPORTED FROM TURKMENISTANRussian Foreign Ministry officials in Moscow and RussianEmbassy staff in Ashgabat said on 14 March that they have made no effort to defend the interests of ethnic Russian Baptists deported from Turkmenistan over the past few days, nor have they been asked to do so, Keston News Service reported (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 14 March 2000). One embassy official in Ashgabat queried whether the deportees are in fact Russian citizens. LF [B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE[10] FRENCH PEACEKEEPERS SECURE MITROVICA BRIDGESome 250 Frenchpeacekeepers in full riot gear, backed by an unspecified number of armored personnel carriers and Italian military police, took control of the small bridge linking ethnic Albanian southern Mitrovica with the ethnically mixed Little Bosnia settlement on the northern side of the river. Four Serbian guards on the bridge left quietly after the French told them to go. The action began peacefully at dawn on 14 March, but a scuffle began several hours later, leaving at least nine Serbs and an unspecified number of peacekeepers and journalists injured. Several local Serbs told AP that KFOR prevented them from returning to their homes in Little Bosnia and accused the French of "trying to expel the Serbs" from Kosova. Local Serbian leader Oliver Ivanovic added that "this measure will create greater tension and...lead to a certain amount of conflict" between the Serbs and NATO. Peacekeepers have begun creating a "security zone" around Little Bosnia with barbed wire. Only local residents may enter the zone. KFOR plans to take control of the main bridge across the River Ibar soon. PM [11] RUBIN WARNS ALBANIANS OVER PRESEVOState Departmentspokesman James Rubin warned Kosovar Albanian militants on 14 March not to spread violence into neighboring southwest Serbia's Presevo Valley (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 14 March 2000). Speaking at the U.S. Camp Monteith base just 20 kilometers from the Serbian border, Rubin said: "We recognize that the treatment of Albanians in the Presevo Valley is a major problem, that Serb authorities need to do more to enable them to live their lives free of intimidation. But at the same time, Albanians need to not operate under any miscalculations about how the United States views the situation. Kosovo is one thing and Presevo is a different thing.... People shouldn't miscalculate that we will support those who provoke the Serbs by killing Serb policemen and causing a reaction." PM [12] CONFRONTATION BETWEEN ALBANIANS, NATO IN OFFING?"TheWashington Post" on 15 March quoted an unnamed senior Pentagon official as saying that U.S. troops in Kosova "this spring may have to fight their former allies, [namely] ethnic Albanian guerrillas who are rearming themselves and threatening cross-border attacks against Serbia." The article added that a "well-financed recruiting campaign" is under way in various parts of Kosova among former guerrillas and that some 500 well-armed fighters are active in the Presevo area. The daily noted that in Kosova itself, "with increasing frequency in recent weeks, ethnic Albanian fighters have raked Serbian villages and homesteads with gunfire and have assaulted Serbs on the way to work or to marketplaces in an apparent effort to drive the remaining Serbs out" of the province. PM [13] SERBIAN LEGISLATOR CRITICIZES RUSSIAN POLICYYugoslavparliamentary deputy Milutin Stojkovic told visiting members of the Russian State Duma in Belgrade on 14 March that Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov is a "meddler" who has worked against Serbian interests. Referring to Ivanov's recent meeting with Western foreign ministers in Lisbon, Stojkovic said: "We have not--nor shall we in the future--authorize anyone to negotiate on behalf of our interests. If the diplomacy of Mr. Ivanov consists of fawning over the Americans, he may do so at the expense of Russian but not of Serbian national interests," AP reported. State-run television carried the remarks of Stojkovic, who belongs to Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic's Socialist Party. During the same visit, State Duma Chairman Gennadii Seleznev expressed satisfaction that "brotherly Slavonic [Yugoslavia] is moving along the path of unification with Russia and Belarus," ITAR-TASS reported. Seleznev added, however, that the process should not be hurried. PM [14] BELGRADE CITY HALL PAYS STUDIO B'S BILLThe city governmentof Belgrade paid nearly $1 million to federal telecommunications authorities on 14 March to cover the private television station Studio B's outstanding debts for the use of frequencies (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 14 March 2000). Both the city government and the station are controlled by Vuk Draskovic's Serbian Renewal Movement. The opposition has charged that the government is trying to shut down or bankrupt independent and private media. PM [15] SERBIAN CITIZENS BACK RESERVISTSSome 2,000 residents ofKraljevo in central Serbia demonstrated on 14 March on behalf of members of a local tank reserve unit who recently protested their call-up notices, "Vesti" reported (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 14 March 2000). Protest leader Dragic Markovic read out a list of demands to the local military authorities, including an end to sending out call-up orders until the army officially orders a general mobilization. The Otpor (Resistance) student movement helped organize the protest. PM [16] DJUKANOVIC TELLS ARMY TO LEAVE POLITICSMontenegrinPresident Milo Djukanovic said in Podgorica on 14 March that in recent years the federal army has increasingly become the army of Milosevic's party and its allies. Djukanovic called on the army to "respect the constitution" and stand above partisan politics, "Danas" reported. PM [17] MESIC TO AIR TUDJMAN'S SECRETSCroatian President StipeMesic said in Pula on 14 March that he will soon make public the content of documents that his predecessor Franjo Tudjman held in various safes. Mesic added that only documents containing military secrets will remain classified, RFE/RL's South Slavic Service reported. In another sign of Mesic's desire to break with Tudjman's autocratic style of rule, the new president said on Brijuni Island that he plans to open up much of the government's huge estate there to commercial tourism. He added that the government will keep only a small area of what was the favorite seaside retreat of both Josip Broz Tito and Tudjman, "Jutarnji list" reported. Mesic drank with local people and returned to the mainland by a regularly scheduled ferry, offering to pay for his own ticket. PM [18] NEW DIRECTOR FOR CROATIAN RADIO-TELEVISIONLeaders of thesix governing parties agreed in Zagreb that they will soon ask Mirko Galic to head Croatian Radio and Television (HRT), "Jutarnji list" reported on 15 March. His main task will be to transform the state-run media, which now serve the interests of those in power, into a public broadcaster on the model of those in Germany and most other West European countries. PM [19] SLOVENIA SEEKS TO CLEAR UP 'CERTAIN DIFFICULTIES' IN VIENNAJanez Potocnik, who is Slovenia's chief negotiator with theEU, discussed some unspecified "problematic" issues in Slovenian-Austrian relations with Foreign Minister Benita Ferrero-Waldner and other officials in Vienna, "Die Presse" reported on 14 March. Potocnik stressed that it is important "to solve bilateral problems on a bilateral basis and not link them to Slovenia's admission to the EU." He said that he did not raise the question of Slovenia's atomic power plant at Krsko because "that is no problem as far as Slovenia is concerned." Potocnik called EU membership "Slovenia's most important political project," adding that his country hopes for membership in 2002. Austria's far-right Freedom Party's Joerg Haider has previously called for Krsko to be closed and is critical of EU expansion. He is governor of Carinthia, which borders Slovenia and is home to most of Austria's ethnic Slovenian minority. PM [20] ROMANIAN GOVERNMENT MEMBERS DECLARE END TO 'CRISIS'Representatives of the various parties in Romania's governingcoalition declared an end to the recent government crisis after a 14 March coalition meeting, Romanian Radio reported. Remus Opris, the secretary-general of the National Peasants' Party-Christian Democratic, said the coalition parties agreed on certain legislative priorities and decided to set up a technical commission to iron out differences among the parties over certain bills. He said priorities include the state budget and a law on local elections. Democratic Party Vice President Alexandru Sassu said the parties agreed to respect the government's official program and pass all bills related to EU requirements. The recent crisis was sparked by the resignation of the Defense Minister Victor Babiuc from the Democratic Party (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 14 March 2000). VG [21] ROMANIA, BULGARIA SIGN DANUBE BRIDGE AGREEMENTOfficialsfrom the Transport Ministries of Romania and Bulgaria have signed an agreement on the construction of a second bridge across the Danube River linking the Bulgarian city of Vidin with the Romanian city of Calafat, BTA reported on 14 March. The agreement, which was signed in the presence of European Commission representative Joseph Grueter, is based on an expert report prepared by representatives from the EU, Bulgaria, and Romania. The bridge and the adjoining infrastructure are to cost some $155 million. Construction is scheduled to begin in 2001. VG [22] MOLDOVA HAVING TROUBLE PAYING GAS DEBT TO RUSSIAMoldovanForeign Minister Nicolae Tebekaru told ITAR-TASS on 14 March that the problem of Moldova's gas debt to Russia is still unresolved. Dumitru Petrencu, the chief adviser to the Moldovan government, said there is a real risk that Moscow will cut off supplies again (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 2 March 2000), BASA-Press reported. Tebekaru noted that while Moldova no longer has outstanding debts for January and February, older debts remain. VG [23] BULGARIAN PRESIDENT SAYS UN REPORT SERIOUSPetar Stoyanovsaid the government should take seriously a UN report indicating that Bulgaria has been supplying weapons to Angola's UNITA rebels, BTA reported (see RFE/RL Newsline," 14 March 2000). He added that the government should explain to the public "how it happened that Bulgaria is again accused of sins" that it had decided to cease committing long ago. Stoyanov refused to comment directly on the UN report until he has had a chance to read it. VG [24] BULGARIA READY FOR EIGHT CHAPTERSBulgarian ForeignMinistry official Biserka Benisheva on 14 March said her country is ready to begin membership talks with the EU on eight chapters, Reuters reported. Last week, the European Commission proposed that negotiations with Bulgaria begin on six chapters. VG [C] END NOTE[25] DOES PUTIN HAVE PLANS FOR PETERSBURG?by Jan CleaveDeputy Prime Minister Valentina Matvienko's recent announcement that acting President Vladimir Putin backs her bid for the St. Petersburg governership ended months-long speculation about whom the Kremlin favors for that post. Matvienko is considered to have a good chance of dethroning incumbent Governor Vladimir Yakovlev in the 14 May ballot. And it is thought that if she does win that poll, Putin may well have plans for his home town in whose implementation newly elected Governor Matvienko would play a major role. The Kremlin's choice of Matvienko as favored candidate in St. Petersburg was likely determined by at least three factors. First, Matvienko is one of the "Moscow St. Petersburgers"; as such, she not only has experience in the northern city but can count on the support of the powerful St. Petersburg group in the capital that Putin himself has sponsored, highlighting the continued importance of "zemlyachestvo" (friendly "association" of people from the same place) in Russian political culture. Though not a native of St. Petersburg, Matvienko completed her medical studies there in the early 1970s and held various party posts in the city until she was called to Moscow in 1989. Having worked in the capital and abroad for the past 10 years or so, she remained at a safe geographical distance as St. Petersburg became increasingly mired in scandals of the post-communist era. Second, Matvienko, who is one of only a few key figures to have survived the last three changes of government, is thought to be able to unite political forces across the spectrum. Both the pro-Kremlin Unity party and leaders of Fatherland-All Russia have announced they will support her, while Unity's alleged ally in the State Duma, the Communist Party, is likely to follow suit. The Union of Rightist Forces appears still to be hemming and hawing over its preference, while the St. Petersburg branch of Yabloko, which is strongly opposed to Yakovlev, will run its own candidate, but presumably on the understanding it would support Matvienko in a run-off against the incumbent. Third, if elected to the Federation Council, Matvienko would become one of only two female governors (the other being Valentina Bronevich of the tiny Koryak Autonomous Okrug). Putin has increasingly said of late that he would like to see more women holding top offices in both the executive and legislative branches. Backing Matvienko as governor of Russia's second city lends credence to such assertions, particularly in the run-up to the presidential election. But if Matvienko can be seen as indirectly serving Putin's purpose before the 26 March vote, observers believe she will be called on directly to do his bidding once, as seems virtually inevitable, he is elected head of state. Matvienko herself even hinted at this shortly after announcing her candidacy. During Yakovlev's four-year reign in St. Petersburg, the city has come to be known as the crime capital of the Russian Federation, and its current administration is largely held responsible for that dubious designation. Fighting crime and corruption, Matvienko noted, would be one of her top priorities as governor, adding that the plethora of problems facing the city can no longer be solved without the assistance of the federal authorities. "Carte blanche" for Putin, who made his early career in the KGB in St. Petersburg and entered politics as an adviser to late former Mayor Anatolii Sobchak, to deal with those problems as he sees fit? Perhaps. Another hint of Putin's possible plans for his native city came from former Prime Minister Sergei Stepashin, who was recently passed over as the Kremlin's favorite for the St. Petersburg governership and subsequently announced he would not run in the ballot. Speaking to reporters immediately after talks with Putin earlier this month, Stepashin noted that a "program" already exists for moving several federal structures to St. Petersburg, including the State Duma, the Federation Council, and several ministries, and that the city's "next governor" will likely present that program. Increased investments and improved infrastructure, he noted, would be just two of the benefits of such a move and would help make St. Petersburg the country's second capital city. According to some observers, Putin may also have plans to bring about the oft-debated reunification of the city of St. Petersburg and Leningrad Oblast. Arguments in favor of returning to the Soviet-era arrangement have become increasingly audible in recent years. Leningrad Oblast complains of the massive financial losses it has incurred, while St. Petersburg bemoans the fact that it is splitting at the seams and has no room to expand. Moreover, residents of the two regions are bitter that cuts are made in social spending while large sums continue to be spent on a double bureaucracy. Many politicians, including Matvienko, have spoken in favor of holding a referendum on the issue as the only fair way to decide the issue. But even if a majority of voters in both St. Petersburg and Leningrad Oblast came out in favor of reunification, a considerable amount of good will would be required on the part of the regions' administrations and legislatures to implement a decision resulting in the dissolution of those structures in their present guise and their reincarnation in an amalgamated and streamlined form. In the absence of that good will, pressure from Moscow would help ensure that the process of reunification is as smooth as possible. As "Argumenty i fakty" suggested in its 8 March issue, there may never be a more favorable time to achieve that goal than now, that is, when Putin's "Petersburg team," including Matvienko as possible future governor, is firmly in control. 15-03-00 Reprinted with permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
|
|
 |
|
 |
 |
|
All Rights Reserved.