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RFE/RL Newsline, Vol. 4, No. 230, 00-11-29Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty: Newsline Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty <http://www.rferl.org>RFE/RL NEWSLINEVol. 4, No. 230, 29 November 2000CONTENTS[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA
[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[C] END NOTE
[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA[01] ARMENIAN PRESIDENT SEEKS TO ALLAY PARLIAMENT MAJORITY'S MISGIVINGSRobert Kocharian on 28 November criticized the Miasnutiun majority parliament bloc for its opposition to the immediate implementation of last week's amendments to the election law, RFE/RL's Yerevan bureau reported. Under those amendments, the number of mandates in the 131-seat legislature to be allocated under the proportional system is increased from 56 to 94 (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 27 November 2000). Some members of Miasnutiun reportedly fear that if the changes take effect immediately, Kocharian will dissolve the parliament and call pre-term elections which could result in the bloc losing its majority. For that reason, they have proposed that the changes take effect only after the current parliament's mandate expires in 2003. Kocharian, who has repeatedly ruled out pre-term elections, reportedly asked Miasnutiun representatives point blank at a meeting on 27 November whether their insistence on a delay is motivated by lack of trust in him. But Galust Sahakian, who was elected Miasnutiun chairman on 27 November, told RFE/RL that while the bloc trusts Kocharian, it fears that other parties could take advantage of the amendments to "provoke tensions" with the aim of precipitating new elections. LF[02] ARMENIAN, AZERBAIJANI FOREIGN MINISTERS MEET...Vartan Oskanian and Vilayat Guliev met in Vienna on 28 November on the sidelines of the OSCE Ministerial Council meeting to discuss the prospects for speeding up the search for a solution to the Karabakh conflict, RFE/RL's Armenian Service reported. Oskanian told RFE/RL that he and Guliev focused on the possibility of another face-to-face meeting between the Armenian and Azerbaijani presidents on the sidelines of the 1 December CIS summit in Minsk. He also said that the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairmen will visit Baku, Stepanakert, and Yerevan next week. LF[03] ...CALL FOR SOLUTION TO KARABAKH CONFLICTAddressing the OSCE forum on 27 November, Oskanian admitted that despite the commitment of both Armenia and Azerbaijan to reaching a compromise solution to the Karabakh conflict, little progress has been made toward doing so. He added that "whatever the final form of that compromise, we believe it will be found by striking the right balance between the principles of self-determination and territorial integrity." Oskanian called on the OSCE to consider new and unorthodox initiatives to resolve "frozen" conflicts. Also on 27 November, Guliev made a statement to the OSCE gathering on behalf of the five GUUAM states (Georgia, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, and Moldova) calling on the OSCE to find a just and lasting solution to the Karabakh conflict based on international norms and principles, Turan reported. LF[04] KARABAKH OFFICIAL DENIES KURDISH RESETTLEMENT ALLEGATIONSSpeaking at a press conference in Stepanakert on 28 November, Naira Melkumian, foreign minister of the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, denied Guliev's claim in his address to the OSCE Vienna forum that Armenia is settling Kurds on those Azerbaijani territories controlled by Armenian troops, Interfax reported. Earlier this month a spokesman for Nagorno- Karabakh presidential apparatus had denied the first Azerbaijani media reports of those alleged plans (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 10 November 2000). Melkumian accused Baku of raising the issue of Kurdish settlers in order to deflect attention from its own efforts to settle Chechens in the Shaumian district of Nagorno-Karabakh, which remains under Azerbaijani control. LF[05] ANONYMOUS THREAT MADE TO AZERBAIJANI EXCLAVE'S REPRESENTATION...An unidentified person on 28 November gave the editorial staff of the opposition newspaper "Yeni Musavat" a tape containing threats by an anonymous individual to blow up the Baku representation of the exclave of Nakhichevan unless its staff desist from unspecified "criminal activities," Turan reported. The tape also accused the staff of the representation of involvement in murder and kidnapping. The newspaper's staff passed the tape to the Baku police. LF[06] ... AS OPPOSITION CALLS OFF PLANNED DEMONSTRATIONRepresentatives in Nakhichevan of the local branches of the Azerbaijan Popular Front, Musavat, and Democratic parties announced on 27 November that in response to pressure and intimidation from the exclave's leadership, they decided to cancel a rally planned for the following day, Turan reported. The demonstration was to protest the falsification of the 5 November parliamentary election. LF[07] RUSSIA AGAIN EXPLAINS GROUNDS FOR GEORGIAN VISA REQUIREMENTIn an interview with Russian Public Television on 28 November, Russian presidential aide Sergei Yastrzhembskii said the Georgian government's "strange position on Chechnya" had forced Moscow to insist on the introduction of a visa regime with Georgia, ITAR-TASS and Caucasus Press reported. Yastrzhembskii said that Chechen fighters have established themselves on Georgian territory, particularly in the Pankisi gorge in northeastern Georgia. He added that despite affirmations of its determination to combat terrorism, the Georgian leadership showed no willingness to cooperate with Russia in addressing and neutralizing that threat. LF[08] INTERIM GEORGIAN ANTI-POVERTY PROGRAM APPROVEDThe Georgian government has approved an intermediate program for eradicating poverty, Caucasus Press reported on 28 November. The document will now be submitted to the IMF and World Bank, which, it is hoped, will fund the program. The final draft, which will comprise a three-year program of economic, political and social measures to overcome poverty, will take effect in March 2001. At present, 52 percent of the Georgian population lives below the poverty line. Caucasus Press on 16 November cited the State Statistics department as estimating that 625 million lari ($320 million) will be needed annually to eliminate poverty. LF[09] GEORGIAN BORDER GUARDS' COMPENSATION PLEA REJECTEDThe Georgian Ministry of Labor and Health has rejected as "groundless" a suit filed by 11 Georgian border guards who contracted radiation sickness while undergoing training at the Lilo base near Tbilisi, Caucasus Press reported. The men had demanded $20 million in compensation for themselves and 46 colleagues similarly affected. Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze said that Russian troops who failed to remove a radio-active container before vacating the base were to blame for the irradiation. LF[10] KAZAKH OPPOSITION PARTIES DEMAND WITHDRAWAL OF LAW ON LAND OWNERSHIPRepresentatives of the Communist Party of Kazakhstan, the Patriots' party, Alash, and the Zhangyru National Revival Center held a press conference in Almaty on 28 November at which they demanded the withdrawal of the draft land law forwarded by the lower to the upper house of the parliament earlier this month, RFE/RL's Kazakh Service reported (see "RFE/RL Newsline, " 15 and 16 November 2000). They also demanded a nationwide referendum on land ownership, which they categorically oppose. LF[11] TWO KYRGYZ CITIZENS ABDUCTED BY UZBEK SECURITYThe Geneva-based World Organization against Torture appealed on 24 November to Uzbekistan's President Islam Karimov to release two Kyrgyz citizens abducted on Kyrgyz territory by Uzbek security services on 4 October, RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service reported, citing the Kyrgyz Committee for Human Rights. The two men have been accused of theft and are reportedly being systematically beaten. The Kyrgyz government has made no move to secure the men's release. The father of one of them, who appealed unsuccessfully to Kyrgyzstan's President Askar Akaev to intervene, is said to be recruiting volunteers to try to secure his son's release by force. LF[12] KYRGYZ LABORERS PROTEST CONDITIONS IN KAZAKHSTANSome 20 young Kyrgyz who have worked as hired laborers in neighboring Kazakhstan convened a meeting in Bishkek on 28 November to publicize the severe conditions on Kazakh tobacco plantations, RFE/RL's Bishkek bureau reported. One speaker said that up to 40,000 Kyrgyz employed on three plantations in Almaty Oblast are treated "as slaves" and have not been paid for months. A Kyrgyz government official told RFE/RL that Bishkek will raise the issue at a 30 November meeting in Astana of CIS labor ministers. LF[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE[13] NATO ACHIEVES CEASE-FIRE IN SOUTHWESTERN SERBIA...A KFOR spokesman said on 28 November that the Serbian authorities and the ethnic Albanian Liberation Army of Presevo, Medvedja, and Bujanovac (UCPMB) "have agreed on an indefinite cease-fire" along the border between Kosova and southwestern Serbia, AP reported from Bujanovac (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 28 November 2000). The spokesman added that NATO "facilitated the discussions" between the two sides. He did not elaborate. Serbian Deputy Prime Minister Nebojsa Covic denied, however, that his government negotiated a cease-fire either with NATO or with the UCPMB. The news agency commented that "the reason for the discrepancy" between Covic's remarks and those of the KFOR spokesman is not clear. Covic said that his government "does not negotiate with terrorists," which is how Belgrade, both under former President Slobodan Milosevic and under his successor Vojislav Kostunica, has referred to ethnic Albanian guerrillas. Covic stressed, however, that he was pleasantly surprised to learn on a visit to the region that local Serbian and Albanian officials alike want no part of what he called "war adventures." PM[14] ...TIGHTENS CONTROL OVER BORDERState Department spokesman Richard Boucher said in Washington that NATO is concerned about incursions by armed ethnic Albanians from Kosova into southwestern Serbia, AP reported on 28 November. He added that "everybody is concerned about [the violence] and wants to do everything possible to stop it." He noted that KFOR troops recently have "detained suspected Albanian militants and have increased patrols and the overall surveillance of the ground security zone" just inside the Serbian side of the border. PM[15] YUGOSLAV ARMY POISED ON EDGE OF DEMILITARIZED ZONE"Yugoslav army tanks and howitzers [on 28 November] pointed their barrels towards ethnic Albanian guerrillas in hills along southern Serbia's tense boundary with Kosovo," Reuters reported. General Vladimir Lazarevic, who commands the Third Army, told the news agency that thanks to the army's combat readiness, it is "cooling down the hot heads of Albanian bandits and aims to send them back to where they belong. The army favors a political solution and supports diplomacy as the way to resolve the situation. But there will not be any bargaining if there are any attacks [by the UCPMB] outside the five-kilometer safety zone bordering Kosovo." Lazarevic added that Serbian police are present inside the zone "in full force." On 29 November, Serbian police occupied without incident the ethnic Albanian village of Lucane at the edge of the zone. PM[16] ETHNIC ALBANIAN FIGHTERS HOLD THEIR POSITIONSGeneral Nebojsa Pavkovic, who was Lazarevic's predecessor as head of the Third Army and is now chief of the General Staff, said on a visit to the border region that some 200 UCPMB fighters have infiltrated the demilitarized zone in recent days, London's "The Times" reported on 29 November. The British daily added that local UCPMB commanders "appeared to [scoff at] the declared truce and pledged to 'liberate' additional towns" in southwestern Serbia. One commander told the reporter: "We definitely plan to go on fighting to take Bujanovac and then we shall see. The Serbs fought badly [in recent days]. They are not well trained, and their morale is very bad." Elsewhere, a KFOR spokesman said that UCPMB gunmen have not withdrawn from their positions in the zone even after their leaders agreed to a cease-fire. It is not clear whether the agreement requires the fighters to leave the zone. PM[17] SOUTHWESTERN SERBIAN TOWN REMAINS TENSELondon's "Daily Telegraph" reported on 29 November that "the tension is greatest in Bujanovac" of all the towns in the ethnically mixed region. "There are no ethnic intermarriages, no common sports activities, and Serbs and Albanians do not frequent each other's cafes and businesses. The only hope is that the new government is prepared to address the larger issues that plague this community and rectify the abuses of Milosevic's regime," the daily noted. It also said that many local Serbs feel that the Belgrade authorities have "sold out" their interests and that many local Albanians believe that they are "second-class citizens." In Presevo, Mayor Riza Halimi blamed the rise of tensions in the region on the arrival of Serbian forces from Kosova after the 1999 conflict, Reuters reported. PM[18] YUGOSLAV FOREIGN MINISTER BLAMES ALBANIAN 'RADICALS' FOR TENSIONS...Goran Svilanovic told Vienna's "Die Presse" of 29 November that blame for the current crisis lies with unspecified "radical groups" in Kosova. He charged that they are unhappy with the advent to power of Kostunica and with the victory of moderate leader Ibrahim Rugova in the 28 October Kosova local elections. He stressed that the Yugoslav army will not cross the border of the demilitarized zone. He argued nonetheless that "we expect KFOR to do its job" in keeping UCPMB fighters from crossing the frontier. Svilanovic said that resolving the question of Kosova's political status can be postponed but that it will have to center on "wide-ranging autonomy [for the province] within Yugoslavia." The settlement will have to involve "not only Yugoslavia, the people from Kosovo, and the international community...but also Albania, Bulgaria, Macedonia, and Greece. All these countries should later guarantee" any agreement, he added. For now, he stressed, "ensuring peace and stability in Kosovo has absolute priority. In this way it will be possible for the Serbs who fled to return." PM[19] ...RULES OUT EXTRADITION OF MILOSEVICSvilanovic told "Die Presse" of 29 November that "there is no more room for Milosevic in the political life of Serbia." The foreign minister added, however, that "we will cooperate with the [war crimes] tribunal in The Hague, but there will be no extradition [of Milosevic]. It is nonetheless possible that Milosevic will face trial in Yugoslavia in cooperation with The Hague (see "RFE/RL South Slavic Report," 23 November 2000). PM[20] OPPOSITION ECONOMIST TO HEAD YUGOSLAV BANKThe federal parliament voted on 28 November to name Mladjan Dinkic, who leads the opposition G-17 group of economists, head of the National Bank. In Podgorica, Montenegrin President Milo Djukanovic said that he does not recognize the parliament or its decisions as legitimate, adding that Montenegro's parliament voted on 2 November to set up its own national bank, RFE/RL's South Slavic Service reported. PM[21] SERBIAN LEADER SAYS MONTENEGRO, NOT SERBIA, HAS PROBLEMDemocratic Opposition of Serbia leader Zoran Djindjic told the Podgorica daily "Vijesti" of 29 November that Yugoslavia exists as a legal entity and that there is no constitutional provision for Serbia and Montenegro to recognize each other as separate states, as Djukanovic wants. He said that the Serbian side has offered to redefine the relations between the two republics within the framework of the current constitution. Djindjic added that if the Montenegrin leaders want something entirely different, it is their problem, not Serbia's. For his part, Montenegrin Prime Minister Filip Vujanovic told the daily that either Serbia and Montenegro will agree on a new relationship "democratically, or we will separate democratically." PM[22] BOSNIAN SERB LEADER SAYS NATIONALISTS CANNOT BE EXCLUDEDMladen Ivanic, whose Party of Democratic Progress is widely seen as having the decisive role in setting up the next Republika Srpska government, told Reuters in Banja Luka on 28 November that it is "not realistic" to exclude the leading Serbian Democratic Party (SDS) from the cabinet if the government is to be stable. Some representatives of the international community in Bosnia have called for the banning of the SDS, which was founded by indicted war criminal Radovan Karadzic. Several SDS leaders have recently said that there is no longer any connection between Karadzic and their party. PM[23] TWO KEY DECISIONS IN REPUBLIKA SRPSKAThe outgoing government of the Republika Srpska solved a long-standing problem on 28 November by reaching an agreement with representatives of pensioners on the payment of past and future monthly pensions, RFE/RL's South Slavic Service. It is not clear whether the pledge to pay pensions is linked to whether the government has the funds to do so, as the government previously maintained. Elsewhere, city authorities in Banja Luka gave their approval for the reconstruction of the 16th-century Ferhadija mosque, which Serbian extremists destroyed in 1993 as part of a campaign against Ottoman and Islamic monuments. PM[24] NO MACEDONIAN PARLIAMENT VOTEThe parliament did not vote, as planned, on the future of the government on 28 November, reportedly because speaker Savo Klimovski was ill (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 27 November 2000). A vote is likely to take place on 30 November, Reuters reported. PM[25] ALBANIAN POLICE DETAIN BERISHAPolice in Tirana briefly detained Democratic Party leader and former President Sali Berisha in the early hours of 29 November. He told Reuters: "I was kidnapped in my car by police as I was going home." He blamed Prime Minister Ilir Meta for the incident and called on his own followers to demonstrate in central Tirana the next day. Police officials said that Berisha had refused them permission to search his car and check the identity papers of its occupants, AP reported. The previous day, Meta blamed "an extremist group in the Democratic Party" for violence in Bajram Curri in the Tropoja area that left at least two dead. The Democrats have recently staged protests in various cities and towns to protest the October local elections, which they maintain were rigged (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 23 October 2000). PM[26] ROMANIAN ELECTION WINNER NAMES PREMIER, PROPOSES PACT...The Party of Social Democracy in Romania (PDSR) on 28 November designated Adrian Nastase as its candidate for premier. The PDSR also announced it will set up a minority government and appealed to all parties represented in the new legislature, except the Greater Romania Party (PRM), to conclude a "one-year memorandum" of cooperation with the PDSR. The main points of the proposed pact include support for PDSR candidate Ion Iliescu in the 10 December presidential runoff, cooperation in the parliament over one year, during which the opposition parties will refrain from submitting no- confidence motions, cooperation aimed at promoting Romania's European integration, and the setting up of joint parliamentary commissions to draw up legislation amending the constitution and pass new laws on reforms. The PDSR also proposes concluding "memorandum of understanding" with the main trade unions. MS[27] ...MEETS WITH MIXED REACTIONThe unions said they are inclined to accept that proposal. The National Liberal Party (PNL) leadership said it will remain in the opposition but did not rule out cooperation with the PDSR in the parliament, provided the party includes PNL proposals in its government program. It also said that "under no circumstances" will it back PRM candidate Corneliu Vadim Tudor in the presidential runoff. Democratic Party leader Petre Roman said his party is ready to back in the parliament any measures that have been mutually agreed on and will be in "constructive opposition" to the PDSR. Deputy Chairman Radu Berceanu said the Democrats will do "everything possible to stop the rise of extremism." Hungarian Democratic Federation of Romania leader Bela Marko said the proposals include "a number of important points" on reforms but the concrete measures for implementation must be negotiated, including those that affect national minorities. MS[28] ROMANIAN EXTREMISTS ANGERED BY BID TO ISOLATE THEMPRM leader Tudor said Nastase has "no qualifications for the premiership" and that his party "fails to understand" the PDSR's readiness to "cooperate with anyone from among those scoundrels who led the country to starvation." He also said that the PRM cannot comprehend "the hate displayed by the PDSR toward a party [his own] that has always respected the democratic game." PRM Secretary-General Gheorghe Funar demanded in a letter to Iliescu that the PDSR set up a coalition with the PRM and agree that Tudor become the country's next president and Iliescu its premier. PRM Executive Secretary Ilie Neacsu said the PDSR was "scared by the international reaction" to the elections but the PRM "does not care" about that reaction and will hold talks with the PDSR "after Tudor's presidential victory," RFE/RL's Bucharest bureau reported. MS[29] RUSSIA RESUMES ARSENAL WITHDRAWAL FROM TRANSDNIESTERRussia has resumed withdrawing its weaponry from the Transdniester, Infotag and dpa reported. That process was stopped last year. A 50-car train loaded with armored personnel carriers and other military equipment left Tiraspol on 27 November in the presence of OSCE observers. The train was halted at the Ukrainian border owing to power failures and impassable tracks as a result of bad weather conditions. Speaking on Moldovan television on 27 November, Moldovan President Petru Lucinschi greeted the train's departure as "proof that Moscow intends to stand by its promise." But OSCE mission chief William Hill, speaking in Vienna at an OSCE Council of Ministers meeting, said Russia has "lost the past 12 months" and to meet its obligations assumed at the 1999 OSCE summit in Istanbul, it must now withdraw 40,000 tons of weapons by the end of 2002, which, he said, "is going to be very difficult. " MS[30] LUCINSCHI CALLS AGAIN FOR EARLY PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONSIn his speech on national television, Lucinschi also said he believes the parliament will fail to elect a new president on 1 December and that a "reasonable way" out of the impasse would be early parliamentary elections. He said voters who elected the current parliament did not know that the legislature will be invested with the right to elect the head of state, whereas they will now know that if early elections are called. Lucinschi rejected the claims of politicians that the country will be "thrown into chaos" if early elections are called. He said the government could be given additional prerogatives during that transition period. MS[31] BULGARIA TO KEEP CURRENCY BOARD, REDUCE BORROWINGPrime Minster Ivan Kostov on 27 November told an economic conference in Sofia that Bulgaria will keep its currency board until it joins the EU but will reduce borrowing from international lenders such as the IMF and the World Bank, AP reported. Kostov said that "Bulgaria must now attain a balance between the freedom we need and the necessities of financing," explaining that economic freedom is more important at this stage than foreign borrowing. Bulgaria set up its currency board in 1997. MS[C] END NOTE[32] SERBIAN MEDIA SEEN AS BIASED TOWARD OPPOSITIONBy Ron SynovitzA deal between Serbian opposition leaders and allies of former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic to jointly oversee state-run broadcast media appears to be on hold for now, leaving managers from the Democratic Opposition of Serbia (DOS) in control of state-owned Radio-Television Serbia (RTS). When members of the opposition and officials of Milosevic's Socialist Party decided last month to form a temporary government for Serbia until elections could be held in December, they agreed to set up a joint steering committee to oversee the news content of state broadcasting. But after five weeks--more than half of the expected life span of the transitional government--that committee has yet to be approved by DOS. As a result, DOS-affiliated station managers have been left in control of the state broadcasters. And these managers have so far strongly favored candidates from DOS over those from other parties that are competing in Serbia's 23 December parliamentary elections. The status of the steering committee is not clear, and it is not known whether the committee will ever be approved. Milomir Minic, the Socialist prime minister in the temporary government, said last week that a broadcast committee has been formed. He said the three parties that share power in the government, including the opposition Serbian Renewal Movement, will each have representatives on the board. He said all news items will be reviewed and approved by the board before being broadcast. In announcing the formation of the committee, Minic said "I think today we have all conditions for our state television to play a very important role, as an objective source of information for our citizens, in the political and economic life of our country. That's the first dimension. And I also think that with today's decision by the Serbian government, all conditions are on the table for state television to play a role in the next election." But Minic's comments were immediately rejected by Deputy Prime Minister Nebojsa Covic, the cabinet's chief representative from DOS. Covic said the committee should be staffed by working journalists and not political appointees: "There was no vote on this at the Serbian government meeting, and I'm not going to argue about this at all. If perhaps we are not right, let [the Socialist Party of Milosevic] have a taste of how it was before [the October uprising], when they were [in control of state media]. I'm not going to sign [the Socialist plan for a broadcast committee.] I'm not even going to have any arguments with Minic over this." Covic's refusal to approve the plan leaves pro-DOS managers at RTS in control of broadcasts for now and ensures that DOS candidates will likely continue to receive more exposure ahead of the vote than other parties' candidates. RTS acting director Nenad Ristic says Covic is right to veto a politically appointed editorial board. "I think the decision to have a three-member council, where each of the members has a veto right on news items, will be the death of state television," he commented. "[Under that plan,] when we start to deal with one news story, three of us should work with it--and who knows how long that process will last? When will [anything] ever be broadcast? It's absurd. If anyone can show me some place, some newspaper, or any [media organ] in history where such a structure has existed, then I will accept this plan immediately." Ristic defends the disproportionate television and radio coverage that DOS has received since the October uprising. He says the Milosevic regime was given too much air time during the last 10 years and that the new policies of RTS are "a settling of accounts." During the early 1990s, any RTS journalist who refused to follow a pro- Milosevic editorial policy was sacked. Under these conditions, RTS became an important pillar of the Milosevic regime. But that all changed on 5 October, when hundreds of angry demonstrators stormed the RTS building in Belgrade. Dragoljub Milanovic, the director general of RTS during the Milosevic regime, was beaten by the crowd. Other editors fled, and DOS named temporary editors from among its supporters. Some former journalists have been allowed to stay, but hope seems greatly diminished that Milosevic's ouster will result in more objective state media and give all candidates equal treatment ahead of the vote. Some observers even see a parallel with Russia's situation in 1996, when guidelines giving opposing sides equal time in the media were abandoned by many broadcasters to ensure the re-election of President Boris Yeltsin. The opposition also appears to be using an RTS rule to bar Socialist party advertisements. According to the rule proposed by pro-DOS media officials, no party should be allowed access to the air waves until it first pays its debts dating from the September presidential election campaign. The only debtors are the Socialist Party and their allies, who together owe an estimated $50,000. The author is an RFE/RL senior correspondent based in Prague. 29-11-00 Reprinted with permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
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