RFE/RL Newsline, Vol. 5, No. 28, 01-02-09

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RFE/RL NEWSLINE

Vol. 5, No. 28, 9 February 2001

CONTENTS

[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA

[01] ARMENIAN COURT EXTENDS BUSINESSMAN'S PRE-TRIAL DETENTION

[02] ARMENIAN PARLIAMENT DEPUTIES CALL FOR FAIR VERDICT IN KARABAKH TRIAL

[03] ARMENIAN JUSTICE MINISTER REFUSES TO REREGISTER OFFICIAL

[04] AZERBAIJAN'S WAR INVALIDS COMPLAIN AT LACK OF SUPPORT FROM RELIGIOUS LEADER

[05] DISPLACED PERSONS STAGE PROTEST IN AZERBAIJANI CAPITAL

[06] GUUAM SUMMIT POSTPONED

[07] GEORGIAN PARLIAMENT FAVORS PROPOSED NEW PROSECUTOR-GENERAL

[08] GEORGIAN INTERIOR MINISTER IMPLICATED IN1998 ABKHAZ FIGHTING

[09] KAZAKHSTAN'S PRESIDENT APPROVES STATE LANGUAGE PROGRAM

[10] KAZAKH OFFICIAL PROPOSES SELLING STAKE IN STRATEGIC COMPANIES...

[11] ...AS PARLIAMENT DEPUTIES QUESTION FATE OF PHOSPHOROUS PLANTS

[12] KYRGYZ ENERGY SHORTAGE PERSISTS

[13] KYRGYZSTAN DRAFTS NEW PRIVATIZATION PROGRAM

[14] TURKEY OFFERS TO HELP UZBEKISTAN COMBAT TERRORISM

[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE

[15] IN BELGRADE, SOLANA VOWS TO HELP YUGOSLAVIA...

[16] ...URGES BELGRADE TO SEND MILOSEVIC TO THE HAGUE...

[17] ...CALLS ON ETHNIC ALBANIANS IN PRESEVO TO LAY DOWN ARMS

[18] FIGHTING BREAKS OUT IN PRESEVO VALLEY

[19] RUSSIAN DEFENSE MINISTER SAYS POLITICAL SETTLEMENT ONLY SOLUTION

[20] BELGRADE ADOPTS LAW RETURNING PROPERTY, CITIZENSHIP TO ROYAL

[21] WTO TO NEGOTIATE WITH BELGRADE ON MEMBERSHIP

[22] EXPLOSION RIPS THROUGH CHURCH IN KOSOVA

[23] SLOVENIA WANTS TO JOIN NATO, EU BY 2003

[24] CROATIAN GENERAL SUSPECTED OF WAR CRIMES IS 'ON THE RUN'...

[25] ...GOVERNMENT DENIES KNOWLEDGE OF SUSPECT'S WHEREABOUTS...

[26] ...AS PARLIAMENT, VETERANS LAUNCH PROTESTS

[27] MACEDONIA AND GREECE TRYING TO SETTLE NAME PROBLEM

[28] OSCE CONCERNED BY ALBANIA'S POOR PREPARATION FOR ELECTIONS

[29] ROMANIAN FOREIGN MINISTER IN PARIS

[30] ROMANIAN PRESIDENT SIGNS LAW ON PROPERTY RESTITUTION

[31] ROMANIAN LOCAL PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION BILL TO UNDERGO CHANGES

[32] LASZLO TOKES CLEARED OF SUSPICION OF COLLABORATION WITH

[33] ...AND FORMER SECURITATE OFFICIAL APPOINTED CHAIRMAN OF SENSITIVE

[34] SIXTEEN CANDIDATES FOR EACH MOLDOVAN PARLIAMENTARY SEAT

[35] MOLDOVAN CONSTITUTIONAL COURT TO BE LARGELY RESHUFFLED

[36] BULGARIAN RADIO JOURNALISTS SHUT OUT CHIEF

[37] BULGARIAN CONSTITUTIONAL COURT BARS FORMER KING FROM PRESIDENTIAL

[38] BULGARIAN FOREIGN MINISTER IN GREECE

[C] END NOTE

[39] There is no End Note today.

[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA

[01] ARMENIAN COURT EXTENDS BUSINESSMAN'S PRE-TRIAL DETENTION

pre-trial detention of businessman Arkadii Vartanian, RFE/RL's

Yerevan bureau reported. Vartanian was taken into custody on 30

October following a march by his supporters to the presidential

palace in Yerevan, and subsequently charged with calling for the

overthrow of the Armenian leadership. He was hospitalized last

month with heart problems. LF

[02] ARMENIAN PARLIAMENT DEPUTIES CALL FOR FAIR VERDICT IN KARABAKH TRIAL

to Arkadii Ghukasian, president of the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, to ensure that the trial and verdict

on 15 people charged with attempting to assassinate him last

March is fair, according to Snark on 6 February as cited by

Groong. The appeal notes that evidence has emerged during the

trial that casts serious doubts on prosecutors' claims that the

assassination bid was masterminded by former Karabakh Defense

Minister Samvel Babayan (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 29 December 2000 and 31 January 2001). The appeal was initiated by Kim Balayan (Armenian Revolutionary Federation -- Dashnaktsutiun).

LF

[03] ARMENIAN JUSTICE MINISTER REFUSES TO REREGISTER OFFICIAL

The future of the daily newspaper "Hayastani

Hanrapetutiun," (Republic of Armenia), whose founders are the

Armenian parliament and the paper's editorial staff, is in doubt

following a 1 February government decree on its closure, Noyan

Tapan reported. The initial reason cited for the paper's closure

was its failure to comply with a provision of the Civil Code

requiring all media outlets to reregister with the Ministry of

Justice by 31 December 2000. But on 7 February Justice Minister

David Harutiunian told parliament that the documents submitted

during the reregistration process had implied that the paper is a

commercial enterprise, and the constitution forbids the

parliament to undertake commercial activity. LF

[04] AZERBAIJAN'S WAR INVALIDS COMPLAIN AT LACK OF SUPPORT FROM RELIGIOUS LEADER

[05] DISPLACED PERSONS STAGE PROTEST IN AZERBAIJANI CAPITAL

[06] GUUAM SUMMIT POSTPONED

to take place in Kyiv on 6-7 March has been postponed sine die at

the request of Moldovan President Petru Lucinschi, Interfax

reported on 8 February. That decision was reached during

telephone conversations between Lucinschi, Ukrainian President

Leonid Kuchma and Azerbaijani President Heidar Aliev, the agency

added. Turan, however, had reported the previous day that it was

Aliev who asked Kuchma for the meeting to be rescheduled. The

Azerbaijani agency also reported, citing unidentified "diplomatic

sources," that a visit to Baku by Ukrainian parliament speaker

Ivan Plyushch scheduled for 21-23 February has likewise been

postponed. Meanwhile the GUUAM member states will hold a

conference on small and medium business in Brussels on 27

February in an attempt to encourage foreign investment, Caucasus

Press reported on 9 February. LF

[07] GEORGIAN PARLIAMENT FAVORS PROPOSED NEW PROSECUTOR-GENERAL

majority and opposition parliament deputies on 8 February

expressed their approval of the candidacy of their fellow deputy

Gia Meparishvili for the post of prosecutor-general, Caucasus

Press reported. Georgian President Eduard Shevarnadze had

proposed Meparishvili earlier that day to succeed Djamlet

Babilashvili, who submitted his resignation (see "RFE/RL

Newsline," 8 February 2001). Shevardnadze described Meparishvili

as "extremely erudite," while parliament speaker Zurab Zhvania

termed him " a decent candidate and a true reformer." Irakli

Batiashvili of the opposition "Industrialists" faction predicted

that Meparishvili will succeed in completing the ongoing reform

of the legal system. LF

[08] GEORGIAN INTERIOR MINISTER IMPLICATED IN1998 ABKHAZ FIGHTING

national security chief, on 7 February accused Interior Minister

Kakha Targamadze and unnamed members of the Abkhaz parliament and

government in exile of instigating the fighting in Abkhazia's

Gali raion in May 1998, Caucasus Press reported. Batiashvili said

that the hostilities were the work of Russian intelligence,

working in cooperation with officials in Tbilisi. He offered to

conduct an investigation into the fighting, or to give evidence

if the prosecutor-general's office launches such a probe.

Targamadze responded by questioning Batiashvili's sanity,

according to "Akhali taoba" on 8 February, while Abkhaz

parliament in exile chairman Tamaz Nadareishvili dismissed the

accusations as "unfair," arguing that Targamadze acted during the

fighting as "a hero" and saved the lives of numerous civilians.

LF

[09] KAZAKHSTAN'S PRESIDENT APPROVES STATE LANGUAGE PROGRAM

Nazarbaev signed a new ten-year state program on language policy

on 8 February, Interfax reported. The program defines strategic

priorities and objectives and how they should be implemented.

Although Kazakhs account for just 53.4 percent of the country's

population, the current language law defines Kazakh as the state

language, while Russian is accorded the status of an official

language. The law requires official bodies to complete the

majority of their documentation in Kazakh, and stipulates that at

least 50 percent of all TV and radio broadcasting should be in

Kazakh (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 20 January 1999). LF

[10] KAZAKH OFFICIAL PROPOSES SELLING STAKE IN STRATEGIC COMPANIES...

proposed selling up to one third of the shares in two key state-

owned companies, KazTransOil, which operates the country's 6,000

kilometer pipeline network, and the uranium-mining and trading

concern KazatomProm, Interfax reported on 8 February. But he

added that those shares should be sold only in small packages and

to the largest possible number of investors. Last August,

President Nazarbaev had listed among state-owned properties that

cannot be privatized oil pipelines and mineral resources (see

"RFE/RL Newsline," 2 August 2000). LF

[11] ...AS PARLIAMENT DEPUTIES QUESTION FATE OF PHOSPHOROUS PLANTS

Oblast have written to Prime Minister Qasymshomart Toqaev asking

him to clarify the situation of the region's phosphorous and

chemical plants, RFE/RL's Almaty bureau reported. Since being

initially privatized seven years ago, several of those

enterprises have changed hands several times without the

conditions of those sales being made public. Some of those plants

are bankrupt, and thousands of workers are owed back wages. LF

[12] KYRGYZ ENERGY SHORTAGE PERSISTS

Kyrgyzstan as consumers are forced to rely on electric power as a

substitute for gas, RFE/RL's Bishkek bureau reported. The

anticipated resumption of gas supplies from Uzbekistan (see

"RFE/RL Newsline," 5 February 2001) has apparently been delayed

both by technical problems in Uzbekistan and new disputes over

debts. Kyrgyz parliament committee chairman Taiyrbek Sarpashev

told RFE/RL that Kyrgyzstan owes Tashkent $500,000 in cash and

goods to the value of $3.8 million for earlier gas supplies,

while Kyrgyzenergo Director-general Bakirdin Sartkaziev said that

Uzbekistan owes his company some $18 million. LF

[13] KYRGYZSTAN DRAFTS NEW PRIVATIZATION PROGRAM

government has drafted a new three-year privatization program

that provides for the sale of several industrial giants,

including Kyrgyzenergo, Kyrgyztelecom, Kyrgyzgaz and the Kyrgyz

national airline, RFE/RL's Bishkek bureau reported. It is hoped

the sell-offs will raise some $200 million. LF

[14] TURKEY OFFERS TO HELP UZBEKISTAN COMBAT TERRORISM

ambassador to Uzbekistan, Resit Uman, told journalists in

Tashkent on 8 February that Ankara

wants to develop "an active political dialogue" with Tashkent and

is prepared to share its expertise in fighting terrorism,

Interfax reported. "We have common interests in fighting

religious extermism and terrorism. Any terrorist activities

against Uzbekistan are activities against Turkey," the Russian

agency quoted Uman as saying. During a visit by Turkish President

Ahmet Necdet Sezer to Tashkent last fall, he and his Uzbek

counterpart Islam Karimov signed an agreement on cooperation in

the fight against terrorism, drug trafficking and organized crime

(see "RFE/RL Newsline," 17 October 2000). LF

[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE

[15] IN BELGRADE, SOLANA VOWS TO HELP YUGOSLAVIA...

chief Javier Solana -- who served as NATO secretary-general

during the alliance's bombing campaign of Yugoslavia -- met with

Yugoslav President Vojislav Kostunica and other government

officials in Belgrade on 8 February, Reuters reported. Solana

said "it is very moving for me to be here," and that "I am

committed, from the very bottom of my heart, to helping this

country join Europe." Some 200 people rallied in Belgrade to

protest Solana's visit. The Socialist Party of former President

Slobodan Milosevic said Solana's presence is "proof of Europe's

ultimate cynicism," with Solana stepping "on the soil he bombed."

PB

[16] ...URGES BELGRADE TO SEND MILOSEVIC TO THE HAGUE...

accompanied on the trip by Chris Patten, the EU's commissioner

for external relations, and Anna Lindh, the foreign minister of

Sweden, the current EU president. Patten said the EU officials

reiterated the importance of Yugoslavia cooperating with the UN

war crimes tribunal at The Hague, AP reported. Kostunica has

expressed strong opposition to sending Milosevic to The Hague,

though some government officials have expressed support for doing

so. Lindh said "we don't believe it will happen tomorrow, but it

is important to have quick results." Patten added that between

November 2000 and the end of this year the EU will have provided

Belgrade with $420 million in aid. PB

[17] ...CALLS ON ETHNIC ALBANIANS IN PRESEVO TO LAY DOWN ARMS

to Tirana after his visit in Belgrade, EU foreign policy chief

Solana urged ethnic Albanians in Serbia's Presevo valley to stop

fighting Serbian forces there because "the time of violence is

over," Reuters reported. Solana's comments came one day after the

rebel group Liberation Army of Presevo, Medvedja, and Bujanovac

rejected a demilitarization plan from Belgrade aimed at ending

the conflict in the area on the border with the Serbian province

of Kosova. That group said it will only rest when the Presevo

valley becomes a part of Kosova. Solana said "we have started a

new page of our collective history in Europe and the time for

violence is over." Solana met with Albanian President Rexhep

Meidani, Prime Minister Ilir Meta, and Foreign Minister Paskal

Milo during his brief visit to Tirana. PB

[18] FIGHTING BREAKS OUT IN PRESEVO VALLEY

Serbian police exchanged gunfire for nearly two hours in the

Presevo valley near Lucane, AP reported on 8 February. A second

attack occured near the mountain peak of Sveti Ilija. No

casualties were reported in either incident. PB

[19] RUSSIAN DEFENSE MINISTER SAYS POLITICAL SETTLEMENT ONLY SOLUTION

Igor Sergeev said in Kosova on 8 February that there

is no possibility for a military solution to any of the problems

in the Serbian province, ITAR-TASS reported. Sergeev, on a visit

to the Balkans that included a stop in Belgrade, said he was

satisfied with the meeting he had with Lieutenant General Carlo

Cabigiosu, the head of KFOR, the NATO-led peacekeeping force in

Kosova. Sergeev said KFOR troops need to bring the situation in

the divided city of Kosovska Mitrovica under control. Russia has

more than 3,000 troops in KFOR. PB

[20] BELGRADE ADOPTS LAW RETURNING PROPERTY, CITIZENSHIP TO ROYAL

The Yugoslav government approved a bill on 8 February

that would allow the country's exiled royal family, the

Karadjordjevics, to reclaim its property and citizenship, AP

reported. Yugoslav Premier Zoran Zizic said the bill shows that

the country's new leadership is determined to follow a "path of

truth, justice, and freedom." The legislation must be passed by

the Yugoslav parliament before taking effect. The royal family

were stripped of their citizenship and their property taken when

the communists took power after World War II. PB

[21] WTO TO NEGOTIATE WITH BELGRADE ON MEMBERSHIP

of the World Trade Organization agreed on 8 February to set up a

committee to negotiate the terms of entry for Yugoslavia, Reuters

reported. Mike Moore, the WTO director-general, said he urges the

committee to "move as quickly as possible to complete its work

and bring Yugoslavia into the WTO family." PB

[22] EXPLOSION RIPS THROUGH CHURCH IN KOSOVA

Prishtina that an explosion severely damaged a Serbian Orthodox

Church in eastern Kosova on 8 February, AP reported. The church

was located in the village of Gornji Livoc, about 60 kilometers

east of Prishtina. The building was not among the 150 historic

sites being guarded by international peacekeepers. No one was

injured in blast and an investigation is under way. PB

[23] SLOVENIA WANTS TO JOIN NATO, EU BY 2003

the NATO and the EU in the next three years, Slovenian Foreign

Minister Dimitrij Rupel said on 7 February on a visit to Paris,

AFP reported. Rupel said "Slovenia believes it will be ready to

join NATO in 2002" and the EU a year later, after discussing

Union membership with French Foreign Minister Hubert Vedrine and

European Affairs Minister Pierre Moscovici. He said he also felt

his country's chances of joining the EU would probably be boosted

if it is admitted to NATO. "Poland, Hungary and the Czech

Republic all became NATO members and their chances of joining the

EU improved," he said. DW

[24] CROATIAN GENERAL SUSPECTED OF WAR CRIMES IS 'ON THE RUN'...

General Mirko Norac, 34, the first general to be accused of war

crimes in Croatia's 1991 war of independence, HINA news agency

reported on 8 February. "He is on the run," said the judge

investigating the case of the alleged massacre in the southern

city of Gospic. Norac's close wartime aide, Milan Canic, was

arrested on 7 February in Gospic, but Norac failed to turn

himself in and was not at his home in Zagreb. He was one of 12

generals retired by President Stipe Mesic in September 2000 for

criticizing his attempts to investigate war crimes committed by

Croats. DW

[25] ...GOVERNMENT DENIES KNOWLEDGE OF SUSPECT'S WHEREABOUTS...

the government has information on the whereabouts of General

Norac or has already turned him in to the UN war crimes tribunal

in The Hague, HINA reported. "I do not believe Norac went to The

Hague of his own accord," Racan said. A spokesman for the Hague

tribunal told Reuters that the tribunal has not publicly indicted

Norac. "He is not in custody here," he said. The Hague tribunal

is reportedly investigating the incidents involving Norac, but is

prepared to let the Croatian courts handle it so that it can

focus on other, higher-ranking suspects. DW

[26] ...AS PARLIAMENT, VETERANS LAUNCH PROTESTS

including the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ), and veterans'

groups have reacted with indignation and protests against the war

crimes accusations against Norac. "For us this is a political

case and it is high time we do something radical," said Velimir

Kvesic, head of one of the veterans' groups, dpa reported 8

February. HDZ has led calls for the matter to be discussed in

parliament and for Prime Minister Racan to explain the decision

to charge Norac with war crimes. According to the HINA news

agency, Rakic urged all parties "to act in a responsible manner.

This is a test for democratic and law-abiding Croatia and it is

up to us to pass it successfully." DW

[27] MACEDONIA AND GREECE TRYING TO SETTLE NAME PROBLEM

ambassadors from Greece and Macedonia met on 8 February to seek a

resolution to Greek objections to the name Macedonia, AP

reported. A statement released by Greek ambassador Elias Gounaris

and his Macedonian counterpart Ivan Tosevsky reported no progress

but an "exchange of views." Greece only recognizes Macedonia as

the "Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia," and will only have

dealings with Skopje when it uses that name. Athens says use of

only the name "Macedonia" masks expansionist aims on the part of

that country towards the Greek province of Macedonia. The

ambassadors said they are determined to find a solution through

UN mediation. PB

[28] OSCE CONCERNED BY ALBANIA'S POOR PREPARATION FOR ELECTIONS

Institutions and Human Rights, said on 8 February that he is

concerned by Albania's lack of progress in preparing for

parliamentary elections in June, dpa reported. He said the

Central Election Commission (CEC), which is paralyzed after the

resignation of three of its members, needs to resume work

immediately. Albanian political parties have been arguing

bitterly over the composition of the CEC, voter lists, and

election legislation. The opposition Democratic Party has

threatened to boycott the elections. PB

[29] ROMANIAN FOREIGN MINISTER IN PARIS

counterpart Hubert Vedrine in Paris on 8 February, Romanian

Foreign Minister and OSCE chairman-in-office Mircea Geoana

discussed priorities in 2001 and bilateral relations, Mediafax

reported. Vedrine said France continues to support Romania's

quest to gain EU and NATO membership. Geoana said Romania "is

proud" to have "privileged relations" with France, which is also

the largest foreign investor in his country. MS

[30] ROMANIAN PRESIDENT SIGNS LAW ON PROPERTY RESTITUTION

after the Constitutional Court rejected the Greater Romania

Party's appeal against the law, President Ion Iliescu on 8

February promulgated the bill on the restitution of some

properties confiscated by the communist regime, RFE/RL's

Bucharest bureau reported. As approved by the parliament in

January, the bill stipulates the restitution of houses and other

real estate to former owners, but exempts from restitution

buildings currently used as public institutions and property sold

to tenants after 1990. In these cases, former owners are to

receive financial compensation from the state. The size of that

compensation must be determined within two years. Tenants are

given a five year grace period before they can be evicted.

Associations representing former owners, as well as those

representing tenants, said they oppose the bill as passed by the

parliament. MS

[31] ROMANIAN LOCAL PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION BILL TO UNDERGO CHANGES

government on 8 February decided to amend the bill recently

passed on local public administration, deleting from it the

provision allowing prefects to dismiss mayors if a judicial case

is underway against them (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 5 February

2001). The bill is to be amended when the commission mediating

differences between its Senate and Chamber of Deputies' versions

meets. Also in connection with that bill, Greater Romania Party

(PRM) chairman Corneliu Vadim Tudor, in an interview with

Romanian Radio on 8 February, said President Iliescu and Prime

Minister Adrian Nastase "betrayed" Romania when they agreed to

introduce into the bill the stipulation allowing the use of

minority languages in localities where they make up 20 percent or

more of the population. Tudor announced that PRM will move in the

parliament a motion to debate that article in the law once more.

MS

[32] LASZLO TOKES CLEARED OF SUSPICION OF COLLABORATION WITH

Hungarian Democratic Federation of Romania Honorary

Chairman Bishop Laszlo Toekes has been cleared of the suspicion

of having been an informer of the communist secret police, AP

reported on 9 February. The agency cites Gheorghe Onisoru,

chairman of the National Commission for the Study of the

Securitate Archive, as saying "Any statements taken from him by

the Securitate were [given] under pressure." The Bucharest-based

Hungarian language daily "Kronika" as cited by Mediafax wrote

that the commission has verified 15 interrogation records of

Toekes, who in the past admitted that he had been forced to sign

a pledge to collaborate. Commission member Horia Roman

Patapievici told "Kronika" Toekes "always acted as a

believer...which cannot be said by the then Reformed Bishop,

Laszlo Papp." Toekes is suing AP journalist Alison Mutler for

reporting in 1998 he had admitted to having collaborated. MS

[33] ...AND FORMER SECURITATE OFFICIAL APPOINTED CHAIRMAN OF SENSITIVE

Party of Social Democracy in Romania

deputy Hristea Priboi, who was elected on 7 February as chairman

of the parliamentary commission overseeing the activity of the

Foreign Intelligence Service, is a former high official of the

Securitate, the daily "Ziua" writes on 9 February. The daily says

that Priboi was deputy director of the secret police's Foreign

Intelligence Directorate and was in charge of launching

intimidation attempts and ordering physical attacks on

journalists working for the then Munich-based Radio Free Europe.

According to "Ziua", Priboi is "blacklisted" by all Western

intelligence service and his election as the commission's

chairman "sends a catastrophic message to NATO and the EU." MS

[34] SIXTEEN CANDIDATES FOR EACH MOLDOVAN PARLIAMENTARY SEAT

than 1,672 candidates are competing for the 101-seat Moldovan

parliament in the elections due to be held on 25 February. Ten of

these are running as independent candidates and the rest on party

lists. Seventy-three candidates are deputies in the outgoing

legislature, of whom 32 are running on the lists of the party of

Moldovan Communists. There are 294 women candidates, and 131

candidates are under 30 years old, Infotag reported on 8

February. MS

[35] MOLDOVAN CONSTITUTIONAL COURT TO BE LARGELY RESHUFFLED

mandates of four out of the six judges on the Moldovan

Constitutional Court end on 23 February, and one of them is the

court's chairman, Pavel Barbalat, Infotag reported on 8 February.

In line with procedure, the court has submitted to the Supreme

Council of the Magistracy a list of candidates, including the

present deputy chairman of the court, George Susarenko, and one

of the sitting judges, Ion Vasilati. Barbalat, as well as judge

Nicolae Kiseyev, are not on that list, since they are reaching

retirement age (65). Two out of the four new judges are to be

appointed by the council and two by the parliament. MS

[36] BULGARIAN RADIO JOURNALISTS SHUT OUT CHIEF

journalists working for the Bulgarian state radio prevented new

director Ivan Borislavov from entering the building on 8 February

, Reuters reported. Also on 8 February, the Promyana trade union,

which is the country's largest, said the decision by the National

Radio and Television Council to appoint Borislavov was "obviously

based on pre-electoral considerations rather than professional

competence." It is expected that the radio will play an important

role in the parliamentary and presidential elections due later

this year. MS

[37] BULGARIAN CONSTITUTIONAL COURT BARS FORMER KING FROM PRESIDENTIAL

The Constitutional Court on 8 February ruled that former

King Simeon II cannot run in the presidential elections, whose

date is yet to be established. The ruling was delivered at the

request of 75 lawmakers from different political parties. The

court said the constitutional requirement that candidates be

residents in Bulgaria for at least five years before running is

not met by the former monarch, who lives most of the time in

Spain and has only temporary Bulgarian residence, Reuters

reported. According to media speculation, King Simeon intended to

run in the contest and rally around his candidacy a number of

smaller political formations. MS

[38] BULGARIAN FOREIGN MINISTER IN GREECE

Bulgaria's side on its course for integration with the EU and

NATO," Foreign Minister George Papandreou told journalists after

talks in Athens with his Bulgarian counterpart, Nadezhda

Mihailova. Mihailova said relations with Greece are of "strategic

importance" to her country, dpa reported. The two ministers also

discussed bilateral economic and political relations and the

current situation in Yugoslavia. Mihailova is also scheduled to

meet parliamentary chairman Apostolos Kaklamanis and the leader

of the main opposition New Democracy party, Kostas Karamanlis. MS

[C] END NOTE

[39] There is no End Note today.

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