RFE/RL Newsline, Vol. 5, No. 34, 01-02-19

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RFE/RL NEWSLINE

Vol. 5, No. 34, 19 February 2001

CONTENTS

[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA

[01] POPE RECALLS ARMENIAN 'MARTYRDOM'

[02] ARMENIAN FOREIGN MINISTER SUMS UP

[03] GEORGIAN GOVERNMENT DELEGATION VISITS

[04] ...AS FORMER ARMENIAN RULING PARTY WARNS

[05] ARMENIAN NUCLEAR POWER STATION BACK ON

[06] TURKEY PROPOSES TRIPARTITE TALKS WITH

[07] AZERBAIJAN CREATES COMMISSION ON WAR

[08] SUPPORTERS DENY FORMER AZERBAIJANI

[09] GEORGIAN PARLIAMENT RATIFIES 'ZERO

[10] OFFICIALS DENY COMMISSIONING OF KAZAKH

[11] KYRGYZ GOVERNMENT, OPPOSITION BEGIN

[12] KYRGYZ PAPER PRINTS INTERVIEW WITH JAILED

[13] TAJIK NGOS APPEAL ON BEHALF OF AFGHAN

[14] TURKMEN PRESIDENT SETS DEADLINE FOR

[15] TURKMENISTAN, RUSSIA CONCLUDE NEW GAS

[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE

[16] TENSE WEEKEND IN KOSOVA

[17] PRESEVO FIGHTERS CONDEMN BUS BOMBING

[18] KOSOVAR ALBANIAN LEADERS SLAM VIOLENCE

[19] KOSOVA'S SURROI CALLS ATTACK 'TERRORISM'

[20] KOSOVAR JOURNALIST WARNS COUNTRYMEN

[21] ALBANIA CONDEMNS KOSOVA VIOLENCE

[22] SERBIA TALKS TOUGH

[23] SERBIAN LEADERS PREPARE SECURITY MEASURES

[24] NATO'S ROBERTSON CALLS FOR DIRECT TALKS

[25] HAGUE'S DEL PONTE: NO COOPERATION FROM

[26] SHOOTOUT ON MACEDONIAN-KOSOVA BORDER

[27] MACEDONIAN MINISTER OFFERS RESIGNATION

[28] ROMANIA'S LIBERAL PARTY HAS NEW

[29] ROMANIAN NATIONALISTS RALLY AGAINST NEW

[30] ROMANIA REACTS TO INTERNATIONAL EVENTS

[31] MOLDOVAN COMMUNIST CHIEF SAYS 'NO

[32] TRANSDNIESTER ORGANIZATIONS CALL TO

[33] BALKAN PRESIDENTS CALL FOR END OF

[34] NEW BULGARIAN RADIO DIRECTOR

[35] ...WHILE IFJ BACKS BULGARIAN JOURNALISTS'

[36] BULGARIA TO SEEK BALKAN AIRLINES

[C] END NOTE

[37] ROMANIA'S NEW PROPERTY LAW FALLS SHORT

[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA

[01] POPE RECALLS ARMENIAN 'MARTYRDOM'

apostolic missive made public on 17 February to mark

the 1,700th anniversary of Armenia's adoption of

Christianity, Pope John Paul II noted the "unheard of

violence" to which Armenians were subjected to in

Ottoman Turkey in 1915, Reuters and AP reported.

The Pope observed that "the whole Armenian culture

and spirituality has been pervaded by boldness

characterized by the supreme sign of giving one's life

in martyrdom." The following day, the Pope presided

over a mass to mark the anniversary and stated his

"great desire to make a pilgrimage of hope" to

Armenia. LF

[02] ARMENIAN FOREIGN MINISTER SUMS UP

Speaking to

journalists at Yerevan's Zvartnots airport on 16

February, President Robert Kocharian characterized

his official visit to France last week as having raised

bilateral ties to "a qualitatively new level," according

to Snark as cited by Groong. Foreign Minister Vartan

Oskanian similarly said the five-day visit was very

successful" and "crucial in several respects," Noyan

Tapan reported. Oskanian said the visit contributed to

the further development of bilateral economic ties and

the search for a solution to the Karabakh conflict.

"Hayots ashkhar" on 17 February quoted Oskanian as

saying that French President Jacques Chirac did not

present "detailed written proposals" on resolving the

conflict during his talks with Kocharian, but that the

two presidents and Azerbaijani Heidar Aliev had

discussed "general principles" for doing so in Paris last

month that Oskanian said could yield "serious

progress." Oskanian said that expanded Armenian-

French relations could serve as "the main driving

force" towards stronger ties between Armenia and the

EU. LF

[03] GEORGIAN GOVERNMENT DELEGATION VISITS

A Georgian government delegation

headed by Minister of State Gia Arsenishvili held talks

in Yerevan on 17 February with senior Armenian

officials, including President Kocharian and Prime

Minister Andranik Markarian, RFE/RL's Yerevan

bureau reported. In a joint statement, Arsenishvili and

Markarian expressed satisfaction at the general level of

bilateral relations, but called for more intensive

economic cooperation, especially in the spheres of

transport and energy. Most of Armenia's external

trade is conducted via Georgian Black Sea ports. Also

discussed was the repayment of Georgia's $25 million

debt to Armenia. LF

[04] ...AS FORMER ARMENIAN RULING PARTY WARNS

The administrators

of two districts in Georgia's southern Djavakheti

region whose population is predominantly Armenian

accompanied the Georgian government delegation to

Yerevan. Some members of the Armenian

Revolutionary Federation -- Dashnaktsutiun recently

called for those districts to be given autonomous

status within Georgia (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 12

February 2001). The former ruling Armenian Pan-

National Movement has issued a statement

condemning such calls as "inflammatory and

provocative," Noyan Tapan reported on 17 February.

The statement expressed understanding for the

aspiration of the region's Armenian population to

preserve their ethnic identity and said the Armenian

leadership should help them do so, but in such a way

as to avoid jeopardizing Armenian-Georgian relations.

LF

[05] ARMENIAN NUCLEAR POWER STATION BACK ON

The nuclear reactor at Armenia's Medzamor

atomic power station resumed operation late on 15

February, some 24 hours after it was shut down

following damage to an external power line, RFE/RL's

Yerevan bureau reported (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 16

February 2001). The plant's deputy director, Slava

Danielian, told RFE/RL on 16 February that the

accident did not involve any leakage of radiation, and

there was no damage to the environment. Armenian

Nuclear Radiation Authority official Vladimir

Kurghinian said that the shutdown ranked as zero on

the International Atomic Energy Agency's seven-point

scale for evaluating the seriousness of accidents at

nuclear power stations. LF

[06] TURKEY PROPOSES TRIPARTITE TALKS WITH

Speaking on 17 February at

an Istanbul conference on stability in the South

Caucasus, Turkish Foreign Minister Ismail Cem

proposed that Ankara chair a meeting of Armenian

and Azerbaijani officials to discuss how to reach a

solution to the Karabakh conflict, AP and ITAR-TASS

reported. But Armenian Foreign Ministry official

Samvel Mkrtchian, who attended the conference,

expressed reservations, saying he thinks such a

meeting unlikely before "first steps are taken" in

Armenian-Turkish relations. Turkish Deputy Foreign

Minister Yigit Alpogan stressed that the Turkish

initiative is intended to complement, rather than

undercut, the ongoing Karabakh mediation by the

OSCE Minsk Group, of which Turkey is a member.

Minsk Group co-chairman Carey Cavanaugh welcomed

Cem's proposal. LF

[07] AZERBAIJAN CREATES COMMISSION ON WAR

As previously announced (see "RFE/RL

Newsline," 16 February 2001), the Azerbaijani

authorities created a special commission on 16

February to address the problems faced by war

invalids, Turan reported. But no members of the

Society of Invalids of the Karabakh War, who began a

nationwide hunger-strike last month to demand an

increase in their pensions and allowances, were

included in the commission. Some 19 invalids are

continuing a renewed hunger-strike that they began

on 15 February. LF

[08] SUPPORTERS DENY FORMER AZERBAIJANI

FINANCIAL SCANDAL

Fazil Gazanfaroglu, who is a

leading member of the conservative wing of the

divided Azerbaijan Popular Front Party (AHCP), on 16

February dismissed as untrue media reports that the

Front's deceased chairman, Abulfaz Elchibey, was

involved in the illegal transfer of funds to secret bank

accounts belonging to Turkish National Movement

Party leader Alparslan Turkesh, Turan reported.

Gazanfaroglu said the media reports constitute a

smear campaign by the Azerbaijani authorities and the

rival, reformist wing of the AHCP. LF

[09] GEORGIAN PARLIAMENT RATIFIES 'ZERO

After a five-hour debate, parliament

deputies voted on 16 February by 127 to one to ratify

the so-called "zero option," whereby Tbilisi forfeits

any claim on the assets of the former USSR in return

for the rescheduling of its debt to Russia, Caucasus

Press reported. Georgian President Eduard

Shevardnadze had warned the previous day that

refusal to ratify the "zero option" would lead to

economic collapse (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 16

February 2001). Some 30 opposition deputies left the

parliament chamber to protest the vote. LF

[10] OFFICIALS DENY COMMISSIONING OF KAZAKH

Sergei Gnatchenko, the

director-general of the Caspian Pipeline Consortium,

said in Moscow on 16 February that the schedule for

launching the consortium's Tengiz-Novorossiisk oil

pipeline remains unchanged, Interfax reported.

Speaking in Almaty, Russian Deputy Prime Minister

Viktor Khristenko similarly affirmed that "the first

stage of the CPF pipeline will be launched as planned"

on 30 June. Consortium official Zinon Abdrakhmanov

had said the previous day that the date for the

pipeline to become operational could be delayed up to

six weeks (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 16 February 2001).

It is planned to begin filling the pipeline with oil in

March. LF

[11] KYRGYZ GOVERNMENT, OPPOSITION BEGIN

The planned round-table

discussion between representatives of the Kyrgyz

authorities, political parties, media, and NGOs began

at the presidential residence in Bishkek on 17

February in the presence of President Askar Akaev,

RFE/RL's bureau in the Kyrgyz capital reported.

Reviewing the implementation of resolutions adopted

at the first such roundtable in June 2000, State

Secretary Osmonakun Ibraimov said Kyrgyzstan needs

political stability following last year's controversial

parliamentary and presidential elections. Prime

Minister Kurmanbek Bakiev called for consolidation to

overcome "social tensions." Kyrgyz Human Rights

Movement chairman Tursunbek Akunov appealed to

the Kyrgyz government to release jailed opposition

leader Topchubek Turgunaliev (see "RFE/RL

Newsline," 4 September and 5 December 2000), while

Emil Aliev of the opposition Ar-Namys Party asked

Akaev to ensure that the jail sentence handed down

last month on the party's leader, Feliks Kulov, is fairly

reviewed (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 22 January 2001).

Police dispersed some 20 Kulov supporters who

attempted to picket the presidential residence shortly

before the roundtable began. LF

[12] KYRGYZ PAPER PRINTS INTERVIEW WITH JAILED

The independent daily

"Asaba" published an interview with Kulov on 16

February in which he said that the rationale behind

the new criminal cases filed against him was that the

international community has cast doubt on the

legality of the seven-year sentence he received on

charges of abuse of his official position, RFE/RL's

Bishkek bureau reported. Kulov accused President

Akaev of having a personal interest in "finishing him

off," adding that he had learned from "a reliable

source" that the Kyrgyz authorities are hoping that his

health will deteriorate and he will die before

completing his sentence. Kulov also criticized as illegal

the sentence handed down last September on

Turgunaliev for allegedly plotting to assassinate

Akaev. LF

[13] TAJIK NGOS APPEAL ON BEHALF OF AFGHAN

An unspecified number of Tajik NGOs

have appealed to the international community to

provide urgent medical assistance for the more than

13,000 Afghans who fled to the Afghan-Tajik border to

escape ongoing hostilities between the Taliban and the

Northern Alliance, Asia Plus-Blitz reported on 16

February. At least 40 of the displaced persons have

died since October of disease or wounds. LF

[14] TURKMEN PRESIDENT SETS DEADLINE FOR

Saparmurat Niyazov, whose

presidential term was extended for an indefinite

period in December 1999 (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 30

December 1999), told the annual session of the

Turkmen legislature on 18 February that he will leave

office no later than 2010, when he will turn 70,

Reuters and Interfax reported. He said open elections

should then be held in which several younger

candidates would contest the presidency, but that only

persons who have held public office for 5-10 years and

whose candidacy is approved by parliament will be

eligible, according to Interfax. In addition, candidates

must have lived in Turkmenistan for 10 years prior to

the presidential ballot, a restriction that rules out

former Foreign Minister Avdy Kuliev, who currently

lives abroad. The parliament duly approved a law on

holding presidential elections in 2010. Niyazov had

told foreign ambassadors on 16 February that

legislation on the election of regional administrators

and the president will be passed in 2008. LF

[15] TURKMENISTAN, RUSSIA CONCLUDE NEW GAS

The Turkmen government and

the ITERA energy corporation signed an agreement in

Ashgabat on 16 February whereby Turkmenistan will

sell Russia 10 billion cubic meters of gas in 2001, the

same amount as last year, ITAR-TASS reported. Russia

will pay $40 per thousand cubic meters compared

with $36-38 last year, of which half will be paid in

hard currency and half in commodities. Also on 16

February, President Niyazov said Turkmenistan will

conclude a long-term agreement on the sale of natural

gas to Ukraine "very soon," ITAR-TASS reported. LF

[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE

[16] TENSE WEEKEND IN KOSOVA

blew up a bus carrying Serbian civilians near Podujeva

on 16 February (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 16 February

2001). No one has claimed responsibility for the blast,

which was caused by a bomb placed under the road on

which the bus was traveling with a Swedish escort

vehicle. KFOR arrested several ethnic Albanians on the

spot. Casualties stand at seven Serbs dead and 43

injured, but local Serb leaders said they expect the

death toll to rise, RFE/RL's South Slavic Service

reported. On 17 February, hundreds of Serbs staged

protests in Mitrovica, on the Skopje-Prishtina road,

and at some other locations in Kosova. Speakers

slammed KFOR and the UN civilian administration

(UNMIK) and called for the resignation of KFOR's

commander, General Carlo Cabigiosu. A similar

demonstration took place in Gracanica the following

day. PM

[17] PRESEVO FIGHTERS CONDEMN BUS BOMBING

Jonuz Musliu, who is a

spokesman for the Liberation Army of Presevo,

Medvedja, and Bujanovac (UCPMB), condemned the

bus bombing in remarks to reporters in the Presevo

Valley on 18 February. He said that the incident will

set back the UCPMB's efforts to resolve its problems

with Serbian forces in the area, Reuters reported.

Meanwhile, near Lucane, three Serbian police died

when their van hit one or more anti-tank mines. It is

not clear whether the van was deliberately targeted.

AP reported that local ethnic Albanians denied

responsibility. NATO officials say there are three

groups of armed ethnic Albanian fighters present in

the area without any central command. Some fighters

and Serbian forces exchanged mortar and machine

gun fire into the following day. Musliu said that a local

Albanian commander was killed in the fighting. PM

[18] KOSOVAR ALBANIAN LEADERS SLAM VIOLENCE

Ibrahim Rugova, issued a statement in which he

strongly condemned the Podujeva attack, "Koha

Ditore" reported on 18 February. He stressed that the

bombing was directed "against stability, peace, and

democracy in Kosova" and "undermines all efforts of

the people of Kosova and the international community

to built a tolerant and democratic society for all

citizens of Kosova." Hashim Thaci, the former guerrilla

leader who heads the Democratic Party of Kosova,

issued a statement saying that "this inhumane act

works only in favor of destabilizing and weakening the

political position of Kosova and has been committed

by dark circles who want to present Kosova as a

permanent source of crisis and trouble in the region."

Thaci added that the attack is "a violation of our word

of honor, which we gave to the international

community, and has nothing to do with Albanian

tradition." Ramush Haradinaj, who is president of the

Alliance for the Future of Kosova, called the attack "a

terrorist act directed at Serbs." FS

[19] KOSOVA'S SURROI CALLS ATTACK 'TERRORISM'

"Koha Ditore" on 18 February, in which he stressed

that the Kosovar Albanians must ask themselves if

they want "terror" to jeopardize their relations with

NATO. He also asked whether Kosovars want to

implement the ethnically divisive policies of indicted

war-criminal Slobodan Milosevic. Surroi argued that

"the political message [of the attackers] was directed

[not towards the victims but] towards the survivors.

And this makes the difference between ordinary

murder and terror." He added that "the messageŠis

very simple: Kosovar Serbs cannot be citizens of

Kosova." Surroi recalled that, in the past, Belgrade

tried to deny the Kosovar Serbs their specific local

identity, claiming that Kosova is Serbia. Now, he

added, "bombs on the bus help everybody who wants

to argue for a partition of Serbs and Albanians. [The

bombs] help [promote] the development of

[ethnically-based] enclaves and those who want to see

Mitrovica divided." FS

[20] KOSOVAR JOURNALIST WARNS COUNTRYMEN

February about the bus bombing that "even without

knowing [the identity of] the perpetrators...[the]

blame will be put on all of us. It is a blame that will

call into question our potential to create a normal

society and to guarantee the safety of all citizens of

Kosova. It will call into question our ability to govern

Kosova," Reuters reported. PM

[21] ALBANIA CONDEMNS KOSOVA VIOLENCE

Ministry spokesman Sokol Gjoka said in Tirana on 17

February that "such events [as the Podujeva bombing]

damage the efforts of Albanian political forces trying

to create "a climate of confidence, and they also

damage the important [peace] processes linked to the

future of Kosova." He added that the Albanian

government appeals to the people of Kosova to avoid

"the provocations of the extremists, including

Albanians," AP reported. "These criminal acts do not

serve the stability of Kosova or the region," he added.

PM

[22] SERBIA TALKS TOUGH

former President Slobodan Milosevic often did, the

new Belgrade leaders responded to the latest violence

with criticism not only of "Albanian terrorists" but

also of KFOR and UNMIK. Serbian Deputy Prime

Minister Nebojsa Covic said that "it is not permissible

that such attacks continue. We demand specific

decisions from the international community," AP

reported on 18 February. He did not elaborate. He

further stressed that the "terrorist acts" are

coordinated. Yugoslav Foreign Minister Goran

Svilanovic said in a message to NATO Secretary-

General George Robertson that "it is obvious that we

are dealing with well-planned, premeditated, and

synchronized attacks aimed at provoking Yugoslav

security forces and creating a much broader conflict.

The Federal Republic of Yugoslavia cannot allow

Albanian terrorists to kill its citizens," Reuters

reported. Serbian Interior Minister Dusan Mihajlovic

said that his ministry is "ready to establish order and

peace in that region very quickly," RFE/RL's South

Slavic Service reported. PM

[23] SERBIAN LEADERS PREPARE SECURITY MEASURES

and Serbian governments met in Belgrade on 18

February for a closed-door session to discuss the

current security situation. Following the meeting,

President Vojislav Kostunica said in a statement that

unspecified measures will be taken against "terrorism,"

the BBC's Serbian Service reported. He criticized KFOR

and UNMIK while praising the restraint shown by

Serbian forces in the face of "provocations" by ethnic

Albanians. Kostunica stressed that Belgrade will

continue to pursue a diplomatic solution in respect to

Presevo and Kosova. Among those attending the

meeting were two top officials who are carry-overs

from the Milosevic regime. One is army Chief-of-Staff

General Nebojsa Pavkovic, who commanded Yugoslav

troops in Kosova during the 1999 crackdown. The

other is Serbian President Milan Milutinovic, whom the

Hague-based tribunal has indicted together with

Milosevic for war crimes in conjunction with the 1998

repression in Kosova. PM

[24] NATO'S ROBERTSON CALLS FOR DIRECT TALKS

February that "the problems of the region cannot be

solved by violence; they can only be settled through

direct negotiations between the parties. Today's events

make the urgency of moving ahead with such

negotiations all the more clear," Reuters reported. In

Prishtina, UNMIK spokeswoman Susan Manuel said

that the matter of providing security to all civilians in

Kosova is a "delicate matter," the BBC's Serbian Service

reported. She noted that UNMIK has more frequent

contacts with the Belgrade authorities now than it did

during the Milosevic era, and that this makes some

Kosovar Albanians "nervous." PM

[25] HAGUE'S DEL PONTE: NO COOPERATION FROM

Carla Del Ponte, who is the chief

prosecutor of the Hague-based war crimes tribunal,

told the Athens daily "To Vima" of 18 February that

the new Yugoslav government "has not done anything"

in terms of cooperating with the court, RFE/RL's South

Slavic Service reported. She contrasted Belgrade's

behavior unfavorably with that of the governments of

other former Yugoslav republics. She added that the

Greek authorities have not given her any of the

information she requested in October 2000 about their

findings regarding the financial dealings of Milosevic

and his associates. PM

[26] SHOOTOUT ON MACEDONIAN-KOSOVA BORDER

Macedonian Defense Ministry official told AP in Skopje

on 17 February that six uniformed ethnic Albanian

gunmen exchanged fire with Macedonian border

troops in Tanusevci on the frontier with Kosova. The

source said that at least one of the Albanians appears

to have been wounded in the exchange. The intruders

subsequently returned to Kosova. PM

[27] MACEDONIAN MINISTER OFFERS RESIGNATION

resignation on 16 February to Prime Minister Ljubco

Georgievski in order to take "moral responsibility" for

the ongoing scandal over alleged ministry wiretaps of

top political, media, and business figures, AP reported

(see "RFE/RL Newsline," 22 January 2001). It is not

clear if Georgievski will accept the resignation of his

close political ally, who denied any wrongdoing.

Dimovska argued that "old structures" linked to the

previous Social Democratic and Communist

governments are trying to "politically eliminate me in

the interest of foreign countries," Reuters reported.

She did not elaborate. PM

[28] ROMANIA'S LIBERAL PARTY HAS NEW

A National Liberal Party congress on 17

February elected Valeriu Stoica as the new chairman of

the National Liberal Party (PNL), RFE/RL's Bucharest

bureau reported. Stoica was endorsed by 509

delegates, more than any of his four opponents (PNL

deputy chairmen Calin Popescu-Tariceanu and Crin

Antonescu were endorsed by 248 and 179 delegates,

respectively, while Florin Pandele, Ilfov county PNL

chairman, received 11 votes). On 18 February,

Antonescu and Popescu-Tariceanu were re-elected vice

chairmen, alongside Dinu Patriciu, Andrei Chiliman,

and Dan Radu Rusanu. Theodor Stolojan is since 17

February the party's new National Council chairman.

The congress also approved a resolution to monitor

for two months the fulfillment by the ruling Party of

Social Democracy in Romania (PDSR) of the agreement

signed with the PNL on the support of the PDSR

minority government. MS

[29] ROMANIAN NATIONALISTS RALLY AGAINST NEW

Some 10,000 people attended a rally in Cluj on

16 February organized by the Greater Romania Party

(PRM) against the new Law on Local Public

Administration, a local RFE/RL local correspondent

reported. Cluj Mayor and PRM General Secretary

Gheorghe Funar read a "proclamation" which protests

against the law, demands that the PDSR make public

"all secret agreements" allegedly signed with the

Hungarian Democratic Federation of Romania (UDMR)

and calls on the government to issue an ordinance for

"collecting within 48 hours all arms and munitions

illegally introduced in Romania with the direct

support of the Hungarian government." PRM leader

Corneliu Vadim Tudor said the UDMR has "obtained

from the PDSR in four weeks what it was unable to

obtain in four years" as a member of the 1996-2000

ruling coalition. MS

[30] ROMANIA REACTS TO INTERNATIONAL EVENTS

"attentively following the course of events in Iraq"

after the strike by U.S. and British military craft of

targets in and near Baghdad. The ministry said UN

Security Council resolutions on Iraq must be

"rigorously respected" as the only way to "obtain

stability in the region." Also on 17 February, the

Romanian government said it "firmly condemns" the

Kosova incident in the wake of which seven were killed

and over 40 people wounded. The Adrian Nastase

cabinet describes the attack as "an attempt directed

against the UN, OSCE, and the international

community's efforts to help bring about a climate of

tolerance and peaceful coexistence in Kosova." MS

[31] MOLDOVAN COMMUNIST CHIEF SAYS 'NO

Party of Moldovan

Communists (PCM) leader Vladimir Voronin on 15

February told journalists the PCM is against changing

the parliamentary system into a presidential one, Flux

and Infotag reported. Voronin said that the

presidential system has led to "autocratic rule" in

"many former Soviet states, with the exception of

Russia." He said the PCM would, however, support a

referendum on whether Moldova should return to

electing its president by popular vote. Voronin said

the PCM is "unlikely" to support President Petru

Lucinschi for a second term and that he "does not rule

out" running again himself for that position. He

denied as "sheer nonsense" rumors that Russian

Communist leader Gennadii Zyuganov will soon come

to Moldova to participate in the PCM electoral

campaign. "Our legislation prohibits foreign citizens

from interfering in the electoral campaign," he said.

MS

[32] TRANSDNIESTER ORGANIZATIONS CALL TO

"Public

organizations" in the separatist region on 17 February

called on citizens to boycott the forthcoming

parliamentary elections in Moldova, ITAR-TASS

reported. The appeal said the electoral programs of all

competing parties support Moldova's territorial

integrity, and are thus implicitly backing the

"liquidation" of the Transdniester as an independent

republic. Summing up the electoral competition one

week ahead of the elections, Romanian Radio said 12

political parties, five electoral blocs and 10

independent candidates are competing for seats in the

101-seat parliament. The electoral threshold for

parties and blocs is 6 percent and for independent

candidates 3 percent. MS

[33] BALKAN PRESIDENTS CALL FOR END OF

In a joint statement published

at the end of their two-day meeting in Plodviv (see

"RFE/RL Newsline," 16 February 2001), Bulgarian

President Petar Stoyanov, Romanian President Ion

Iliescu and Turkish President Ahmet Necdet Sezer on

16 February called for an immediate halt to violence

in southern Serbia, AFP reported. In what is obviously

a pro-Serb posture, they say they "strongly condemn

the violent and illegal actions by ethnically-motivated

groups in southern Serbia" and call "for an immediate

and complete cessation of violence." The three said

they supported "a multiethnic and undivided Kosova

[and] the protection of interests and rights of all

communities." The statement also expressed support

for "the process of democratization in the Federal

Republic of Yugoslavia and the efforts of the

democratic leadership in Belgrade to redefine its

strategic orientation towards integration with

European institutions." MS

[34] NEW BULGARIAN RADIO DIRECTOR

In what looks more and more as a

replay of the earlier "Czech scenario," Ivan Borislavov,

whose recent appointment as new director of state

radio triggered the protests of journalists, was

hospitalized on 18 February after a heart attack, AP

reported. His condition was said to be stable. MS

[35] ...WHILE IFJ BACKS BULGARIAN JOURNALISTS'

The International Federation of Journalists

(IFJ) on 16 February said it "shares the worries" of

Bulgarian Radio journalists and of the Union of

Journalists (Podkrepa) over the procedure that led to

the selection of Borislavov as new director-general of

Bulgarian Radio. The IFJ said journalists and media

staff "should have been fully consulted" over the

appointment made by the National Council of Radio

and Television and that it supports the journalists'

demands "for the reform" of that council to ensure

that it ceases to be political and "becomes a truly

independent public service broadcaster, in line with

European standards" (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 16

February 2001). MS

[36] BULGARIA TO SEEK BALKAN AIRLINES

Privatization Agency

head Levon Hampartsumyan on 18 February told

Bulgarian Radio that the government will seek to

reverse the 1999 sale of national carrier Balkan

Airlines to the Israeli Zeevi Holdings group, AP

reported. Hampartsumyan also said planning was

under way to fly home hundreds of passengers left

stranded across the world when Balkan Airlines was

grounded last week at the orders of Zeevi Holdings.

The Bulstrad insurance company has asked a court to

open bankruptcy proceedings against Balkan Airlines,

citing a $512,000 debt owed to it by the airline.

Finance Minister Muravei Radev on 17 February said

he expects the court to put Balkan Airlines under

receivership. MS

[C] END NOTE

[37] ROMANIA'S NEW PROPERTY LAW FALLS SHORT

By Eugen Tomiuc

Romania's new restitution bill, signed into law two

weeks ago by President Ion Iliescu, immediately

became the target of fierce criticism from both former

owners and tenants of once private property.

In general, the law provides for the restitution of

state-confiscated property to its rightful owner. But

some of the most valuable property nationalized by

the communists -- including buildings used by public

institutions -- is exempted. Former owners of such

property will be compensated by either unspecified

sums of money, or by goods, shares in companies, or

even services. The amount of compensation to be paid

will be determined in the next 18 months.

Previous owners say the new law in effect bars

them from regaining property already bought by

tenants under an earlier law passed six years ago.

They argue that even though the new law allows for

the annulment of the earlier sales, it also excepts from

annulment cases in which tenants bought the houses

in what the law calls "good faith."

The former owners say it will be very difficult, if

not impossible, to prove a lack of "good faith," which

is not defined in the law. Maria Teodoru, the head of a

group of former owners, says the new law is even more

unfair than the previous one because it legalizes

abuses committed both before and after the fall of

communism.

Teodoru says that under the 1995 law, former

owners were able to recover just over 1 percent

(3,600) of an estimated 300,000 pieces of property

nationalized by the communists. At the same time, she

says, almost one-third (88,000 pieces) of the property

seized was bought by the tenants occupying them.

Teodoru tells RFE/RL that former owners will

continue to protest the new law, which they say

violates their right to own private property. If the law

is not changed, she says, they will ask the help of

international institutions such as the Council of

Europe. Teodoru says they may also knock on the

doors of foreign embassies in Bucharest, which,

incidentally, are also included among dwellings whose

restitution the new law bars:

"If we really come to the conclusion that we live

in a country where neither the constitution nor

international treaties that Romania has signed are

respected -- and that we live in a jungle -- then we will

go to the embassies of civilized countries and ask for

mass emigration."

Under the new law, unless local authorities

provide what the legislation calls "adequate"

alternative housing, present tenants of property seized

by the communists are entitled to remain an

additional five years in houses qualifying for

restitution. Most of these tenants will pay very low

rentals during the five-year period.

Those who bought their homes under the 1995

legislation -- and some present tenants -- also find the

new law unfair. They fear that its "good faith"

provision will work against them. Eugen Plesa, an

ultranationalist Greater Romania Party

parliamentarian and head of a tenants' association,

says the law was tailored to suit the interests of former

owners or their successors. He tells RFE/RL that

tenants will be "punished," while those he calls

"impostors" will try to use the law to their own

advantage.

"Houses should be given back to those from whom

they have been taken. But it is the communists who

took them who should be punished, not us [the

tenants]. What do they have against us? You cannot

change history, you cannot punish or destroy citizens

in order to benefit someone who probably did not

have any connection with the former owner," he said.

But an analyst offers this example to Plesa's last claim:

if a grandson did not ever see his grandfather, who

was perhaps killed by the communists while in prison,

would the grandson have "no connection" with the

former owner of the property, who was his

grandfather?

Plesa says he wants the 1995 law to be reinstated.

That law was criticized by many as favoring the

tenants of nationalized property, who were allowed to

buy the houses at prices considerably below their

market value. Furthermore, many of those who bought

houses under the 1995 law, including President Ion

Iliescu himself, had been members of the former

communist elite -- the "nomenclatura" -- who had

earlier nationalized the best housing available. Before

they did so, they paid very low rents. In the eyes of

the former owners, the Biblical injustice of "both

killing and inheriting" had thus repeated itself.

The current law owes its inception to the Council

of Europe's Parliamentary Assembly, which in 1998

urged Romania to come up with new property

restitution legislation. The assembly acted after some

2,000 former owners lodged complaints at the

European Court of Human Rights, an important

Council of Europe organ.

The final language of the new law is considerably

different from the draft bill submitted three years ago

by National Liberal Party politician Valeriu Stoica, who

was then justice minister. Today, Stoica himself

acknowledges that the inclusion of the "good faith"

clause in the current law is regrettable. But he says a

better version was not possible because of the need for

compromise with leftist parliamentarians.

But despite the law's shortcomings, Stoica tells

our correspondent, the current law is a still big step

forward.

"Compared to the previous 1995 law, this law is --

regardless of its imperfections -- a huge leap toward

the reconstruction of the private property system in

Romania. That is the reason why Liberals [like myself]

agreed with it during debates in the Senate."

Applying the law, however, may prove difficult.

Unclear compensation rules will likely sow further

discord among the original owners and previous or

current tenants. And more legal actions can be

expected, adding to the cases already before the

European Human Rights Court.

Last month, President Iliescu, a former

communist, spoke out against the right to

constitutionally guarantee private property, which he

called "a frill." In Iliescu's eyes, the basic document's

provision that "property is protected" by the states is

more than sufficient. At the same time, as he has often

done in the past, Iliescu praised the virtues of

collective property.

Many analysts says that, whatever the virtues or

shortcomings of the new law, Iliescu's remarks do not

bode well for the full restitution of once private

property in Romania during his four years in office.

19-02-01

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

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