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RFE/RL Newsline, Vol. 5, No. 79, 01-04-24Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty: Newsline Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty <http://www.rferl.org>RFE/RL NEWSLINEVol. 5, No. 79, 24 April 2001CONTENTS[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA
[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[C] END NOTE
[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA[01] ARMENIAN OFFICIALS DISCUSS ENERGY PRIVATIZATION FAILURE...Members of the Armenian government commission to oversee the privatization of four of the country's energy distribution networks offered diverging reasons on 23 April for the failure of the international tender for them, RFE/RL's Yerevan bureau reported (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 23 April 2001). Justice Minister David Harutiunian said that one of the two final contenders, the U.S. energy company AES Silk Road, had withdrawn in order to acquire two networks in Ukraine which, Harutiunian said, is considered "a less risky zone" than Armenia. Harutiunian also said that bidders may have been deterred by last-minute changes the Armenian government made to the rules for the tender. Those changes included depriving the future owner of the right to make major personnel changes without the consent of employees. A second commission member, Gagik Minasian, said that the government will decide within two months what further steps to take, including whether to announce a new international tender. LF[02] ...AS WORLD BANK TO RESUME TALKS ON CRUCIAL LOANVigen Sargssian, a spokesman for the World Bank's office in Yerevan, told Noyan Tapan on 23 April that the bank will begin talks with the Armenian government on conditions for the release of a crucial $50 million loan that is intended to cover much of this year's budget deficit. Release of the loan was originally contingent on the successful completion of the tender for privatization of the four electricity distribution networks. Sargssian said the failure of the tender plays into the hands of the "energy mafia." He called on the government to show "flexibility" in a "difficult situation." LF[03] ABKHAZ HOSTAGE STALEMATE CONTINUES...Some 200 relatives of the three Georgian guerrillas taken hostage in southern Abkhazia's Gali Raion on 8 April staged a protest in Tbilisi on 23 April to demand that the Georgian government take measures to secure the hostages' release, Caucasus Press reported. Also on 23 April, the Coordinating Council of Political Parties and Organizations of Abkhazia, one of the bodies that claims to represent the interests of the mostly Georgian displaced persons forced to flee Abkhazia during the 1992-1993 war, convened a news conference in Tbilisi at which its leader Elgudja Guledani similarly laid the blame for the hostage crisis on the Georgian government. Guledani expressed approval of Georgian Forest Brothers guerrilla leader David Shengelaia's refusal to release five Abkhaz conscripts his men abducted in retaliation for the seizure of the three Georgian guerrillas. Meanwhile, relatives of the five Abkhaz conscripts are picketing the bridge over the Inguri River that forms the border between Abkhazia and the rest of Georgia, according to Caucasus Press. They have threatened to attack the Georgian guerrillas in a bid to liberate their relatives if the latter are not released. LF[04] ...AS UN ENVOY CALLS FOR OBSERVANCE OF RECENT ACCORD...Dieter Boden, the UN's envoy for the Abkhaz conflict, told journalists in Sukhum on 23 April after further talks with the Abkhaz leadership that the UN Observer Mission in Georgia is not in contact with the Georgian guerrillas, and that the Georgian authorities have no jurisdiction over the guerrillas but are trying to resolve the crisis on their own, Caucasus Press reported. Boden appealed to both the Georgian and the Abkhaz sides to abide by the protocol on confidence-building measures signed in Yalta five weeks ago (see "RFE/RL Newsline,"19 March 2001). The Georgian guerrillas were not a party to that accord. LF[05] ...AND GEORGIAN PRESIDENT ISSUES WARNINGSpeaking in Tbilisi on 23 April, President Eduard Shevardnadze warned both the Abkhaz and the Georgian guerrilla formations to "stop playing with fire" in Gali Raion, Caucasus Press reported. He said Tbilisi "will hold negotiations with the Abkhaz side" in an attempt to defuse the crisis, according to ITAR-TASS. LF[06] ABKHAZ SECURITY OFFICIAL DENIES MORE GEORGIANS TAKEN HOSTAGEAbkhaz State Security Service Chairman Raul Khazhimba told Apsnypress on 24 April that there is no truth to claims made on 20 April by the Abkhaz Security Ministry in exile that Abkhaz fighters took three more Georgians hostage on 19 April (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 23 April 2001). LF[07] KYRGYZSTAN SEEKS TO VOID MEMORANDUM ON LAND SWAP WITH UZBEKISTAN...The prime ministers of Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan signed a secret memorandum on 26 February on an exchange of territory whereby Bishkek would cede to Uzbekistan territory linking the Uzbek enclave of Sokh with Uzbekistan in return for the Tayan district of Uzbekistan, RFE/RL's Bishkek bureau reported. Kyrgyz government official Salamat Alamanov confirmed the signing of the memorandum, the text of which was published in a local newspaper in southern Kyrgyzstan last week. Mamat Aibalaev, the governor of Batken Oblast in southern Kyrgyzstan, told RFE/RL on 23 April that Kyrgyz Premier Kurmanbek Bakiev decided after visiting the region on 5 March to abrogate the memorandum on the grounds that the Tayan region is "worthless," while ceding the Sokh enclave would entail the loss of the waters from the Sokh River. Aibalaev said that Tashkent is pressuring Bishkek not to annul the accord. LF[08] ...WHICH KYRGYZ PARLIAMENT SAYS IS UNCONSTITUTIONALAlisher Abdimomunov, who is chairman of the Kyrgyz parliament's Committee on Foreign Affairs, told RFE/RL's Bishkek bureau on 23 April that the memorandum violates the Kyrgyz Constitution. LF[09] TAJIKISTAN HOSTS MORE TALKS ON AFGHANISTANUN envoy for the Afghan conflict Francesc Vendrell held talks in Dushanbe on 23 April with Ahmad Shah Massoud, the military leader of the anti- Taliban Northern Alliance, Russian agencies reported. The two men conferred in the Tajik capital last fall (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 9 October 2000). Massoud said the Taliban is preparing a major new offensive, and that Afghan Uzbek leader Rashid Dostum has promised to joint forces with Massoud to counter that attack. Also on 23 April, the commander of the Russian Federal Border Troops deployed in Tajikistan, Major General Aleksandr Markin, told Interfax the Russian military does not anticipate an attempt by the Taliban to invade Tajikistan but it is prepared to repel such an incursion should it occur. LF[10] U.S. DELEGATION VISITS UZBEKISTANOn a one-day visit to Tashkent on 23 April, a U.S. State Department delegation held talks with senior officials on regional security and the situation in Afghanistan, Interfax and Western agencies reported. The delegation donated to the Uzbek Customs Service 40 pairs of night-vision goggles worth an estimated $100,000 that are to be used to prevent incursions of Uzbek territory by drug smugglers and Islamic militants. Delegation head John Beyrle was scheduled to meet with Uzbek President Islam Karimov and Foreign Minister Abdulaziz Komilov. LF[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE[11] SERBIAN, MONTENEGRIN LEADERSHIPS ON COLLISION COURSE?Yugoslav President Vojislav Kostunica said in Belgrade on 23 April that the results of the Montenegrin parliamentary elections "allow hope for a better and more certain future" for the Yugoslav federation, Tanjug reported (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 23 April 2001). He added that the ballot "is above all, a sign that the political dramas are reaching their end and that we are reaching rational and useful solutions." But Montenegrin President Milo Djukanovic stressed that "one must finally see the truth and that is all we ask from the international community: that Yugoslavia no longer exists, that it is an artificial entity. Serbia and Montenegro have two different currencies, independent armies, separate foreign policies, and customs services," AFP reported from Podgorica. PM[12] U.S., EU CALL FOR PODGORICA-BELGRADE DIALOGUEState Department spokesman James Boucher said in Washington on 23 April that "a democratic Montenegro within a reformed and democratic Yugoslavia is probably best for the region," RFE/RL reported. He added that Washington has "always encouraged a serious and early dialogue between the Montenegrins and people in Belgrade to try to work these things out on a mutually accepted basis." The EU's Javier Solana said: "Now, more than ever, I call on the leaders of Podgorica and Belgrade to begin serious talks about their future relationship and new constitutional arrangements acceptable to both sides," AFP reported from Podgorica. He added that "the EU opposes any unilateral steps which could run contrary to the stability of the region." Speaking for the EU chair, Swedish Foreign Minister Anna Lindh went further. She urged Djukanovic to enter talks with Belgrade "and not continue hastening toward a divisive referendum on independence," dpa reported from Brussels. PM[13] KOSOVAR MAYOR KILLEDUnknown persons fatally shot Ismet Raci in Klina on 24 April, Reuters reported. The mayor was a member of Ibrahim Rugova's moderate Democratic League of Kosova. This is the latest in a series of possibly politically motivated killings in Kosova in recent months (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 27 November 2000). PM[14] CRIMINAL MOTIVE IN KOSOVA BOMBING?The man arrested by international police in Prishtina in connection with a recent bombing outside Serbian offices is the owner of a private security service. The unnamed man is a German citizen with a Russian name and an Albanian wife, the "Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung" reported on 24 April (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 20 and 23 April 2001). Police said they are sure that he planted the device because his fingerprints were found at the site. The experience of Bosnia suggests that what appears to be ethnically motivated violence at first sight is often revealed later to be criminal activity. PM[15] TITO-ERA KOSOVAR LEADER DIESFadil Hoxha died in Prishtina on 22 April at the age of 85, RFE/RL's South Slavic Service reported. He was one of the leading Kosovar politicians in the Tito era and was a loyal follower of the League of Communists. Hoxha retired from politics in the mid-1980s after the ethnic Albanian nationalist riots of 1981, which he opposed. PM[16] SERBIA TO CUT LENGTH OF ARMY SERVICEThe Yugoslav Defense Ministry has prepared a plan to cut the length of mandatory military service from 12 to 10 months, RFE/RL's South Slavic Service reported on 24 April. Those who opt for civilian service in place of the army will serve for 20 instead of for 24 months. Since the fall of the regime of President Slobodan Milosevic in October, popular pressure for a cut in the length of military service has been on the rise (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 27 March 2001 and "RFE/RL Balkan Report," 9 February 2001). PM[17] SERBIAN CHETNIK LOSES HIS HEADUnknown persons vandalized a monument to World War II royalist Chetnik leader Draza Mihailovic near Brcko, "Oslobodjenje" reported on 24 April. The general's head broke off when the statue fell to the ground. Police are investigating. Members of the Ravnogora Chetnik Movement said that the attack on the statue was aimed at jeopardizing Serbian interests in the ethnically mixed area. PM[18] MACEDONIAN DEFENSE MINISTER UNDER PRESSURE TO RESIGNPressure is building on Defense Minister Ljuben Paunovski to resign in the wake of a corruption scandal, the Skopje daily "Dnevnik" reported on 24 April. Macedonian media recently reported that the Defense Ministry has awarded contracts to some companies run by Paunovski's close relatives. Paunovski has denied any knowledge of the contracts. On 23 April, the governing Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (VMRO-DPMNE), of which Paunovski is a member, set up a commission to look into the affair. "I will only resign after it has been revealed [by the commission] [that] my family is involved in the scandal," Paunovski said. UB[19] MACEDONIAN PRESIDENT: CENSUS TO BE POSTPONED?President Boris Trajkovski said on 23 April after the fifth round of all- party talks that the party leaders had agreed on some issues for the first time, MAKFAX reported. In connection with the population census slated for 15 to 30 May, Trajkovski said that his office will propose holding it at some point before the end of October instead (see also "RFE/RL Newsline," 19 April 2001 and "RFE/RL Balkan Report," 20 April 2001). In the meantime, the government will encourage displaced persons to return to homes they left during recent clashes between Albanian fighters and Macedonian armed forces. The government will also help with the reconstruction of houses destroyed during the fighting, Trajkovski said. UB[20] CROATIAN BILINGUALISM ON ICEThe Justice Ministry has decided to temporarily suspend the Istrian county assembly's decision to reintroduce Italian along with Croatian as official languages in the region, AP reported on 23 April (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 10 April 2001). "We are not trying to reduce minority rights, but we must establish whether this decision [to reintroduce Italian] contradicts the constitution," Justice Minister Stjepan Ivanisevic said. Prime Minister Ivica Racan stressed that a "rash decision could open up a dangerous Pandora's box on the issue in other districts across the country." He added that Istria cannot enjoy a legal status different from the rest of the country, "Novi List" reported. Critics have charged that the Istrian assembly's decision is aimed at winning votes in upcoming elections. The constitution states that the official language of Croatia is Croatian. At the end of World War II, many Italian civilians fled Istria and Dalmatia or were expelled. Today the Italian minorities in Slovenia and Croatia are small, but many Slovenes and Croats suspect some Italian politicians of harboring claims on Istria and Dalmatia. PM[21] ISTRIA TO APPEAL DECISION ON BILINGUALISMIvan Jakovcic, who heads the Istrian Democratic League (IDS), said in Pula on 23 April that Ivanisevic's decision is aimed at hurting the IDS. Jakovcic said that the Istrian authorities will not attempt to convince the ministry to reverse its decision but will rather challenge the ruling in the Constitutional Court, RFE/RL's South Slavic Service reported. PM[22] CROATIAN VETERANS PROTEST EXHUMATIONSFewer than 200 veterans of the 1991-1995 war for independence demonstrated in Knin on 23 April to protest the government's decision to allow forensics experts from The Hague-based war crimes tribunal to excavate a mass grave of mainly elderly Serbs in the area (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 18 April). The turnout for the demonstration was smaller than expected, "Republika" reported. The government considers the protests to be politically motivated and wants the investigations to go ahead. Several marches organized by veterans organizations opposed to the government have failed to draw much public support in recent weeks. PM[23] SLOVENIAN MINERS TRAPPEDAn accident in a coal mine at Hrastnik east of Ljubljana has left at least five miners trapped by mud and water, AP reported on 24 April. The old mine is near the Sava River. PM[24] ROMANIAN PREMIER CLARIFIES RELATIONS WITH OTHER PARTIES...Prime Minister Adrian Nastase said on 23 April that some of his party colleagues in the Party of Social Democracy in Romania (PDSR) are "worried" that the PDSR will be forced to make "too many concessions" to the Hungarian Democratic Federation of Romania (UDMR) in order to ensure the survival in power of its minority government. Nastase said that "in our relations with the UDMR, we shall accept only what is reasonable and what is in line with the national interest." He added that if the PDSR loses the parliamentary support of the UDMR, it will opt for early elections rather than depend on the support in the legislature of the Greater Romania Party (PRM). UDMR Chairman Bela Marko said in reaction that as long as the PDSR respects the agreement signed with his formation, it can continue counting on UDMR's parliamentary support, RFE/RL's Bucharest bureau reported. MS[25] ...IS EQUIVOCAL ON HUNGARIAN 'STATUS BILL'...Premier Nastase also said that the "Status Bill' currently under debate in the Hungarian parliament poses the danger of indirectly prompting discrimination in Romania itself. By introducing a "positive discrimination" toward Romanian citizens of Hungarian ethnic origins, he said, the bill creates "negative discrimination" of those Romanian citizens who cannot benefit from its provisions. He also warned that "we may one day wake up to a situation where we would have 7 million Hungarians in the country," just because "some would not resist the temptation of riding freely on the Budapest metro" and would suddenly "discover" that they are Hungarians. Romania's current Hungarian minority is officially estimated at 1.6 million. The premier said, however, that Romania is interested in the position of the EU toward the bill, because "this could create an interesting precedent on Romanian minorities abroad." MS[26] ...ANNOUNCES LIKELY SUCCESSOR TO PRIBOINastase also said the PDSR will propose that Senator Constantin Nicolescu succeed Ristea Priboi as head of the parliamentary commission supervising the activities of the Foreign Intelligence Service. He said Nicolescu "has thus far not informed the party leadership whether he belonged or not to the [communist] secret services," RFE/RL's Bucharest bureau reported. Priboi last week resigned from his position after allegations were made that as a high Securitate official he directed actions against RFE/RL and its employees in Munich. Also on 23 April, the parliamentary commission overseeing the activities of the Romanian Intelligence Service (SRI) announced it will start investigating this week allegations that SRI Director Radu Timofte was a KGB agent. Timofte requested that the commission clear him of the suspicion, first aired by former deputy George Serban last year. Among those to be questioned are former Securitate chief General Iulian Vlad and former SRI Director Virgil Magureanu. MS[27] ROMANIAN INTELLIGENCE SERVICE DENIES PRM ALLEGATIONSThe SRI on 23 April denied it had supplied to PRM leader Corneliu Vadim Tudor the list of politicians who allegedly withdrew their deposits in the National Investment Fund prior to the fund's collapse (see "RFE/RL's Newsline," 23 April 2001). The SRI said the case of the collapsed fund was investigated by "other institutions" and that the list published by Tudor in his weekly "Romania mare" is a compilation of allegations that were previously printed by other publications. It said it "will not express an opinion" on the sources of information used by the authors of such media reports. MS[28] RESITA PROTESTERS DENIED PERMISSION TO DEMONSTRATE IN BUCHARESTThe Bucharest mayoralty on 24 April denied permission to protesters from the Resita CSR steel-production plant to demonstrate in the capital from 25 to 27 April, saying the planned demonstration would produce traffic jams. The Resita workers resumed their protests last week (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 3, 4, and 5 April 2001). The U.S.-based Noble Ventures company, which owns the plant, on 23 April said it would be able to resume production and pay wage arrears after solving differences with companies that owe it money. MS[29] BULGARIAN COURT REFUSES REGISTRATION OF FORMER KING'S MOVEMENT...The Sofia City Court refused to register the National Movement Simeon II as a political party on 23 April, BTA and international agencies reported. The court said the registration request failed to meet nine criteria specified in current legislation for establishing a new political formation. The decision can be appealed within one week but Teodor Bozhinov, one of the lawyers representing the movement, declined to say whether former King Simeon II would do so. Even if an appeal is launched, it is still questionable whether the movement would meet the 2 May deadline for having the registration accepted by the Central Electoral Commission. On similar grounds, the court also refused to register the Conservative Union, recently established by dissenters from the ruling Union of Democratic Forces (SDS), which had expressed support for Simeon II. MS[30] ...PROMPTING COMMENTS FROM PREMIER...Prime Minister Ivan Kostov, currently on a visit to the U.S. (see below), said the decision of the court is "not political" and that "anything is still possible" because "Bulgaria is a free country." In an interview with Reuters, Kostov said in an apparent allusion to the former monarch that "using people who harbor one illusion or another is bordering on political dishonesty and populism." Four years ago, he said, President Petar Stoyanov called for "closing down the illusion factory" and now, "in the run-up to the elections, a lot of people reopened their illusion workshop." Kostov said that if Simeon II "has any good ideas or good suggestions for nominations, we invite him to forward them to us, so that we might include those candidates on our ticket" for the June elections. Asked why the SDS's poll ratings are low, Kostov said that his government has implemented "harsh, radical reforms" and "we paid a high price" for them. MS[31] ...WHO IS BUSY CAMPAIGNING -- IN U.S.Premier Kostov held talks at the White House on 23 April with Vice President Dick Cheney, and President George W. Bush briefly "dropped by" at the meeting, a White House official told an RFE/RL correspondent in Washington. Kostov reassured the U.S. of his country's commitment to political and economic reforms. In his interview with Reuters, Kostov admitted the U.S. visit was prompted by the need "to get support in the run- up to the elections." He said that "in American terms, we are conservative Republicans" and that "we are doing our utmost to propagate the values of Christian Democracy in southeastern Europe." The premier added that "we did a lot for the democratic opposition in Serbia to come to office, so in that sense we [also] are 'compassionate conservatives.'" MS[32] BULGARIAN MEDIA PROTEST AGAINST GOVERNMENTAL PRESSUREPublishers of Bulgaria's most circulated papers on 23 April accused the government of increasing interference with the freedom of the press ahead of the general elections, Reuters reported. A declaration issued by the Union of Bulgarian Newspaper Publishers and printed in 13 newspapers said the signatories "express our grave concern and categorically denounce increasing instances in which levers of powers are used to exert pressure on daily newspapers and interfere with the editorial policy of many publications." They pledged not to "yield to manipulation, pressure, and threats, regardless of where they come from and from whom." MS[C] END NOTE[33] A RELIGIOUS FLOWERING IN RUSSIABy Paul GobleA newly published study shows that there has been remarkable growth in the number and diversity of religious organizations in Russia over the last decade. In the most recent issue of the "Religions" supplement to "Nezavisimaya gazeta," researcher Mikhail Tulsky reports that the number of congregations in Russia has grown from 5,000 in 1990 to more than 20,000 today and that many denominations that were never present in the country before now have a foothold there. But perhaps the most intriguing finding of Tulsky's study is that the government's requirement that Russian religious groups re-register with the state has not been as discriminatory as many critics have claimed. According to Tulsky, who had access to Justice Ministry files both for the country as a whole and for the city of Moscow in particular, there are now 10,913 Russian Orthodox congregations registered in Russia. In addition, there are 3,048 Muslim groups, 197 Jewish organizations, and 193 Buddhist temples registered with the state, all significantly more than 10 years ago. Tulsky says there has been an explosion in the number of Protestant groups. There are now 2,910 Evangelical groups, 330 Jehovah's Witness branches, 213 Presbyterian congregations, and 476 other Protestant communities. And there are now 106 Hare Krishna groups registered, along with 20 Bahai communities, 17 Unification Church congregations, and 41 pagan groups. The last, Tulsky says, has shown particularly rapid growth, up by almost six times over the last five years alone. In short, Tulsky says, Russia has never before been this religiously diverse in its officially registered faiths. But most attention up to now has been directed precisely at those religious groups that either have not sought registration or have been denied it. According to Russian Justice Ministry files, some 3,000 congregations that existed in the past have not sought the required re- registration. Most of these appear simply to have ceased to exist as corporate bodies, Tulsky reports. But another 1,500 congregations have applied for, but failed to get, registration. It is these groups that have attracted the most attention from human rights activists. Many of the religious groups denied registration have said that they are the victims of official discrimination, a claim that seems to be true in a number of cases. But some groups appear to have been victimized either by their own failure to meet registration requirements or by simple bureaucratic incompetence. According to figures about the city of Moscow cited by Tulsky, 90 percent of the groups "denied" re-registration in fact failed to present the necessary documentation. Perhaps the outstanding example of the difficulties that can be encountered in the registration process is a decision, later reversed by Russian courts, not to register the Salvation Army as a religious group in Moscow because of what some officials said were its "obvious militarist links." Moreover, Tulsky notes, the rate of registrations is roughly similar across most of the major faiths -- 65 to 75 percent of Orthodox groups, 78 percent of Protestants, 80 percent of Jewish groups, and 65 percent of Buddhist temples -- a pattern that challenges claims of systematic discrimination in the registration process overall. But Tulsky's findings and arguments do not address what may be the most fundamental issues concerning registration: Why should groups have to register with the state at all? And why should those that do not register be denied the right to function legally? In most countries, governments require pro forma registration of religious and other nongovernmental groups for tax purposes if nothing else. But they generally do not preclude religious groups from functioning if they do not register with the state. Russian legislation, unlike that in most other countries, denies religious congregations that have failed to register the rights to open bank accounts, rent property, and even prepare literature for their members and those they seek to convert. Nonetheless, the registration process -- even if it discriminates against religion as such -- has not been as discriminatory to specific groups as many have assumed. And Tulsky's study makes yet another contribution by highlighting just how diverse Russia is now in religious terms. 24-04-01 Reprinted with permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
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