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RFE/RL Newsline, Vol. 5, No. 184, 01-09-27Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty: Newsline Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty <http://www.rferl.org>RFE/RL NEWSLINEVol. 5, No. 184, 27 September 2001CONTENTS[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA
[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[C] END NOTE
[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA[01] ARMENIA MAY BE WILLING TO ALLOW U.S. PLANES TO USE ITS AIRSPACEPrime Minister Andranik Markarian said early on 26 September that Yerevan has not yet received an official request from the United States for military aircraft to overfly Armenia's territory, but a spokeswoman for President Robert Kocharian told RFE/RL's Armenian Service later the same day that the U.S. has asked and been given a positive answer. PG[02] ARMENIAN PRESIDENT'S BODYGUARDS INVESTIGATED FOR MURDERKocharian on 26 September suspended several of his bodyguards after they were alleged to have beaten to death the night before a Georgian citizen of Armenian origin, RFE/RL's Armenian Service reported. PG[03] ARMENIA NOW SHIPPING TO RUSSIA VIA IRANNoyan Tapan reported on 26 September that Armenia is now shipping cargo to Russia via Iran rather than Georgia, because the cost of such shipments are 50 percent less. Armenian cargo carrier officials said that they hope this competition will force Georgia to cut its rates. PG[04] EDITOR WARNED OVER ARTICLE SAYING MOSCOW BEHIND UNREST IN AZERBAIJAN'S NORTHElchin Shikhlinskii, the editor of Baku's "Zerkalo" newspaper, and one of his correspondents on 26 September were summoned to the Prosecuto-General's Office and given a warning for publishing an article suggesting Russia had played a role in terrorist actions in Zagatala in northern Azerbaijan, Turan reported. Prosecutors told them that there is no truth to their story and that it "can be harmful" for relations between Baku and Moscow. PG[05] FORMER AZERBAIJANI AMBASSADOR SAYS BAKU MUST USE FORCE IN KARABAKHTamerlan Garaev, the former Azerbaijani ambassador to China, said on 26 September that Baku must employ force to retake Nagorno-Karabakh from Armenia, Turan reported. Garaev said he cannot understand Baku's concessions up to this point: "A country that had its territories occupied, " Garaev said, "cannot make any concessions." PG[06] SOME AZERBAIJAN RELIGIOUS GROUPS MAY HAVE TROUBLE WITH REREGISTRATIONThe Sharg news agency on 26 September reported that the State Committee for Work with Religious Organizations plans to complete the reregistration of religious groups by the end of 2001, and that some groups that engage in missionary activities, such as the Seventh Day Adventists and Jehovah's Witnesses, may have difficulty with this process. PG[07] AZERBAIJAN SETS UP FUND TO STIMULATE EXPORTSEconomic Development Minister Farhad Aliev told the MPA news agency on 26 September that the Azerbaijani government is setting up a public fund to promote exports, with the government providing it with structure and support and the private sector providing the funding. PG[08] AZERBAIJAN, GEORGIA REACH ACCORD ON OIL TARIFFSAzerbaijani and Georgian negotiators on 26 September reached an agreement concerning the transit fees Tbilisi will receive from Baku for allowing Azerbaijani oil to flow through a Georgian pipeline, Turan reported. The final agreement will be signed in the near future, the agency said. PG[09] SHEVARDNADZE SAYS GEORGIA WANTS COOPERATION WITH RUSSIAPresident Eduard Shevardnadze said on 26 September that his country wants good cooperation with Russia, that he is dispatching a Georgian delegation to try to smooth over current conflicts, and that he himself is prepared to meet with Russian President Putin to discuss antiterrorist efforts, Caucasus Press reported. At the same time, Shevardnadze rejected Russian charges that Chechen militants are using Georgia as a sanctuary. He said that some wounded militants might have been on Georgian territory at one point, but he said he would welcome international inspections to prove that there is no sanctuary now. Meanwhile, in Moscow the same day, the Russian Duma refused to consider a resolution offered by deputy (Communist) Anatolii Chekhoev criticizing Georgia, Interfax reported. PG[10] GEORGIA WILL NOT PROTEST ARMENIAN CHARGESThe Georgian Foreign Ministry told Caucasus Press on 26 September that it will not officially protest Armenian charges at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe that ethnic Armenians are mistreated in Georgia, Caucasus Press reported. Georgian officials said that the charges reflect either ignorance or a desire to be provocative. PG[11] CENTRAL ASIAN STATES PREPARE FOR REFUGEES, DRUGS FROM AFGHANISTANThe five countries in Central Asia on 26 September in various ways prepared to meet what officials said is the likely influx of 300,000-350,000 refugees from Afghanistan in the event of an American attack, various agencies reported. Some of the states increased domestic security, others tightened or even closed borders, and some engaged in telephone communications. Meanwhile, UN experts said on 26 September that the escalation of tensions in Afghanistan almost certainly will lead to a growth in the trade of illegal drugs across Central Asia, Interfax- Kazakhstan reported. PG[12] KAZAKH PRESIDENT PLEDGES TO SUPPORT U.S. CAMPAIGNPresident Nursultan Nazarbaev on 26 September told his U.S. counterpart George W. Bush that Kazakhstan will support the counterterrorism campaign with "all available means," dpa reported. But at the same time, Interfax reported, Nazarbaev told Bush that it is important that the fight against terrorism not turn into a clash of civilizations. PG[13] NAZARBAEV RECEIVES UKRAINE'S KUCHMAPresident Nazarbaev met with his visiting Ukrainian counterpart Leonid Kuchma in Astana on 26 September, ITAR-TASS reported. The two agreed to help with the counterterrorism effort, but Kuchma said that "we will not move into Afghanistan for the second time" -- a reference to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979. Kuchma also said at the meeting that he sees a great economic and political future for the Commonwealth of Independent States, Interfax-Ukraine reported. Meanwhile, Kazakhstan and Ukraine joined with Russia in forming a joint company for the production and use of nuclear energy, Interfax-Kazakhstan reported on 26 September. PG[14] KYRGYZSTAN BACKS U.S., CRITICIZES KAZAKHSTANKyrgyz Deputy Foreign Minister Asanbek Osmonaliev said on 26 September that the U.S. has the right to attack terrorist bases in Afghanistan and that Bishkek supports this effort, RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service reported. At the same time, he sharply criticized Kazakhstan for deporting more than 150 Kyrgyz from that country after they broke residency rules. PG[15] KYRGYZ BIRTHS UP FOR FIRST TIME IN 10 YEARSKyrgyzstan's Health Ministry announced on 25 September that the number of births increased thus far in 2001 by 1,000 over the same period in 2000, the first such increase in the last decade, Kabar news agency reported. PG[16] TAJIK OFFICIALS SAY THEY CONTROL DUSHANBE AIRPORTTajik Security Council Secretary Amirqul Azimov said on 26 September that the airport at Dushanbe is under Tajikistan's jurisdiction and not under joint Tajik-Russian control as some Moscow officials said earlier, Asia- Plus news agency reported. PG[17] UZBEKISTAN'S PRESIDENT SAYS RUSSIANS DON'T LIKE TASHKENT'S INDEPENDENT LINEIslam Karimov said on 26 September that Russians "do not like the fact that Uzbekistan is carrying out its own independent policy with regard to [U.S. use of its facilities in the counterterrorism effort]. But let me say once again that when the Soviet army invaded Afghanistan in 1979, starting a big war, no one asked for our approval," Uzbek Radio reported. At the same time, Karimov said that he is "absolutely against" any involvement in any conflict with the Taliban. PG[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE[18] NATO, MACEDONIA REACH AGREEMENT ON NEW MISSIONRepresentatives of the Atlantic alliance and the Macedonian government have reached an agreement on the composition and duration of Operation Amber Fox, which is NATO's new mission to guard unarmed OSCE and EU monitors, RFE/RL's South Slavic Service reported from Skopje on 27 September (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 26 September 2001). Some 1,000 soldiers will guard 125 monitors for a period of three months, which can then be extended if both parties agree. NATO had wanted a longer mandate, while Skopje had hoped for fewer troops. Dpa reported that 700 soldiers will be based in Macedonia, with 300 in reserve in Kosova. NATO defense ministers approved the mission in Brussels on 26 September. Secretary-General Lord George Robertson said: "Operation Amber Fox, with Task Force Fox, offers the deployment of a mission with a very specific mandate: To contribute to the protection of the international monitors who will oversee the implementation of the peace plan in Macedonia." PM[19] OPERATION ESSENTIAL HARVEST ENDS IN MACEDONIAOperation Essential Harvest ended on 26 September after 3,875 weapons had been collected, AP reported. The guerrillas of the ethnic Albanian National Liberation Army (UCK) handed in several hundred more weapons than they had promised (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 25 September 2001) PM[20] MACEDONIAN POLITICIANS SEEK 'MOTIVATION' TO KEEP BARGAINStevo Penderovski, an adviser to President Boris Trajkovski, told Reuters in Skopje on 26 September that "the real problem is that the parliament needs motivation to pass the reforms, to prove to the Macedonian people that the peace agreement is an important step in the right direction." He added that Macedonian security forces should be allowed to return to unspecified "low- and medium-risk areas" ahead of schedule to provide the necessary "motivation." Representatives of the international community, as well as of the ethnic Albanians, have called on Macedonian politicians to stop stalling and enact the promised reforms and amnesty for guerrilla fighters (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 25 September 2001). Macedonia faces parliamentary elections in January 2002, and many politicians are afraid of appearing insufficiently "patriotic" in voters' eyes if they support the peace deal (see "RFE/RL Balkan Report," 25 September 2001). PM[21] DEMACI TO HEAD KOSOVA MEDIA BOARDVeteran political dissident and human rights campaigner Adem Demaci is to head the Administrative Board of Radio-Television Kosova, RFE/RL's South Slavic Service reported from Prishtina on 26 September. PM[22] SERBIAN MINISTER WARY ON KOSOVA VOTESerbian Deputy Prime Minister Nebojsa Covic said in Bujanovac on 26 September that the Serbian government feels that the Serbian minority in Kosova will not take part in the 17 November general elections "under the present circumstances," RFE/RL's South Slavic Service reported (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 25 September 2001). PM[23] VOJVODINA LEADER CALLS ON YUGOSLAV GOVERNMENT TO ACTNenad Canak, the leader of the autonomy-oriented political forces in Vojvodina, and Serbian Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic agreed in Novi Sad on 26 September on price supports and subsidies for farmers of sunflowers and other industrial crops, RFE/RL's South Slavic Service reported (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 18 September 2001). Canak called on the federal government to make good on what he called its promises to farmers, adding that federal government is not "the private government of [President] Vojislav Kostunica and his Montenegrin admirers." PM[24] MUDSLINGING CONTINUES IN SERBIAN-MONTENEGRIN RELATIONSMontenegro's governing Democratic Socialist Party (DPS) accused Kostunica of behaving like "an absolute monarch," RFE/RL's South Slavic Service reported from Podgorica on 26 September (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 26 September 2001). The DPS charged that Kostunica's "unilateral" decision to end Podgorica-Belgrade political talks reflects his "cheap partisan ambitions" and will help "destabilize" the situation. Predrag Bulatovic, who heads the pro-Belgrade Socialist People's Party (SNP), told RFE/RL that Montenegrin President Milo Djukanovic bears responsibility for the current political imbroglio. Bulatovic said it would be a shame if talks did not continue. He added that the next move lies with Djukanovic and Kostunica, "Vijesti" reported on 27 September. "Pobjeda" quoted DPS leader Miodrag Radunovic as saying that Kostunica is willing to sacrifice political dialogue in order to save the political skin of federal Prime Minister Dragisa Pesic. PM[25] CROATIA CHARGES FOUR WITH WAR CRIMESThe state prosecutor in Bjelovar has formally charged four ex-policemen with killing six Serbian prisoners of war and trying to kill a Serbian civilian during 1991, Hina reported on 26 September. The four have been in police custody since their arrest in August (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 29 August 2001). PM[26] ROMANIAN PREMIER SAYS GOVERNMENT HAS 'NO INFORMATION' ON BIN LADEN ACCOUNTSPrime Minister Adrian Nastase on 26 September told a forum of Romanian businessmen that his cabinet has "no information" on bank accounts of terrorist Osama bin Laden having been discovered and frozen in Romania, RFE/RL's Romanian-Moldovan Service reported. Nastase said Romania is implementing the UN Security Council resolution on the situation in Afghanistan and thus has "rallied to the principal position adopted by all states that fight terrorism." He added that any bank account traced to terrorists will be immediately blocked. Government adviser Adrian Vasilescu said Romanian banks have begun investigating accounts for any possible links to bin Laden. MS[27] U.S. AMBASSADOR PRAISES ROMANIA'S ANTITERRORIST STANCEIn his first press conference as U.S. ambassador to Romania, Michael Guest on 26 September said Romania's offer to assist in the struggle against terrorism has been well received in Washington, RFE/RL's Bucharest bureau reported. Guest said Romania shares NATO's values and firmly opposes terrorism, which he said attacked "not only U.S. symbols, but to even a larger extent [Western] daily life and civilized existence." MS[28] ROMANIAN FOREIGN MINISTER MEETS EU COMMISSIONERForeign Minister Mircea Geoana on 26 September discussed in Brussels with Guenter Verheugen, the EU's commissioner for enlargement, collaboration in the struggle against terrorism and Romania's accession negotiations with the EU, Romanian radio reported. Verheugen reiterated the backing by the European Commission for lifting visa requirements for Romanian citizens, but added that a decision on the matter will be made by December. He said a meeting scheduled for 27 September of the EU's interior and justice ministers will not make a decision on lifting the requirement. MS[29] HUNGARIAN LEADERS IN ROMANIA COMPLAIN ABOUT PREMIER'S STATEMENTSHungarian Democratic Federation of Romania (UDMR) Chairman Bela Marko on 26 September told journalists that Premier Nastase's recent statements on the "indoctrination" of Transylvanian Hungarians by the Hungarian-language media in Romania and on the unacceptability of using textbooks produced abroad for teaching history and geography (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 24 September 2001) has "disturbed Magyar civil society" in the country and the UDMR itself. Marko said the UDMR leadership wishes to clarify the issue in a meeting with Nastase "as soon as possible" because "any measure that may result in restricting the rights of the Hungarian minority amounts to an infringement of the agreement between the UDMR and the [ruling] Social Democratic Party," Mediafax reported. MS[30] IMF REPORT SAYS ROMANIAN ECONOMIC GROWTH TOO DEPENDENT ON DOMESTIC DEMANDIn its chapter on Romania, the annual report released by the IMF this week says that the hesitant policies on reform during the last years resulted in economic growth being too dependent on domestic demand and that this phenomenon has been accompanied by a growth in the current deficit account. The IMF said economic reform must be relaunched through the acceleration of privatization and the improvement of government performance. It recommends more restrictive fiscal policies and consolidating the financial performance of state-owned companies. The fund predicts an annual growth rate of 4.1 percent for 2001, and 4.5 percent for 2002. Inflation in 2001 is predicted to be 33.8 percent, and 26 percent next year, while projections for the deficit are 6 percent of the GDP for 2001 and 5.5 percent for 2002. MS[31] ROMANIAN COURT RELEASES CZECH ENTREPRENEURThe Supreme Court on 26 September ruled that Czech entrepreneur Frantisek Priplata should be released from detention, CTK and Mediafax reported. Priplata is suspected of complicity in the murder of Iasi trade union leader Virgil Sahleanu in September 2000. Priplata cannot leave Romania as long as the investigation is continuing. A lower court in Oradea ruled last month that Priplata should be released, but the Prosecutor-General's Office appealed that decision. MS[32] MOLDOVAN FOREIGN MINISTRY CALLS FOR MINIMIZING 'COLLATERAL DAMAGE' IN ANTITERRORIST ACTIONThe Foreign Ministry on 26 September issued a statement "firmly condemning the unprecedented terrorist attacks" on the U.S. on 11 September, calling them, "barbarous, absurd, and unjustifiable under any circumstance," RFE/RL's Chisinau bureau reported. The ministry said Moldova "associates itself to the U.S. efforts...to counteract terrorism by all available means." At the same time, the statement said counteractions must be "carefully prepared and balanced" and targets must be "established with precision, in order to avoid collateral effects that could greatly harm innocent civilians." MS[33] U.S. CONGRESS TO DEBATE MOLDOVAN SITUATIONThe U.S. Congress was to debate on 27 September the situation in Moldova, after the Senate's OSCE Commission on 24 September held hearings on the situation in that country, Flux reported. According to Infotag, the debates on the commission were held with the participation of Moldovan Ambassador Ceslav Ciobanu, OSCE Parliamentary Assembly rapporteur for Moldova Kimmo Kiljunen, the OSCE's mission head to Moldova William Hill, and Moldova expert Professor Charles King. Participants expressed the hope that Russia will pull out its troops from the Transdniester by end of 2002. Professor King said that the withdrawal is a necessary but not a sufficient condition for ending the Transdniester conflict because the separatists have in the past 10 years managed to "build a state of their own, although internationally unrecognized." Participants agreed that "considerable success" has been achieved on the democratization process, that the parliamentary elections won by the Communists were free and fair, and that President Vladimir Voronin is a pragmatic politician. MS[34] PREMIER SAYS MOLDOVA WILL NOT 'BLINDLY IMPLEMENT' COURT DECISION ON BESSARABIAN CHURCHPrime Minister Vasile Tarlev on 26 September said his cabinet will not "blindly implement" the decision of the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg on the Bessarabian Metropolitan Church because "Moldova is an independent country and must pursue its own national interests," Flux reported. He added that if the court were to agree to his cabinet's request to postpone the examination of the case, a "patriotic and humane" solution would be eventually found. But the same day, the cabinet approved a decision stipulating that the Moldovan Metropolitan Church is "the rightful successor" of the Metropolitan Church of Bessarabia and Hotin, which existed between 1918 and 1940. The Moldovan Metropolitan Church is now under the jurisdiction of the Moscow Patriarchate, while the Bessarabian Metropolitan Church, which the government refuses to recognize, is under the jurisdiction of the Bucharest Patriarchate. MS[35] POLL SHOWS BULGARIAN PREMIER HIGHLY POPULARA public opinion poll conducted by the national Public Opinion Research Center shows Prime Minister Simeon Saxecoburggotski leading the field of popular politicians, with an approval rating of 70 percent, BTA reported. He is followed by President Petar Stoyanov with 68 percent and Sofia Mayor Stefan Sofiyanski with 67 percent. Fifty-three percent said they would be ready to support Stoyanov's presidential bid if the National Movement Simeon II (NDSV) backs his candidacy for a second term, but the poll shows that if the NDSV does not do so and names its own candidate, only 33 percent are ready to vote for Stoyanov. MS[36] FORMER BULGARIAN FOREIGN MINISTER URGES PUBLIC DEBATE ON RISKS OF FIGHTING TERRORISMFormer Foreign Minister Nadezhda Mihailova, who now leads the opposition Union of Democratic Forces, on 26 September said she approves of the government's decision to allow overflights of U.S. aircraft but Bulgaria must also start a public debate and "consider all the risks involved in the fight against terrorism," BTA reported. Mihailova said that Bulgaria "cannot afford to leave the public not fully informed of all the considerations that drive the government of Simeon Saxecoburggotski to make one decision or another." The parliament, she added, needs to take adequate legislative measures to update Bulgaria's position on fighting terrorism, in view of "the new global challenges" that terrorism poses. MS[37] PRIVATE BULGARIAN TV TO LAY OFF STAFFGeorgios Douvletis, the executive director of the private Nova TV, on 26 September told journalists that the station will lay off 20 percent of its staff, BTA reported. The measure follows the revocation of Greek-owned Nova TV 's nationwide license by the Supreme Administrative court last July. The court overruled a decision of the former cabinet headed by Ivan Kostov to award Nova TV a nationwide broadcasting network for 15 years. Lawyers for Nova TV working on the case said they are considering appealing the decision to an international court. MS[C] END NOTE[38] LEFT ALLIANCE TAKES OVER IN POLANDBy Jan MaksymiukPoland's State Election Commission announced on 26 September that the leftist coalition of the Democratic Left Alliance with the Labor Union (SLD- UP) won 41.04 percent of the vote, or 216 out of the 460 parliamentary seats, in the 23 September general elections. The centrist Civic Platform (PO), which finished second, obtained 12.68 percent of the vote, which translated into 63 parliamentary mandates. The SLD-UP also trounced rivals in the election to the 100-strong Senate, winning 75 seats. The parliamentary election results of other parties were as follows: the radical farmers' union Self-Defense won 53 seats; the Law and Justice (PiS) 44 seats; the Peasant Party (PSL) 42 seats, and the extreme right, ultra- Catholic League of Polish Families (LPR) 38 seats. The Solidarity Electoral Action of the Right (AWSP) and the Freedom Union (UW) -- both groups deeply rooted in the Solidarity movement of the 1980s -- were ousted from the parliament. The SLD-UP bloc has fallen 15 seats short of an outright majority, and this shortage seems to be fraught with grave consequences for an expected SLD-dominated government in particular and Poland's further course in general. Political analysts and commentators in Poland agree that the SLD- UP bloc is now facing only two realistic options -- either to run a minority government or forge a ruling coalition with the Peasant Party. The latter option would repeat the situation from 1993-1997, when the SLD ruled in an uneasy alliance with the PSL. SLD leader Leszek Miller has repeatedly voiced his reluctance to enter any postelection coalitions to form a cabinet, arguing that none of the forces competing in the election had a program compatible with that of the SLD. Immediately after the closure of polling stations on 23 September, when exit polls predicted that the SLD-UP would either have a slim majority or lack only few seats to a majority, President Aleksander Kwasniewski suggested that the SLD-UP could run a minority government rather than enter a coalition resting on "false foundations." Now, when the SLD-UP is 15 mandates shy of a majority, the situation appears to be much more difficult. A potential coalition with the PSL would spell many troubles for Miller in EU membership talks, especially about Poland's huge and inefficient agricultural sector. Warsaw must take tough and unpopular measures in order to upgrade its agricultural policies to EU standards, and this is exactly what the Euro-skeptic PSL firmly opposes. The PSL is well aware than any concessions toward liberalizing agricultural policies will only reduce the party's support among its countryside electorate and boost backing for the populist Self-Defense, which already outpaced the PSL in the number of parliamentary mandates. Thus, Miller -- who, according to Polish commentators, is keenly interested in leading Poland into the EU during his premiership -- has good reason to avoid a ruling bloc with the PSL. The other option -- an SLD-UP minority government with the tacit support of the pro-European, liberal Civic Platform -- has obvious drawbacks, too. The PO -- led by a triumvirate of Andrzej Olechowski, Maciej Plazynski, and Donald Tusk -- has ruled out a coalition with the left, but hinted that it might endorse the SLD-UP on such critical issues as dealing with the budget crisis or securing Poland's EU membership. But apart from these key matters, there will be a host of other issues, and the SLD-UP would likely be forced to muster political support in the parliament every time it attempted to pass a bill. Moreover, a tacit alliance of the SLD-UP with the PO would almost certainly lump together the four remaining parliamentary groups and make a vociferous, anti-EU opposition out of them. The militant farmers' Self-Defense cannot be regarded as a serious government partner. Apart from Self-Defense firebrand leader Andrzej Lepper, who became notorious for organizing road blockades and violent protests against Poland's pro-European policies, none of Self-Defense's 53 newly made lawmakers is known to the Polish public. The same, although to a somewhat lesser extent, can be said of the 38 lawmakers from the League of Polish Families, a group that emerged this year from nowhere and was pushed into the parliament by the Radio Maryja run by Father Tadeusz Rydzyk, a man dubbed "the most influential religious fundamentalist in Europe" in Polish media. Like Self-Defense, the LPR fiercely opposes Poland's EU membership. The LPR's program is hardly known to the wider public, perhaps apart from the proposal that Poland should join NAFTA rather than the EU's common market. PiS -- another political group formed this year -- is what can be termed as vestiges of the former Solidarity camp in the parliament. The PiS was built by former Justice Minister Lech Kaczynski and his twin brother Jaroslaw around their campaign for a crackdown on crime and return of the death penalty. The PiS includes a number of former activists of the Solidarity Electoral Action. Chances are that the PiS, in contrast to the populist Self-Defense and LPR, may constitute a somewhat less noisy parliamentary opposition to the SLD-UP. Even if the preconditions for a future cabinet are not auspicious, most commentators tend to believe that Poland's monolithic, self-disciplined left will be able to forge a stable government. The landslide victory of the post-communist SLD-UP has not provoked any panic in Europe. Miller's SLD has long ago ceased to be perceived as a party seeking revenge on its right-wing rivals or a sort of communist comeback. The revenge motivation may partly apply to SLD regional-level activists, who still include many former communist apparatchiks, but the SLD's top leadership has firmly set its party on a course toward modern social democracy. The SLD has chosen a correct course, and this is corroborated not only by voters' massive support but also by an inflow of young activists to the party. For people just over 20 years of age, the communist era in Poland is now only a dim memory. They treat the SLD primarily as a good springboard for their public careers, not as an heir to communist authoritarianism. The SLD leadership was wise enough to provide such career opportunities. Many right-wing parties, including the AWSP and the UW, did not care enough to built such a springboard. And this is one of the reasons they lost. 27-09-01 Reprinted with permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
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