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RFE/RL Newsline, Vol. 5, No. 196, 01-10-16
RFE/RL NEWSLINE
Vol. 5, No. 196, 16 October 2001
CONTENTS
[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA
[01] FORMER INTERIOR MINISTRY OFFICIAL CHARGED OVER ARMENIAN PARLIAMENT
SHOOTING ALLEGATIONS
[02] RUSSIAN COMPANY QUALIFIES FOR ARMENIAN ENERGY TENDER
[03] ARMENIAN DISTRICT GOVERNOR OFFERS TO COOPERATE WITH NEIGHBORING
AZERBAIJANI DISTRICT
[04] AZERBAIJANI PRESIDENT POSTPONES PLANNED VISIT TO RUSSIA
[05] U.S. MILITARY AIRCRAFT REFUELS IN AZERBAIJAN?
[06] FIGHTING CONTINUES IN KODORI GORGE
[07] GEORGIAN PRESIDENT SAYS VIOLENCE 'LAST RESORT'...
[08] ...BUT ABKHAZ PREMIER SAYS TALKS POINTLESS BEFORE FIGHTING ENDS
[09] COULD ABKHAZIA BECOME AN 'ASSOCIATE MEMBER' OF THE RF?
[10] CHAIRMAN OF GEORGIAN RULING PARTY'S PARLIAMENT FACTION QUITS
[11] KAZAKHSTAN DENIES IT HAS BIOLOGICAL WEAPONS
[12] KYRGYZ PRESIDENT SIGNS ELECTION LAW AMENDMENTS
[13] KYRGYZ PARLIAMENT COMMITTEE REVIEWS BUDGET PARAMETERS FOR 2002
[14] KYRGYZSTAN, UZBEKISTAN FAIL TO REACH AGREEMENT ON GAS SUPPLIES
[15] TAJIKISTAN REINFORCES FRONTIER WITH AFGHANISTAN
[16] UN APPEALS FOR FOOD AID FOR TAJIKISTAN
[17] UZBEKISTAN UNVEILS NINE-MONTH ECONOMIC RESULTS
[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[18] ETHNIC ALBANIAN PARTIES TO BOYCOTT MACEDONIAN PARLIAMENTARY DEBATE
[19] YUGOSLAV MEDIA TYCOON FLEES COUNTRY
[20] TALKS FAIL, SERBIAN UNIONS TO STRIKE
[21] MONTENEGRO BEGINS SWITCH TO EURO
[22] BOMB DESTROYS LOCAL OFFICES OF TWO BIGGEST KOSOVAR PARTIES
[23] BOSNIAN INTERIOR MINISTER RESIGNS AMID POLITICAL PRESSURE
[24] CROATIAN OFFICIALS BLAME U.S.-MADE FILTERS IN DIALYSIS DEATHS...
[25] ...PROMPTING MANUFACTURER TO PULL THEM FROM WORLD MARKET
[26] CROATIA NUDGES UP ON CORRUPTION INDEX
[27] ALBANIA OPENS INTERNATIONAL ANTITRAFFICKING CENTER
[28] ALBANIAN DEFENSE MINISTER, KFOR COMMANDER PLEDGE BORDER COOPERATION
[29] ROMANIAN PREMIER IN FINLAND
[30] ROMANIAN FOREIGN MINISTER IN GERMANY
[31] ROMANIAN JUSTICE MINISTER OFFICIALLY ASKS SENATE TO STRIP TUDOR OF
IMMUNITY
[32] RACIST LEAFLETS DISSEMINATED IN TRANSYLVANIAN TOWN
[33] ROMANIAN RADIO CHAIRMAN SAYS CONSPIRACY AIMS TO REMOVE HIM
[34] ROMANIA NOT CONTEMPLATING ANTI-MOLDOVA SANCTIONS
[35] MOLDOVAN PRESIDENT WARNS OF DEBT DEFAULT
[36] U.S. PRESIDENT THANKS STOYANOV, SAXECOBURGGOTSKI FOR SUPPORT
[37] BULGARIAN SOCIALIST DAILY TO RESUME PUBLICATION
[C] END NOTE
[38] There is no end note today
[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA
[01] FORMER INTERIOR MINISTRY OFFICIAL CHARGED OVER ARMENIAN PARLIAMENT
SHOOTING ALLEGATIONS
Former senior Interior Ministry department head Mushegh Saghatelian was
arrested in Yerevan on 12 October and formally charged on 15 October with
providing false information, using forged documents, hooliganism, and other
offenses, Noyan Tapan reported. Convicted felon Harutiun Grigorian, a
police informant who shared a cell with two of the defendants in the
parliament shootings case, had testified that Saghatelian offered him $50,
000 if he claimed that the October 1999 Armenian shootings were
masterminded by President Robert Kocharian and Defense Minister Serzh
Sarkisian, and then manufactured evidence to substantiate that claim.
Saghatelian told a press conference in Yerevan on 3 October that he "has
grounds to believe" that Kocharian was responsible for arranging the
shootings. LF
[02] RUSSIAN COMPANY QUALIFIES FOR ARMENIAN ENERGY TENDER
The Armenian government commission responsible for overseeing the
privatization of four energy distribution networks concluded on 13 October
that Russia's Unified Energy Systems (EES) qualifies for the final stage of
the tender, RFE/RL's Yerevan bureau reported on 15 October. The commission
had earlier twice ruled that the documentation submitted by EES was
incomplete and demanded additional information on the company's financial
situation. EES is the only foreign bidder whose participation in the tender
has been confirmed to date. An earlier attempt to sell off the four
networks ended in failure in April when none of the four companies
shortlisted submitted a bid (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 23 April 2001). LF
[03] ARMENIAN DISTRICT GOVERNOR OFFERS TO COOPERATE WITH NEIGHBORING
AZERBAIJANI DISTRICT
Armen Goularian, governor of Armenia's Tavush district, which has a 300-
kilometer common border with Azerbaijan, has submitted to the Armenian
government a proposal drafted by the regional administration to establish
cooperation with the neighboring district of Azerbaijan in various economic
fields, nature protection, and the use of water resources, Noyan Tapan
reported on 15 October. Meeting four days earlier with a group of visiting
Azerbaijani journalists, Goularian pointed out that some 10,000 hectares of
arable land along the two countries' common border are not being used
because of the unresolved Karabakh conflict. Azerbaijani officials
regularly reject Armenian proposals to begin economic cooperation, arguing
that they are not prepared to do so until the conflict is formally
resolved. LF
[04] AZERBAIJANI PRESIDENT POSTPONES PLANNED VISIT TO RUSSIA
President Heidar Aliev's visit to Russia, which was scheduled to take place
shortly before the 30 November CIS summit, has been postponed until late
January or early February 2002, Foreign Minister Vilayat Quliev told Turan
on 16 October. Quliev said that documents that are to be signed during that
visit require unspecified amendments. LF
[05] U.S. MILITARY AIRCRAFT REFUELS IN AZERBAIJAN?
A U.S. Air Force Hercules transport aircraft was spotted coming in to land
at Baku on 14 October, Turan reported the following day, quoting unnamed
eyewitnesses. The plane is believed to have taken off again after
refueling. Defense Ministry officials contacted by Turan denied any
knowledge of the flight. LF
[06] FIGHTING CONTINUES IN KODORI GORGE
Abkhaz troops continued to engage groups of presumed Chechen militants and
Georgian guerrillas in the vicinity of the Sugar-Loaf mountain on 15
October, Caucasus Press reported. Abkhaz Defense Minister Vladimir Mikanba
told journalists in Sukhum that operations to round up the remaining
intruders are likely to last for several days, according to Caucasus Press
and Interfax. He confirmed Russian reports that a new group of several
hundred fighters entered the gorge from the upper, eastern end on 15
October, but said that it would take them several days to descend to where
the fighting is currently underway. Interfax on 15 October quoted the
Abkhaz Defense Ministry as estimating losses since the fighting began 12
days ago at 15 Abkhaz and some 60 intruders killed. In Sukhum, Abkhaz
officials denied on 15 October Georgian media claims that fierce gun
battles were underway both in Sukhum and in the Black Sea town of Gagra to
the north, Reuters reported. There has been no Abkhaz reaction to Georgian
claims to have shot down a helicopter on 15 October near Eshera. LF
[07] GEORGIAN PRESIDENT SAYS VIOLENCE 'LAST RESORT'...
Georgia will never reconcile itself to the loss of Abkhazia, but will use
force to bring the breakaway republic back under its control only as "a
last resort, when all other peaceful means of resolving the conflict have
been exhausted," President Eduard Shevardnadze told journalists in Tbilisi
on 15 October. Shevardnadze advised the Abkhaz leadership to understand
that the Abkhaz people can be saved from a new war only through peace talks
and consenting to live together in a single Georgian state. Shevardnadze
said he is prepared to meet with Abkhaz Prime Minister Anri Djergenia in
Tbilisi or to travel to Sukhum for talks, according to Interfax.
Shevardnadze also said he is ready to meet anywhere, at any time, with
Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss the Abkhaz situation,
acknowledging the role played earlier by Russia both during the 1992-1993
war and in trying to mediate a political settlement since 1994. LF
[08] ...BUT ABKHAZ PREMIER SAYS TALKS POINTLESS BEFORE FIGHTING ENDS
Djergenia responded on 15 October to Shevardnadze's proposal by affirming
that resuming peace talks with the Georgian leadership is "senseless"
before "the bandits and terrorists are either destroyed or driven out of
Abkhazia," Caucasus Press reported. Djergenia also hinted that Abkhazia
might not oppose the withdrawal, which Tbilisi has demanded, of the Russian
peacekeeping forces deployed along the border between Abkhazia and the rest
of Georgia, ITAR-TASS reported on 16 October. Foreign Minister Sergei
Shamba struck a somewhat more conciliatory note on 16 October, saying that
members of the Abkhaz leadership are prepared to meet with Shevardnadze to
discuss how to end the fighting in Kodori, Caucasus Press reported. But
Shamba stressed that Abkhazia will never agree to autonomous status within
Georgia, although it is still ready to discuss entering a federation with
Georgia. Georgian parliament speaker Zurab Zhvania had said on 15 October
that Tbilisi would offer Abkhazia "the broadest autonomy conceivable," in
which the central authorities would control only defense, border protection,
and tax collection, allowing Abkhazia complete freedom on all other issues.
LF
[09] COULD ABKHAZIA BECOME AN 'ASSOCIATE MEMBER' OF THE RF?
It is not clear how Shamba's statement that Sukhum would still consider
entering a federation with Georgia is to be reconciled with Djergenia's
statement on 14 October on TV-6 that Abkhazia has formally requested to be
admitted as an "associate member" of the Russian Federation, meaning that
it would be part of Russia's legal system and use the same currency. The
Russian ruble, not the Georgian lari, is currently used in Abkhazia.
Djergenia said he has not yet received a response from Moscow to that
request. On 12 October, President Putin stressed that Russia recognizes
Georgia's territorial integrity. LF
[10] CHAIRMAN OF GEORGIAN RULING PARTY'S PARLIAMENT FACTION QUITS
Following the disintegration of the Union of Citizens of Georgia (SMK)
parliament faction, which with 100 of a total of 235 deputies was the
largest, the faction's chairman, Revaz Adamia, has resigned from that
position, Caucasus Press reported on 15 October. Merab Tkeshelashvili was
elected the same day to succeed him. Adamia had publicly offered to step
down in June as he considered himself not suited to that post. LF
[11] KAZAKHSTAN DENIES IT HAS BIOLOGICAL WEAPONS
Kazakhstan's Foreign Ministry released a statement in Almaty on 15 October
rejecting as unfounded U.S. media speculation that the country still has
biological weapons, and may be connected with the cases of anthrax recently
discovered in the U.S. or have supplied anthrax spores to "extremists,"
Interfax reported. The statement affirmed that Kazakhstan abides by its
obligations under international agreements on nuclear disarmament and the
destruction of chemical and biological weapons. It added that the U.S. has
helped fund the ongoing closure of the Soviet-era Stepnogorsk research and
production facility for biological weapons. On 12 October, Reuters reported
that U.S. inspectors found anthrax spores inside piping at a former
biological weapons facility in Kazakhstan several days earlier. LF
[12] KYRGYZ PRESIDENT SIGNS ELECTION LAW AMENDMENTS
Askar Akaev signed into law on 15 October the election law amendments
passed by the Legislative Assembly (the power chamber of the bicameral
parliament) four days earlier, RFE/RL's Bishkek bureau reported. Also on 15
October, Tolekan Ismailova, the president of the Coalition of NGOs, wrote
to parliament protesting the amendments, in particular one that bans any
Kyrgyz political party or organization that receives funding from abroad
from participating in the monitoring of elections there. She argued that
that restriction is aimed at hindering the monitoring of elections and
preventing international organizations from funding training programs for
would-be election monitors. LF
[13] KYRGYZ PARLIAMENT COMMITTEE REVIEWS BUDGET PARAMETERS FOR 2002
The Kyrgyz parliament's finance and economy committee reviewed at its 15
October session the draft budget for 2002 presented by Finance Minister
Temirbek Akmataliev, RFE/RL's Bishkek bureau reported. The draft projects
GDP at 80.19 billion soms ($1.67 billion), which is 4 percent higher than
this year's target. Inflation next year is estimated at 8.2 percent, and
the budget is predicated on an exchange rate of 49 soms to the U.S. dollar.
LF
[14] KYRGYZSTAN, UZBEKISTAN FAIL TO REACH AGREEMENT ON GAS SUPPLIES
Talks in Tashkent last weekend between Kyrgyz and Uzbek government
officials failed to resolve the current disagreement over gas and water
supplies, Kyrgyzstan's First Deputy Prime Minister Nikolai Tanaev told
journalists in Bishkek on 15 October, RFE/RL's Bishkek bureau reported (see
"RFE/RL Newsline," 15 October 2001). Tanaev said that Uzbekistan has
accused Kyrgyzstan of failing to honor an agreement signed last December
(see "RFE/RL Newsline," 7 December 2000) whereby Kyrgyzstan would provide
Uzbekistan with 2.2 billion kilowatt-hours of hydroelectricity in return
for oil and gasoline. Uzbekistan is threatening to suspend supplies of
natural gas to Kyrgyzstan in retaliation for that failure, which Kyrgyz
Prime Minister Kurmanbek Bakiev has acknowledged. LF
[15] TAJIKISTAN REINFORCES FRONTIER WITH AFGHANISTAN
A special 300-man unit of border guards was dispatched on 12 October to
reinforce Tajikistan's southern border with Uzbekistan and Afghanistan
against a possible attack by Taliban forces, Asia Plus-Blitz and Interfax
reported on 15 October, quoting Border Guard commander Lieutenant General
Saidanvar Kamolov. LF
[16] UN APPEALS FOR FOOD AID FOR TAJIKISTAN
The UN World Food Program launched an appeal on 16 October for some 67,000
tons of emergency food supplies worth $36 million to be distributed among 1
million residents of mountainous regions of Tajikistan most severely
affected by the second consecutive year of drought, Reuters reported. The
World Food Program's representative in Dushanbe said that many of those
affected face starvation. LF
[17] UZBEKISTAN UNVEILS NINE-MONTH ECONOMIC RESULTS
Uzbekistan's GDP grew by 4.5 percent year-on-year during the first nine
months of 2001, while industrial production increased by 7.6 percent over
the same time period, Interfax reported on 15 October quoting
Macroeconomics and Statistics Minister Rustam Azimov. The targets for 2001
as a whole are 4.5 and 5.8 percent respectively. In 2000, GDP growth was 4
percent, industrial production grew by 6.4 percent, and agricultural output
by 3.2 percent. LF
[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[18] ETHNIC ALBANIAN PARTIES TO BOYCOTT MACEDONIAN PARLIAMENTARY DEBATE
Parliament speaker Stojan Androv scheduled debate on nine of the 15
constitutional amendments agreed on in the Ohrid peace plan for 18 October,
despite threats to boycott the debate by the two main ethnic Albanian
parties, AFP and Reuters reported on 15 October. The two parties demand
that parliament debate all 15 amendments at once. Ilias Talini of the
Democratic Party of Albanians and vice president of the parliament, said:
"I am surprised that the president of the parliament is arranging a session
without consulting the vice president. He is accusing us of obstructing the
parliament. The obstruction is being made by the president of the state.
The president of the state should not violate the Ohrid agreement because
he is one of those who signed it." President Boris Trajkovski attacked the
two parties, who he said were obstructing the work of the parliament. "If
this blockade by some parliamentary groups continues, I will regard it as
an attempt to dictate the issue, and I will not accept that," Trajkovski
said. DW
[19] YUGOSLAV MEDIA TYCOON FLEES COUNTRY
Bogoljub Karic and his family, who own the largest private company in
Serbia, fled the country to an undisclosed location out of fear for their
lives, Western and Yugoslav news agencies reported on 15 October. A
statement released by Karic's BK TV television said the family is
"currently under the protection of the police of a foreign state," and that
"snipers with infrared aiming devices" were seen near the family's house in
Belgrade. Yugoslav Interior Minister Zoran Zivkovic said, "If they had felt
threatened in any way they should have informed the police." Last week the
Serbian government stepped up pressure on Karic and his business interests,
demanding $30 million in taxes on wealth he allegedly gained from Milosevic-
era privileges. Also, the Yugoslav central bank appointed an administrator
for the Astra Bank owned by the family and Serbian police began
investigating the family's stake in the Mobtel mobile telephone operator on
12 October. Zivkovic said Karic was not under investigation and was free to
leave the country. DW
[20] TALKS FAIL, SERBIAN UNIONS TO STRIKE
Talks between the Serbian government and trade union leaders fell through
on 15 October and the union heads said the general strike scheduled for the
next day would go ahead, local media reported. Trade Union Federation head
Milenko Smiljanic said that even though some agreement had been reached,
the main condition -- the withdrawal of the Labor Code -- had not been met,
which led to the decision to go through with the strike. DW
[21] MONTENEGRO BEGINS SWITCH TO EURO
Businesses in Montenegro began listing prices in German marks and euros on
15 October in preparation for the introduction of the euro as the official
domestic currency, dpa reported. Montenegro is set to officially switch
over to the currency on 31 March 2002. The smaller of Yugoslavia's two
republics adopted the German mark as legal tender in 1999. DW
[22] BOMB DESTROYS LOCAL OFFICES OF TWO BIGGEST KOSOVAR PARTIES
An explosion and fire destroyed the offices of the two biggest ethnic
Albanian parties in the southern town of Suva Reka in the early morning
hours of 16 October, AP and Reuters reported. A suspected grenade explosion
in the offices of Ibrahim Rugova's Democratic League of Kosova started a
fire that spread to the offices of the second-largest party, the Democratic
Party of Kosova. No injuries were reported. This is the first report of
violence against a party in the two weeks since the campaign for the 17
November general elections began. DW
[23] BOSNIAN INTERIOR MINISTER RESIGNS AMID POLITICAL PRESSURE
The interior minister for Bosnia's Muslim-Croat federation, Muhammed Besic,
resigned on 12 October following threats by political opponents that they
would conduct a public review of his tenure, AP reported on 15 October,
citing information from government leaders. The federation's government
said it will appoint a new interior minister at its next session on 24
October, the agency added. Besic's work has been repeatedly praised by
international officials, AP said, prompting local reports that U.S.
officials in Sarajevo expressed concern over his departure in a letter to
federation officials. U.S. Embassy representatives declined to comment on
those reports for AP. Besic was one of the leading figures in the
government's antiterrorism team and worked closely with U.S. officials in
trying to locate people with links to global terrorism in Bosnia, AP said.
The vice president of the Muslim-Croat federation, Safet Halilovic, had
complained that Besic made serious errors, including a decision to hire a
wartime bureaucrat suspected of granting citizenship to Islamic fighters
during Bosnia's 3 1/2-year conflict. Halilovic had also complained about
Besic's remarks to the press, including a pledge to make "hell on Earth"
for Taliban fighters reportedly headed to the country to hide out. AH
[24] CROATIAN OFFICIALS BLAME U.S.-MADE FILTERS IN DIALYSIS DEATHS...
Croatian Health Minister Ana Stavljenic-Rukavina said "it is clear that
something was wrong with the filters" manufactured by U.S.-based Baxter
International Inc. and used by more than 20 dialysis patients who died in
that country in just over a week, AP reported on 15 October. She added that
it is "unclear what it was at the membrane that caused the clinical
symptoms that led to the patients' deaths," the agency added. Initial
reports referred to 23 deaths (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 15 October 2001), but
Stavljenic-Rukavina said two of those patients' deaths were not linked to
dialysis machines. Meanwhile, the Croatian government held a crisis meeting
on 15 October and ordered a comprehensive investigation. Stavljenic-
Rukavina said no new related deaths have been reported in Croatian
hospitals after the dialyzers were replaced. AH
[25] ...PROMPTING MANUFACTURER TO PULL THEM FROM WORLD MARKET
While the company has categorically denied any responsibility for the
deaths, the president of Baxter International in Central and Eastern Europe,
Vincente Belenguer, said on 15 October that the company is temporarily
pulling its "A" series dialysis filters from world markets, Hina reported.
Belenguer was speaking in Zagreb, where he is cooperating with the
investigation into the tragedies. AH
[26] CROATIA NUDGES UP ON CORRUPTION INDEX
Transparency International ranked Croatia 47th among 91 countries ranked in
its annual corruption index released on 15 October, Hina reported. That
places the country alongside regional neighbors Bulgaria and the Czech
Republic, the agency said. Croatia placed 74th in 1999 and 51st in 2000,
Hina added, marking a gradual but consistent improvement. The section of
the report focusing on Central and Southeast Europe and Baltic countries
said the development of a transparent democracy in Croatia is still in its
infancy, Hina reported. AH
[27] ALBANIA OPENS INTERNATIONAL ANTITRAFFICKING CENTER
Albanian Prime Minister Ilir Meta inaugurated an antitrafficking center in
the southern port city of Vlore on 15 October amid increased international
pressure on his government to do more to fight organized crime and the
trafficking of drugs, people, and arms. The center will be jointly operated
by Albanian, German, Greek, and Italian police and should help coordinate
efforts to stem illegal flows from East to West, dpa reported. Meta vowed
the facility will help raise the fight against trafficking and organized
crime "to a higher level," the agency reported. Housed in the resort villa
of Albania's former communist dictator Enver Hoxha, the center is equipped
with sophisticated monitoring and communications equipment. It will be used
primarily to stop dinghies used by criminals to shuttle drugs and illegal
immigrants to Italy's southern coast. The OSCE recently issued a report
urging Albania to do more to curb crime (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 15 October
2001). AH
[28] ALBANIAN DEFENSE MINISTER, KFOR COMMANDER PLEDGE BORDER COOPERATION
The commander of NATO's peacekeeping forces in Kosova, General Marcel
Valentin, met with Albanian Defense Minister Pandeli Majko in Tirana on 15
October and pledged intensive cooperation in trying to control mutual
borders, the Albanian news agency ATA reported. Majko stressed the
importance of openness in information and communications and praised the
role of KFOR troops in ushering in peace and security in Kosova and the
region. He called NATO's role indispensable and a determining factor, ATA
reported. AH
[29] ROMANIAN PREMIER IN FINLAND
On 15 October Prime Minister Adrian Nastase began a two-day visit of
Finland, meeting his Finnish counterpart Paavo Lipponen and President Tarja
Halonen, Romanian radio reported. Lipponen said Finland backs Romania's
quest for EU membership, as well as the cancellation of visa requirements
for Romanian citizens traveling within the Schengen agreement space as of 1
January next year. Nastase told journalists the terrorist attack on the
U.S. amply demonstrates the need for NATO to acquire more partners through
enlargement. "We are all facing the same common threat," Nastase
emphasized. MS
[30] ROMANIAN FOREIGN MINISTER IN GERMANY
Foreign Minister Mircea Geoana has also received strong backing for the
cancellation of visa requirements for the EU. Geoana met on 15 October in
Berlin with Interior Minister Otto Schilly and later discussed with his
German counterpart Joschka Fischer the European joint struggle against
human trafficking. After the talks with Fischer, Geoana said that the
German-Romanian bilateral relations "have become a strategic political and
economic partnership," and that Romania can "look into a future in which it
will occupy its natural place as a NATO and EU member," Romanian radio
reported. Geoana attended a conference in Berlin on this struggle in his
capacity as OSCE rotating chairman. Premier Nastase wrote in a letter he
sent via Geoana to Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder that the relations between
their countries in the last three months have registered a "spectacular
evolution." MS
[31] ROMANIAN JUSTICE MINISTER OFFICIALLY ASKS SENATE TO STRIP TUDOR OF
IMMUNITY
Justice Minister Rodica Stanoiu asked Senate Chairman Nicolae Vacaroiu on
15 October to start proceedings for lifting the parliamentary immunity of
Greater Romania Party Chairman Corneliu Vadim Tudor on the grounds that
Tudor disseminated false information, RFE/RL's Bucharest bureau reported.
In line with existing Senate procedure, the file will now be examined by
the Judicial Commission, who must make its recommendation to the Permanent
Bureau. Upon receiving that recommendation, the bureau must convoke a
debate within 15 days. Tudor called the move "political abuse." He added
that he does not fear a trial, and that he will use the occasion to make
"shocking revelations" that will bring about the fall of the cabinet and
early parliamentary elections. MS
[32] RACIST LEAFLETS DISSEMINATED IN TRANSYLVANIAN TOWN
Racist leaflets warning against "mongering" with Roma and using
inflammatory language to denounce this minority, homosexuals, religious
sects, and "anyone who is not a Romanian" have been spread in the
Transylvanian town of Deva, Romanian television reported on 15 October. The
leaflets are signed by the extraparliamentary "New Right" party. Meanwhile
Piatra-Neamt Mayor Ion Rotaru announced on 15 October that he has abandoned
his plans to build special houses for the town's Romany population because
of the protests the plans have caused. Rotaru said ethnic Romanian families
will be moved into those apartments and "the Roma can now ask [Social
Democratic Party (PSD) Deputy and Romany leader] Madalin Voicu to give them
houses instead." Voicu is among the Romany leaders who complained about
Rotaru's plans. MS
[33] ROMANIAN RADIO CHAIRMAN SAYS CONSPIRACY AIMS TO REMOVE HIM
Romanian Broadcasting Company (SSR) Chairman Andrei Dimitriu told
journalists on 15 October that a conspiracy is being forged to bring about
his removal before the end of his mandate, Mediafax reported. Dimitriu
believes "second-rank" PSD officials are involved in that conspiracy. He
said the plot aims to have legal proceedings opened against him on
fabricated grounds, which would enforce his being suspended from his
position until the accusations are legally clarified. By then, he said, his
mandate would have anyhow ended and "some sort of apology will be made when
nothing can help any more." Dimitriu was appointed by the previous
government and his mandate runs out in 2003. MS
[34] ROMANIA NOT CONTEMPLATING ANTI-MOLDOVA SANCTIONS
President Ion Iliescu told an international forum of journalists on 15
October that his country will not impose any "sanctions" on Moldova in the
wake of Moldovan Justice Minister Ion Morei's declarations in Strasbourg,
RFE/RL's Bucharest bureau reported. Iliescu said that Romania "cannot
sacrifice its relations with Moldova" just because that country has a
government whose "ideological criteria" are different from Bucharest's own.
Speaking in Helsinki where he is on official visit, Romanian Premier
Nastase, in an obvious allusion to Russia, said on 15 October that
Bucharest considers it "unacceptable" for any country to have military
bases on the territory of another without the consent of that state's
authorities. Nastase said Romania is "worried" by the "continuous threat"
posed by the Transdniester situation to Moldova's sovereignty, Flux
reported. Finally, Mediafax reported on 15 October that Romanian Interior
Minister Ioan Rus is to sign a three-year cooperation accord with the
Moldovan Interior Ministry in Chisinau on 16 October. MS
[35] MOLDOVAN PRESIDENT WARNS OF DEBT DEFAULT
President Vladimir Voronin, in an interview with the "Financial Times" on
15 October, warned that his country may be forced to default on its
international debt if a rescheduling agreement is not reached with the
Paris Club of official creditors, Infotag reported. Next year Moldova must
pay $277 million, which is about 20 percent of its GDP. In June 2001,
Chisinau was close to defaulting on a $3.7 million interest rate payment on
a Eurobond and made that payment only on the last day of a 21-day grace
period. Moldova is currently negotiating with the IMF a $142 million loan
that is contingent on, among other things, speeding up privatization.
Unless that loan is approved, Chisinau will not benefit from credits from
the World Bank and the EU, and may thus be forced to default on its
international debt. MS
[36] U.S. PRESIDENT THANKS STOYANOV, SAXECOBURGGOTSKI FOR SUPPORT
President George W. Bush has sent messages to his Bulgarian counterpart
Petar Stoyanov and to Prime Minister Simeon Saxecoburggotski, thanking them
for the support offered by Bulgaria in the rescue operations after the 11
September terrorist attack, for their messages of condolence and sympathy,
and for Bulgaria's swift expression of its readiness to support the U.S.
military operations against the terrorists, BTA reported. Bush wrote that
the struggle against international terror may be a long one, but the U.S.
has the necessary strength and determination to carry it out, thanks in
part to the solidarity and support of its friends. MS
[37] BULGARIAN SOCIALIST DAILY TO RESUME PUBLICATION
The left-wing daily "Duma," which stopped publication in early July due to
financial problems, will re-appear by the end of this month, BTA reported
on 15 October, citing Editor in Chief Vyacheslav Tunev. Tunev said the
daily will not, however, be a successor to the former "Duma." He said it
will have a "Balkan orientation" and will be "independent." The daily was
first issued in April 1990, as a successor to the communist "Rabotnichesko
delo." Subscribers are to receive it together with "Republika," which was
launched on 14 July by a publishing trust close to the Bulgarian Socialist
Party after "Duma" suspended publication. MS
[C] END NOTE
[38] There is no end note today
16-10-01
Reprinted with permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
URL: http://www.rferl.org
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