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OMRI Daily Digest, Vol. 2, No. 94, 96-05-15

Open Media Research Institute: Daily Digest Directory

From: Open Media Research Institute <http://www.omri.cz>

Vol. 2, No. 94, 15 May 1996


CONTENTS

[A] TRANSCAUCASIA AND CENTRAL ASIA

  • [01] TROOPS FIRE ON DEMONSTRATORS IN NORTHERN TAJIKISTAN . . .
  • [02] . . . RUSSIA EXPRESSES CONCERN.
  • [03] ECO SUMMIT RUMPUS.

  • [B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE

  • [04] COUNCIL OF EUROPE MAKES UNPRECEDENTED MOVE AGAINST CROATIA . . .
  • [05] . . . WHILE ZAGREB MULLS OVER ITS RESPONSE.
  • [06] U.S. OFFICIAL RESIGNS OVER SCHEDULING OF BOSNIAN ELECTIONS . . .
  • [07] . . . WHILE KARADZIC ANNOUNCES HIS PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDACY.
  • [08] JUDGE INDICTS SERB AFTER KOSOVO KILLING.
  • [09] YET ANOTHER CROAT-MUSLIM MILITARY AGREEMENT.
  • [10] POLISH PRESIDENT IN ROMANIA.
  • [11] UPDATE ON ROMANIAN TELEPHONE BUGGING SCANDAL.
  • [12] MOLDOVAN, DNIESTER SUMMIT FAILS AGAIN.
  • [13] BULGARIAN LABOR LEADER OPPOSES GOVERNMENT PLAN.
  • [14] BULGARIA'S BREAD CRISIS.
  • [15] ALBANIAN SOCIALISTS CHARGE DEMOCRATS WITH FURTHER INTIMIDATION BEFORE ELECTIONS.

  • [A] TRANSCAUCASIA AND CENTRAL ASIA

    [01] TROOPS FIRE ON DEMONSTRATORS IN NORTHERN TAJIKISTAN . . .

    Five people died during a demonstration in the northern Tajik city of Ura- Tyube on 14 May after troops fired on the crowd of about 200 people, ITAR-TASS reported. The demonstration began the day before as people gathered outside the local administration building to protest the killing of a businessman the previous day. On 14 May, the demonstrators began breaking windows and started fires at the administration building, the chief prosecutor's office, a militia building, and the mayor's house. AFP reported that some of the protesters were armed. Reinforcements from the Tajik Interior Ministry are being sent to the city. The disturbance comes as demonstrations involving thousands are going on in the Tajik city of Khojent and fighting continued between government and opposition forces in the Tavil-Dara region. -- Bruce Pannier

    [02] . . . RUSSIA EXPRESSES CONCERN.

    Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Grigorii Karasin said on 14 May that his government is gravely concerned at "the deteriorating situation in Tajikistan, " according to ITAR-TASS. Karasin did not say how far Russia would go to protect Tajik President Imomali Rakhmonov's government but did state that events in Tajikistan have "a direct effect on the strategic interests of Russia." Russian Defense Minister Pavel Grachev ruled out the possibility of Russian military involvement in the Tavil-Dara fighting but did say Russian troops had been ordered "to guard and defend state and important military facilities," ORT reported. -- Bruce Pannier

    [03] ECO SUMMIT RUMPUS.

    Amidst much acrimony, a two-day summit of the 10-member Economic Cooperation Organization opened in Ashgabat on 14 May, Reuters reported. Following talks between the foreign ministers of member states earlier in the week, heads of state agreed to expand the organization's structure and move ahead with revising the founding treaty. A 22-point Ashgabat declaration calling for priority action in transport and communications, trade and energy was also signed. Irked by Iran's verbal attacks on Israel, Uzbek President Islam Karimov threatened to withdraw his country from the grouping, indicating he opposes "transforming the organization into a military-political unit." Karimov's position was supported by his counterparts from Kazakhstan (who left the summit early) and Tajikistan. The ECO was founded in the 1960s by Iran, Turkey, and Pakistan and in 1992 expanded to include all the former Soviet Central Asian republics plus Afghanistan and Azerbaijan. -- Lowell Bezanis

    [B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE

    [04] COUNCIL OF EUROPE MAKES UNPRECEDENTED MOVE AGAINST CROATIA . . .

    Foreign ministers of the 39-member Council of Europe voted on 14 May to delay action until the end this month on Croatia's application for membership. They cited Zagreb's failure to act on a 21-point program on democracy and human rights that it had agreed on with the council in April. Spokesmen added that specific issues included press freedom, the status of the Zagreb city council, cooperation with the war crimes tribunal in The Hague, and the reunification of Mostar. Croatia's application had already been approved, first by a committee and then on 24 April by the parliamentary assembly. The action of the ministers at the third, and hitherto purely formal stage of the admission process, is unprecedented, Reuters and the BBC noted. Many in Strasbourg were angry with the Croatian government's moves since 24 April against the independent media and the opposition-dominated Zagreb council. -- Patrick Moore

    [05] . . . WHILE ZAGREB MULLS OVER ITS RESPONSE.

    There was no immediate official comment in Croatia, but Vjesnik, a daily closely associated with the government, suggested on 15 May that democracy was not the real issue and that Croatia had been singled out for "special treatment" because of national interests among the European Council's members. The paper added that Croatia must now either comply if it wants to join the council or reconsider the importance of membership in European institutions. Slobodna Dalmacija added that London was the main culprit in blocking Croatia during the meeting, which generally demonstrated little consensus on the Croatian question. Many Croats regard Britain and France as hostile to their country's independence and believe the two countries are bent on restoring a Serb-dominated Yugoslavia. The council's move may backfire by strengthening a small but growing and influential number of people wary of European integration, who support instead strong bilateral ties with individual Central European states and above all with the U.S. -- Patrick Moore

    [06] U.S. OFFICIAL RESIGNS OVER SCHEDULING OF BOSNIAN ELECTIONS . . .

    William Steubner, chief of staff of the OSCE mission, has resigned in protest against a decision to hold Bosnian elections in the fall, AFP reported on 15 May. Steubner believes Bosnia will not meet by that time OSCE conditions for the elections, such as a free media, the right of refugees and displaced people to return to their pre-war homes to vote, and the exclusion of indicted war criminals from the electoral process. Robert Frowick, the head of the OSCE mission in Bosnia, told The Washington Post he was greatly pressured to guarantee that the Bosnian elections would be held in September, as scheduled in the Dayton peace accord. Frowick stressed that the dangers of postponing the vote were greater than those of holding it on time. -- Daria Sito Sucic

    [07] . . . WHILE KARADZIC ANNOUNCES HIS PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDACY.

    Radovan Karadzic, an indicted war criminal and president of the Republika Srpska, said he will run in the forthcoming Bosnian elections, Nasa Borba reported on 15 May. Karadzic noted his popularity among Bosnian Serbs and the support of the parliament as justification for his candidacy. He said he is in favor of early elections in Bosnia. "My leaving the post in this moment would only cause confusion," Karadzic said. He added that the international community is just wasting its time trying to find moderate Bosnian Serbs. He denied charges that he is a war criminal and said The Hague-based international tribunal for war crimes has no evidence against him. -- Daria Sito Sucic

    [08] JUDGE INDICTS SERB AFTER KOSOVO KILLING.

    A Pristina judge has indicted Serb citizen Zlatibor Jovanovic for killing on 21 April Armend Daci, an Albanian student. A wave of violence in Kosovo resulted from the killing, leaving five Serbs and one Albanian child dead. Jovanovic claims he killed Daci accidentally and said earlier he thought the student was attempting to steal his car. Meanwhile, Democratic League of Kosovo leaders Fehmi Agani and Hydajet Hyseni met with German diplomats, including the German Ambassador to Belgrade. They discussed prospects for negotiations on the Kosovo conflict. The Kosovo leaders stressed that the independence of Kosovo is the only just and viable solution, KIC reported. Meanwhile, the Democratic Union of Albanians in Germany announced a hunger strike in Bonn, demanding EU recognition of Kosovo's independence, ATSH reported. -- Fabian Schmidt

    [09] YET ANOTHER CROAT-MUSLIM MILITARY AGREEMENT.

    Croatian Foreign Minister Mate Granic, Bosnian Croat leader and federal President Kresimir Zubak, federal Vice President Ejup Ganic, and Bosnian Prime Minister Hasan Muratovic are among the dozen or so participants attending a "forum" in Washington D.C. to shore up the shaky Croat-Muslim federation. U.S. Secretary of State Warren Christopher said it is important to strengthen the federation as a cornerstone of the Dayton peace agreement. He and Zubak made optimistic statements, but Ganic slammed international peacekeepers not only for failing to arrest indicted war criminals Radovan Karadzic and Gen. Ratko Mladic, but for also sharing "the same roof" with them, AFP reported on 14 May. The Croats and Muslims signed an agreement that same day to unite their armed forces under a common defense ministry within three years. They have made and reneged on several such promises before, but the rather long, and hence possibly realistic, three-year timetable is new. -- Patrick Moore

    [10] POLISH PRESIDENT IN ROMANIA.

    Aleksander Kwasniewski on 14 May began a two-day visit to Romania. He met with his Romanian counterpart, Ion Iliescu, premier Nicolae Vacaroiu, the chairmen of the bi-cameral parliament, and opposition leaders. Kwasniewski also addressed a joint session of the legislature's houses. Three economic and cultural cooperation agreements were signed. The visit ends on 15 May after the Polish president travels to the northern town of Suceava, where he will meet with members of Romania's small Polish minority. -- Michael Shafir

    [11] UPDATE ON ROMANIAN TELEPHONE BUGGING SCANDAL.

    Nicolae Ulieru, spokesman for the Romanian Intelligence Service (SRI), admitted on 14 May that SRI recorded the private telephone conversations that were played at a conference of the Greater Romania Party one day earlier but said the surveillance had been legal. Ulieru added that Constantin Bucur, the SRI captain who divulged the tape, will be prosecuted for revealing SRI secrets. Meanwhile, also on 14 May, the Chamber of Deputies approved a new law on communication, which had been debated in the house for some time before the scandal produced by Bucur's disclosures broke out. The legislation allows eavesdropping on telephone calls under warrant from the Prosecutor-General's Office. -- Michael Shafir

    [12] MOLDOVAN, DNIESTER SUMMIT FAILS AGAIN.

    Moldovan officials and leaders of the self-proclaimed Dniester republic, meeting in Tiraspol on 14 May, failed to achieve a consensus on the Interim Memorandum on Dniester conflict settlement principles, Moldovan agencies reported. The Dniester leadership has reverted to last year's stance, insisting on a full division of powers between Chisinau and Tiraspol, which practically is a call for independence. Moldovan President Mircea Snegur, Parliament Speaker Petru Lucinschi, and Premier Andrei Sangheli attended the meeting, while Igor Smirnov, leader of the self-proclaimed republic, and Grigori Marakutsa, chairman of the Tiraspol Supreme Soviet, headed the Dniester delegation. The head of the OSCE mission in Moldova and the Ukrainian and Russian presidential envoys also participated. The next summit is scheduled for 17 June. -- Matyas Szabo

    [13] BULGARIAN LABOR LEADER OPPOSES GOVERNMENT PLAN.

    Krastyu Petkov, head of the Confederation of Independent Trade Unions, on 14 May announced his opposition to government plans to revive the country's ailing economy, local media reported. Petrov disapproved of restructuring plans that call for the shutdown of redundant state-run enterprises. This move would put an estimated 29,000 employees out work, which Petrov said is an unacceptable outcome. So far, he is the only major labor leader to voice his opposition to the government's economic renewal proposals. The targeted firms, which Reuters reports represent some 29% of the economy's losses, have not yet been named publicly. -- Stan Markotich

    [14] BULGARIA'S BREAD CRISIS.

    Falling bread supplies and grain shortages triggered "panic" in several Bulgarian cities, Reuters reported on 14 May. Bakeries throughout the country were forced to close or limit their sales. The Bulgarian government has attempted to allay public fears by issuing a statement reassuring consumers that there "will be enough bread for everyone." However, the local media are warning that the bread shortage may soon hit Sofia. Reuters quotes Millers' Union Secretary Hristo Nikolov as saying, "Bulgaria has only a very limited amount of wheat, which will last not even a month." -- Stan Markotich

    [15] ALBANIAN SOCIALISTS CHARGE DEMOCRATS WITH FURTHER INTIMIDATION BEFORE ELECTIONS.

    Local Socialist candidate Alfred Paloka issued a statement in Zeri i Popullit on 15 May saying that "known activists of the Democratic Party" intruded on a Socialist public meeting in Shengjin and shot into the air and the ground with machine guns. Paloka claims that four policemen present during the incident did not interfere. Elsewhere, the Social Democrats (PSD) charged authorities with attempting to disrupt its election campaign. The PSD leader Skender Gjinushi said plain-clothes police had blocked streets, preventing him from meeting his party's supporters in the north. Meanwhile, Socialist Secretary-General Gramoz Ruci accused the election committees of failing to post on time in all districts the voters' lists and of registering some voters more than once. He also said police detained and beat Socialist supporters. -- Fabian Schmidt

    Compiled by Victor Gomez and Deborah Michaels
    News and information as of 1200 CET


    This material was reprinted with permission of the Open Media Research Institute, a nonprofit organization with research offices in Prague, Czech Republic.
    For more information on OMRI publications please write to info@omri.cz.

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