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OMRI: Daily Digest, Vol. 2, No. 224, 96-11-19
From: Open Media Research Institute <http://www.omri.cz>
Vol. 2, No. 224, 19 November 1996
CONTENTS
[A] TRANSCAUCASIA AND CENTRAL ASIA
[01] SECRET GEORGIAN-ABKHAZ TALKS.
[02] UZBEKISTAN, KAZAKSTAN SIGN GAS DEAL.
[03] CLINTON PRAISES AZERBAIJAN'S STANCE ON CFE.
[04] OPPOSITION RALLY IN YEREVAN.
[05] FOUR RADIO STATIONS SUSPENDED IN ALMATY.
[06] TURKMENISTAN, TURKEY SIGN AGREEMENTS.
[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[07] ROW OVER PLAVSIC MEETING WITH MLADIC BACKERS.
[08] NATO AGREES TO SET UP SUCCESSOR TO IFOR.
[09] SECRECY SURROUNDS TUDJMAN ILLNESS.
[10] OPPOSITION VICTORIES IN FEDERAL YUGOSLAV LOCAL ELECTIONS.
[11] MONTENEGRO'S NEW LEGISLATURE CONVENES.
[12] KOSOVO'S PRIME MINISTER IN EXILE CRITICIZES PRESIDENT.
[13] MACEDONIAN LOCAL ELECTIONS UPDATE.
[14] WHO WILL BE ROMANIA'S NEW PRIME MINISTER?
[15] FINAL RESULTS OF FIRST ROUND OF MOLDOVAN PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS.
[16] BULGARIAN POLITICIANS DISCUSS CURRENCY BOARD.
[17] RUN ON BULGARIAN STATE SAVINGS BANK.
[A] TRANSCAUCASIA AND CENTRAL ASIA
[01] SECRET GEORGIAN-ABKHAZ TALKS.
Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze met on 14 November in Tbilisi with
Abkhaz Foreign Minister Konstantin Ozgan to discuss "the full range of
questions regarding the Georgian-Abkhaz conflict" including a possible
meeting between Shevardnadze and Abkhaz President Vladislav Ardzinba,
Reuters reported on 18 November, quoting Georgian presidential press
spokesman Vakhtang Abashidze. Also on 18 November, Shevardnadze again
condemned the Abkhaz parliamentary elections scheduled for 23 November as
"illegal" and "a masquerade." -- Liz Fuller
[02] UZBEKISTAN, KAZAKSTAN SIGN GAS DEAL.
An agreement signed in Tashkent on 18 November will open the way for
Uzbekistan to ship $150 million worth of gas to southern Kazakstan, the BBC
reported on 19 November. The agreement resulted from a one-day meeting that
focused attention on the fact that Kazakstan currently owes its southern
neighbor $26 million for 1995 gas shipments. Kazakstan had no alternative
but to sign the agreement after it failed to take advantage of its own
untapped resources and finalize gas shipment arrangements with
Turkmenistan. The deal is seen as a major step for Uzbekistan, which hopes
to capitalize on its growing capacity to export raw materials and energy
resources and, in the process, settle its own economic problems. -- Roger
Kangas
[03] CLINTON PRAISES AZERBAIJAN'S STANCE ON CFE.
U.S. President Bill Clinton on 18 November dispatched a message to his
Azerbaijani counterpart Heidar Aliev emphasizing the importance of reaching
a settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict as a basis for stability and
prosperity in the Caucasus, ITAR-TASS reported. Clinton also praised
Azerbaijan's "firm stand" on compliance with the CFE (in contrast, Georgia
has ceded to Russia part of its CFE allowance). Clinton further affirmed
the U.S.'s intention to broaden its dialogue with Azerbaijan on issues of
regional stability. -- Liz Fuller
[04] OPPOSITION RALLY IN YEREVAN.
Speaking at their traditional weekly rally on 15 November, Armenian
opposition leaders said they do not trust the Constitutional Court because
it is "not independent," Noyan Tapan reported on 18 November. The
Constitutional Court is to rule on the opposition's appeal of the recent
presidential election results. Representatives of student organizations at
the rally demanded the release of Mikael Surenyants and Vahe Varsamyan, two
activists arrested during the violent 25 September protests against the
election results. Meanwhile, some 300 protesters gathered in front of the
Constitutional Court building in Yerevan on 18 November to demand a live TV
broadcast of the court's hearings on the appeal. -- Emil Danielyan
[05] FOUR RADIO STATIONS SUSPENDED IN ALMATY.
The Almaty-based independent radio stations Totem, RIK, NS, and Radio M
have not been able to broadcast for the past several days, Kazakstani TV
reported on 18 November, citing the radios' presidents. The stations were
shut down because their frequencies allegedly interfere with the local
airport's communications system, an official explanation dismissed by all
four stations (see OMRI Daily Digest, 15 November 1996) Sergei Duvanov,
director of Radio M, said the stations were shut down for "political
reasons." Aidar Zhumabayev, president of the International Center of
Journalism Akbar, said there are also possible commercial reasons for
shutting down the stations, referring to an upcoming tender for frequencies
to be held in 1997. -- Slava Kozlov in Almaty
[06] TURKMENISTAN, TURKEY SIGN AGREEMENTS.
Turkmen President Saparmurat Niyazov met his Turkish counterpart, Suleyman
Demirel, on 18 November in Ankara and the two signed agreements covering
environmental, educational, and economic cooperation, according to ITAR-
TASS and RFE/RL. Demirel said the two countries enjoy "perfect relations"
and Niyazov mentioned that Turkish investors had already sunk $1.5 billion
into Turkmen projects. Niyazov arrived in Turkey on 14 November for medical
check-ups, but none of the reports carried any detailed information on the
results. TRT TV in Ankara, monitored by the BBC, reported that Niyazov's
examination had a "cardiac emphasis." Niyazov suffers from respiratory
problems and had an operation on his leg to remove a blood clot in 1994. --
Bruce Pannier
[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[07] ROW OVER PLAVSIC MEETING WITH MLADIC BACKERS.
Republika Srpska President Biljana Plavsic on 18 November met with a
general staff delegation for the first time since she cashiered the
officers' former commander, Gen. Ratko Mladic. She was joined by Mladic's
successor, Gen. Pero Colic, AFP reported. The group consisted of Gens.
Manojlo Milovanovic, Zdravko Tolimir, Zivomir Ninkovic, Momir Talic, and
Novica Simic. Plavsic had named Talic to command Banja Luka's First Corps
and Simic to head the Third Corps in Brcko, but the other three men are
Mladic loyalists. Her office later announced that the outcome of the
meeting was that Mladic would go, but on 19 November his staff issued an
angry denial saying all that was agreed on was that Plavsic would meet with
Mladic on 20 November. -- Patrick Moore
[08] NATO AGREES TO SET UP SUCCESSOR TO IFOR.
NATO ambassadors on 18 November voted to set up a Stabilization Force
(SFOR) to replace IFOR when its mandate runs out on 20 December, the BBC
reported. SFOR will have 31,000 members, which is just under half of what
IFOR had at its peak. The ambassadors called for detailed contingency
planning to provide for the new force, but they were unable to agree on the
length of its mandate. The question of a clear and robust mandate is the
key issue. The next step in establishing SFOR lies with the UN Security
Council. Meanwhile in Sarajevo, Bosnian Defense Minister Vladimir Soljic,
an ethnic Croat, resigned as part of an apparent face-saving maneuver to
enable his Muslim deputy, Hasan Cengic, also to leave office,
Oslobodjenje reported on 19 November. The U.S. insists that Cengic, who
has close Iranian links, leave before Washington resumes its military aid
program. -- Patrick Moore
[09] SECRECY SURROUNDS TUDJMAN ILLNESS.
The Croatian authorities have aroused deep suspicions among the public as
to how ill President Franjo Tudjman is by ignoring or playing down news of
his hospitalization in Washington. Officials on 16 November blocked the
publication of the weekly Nacional because the latest issue was devoted
to Tudjman's health, Novi List reported on 18 November. The government
also refused to provide any information to another independent weekly,
Globus, when it sought to cover the story. The authorities first tried to
deny that Tudjman was ill and then sought to depict his problems as routine
(see OMRI Daily Digest, 18 November 1996). State-run dailies suggest
today that Tudjman has already resumed work and are giving prominent
coverage to the story of the anniversary of the fall of Vukovar. Opposition
parties and independent media charged the state-controlled media and the
authorities with behaving like their communist predecessors, Reuters noted.
-- Patrick Moore
[10] OPPOSITION VICTORIES IN FEDERAL YUGOSLAV LOCAL ELECTIONS.
Opposition parties have claimed victory in the local elections in Serbia's
12 largest cities, Nasa Borba reported on 19 November. Voters went to the
polls on 17 November in a run-off ballot. Opposition parties won
convincingly in Belgrade as well as in industrial centers such as Nis,
Kragujevac, Kraljevo, Cacak, and Novi Sad, the capital of Vojvodina.
Preliminary results show the opposition winning some 70 out of 110 seats in
Belgrade. Ivica Dacic, speaking on behalf of the ruling Socialist Party of
Serbia, said the leftist coalition dominated by the SPS won 134 of the 174
municipalities in Serbia, but Reuters added that "none of the big towns
were on his list." -- Stan Markotich
[11] MONTENEGRO'S NEW LEGISLATURE CONVENES.
At its first session since the 3 November elections, the Montenegrin
parliament re-elected Svetozar Marovic, a member of the ruling Democratic
Socialist Party, as parliamentary speaker, AFP reported. The governing
party has an absolute majority of 45 of the 71 seats in the legislature. --
Stan Markotich
[12] KOSOVO'S PRIME MINISTER IN EXILE CRITICIZES PRESIDENT.
In an interview published in Koha on 6 November, shadow-state Prime
Minister Bujar Bukoshi sharply criticized President Ibrahim Rugova. He said
Rugova's office could function only as long as the Serbian authorities
tolerated it. Bukoshi claimed that the president was sidelining the shadow-
state government, noting that Rugova had not consulted the shadow-state
education minister during negotiations over an education agreement with
Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic. -- Fabian Schmidt
[13] MACEDONIAN LOCAL ELECTIONS UPDATE.
Preliminary results of the 17 November local elections indicate that the
ruling Social Democratic Union of Macedonia (SDSM) remains the strongest
party, despite a strong showing by the opposition, Nova Makedonija and
Western agencies reported. Of the municipal council seats allocated so far,
the SDSM has 503, the nationalist Internal Macedonian Revolutionary
Organization--Democratic Party for Macedonian National Unity (VMRO--DPMNE)
339, the Socialist Party (the SDSM's coalition partner) 147, the Democratic
Party 104, the Liberal Party 102, the ethnic Albanian Party of Democratic
Prosperity (PPD) 92, and the Party of Democratic Prosperity of the
Albanians (PPDSH) 80. Of the 40 mayoralties decided in the first round, the
SDSM won 13, the coalition of VMRO--DPMNE, the Democrats, and the Movement
for All-Macedonian Action--Conservative Party 11, the PPD 9, the Socialists
4, and the PPDSH 1. Run-off elections for unfilled seats will take place on
1 December. -- Stefan Krause
[14] WHO WILL BE ROMANIA'S NEW PRIME MINISTER?
Romanian media report that the National Peasant Party-Christian Democratic
(PNT-CD) will decide today who will be Romania's new premier. The main
candidates are Mayor of Bucharest Victor Ciorbea and Senators Radu Vasile
and Ulm Spineanu, both of whom were elected to Romania's upper house on the
PNT-CD ticket earlier this month. Meanwhile, the opinion poll institute
IRSOP says that only about half of those who backed Petre Roman in the
first round of the 17 November presidential elections followed his advice
to vote for Emil Constantinescu in the second round. Supporters of the
Hungarian Democratic Federation of Romania, however, appear to have rallied
behind Constantinescu, while 3% of the Party of Social Democracy of
Romania's backers also voted for him. Final results of the 17 November
ballot are due today. -- Michael Shafir
[15] FINAL RESULTS OF FIRST ROUND OF MOLDOVAN PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS.
According to the Central Electoral Commission on 18 November, incumbent
President Mircea Snegur won 38.71% in the first round of the presidential
elections the previous day. He was followed by parliamentary Chairman Petru
Lucinshci with 27.69%, Chairman of the Communists' Party Vladimir Voronin
(10.26%), Premier Andrei Sangheli (9.5%), and Valeriu Matei, leader of the
pro-Western Party of Democratic Forces (8.88%). Four other candidates
received between 0.43% and 2.13% of the vote. Snegur and Lucinschi will now
take part in a run-off, scheduled for 1 December. -- Zsolt Mato
[16] BULGARIAN POLITICIANS DISCUSS CURRENCY BOARD.
Outgoing President Zhelyu Zhelev on 18 November met representatives of all
caucuses to discuss the possible introduction of a currency board, Duma
reported. Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) representatives took part in the
discussion, despite an earlier statement by Prime Minister Zhan Videnov
saying they would not. Stefan Savov, joint leader of the People's Union,
said his party would support a BSP draft law under certain circumstances
that would "more or less amount to the resignation of this government." He
added that the current opposition will take over only after early
parliamentary elections. Ahmed Dogan, chairman of the mainly ethnic Turkish
Movement for Rights and Freedom, supported this position. Union of
Democratic Forces politicians said they are still consulting with foreign
experts and have not yet made a final decision on their stance. -- Stefan
Krause
[17] RUN ON BULGARIAN STATE SAVINGS BANK.
Bulgarians on 18 November formed long lines outside the State Savings Bank
(DSK) offices throughout the country, national media reported. Fearing
hyperinflation and the unforeseen consequences of the possible introduction
of the currency board, people withdrew their savings to convert them into
hard currency. DSK Director Bistra Dimitrova told the parliament that the
bank's reserves are sufficient to meet its obligations only until next
March. The DSK had retained until recently its reputation as trustworthy.
Finance Minister Dimitar Kostov told Pari that the lack of confidence in
the DSK was "unfounded." -- Maria Koinova
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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