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OMRI Daily Digest, Vol. 2, No. 111, 96-06-07
From: Open Media Research Institute <http://www.omri.cz>
Vol. 2, No. 111, 7 June 1996
CONTENTS
[A] TRANSCAUCASIA AND CENTRAL ASIA
[01] GEORGIA'S ARMENIAN COMMUNITY AGAIN RAISES QUESTION OF AUTONOMY.
[02] KAZAKHSTAN WRITES OFF FARM DEBTS.
[03] JAPAN PLEDGES MONEY FOR KYRGYZ AIRPORT.
[04] TAJIK REFUGEES A PROBLEM IN ALTAI KRAI.
[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[05] NATO VEHICLES SURROUND KARADZIC'S HOUSE.
[06] HAGUE COURT WANTS SANCTIONS AGAINST PALE AND BELGRADE.
[07] BOSNIAN UPDATE.
[08] BOSNIAN FEDERAL ASSEMBLY ADOPTS 21 AMENDMENTS.
[09] RUMP YUGOSLAVIA TO OPEN CONSULATE IN CROATIA.
[10] RELEASED SERBIAN PRISONERS ARRIVE IN RUMP YUGOSLAVIA.
[11] MOLDOVA PROTESTS CHANGE IN RUSSIAN PEACEKEEPING FORCES.
[12] BULGARIAN AGRICULTURE MINISTER RESIGNS.
[13] BULGARIAN ROUNDUP.
[14] ALBANIAN INTERIOR MINISTER SACKS POLICE CHIEFS.
[15] WASHINGTON CALLS FOR NEW ELECTIONS IN ALBANIA.
[A] TRANSCAUCASIA AND CENTRAL ASIA
[01] GEORGIA'S ARMENIAN COMMUNITY AGAIN RAISES QUESTION OF AUTONOMY.
The predominantly ethnic Armenian population of Georgia's Akhaltsikhe
and Akhalkalaki raions, which border on Armenia, took advantage of
Armenian President Levon Ter-Petrossyan's visit to the region on 5 June to
demand some degree of autonomy, NTV reported. The Georgian Interior Ministry
has refuted Georgian media reports that Armenian military units violated the
frontier and advanced 4 km into Georgian territory, according to BGI on 6
June. There are approximately 500,000 Armenians in Georgia, or 10% of the
entire population. -- Liz Fuller
[02] KAZAKHSTAN WRITES OFF FARM DEBTS.
Faced with a severe economic crisis, the Kazakhstani government has decided to
write off half the debt of agricultural commodity producers, including the
entire amount of interest owed, Deputy Prime Minister Zhanibek Karibzhanov
told ITAR-TASS at a press conference on 6 June. The government has also
decided to write off the farmers' arrears in electricity payments until the
period ending on 1 May. A total $300 million of debt has been written off. --
Bhavna Dave
[03] JAPAN PLEDGES MONEY FOR KYRGYZ AIRPORT.
Kyrgyz officials announced on 6 June that Japan will extend a $55 million
credit to Kyrgyzstan for improving the Manas Airport in Bishkek, RFE/RL and
AFP reported. Japan has invested about $160 million in Kyrgyzstan since the
Central Asian nation gained independence in 1991. The same day the Asian
Development Bank announced that it will provide a $30 million concessional
loan to Kyrgyzstan to upgrade its power and heating sector. -- Bruce
Pannier
[04] TAJIK REFUGEES A PROBLEM IN ALTAI KRAI.
Refugees from Tajikistan who have turned to begging in order to live are
creating a large problem in Russia's Altai Krai and Gornyi Altai Republic,
ITAR-TASS reported on 6 June. Viktor Oblogin, the mayor of Gorno-Altaisk, the
republic's capital, expelled the Tajiks from the city and in so doing created
a problem in neighboring Altai Krai. The report claims Tajik beggars lined the
streets and often carried disease such as malaria and cholera. The forced
relocation of the Tajiks has already begun. Buses have brought them to a no
man's land called "Freedom Valley" on the border of the Gornyi Altai Republic
and Altai Krai. -- Bruce Pannier
[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[05] NATO VEHICLES SURROUND KARADZIC'S HOUSE.
NATO troops have stepped up their psychological campaign against the Bosnian
Serb leadership, which recently included the reported use of helicopters to
chase Col. Slavko Aleksic near Sarajevo. Three armored personnel carriers were
deployed around the home of indicted war criminal Radovan Karadzic in Pale and
pointed their barrels at it, Onasa reported on 6 June. The vehicles left the
scene after a group of civilians gathered between the house and the armored
vehicles. IFOR has also stepped up patrols in the Bosnian Serb capital.
Meanwhile in Washington, the Pentagon announced on 6 June that Vice Adm. T.
Joseph Lopez will replace Adm. Leighton Smith as NATO commander in southern
Europe and in Bosnia this summer. Spokesmen stressed that the move reflects
normal rotations of personnel and has nothing to do with policy, AFP noted. --
Patrick Moore
[06] HAGUE COURT WANTS SANCTIONS AGAINST PALE AND BELGRADE.
Antonio Cassese, the head of the International Criminal Tribunal for the
Former Yugoslavia, told a news conference in Sarajevo on 6 June that the court
wants the international community's High Representative Carl Bildt to
implement sanctions against the Republika Srpska. He said he will formally
launch the proposal at the upcoming international summit on Bosnia-Herzegovina
in Florence. Cassese added that he "probably" will also ask for sanctions to
be reimposed on rump Yugoslavia, Onasa and Nasa Borba noted. He stressed
that neither Serb state is properly cooperating with the court as the Dayton
agreement obliges them to do. He told Bosnian Prime Minister Hasan Muratovic
that the Bosnian government is the only one in the former Yugoslavia that is
meeting its obligations to cooperate. -- Patrick Moore
[07] BOSNIAN UPDATE.
Delegations representing rump Yugoslavia, Croatia, the Bosnian Federation, the
Republika Srpska, and the Bosnian government met a midnight deadline to
complete an arms limitation agreement in Vienna on 6 June, AFP reported. The
Norwegian OSCE mediator said that the 90-page basic text has been written and
only a few details remain to be ironed out. Such an agreement is specified in
the Dayton treaty and will take effect after being signed in Oslo on 11 June.
Meanwhile in Bosnia, representatives of Serbs loyal to the Bosnian government
and to a multi-ethnic Bosnia strongly protested discrimination against Serbs
on federal territory, particularly in the Sarajevo suburbs, Nasa Borba and
Oslobodjenje noted on 7 June. Elsewhere, a cross-border bus between Banja
Luka and Zenica completed its journey on 6 June after a "short dispute" with
Bosnian Serb police who had stopped it, Onasa said. -- Patrick Moore
[08] BOSNIAN FEDERAL ASSEMBLY ADOPTS 21 AMENDMENTS.
The federal assembly at its constitutional session on 5 June adopted 21
amendments to the constitution, Onasa reported. This followed complaints from
federal President Kresimir Zubak that the laws adopted by the Bosnian Republic
Assembly were illegitimate. However, no agreement was reached on the
amendments relating to the federation's defense, customs service, diplomatic-
consular missions, and the Sarajevo city organization. The biggest controversy
is over a defense bill intended to integrate the Croatian and Muslim armies
within three years. Bosnian President Alija Izetbegovic emphasized that the
two parties still have separate armies and "unfortunately they cannot be
eliminated by the stroke of a pen," Reuters reported on 6 June. -- Daria Sito
Sucic
[09] RUMP YUGOSLAVIA TO OPEN CONSULATE IN CROATIA.
Rump Yugoslavia's Foreign Ministry issued a statement on 6 June that the
Yugoslav government bureau in Zagreb will start to function as a consulate
from 15 June, Nasa Borba reported the next day. The consulate will be in
charge of protecting rump Yugoslavia's interests in Croatia. The office will
also issue passports and visas. In another development, Eastern Slavonian
Serbs asked the UN to extend the mandate for its transitional authority
(UNTAES) by one year, AFP reported on 6 June. Croatian Serbs also decided to
form a 15-member "expert council" to hold talks with Croatia on the future
status of the region. Eastern Slavonia is slated to be returned to the
Croatian government, while under the Dayton peace accords UNTAES has a 12-
month mandate, which can be extended by an additional year, to insure the
peaceful transition of the territory. -- Daria Sito Sucic
[10] RELEASED SERBIAN PRISONERS ARRIVE IN RUMP YUGOSLAVIA.
Sixty of 78 ethnic Serbian prisoners freed by Croatia in accordance with an
amnesty that Croatian President Franjo Tudjman announced at the end of May
arrived in rump Yugoslavia on 6 June, having been transported by the
International Committee of the Red Cross, Nasa Borba reported the next day.
All 78 were arrested during Croatia's August 1995 Operation Storm mission to
reclaim territory held by Serbian rebel forces. The prisoners were charged for
their roles in the 1991 Krajina Serb uprising against Croatia. All received
pardons on 30 May, and 18 decided to stay in Croatia, Reuters reported on 6
June. -- Stan Markotich
[11] MOLDOVA PROTESTS CHANGE IN RUSSIAN PEACEKEEPING FORCES.
Senior Moldovan officials protested Russia's decision to transfer a battalion
belonging to its troops based in eastern Moldova to the peacekeeping forces in
that region, Moldovan news agencies reported on 6 June. The move took place on
30 May when more than 200 military and dozens of armored vehicles were
dispatched to the town of Tighina (Bendery) to join the peacekeeping forces
there. Victor Cecan, Moldova's representative on the Joint Control Commission,
said that the decision is in violation of a July 1992 Moldovan-Russian
convention on the settlement of the Dniester conflict that provided for the
strict neutrality of the former 14th Russian Army. Moldova wants Russia to
withdraw this army, re-named Operational Group last summer. The Russian
military attache in Chisinau claimed that the move was "due to purely
financial reasons." -- Dan Ionescu
[12] BULGARIAN AGRICULTURE MINISTER RESIGNS.
Svetoslav Shivarov on 6 June announced his resignation as agriculture
minister. The leadership of the Bulgarian Agrarian People's Union "Aleksandar
Stamboliyski" approved his decision, Demokratsiya reported. Shivarov, who
took over the Agriculture Ministry only on 23 January, did not resign his post
as deputy premier. He had been widely criticized for his failure to deal with
the ongoing grain and bread shortage and was named as one of the most likely
victims of the cabinet reshuffle expected next week. The plenary meeting of
the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) Supreme Council on 8 June is expected to
approve changes in the government and the BSP Executive Bureau. Prime Minister
Zhan Videnov's economic advisor Ivan Angelov also resigned, Duma reported.
Meanwhile in Standart, Executive Bureau member Vladimir Topencharov said
the government might fall in two or three months if the situation does not
change. -- Stefan Krause
[13] BULGARIAN ROUNDUP.
The parliament on 7 June dismissed Bulgarian National TV Director-General Ivan
Granitski, Bulgarian media reported. The opposition boycotted the vote. The
parliamentary commission overseeing the state media had proposed Granitski's
dismissal on 5 June (see OMRI Daily Digest, 6 June 1996), but a vote on 6
June failed after the opposition walked out and the necessary quorum of 120
lawmakers was not met. In other news, thousands of people protested against
the government's economic and social politics in Sofia on 6 June, Reuters
reported. They called for the government's resignation and shouted "we are
hungry." Hundreds of thousands went on a nationwide one-hour warning strike.
Also on 6 June, Amnesty International released a report accusing Bulgaria of
police brutality and the death of prisoners "on a large scale." Meanwhile,
Interior Minister Nikolay Dobrev asked the parliament to lift a moratorium on
the death penalty adopted in 1990. -- Stefan Krause
[14] ALBANIAN INTERIOR MINISTER SACKS POLICE CHIEFS.
The Interior Ministry on 6 June sacked seven police chiefs for violently
crushing an opposition rally in Tirana on 28 May, Reuters reported. The police
had beaten with batons senior opposition leaders and parliamentary candidates
protesting alleged manipulations in the 26 May parliamentary elections. The
police injured a number of people, including journalists, and temporarily
detained opposition politicians. Those sacked include a colonel and a deputy
colonel, who are vice-directors in the Interior Ministry, and five senior
Tirana police officers. The Socialist Party has filed suits against the secret
service and the police in connection with the incidents. The police has banned
opposition demonstrations from central Skanderbeg Square and prevented an
opposition rally on 4 June, but the Socialists have called for another one on
8 June. -- Fabian Schmidt
[15] WASHINGTON CALLS FOR NEW ELECTIONS IN ALBANIA.
U.S. State Department spokesman Nicholas Burns said that Albania's offer to
partially repeat the Albanian elections is not good enough and that the
election should be redone in more areas, AFP reported on 6 June. He added that
fraud was widespread in the ballot and is quoted as saying that "further U.S.
actions will depend upon the response of the Albanian government to our
proposals." The Albanian government has offered re-elections in four
constituencies. Meanwhile, the Socialist Party said that it wants re-elections
in at least 107 election districts out of a total 115. An earlier U.S. State
Department statement on 1 June called the vote "a significant step backward"
from previous parliamentary elections in 1992 that "cast a shadow on the
prospects for democratic progress in Albania," Reuters reported. -- 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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