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OMRI: Daily Digest, Vol. 3, No. 17, 97-01-24
From: Open Media Research Institute <http://www.omri.cz>
Vol. 3, No. 17, 24 January 1997
CONTENTS
[A] TRANSCAUCASIA AND CENTRAL ASIA
[01] ARMENIAN PRIME MINISTER ON RELATIONS WITH RUSSIA, U.S.
[02] RUSSIAN GENERAL: RUSSIAN TROOPS ARE LIKELY TO REMAIN IN ARMENIA.
[03] AZERBAIJANI AMBASSADOR SUES PAPER.
[04] NEW REGULATIONS FOR FOREIGNERS STAYING IN ASHGABAT.
[05] THREE KILLED IN TAJIK CAPITAL.
[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[06] POLICE CRACK-DOWN MOUNTS IN SERBIA.
[07] MUSLIM REFUGEES BEGIN TRIP HOME BEHIND SERB LINES.
[08] OSCE LAUNCHES BOSNIAN LOCAL ELECTION SEASON.
[09] LE PEN PRAISES BOSNIAN SERBS.
[10] CROATIAN INDEPENDENT RADIO KEEPS ITS LICENSE.
[11] ROMANIAN MILITARY CHIEFS REPLACED.
[12] ROMANIAN STATE PROPERTY FUND RESHUFFLED.
[13] DNIESTER LEADER WANTS AGREEMENT WITH MOLDOVA UNCHANGED.
[14] BULGARIA'S PRESIDENT TO GIVE THE SOCIALISTS A MANDATE?
[15] ALBANIA BANS PYRAMID SCHEMES.
[A] TRANSCAUCASIA AND CENTRAL ASIA
[01] ARMENIAN PRIME MINISTER ON RELATIONS WITH RUSSIA, U.S.
Armen Sarkisyan on 23 January refuted Armenian media reports that the
country plans to sign a confederative agreement with Russia similar to the
April 1996 Russian-Belarusian community treaty, Armenian and Russian media
reported. Sarkisyan said Armenia will continue to cooperate with Russia on
an "equal and mutually beneficial" basis. He described the agreement with
Gazprom on setting up a joint Russian-Armenian venture (see OMRI Daily
Digest, 23 January 1997) as "extremely important," saying it is a "first
step to end Armenia's economic blockade." Sarkisyan said he is satisfied
with his recent visit to the U.S., adding that 1997 will see "a new page"
in relations between the two countries. He also said U.S. politicians and
entrepreneurs are expressing a growing interest in Armenia. Sarkisyan
denied that the U.S. put pressure on Armenia to hold early parliamentary
elections. -- Emil Danielyan
[02] RUSSIAN GENERAL: RUSSIAN TROOPS ARE LIKELY TO REMAIN IN ARMENIA.
Maj.-Gen. Aleksei Tretyakov, commander of Russian troops stationed in
Armenia, said the March 1995 agreement between the Russian and Armenian
presidents on the Russian military base is unlikely to be revised, Snark
reported on 21 January. Recent reports in the Russian media have suggested
that the Russian General Staff is questioning the strategic value of
maintaining Russian troops in Armenia and Georgia. Tretyakov said the
troops are "protecting the interests of Russia and Armenia" along the
external border of the CIS, adding that they will not intervene in the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. -- Emil Danielyan
[03] AZERBAIJANI AMBASSADOR SUES PAPER.
Azerbaijani Ambassador to Russia Ramiz Rezaev has sued the Russian
newspaper Pravda-5 for defamation of character after the paper published
an article alleging he was a heavy drinker and unwelcome in various
diplomatic settings, Radio Rossii reported on 23 January. Rezaev is
reportedly seeking 15 billion rubles (about $2.5 million) in damages.
Pravda-5 has apologized to Rezaev for the publication. -- Lowell Bezanis
and Emil Danielyan
[04] NEW REGULATIONS FOR FOREIGNERS STAYING IN ASHGABAT.
Ashgabat's mayor has issued an order requiring all visitors to the Turkmen
capital to stay in officially approved hotels, RFE/RL reported on 23
January. Foreigners arriving in Ashgabat with their families will be
exempted from the new rule if they sign leases with the city authorities.
The order also obliges all government offices and businesses inviting
foreigners to Turkmenistan to register their presence with the local
authorities. -- Lowell Bezanis
[05] THREE KILLED IN TAJIK CAPITAL.
Three Russians, two of them women, were killed in Dushanbe on 23 January,
AFP reported. Oleg Motus, described as a "Cossack military commander," was
shot at close range along with his mother and his fiancee. Motus, born in
Tajikistan, had returned to work on a humanitarian aid project. While open
warfare in Tajikistan has been brought to a halt since the 23 December
signing of a ceasefire agreement between the government and the United
Tajik Opposition, Russian soldiers serving in Tajikistan have recently
become targets of a terror campaign. Civilians have not been exempt from
random acts of violence but have not usually been singled out as targets. --
Bruce Pannier
[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[06] POLICE CRACK-DOWN MOUNTS IN SERBIA.
Tensions between protesters and police escalated to violence in several
parts of Serbia on 23 January, Nasa Borba reported. The worst example was
in the city of Kragujevac, where protesting motorists blocking access roads
were clubbed by baton-wielding riot police. Radio B92 reported that at
least several people were seriously wounded, including an opposition member
of parliament. Opposition leaders were seemingly singled out for physical
abuse and detention. The developments were triggered by an order from the
ruling Socialists to Kragujevac police to occupy a local TV and radio
facility. While several hundred police officers barricaded themselves
inside the building, several thousand demonstrators encircled the facility
and threatened to enter. In protest, local TV and radio journalists<strong>
</strong>stopped working, Beta reported. In Smederevska Palanka, five
leading members of the Zajedno opposition coalition were arrested for
taking part in an auto blockade. Police also arrested an opposition leader
in Kraljevo. Belgrade, relatively calm by comparison, saw continuing mass
demonstrations, with at least 10,000 people gathering in the capital on 23
January. Students also continued their around-the-clock protest of the
police cordon in central Belgrade. Zajedno leader Vuk Draskovic told
Belgrade protesters: "Our demonstrations will only stop after our electoral
victory is acknowledged." -- Stan Markotich
[07] MUSLIM REFUGEES BEGIN TRIP HOME BEHIND SERB LINES.
Some 11 Muslims returned to the village of Gajevi just inside Serb lines in
northeastern Bosnia on 23 January. They began removing mines and preparing
for 36 families to arrive on 24 January, international and regional media
reported. Muslims started last August to try to exercise their right under
the Dayton agreement to go home, but the Serbs charged that the move was a
military provocation. The current group has completed a formal procedure
sponsored by the UN and agreed to by all sides to ensure that those taking
part are only bona fide refugees from the village in question. Several
incidents involving explosions or protests by angry Serb crowds have
delayed the return to Gajevi, which was to have started on 20 January. U.S.
and Russian SFOR troops surprised ten Bosnian Serb police on 23 January in
the act of setting an anti-personnel mine in the area. SFOR has now
restricted the movements of the police. The 36 families will be housed in
prefabricated buildings because the old village was destroyed. -- Patrick
Moore
[08] OSCE LAUNCHES BOSNIAN LOCAL ELECTION SEASON.
The OSCE-sponsored all-Bosnian-party Political Party Consultation Council
announced on 23 January that registration for parties and candidates for
July local elections will run from 9 February to 8 March, AFP reported. The
lists of those certified will be published on 7 May. However, the thorniest
question, voter registration, remains open. The local elections were
postponed from 14 September last year because the Serbs in particular had
systematically abused a loophole in the Dayton agreement and registered
thousands of Serb refugees to vote in formerly mainly Muslim or Croat areas
where the refugees had never lived. The Muslims and Croats have demanded
that the loophole be closed, while the Serbs insist that it remain. The
issue must be clarified by the end of January. -- Patrick Moore
[09] LE PEN PRAISES BOSNIAN SERBS.
Jean-Marie Le Pen of France's far-right National Front continued his Balkan
tour on 23 January by meeting with the Bosnian Serb leadership in Pale, AFP
reported. He told Momcilo Krajisnik, the Serbian member of the Bosnian
collective presidency: "I have come to express to you the greetings of
French patriots. All the patriots of the world have in common a set of
identical values which makes us all a community of civilized men and women.
People today no longer know what attachment to the land and the country is.
We understand this very well." Krajisnik replied: "We very rarely hear such
words. Usually what we hear are criticisms." Le Pen was slated to return to
Belgrade on 24 January to sign a "political alliance" with the Serbian
Radical Party of Vojislav Seselj, who has been his host. -- Patrick Moore
[10] CROATIAN INDEPENDENT RADIO KEEPS ITS LICENSE.
Zagreb's Radio 101 won a round in a prolonged legal battle with Croatian
authorities on 24 January, Reuters reported. The station announced in a
live broadcast: "We got it! Radio 101 got its concession." The National
Telecommunications Council had informed Radio 101 that morning that its
license had been renewed. The authorities tried to take the station's
license away last November but backtracked when the largest crowds in years
turned out in central Zagreb in support of the station. Radio 101's fight
is far from over, however: it must settle an alleged "ownership dispute" by
31 October. The ruling Croatian Democratic Community's government is
generally intolerant of independent media, and has hounded the few
independent dailies and weeklies with lawsuits and take-overs or driven
them out of business. The government is particularly tough with electronic
media and allows no independent television. Most independent radio stations
besides Radio 101 broadcast music and entertainment. -- Patrick Moore
[11] ROMANIAN MILITARY CHIEFS REPLACED.
Gen. Dumitru Cioflina, chief of the General Staff, and Gen. Florentin Popa,
chief of logistics, have been replaced by Gen. Constantin Degeratu and Gen.
Dan Zaharia, respectively, Prime Minister Victor Ciorbea announced on 23
January. A government press release said the replacements were in line with
standing procedure and reflected Romania's adherence to "democratic
principles," while at the same time praising the two dismissed officers,
Romanian media reported. Adrian Nastase, vice chairman of the previously
ruling Party of Social Democracy in Romania said the replacements were
unexpected and unjustified and had a "serious political motivation." In an
interview with Jurnalul National, Deputy Defense Minister Dudu Ionescu
hinted that Cioflina might be appointed Romania's representative to either
NATO or the UN. Meanwhile, Ion Diaconescu, leader of the main party in the
governing coalition, told Romanian television that the controversial
director of the Romanian Intelligence Service, Virgil Magureanu, will not
be replaced. -- Zsolt Mato
[12] ROMANIAN STATE PROPERTY FUND RESHUFFLED.
The Standing Bureau of the Chamber of Deputies decided on 23 January to
dismiss three members of parliament appointed by the previous legislature
from the State Property Fund and to replace them with members representing
the new governing coalition. The fund has been accused of slowing down
privatization, mismanaging its assets, and selling undervalued state
property to cronies, proteges, and supporters of the former government.
Adrian Nastase, vice chairman of the Party of Social Democracy in Romania,
protested against the decision, saying it was prompted by political
motives. Nastase's party colleagues and members of the Party of Romanian
National Unity walked out of the bureau meeting in protest, Romanian
television reported. -- Dan Ionescu
[13] DNIESTER LEADER WANTS AGREEMENT WITH MOLDOVA UNCHANGED.
Igor Smirnov, leader of the breakaway Dniester Republic, insists that the
memorandum negotiated with Moldova be signed without any amendments,
Infotag reported on 23 January. In a message addressed to Moldovan
President Petru Lucinschi, Russian President Boris Yeltsin, Ukrainian
President Leonid Kuchma, as well as to the head of the OSCE permanent
mission in Moldova, Smirnov said the memorandum should be signed in Moscow
with Russia and Ukraine acting as guarantors. He criticized the Moldovan
leadership for calling for revisions immediately after the document was
initialed by both parties on 17 June 1996. Smirnov accused Lucinschi of
reneging on his election campaign pledges to quickly sign the memorandum,
despite the fact that he had signed it in his former position of chairman
of the Moldovan parliament. -- Dan Ionescu
[14] BULGARIA'S PRESIDENT TO GIVE THE SOCIALISTS A MANDATE?
In his first full day in office, President Petar Stoyanov held separate
meetings with leaders of the opposition and the Bulgarian Socialist Party
aimed at finding a solution to the current political crisis, national and
international media reported. Both sides were reportedly entrenched in
their positions, with the Socialists demanding a mandate for a new
government and early elections at the end of 1997 and the opposition
pressing for immediate elections and a caretaker cabinet chosen by the
president. However, the opposition announced that Stoyanov would ask the
Socialists to form a cabinet before he leaves for Brussels on 28 January.
Opposition groups and trade unions promised to call a general strike on the
day that happens. Meanwhile, a few Socialist deputies proposed as a new
variant: that Stoyanov give a mandate to a different political group within
the current parliament. BSP leader Georgy Parvanov described that idea as
an "improvisation" and promised to solicit the opinion of the best
constitutional experts in the country. In other news, Bulgarian economic
experts cited by Pari said obvious signs of hyperinflation had emerged
over the past two days. "Stores are closing and people are not buying,"
Kontinent wrote on 24 January, adding that thousands of vendors were on
unpaid vacations and distributors were not supplying stores with goods. --
Maria Koinova
[15] ALBANIA BANS PYRAMID SCHEMES.
The parliament voted unanimously on 23 January to ban pyramid investment
schemes and announced that a draft law concerning compensation for cheated
investors will be discussed on 27 January. Police announced the arrest of
188 people including the leaders of the collapsed companies Populli and
Xhaferi, Bashkim Driza, and Rapush Xhaferi, Albania reported. The new law
went into force immediately and calls for minimum 20 years imprisonment and
the confiscation of all property of people running such schemes. People
convicted of abetting them may receive 10-year sentences. Meanwhile, in
Shkoder, about 1,500 people gathered outside the town hall accusing the
government of failing to warn them about the risks of pyramid schemes,
while about 2,500 people turned out in Durres and several hundred in
Elbasan. Five leftist and rightist opposition parties in Durres have
jointly pledged to keep up protests, and the Socialist Party in Tirana
called for another demonstration there on 26 January. -- Fabian Schmidt
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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