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OMRI: Daily Digest, Vol. 3, No. 58, 97-03-24
From: Open Media Research Institute <http://www.omri.cz>
Vol. 3, No. 58, 24 March 1997
CONTENTS
[A] TRANSCAUCASIA AND CENTRAL ASIA
[01] MORE REACTION TO KOCHARYAN'S APPOINTMENT.
[02] DPs FROM ABKHAZIA DEMONSTRATE IN TBILISI.
[03] KAZAKSTANI MARCHERS TURNED BACK WITH PROMISES.
[04] AKAYEV ON RUSSIAN LANGUAGE.
[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[05] ALBANIAN REFUGEES CONTINUE TO ARRIVE IN ITALY.
[06] ALBANIAN ROUNDUP.
[07] MORE DISCIPLINE IN BOSNIAN SERB LEADERSHIP?
[08] UN, CROATIA TO COOPERATE ON TWO-WAY REFUGEE RETURN.
[09] TWO CATHOLIC CHURCHES BOMBED IN BOSNIA.
[10] CRACKDOWN ON INDEPENDENT TV IN SERBIA.
[11] POLICEMAN SHOT IN KOSOVO.
[12] MACEDONIAN PREMIER WANTS CONFIDENCE VOTE, EARLY ELECTIONS.
[13] ROMANIAN ROUNDUP.
[14] ROMANIAN NATIONALIST LEADER OUSTED.
[15] ELECTION CAMPAIGN KICKS OFF IN BULGARIA.
[16] WORLD BANK OFFICIALS EXPRESS SUPPORT FOR BULGARIAN REFORMS.
[A] TRANSCAUCASIA AND CENTRAL ASIA
[01] MORE REACTION TO KOCHARYAN'S APPOINTMENT.
A day after the president of the self-proclaimed Republic of Nagorno-
Karabakh, Robert Kocharyan, became Armenia's prime minister, Azerbaijani
President Heydar Aliev canceled a planned visit to Pakistan, Reuters
reported on 21 March. Observers suggest the move was connected with
Kocharyan's appointment. Speaker of the Azerbaijani parliament Murtuz
Aleskerov, who replaced Aliev at the summit meeting of the Organization of
the Islamic Conference in Islamabad, said Armenia "has chosen the wrong
path." According to the leader of the opposition National Independence
Party, Etibar Mamedov, the choice of prime minister shows that Nagorno-
Karabakh "has been annexed by Armenia." Reuters quoted Western diplomats in
Baku as suggesting that Ter-Petrossyan's decision signifies that Armenia
will take a tougher stance on the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict. -- Emil Danielyan
[02] DPs FROM ABKHAZIA DEMONSTRATE IN TBILISI.
Some 7,000 people, primarily ethnic Georgians forced to flee Abkhazia in
1993, staged a demonstration in Tbilisi on 21 March to demand the
withdrawal from Abkhazia's Gali raion of the nominally CIS but exclusively
Russian peacekeeping force currently deployed there and Georgia's non-
participation in the upcoming CIS summit that is to debate expanding the
peacekeepers' mandate, Segodnya reported on 22 March. The previous day,
10 Georgian parliament deputies from the Abkhazia faction suspended the
hunger strike they began on 2 March to demand the withdrawal of Russian
peacekeepers from both Abkhazia and South Ossetiya, according to AFP. --
Liz Fuller
[03] KAZAKSTANI MARCHERS TURNED BACK WITH PROMISES.
Kazakstani police and local officials dissuaded an estimated 200 protesters
from marching 800 kilometers from Kentau to Almaty on 23 March to claim
their wage arrears, ITAR-TASS reported the same day. The march was blocked
15 kilometers outside Kentau; protesters, many of whom are employed by the
Achpolimetal ore-dressing plant in Kentau, agreed to return to the city
after being promised that their salaries would be paid within three days
and that they would receive free food during this period. -- Lowell Bezanis
[04] AKAYEV ON RUSSIAN LANGUAGE.
Speaking at a conference in Bishkek, Kyrgyz President Askar Akayev called
for the Russian language to be accorded official status, arguing that this
would strengthen relations between the country's ethnic communities, RFE/RL
reported on 22 March. His remarks appear aimed at giving impetus to the
Constitutional Court's efforts to amend the 1993 constitution by making
Russian an official language along with Kyrgyz. In other news, an estimated
2,000 students demonstrated in Bishkek on 19 March to protest plans to
revoke their free public transport privileges. The same day Prime Minister
Apas Joumagulov reassured students their privileges would not be suspended.
-- Naryn Idinov and Lowell Bezanis
[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[05] ALBANIAN REFUGEES CONTINUE TO ARRIVE IN ITALY.
Three ships carrying more than 600 refugees arrived in Brindisi on 23-24
March, bringing the total number of Albanian refugees in Italy to more than
11,000, international media reported. Five Albanians drowned on 22 March
while swimming to an Italian military vessel near the port of Vlora. The
same day, Italian air force planes brought nearly two tons of medicine and
medical equipment to Vlora for the local hospital, where more than 50
people are suffering from serious gunshot wounds. In Durres, an Albanian
cargo vessel delivered 1,200 tons of flour from Italy. It was the first
delivery in ten days. Italy is also preparing a limited military operation
to escort aid convoys but is waiting for the go-ahead from a EU meeting in
Brussels today. -- Fabian Schmidt
[06] ALBANIAN ROUNDUP.
Prime Minister Bashkim Fino met with rebel officials<strong> </strong>from
Vlora, who told him that police have established order there. Elsewhere,
the border crossing with Greece has been re-opened and bus services resumed,
AFP reported. But several people died in shooting incidents over the
weekend in the south, bringing the number of people killed since the unrest
began to more than 140 and the number of wounded to more than 700.
Officials attributed the latest deaths to confrontations between armed
gangs. Interior Minister Lush Perpali said "police have decided to crack
down on the armed bandits, who are terrorizing the population." He added
that "the situation remains chaotic in several towns where there are
murders, looting and rapes." President Sali Berisha again rejected calls
for his resignation, while in Tirana more than 1,000 people, mostly women
and children, demonstrated to press for an end to the violence. -- Fabian
Schmidt
[07] MORE DISCIPLINE IN BOSNIAN SERB LEADERSHIP?
The Supreme Council of the governing Serbian Democratic Party (SDS) held a
stormy closed-door session in Pale on 22 March to discuss recent public
disagreements over ties to Belgrade between Republika Srpska President
Biljana Plavsic and the Serbian member of the Bosnian joint presidency,
Momcilo Krajisnik, Nasa Borba reported on 24 March. Krajisinik has backed
the new Pale-Belgrade pact, while Plavsic opposed it on the grounds that it
gives to much power to Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic in the internal
affairs of the Bosnian Serbs. SDS chair Aleksa Buha said that Council
members agreed that in the future the leadership would decide on thorny
issues in private and then be obliged to support those decisions in public.
-- Patrick Moore
[08] UN, CROATIA TO COOPERATE ON TWO-WAY REFUGEE RETURN.
Senior UN and Croatian officials agreed on 21 March to cooperate in
returning some 150,000 people displaced by war in Croatia, Reuters
reported. They will set up a working group to plan a "two-way" return
allowing 80,000 Croats to go back to eastern Slavonia, currently held by
Serbs, and some 60,000 Serb refugees to return to their homes in western
Croatia. Meanwhile, the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia has sent Croatia a
draft treaty offering eastern Slavonia Serbs dual citizenship once the area
reverts to Croatia. Serbs from the region said they would feel safer if
they have dual citizenship. In other news, Belgrade has handed over to
Zagreb some 500 files on missing people whose remains were found in the
town of Vukovar in 1991 after it was taken by rebel Serbs, Reuters
reported. -- Daria Sito Sucic
[09] TWO CATHOLIC CHURCHES BOMBED IN BOSNIA.
Two Roman Catholic churches near the town of Travnik, in central Bosnia,
were bombed on 20 and 21 March, AFP reported. The blasts were the latest in
a series of attacks on churches following the announcement that Pope John
Paul II will visit Sarajevo on 13 April. Meanwhile, High Representative for
Bosnia Carl Bildt has demanded that the three Croatian policemen who were
given suspended sentences following a violent incident in western Mostar
last month face a retrial, AFP reported. Bildt described the trial as a
"complete mockery and a farce." -- Daria Sito Sucic
[10] CRACKDOWN ON INDEPENDENT TV IN SERBIA.
The Belgrade authorities are taking steps to drive privately-owned BK
Television from the air, AFP and VOA reported on 24 March. On 20 March, the
broadcasts, which had previously reached 60% of Serbia, were restricted to
Belgrade and Novi Sad on the grounds that bills had not been paid.
Subsequently, the station's license was called into question, an approach
the regime has often used in order to drive independent electronic media
from the air waves. BK's management has denied the charges. The real reason
for BK's problems is that whereas previously it had offered pro-regime
reporting, it was one of the few domestic media to provide extensive
coverage of the anti-Milosevic protests in recent months. Another reason
may be that wealthy station owner Bogoljub Karic has been mentioned as a
possible candidate against Slobodan Milosevic for the Yugoslav presidency
later this year. -- Patrick Moore
[11] POLICEMAN SHOT IN KOSOVO.
An unknown assailant shot at a Serbian policeman in a cafe in Podujevo, AFP
reported on 22 March. The attacker fired five bullets at Branislav
Milovanovic, who was seriously wounded. Since the beginning of this year,
eight people have been killed and seven injured in terrorist attacks for
which the Kosovo Liberation Army (UCK) has taken responsibility. Meanwhile,
a court has charged 18 ethnic Albanians with terrorism. Police say that, in
recent months, they have arrested 66 people who are charged with belonging
to the UCK or other alleged terrorist groups. -- Fabian Schmidt
[12] MACEDONIAN PREMIER WANTS CONFIDENCE VOTE, EARLY ELECTIONS.
Macedonian Premier Branko Crvenkovski told the parliament on 20 March he
would request a confidence vote in his government, MIC reported. He added
that after dealing with the consequences of the failure of the TAT savings
house--in which opposition leaders claim ministers are enmeshed--he would
begin dialogue with the opposition on electoral reforms and new elections.
Crvenkovski refused to exonerate officials from blame in the scandal and
promised to draw up within a week a program to compensate savers. Meanwhile,
Greek Premier Kostas Simitis said in Bucharest that he intends to travel to
Macedonia at "an appropriate moment," AFP reported on 21 March. Such a
visit would mark a significant improvement in the often tense relations
between the two neighbors. Greece is worried about an influx of Albanian
refugees, while Macedonia is concerned about a possible spread of the
anarchy to its own large ethnic Albanian minority. -- Michael Wyzan and
Patrick Moore
[13] ROMANIAN ROUNDUP.
Greek Premier Kostas Simitis on 21 March ended a two-day visit to Romania,
Radio Bucharest reported. He and his Romanian counterpart, Victor Ciorbea,
discussed bilateral cooperation and security in the Balkans. The two
premiers agreed that future talks on Balkan security matters should include
Bulgaria. They also called for coordination of efforts to find a peaceful
solution to the Albanian crisis. Meanwhile, addressing the third session of
the Crans Montana Forum in Bucharest on 21 March, Prime Minister Victor
Ciorbea announced new measures to encourage foreign investment in Romania,
Radio Bucharest and international agencies reported. Ciorbea said investors
will soon be free to withdraw profits and that the necessary legislation
will be passed within the next 45 days. -- Michael Shafir
[14] ROMANIAN NATIONALIST LEADER OUSTED.
The National Convention of the Party for Romanian National Unity on 22
March confirmed the ouster of Gheorghe Funar as president. The party's
Central Bureau had removed Funar from that post on 22 February. The
convention also elected interim President Valeriu Tabara as president and
removed Funar's main opponent, Ioan Gavra, as secretary-general. -- Zsolt
Mato
[15] ELECTION CAMPAIGN KICKS OFF IN BULGARIA.
Tens of thousands of Sofia citizens attended a United Democratic Forces
(ODS) rally on 23 March to launch the opposition's campaign for next
month's parliamentary elections, RFE/RL reported. This was the first
outdoor ODS rally since the January 1997 mass protests that ousted the
Socialists from power. The embattled Socialists launched their campaign
three days earlier, when several thousand, mostly elderly, people attended
a rally in Sofia. According to a poll in Demokratsiya on 24 March, the
ODS has 56-60% support and the Socialists 17-19%. The Euro-Left garnered 5-
6%, the Bulgarian Business Bloc 5-6%, and the Union for National Salvation,
which includes the ethnic Turkish Movement for Rights and Freedom, 4-5%. --
Maria Koinova
[16] WORLD BANK OFFICIALS EXPRESS SUPPORT FOR BULGARIAN REFORMS.
The World Bank will lend Bulgaria $40 million in May for grain purchases
and $170 million in June for social assistance. It will also provide a $170
million Financial and Enterprise Sector Adjustment Loan in two tranches
(June and December), Demokratsiya reported. These figures were revealed
when Premier Stefan Sofiyanski met on 21 March--his fourth consecutive day
in Washington--with World Bank officials. Meanwhile, Caretaker Deputy Prime
Minister and Industry Minister Aleksandar Bozhkov told Kapital on 23
March that privatization in Bulgaria will be "radical [and] total." He said
no enterprise will be in government hands in two years' time. He said there
will be no exceptions, not even for the current rail, telecommunications,
electricity, and air transport monopolies. -- Michael Wyzan and Stefan
Krause
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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