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RFE/RL Newsline, Vol. 1, No. 7, 97-04-09
RFE/RL NEWSLINE
Vol. 1, No. 7, 9 April 1997
CONTENTS
[A] TRANSCAUCASIA AND CENTRAL ASIA
[01] TWO AZERIS KILLED IN CLASH ON ARMENIAN BORDER.
[02] KAZAK-KYRGYZ RELATIONS.
[03] NEW TURKMEN ECONOMIC DREAM REVEALED.
[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[04] ITALIAN POLITICAL ROW THREATENS MISSION TO ALBANIA.
[05] ALBANIA BLASTS ITALIAN CALL FOR BERISHA TO GO.
[06] GREEK FORCE ALL SET FOR ALBANIA.
[07] U.S. URGES SLAVONIAN SERBS TO VOTE IN CROATIAN ELECTIONS.
[08] CROATIA'S TUDJMAN ON THE STUMP.
[09] MONTENEGRIN PRIME MINISTER DIGS IN.
[10] CALLS FOR UNITY OF SERBIAN OPPOSITION.
[11] SOFIYANSKI WARNS AGAINST COMPLACENCY.
[12] BULGARIAN-RUSSIAN GAS AGREEMENT.
[13] IMF OFFICIAL IN ROMANIA.
[14] ROMANIAN MAGNATE UNDER INVESTIGATION.
[15] MOLDOVAN PRESIDENT ON MILITARY REFORM.
[A] TRANSCAUCASIA AND CENTRAL ASIA
[01] TWO AZERIS KILLED IN CLASH ON ARMENIAN BORDER.
Armenian forces opened fire on four unidentified men trying to cross the
border from Azerbaijan earlier this week, AP reported yesterday. Two men
were killed, while the others retreated. Although there are exchanges of
fire along the Armenian- Azerbaijani border almost every month, this is the
first time in over a year that casualties have been reported. Meanwhile,
the Azerbaijani parliament has sent a letter to the CIS Inter-
Parliamentary Assembly arguing that Russia's policy of clandestinely
supplying arms to Armenia shows it cannot be an impartial mediator in the
Karabakh conflict, according to Interfax yesterday. Addressing a news
conference in Yerevan yesterday on the OSCE-mediated Karabakh talks in
Moscow last week, Armenian First Deputy Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian
said the Azerbaijani negotiating position has hardened, making progress
unlikely.
[02] KAZAK-KYRGYZ RELATIONS.
Kyrgyz President Askar Akayev and his Kazak counterpart, Nursultan
Nazarbayev, have signed agreements on military cooperation, avoidance of
double taxation, cooperation in attracting foreign investment,
environmental protection, and agricultural reforms, RFE/RL correspondents
in Kazakstan reported. The two ministers were meeting in Almaty yesterday.
Of particular importance for Kyrgyzstan was a deal to receive annually 1
million tons of Kazak oil. Kazakstan has agreed to have uranium refined at
the Kara-Balta plant in Kyrgyzstan, while Kazak specialists will help in
the construction of a hydro-electric project in the Pamir Mountains.
[03] NEW TURKMEN ECONOMIC DREAM REVEALED.
President Saparmurat Niyazov told the government on 7 April that it is
has 1,000 days to make far-reaching improvements in several sectors of the
economy, RFE/RL's Ashgabat bureau reports. Niyazov's program envisages 10%
annual growth in GDP through increased natural gas and oil exports, the
completion of pipeline projects, and an increase in cotton production,
which he wants to reach 2 million tons annually by the year 2000. Several
ministers were shuffled after the announcement, most notably those
responsible for natural gas, oil, and pipeline construction.
[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[04] ITALIAN POLITICAL ROW THREATENS MISSION TO ALBANIA.
The Italian government faces a tough test today when the lower house of the
parliament votes on a proposal to deploy an Italian-led security force in
Albania. Italy's upper house yesterday approved the plan, but Romano
Prodi's government does not have a majority in the lower house. His
allies there, the Refounded Communists, oppose Operation Alba as
colonialist and as aimed at propping up the government of President Sali
Berisha. The center-right opposition approves of the force in principle but
has introduced its own bill with the aim of forcing Prodi to resign.
[05] ALBANIA BLASTS ITALIAN CALL FOR BERISHA TO GO.
In Rome yesterday, Prodi and Italian Deputy Foreign Minister Piero Fassino
distanced themselves from Fassino's earlier remarks that Berisha should
resign. The Albanian Foreign Ministry in Tirana sent two protests to its
Italian counterpart. One note slammed Fassino's statement as interference
in Albanian affairs, while the other demanded a clarification of the
remarks. The Italian deputy minister had openly criticized Berisha in hopes
of winning the Refounded Communists' backing in the lower house for Prodi's
bill on Operation Alba. The communists welcomed Fassino's remarks against
Berisha but said he did not go far enough.
[06] GREEK FORCE ALL SET FOR ALBANIA.
A Greek government spokesman said in Athens yesterday that most of the more
than 700 Greek troops for Operation Alba will go to Tirana. At least 100
soldiers will head for the port of Vlora in the south, which has been a
hotbed of lawlessness. Greeks troops will not be deployed in southern
regions with a large Greek minority.
[07] U.S. URGES SLAVONIAN SERBS TO VOTE IN CROATIAN ELECTIONS.
A State Department spokesman said in Washington yesterday that eastern
Slavonia's Serbs should vote in the 13 April elections to ensure a stake in
Croatian political life. He noted that this is the first post-war vote in
which the region's Croats and Serbs will cast their ballots together. But
in Vukovar yesterday, the local Serbian assembly put off its decision on
whether to participate in the elections. The Serbs are holding out for more
political concessions from the Croats. The UN has often told them to be
satisfied with the package of rights promised by Zagreb for when the area
rejoins Croatia in July.
[08] CROATIA'S TUDJMAN ON THE STUMP.
Amid much military pomp and circumstance, Croatian President Franjo Tudjman
yesterday opened the Maslenica bridge, near Zadar, to link northern and
southern Dalmatia. He told the crowd that they have his Croatian Democratic
Community (HDZ) to thank for Croatia's achievements, Vjesnik reported.
Serbian shells destroyed the original bridge in 1991, but the Croatian
authorities quickly replaced it with a pontoon structure. In Croatia, the
bridge has come to symbolize national unity and defiance of the Serbs. Novi
list, for its part, accuses the HDZ of using misleading TV advertisements
to suggest that the Roman Catholic Church backs that party. Polls suggest
that the HDZ is in trouble, and the party is making use of national
symbols to try to regain popularity.
[09] MONTENEGRIN PRIME MINISTER DIGS IN.
Milo Djukanovic in Podgorica yesterday defied orders from President Momir
Bulatovic last week to sack three ministers who had openly criticized
Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic, RFE/RL reported. Djukanovic admitted
that Deputy Prime Minister Slavko Drljevic, Culture Minister Goran
Rakocevic, and security chief Vukasin Maras should have been more careful
in their public statements. But he stressed that it is he, not the
president, who determines the government lineup. The row between the
president and prime minister mirrors tensions in the governing Democratic
Socialist Party and in society as a whole over Montenegro's relations with
Milosevic and Serbia. Many politicians charge that Milosevic's policies
have brought economic hardship to the tiny mountain republic, which
depends on tourism and shipping for its livelihood.
[10] CALLS FOR UNITY OF SERBIAN OPPOSITION.
Zajedno coalition leader Vesna Pesic told her colleagues Vuk Draskovic
and Zoran Djindjic yesterday to stop feuding lest their fighting hurt the
opposition politically, RFE/RL reported from Belgrade and New York.
Djindjic blames the regime for stirring up the feud and says that he never
challenged Draskovic's plans to run for the Serbian presidency. Djindjic
also called for an end to public squabbling among opposition leaders.
Draskovic had earlier accused Djindjic of trying to split the coalition.
The three have just wrapped up their visit to the U.S.
[11] SOFIYANSKI WARNS AGAINST COMPLACENCY.
Caretaker Prime Minister Stefan Sofiyanski has warned members of the
United Democratic Forces (ODS) not to be complacent about winning a big
enough majority in the parliamentary elections scheduled for 19 April,
Reuters reported yesterday. Sofiyanski said the ODS should work hard to win
a majority large enough to form a government and continue reform policies.
He added that one of the new government's first tasks would be to pass
the legislation needed to set up the IMF-proposed currency board. A
Bulgarian delegation in Brussels continues discussions today with the G-24
group of industrialized countries on additional support to accompany an IMF
stand- by loan. Bulgaria and the IMF reached agreement on the loan
last month.
[12] BULGARIAN-RUSSIAN GAS AGREEMENT.
The Bulgarian interim government and representatives of the Russian
Gazprom company have initialed an agreement on constructing gas pipelines
that will transit Bulgarian territory and on Russian gas supplies to
Bulgaria, RFE/RL's Sofia bureau reported yesterday. The Bulgargas company
will be the owner and financer of the new pipelines, while the Bulgarian-
Russian joint venture Topenergy will finance and build them. The Bulgarian
government and the Russian delegation agreed "in principle" that some
Russian gas supplies will be paid for by Bulgarian goods. Bulgarian
caretaker Prime Minister Stefan Sofiyanski and Russian Prime Minister
Viktor Chernomyrdin are scheduled to sign the agreement in Moscow later
this week.
[13] IMF OFFICIAL IN ROMANIA.
Poul Thomsen, chief IMF negotiator for Romania, says he is satisfied with
the government's fiscal, budgetary, and monetary policies, RFE/RL's
Bucharest bureau reported. Thomsen said after his meeting with Premier
Victor Ciorbea yesterday that he is confident inflation will begin to drop
in the near future. But Radio Bucharest later quoted Thomsen as saying it
is "premature" to asses the success of economic reforms to date. Thomsen is
in Bucharest for a final round of discussions on a new stand-by loan for
Romania. The IMF is scheduled to take a decision on the loan later this
month.
[14] ROMANIAN MAGNATE UNDER INVESTIGATION.
George Paunescu is under investigation by the Prosecutor-General's
office. In an interview with RFE/RL's Bucharest bureau yesterday,
Prosecutor Gheorghe Mocuta said Paunescu was suspected of having bought
shares in a bank using credits from another bank, which is illegal under
Romanian law. He has not yet been charged with any crime. Paunescu is known
for his ties to leading officials in the regime voted out of power last
autumn.
[15] MOLDOVAN PRESIDENT ON MILITARY REFORM.
Petru Lucinschi says the country's army will given a "non-political,
neutral" status, Interfax reported yesterday. Lucinschi was speaking at a
meeting of the state commission in charge of drawing up and implementing
military reform. As head of state, Lucinschi is also army commander in
chief. Lucinschi instructed the commission to draw up a reform concept
based on the models of Austria, Switzerland, Slovenia, and Slovakia.
According to Interfax, Moldova has some 10,000 servicemen, but their number
is expected to be reduced.
Reprinted with permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
URL: http://www.rferl.org
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