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RFE/RL Newsline, Vol. 1, No. 82, 97-07-28Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty: Newsline Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty <http://www.rferl.org>RFE/RL NEWSLINEVol. 1, No. 82, 28 July 1997CONTENTS[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA
[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[C] END NOTE
[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA[01] GEORGIA, ABKHAZIA ABJURE USE OF VIOLENCEGeorgian and Abkhaz government representatives agreed on 26 July not to resume hostilities after the expiration on 31 July of the mandate of the CIS peacekeeping force currently deployed along the border between Abkhazia and the rest of Georgia. The agreement came after two days of talks under the aegis of the UN and with the participation of U.S., French, German, British, and Russian representatives, all of whom asked the conflict parties to agree to the extension of the peacekeepers' mandate. Abkhaz President Vladislav Ardzinba told journalists on 26 July that he is optimistic that the peacekeepers' mandate will be extended. But he added that if they withdraw, Abkhaz units will advance south and occupy their positions, Interfax reported. The Georgian parliament will vote in the next few days on whether to endorse extending the peacekeepers' mandate.[02] GERMANY GRANTS LOAN TO ARMENIA TO MODERNIZE ENERGY SECTORUnder an intergovernment loan signed in Yerevan on 25 July, Germany will lend Armenia DM 10 million (some $5.4 million) to finance reconstruction of the Kanaker hydro-electric power station, Interfax and Armenpress reported. A second agreement worth DM 15 million is scheduled to be signed in August.[03] KAZAKH POLLAccording to a poll conducted by Kazakhstan's Giller Institute among 1,400 people from six of the country's regions, President Nursultan Nazarbayev would win presidential elections if they were held today, Interfax reported. He garnered the support of 41.6 percent of respondents. Some 33 percent said they back the present course of reforms, while 48.6 percent said they did not favor Nazarbayev's economic policy. Only 5.5 percent said they have trust in the government. About one-third said they thought Kazakhstan would be a "well-off" country one day; 11.4 percent said the country would never be considered "prosperous." Only 1.9 percent thought the economic situation in Kazakhstan had improved, and 13.7 percent said the country is sliding into "chaos."[04] SEMIRECHE COSSACKS CELEBRATE 130 YEARSThe Semireche Cossacks have celebrated their 130th anniversary, according to ITAR-TASS. On 26 July 1867, a detachment of Cossacks arrived at the foot of the Tien-Shan Mountains and constructed fortification of Vernyy, which was renamed Alma-Ata early in the Soviet era. Semireche Cossacks invited to their anniversary celebration members of the government, Almaty municipal officials, representatives from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, and ambassadors of Russia, Belarus, and Ukraine. ITAR-TASS on 26 July reported that Kazakh officials had not given their approval to the festivities. Many members of the indigenous ethnic groups of Central Asia regard the Cossacks as "instruments of colonization," according to the news agency.[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE[05] VIOLENCE CONTINUES UNABATED IN ALBANIASome ten people died in gunfire in Berat on 25 July. Open warfare between rival gangs has become so acute there that business activity has slowed and some residents have fled the town. On 26 July, four gunmen and one policeman were killed in Lezha when police tried to stop the car in which the gunmen were riding. Gang war raged in Vlora, but there are no reports on casualties. Interior Minister Neritan Ceta said in Tirana, however, that special police killed one gunman and arrested eight on the Tirana-Peshkopi road, where the gang had been preying on travelers. News agencies report that about 10 people are killed every day in Albania. Meanwhile, contingents of French, Danish, and Austrian troops withdrew from Albania on 26-27 July. Italian troops staged a farewell parade in Tirana on 27 July.[06] ALBANIAN FOREIGN MINISTER SUPPORTS KOSOVOPaskal Milo said in Tirana on 25 July that his country wants good relations with its neighbors but will also defend the interests of the ethnic Albanian majority in Kosovo. The newly inaugurated minister said that "having new relations with neighboring countries is better than remaining in a Cold War situation with them." He added, however, that wanting to improve ties with Serbia "does not mean we will not support the interests of the Albanian people outside our borders, notably in Kosovo." Milo's most immediate challenge, however, could come in relations with Macedonia, where there has been unrest among the ethnic Albanian majority in Gostivar and Tetovo in recent weeks. No major party in Albania openly supports irredentism.[07] SHUTDOWN OF SERBIA'S INDEPENDENT MEDIA SUSPENDEDFederal Yugoslav Communications Minister Dojcilo Radojevic issued an order on 26 July to suspend the threatened closure of 55 independent radio and televisions for the duration of the election campaign. Acting Serbian President Dragan Tomic invited the OSCE to send observers to the 21 September presidential and legislative elections. Two days earlier, Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic promised Serbian opposition leader Vuk Draskovic that the vote will be "free and fair" (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 25 July 1997). Declared presidential candidates include Zoran Lilic of Milosevic's Socialist Party of Serbia and Vojislav Seselj of the ultranationalist Radicals.[08] HAGUE TRIBUNAL WANTS MONTENEGRIN COOPERATIONThe Prosecutor's Office in Podgorica received a request from the Hague- based war crimes tribunal on 25 July for assistance in investigating at least "one concrete case" of possible war crimes, an RFE/RL correspondent reported from the Montenegrin capital. The court also asked for information regarding the activities of some Montenegrin officials during the attack on Dubrovnik in 1991 by Montenegrin-based Yugoslav army units and by Montenegrin reservists. The reservists looted and destroyed peaceful communities and tourist resorts. In May, Montenegro sent a high-level delegation to The Hague to demonstrate Podgorica's willingness to cooperate.[09] CROATIAN UPDATEDefense Minister Gojko Susak arrived in Washington on 27 July for a medical examination to follow up to his earlier surgery there for lung cancer. He is also expected to have top-level meetings with U.S. defense and security officials to discuss the implementation of the Dayton agreement. In Zagreb, the National Bank confirmed on 25 July that the IMF will withhold a planned credit of $40 million until further notice. The U.S. had earlier urged the IMF to hold up transferring the money until Croatia's record on implementing the Dayton agreement improves. Croatian officials say their country does not need the credit.[10] U.S. STRESSES LINK BETWEEN DAYTON, AIDAssistant Secretary of State for Human Rights John Shattuck said in Mostar on 27 July that "those [Bosnian Serb] authorities who are systematically violating the Dayton agreement by harboring war criminals and preventing freedom of movement will not receive a single penny of assistance." Shattuck met with local Muslim officials but said he regretted that the local Croatian leadership did not come to see him. The U.S. envoy also stressed the need to bring indicted war criminals to justice.[11] GERMANY DETERMINED TO SEND BOSNIANS HOMEGerman Foreign Minister Klaus Kinkel on 27 July warned the Bosnian Serbs that they cannot expect any international assistance if they continue to attack the international community's representatives in Bosnia. On 26 July, Kinkel returned from a one-day visit to Sarajevo and said that Bosnian refugees should not expect a "deluxe return" when Germany sends them home. He warned apprehensive refugees that those who expect "comprehensive security" in Bosnia before they are sent back there "are demanding the impossible." He was accompanied on his trip by Dietmar Schlee, whom the Bonn government recently appointed to coordinate the return of the 340,000 Bosnians. Germany accepted the largest number of Bosnian wartime refugees of any country except Croatia or federal Yugoslavia. It spent more than $7 billion to care for them, but cash-strapped Bonn now wants them to go home.[12] HUNGARIAN FLAG SAGA IN CLUJThe Hungarian flag hoisted at the recently opened consulate in Cluj was stolen on 25 July by three employees of a company that works for the local mayoralty, an RFE/RL correspondent in the city reported. The employees, who were apprehended by the police the following day, face prison sentences of between three and 15 years. Nationalist Cluj Mayor Gheorghe Funar claimed he had nothing to do with the incident, but the wife of one of the three said her husband had acted on orders received from the mayoralty. Prefect Grigore Blaga said charges may be filed against Funar for having instigated the theft. Funar commented that the three are "Romanian heroes" and that the chairman of the Greater Romania Party, Corneliu Vadim Tudor, will award them 1 million lei (some $143) and 3 million lei to anyone who burns the Hungarian flag.[13] MOLDOVAN DEFENSE MINISTER ENDS ROMANIAN VISITWrapping up a two-day visit to Bucharest, Valeriu Pasat on 25 July said his country might be interested in purchasing from Romania PUMA helicopters produced in Brasov under U.S. license, RFE/RL's Bucharest bureau reported. Pasat and his Romanian counterpart, Victor Babiuc, said the joint Romanian- Moldovan peace-keeping unit, which the two countries decided to set up the previous day, will not intervene in the breakaway Transdniester region. Pasat also met with President Emil Constantinescu and Premier Victor Ciorbea. In other news, the Marshal Ion Antonescu League commemorated in Cluj on 26 July the 56th anniversary of the liberation of Bessarabia, northern Bukovina, and Herta County by Romanian troops commanded by Antonescu, Radio Bucharest reported.[14] MOLDOVAN PARLIAMENT MAKES LAND PURCHASABLEThe parliament on 25 July approved a law making possible the sale of land. The passage of the law was one of the IMF conditions for approving a standby loan to Moldova. Seven communist deputies boycotted the vote, claiming it amounted to an act of "national betrayal," RFE/RL's Chisinau bureau reported. Under the law, land may be purchased by both Moldovans and foreigners but farmland may be purchased only by Moldovans. At a press conference in Chisinau on 27 July, President Petru Lucinschi criticized the "conservativeness" of the parliament and accused it of blocking reforms, thereby worsening the country's economic and social crisis. An RFE/RL correspondent in Chisinau on 25 July reported that out of the 27 laws initiated by Lucinschi as a reform package, the legislature has passed only two bills.[15] MOLDOVAN FOREIGN MINISTER RESIGNSMihai Popov resigned on health grounds on 25 July, Infotag reported. He was appointed the same day as Moldovan ambassador to France. In other news, Defense Minister Valeriu Pasat, speaking on the eve of a two day-visit to Moscow, expressed confidence in Bucharest on 25 July that an agreement will be reached with Russia on the destruction of World War II ammunition stocked in the separatist Transdniester region. The breakaway region's leadership opposes the destruction of the ammunition in Transdniester and claims it is entitled to a share of the profits that could be made by selling it. The separatists say the earnings should be used for paying off Transdniester's share of the Moldovan debt to the Russian gas company Gazprom.[16] BULGARIAN GOVERNMENT REFUSES TO DESTROY SOVIET-MADE MISSILESResponding to an interpellation from the benches of the opposition, Prime Minister Ivan Kostov on 26 July told the parliament that his government will not order the destruction of eight SS-23 missiles because the step "does not correspond to Bulgaria's current interests and would lead to a serious imbalance of armaments" between the country and its neighbors. The RFE/RL Sofia bureau said that Bulgaria is not infringing on any arms control agreement by refusing to destroy the missiles but that the U.S. had pressed for their destruction. The missiles, which have a range of some 500 km, were delivered to Bulgaria in the early 1980s.[17] BULGARIA BULLDOZERS PIRATE COMPACT DISCSCustoms officials on 25 July bulldozed a pile of more than 91,000 pirate compact discs produced in the country and seized at border check points. Sofia customs chief Boiko Ivanov said the destroyed discs are only part of the shipments confiscated at the border. Dimitar Enchev, who is in charge of copyright affairs in the Ministry of Culture, said Bulgarian pirate CD producers make up to 12 million discs a year, while domestic consumption stands at only 700,000, Reuters reported. The European Commission has warned Sofia that rampant copyright piracy will hinder Bulgaria from becoming a member of the EU.[C] END NOTE[18] A WATERSHED IN CENTRAL ASIAby Paul Goble and Bruce PannierA demonstration last week at the Kazakh-Uzbek border drew attention to an issue -- the distribution of Central Asia's scarce water supplies -- that is likely to put a brake on the efforts of some leaders there to promote integration. On 24 July, residents of Southern Kazakhstan Oblast staged a demonstration to protest a decision by the Uzbek government to cut the amount of water flowing from that country into Kazakhstan. The demonstrators said the Uzbek decision threatened the corn and cotton crops on some 100,000 hectares of land in the oblast. While insignificant in itself, the protest reflects the conjunction of three factors: geographical location, the legacy of Soviet policy, and the imperatives of competing national interests since independence. Combined, those factors will almost certainly generate more popular protests as well as high-level political conflicts. For most of its history, Central Asia has suffered from a shortage of water, a problem that has been compounded by extremely rapid population growth, the introduction of cotton monoculture by tsarist and Soviet administrators, and the fact that the region's major rivers rise in areas dominated by one ethnic community but flow into areas where other national groups predominate. While the first and second of those factors have attracted widespread attention from specialists in the region and beyond, the third has not, even though it may ultimately prove the most significant. There are two major rivers in the region: the Amu Darya and the Syr Darya. The Amu Darya rises in Tajikistan, where it is known as the Pyanj, but it flows through Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan before reaching the Aral Sea. The Syr Darya rises in Kyrgyzstan, where it is fed by two smaller rivers, the Naryn and the Kara Darya. It then flows through eastern Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Kazakhstan before draining into the Aral Sea. Along the length of both rivers, local governments are drawing out part of the flow for their growing populations and to support agricultural development . The combined amount withdrawn is so great that the flows of the two rivers into the Aral Sea are insufficient to prevent the sea's disappearance in the first decades of the next century. Not surprisingly, water shortages both current and anticipated have already sparked conflicts. Under the Soviets, the borders of the Central Asian republics were drawn in such a way as to ensure there would always be competition between water- surplus and water-short republics. Such a competition worked to Moscow's advantage in two ways. Fights over water reinforced the national distinctiveness of the five republics and thus limited the ability of the republics to cooperate in ways that would threaten Soviet control. In short, water policy became part and parcel of Moscow's effort to divide and rule the region. Also, competition over water forced the republics to look to Moscow to adjudicate disputes among them. The Soviet authorities were only too willing to do so. They established a complex set of dams and irrigation arrangements to control the size of the flow of the two major river systems as well as institutions to allocate water among the various republics and local authorities. Since achieving independence, the five countries of the region have had to cope with this inheritance. Not surprisingly, those suffering water shortages have pressed hard for maintaining regional cooperation, while those with water surpluses increasingly have wanted to defend their own particularist interests. Complicating and exacerbating those tensions are three factors, each of which played a role in the 24 July demonstration. First, the civil war in Tajikistan has effectively removed from the competition one of the largest suppliers of water in the region. Several days before the demonstration, a Tajik official told representatives of the region's other governments that neither he nor his embattled government could make any promises over future water supplies. Second, the independent governments lack the funds to repair the decaying Soviet-era infrastructure. Earlier this year, Kyrgyzstan's parliament discussed asking downstream countries to help offset the $4 million Bishkek now spends to maintain its river-water control system. To date, none of those countries has publicly offered to help out. And third, the five governments, driven by national interests or pressed by their own populations, are looking to their own interests rather than trying to find a way out of the water crisis through cooperation. To the extent that they continue to do so, the recent demonstration in southern Kazakhstan could prove a watershed for regional cooperation as well. Reprinted with permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
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