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RFE/RL Newsline, Vol. 1, No. 132, 97-10-06Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty: Newsline Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty <http://www.rferl.org>RFE/RL NEWSLINEVol. 1, No. 132, 6 October 1997CONTENTS[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA
[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[C] END NOTE
[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA[01] CHERNOMYRDIN IN KAZAKHSTANRussian Prime Minister Chernomyrdin held talks with Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbaev and top government officials in Almaty on 3-4 October. At a joint press conference, the two leaders announced the creation of a new intergovernmental commission to focus on unresolved issues. Those include Russia's failure to honor the 1993 agreement on payment for the lease of the Baikonor cosmodrome, the decline in bilateral trade, and the conditions whereby Russian oil companies may participate in the development of Kazakhstan's offshore Caspian oil. Nazarbaev argued that those companies offering the best terms should receive the rights to develop any given deposit, whereas Chernomyrdin said Russian oil companies should have priority. The Russian premier also visited the new Kazakh capital, Aqmola.[02] CHINA WANTS INCREASED MILITARY COOPERATION WITH KAZAKHSTANMeeting in Beijing on 4 October with Kazakh Defense Minister Mukhtar Altynbaev, Chinese Defense Minister Chi Haotian said strengthening cooperation between the two countries' armed forces, particularly along their common frontier, is "of great significance," ITAR-TASS reported. Kazakhstan borders on China's unstable Xinjiang Province. Altynbaev also met with Premier Li Peng, who described the petroleum and gas accord signed on 24 September as marking a "new stage" in bilateral relations.[03] TAJIK ROUNDUPFour Tajik refugees were killed and 40 injured on 4 October when Taliban militia bombarded the Sakhi refugee camp in northern Afghanistan. The previous day, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan had expressed concern over earlier Taliban attacks on the camp. Meanwhile, at a press conference in Dushanbe on 4 October, United Tajik Opposition chairman Said Abdullo Nuri said he is satisfied with the work to date of the National Reconciliation Commission, composed of both government and opposition representatives. But he called for accelerating the amnesty for former opposition fighters. The next day, during a stopover in Moscow on his way home from the UN General Assembly in New York, Tajik President Imomali Rakhmonov spoke on the telephone with President Yeltsin, who assured him that Moscow will take "all necessary measures" to ensure implementation of the peace accord, ITAR- TASS reported.[04] KYRGYZ AUTHORITIES EXPLAIN CRACKDOWN ON "ASABA"The presidential press service on 3 October issued an official statement claiming that the independent newspaper "Asaba" is undermining government efforts to implement political and economic reforms, RFE/RL's Bishkek bureau reported. It also accused the weekly of publishing only articles that are biased against the president and government and deliberately contain false and misleading information. "Asaba" has recently criticized several top officials, including President Askar Akayev and his relatives as well as Almambet Matubraimov, the speaker of the People's Assembly of the parliament. "Asaba" staff members, however, say that the newspaper can prove its reports are accurate. It added that one of criticized articles was based on information provided by the president's wife, Mairam Akaeva.[05] GEORGIAN SOLDIERS HOSPITALIZED WITH RADIATION SICKNESSTen servicemen have been hospitalized with serious radiation sickness after 15 containers of cesium were found at a former training base for Soviet border guards near Tbilisi. Georgian Defense Minister Vardiko Nadibaidze, who previously was deputy commander of the Transcaucasus Military District, told Interfax that after the collapse of the USSR, some Russian commanders may have buried radioactive substances without informing their superiors. President Eduard Shevardnadze has ordered that a commission be set up to investigate radiation levels at other former Soviet military bases in Georgia.[06] ARMENIAN OPPOSITION ACTIVIST DETAINEDNorayr Khanzadyan, a leading member of the radical Union for Self- Determination, was detained in Yerevan on 2 October, RFE/RL's Yerevan bureau reported. Khanzadyan is suspected of involvement in the 18 September incident in which union leader Paruir Hairikyan physically attacked former union member and parliamentary deputy Aramazd Zakaryan. Zakaryan had accused Hairikyan of maintaining contacts with foreign intelligence services and of having fathered illegitimate children. Hairikyan told journalists in Yerevan on 3 October that Khanzadyan had not participated in the attack but had tried to separate Hairikyan and Zakaryan. The leader of the union suggested that Khanzadyan, who is the union's representative on the Central Electoral Commission, had been detained because Yerevan did not want "honest and resolute" figures in the commission, Noyan Tapan reported.[07] ROMANIAN SENATE SPEAKER IN ARMENIA, AZERBAIJANPetre Roman met with Armenia's President Levon Ter-Petrossyan, Prime Minister Robert Kocharyan, and parliamentary speaker Babken Ararktsyan in Yerevan on 1-2 October, Armenian agencies reported. The Romanian Senate speaker later described bilateral relations as "problem free" and affirmed that Bucharest supports Armenia's bid for full Council of Europe membership. He said the Romanian port of Constanza could serve as a conduit for the export of Armenian goods. In Baku on 3-4 October, Roman discussed the possible export of Azerbaijan's Caspian oil from Georgia to Constanza and said that unspecified European organizations may provide financing for the project. Roman also suggested that the Black Sea Economic Cooperation may debate the reported clandestine supplies of Russian arms to Armenia, Turan reported.[08] AZERBAIJANI-TURKMEN OIL ROW CONTINUESSpeaking in Washington on 3 October, Turkmen Foreign Minister Boris Shikhmuradov reaffirmed that Caspian littoral states recognized the division of the Caspian Sea before the collapse of the USSR, Turan reported. Shikhmuradov stressed that Turkmen ownership of several Caspian oil fields currently exploited or claimed by Azerbaijan is beyond dispute. He also said that U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Strobe Talbott told him that the U.S. is prepared to mediate the dispute between Baku and Ashgabat. Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Hasan Hasanov again dismissed Turkmen claims on the Azeri, Chirag, and Gyuneshli fields. "The Turkmen side is trying to catch up with an aircraft on foot," he commented. According to Turan, Turkmen aircraft regularly overfly the disputed Kyapaz/Serdar field, which is close to the border between the Azerbaijani and Turkmen sectors.[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE[09] BOSNIAN CROAT WAR CRIMES SUSPECTS LEAVE FOR HAGUE...Ten Bosnian Croats--including one of Bosnia's most wanted war crimes suspects, Dario Kordic--left Split on 6 October for The Hague, where they are to go on trial at the UN war crimes tribunal. All 10 are accused of committing crimes against Muslims in central Bosnia's Lasva valley in 1993. Kordic told reporters that he and the other suspects are "handing themselves over for trial with a clear conscience before God and the Croatian people in order to prove our innocence." He pledged they will return "with our heads held high". The U.S. has blocked a $30 million World Bank loan to Croatia in a bid to ensure that the 10 suspects were handed over.[10] ...IN PRESENCE OF GELBARDU.S. envoy Robert Gelbard, who negotiated the surrender of the Bosnian Croat alleged war criminals, was present in Split when the 10 men boarded a Dutch military plane. Gelbard called their surrender a "significant step forward" for the Dayton peace agreement in Bosnia. He warned "those indictees still at large who choose not to surrender must know that the United States remains committed to keeping open all possible options for making them available to the tribunal for prosecution."[11] GELBARD MEETS WITH KRAJISNIKAfter meeting in Pale on 5 October with Momcilo Krajisnik, the Bosnian Serb member of Bosnia's collective presidency, Gelbard said Western powers have serious reservations about the presidential elections scheduled to take place in the Republika Srpska in early December. Gelbard said the vote will come too soon after the Bosnian Serb legislative elections on 23 November. Explaining the NATO-led seizure on 1 October of four television transmitters controlled by Pale, Gelbard said the international community had put up with too much and would not let such a situation recur. Krajisnik responded that he wants the transmitter dispute to end peacefully, Tanjug reported. But according to Radio B-92, Krajisnik condemned the seizure, saying there is not a single valid reason to justify it.[12] SERBIAN RUNOFF FAILS TO ATTRACT A MAJORITY OF VOTERS...Ivica Dacic, the spokesman for Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic's Socialists (SPS), has said that the votes remaining to be counted in the 5 October second round of the Serbian presidential elections will not be enough to reach the required margin. Slightly less than 50 percent of the electorate went to the polls. Dacic said that the SPS election headquarters has "very precise data" showing its candidate, Zoran Lilic, with a slight advantage over Serbian Radical Party candidate Vojislav Seselj. The Serbian Electoral Commission is due to announce the final results on 9 October.[13] ...WHILE VOTERS FLOCK TO POLLS IN MONTENEGROResults from the 5 October presidential elections in Montenegro show that the incumbent, Momir Bulatovic, came in first with 47.45 percent of the vote. His main challenger, Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic, received 46.72 percent. A runoff will be held on 19 October. Voter turnout was more than 67 percent. Djukanovic has said it is time for Montenegro to separate itself from Yugoslavia's economic disaster, which he blames on Milosevic. Montenegro controls half of the votes in the federal parliament, where the Yugoslav president is elected.[14] WEU HEAD IN ALBANIAWestern European Union secretary-general Jose Cutileiro announced on 4 October during a two-day visit to Tirana that the WEU will increase the number of European police officers serving in Albania from 20 to 60 in order to help retrain local police forces. Cutileiro said the reorganization of the Albanian police after the unrest earlier this year will be a long process. He said it is likely the WEU mission's term will be extended beyond the present expiration date of April 1998. Interior Minister Neritan Ceka told a news conference held jointly with Cutileiro that Albania's "entire territory has been put under police control and bands in major cities of Albania have been neutralized," ATA reported. But he said less than one-tenth of the weapons stolen from arms depots during the unrest have been collected.[15] ROMANIA, U.S. DISCUSS "STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP"Romanian Foreign Minister Adrian Severin and a U.S. delegation led by Assistant Secretary of State for European Affairs Marc Grossman met in Bucharest on 4-5 October and discussed the "strategic partnership" between their two countries agreed on during President Bill Clinton's July visit to Romania, RFE/RL's Bucharest correspondent reported. At the end of the delegation visit, Grossman said the sides agreed that the partnership will involve political and economic cooperation as well as military collaboration. He said the partnership's efficiency will be demonstrated, above all, by its success in economic and commercial relations. He added that U.S. investments in Romania must grow significantly in the future. Grossman told Defense Minister Victor Babiuc that the U.S. is willing to offer Romania the same bilateral programs as those offered to the three countries invited to join NATO. On 4 October, Grossman met with President Emil Constantinescu and Premier Victor Ciorbea.[16] ETHNIC HUNGARIANS HOLD CONGRESS IN TARGU MURESAt its fifth congress in Targu Mures on 3-4 October, the Hungarian Democratic Federation of Romania (UDMR) amended its statutes to stipulate that the federation's Council of Representatives will designate cabinet ministers representing the UDMR. An amendment on the transformation of the UDMR into a political party was not put to the vote. An RFE/RL correspondent in Targu Mures reported that the congress ignored all proposals by the radical wing, which is considered a victory for the moderate wing, led by chairman Bela Marko, However, Reformed Bishop Laszlo Toekes was re-elected UDMR honorary chairman. In his address to the congress, Toekes criticized the performance of UDMR government officials. Marko rejected that criticism but said anti-Hungarian nationalists are sometimes encouraged by positions adopted by members of the ruling coalition.[17] FORMER ROMANIAN INTELLIGENCE CHIEF JOINS POLITICAL PARTYVirgil Magureanu has joined the extra-parliamentary New Romania Party (PNR), the daily "Libertatea" reported on 6 October. The PNR was set up before the 1996 elections. At the time, it was reported that the party was a "creation" of Virgil Magureanu. Magureanu recently announced he is entering politics with the aim of helping to create a center-left opposition alliance (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 29 and 30 September 1997).[18] OSCE DELEGATION WRAPS UP MOLDOVAN VISITAt the end of a three-day visit to Moldova by an Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe delegation, Danish diplomat and delegation head Karsten Petersen expressed "cautious optimism" on the chances of Chisinau and the separatist Tiraspol leadership reaching an agreement, an RFE/RL correspondent in Chisinau reported on 3 October. The delegation met with President Petru Lucinschi and parliamentary chairman Dumitru Motpan, as well as with Aleksandr Karaman, the breakaway region's vice president and with Vladimir Atamanyuk, deputy chairman of the Transdniestrian Supreme Soviet. It also met with Boris Sergeev, the chief of staff of the Russian troops stationed in the Transdniester. Karsten said there is a possibility of a "political compromise" based on the memorandum signed by the two sides in Moscow on 8 May. The two sides' experts are scheduled to resume negotiations in the Russian capital on 6 October.[19] BULGARIA HOSTS INTERNATIONAL MEETINGSIn a declaration issued at the end of their meeting in Sofia on 3 October, defense ministers from southeastern Europe and several of their NATO counterparts expressed their commitment to cooperate to enhance regional security and promote integration into Euro-Atlantic organizations. RFE/RL's Sofia bureau quoted U.S. Defense Secretary William Cohen as saying Washington is making southeastern Europe a "new priority" following the July Madrid summit. He also praised Bulgaria's determination to "heal the maladies of the past." Addressing a meeting in Sofia of the General Assembly of the Atlantic Treaty Association, Bulgarian President Petar Stoyanov on 4 October said that "enhancing stability and cooperation in Europe remains an irreversible priority of Bulgaria's foreign policy."[20] BALKAN LEADERS AGREE TO FIGHT ORGANIZED CRIMEAt a meeting in Varna on 3 October, the presidents of Turkey, Romania, and Bulgaria signed a declaration on cooperating to fight organized crime, terrorism, and trafficking in drugs and weapons. Suleyman Demirel stressed his country's willingness to support Bulgarian and Romanian membership in NATO. Romanian President Emil Constantinescu said the security of the southern flank of the organization cannot be ensured unless all countries in the region are members of the alliance, an RFE/RL correspondent reported.[C] END NOTE[21] THREE 'FREEDOM-LOVING' STATESby Paul GobleRussian involvement in the French-led consortium for the development of gas deposits in Iran, which the U.S. has sought to isolate economically and politically, has given Moscow three important geopolitical victories. First, it has allowed Russia to side openly with the West Europeans against the United States, thereby increasing Russian influence over the former with apparently little cost to Russian cooperation with the latter. Even though many West European countries have withdrawn their ambassadors from Tehran, virtually all of them believe that isolating Iran, as the Americans urge, will not contribute to political change there. In addition, the Europeans almost universally feel that Washington's threats of imposing sanctions on non-U.S. firms investing in Iran is a most unfortunate form of U.S. overreach. Second, Russian involvement has increased Moscow's influence in Iran and thus given Moscow expanded opportunities to influence when or even whether oil and gas can flow from Central Asia and the Transcaucasus to the West. Such Russian leverage in Tehran on the possible flow of petroleum will quickly translate into immediate Russian political leverage in the capitals of the Transcaucasus and Central Asia. Gazprom, the Russian partner in this latest project, is unlikely to be able to make significant investments in Iran. But its presence in the consortium, combined with Russian supplies of nuclear materials and weapons systems to Tehran, will give it a major voice. Third, Moscow's participation has increased its influence in many countries of the Middle East both because Russia has proved willing to cooperate with an Islamic state at odds with the West and because the Russian government has taken this step over vocal U.S. opposition. Russian Foreign Minister Yevgenii Primakov, who has long had close ties to anti-U.S. governments in the Middle East, is clearly playing an old Moscow card: siding with radical Muslim regimes and seeking to portray the U.S. as too closely tied to Israel. Until now, most observers in the West have downplayed Moscow's role either because Washington has focused its criticism on France or because they believe that Russian involvement in Iran is the product of forces President Boris Yeltsin does not control. But in an interview carried by Russian and French television on 1 October, Yeltsin demonstrated that Russian involvement reflects a clearly articulated policy and that Moscow may be the big winner in this project, even if it does not reap the largest financial rewards. Discussing this latest international investment project in Iran and U.S. opposition to it, Yeltsin said "Thank God, Russia, France, and Iran are independent, freedom-loving states." He added that interference by any state is not to be tolerated. Moreover, the Russian leader went on to say that Moscow's cooperation with Paris represented yet "another instance of the coincidence of views" between the two countries. At the very least, this statement suggests Moscow is trying to exploit a situation created by U.S. efforts to isolate Iran because of Tehran's sponsorship of terrorism and by rising opposition to Washington's policy in Western Europe and the Middle East. But Yeltsin's remarks may point to an even more important shift in Moscow's policies. They suggest that Yeltsin and his government have decided that, despite weaknesses at home, they can now begin to recoup some of their past influence abroad. And Yeltsin's words suggest that Russia will once again try to regain that influence by exploiting or exacerbating tensions between the United States, its allies, and the countries of the Middle East. Most of the discussion of the French-led consortium in Iran has focused on either the profits the deal will bring to Paris or the political breakout it may help Tehran to make. But the gains Russia seems set to make as a result are likely to be far larger than any of those being calculated in either the French or Iranian capital, let alone anywhere else. -10-97 Reprinted with permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
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