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RFE/RL Newsline, Vol. 2, No. 116, 98-06-18Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty: Newsline Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty <http://www.rferl.org>RFE/RL NEWSLINEVol. 2, No. 116, 18 June 1998CONTENTS[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA
[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[C] END NOTE
[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA[01] ARMENIAN FOREIGN MINISTER CRITICIZES BAKU'S 'INTRANSIGENCE'Speaking at a press conference in Yerevan on 17 June, Vartan Oskanian said the Karabakh peace process is in effect deadlocked because Azerbaijan opposes changes in the Karabakh peace plan proposed by the OSCE Minsk Group, RFE/RL's Yerevan bureau reported. Oskanian said that Armenia has made a major concession by agreeing to less than total independence for the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh Republic and that Baku should reciprocate by abandoning its insistence on granting Karabakh only an autonomous status within Azerbaijan. Oskanian said that if the present deadlock persists for another two years, Baku will have the opportunity to strengthen its military capacity and Yerevan will be forced to strengthen its political and military commitment to the security of the Karabakh Armenian population. He added that Yerevan will consider alternative approaches to resolving the deadlock, including reunification with Karabakh. LF[02] GEORGIAN, RUSSIAN OFFICIALS DISCUSS ABKHAZIAGeorgian President Eduard Shevardnadze held talks in Tbilisi on 17 June with Russian special envoy for Abkhazia Gennadii Ilichev and General Sergei Korobko, the commander of the Russian peacekeeping forces deployed in Abkhazia's Gali Raion under the aegis of the CIS, Caucasus Press reported. Shevardnadze accused the Russian peacekeepers of failing to prevent the Abkhaz Interior Ministry forces from bringing heavy artillery into the conflict zone, RFE/RL's Tbilisi bureau reported. But Korobko pointed out that the peacekeepers' mandate does not empower them to intervene in hostilities. Ilichev and Shevardnadze agreed on the need to expedite the return to their homes of ethnic Georgians constrained to flee during last month's fighting. Also on 17 June, the U.S., French, British, German, and Russian ambassadors in Tbilisi were in Novy Afon for talks with Abkhaz President Vladislav Ardzinba. LF[03] GEORGIAN PRESIDENT SAYS HE HAS FAITH IN RUSSIAN MEDIATIONShevardnadze told a press conference in Tbilisi the same day that "Russia can and must" speed up the process of resolving conflicts in the Transcaucasus, ITAR-TASS reported. Arguing that "it is difficult to imagine tranquillity in the North Caucasus without a stable South [Caucasus]," Shevardnadze said that he does not believe the Caucasus will become a center of confrontation between Russia and the West, despite their conflicting interests in the region. LF[04] AZERBAIJAN CONTINUES TO PRESSURE OPPOSITIONPolice searched the editorial offices of the opposition newspaper "Chag" in the evening of 16 June and confiscated computer equipment and documents, Turan reported. The following day, police also searched the apartment of Elchin Pashaev, secretary of the United Azerbaijan Union, which is campaigning for the unification of the Azerbaijan Republic and Iranian Azerbaijan. The Azerbaijan Popular Front Party has issued a statement threatening protest actions if the authorities continue arbitrary repression of the opposition. Of the two aides to APFP chairman Abulfaz Elchibey who were arrested on 14 June (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 17 June 1998), one has been charged with illegal possession of weapons and the other with refusing to obey police orders. LF[05] AZERBAIJANI OPPOSITION LEADERS ANNOUNCE ELECTION BOYCOTTFive prospective opposition presidential candidates--Abulfaz Elchibey (APFP), Lala- Shovket Gadjieva (Liberal Party of Azerbaijan), Isa Gambar (Musavat Party), Ilyas Ismailov (Democratic Party of Azerbaijan), and Rasul Guliev (non-affiliated)--issued a statement on 17 June arguing that their participation in a poll held under "reactionary laws" would be tantamount to legitimizing a dictatorial regime and tacitly condoning repression, Turan reported. They affirmed their intention to boycott the presidential election scheduled for October. They also warned that "sooner or later, all dictatorial regimes end with social upheaval." LF[06] AZERBAIJANI OFFICIAL CONDEMNS TURKMEN CASPIAN TENDERAzerbaijani presidential adviser Vafa Gulu-zade told journalists on 17 June that no foreign companies should start exploiting the Kyapaz/Serdar Caspian oil field until the dispute between Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan over ownership of the oil field has been resolved, Interfax reported. Turkmenistan the previous day announced the results of a tender in which Mobil acquired the rights to that deposit, but Gulu-zade said Mobil's representation in Baku reassured the Azerbaijani leadership that it will not begin work on Kyapaz until the ownership dispute is resolved. Also on 17 June, a spokesperson for the Azerbaijan International Operating Company engaged in exploiting three offshore Caspian oil fields said the company is confident that Russia's Transneft pipeline company can ensure uninterrupted shipments of Azerbaijani oil through the Baku-Grozny-Novorossiisk export pipeline. The Chechen leadership threatened to halt the oil flow if Moscow failed to meet its outstanding financial commitments to Chechnya. LF[07] ANOTHER COMMITTEE FOUNDED TO INVESTIGATE KYRGYZ CYANIDE SPILLRepresentatives of several Kyrgyz ecological and human rights organizations have founded a Committee to Protect the Environment, RFE/RL's Bishkek bureau reported on 17 June. The committee intends to conduct an independent investigation into the 20 May accident in which a lorry carrying 20 tons of sodium cyanide plunged into the Barskoon River. Kyrgyz parliamentary deputies and intellectuals founded a Committee to Protect Lake Issyk-Kul (into which the Barskoon River flows) on 22 May, and the parliament on 13 June voted to create an international commission to investigate the causes of the accident (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 15 June 1998). A State Customs Committee spokesman on 17 June said that the committee will sue the Kyrgyz-Canadian gold-mining joint venture whose lorry was involved in the accident for $1.44 million in unpaid customs duties. LF[08] TOP TAJIK SECURITY OFFICIAL SLAINUsmon Khodjiev, the deputy commander of the Defense Ministry's recently established special unit for protecting the UN observer force in Tajikistan, was found murdered in Dushanbe on 17 June, Interfax reported. Khadjiev was a former opposition field commander. Other former opposition fighters have issued a statement condemning the killing. LF[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE[09] NATO CONTINUES TO DRAW UP CONTINGENCY PLANS FOR KOSOVAIn Moscow on 17 June, Russian Foreign Minister Yevgenii Primakov rejected Western criticism of the previous day's joint declaration between Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic and his Russian counterpart, Boris Yeltsin (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 17 June 1998). Primakov called the declaration the best agreement possible under present circumstances. NATO Secretary- General Javier Solana noted in Vilnius that the Western allies are growing increasingly tired of the failure of Milosevic to back up his promises with deeds. A spokesman for British Prime Minister Tony Blair said in London that "one of the lessons of Bosnia is that you cannot rely on [Milosevic's] word, so we will be pressing ahead with [NATO] preparations." NATO spokesmen said in Brussels that planners are moving quickly to prepare contingency plans for Kosova. PM[10] GELBARD SAYS MORE EXERCISES TO COMERobert Gelbard, U.S. special envoy for the former Yugoslavia, said in Washington on 17 June that NATO will conduct additional military exercises in the Balkans to follow up on the success of operation Determined Falcon over Macedonia and Albania earlier this week (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 15 June 1998). He added that the international Contact Group will meet soon to discuss the crisis in Kosova. PM[11] MONTENEGRIN LEGISLATORS BLOCK MILOSEVIC...The Montenegrin parliament on 17 June appointed 20 supporters of President Milo Djukanovic to represent Montenegro in the 40-member federal Yugoslav upper house, "Nasa Borba" wrote. Milosevic now lacks a two- thirds majority to change the constitution and will not be able to increase his presidential powers at the expense of Serbia and Montenegro. Former Montenegrin President and current federal Prime Minister Momir Bulatovic slammed the decision to exclude representatives of his Socialist People's Party from the upper house as "a new act of secession," the "Financial Times" reported. FS[12] ...THREATEN TO WITHDRAW SOLDIERS FROM KOSOVAThe Montenegrin parliament on 17 June passed a resolution demanding that Milosevic immediately end the violence in Kosova and meet the demands by the international Contact Group aimed at resolving the conflict in the province. The resolution demands that if Milosevic does not do so, the Yugoslav army must withdraw all Montenegrin troops from Kosova and send them to barracks in Montenegro or Serbia proper. The parliament also decided to send a delegation to Kosova to inspect the barracks in which Montenegrin soldiers are serving and called on the Montenegrin government to conduct a policy that "prevents armed clashes with forces of the international community and that ensures the protection of the territory of Montenegro from possible attacks by international forces." Djukanovic and key members of his government have repeatedly said that Podgorica wants no part of a war in Kosova. FS[13] HUNGARY WANTS VOJVODINA CONSCRIPTS OUT OF KOSOVA...Hungarian Foreign Ministry spokesman Gabor Horvath told journalists on 17 June that ethnic Hungarian soldiers from Vojvodina should not be ordered to Kosova and that those already there should be withdrawn. Horvath noted that ethnic Hungarian leaders in Vojvodina have said that more than 300 ethnic Hungarians are already on duty in the province. "This practice unavoidably results in tensions between Yugoslavia's minorities," he said, adding that Hungarian diplomats have raised the issue with Belgrade and also with EU and U.S. officials. Horvath noted that many Vojvodina Hungarians fear that the conflict in Kosova could lead to a fresh exodus of refugees from Vojvodina, as happened during the 1991-1995 Croatian and Bosnian wars. MSZ/PM[14] ...AS DO VOJVODINA PARENTSParents of conscripts from Vojvodina who are serving in Kosova agreed at a meeting in Novi Sad on 17 June to combine efforts with parents' groups from elsewhere in Serbia to oppose the war in Kosova (see "RFE/RL Bosnia Report, " 17 June 1998). The parents demanded that the army transfer all Vojvodina conscripts in Kosova back to barracks in Vojvodina within 48 hours, RFE/RL's South Slavic Service reported. One father asked why his son had to go to Kosova when Milosevic does not send his own son there, "Nasa Borba" reported. Nenad Canak, who heads the League of Social Democrats of Vojvodina, was one of the organizers of the parents' meeting. PM[15] CROATIAN OPPOSITION INTRODUCES NO-CONFIDENCE MOTIONRepresentatives of six opposition parties submitted a motion of no confidence against the government in the parliament on 17 June, RFE/RL's South Slavic Service reported. The text noted that "a great majority of Croats live in difficult social circumstances" and singled out pensioners, the unemployed, and those who are employed but have not been paid as key hardship groups. The government has a majority in the parliament and can block passage of the resolution. Social tensions have increased since the end of the Krajina war in 1995 and the introduction of a new value-added tax earlier this year. PM[16] MONTENEGRO SAYS ZAGREB'S APPROACH BETTER THAN BELGRADE'SMontenegrin Foreign Minister Branko Perovic said in Podgorica on 17 June that Croatia's recent proposal to resolve the dispute between Yugoslavia and Croatia over the Prevlaka peninsula is particularly welcome in view of Belgrade's failure to offer any ideas of its own. Perovic added that the Croatian document goes far to promote good relations and an improved standard of living on either side of the border and is thus also in Yugoslavia's best interest. Prevlaka, currently under UN administration, is part of Croatia but controls access to Kotor Bay, which is Yugoslavia's only deep-water naval base. Montenegro's reformist government is anxious to normalize relations with Croatia as part of its program of opening up to the outside world and reviving its key tourist and shipping industries. PM[17] ALBANIAN PARLIAMENTARY SPEAKER TAKES JOURNALISTS TO COURTSkender Gjinushi on 17 June filed slander charges against Astrit Patozi, who is the editor-in-chief of "Rilindja Demokratike," and another journalist from the same newspaper. "Rilindja Demokratike," which is the organ of the opposition Democratic Party, had published an article claiming that the other accused journalist received $120,000 from a manager of the failed VEFA pyramid investment scheme. Socialist Party Secretary-General Pandeli Majko has said he will file charges against Patozi because "Rilindja Demokratike" published allegations that Majko received $240,000 from unspecified pyramid schemes, ATSH reported. "Rilindja Demokratike" repeated its allegations against both politicians on 18 June. Chief pyramid scheme investigator Farudin Arapi declined to comment on the charges. FS[18] TWO MORE ROMANIAN POLITICIANS ADMIT SECURITATE LINKSPrime Minister Radu Vasile has asked Minister of Health Francisc Baranyi to resign and Baranyi's Hungarian Democratic Federation of Romania (UDMR) to nominate someone to replace him, RFE/RL's Bucharest bureau reported on 17 June . The demand came after Baranyi admitted to having been recruited as an informer of the former secret police 40 years ago. He said he was forced to do so "at gun point" and never provided any information to the Securitate. The same day, National Peasant Party Christian Democratic (PNTCD) deputy chairman Vasile Lupu admitted that he agreed to provide information on "people who threaten national security" but said he signed no pledge and never provided any information. The admissions come as the Senate is approaching the end of its debates on a law that would allow access to the files of the former Securitate. MS[19] ROMANIAN COALITION IN CONFLICT OVER BILL ON STATE FARMS AGENCYSenators representing the PNTCD and the UDMR walked out of a 17 June debate on a bill submitted by their coalition partner, the Democratic Party, and the opposition parties. The bill would set up a National Agency of State Farms. The PNTCD and the UDMR say the bill would sabotage the return of agricultural land to its former owners and accuse the Democrats of acting against the coalition agreement. In other news, an IMF mission on 17 June began talks with Romanian officials on the evaluation of Romania's economic performance and a new stand-by agreement for 1998-1999. Chief IMF negotiator Poul Thompsen is expected in Bucharest at the end of this week. MS[20] IMF READY TO RESUME LOANS TO MOLDOVAThe IMF is ready to resume lending to Moldova in October if Chisinau implements an austerity program agreed on by the two sides after negotiations, Oleh Havrilyshin, deputy director of the IMF department for former Soviet states, told journalists in Chisinau on 17 June. Havrilyshin said the agreement stipulates that the austerity program will be implemented in the coming months, enabling the IMF to release a $28 million tranche in October, Reuters reported. He added that the successful implementation of the program would also make it possible for the World Bank to resume financing and that the IMF would release another $100 million in 1999. MS[21] BULGARIAN OPPOSITION PARTY WANTS DEBATE OVER KOSOVAThe main opposition Socialist Party is demanding a debate in the parliament on Bulgarian's position on the conflict in Kosova, RFE/RL's Sofia Bureau reported on 17 June. In a declaration issued earlier this week, the Socialists said several Bulgarian officials are "displaying enthusiasm" over the possibility of Sofia's "becoming involved" in a military confrontation over Kosova. The Socialists want the legislature to repeat a 1993 declaration saying Bulgaria will not become involved in military confrontations in the former Yugoslavia, "either directly or under the auspices of the UN." Also on 17 June, refinery workers at the Plama refinery who went on strike on 15 June over unpaid wages said they may demand that their colleagues who help prevent industrial waste from spilling into the River Pleven, the main water source for the area, walk off the job. MS[22] COUNCIL OF EUROPE CONCERNED ABOUT RACISM IN BULGARIA, SLOVAKIAIn a report issued on 17 June, a Council of Europe commission said it is concerned about racism in Bulgaria, Slovakia, and several other European countries. The European Commission Against Racism and Intolerance said that Bulgaria "lacks structures and policies to deal with racism and intolerance" and that the treatment of Roma in Bulgaria is particularly worrying. The report says Roma face discrimination in Slovakia as well, particularly in jobs, housing, health care, and education. It adds that Slovakia's ethnic Hungarians face discrimination, particularly in restrictions imposed on the use of their mother tongue. MS[C] END NOTE[23] LITTLE HOPE AMID GLOOM IN RUN-UP TO CZECH ELECTIONSby Breffni O'RourkeThe Czech Republic goes into parliamentary elections on 19-20 June amid widespread gloom. The economy is moribund, and chances are considered negligible that voting will produce a strong government to tackle the general malaise. One thing is striking in this rather somber landscape. The presence of former Prime Minister Vaclav Klaus is pervasive. Klaus, driven from office when his coalition collapsed late last year amid recriminations of arrogance, incompetence, and corruption, has not faded from the political scene as expected. Klaus, the architect of Czech reform, has re-emerged as a central figure in the pre- election campaign. A Czech affairs specialist at RFE/RL, Jefim Fistein, says Klaus's survival is "absolutely phenomenal." He notes that "all the opposite predictions proved false, and the reason for this is that what Klaus really succeeded in doing was building what you could call a people's party, a party that has deep roots in the Czech population and that has a very large net of local organizations and very many dedicated people". Since the collapse of the Klaus minority coalition government in November, the country has been led competently enough by a government of technocrats under Prime Minister Josef Tosovsky, a quiet, former central banker. The non-political interregnum is presumably about to end, but Fistein says prospects that the politicians will be able to put together a strong government after the election appear nil: "It's absolutely impossible because the divisions in the Czech population are deep and already sufficiently crystallized for one to say that the changes in voting patterns will be small. That is to say, about half the Czech population are left-wing, and about half are right- wing." Pre-election opinion polls indicate the strongest single party is the leftist Social Democrats (CSSD), led by Milos Zeman, which could take about 25 percent of the votes. Not far behind is Klaus's Civic Democratic Party (ODS), with just over 20 percent voter support--a remarkable showing, considering the ODS split after Klaus's fall from office. These two main parties, however, are not expected to gain enough votes to govern on their own. Some see the best chance for stability in the short term as the formation of a grand coalition between the two, despite the fact that both parties say they do not want that. Such a coalition could provide the opportunity for a reform of the electoral system, a change widely viewed as necessary if future elections are to produce clear winners instead of political gridlock. But if Klaus and Zeman do not form a grand coalition this time, the stage is set for messy negotiations between bigger and smaller parties and a key role for President Vaclav Havel in those talks. Some of the minor parties have pledged not to work with one another, which will complicate the issue. The two "untouchables", considered unfit to be full coalition partners, are the Republicans on the far right and the Communists on the left. But the Communists might yet have a role to play: one possible scenario is a minority administration led by the CSSD but with additional support in the parliament from the Communists. In the prosperous Czech capital, optimism comes easier than in the provinces. The city has full employment and the highest average wage. But for many people outside the capital, there's gloom over falling real wages and increasing unemployment, results of an economy stagnating because the politicians are unable to provide direction, decisiveness, and security. Nearly a decade after the Velvet Revolution, economic transition remains incomplete, despite the hard reformist rhetoric of the Klaus years. Who can get the economy working again, and bring the prosperity the country is certainly capable of producing? That question is not likely to be answered by this weekend's elections. The author is an RFE/RL senior correspondent. 18-06-98 Reprinted with permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
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