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RFE/RL Newsline, Vol. 2, No. 117, 98-06-22Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty: Newsline Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty <http://www.rferl.org>RFE/RL NEWSLINEVol. 2, No. 117, 22 June 1998CONTENTS[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA
[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[C] END NOTE
[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA[01] MORE TALKS ON SOUTH OSSETIA, ABKHAZIAGeorgian President Eduard Shevardnadze and South Ossetian leader Lyudvig Chibirov have agreed to continue discussions on the status of that breakaway region following talks in Borzhomi on 20 June, Interfax reported. The same day, Russian First Deputy Foreign Minister Boris Pastukhov and CIS Executive Secretary Boris Berezovskii met with Shevardnadze in Tbilisi to discuss the situation in Abkhazia, ITAR-TASS reported. The Russian representatives claimed that there was progress in the talks, but the Russian Defense Ministry on 19 June had ordered Russian peacekeepers in that region to respond with force if they are threatened, the Russian news agency said. In a statement, the ministry blamed both sides for "not taking the necessary measures to ensure the normal functioning" of their troops. PG[02] BEREZOVSKII MAY VISIT KARABAKH...Following a meeting with Armenian President Robert Kocharian on 20 June in Yerevan, Berezovskii said that he has reached a tentative agreement to visit Karabakh sometime later this summer, RFE/RL's Armenian Service reported. The two men also discussed increasing economic ties within the CIS. Berezovskii told ITAR-TASS that he believes the "oil factor" will have little impact on the settlement of the Karabakh conflict. PG[03] ...EXPRESSES OPTIMISM ON RESOLVING CONFLICTThe following day, the CIS executive secretary met with Azerbaijani President Heidar Aliev in Baku and expressed optimism that progress can be made toward resolving the Karabakh conflict, ITAR-TASS said. Berezovskii said that CIS leaders should say "no" to separatism throughout the region, and he urged Armenia to take a clear position on the future status of Karabakh. Saying that he welcomes these ideas, Aliev expressed the hope that the OSCE Minsk Group process could continue. The previous day, the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry released a statement criticizing an alleged remark last week by Armenian Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanyan that Yerevan plans to annex Karabakh. The Armenian authorities have denied that Oskanyan made such a comment. PG[04] ARMENIAN PRESIDENT SETS UP CONSULTATIVE GROUPPresident Robert Kocharian on 19 June issued a decree establishing a special consultative council that will include representatives from the country's major parties regardless of whether they are represented in the parliament, RFE/RL's Armenian Service reported. The council's decisions will not be legally binding. As yet, there is no system for selecting its members. PG[05] ARMENIA GRATEFUL FOR RUSSIAN HELP AT NUCLEAR STATIONAcknowledging that Armenia lacks the ability to operate the nuclear power station at Metzamor without assistance, the plant's director, Suren Azatyan, on 20 June told a group of visiting nuclear expects from Russia that his country appreciates their continuing assistance, ITAR- TASS reported. Azatyan said there have been no accidents at the plant since it was reopened three years ago. H added that there will be routine repair and reloading operations this fall. PG[06] ARMENIA SEEKS TO JOIN EUROPEPresident Kocharian on 19 June told a visiting delegation from the Council of Europe that "integration into European structures" is a top priority for his government, RFE/RL's Armenian Service reported. "Armenia must become the most democratic nation in the Transcaucasus since democracy predetermines the future of the country," he commented. Meanwhile, some 2, 500 Armenians demonstrated in Yerevan against the sale of the country's brandy distillery to Pernod-Ricard of France, Interfax reported. But Kocharian said that the country cannot afford to block the sale lest it "find itself left out of global economic processes." PG[07] NEW UN ENVOY ARRIVES IN TAJIKISTANThe new UN special envoy to Tajikistan, Jan Kubis, presented his credentials to Tajik President Imomali Rakhmonov in Dushanbe on 19 June, ITAR-TASS and Reuters reported. Kubis said the compromise reached by a special commission and Rakhmonov after the Tajik parliament adopted a law banning religious parties last month is a "positive step" in maintaining the peace process in Tajikistan. Kubis met with United Tajik Opposition leader Said Abdullo Nuri the following day to discuss the law banning religious parties as well as "military aspects" of the Tajik peace agreement. Kubis assessed the peace process as slowly moving forward but added that "sometimes it comes to a standstill and becomes problematic." BP[08] SIX BORDER GUARDS KILLED IN TAJIKISTANSix border guards, five Tajiks, and one Russian were killed on 20 June while attempting to prevent drug traffickers from crossing into Tajikistan from Afghanistan, ITAR-TASS reported. Three people were also wounded in the incident The drug traffickers escaped, and border guards have launched a search for them. According to ITAR-TASS on 20 June, more than 140 kilograms of narcotics have been seized by border guards in the "last few days." BP[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE[09] PRIMAKOV BREAKS RANKS OVER KOSOVARussian Foreign Minister Yevgenii Primakov told Russian Television on 21 June that Belgrade cannot withdraw its forces from Kosova unless there is a decrease in "terrorist activity." Local Serbs would regard a withdrawal "right now" as a sign to leave, and the result would be "a stream of Serbian refugees," he said. Primakov stressed that the Kosovars must stop resorting to violence and that talks between the Serbian government and representatives of Kosovar political parties must begin at once. The Contact Group foreign ministers, including Primakov, have repeatedly said in joint declarations that Serbia must withdraw its forces immediately from Kosova. Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic told Russian President Boris Yeltsin in Moscow last week that he cannot withdraw his forces without a decrease in "terrorism." At the time, U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright warned Milosevic not to exploit differences between individual Contact Group countries. PM[10] PRIMAKOV CLAIMS KEY ROLE...Primakov also told Russian Television on 21 June that his country is playing an influential role in ending the crisis in Kosova. He noted that NATO aircraft on recent exercises stayed at least 100 kilometers from the Serbian frontier, not out of fear of the Yugoslav defense system, as Milosevic claimed, but because NATO promised Russia it would do so. Primakov noted that one Russian deputy foreign minister left for Belgrade and Prishtina on 21 June for talks and that another went on a mission to Tirana and Skopje. PM[11] ...CHIDES U.S.Primakov also blasted unnamed U.S. officials "whose work directly involves Albania" for spreading "a false report" from Kosovar refugees that Serbian forces recently used a helicopter with Red Cross markings to attack refugees (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 17 June 1998). He called Albright "a sensible person" with whom he nonetheless has "some differences.... I once told her, Russia has been involved in the Balkans for 200 years, so how can you think we know the situation there worse than you, the Americans?" Primakov rejected Western calls for a meeting of representatives of the Contact Group on 24 June and argued that the session should be postponed for a week to see whether Milosevic has kept the promises he made to Yeltsin (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 17 June 1998). PM[12] HOLBROOKE TO WARN MILOSEVICAlbright told NBC Television on 21 June that Richard Holbrooke, the U.S. ambassador-designate to the UN, will visit Belgrade in the next few days to impress upon Milosevic the importance of his meeting the demands of the Contact Group, including the withdrawal of Serbian forces from Kosova. PM[13] KOSOVAR POLITICIANS WANT CONTROL OVER UCKShadow-state President Ibrahim Rugova said in Prishtina on 19 June that the Kosova Liberation Army (UCK) must submit to the authority of the political leadership. He added that the vast majority of UCK fighters are ordinary citizens who want to defend their homes and property, the "Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung" reported. Prime Minister Bujar Bukoshi told the Belgrade "Dnevni telegraf" of 22 June that "the armed resistance of the UCK is a reality...and it is necessary to place it under the control of political institutions [and] bring the UCK into Kosova political life." Previously, the Kosovar political leadership either made no reference to the UCK or suggested it was invented by Serbian security services to discredit the non-violent political leadership. In Prishtina on 21 June, Parliamentary Party leader Adem Demaci said his party wants to "serve as the political wing of the UCK." PM[14] DESERTERS SAY TROOPS TOLD TO KILL CIVILIANSTwo Yugoslav conscripts from Montenegro told Reuters in the Albanian town of Bajram Curri on 21 June that they were ordered to kill civilians. Fahrudin Muric and Fahrudin Avdic, whose names suggest that they are Muslims from Sandzak, said they deserted to the UCK five days earlier. The UCK then helped them to flee to Albania and handed them over to the OSCE. Muric quoted Yugoslav officers as telling troops that "it is war and you have to kill civilians.... If you do not kill them, they will kill you." Muric added that "I decided to become a deserter because I did not want to kill people on their doorstep." Avdic said: "We were told to catch everyone who cannot defend themselves and then either kill them or take them to prison." Meanwhile, an RFE/RL correspondent reported from Podgorica on 22 June that two additional Montenegrin conscripts have deserted to the UCK. FS[15] BATTERED KOSOVARS SENT TO SERBIAThree buses containing beaten or otherwise badly injured Kosovars passed through the Sandzak town of Novi Pazar on 21 June en route to Serbia proper, an RFE/RL correspondent reported from Prishtina, citing eye-witness reports from Novi Pazar. Passers-by noticed the ethnic Albanians when the buses stopped for repairs. Police chased away onlookers who tried to approach the Kosovars, whose hands were bound. PM[16] SERBIA KEEPS ALBANIAN FRONTIER CLOSEDYugoslav troops over the weekend continued to seal off the border with Albania in the Tropoja region to prevent refugees from fleeing (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 16 June 1998). A spokesman for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees said in Geneva on 19 June "that does not mean, however, that people are no longer attempting to flee the country." On 19 June, only 36 refugees made it across the frontier on a mountain path, after waiting two weeks to cross into Albania. Refugees who arrived in Tropoja earlier in the week said that "thousands" of people are still trapped inside Kosova. On 21 June, Reuters journalists on the Albanian side of the border observed a Serbian tank firing at a group of farmhouses near the border crossing of Qafa e Morines and heavy exchanges of fire throughout that day. FS[17] ALBANIAN LOCAL BY-ELECTIONS TAKE PLACE WITHOUT INCIDENTAlbanians in seven municipalities and nine smaller communities went to the polls on 21 June. The turnout was only 35 percent in the southern city of Vlora but reached 85 percent in some other areas. About 100 OSCE and Council of Europe monitors observed the voting. Results are expected on 22 June. Local government collapsed in the respective communities and municipalities during unrest in February and March 1997. Officials appointed from Tirana have been in charge of those areas since mid-1997. FS[18] ROMANIAN HEALTH MINISTER RESIGNSThe leadership of the Hungarian Democratic Federation of Romania (UDMR) on 20 June accepted the resignation of Minister of Health Francisc Baranyi, who earlier admitted having been forced to sign a pledge to work as an informer for the communist secret police. Baranyi said he was "a victim" rather than a collaborator of the Securitate but has decided to "put UDMR interests above my personal interests." The same day, Prime Minister Radu Vasile announced all government members must submit a written declaration saying whether they worked for the Securitate. The leaderships of the National Peasant Party Christian Democratic, the National Liberal Party, and the Romanian Alternative party are to demand that their leaders and parliamentary representatives submit a similar declaration. MS[19] HEAVY FLOODS IN ROMANIAPresident Emil Constantinescu on 21 June cut short a visit to Austria and flew back to Bucharest because of the heavy damage caused by floods in his country. At least half of Romania's 41 counties are reported to be affected by the floods, with most damage being registered in Transylvania. Reuters reported on 19 June that the floods have caused the death of 16 people, and at least seven more deaths were reported on 21 June. Prime Minister Radu Vasile has visited the affected areas. MS[20] BULGARIAN PRESIDENT ON RELATIONS WITH YUGOSLAVIAPetar Stoyanov, in an interview with the Belgrade "Nin" magazine, said his country follows closely developments in Kosova "because it does not want to be a hostage of what is happening in Yugoslavia," BTA reported on 19 June. Stoyanov said internal developments in Yugoslavia "hinder bilateral relations" at present. He added that the imposition of sanctions on Serbia were "a severe blow" to Bulgarian economic reform efforts and encouraged "arms trafficking and black marketing.". Stoyanov said that for this reason, Bulgaria opposes the sanctions and that the situation in Kosova cannot be viewed as an internal Yugoslav problem alone because it encourages "the bad image" of the Balkans as "a region where political emotions run higher than they should." MS[C] END NOTE[21] CHUBAIS RETURNS TO GOVERNMENT, FOR NOWby Stephanie BakerAmid a deepening financial crisis, President Boris Yeltsin has appointed former economic policy chief Anatolii Chubais as his special envoy in charge of Russia's relations with international lending organizations. Chubais, who was sacked as first deputy prime minister in March, returns to the government as Russia's financial markets have been plunged into turmoil. A Kremlin spokesman said Chubais will assume the role of a deputy prime minister responsible for negotiations with multilateral financial institutions, such as the IMF. Yeltsin on 19 June said, however, that Chubais will remain in government only temporarily to help Russia win "certain support and investments." He said Chubais will remain chief executive of national electricity company Unified Energy Systems (EES). Two days earlier, Prime Minister Sergei Kirienko had announced that the government is hoping to tap additional funds from the IMF to help prop up the Central Bank's reserves, which have dwindled since Asia's financial woes hit Russia last October. He emphasized that "It will not be a new wasteful credit for consumption." And while he declined to comment on the size of the loan under discussion, other Russian officials have said it could be for as much as $10 billion. An IMF team is due in Moscow next week to discuss the new financial aid package. Russia is battling one of its most serious financial crises in years, which has sharply increased the government's cost of borrowing to cover budget holes. The economic turmoil has been compounded by poor tax collection and slumping world prices for oil, one of Russia's leading exports. Reports of Chubais returning to the government came after Kirienko met with Russia's leading bankers and financial tycoons early last week to discuss ways to stabilize the country's jittery markets. According to Russian news reports, the financiers were pushing for Chubais to coordinate the government's anti-crisis measures. The government is preparing to announce an anti- crisis plan this to restore the confidence of investors, Further budget cuts could be in the making. And the government already is planning to slash spending by 3 percent of GDP. Kirienko acknowledged that the program will be "unpopular." But he said: "The world financial crisis has fallen on fertile ground, namely the crisis of confidence in a system that lives beyond its means." Media reports that Chubais would be brought back into the government sparked a rally on the country's stock market, which rose 8 percent on 17 June. The Finance Ministry also abruptly canceled its weekly treasury bill auction. The move fueled speculation that the government had found other sources of funds to redeem more than $1 billion dollars in maturing T- bills. And on 19 June, the government launched a major Eurobond for a reported $2 billion, but the exact amount has not been disclosed. With Chubais back in government, markets are betting that Russia will succeed in getting additional IMF support, which investors believe is needed to halt speculation on the ruble. Chubais has long played a key role in the government's relations with the IMF and World Bank. His latest appointment confirmed that this will continue. Last month, Chubais was in Washington for "informal" talks with senior officials from the IMF and U.S. administration, as financial markets continued to plunge. As he put it: "I happened to have close friendly relations with top officials of financial bodies, such as the IMF and the World Bank." Analysts agree that Chubais has the political clout and track record to do a deal with the IMF. In the words of Chris Speckhard, an economist at the Russian brokerage Alfa Kapital in Moscow: "He's someone they know and trust. His ties with the final oligarchs also have a big influence on the decision." But there is also a possibility that putting Chubais in charge of international financial institutions could divert his attention from EES, which is at the center of a circle of non-payments choking the economy. As John Paul-Smith, a Russian strategist at Morgan Stanley in London, put it: "The more time Chubais spends on this, the worse it is for EES. Sorting out EES is one of the biggest structural problems facing the government." The author is a Moscow-based RFE/RL correspondent. 22-06-98 Reprinted with permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
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