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RFE/RL Newsline, Vol. 2, No. 119, 98-06-23Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty: Newsline Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty <http://www.rferl.org>RFE/RL NEWSLINEVol. 2, No. 119, 23 June 1998CONTENTS[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA
[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[C] END NOTE
[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA[01] GEORGIAN, ABKHAZ PRESIDENTS TO MEET IN TSKHINVALI?In his traditional weekly radio address on 22 June, Eduard Shevardnadze said that South Ossetian President Lyudvig Chibirov's proposal that Shevardnadze and his Abkhaz counterpart, Vladislav Ardzinba should meet in the South Ossetian capital for talks is "interesting." Previously, Shevardnadze had commented that he would meet personally with Ardzinba only if there were a chance of signing formal agreements on the repatriation to Abkhazia of ethnic Georgian displaced persons. Shevardnadze said that during talks on19 June in Sukhumi with Georgian and Russian officials and with CIS Executive Secretary Boris Berezovskii, Ardzinba agreed that Abkhazia will ensure the security of the returnees, according to "Nezavisimaya gazeta" on 23 June. Shevardnadze had refused on 20 June to sign either a draft peace agreement or an accord on repatriation approved by Ardzinba during his talks with Berezovskii the previous day. LF[02] AZERBAIJANI PRESIDENT CANCELS PLANNED VISIT TO TURKEYHeidar Aliev canceled a private visit to Turkey to attend the 50th anniversary celebrations of the newspaper "Hurriyet" just hours before his scheduled departure on 22 June, ITAR-TASS reported. No explanation was given for the cancellation. LF[03] NEW ARMENIAN POLITICAL PARTY UNVEILS PROGRAMThe leaders of the Rule of Law State Party told journalists in Yerevan on 19 June that the primary goal of their party is to ensure "the rule of law" and legal protection for citizens of Armenia, RFE/RL's Yerevan bureau reported. One of the party's founders, parliamentary Committee on State and Legal Affairs chairman Albert Baghdasarian, argued that the development of democracy in Armenia is hindered by the existence of many laws "contradicting one another" and also by people's widespread ignorance of their rights. He also complained that some laws "breach human rights" but did not elaborate. Baghdasarian said the party will strive to boost citizens' awareness of Armenian laws and legislation. LF[04] RUSSIA DROPS HINT TO TAJIK PARLIAMENTRussian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nesterushkin told a press briefing in Moscow on 22 June that Russia supports the compromise solution to the ban on religion-based political parties reached by a newly formed Tajik commission and Tajik President Imomali Rakhmonov, ITAR-TASS reported. The commission reviewed laws adopted by the parliament in late May that prohibit religion-based parties from participating in the election process. The commission and Rakhmonov agreed on a compromise solution whereby political parties would not be allowed to use the premises of religious organizations. They also sent the law back to the parliament. Nesterushkin said Russia is counting on the Tajik parliament "to accept the decision, which answers the greater interests of the nation and makes it possible to further progress toward national reconciliation." BP[05] KYRGYZ PRESIDENT WARNS ABOUT RADIOACTIVE WASTEThe presidential press service on 22 June issued a statement on Askar Akayev's concerns about the storage of radioactive waste in 45 of the country's uranium waste storage facilities, Interfax reported. Akayev had visited several sites the previous day. He said that owing to the poor maintenance of these facilities, particularly in the south, a landslide could damage carry the waste into the water supply. Akayev singled out the Kara Balta ore dressing plant, 45 kilometers west of Bishkek, and ordered that repairs be carried out immediately. The plant is located close to the Chu River, which flows into Kazakhstan. BP[06] KYRGYZSTAN TO HOLD REFERENDUM IN FALLThe chairman of Kyrgyzstan's Central Electoral Commission, Sulaiman Imambayev, announced on 22 June that a referendum on proposed amendments to election laws is expected to be held in either September or October of this year, RFE/RL correspondents reported. Some proposals are still being discussed but are likely to deal with the structure of the bicameral parliament and minimum voter turnout. Local elections are due to be held early next year and to the parliament and the presidency in 2000. BP[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE[07] ALBANIA'S NANO SAYS 'EVE OF WAR' WITH YUGOSLAVIAPrime Minister Fatos Nano said in Vienna on 22 June that "we Albanians are at the moment on the eve of a war with another nation, the Serbs, and it is not our fault. The Albanian state and government has to face on its northeastern border a situation of real war with all its consequences, victims, economic damage, lots of refugees, and considerable increase of defense costs." Nano noted that Serbia's "massacres" in the province have led to "spontaneous resistance on the ground." He added that he hopes the Kosovar political leadership will open contacts to the armed resistance groups, saying his government is trying to exert a "moderating influence" on all factions in the province. Nano called for Kosova to become a separate republic within the Yugoslav federation but without the right of secession. PM[08] HOLBROOKE SAYS MILOSEVIC 'CANNOT PICK AND CHOOSE'On the eve of a trip to Belgrade, Prishtina, and Skopje by Richard Holbrooke, who is the U.S. ambassador- designate to the UN, a State Department spokesman warned Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic that the demands of the international Contact Group are a package "and not a menu from which you can pick and choose." The spokesman said in Washington on 22 June that Milosevic "must not only follow through...on the requirements to allow access for humanitarian organizations in Kosova, but he also must pull back...the forces that have been involved in the violence there." Holbrooke arrived in Belgrade for talks with Milosevic on 23 June. PM[09] REHN CALLS FOR NATO INTERVENTION IN KOSOVAElisabeth Rehn, the UN's special representative to Bosnia, said in Helsinki on 22 June that Kosova "is ripe" for NATO intervention but stressed that the Atlantic alliance must have a mandate from the UN before it takes action. She warned that "human rights are never [purely] the internal affair of any state." She noted she is especially troubled by reports that Serbian authorities have begun to place Kosovars in detention camps but did not elaborate. Rehn added that she "hates violence" and that "there has been too much violence" in Kosova recently. She told the BBC that the UN- mandated international action in the 1991 Gulf War is the proper model for intervention in Kosova and that she is confident that Russia will support such a formula. PM[10] NATO ABLE TO ACT 'WITHIN FOUR DAYS'NATO Secretary-General Javier Solana said in Vienna on 22 June that "time is running out. As time goes by the radicalization of Kosova will be dramatic. The international community has to act rapidly." An unnamed NATO military official told Reuters that the alliance is able to act "within four days" after Western leaders make "the political decision" to intervene. The official suggested that NATO will use air strikes rather than ground troops and seek to bring the crisis to an end quickly. PM[11] SERBIAN POLICE FIRE AT DANISH TV VEHICLEA journalist for Denmark's TV2 told BBC Television on 22 June that a Serbian policeman stepped out of a ditch in the Gllogovc area and fired point blank at the windshield of the clearly marked Danish press vehicle. No one was injured. Serbian spokesmen said in Prishtina that the policeman "acted out of fear, [thinking he was] dealing with Albanian separatists." In Tirana, two Montenegrin Muslim deserters from the Yugoslav army arrived and will tell international experts what they know about atrocities committed by Yugoslav troops in Kosova, RFE/RL's South Slavic Service reported. And in Podgorica, the Montenegrin government appealed for international aid to help it provide for the more than 10,000 refugees from Kosova who have fled to Montenegro since Milosevic launched his crackdown in February. PM[12] BOSNIA GETS NEW CURRENCYThe "convertible mark" went into circulation throughout Bosnia on 22 June. Some 60 financial institutions in 14 cities will exchange the new currency for German marks at the rate of 1:1 and will maintain that rate for the next six years, an RFE/RL correspondent reported from Sarajevo. Within the first three hours after the exchange offices opened in the mainly Croat and Muslim federation, customers obtained some 5 million convertible marks. The correspondent added, however, that the introduction of the common currency "passed unnoticed" in the Republika Srpska. Until now, the Bosnian dinar and Croatian kuna have circulated in the federation, while the Republika Srpska has used the Yugoslav dinar. The German mark is also widely used throughout Bosnia and most of the former Yugoslavia. PM[13] ALBANIAN GOVERNMENT COALITION CLAIMS VICTORY IN LOCAL ELECTIONSSpeaking at a press conference in Tirana on 22 June, spokesmen for the Alliance for the State coalition, which is led by the governing Socialists, claimed victory in four out of the seven municipalities and six out of the nine communities that held by-elections the previous day (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 22 June 1998). The opposition Union for Democracy, which is headed by the Democratic Party, is ahead in only one municipality and three communities. Run-offs will be held in Vlora and Roskovec on 28 June. The Alliance for the State estimated voter turnout at some 50 percent, "Gazeta Shqiptare" reported. FS[14] PARLIAMENTARY SPEAKER SAYS VOTE SHOWS GOVERNMENT STRENGTHSkender Gjinushi said in Tirana on 22 June that in the local elections showed the governing coalition has "a strong base of support [that will carry it through] until the next parliamentary elections, in 2001." Socialist parliamentary leader Pandeli Majko stressed that the coalition was able to win "even in the most problematic corners of the country, such as the [southern] municipalities of Patos, Roskovec, and Ura Vajgurore," all of which were badly affected by the 1997 anarchy, "Koha Jone" reported. The Socialists fared best in the south, near Elbasan and in the northeastern community of Lura. The Democrats' showing was strongest in the central regions of Kavaja and Shijak, which are their traditional strongholds. They also won a majority in the northeastern community of Bushtrice and the southeastern community of Proger. FS[15] BOMB BLAST IN CENTRAL TIRANAA bomb caused heavy damage to a restaurant in a downtown park on 21 June, slightly injuring a guard and a waiter. The restaurant is owned by Gazmend Demi, a close friend of Prime Minister Fatos Nano, "Gazeta Shqiptare" reported. Demi told the daily that the bombing "was not an act of personal revenge," and he linked the attack to the local elections. Former Deputy Interior Minister Ndre Legisi told "Koha Jone" that the Socialist leadership had planned to celebrate the election victory in the restaurant. Tirana's police chief Fadil Canaj declined to comment on the blast, but said it was "clearly of a terrorist nature." FS[16] HUNGARIAN UNIVERSITY STILL CAUSING TENSIONS IN ROMANIAN COALITION...Bela Marko, chairman of the Hungarian Democratic Federation of Romania (UDMR), said on 22 June that the ruling coalition has "to make up its mind whether it wants the UDMR in the coalition or out of it." Marko was responding to a declaration made the same day by National Peasant Party Christian Democratic chairman Ion Diaconescu. That declaration supported Education Minister Andrei Marga's position that a "multicultural" university, rather than a Hungarian-language university, is the solution to university-level education of the minorities. Diaconescu also supported Marga's position that a separate Hungarian-language state university might become a "source of inter-ethnic conflict resembling that in the former Yugoslavia." He added that the task of the commission set up earlier this month was to examine not "ways of setting up a Hungarian-language university, but whether this was opportune," RFE/RL's Bucharest bureau reported. MS[17] ...AS ETHNIC HUNGARIANS PRESENT ULTIMATUMThe UDMR Council of Representatives on 20 June announced it will quit the coalition if the government does not set up by 15 July the commission to examine ways of setting up the Hungarian university. The council also said the ruling coalition must officially declare its intention to set up the university by 31 July and the parliament must amend the education law by 30 September, Romanian state radio reported. In other news, the Bucharest Municipal Tribunal on 19 June rejected the registration of Gheorghe Funar's formation under the name of Romanian Unity Alliance (AUR). The Party of Romanian National Unity (PUNR), whose former chairman Funar is, appealed against the registration because AUR was the name of a PUNR-Republican Party alliance in the 1990 elections. MS[18] ROMANIA URGES RUSSIAN WITHDRAWAL FROM MOLDOVAA motion submitted to the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly in Strasbourg urges Moscow to fulfill its obligation to withdraw its troops from Moldova. The motion was filed on 22 June by former Romanian Foreign Minister Adrian Nastase and Vasile Nedelciuc, a member of the Moldovan parliament, Romanian Radio reported. State Duma deputy speaker Aleksandr Shokhin told journalists that Russia intends to fulfill its obligations on joining the council but "does not consider it opportune" to discuss the matter during the council's current debate on the issue. Shokhin later told BASA-press that he does not believe the Duma will approve the withdrawal and said that Russian troops in the Transdniester ensure that there are no more clashes in the region. MS[19] ZHIRINOVSKY ALLY DIES FROM SHOT WOUNDSAlexander Saidakov, the Transdniester representative of Vladimir Zhirinovsky's ultra-nationalist Liberal Democratic Party of Russia, died in a Chisinau clinic on 22 June from the wounds sustained in the recent assassination attempt in Tiraspol (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 16 June 1998), ITAR-TASS reported In other news, the All-Russian Cossack Union convened a congress in Tiraspol on 20 June and called on Russia and Belarus to help the Transdniester join their union as an associate member, Infotag reported on 22 June. The assembly also demanded to maintain Russia's military presence in the region. MS[C] END NOTE[20] THE AUTUMN OF THE PATRIARCHby Liz FullerOn 9 June, the Azerbaijani parliament passed in the third and final reading a law on the presidential elections that Socialist Democratic Party leader Zardusht Ali-zade has described as "tailor-made for one individual." In other words, it is formulated in such a way as to virtually guarantee the re-election for a second term of the authoritarian incumbent, former KGB boss and Azerbaijan Communist Party first secretary Heidar Aliev. That outcome is all the more likely, given that most potential opposition candidates have announced their intention not to contend the poll if it takes place under legislation they consider undemocratic. But even if Aliev's re-election appears assured, recent political developments may herald the gradual erosion of his power base. Anticipating the introduction of unequal conditions for prospective presidential candidates, the Democratic Party of Azerbaijan announced in March the creation of an informal Movement for Democratic Elections (subsequently renamed the Movement for Democratic Elections and Electoral Reform). As many as two dozen political parties and NGOs subsequently aligned themselves with the movement, whose main aims were to prevent the ruling Yeni Azerbaycan Party from monopolizing the election campaign and to ensure that all candidates enjoyed equal rights. In late April, the parliament began debating two draft laws, one on the Central Electoral Commission and the other on the presidential elections. The opposition criticized both those bills as undemocratic, objecting in particular to the procedure for appointing the Central Electoral Commission, half of whose 24 members are nominated by the president and the remainder by the parliament. The opposition, which has only a handful of deputies in the parliament, will in effect be deprived of any say in the composition of the commission. Opposition parties also criticized the minimum required voter turnout of 50 percent plus one vote, reasoning that in recent years, some 2 million people have left Azerbaijan out of a declared population of 7.5 million . And they condemned the provision allowing the presence at polling stations of police and Security Ministry officials. In mid-April, the opposition Azerbaijan Popular Front Party had unveiled an alternative draft election law stipulating a minimum turnout of 25-30 percent and advocating measures to preclude violations, including transparent glass ballot boxes. It also entitled all registered candidates to 180 minutes free air time on state television and 15 million manats ($4,000) from the state budget to finance their campaigns. The parliament passed the law on the Central Electoral Commission in mid-May. The law on the presidential elections was submitted for comment both to the Council of Europe and to the OSCE's Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights. Both organizations suggested amendments, which were duly made to 32 of the law's 59 articles, but those changes failed to satisfy the opposition. When the law was passed in the third and final reading in June, all potential opposition presidential candidates announced they will boycott the poll. That boycott should not, however, be construed as the opposition's acknowledgment that defeat under these circumstances is inevitable. Rather, it testifies to the unifying influence of the one person who, if he were able to contend the poll, would pose a serious challenge to Aliev. Rasul Guliev has lived in exile in the U.S. since he was stripped of the post of Azerbaijani parliamentary speaker in September 1996, one month after publishing a damning critique of Aliev's leadership in a Russian journal. The parliament voted in December 1997 to strip him of his deputy's mandate. Four months later, it lifted his deputy's immunity and approved Prosecutor-General Eldar Hasanov's proposal to open criminal proceedings against him on charges of financial mismanagement and large- scale embezzlement during his tenure as head of one of Azerbaijan's largest oil refineries. Guliev, who in January 1998, announced his intention of running for president, now risks arrest if he returns to Azerbaijan. In recent months, Guliev has written to U.S. senators and to the Council of Europe denouncing Aliev as a totalitarian dictator. He also issued an appeal in early June to members of the ruling Yeni Azerbaycan Party (founded by Aliev in late 1992 as his personal power base) to quit the party. Several hundred, mostly younger members of the party have complied with Guliev's appeal, saying they were motivated to do so by widespread corruption within the party and by its betrayal of its original goal to create a democratic and just society. Some of those defectors have since founded the Democratic Azerbajian Party. Spokesmen for Yeni Azerbaycan have conceded that a handful of its members have quit, but they deny either a mass exodus or any connection between the resignations and Guliev's appeal. Meanwhile, the Azerbaijan Popular Front Party newspaper "Azadlyg" reported on 12 June that Aliev's son Ilham, who is currently vice president of the state oil company SOCAR, is forming his own team of progressive economists and industrial managers. The newspaper interprets that move as a bid to create both a personal power base and a seemingly more democratic elite with which the opposition might be willing to cooperate following the demise of the elder Aliev. 23-06-98 Reprinted with permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
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