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RFE/RL Newsline, Vol. 2, No. 158, 98-08-19Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty: Newsline Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty <http://www.rferl.org>RFE/RL NEWSLINEVol. 2, No. 158, 19 August 1998CONTENTS[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA
[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[C] END NOTE
[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA[01] RUSSIAN BORDER GUARD CHIEF VISITS TAJIKISTAN...The head of Russia's Federal Border Service, Colonel-General Nikolai Bordyuzha, arrived in Tajikistan on 18 August, ITAR-TASS reported. Bordyuzha described the situation along the Tajik-Afghan border as calm and said there is no immediate need to reinforce units already there. He added that Russian troops in Tajikistan are "ready" should the Taliban threaten the CIS border. Bordyuzha met with Tajik President Imomali Rakhmonov behind closed doors. Later, Rakhmonov's defense adviser, Mizrob Kabirov, said Bordyuzha assured Rakhmonov that Russia will give Tajikistan all necessary help, including military, Interfax reported. The defense and foreign ministers of Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan are scheduled to meet in Tashkent on 22-23 August to discuss the situation in Afghanistan. BP[02] ...FOLLOWED BY CHIEF OF STAFF, DEPUTY FOREIGN MINISTERA Russian delegation led by the army chief of staff, Anatolii, Kvashnin and First Deputy Foreign Minister Boris Pastukhov arrived in Tajikistan on 19 August, ITAR- TASS reported. The delegation visited the headquarters of Russia's 201st Motorized Division and peace-keeping forces stationed in Tajikistan. The delegation then met with President Rakhmonov to discuss how to improve security along the Tajik-Afghan border. BP[03] COMMANDER OF TAJIK INTERIOR MINISTRY FORCES SACKEDPresident Rakhmonov on 18 August dismissed the commander of the Interior Ministry's military forces, Major-General Shovali Saidamirov, ITAR-TASS reported. Saidamirov was fired because of "serious deficiencies in management of the troops, poor military discipline in units of the ministry's forces, and failure to enforce presidential orders on measures to consolidate law and order." BP[04] KYRGYZ NEWSPAPER EVICTED FROM BUILDINGThe Kyrgyz weekly newspaper "Asaba" has been evicted from the building in which it was located for nearly 60 years, RFE/RL correspondents in Bishkek reported on 18 August. That building was transferred to the Interior Ministry in 1991. Former Prime Minister Apas Jumagulov allowed "Asaba," now an opposition newspaper, to continue using its offices in the building, but incumbent Premier Kubanychbek Jumaliev supported the ministry's call to evict the newspaper. A government decree was issued in late may ordering the newspaper to vacate the building by 15 August, on which day the newspaper organized a protest in Bishkek's central square. Some 500 people, including members of the parliament, took part in the rally. The Interior Ministry responded by sealing off the newspaper's offices and releasing a statement saying "Asaba" is under private ownership and can "provide itself with its own building." A member of the newspaper's editorial board said new office space has been found and this week's issue of the newspaper will appear on time on 21 August. BP[05] WOULD-BE AZERBAIJAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES PROTEST IRREGULARITIESA spokesman for Azerbaijani businessman Ilgar Kerimov, whose application to register as a candidate for the October presidential elections was rejected, told Turan on 18 August that members of the Central Electoral Commission had hinted they expected a bribe in return for registering Kerimov as a candidate. The spokesman rejected as "unfair" the commission's claim that 70 percent of the signatures collected in support of Kerimov's candidacy were forged. A second would-be candidate, Umid [Hope] Party chairman Abulfat Akhmedov, claimed that the commission deliberately "lost" lists of signatures submitted in support of his registration. He said he intends to appeal to the Supreme Court against the commission's refusal to register his candidacy. LF[06] FALL-OUT FROM BAKU PROTEST RALLY CONTINUESAzerbaijan's Movement for Democratic Elections and Democratic Reforms issued a statement on 18 August protesting alleged bias in the state television coverage of the 15 August opposition demonstration in Baku, Turan reported. The Human Rights Center of Azerbaijan reported that at least seven journalists were detained by police during the demonstrations in Baku and other cities, adding that four of them were beaten. The chairman of the Azerbaijani Council for Civil Defense and Sport said on 18 August that he intends to ask the Baku municipal authorities to demand that the leaders of the political parties who organized the demonstration pay a fee for the use of the motor sport stadium on the outskirts of Baku where the rally took place. The Baku mayor had refused permission to hold the demonstration on Baku's central Freedom Square. LF[07] ABKHAZ, GEORGIANS FORTIFY INTERNAL BORDERNewly appointed Georgian State Minister Niko Lortkipanidze and Major- General Sergei Korobko, commander of the Russian peacekeeping forces deployed under the CIS aegis along the border between Abkhazia and the rest of Georgia, met in Tbilisi on 17 August, Interfax reported. Korobko expressed concern that trenches and other fortifications are being dug on the Georgian bank of the Inguri River, which forms the internal border. A member of the Abkhaz government in exile told Caucasus Press that the Abkhaz are erecting barbed wire fences on their side of the river and that they intend to electrify those fences. But Georgian deputy parliamentary chairman Vakhtang Kolbaya cast doubt on that report, pointing out that the topographical relief would make it difficult, if not impossible, to do so. Lortkipanidze asked Korobko to intensify his control over the border to prevent further incursions by Abkhaz militants into Georgian territory. LF[08] ARMENIAN EX-PRESIDENT READY FOR COOPERATIONLevon Ter-Petrossian's press spokesman, Levon Zurabian, told RFE/RL's Yerevan bureau on 18 August that Ter- Petrossian may cooperate with the present Armenian authorities in the future, despite "serious policy differences" on key issues. But he declined to predict whether Ter- Petrossian will return to active politics. Zurabian said that Ter- Petrossian could have taken "tough action" in response to pressure from then Prime Minister Robert Kocharian, which precipitated his resignation in February 1998. He added, however, that the former president refrained from doing so in the interests of democracy. Zurabian rejected charges that Ter- Petrossian's Karabakh policy was "defeatist," and he stressed the latter's achievements in winning the Karabakh war, stamping out racketeering and banditry, and ensuring macroeconomic stability. LF[09] KARABAKH TO ISSUE OWN PASSPORTSThe government of the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh Republic announced on 18 August that it plans to replace the old Soviet passports still in use with new ones, RFE/RL's Stepanakert correspondent reported. The process of exchanging passports will take approximately one year. Residents of Karabakh have until now used Armenian passports when traveling abroad. Azerbaijan is currently also issuing new passports. LF[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE[10] KOSOVARS TELL SERBS TO 'STOP PROPAGANDA GAME'Fehmi Agani, who heads shadow-state President Ibrahim Rugova's negotiating team, wrote chief Serbian negotiator Ratko Markovic in Prishtina on 18 August that the Kosovars will not take part in talks until the Serbian offensive stops. "I have pointed out the necessity that violence stop against the [Kosovar] civilian population and that the police repression" is halted, Agani wrote. "If you have nothing to say about this, maybe it would be beneficial to stop this game with invitations to meet, apparently timed to serve propaganda." U.S. Ambassador to Macedonia Christopher Hill, who is Washington's chief negotiator in the Kosova crisis, continued his shuttle diplomacy between Serbian and Kosovar politicians, saying that he will "stay at it...until we succeed." On a visit to Zagreb, Yugoslav Foreign Minister Zivadin Jovanovic, argued that "dialogue, and not violence and terrorism, is the only way to solve the problem." PM[11] REFUGEES APPEAL FOR ESCAPE CORRIDORReuters on 18 August reported from western Kosova near the Albanian border that Serbian forces have cut at least 10,000 ethnic Albanians off from any possible escape route and that the refugees want a safe corridor to enable them to flee to Montenegro or Albania (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 4 August 1998). "Menaced by random shelling, suffering increasingly from malnutrition and vulnerable to disease for lack of medicine, the ethnic Albanian refugees, mostly women and children, are desperate for an escape route," the news agency wrote. "We're living like beasts here. We need a humanitarian corridor out of here because all routes now are blocked by police who would kill us," one man told Reuters. Roughly 20,000 people have fled dozens of villages bombarded and possibly overrun by Serbian troops in their thrust eastward from the main road between Peja and Decan. PM[12] KOSOVAR ANGER WITH WEST GROWSLondon's "The Guardian" reported from Prishtina on 19 August that "the ethnic Albanian leadership--its politicians, journalists, and human rights workers--have never been so angry and frustrated with the West's failure to protect civilians from military onslaughts from the Serbs." The daily added that Albanians also resent the "racist-sounding implication" that their personal feuds and failure to agree are "typically Balkan," as some foreign observers have suggested. Veton Surroi, who is Kosova's leading journalist, added that the West is using Russian objections to NATO intervention in Kosova as an excuse not to intervene militarily. "No one has seriously asked the Russians to support intervention. If they see everyone else means business, they may not say no. You can always have trade-offs. Kosova is not a high priority for them," Surroi concluded. PM[13] ALBANIA PARTIALLY EVACUATES BORDER REGIONAlbanian authorities have begun evacuating children and elderly persons from villages near the border with Kosova after three Serb shells hit about 1,000 meters inside Albanian territory on 18 August, an unidentified Interior Ministry official told AP. Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Paskal Milo told visiting Luxembourg Interior Minister Alex Bodry that NATO intervention on the ground is needed to stop the fighting in Kosova, ATSH news agency reported. Milo added that "there are no clear prospects for the start of...talks [between Belgrade and Prishtina] because of the ethnic cleansing policy of [Yugoslav President Slobodan] Milosevic and the Serbian military offensive." FS[14] YUGOSLAV AUTHORITIES SHUT RADIO STATIONThe Association of Independent Electronic Media said in a statement in Belgrade on 18 August that officials of the Yugoslav Telecommunications Ministry and two policemen told the staff of independent City Radio in Nis to cease broadcasting immediately. The staff complied and the visitors removed some broadcasting equipment. The Ministry recently informed the station that its application for a frequency license is not in order, but officials refused to tell the journalists' lawyers exactly what the problem with the application is. PM[15] CROATIA, YUGOSLAVIA FAIL TO AGREE ON PREVLAKAJovanovic and his Croatian host Mate Granic signed agreements in Zagreb on 18 August dealing with trade and investment and with the exchange of some 41 remaining prisoners from the 1991 war. The two foreign ministers were unable to reach a deal, however, on the future of Croatia's Prevlaka peninsula, which controls access to Kotor Bay, Yugoslavia's only deep water naval base. Croatia has offered to demilitarize the peninsula, but Yugoslavia wants to negotiate about who will ultimately control it once UN peacekeepers leave. Croatian President Franjo Tudjman has indicated that he would be willing to exchange Prevlaka for Bosnian Serb territory near Dubrovnik, but public opinion is decidedly opposed to such a move. PM[16] WESTENDORP EXPECTS NATIONALIST ELECTION VICTORYCarlos Westendorp, who is the international community's chief representative in Bosnia, said in Sarajevo on 18 August that he expects the nationalist parties among the Serbs, Muslims, and Croats to win the most votes in each of their respective communities in the general elections slated for 12-13 September. He added, however, that he predicts that more opposition legislators will be elected in each of the three communities than was the case in the last elections. PM[17] U.S. MARINES STEP UP SECURITY AT TIRANA EMBASSYFifty U.S. marines and navy commandos sent to Albania for a NATO exercise have begun guarding the embassy's residential area in Tirana, President Bill Clinton wrote in a letter to Congress on 18 August. Clinton said that the U.S. authorities have received "credible information of a possible attack" on the Tirana embassy "similar to the attacks against [the U.S.] missions" in Kenya and Tanzania (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 17 August 1998). He did not elaborate about the threat but noted that U.S. military forces will continue to boost security at the embassy "until it is determined that the additional security support is unnecessary." Six marines normally guard the embassy. In Washington, Pentagon spokesman Kenneth Bacon told AP on 18 August that the U.S. still maintains "robust participation" in the maneuvers, with 650 American soldiers involved either on ships or on shore. FS[18] ALBANIA TIGHTENS BORDER CONTROLSMilo told "Koha Jone" of 18 August that Albanian authorities are working to tighten controls on foreigners and bolster security around embassies. Milo made the pledges after the U.S. government evacuated non-essential embassy staff on 16 August amid fears of a possible terrorist attack. Milo blamed the government of former President Sali Berisha for enabling "a wave of terrorists" to enter Albania in recent years. A spokesman for Berisha's Democratic Party accused the current government of mishandling security and damaging relations with the U.S. FS[19] ROMANIAN FINANCE MINISTER WANTS TO REDUCE BUDGETDaniel Daianu intends to propose cutting the current budget by some 8 trillion lei (almost $1 billion), or 2 percent of the country's GDP, RFE/RL's Bucharest bureau reported on 18 August. Daianu said this cut is "drastic but not surprising," given that the 1998 budget deficit will likely be "way above the predicted 3.7 percent of GDP and might reach 5.5-6 percent." He said that the original forecast had been "overambitious" and that this year's deficit will be "at least 4 percent" of GDP. He also said inflation will probably be below the forecast of 46 percent. MS[20] MOLDOVAN FOREIGN MINISTER MEETS U.S. OFFICIALSNicolae Tabacaru, on a four-day visit to the U.S., told an RFE/RL correspondent in Washington on 18 August that during his discussions with Deputy Secretary of Defense John Hamre one day earlier, it was agreed to establish a joint committee for improving military cooperation between the two countries. Agreement was also reached to establish a special program for the training of Moldovan soldiers by the U.S. military in both Moldova and the U.S. Tabacaru said he discussed with U.S. State Department officials the continued presence of Russian troops on Moldovan territory and that the U.S. promised to solve this issue as quickly as possible. MS[21] BULGARIAN SOCIALIST NEWSPAPER CHANGES MASTHEAD"Duma," the daily of the opposition Bulgarian Socialist Party, will drop from its masthead the reference to its party affiliation and designate itself simply "the Left newspaper," editor in chief Stefan Prodev told BTA on 17 August. Prodev said the decision was taken with the knowledge and approval of the Socialist party's Supreme Council. He added that the step is aimed at increasing the circulation of the daily. In other news, the government on 17 August decided that average wages in the state sector will increase by 5 percent as of 1 September. MS[22] BULGARIANS DIVIDED OVER IMPLICATIONS OF RUBLE DEVALUATIONPresident Petar Stoyanov, who will pay a visit to Russia on 27-29 August, has expressed "extreme concern" over the devaluation of the ruble, saying the step might affect his visit and that the devaluation might "have ramifications in areas beyond Europe." But Bulgarian National Bank Governor Svetoslav Gavriiski said on state television that he does not expect the devaluation to have any negative impact on Bulgaria, BTA reported on 18 August.[C] END NOTE[23] A COUP THAT SHOOK THE WORLDby Paul GobleSeven years ago, a coup in Moscow set off a series of shock waves that continue to reverberate throughout the Russian Federation, its neighbors, and the world at large. When the coup began on 19 August 1991, the Soviet Union still existed, Mikhail Gorbachev was its president, and the post-Cold War international system appeared to be in order. When it ended three days later, each had been called into question. But despite the dramatic changes that followed, the coup attempt itself-- why it was organized, why it almost succeeded, and why it ultimately failed- -was in fact a manifestation of three underlying features of political life that continue to resonate there. First, the August 1991 coup was staged and opposed by two relatively small groups of people, each of which was convinced that the country faced a crisis and that its future depended entirely on the outcome of that crisis. The Emergency Committee, as events quickly showed, had very few people behind it. But despite the heroism of the defenders of the Russian White House, the number of people involved was also small. Both groups were united in a sense that the country would be doomed if the other won and by an understanding that the number of people actually involved in the political struggle was and would remain small. Most people in the Soviet government and in the country at large did not take either side. Instead, they adopted a wait-and-see attitude and probably would have been willing to support whoever came out on top. That absence of involvement and sense that the country will develop by crisis rather than organically continues to characterize political life across the post-Soviet space. Second, the coup bid almost succeeded and inevitably failed because individual loyalties to particular leaders proved to be greater than any attachment to political institutions. The Emergency Committee that launched the abortive coup thought it could count on the deference of the population to anyone claiming to speak in the name of the government. And its members also believed they could reckon with the obedience of the subordinates the members of the committee nominally led. While members of the committee may have been correct in their first assumption, they were clearly wrong on the second. Not only had the bonds of obedience already snapped, but their own all-too-obvious disobedience further severed the ties on which they had counted. But those who opposed the coup, including Russian leader Boris Yeltsin, also adopted a personalist approach. On the one hand, Yeltsin sought to portray himself as a hero-leader rather than an elected representative. And on the other, his demand that Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev be returned to Moscow clearly had little to do with his respect for the office of the presidency. This absence of support for institutions independent of the people who occupy them continues to dominate political life in the region. Indeed, it remains one of the major reasons why the people in so many post-Soviet states have found it difficult to make the transition to democracy, a system that insists that institutions are more important than the individuals who occupy them. Third, the coup bid inevitably failed not so much because of the actions of those who opposed it but because the collapse of the coup and the ensuing developments served the interests of those who many supposed would be its most interested defenders. By mid-1991, many officials, both in Russia and other republics, on whom those behind the coup thought they could count had already decided they could profit more from reforms than from a return to the past. Such officials thus did not support the coup. But even though most did not oppose it either, they rapidly changed their political affiliations in its aftermath in order to continue to benefit from the new circumstances. And that pattern, one not typically revolutionary, has had some very serious consequences for political life in the post-Soviet states. It has meant that there has not been a clean break with the past in terms of those in power or in the ways they do business. It has increased cynicism both about the declarations of these now ex- communists leaders and about the ideals- -democracy and free markets, for example -- that they claim to support. And it has left many in these countries with the sense that once again the elite has found a way to take care of itself at their expense, an attitude that may produce a revolution but is certainly not the product of one. On the seventh anniversary of the abortive coup, Russia and many of its neighbors are developing in ways that reflect both the shock waves of that event and the continuities it revealed--a collection of new bottles that in many cases contain old wine. 19-08-98 Reprinted with permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
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