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RFE/RL Newsline, Vol. 2, No. 161, 98-08-21Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty: Newsline Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty <http://www.rferl.org>RFE/RL NEWSLINEVol. 2, No. 161, 21 August 1998CONTENTS[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA
[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[C] END NOTE
[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA[01] PLANS FOR TURKMEN-PAKISTAN PIPELINE SUSPENDEDFollowing the U.S. strikes on terrorist-related positions in Afghanistan and Sudan on 20 August, the U.S. company UNOCAL Corp. has suspended its participation in a planned Turkmen-Pakistan natural gas pipeline via Afghanistan, the "Los Angeles Times" reported. A spokesman for the company is quoted as saying that "In light of the U.S. government's actions...., we feel it appropriate to suspend all activities on the proposed pipeline. We will not move forward." For several years, UNOCAL and Saudi Arabia's Delta Corp. have been discussing the pipeline with the Turkmen and Pakistani governments as well as representatives of Afghanistan's Taliban movement. Turkmen President Saparmurat Niyazov said earlier this month that construction of the pipeline will begin before the end of 1998. BP[02] YERKRAPAH OFFERS MINOR CONCESSION ON ELECTION LAWSmbat Ayvazian, chairman of the majority Yerkrapah parliamentary group, told RFE/RL's Yerevan bureau on 20 August that the group still advocates allocating the majority of seats in the next parliament in single-member constituencies but is prepared to increase from 30 percent to 40 percent the number allocated on the basis of party lists. Other political parties, however, are likely to reject that proposal and to continue insisting that the majority of seats be allocated in accordance with the party-list system. Ayvazian said the group will submit its own draft election law to the relevant parliamentary committees within the next few days. It rejects all three existing variants, which give precedence to the party list system. LF[03] GEORGIA, ABKHAZIA TO CREATE WORKING GROUP ON BORDER ISSUESMeeting in Sukhumi on 20 August, Abkhaz President Vladislav Ardzinba and Georgian Border Guard commander Major-General Valerii Chkheidze agreed to create a working group to discuss the defense of Georgia's frontiers, Caucasus Press reported on 21 August. Arzdinba rejected Chkheidze's proposal that Abkhaz and Georgian forces jointly control the Abkhaz sector of Georgia's frontiers, according to an RFE/RL correspondent in Tbilisi. Meanwhile, Abkhaz units continue to erect concrete and barbed wire fortifications along the Inguri River (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 19 August 1998), according to Caucasus Press. LF[04] AZERBAIJANI POLICE RELEASE DETAINED OPPOSITIONISTDemocratic Party leader Sardar Djalaloglu was released from custody on 20 August, 24 hours after being detained on suspicion of calling for crimes against the state, Turan reported. On 18 August, Azerbaijani television had aired footage of a Baku resident who claimed Djalaloglu had offered him money to telephone bomb warnings to various locations in Baku on the eve of the 15 August opposition demonstration. An investigation is continuing. Also on 19 August, Musavat Party chairman Isa Gambar called for the postponement of the presidential elections scheduled for 11 October and the adoption of a new and democratic election law that would prevent the present authorities from monopolizing the election campaign, AP reported. LF[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE[05] CHIRAC SAYS INTERVENTION IN KOSOVA MAY BE NECESSARYFrench President Jacques Chirac told Russian President Boris Yeltsin in a telephone conversation on 20 August that UN-sanctioned military intervention in Kosova "will become difficult to avoid" unless a cease-fire comes into effect and negotiations begin soon. Chirac said that Russia's role in the former Yugoslavia is "crucial." An aide to Chirac told AP that the president will soon telephone German Chancellor Helmut Kohl to discuss Kosova. Chirac and U.S. President Bill Clinton had a conversation on that topic on 8 August. Also in Paris on 20 August, Foreign Minister Hubert Vedrine blamed "extremists" among Serbs and Kosovars alike for the absence of any progress toward a negotiated settlement. PM[06] RUGOVA SEEKS 'NO FLY ZONE'Kosovar shadow-state leader Ibrahim Rugova said in Prishtina on 21 August that the international community should declare a "ban on military flights over Kosova. That is one of the ways to stop Serbian war machinery." Serbian forces have frequently used aircraft and helicopter gunships in the crackdown. Rugova also asked the international community to supply protection for Kosovar refugees who want to go home. He added that the Serbian paramilitary police are preventing civilians from doing so. PM[07] SERBIA WARNS AGAINST 'LIES'Ivica Dacic, who is a spokesman for Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic's Socialist Party of Serbia, said in Belgrade on 20 August that warnings of an impending humanitarian catastrophe in Kosova are "sensationalist lies" (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 20 August 1998). He stressed that the real problem in Kosova is "separatism and terrorism." Elsewhere, Serbian Deputy Prime Minister Vojislav Seselj said that, after a negotiated settlement is reached in Kosova, the authorities will take a new census, "correct" the voting lists in line with the results of the census, and hold new elections, an RFE/RL's South Slavic Service reported. PM[08] MEIDANI SAYS KOSOVARS CANNOT LIVE UNDER SERBS...Albanian President Rexhep Meidani told dpa on 20 August in Tirana that he believes the Kosova problem can be solved in two stages, the first of which would be autonomy. But, he added, "for me the final solution is quite clear; there is only one...the Albanians can no longer live under the Serbian regime." Meidani said the Kosovars are "fighting for their freedom, for a normal life for their children, for a life in which they will not be suppressed," adding that "history teaches us that when there is a struggle for life, freedom, and normal education, it will end only after it achieves its goals." Meidani nonetheless said he is opposed to the creation of a "greater Albania," which implies that he favors independence for Kosova. FS[09] ...CALLS FOR INTERNATIONAL INVOLVEMENTMeidani also told dpa in Tirana on 20 August that the international community should become more involved politically and militarily in Kosova. "An international presence in Kosova is needed to stop the fighting and open the way to negotiations...If the bloodshed continues...the negotiations [will] produce [no] results." Meidani argued that international emphasis on talks is a "miscalculation, which has actually given a free hand to the Serbs" to carry out their crackdown. Meidani denied allegations that Tirana gives material and training support to the Kosova Liberation Army (UCK). He added that "these fighters have been helped only by individuals, not by the Albanian state.... Until now [the state's] support has been only moral, but this support could change, it could become stronger, if there is no end in fighting." He doubted Serbia would attack Albania, because in the past "they have attacked Albania two or three times and have been defeated." FS[10] MOSCOW DIVIDED ON NATO EXERCISES IN ALBANIAForeign ministry spokesman Valerii Nesterushkin told ITAR-TASS on 20 August that the NATO exercises in Albania, in which Russian troops are also taking part, do not pose "any threat to the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia." Nesterushkin said the exercises are a "timely measure" to prevent the escalation of the conflict in Kosovo." But the Defense Ministry's newspaper "Krasnaya zvezda" the same day portrayed the exercises as precisely that. "The West is not even trying to conceal its aggressive plans against Yugoslavia," the newspaper said. Instead, it is trying to find some legal basis for a "NATO invasion of Yugoslavia." Consequently, "Krasnaya zvezda" continued, the Russian soldiers taking part in the exercises should be seen as "monitors" of NATO's intentions. PG[11] OSCE WANTS NATO TO HELP KOSOVAR REFUGEESOSCE Ambassador to Albania Daan Everts told Reuters in Tirana on 19 August that NATO units should be deployed in Albania to help house Kosovar refugees. He said NATO troops could assist the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to renovate buildings, following the example of French troops who have been renovating a dilapidated school in Kruja during maneuvers this week. Everts warned that northern Albania could face a humanitarian crisis if there were another major influx of refugees in addition to the 14,000 who have registered with the Albanian authorities since the beginning of 1998. Tham Meechubot, who heads the UNHCR's Tirana office, said that his organization is making contingency plans for the arrival of up to 50,000 refugees. FS[12] U.S. TIGHTENS SECURITY IN ALBANIAU.S. officials on 21 August canceled a planned visit by journalists to the "USS La Salle," a warship that is taking part in NATO's "Cooperative Assembly 1998" exercises. The ship left the port of Durres but is still in Albanian waters. AP reported from Tirana that the moves are security precautions in the wake of U.S. attacks on presumed terrorist centers in Afghanistan and Sudan the previous day. PM[13] SPECIAL BOSNIAN SECURITY UNIT NOW READYItalian Colonel Vicenzo Coppola, who heads the Multinational Specialized Unit in Bosnia, said in Sarajevo on 20 August that his 350-strong force is ready to begin its work in maintaining public order and controlling crowds. The unit is based in the capital but maintains "outposts" in other places. Most of the highly-trained police officers are Italian Carabinieri. Some 70 Argentineans and Romanians will arrive soon to join the unit, which is under orders to use as little force as possible when dealing with civilians. Coppola added that his group's mandate does not include arresting suspected war criminals. PM[14] REPUBLIKA SRPSKA GOVERNMENT MOVES SRNAThe government decided on 20 August to move the headquarters of the official news agency, SRNA, from Pale to Banja Luka. The new director will be Dragan Davidovic, who is a former government minister for religious affairs. On 12 August, the government temporarily closed down SRNA, which until then was a mouthpiece for the Pale- based hard-line faction loyal to Radovan Karadzic (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 13 August 1998). Meanwhile in Zagreb, the international community's Carlos Westendorp and his deputy, Jacques Klein, told President Franjo Tudjman on 19 August that they expect Croatian Television not to favor any one political party in its coverage of the upcoming Bosnian elections, RFE/RL's South Slavic Service reported. Croatian Television can be received in much of Bosnia. PM[15] TENSION MOUNTS AGAIN IN ROMANIAN COALITIONDemocratic Party leader Petre Roman, in a letter to President Emil Constantinescu, has complained about reports leaked to the media that police, prosecutors, and the Romanian Intelligence Service (SRI) are investigating alleged illegal dealings by and links to foreign espionage of cabinet ministers that represent his party. The letter was leaked to the press. On 20 August, Democratic Party deputy chairman Bogdan Niculescu- Duvaz said three members of his party's staff have been dismissed for "unprofessionalism" in making public the contents of a letter that was "confidential." The same day, Constantinescu met with Roman but they discussed only accelerating economic reform and privatization. In a separate press release, Constantinescu said the allegations against the Democrats will be discussed with representatives of the police, the SRI, and the Foreign Intelligence Service at a special Supreme Defense Council meeting. MS...[16] ROMANIAN INTERIOR MINISTER DENIES POLICE SURVEILLANCE OF POLITICIANSInterior Minister Gavril Dejeu on 20 August denied accusations made earlier this week by Democratic Party deputy chairman Traian Basescu that he has been placed under police surveillance at Dejeu's orders, RFE/RL's Bucharest bureau reported. Dejeu said that neither himself nor any other Interior Ministry official has issued orders "for any cabinet member to be put under surveillance for his political activity." Also on 20 August, government spokesman Gabriel Peiu said the restructuring of the government has been "postponed" until after the approval by the cabinet of the 1999 budget. Peiu also said that the National Liberal Party has been warned that Finance Minister Daniel Daianu is infringing government regulations by continuing to publicly oppose the deal with Bell Helicopters Textron after that agreement was approved by the cabinet. MS[17] MOLDOVA NOT AFFECTED BY RUBLE DEVALUATIONThe impact of the ruble devaluation on Moldova's economy will be "insignificant," National Bank deputy governor Veronica Bacalu told the independent news agency Flux on 19 August. She said Moldova has "enough foreign currency reserves" to deal with the impact but added that Moldovan exporters that have ruble-dominated contracts with Russian partners are likely to suffer. In an interview with Infotag the same day, Deputy Premier Ion Sturdza said the immediate impact was not strong but that Moldova must "restructure" its trade. He said that some 60 percent of Moldovan exports are currently to Russia. Sturdza added that the ruble crisis broke out "at the peak of the agricultural export season" and that Moldovan exporters must now be particularly careful to negotiate contracts in U.S. currency only. MS[18] TRANSDNIESTER PRISONER THANKS RFE/RLIlie Ilascu, who has been condemned to death in the Transdniester and has been in prison for more than six years, has written to RFE/RL thanking the Romanian Service for having begun broadcasts of a special program for Moldova a few months ago. Ilascu says he is able to listen to the program and that he and the other members of the Moldovan group condemned for alleged terrorist activities are encouraged in their struggle by the RFE/RL coverage. MS[19] IMF LOAN TO BULGARIA STILL UNCERTAINReuters reported on 20 August that the IMF board, which is to consider an agreement reached in July for a three-year $800 million loan, is still demanding that some 15 so-called "prior actions" be taken before the loan is approved. Those "actions" would lay the ground for further reforms. MS[C] END NOTE[20] MOSCOW MAYOR'S MEDIA EMPIRE CONTINUES TO GROWby Laura BelinOf all the Russian politicians who deny harboring presidential ambitions, none has worked harder to gain favorable media exposure than Yurii Luzhkov. The Moscow mayor has long enjoyed the support of some newspapers, such as the popular daily "Moskovskii komsomolets." But during the last year and a half, several new outlets for Luzhkov have appeared, with substantial financing from the Moscow city government. They include the television network TV-Center, which began broadcasting in June 1997, the weekly newspaper "Metro," created in the fall of that year and distributed free of charge, and the newspaper "Rossiya," founded in March 1998. "Literaturnaya gazeta," one of the oldest Russian- language weeklies, has also drifted into Luzhkov's orbit and now belongs to a new holding company called Metropolis. That company has no formal ties to the Moscow government but is controlled by the Sistema corporation, which is close to Luzhkov's administration. Metropolis manages various pro-Luzhkov publications. In addition, "Kommersant-Daily" reported on 12 August that Sistema is to purchase a major advertising firm, Maxima, which will service outlets in the Metropolis holding. Controlling advertising flows is important not only as a source of potential revenue for pro-Luzhkov media. During the 1996 presidential campaign, some newspapers that supported Boris Yeltsin's re- election effort reportedly refused to print advertising in support of Yabloko leader Grigorii Yavlinskii. At that time, Yavlinskii was Yeltsin's only serious competitor for votes from the "democratic" wing of the Russian electorate. That Metropolis was formed with more than business in mind has been acknowledged by the holding company's top executive, Lev Gushchin. Speaking to "Kommersant- Daily," Gushchin argued that only Vladimir Gusinskii's Media-Most rivals Metropolis for potential influence. In the same interview, he discounted other apparent competitors, saying that the holding company for newspapers financed by Oneksimbank is ignoring the matter of "influence on public opinion." Gushchin's remark reflects the belief--widespread among Russian journalists--that the media's role is to help shape events rather than merely to report the news. As Metropolis "grows like a mushroom after rainfall," in the words of Maxima president Vladimir Yevstafev, Luzhkov is poised to gain control over another powerful media-related property. "Kommersant-Daily" reported on 6 August that the State Property Ministry has approved plans to transfer the Moskovskaya pravda printing press to the Moscow city government. The newspaper said Moskovskaya pravda prints 40 magazines and 128 newspapers, including "Moskovskii komsomolets," the muck-raking weekly "Novaya gazeta," and the daily "Segodnya" (part of Gusinskii's Media-Most empire). Luzhkov has sought for six years to persuade the federal government to transfer Moskovskaya pravda to the city authorities. But "Kommersant-Daily" said Anatolii Chubais repeatedly thwarted the mayor's efforts. For most of the last six years, Chubais held senior government posts, and he headed the presidential administration for eight months following Yeltsin's re- election. Luzhkov and Chubais have long-standing policy differences, and the privatization programs implemented by Chubais are among the mayor's favorite targets. Chubais's dismissal from the government in late March removed the main obstacle to Luzhkov's designs on the printing press, according to an unidentified State Property Ministry official quoted by "Kommersant-Daily." The same official noted that the federal government lacks the financial resources to maintain Moskovskaya pravda, let alone provide the capital investment needed to make the press competitive with foreign companies that currently print numerous Russian magazines. Officials now reason that "Moscow clearly has more money. Let Luzhkov invest [in Moskovskaya pravda]." The Moscow city government already has substantial financial leverage over media based in the capital. The prospect of, say, a hike in rent or utility rates has led many media outlets to handle Luzhkov with care in their reporting. Ownership of the Moskovskaya pravda press could become another instrument with which to deter publications from criticizing Luzhkov or supporting the mayor's rivals. This applies not only to the presidential election scheduled for 2000 but also to the 1999 parliamentary elections. A pro-Luzhkov alliance called Unity will seek to gain a substantial share of the seats in the State Duma in those elections. Despite the rapid growth of Luzhkov's media empire, the mayor has no chance of creating a monopoly. He will continue to receive unfavorable exposure in some print and electronic media, in particular those influenced by CIS Executive Secretary Boris Berezovskii. Luzhkov has complained, and former executives at Russian Public Television have acknowledged, that the network's news programs depict the mayor in an unflattering light. Gushchin, the head of the Metropolis holding, was a longtime editor of the weekly magazine "Ogonek," which forms part of Berezovskii's media empire. Speaking to "Komsomolskaya pravda" in February, he charged that Berezovskii exerts pressure on the media he funds to attack "enemies" such as Luzhkov. But one newspaper's enemy is another's hero in Russia today. The expansion of Luzhkov's sphere of influence in the media is a reminder that coverage of the next presidential election will be vastly different from the near-unanimity that characterized Russian journalism during the 1996 contest between Yeltsin and Communist Party leader Gennadii Zyuganov. The author is a specialist in Russian politics and media. 21-08-98 Reprinted with permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
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