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RFE/RL Newsline, Vol. 2, No. 195, 98-10-09Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty: Newsline Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty <http://www.rferl.org>RFE/RL NEWSLINEVol. 2, No. 195, 9 October 1998CONTENTS[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA
[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[C] END NOTE
[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA[01] UTO MEMBER APPOINTED DEPUTY PREMIERZokir Vazirov of the United Tajik Opposition (UTO) has been appointed deputy prime minister, RFE/RL correspondents reported on 8 October. The 50- year-old Vazirov was minister of education in the 1992 coalition government. The same day, Tajik President Imomali Rakhmonov met with UTO leader Said Abdullo Nuri. Presidential spokesman Zafar Saidov told journalists the talks were "fruitful" in speeding up the peace process. However, there was no indication that a UTO member will soon be appointed as defense minister, as provided by last year's peace accord. Influential UTO field commander Mirzo Zizoyev, from central Tajikistan, has been proposed by the UTO leadership, but the government is reluctant to agree to that proposal. BP[02] KAZAKH OPPOSITION MOVEMENT PROTESTS EARLY ELECTIONSAt a 9 October news conference, leaders of Kazakhstan's opposition movement Azamat argued that the parliament does not have the right to countermand the results of the 1995 referendum, which extended President Nursultan Nazarbayev's term in office until 2000, Interfax and RFE/RL correspondents reported. The previous day, the parliament amended the constitution to reschedule presidential elections to early January 1999. Galym Abelseitov said the amendments are "an unconstitutional deal between the president and parliament to extend their terms in office." Petr Svoik said Azamat will likely boycott the January election. Abelseitov added that former Prime Minister Akezhan Kazhegeldin has emerged as possible contender in the elections, but he noted that Azamat "cannot trust him." BP[03] ALIEV PROPOSES ELIMINATING VAT ON MEDIA OUTLETSAzerbaijani President Heidar Aliev has sent a bill to the parliament that would lift value-added tax from the sale and purchase of media products and the production of printed goods, Interfax reported on 8 October. The deputy director of the Turan news agency, Shakhin Gadzhiyev, suggested that Aliev has timed this step to coincide with the elections. At the same time, Gadzhiyev acknowledged that it would significantly improve the financial situation of the media in Azerbaijan. PG[04] CHALLENGER SHARPLY CRITICIZES AZERBAIJANI PRESIDENTSpeaking at a rally in Baku on 8 October, Etibar Mamedov, the top challenger to Aliev in the presidential elections, sharply criticized the president's policies and stewardship in office, Reuters reported. "A thief could run the country better than this," the former dissident said, adding that "we must use only legal means to remove these bloodsuckers." Mamedov said that he will concentrate on rebuilding the country's military, which in effect was destroyed during the Karabakh fighting. PG[05] ARMENIAN PRESIDENT WELCOMES PARLIAMENT'S BACKINGRobert Kocharian released a statement on 8 October saying he is pleased that the parliament has repelled an opposition effort to force a revision of the country's privatization program, RFE/RL's Armenian Service reported. Kocharian said he believes that in the future, parliamentary deputies should "refrain from such discussions after the signing of privatization deals." PG[06] DEMIRCHIAN PUTS OFF FOUNDING CONGRESS OF NEW ARMENIAN PARTYKaren Demirchian, the Soviet-era leader of Armenia, said on 8 October that a flood of new members wishing to join his People's Party of Armenia has forced him to delay its founding congress, RFE/RL's Armenian Service reported. His aides said that they expect the party to win a majority of seats in the next parliament. PG[07] GEORGIA, AZERBAIJAN OPEN BRIDGEThe presidents of Georgia and Azerbaijan, Eduard Shevardnadze and Aliev, have opened a new highway bridge between the two countries, ITAR-TASS reported. The238-meter-long bridge over the Khrami River was built with EU financial assistance and completed in only 14 months. Meanwhile, Georgian and Azerbaijani officials continued discussions on the construction of pipelines to carry Caspian oil to the West, Interfax reported. PG[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE[08] CLINTON SAYS NATO READY TO DEFEND ITS INTERESTSU.S. President Bill Clinton said in Washington on 8 October that "we would far prefer to secure [Yugoslav] President [Slobodan] Milosevic's compliance with the will of the international community in a peaceful manner. But NATO must be prepared to act militarily to protect our interests and to prevent another humanitarian catastrophe in the Balkans." In a letter to several leading senators, Clinton added that "there will be no 'pinprick' strikes...[initial strikes] will send a very clear signal, and follow-on phases will progressively expand in their scale and scope." He denied, however, that NATO has any concrete plans to deploy ground troops in the region: "I can assure you the United States would not support these options and there currently is no sentiment in NATO for such a mission." PM[09] FRANCE TAKES SOFTER LINEForeign Minister Hubert Vedrine told a parliamentary commission that NATO plans "exclude resorting to immediate huge attacks which would be incompatible with a political solution. Eventual military action will be progressive and interrupted by periods where [diplomatic] activity will be resumed," Reuters reported on 9 October. PM[10] ALBRIGHT, COOK SAY NO RUSSIAN VETOForeign ministers of the six international Contact Group countries agreed in London on 8 October to demand Milosevic's "full compliance" with a UN resolution that calls on him to withdraw his forces, allow refugees to go home, and launch talks with the Kosovars. The ministers did not, however, agree on what they might do if he fails to comply. After the meeting, U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said that "if it is necessary to use force, [then] those [Contact Group governments] that do not agree would not have a veto over the action." British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook added that although the ministers took no decision on air strikes, "I can assure you we have no intention of offering Russia a veto on what we may decide is appropriate for NATO." Albright said that an unspecified "attempt to divide us...has failed." Cook noted that if Milosevic "was looking for rescue from any member of the Contact Group, he did not get it." PM[11] HOLBROOKE BACK IN BELGRADEU.S. special envoy Richard Holbrooke returned to Belgrade for further talks with Milosevic on 9 October, saying that the situation "remains extremely serious." In response to reporters' questions in London the previous day, Albright refused to describe Holbrooke's latest mission as a "last chance" for Milosevic to reach a negotiated settlement. She added: "the goal of our policy is not to use force if it's not necessary. The goal of our policy is to achieve compliance with the requirements of the international community. By ratcheting the pressure up in the coming days by moving into the next stage of NATO decision-making, perhaps Milosevic will get the message he has not yet gotten. And Ambassador Holbrooke can work on specific ways to ensure a verifiable and durable compliance with the requirements of the international community." PM[12] SESELJ THREATENS WEST, NEIGHBORSSerbian Deputy Prime Minister Vojislav Seselj said in Belgrade on 8 October that "NATO soldiers may possibly enter our country as combatants but they will leave it in coffins." He warned other countries in the region not to provide any help to NATO or "they will also be considered our enemy and will have to face the consequences." He did not elaborate. Seselj recently threatened to take reprisals against U.S. forces outside Serbia, presumably in Bosnia, and against members of the Serbian opposition (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 30 September 1998). Meanwhile in Prishtina, the Kosova Liberation Army said in a statement on 8 October that it will "refrain from all military activity" as of the next day. PM[13] SERBIAN POLICE DETAIN KOSOVAR JOURNALISTSerbian police held Enver Malloku, who is the director of the Kosova Information Center (KIC) news agency, for three hours in Prishtina on 8 October. They kept his journalist's identity papers, mobile phone, and some tapes. One plainclothes policeman "openly threatened Malloku's family," KIC added. Unidentified gunmen shot at Malloku's home in July. The Serbian authorities have repeatedly threatened the independent media in recent days and have banned rebroadcasting of foreign radio broadcasts, including those of RFE/RL (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 8 October 1998). PM[14] U.S. BROADCASTING BOARD RESPONDS TO SERBIAN BANDavid Burke, the chairman of the Washington-based Broadcasting Board of Governors, United States of America, said on 8 October: "The decision [to ban rebroadcasting] dramatizes the Serbian government's determination to restrict the Serbian public's access to uncensored news, analysis, and responsible discussion of the current crisis in Kosovo. My colleagues and I believe this ban is an intolerable form of press censorship. As we did during a similar situation in Serbia in late 1996, VOA and RFE/RL have expanded their Serbian language programming. We will also pursue additional creative ways of providing the truth to the people of Serbia." PM[15] WESTENDORP SACKS SERBIAN LEGISLATOR FOR THREATSA spokesman for the international community's Carlos Westendorp said in Sarajevo on 8 October that Westendorp has invalidated the mandate of Dragan Cavic, who was elected in September to the Republika Srpska parliament for Radovan Karadzic's Serbian Democratic Party. Cavic lost his seat because of his recent statements to the effect that NATO air strikes against Serbia would be an attack on Serbs everywhere and that Serbs should react accordingly. Westendorp interpreted Cavic's statements as an "incitement to violence and a deliberate threat to the security of the international community and the Dayton peace process." The U.S. embassy in the Bosnian capital said in a statement that NATO intervention "would not be directed against the Serbian people or the Republika Srpska. It would be against those whose operations have led to the death of over 1,500 people and the creation of some 400,000 refugees and displaced persons." PM[16] TOP TUDJMAN AIDE QUITSHrvoje Sarinic said in Zagreb on 8 October that he has resigned as President Franjo Tudjman's chief of staff. He suggested that Tudjman does not support his charges that hard-liners in the governing Croatian Democratic Community and in some intelligence services are waging a campaign against Sarinic and other moderates. The hard-liners are led by Ivic Pasalic and include many Herzegovinians. Sarinic belongs to a faction close to Foreign Minister Mate Granic, which seeks to reorganize Croatian public life according to Western European standards. The parliament is investigating the charges and counter-charges between the two factions. On 8 October, Defense Minister Andrija Hebrang completed his investigation and handed over his findings to the Bureau for National Security, which is headed by Interior Minister Ivan Jarnjak, RFE/RL's South Slavic Service reported. PM[17] ALBANIAN PARLIAMENT APPROVES NEW GOVERNMENTPrime Minister Pandeli Majko's Socialist-led government coalition won formal parliamentary approval on 8 October. All 104 deputies present voted in favor of approving the new cabinet. Opposition Democratic Party legislators boycotted the session and repeated their demand for early elections. The Democratic Party's "Rilindja Demokratike" ran an editorial the following day saying that "the communist majority voted by 100 percent for a program of national enmity...[and] wiped out any hope...for a possible change." FS[18] ALBANIAN POLICE INCREASE SECURITY AROUND U.S. EMBASSYAlbanian police blocked off the street in front of the U.S. embassy in Tirana on 4 October, an Interior Ministry spokesman told Reuters three days later. He added that police took this latest security measure after a request from the embassy. He did not elaborate, however. After the two U.S. embassy bombings in East Africa in August, the embassy in Tirana suspended most operations and flew all non-essential personnel out of the country.[19] EUROPEAN COMMISSION PRESIDENT PRAISES BULGARIAJacques Santer told Bulgarian Premier Ivan Kostov on 8 October that Sofia has made "considerable" progress towards meeting the requirements needed to join the European Union, AP reported. Santer, speaking in Brussels, said amid the progress, "there are still some problems." The EU has called on Bulgaria to reform its administrative, judicial, and police systems, among other things. Bulgaria is in the second group of prospective EU members. Kostov noted that inflation has not gone above 1 percent a month since the beginning of this year, compared with an overall rate of 670 percent in 1997. Kostov also met with Belgian Prime Minister Jean-Luc Dehaene and visited NATO headquarters during his visit. PB[20] ROMANIAN GOVERNMENT TO RESTITUTE BUILDINGS CONFISCATED BY COMMUNISTSThe cabinet agreed on 8 October to submit legislation to the parliament that would return buildings seized by the Communist government to the former owners, AP reported. The draft legislation would apply to companies, religious organizations, and private owners, regardless of their nationality. The parliament will vote on the draft in an emergency session. PB[21] OSCE WELCOMES DECISION ON HUNGARIAN-GERMAN UNIVERSITYThe OSCE said on 8 October that it welcomes the Romanian government's decision to create a German- and Hungarian-language university, an RFE/RL correspondent in Vienna reported. Max van der Stoel, the OSCE's special commissioner for national minorities, said it was an examplary "effort to find a compromise solution for a difficult problem." The decision was criticized by many Romanian officials. The some 2 million ethnic Hungarians in Romania have been calling for the establishment of such a university for many years. PB[22] ROMANIA, HUNGARY TO FORM JOINT MILITARY FORCEThe Romanian government submitted legislation to the parliament on 8 October that calls for the formation of a 1,000-member military unit with Hungary, AP reported. The proposed force would be equally manned by Romanians and Hungarians and would take part in peacekeeping missions. The legislation says the force could be used by NATO and the EU. PB[C] END NOTE[23] TOUGH AGENDA FOR ALBANIA'S NEW PREMIERby Fabian SchmidtFollowing the parliament's approval of his cabinet on 8 October, Albania's new prime minister, Pandeli Majko, faces many domestic challenges, including the passage of a new constitution, improving public order, and fighting corruption. In the foreign- policy sphere, Majko will try to maintain Albania's moderate Kosova policy. And he will also seek to withstand pressure from the opposition, which frequently uses nationalist rhetoric to embarrass the governing coalition. Majko's government is the third to take office since the Socialist Party won a two-thirds majority in the legislature in the 1997 general elections, which followed the widespread unrest earlier that year. Against the background of these frequent changes of government, the Socialist Party realizes that it must maintain a broad support base in order to lead the country out of the turmoil that has engulfed it. Majko knows full well that he will be able to withstand calls from opposition Democratic Party leader Sali Berisha for early elections only if he enjoys support that extends far beyond his own party. The litmus test for Majko and his coalition will be a popular referendum next month on a new constitution. The drafting of the basic law has been a major issue for Albanian governments for years. In 1994, President Berisha failed to garner the necessary two-thirds majority in the parliament for the passage of his own draft constitution. When he tried to have the document approved by popular referendum, the electorate voted against the document in what many observers saw as a negative turning point in his political career. The Democrats have attempted to frustrate the Socialists' attempts to draft a new constitution by boycotting the parliament, questioning the legitimacy of the government, and demanding new elections. But Majko's prospects of receiving the backing of the electorate in the referendum may be better than were Berisha's. The parliamentary commission working on the draft not only includes members of the governing coalition but is headed by the center-right opposition Republican Party legislator Sabri Godo. Godo has repeatedly complained about the Democrats' boycott of the drafting process. Furthermore, the Democrat-led unrest that broke out in early September following the murder of Democratic legislator Azem Hajdari backfired for the Democrats and showed that the government's political position is strong. The opposition failed to gather sufficient popular support to overthrow the government, and the armed revolt in Tirana was over within less than two days. Prosecutors investigating the events now claim to have gathered evidence that unspecified Democratic Party members planned the riots well in advance and that some individuals even tapped the Interior Ministry's telephone lines during the revolt. Majko, nonetheless, will have to promote reconciliation with the opposition while not giving into their demand for new elections. He is in a strong position to do so. The 30-year-old leader of the student revolt that ended communist rule in Albania, Majko is Europe's youngest prime minister and was never a member of the communist Party of Labor of Albania. He became a member of the Socialists after the party's internal reform in1991 and has since developed the profile of a reformer promoting a Social Democratic image for the party. For this reason, he commands more respect from the opposition than did his predecessor Fatos Nano, a former communist and bitter rival of Berisha. But if Berisha is charged with staging a coup in connection with the September riots, Majko would find it difficult to end the polarization that has characterized Albanian politics for some years. He will also need to convince critics that his government, which is almost identical in composition to Nano's, signifies a break with the Nano administration. Besides reaching a modus vivendi with the opposition, Majko's toughest challenges remain a thorough reform of the administration, the implementation of institutionalized anti- corruption measures, improving the living standards of the population, developing the country's infrastructure, and strengthening the rule of law. Most media and the opposition have repeatedly accused Nano's previous Socialist government of corruption and inefficiency. Majko has drawn up an ambitious reform program that would create 85,000 new jobs and would promote the reform of the country's police and judiciary. It will be a tough order to carry out such reform. Finally, the new government is under pressure from the international community to maintain its moderate Kosova policy, which aims at promoting a peaceful solution within the existing borders of federal Yugoslavia. Achieving that goal may be thwarted by the opposition's constant attempts to exploit the Kosova conflict for its own political ends. The Democrats demand the recognition of the Serbian province as an independent state and Albanian assistance for the Kosova Liberation Army. Majko will therefore need to prove that his Kosova policy is working. Moreover, the success or failure of the international community in forcing Belgrade to cease military operations and take part in internationally mediated talks will directly affect the credibility of Albania's government and its ability to move ahead with its domestic agenda. The author is a Berlin-based analyst of Balkan affairs. 09-10-98 Reprinted with permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
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