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RFE/RL Newsline, Vol. 2, No. 202, 98-10-19Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty: Newsline Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty <http://www.rferl.org>RFE/RL NEWSLINEVol. 2, No. 202, 19 October 1998CONTENTS[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA
[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[C] END NOTE
[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA[01] INSURGENTS IN WESTERN GEORGIA TAKE SECURITY MINISTER HOSTAGEUnder the command of Akaki Eliava, some 100 supporters of deceased President Zviad Gamsakhurdia attacked an army base in the west Georgian town of Senaki during the early morning of 19 October, seizing 10 tanks and 23 armored personnel carriers, Caucasus Press reported. Some 200 Georgian army troops defected to the Zviadists. The combined rebel forces took hostage National Security Minister Djemal Gakhokidze, who was sent to negotiate with them, and advanced towards the city of Kutaisi. Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze has called on the mutineers to lay down their arms. The Georgian armed forces have been placed on alert, and Defense Minister Davit Tevzadze has been sent to the region. LF[02] GEORGIAN, ABKHAZ DELEGATIONS MEETGeorgian and Abkhaz delegations led by the respective prime ministers concluded three days of talks in the Greek resort of Vouliagmeni on 18 October, Reuters reported. Georgian presidential adviser Levan Aleksidze told Reuters that some progress has been made on conditions for the repatriation to Abkhazia's southernmost Gali Raion of ethnic Georgian displaced persons who fled the fighting in 1992-1993 and again in May 1998. The Abkhaz leadership has until now demanded substantial economic aid from Tbilisi as a precondition for allowing repatriation, while the Georgian side refuses to grant such aid before the repatriation process is completed. "Nezavisimaya gazeta" reported on 16 October that Abkhaz President Vladislav Ardzinba was also in Athens, but it is unclear whether he held meetings there with Georgian Minister of State Vazha Lortkipanidze. LF[03] ALIEV INAUGURATED AS AZERBAIJANI PRESIDENTHeidar Aliev was sworn in for his second term as president on 18 October, Reuters and Interfax reported. In a two-hour speech, he promised to defend and serve his country and maintain its territorial integrity. He also affirmed his readiness for "constructive dialogue" with the opposition and to devote greater attention to social issues. The presidents of Chechnya, Ingushetia, and Dagestan and the leaders of Kabardino-Balkaria and Karachaevo- Cherkessia attended the ceremony, as did Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov, who handed Aliev a personal message of congratulation from President Boris Yeltsin. LF[04] RIVAL CANDIDATE PROTESTS POLL RESULTSThe Azerbaijan Supreme Court on 17 October began considering the appeal lodged by Azerbaijan National Independence Party chairman Etibar Mamedov against official election returns giving Aliev 76.1 percent of the vote and Mamedov 11.6 percent. Mamedov says that those figures reflect massive falsification, claiming that he polled 26 percent of the vote and Aliev no more than 60 percent. A candidate must garner two-thirds of the vote for a first-round victory. Central Electoral Commission chairman Djafar Veliev charged that violations of the voting procedure were committed by supporters of both Aliev and Mamedov but that the number of such incidents was too small to alter the outcome of the poll, "Nezavisimaya gazeta" reported on 17 October. LF[05] ARMENIAN LEADERSHIP ACCUSED OF BLACKMAILOpposition parliamentary deputy Vahagn Khachatrian of the second largest Hanrapetutyun [Republic] faction has accused the authorities of blackmailing him to withdraw his libel suit against the chief of President Robert Kocharian's staff, RFE/RL's Yerevan bureau reported on 16 October. Earlier this month, Khachatrian also asked the Office of the Prosecutor- General to open criminal proceedings against Aleksan Harutiunian, chief of the presidential staff, who has implicated Khachatrian in a 1995 corruption case. Harutiunian told the "Aravot" daily that former President Levon Ter- Petrossian sacked Khachatrian, then mayor of Yerevan, to "save him from prosecution." Khachatrian has rejected those allegations, saying that he resigned as mayor. He claimed that the state prosecutors have been ordered to turn a blind eye to the "slander" committed by Harutiunian, who is close to President Kocharian. LF[06] KARABAKH AUTHORITIES WELCOME COUNCIL OF EUROPE INVITATIONThe leadership of the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh Republic has welcomed an official invitation from the Council of Europe to participate in hearings in Strasbourg next month on the long- running conflict with Azerbaijan, RFE/RL's Stepanakert correspondent reported on 16 October. The foreign ministers and parliamentary speakers of Armenia and Azerbaijan will also attend. An Karabakh presidential spokeswoman described the invitation as a "gesture of good will" that reflects growing international understanding of the need for direct contacts between Karabakh Armenians and Azerbaijan. LF[07] KYRGYZ CITIZENS VOTE IN REFERENDUMThe chairman of Kyrgyzstan's Central Election Commission, Sulaiman Imanbaev, said on 18 October that 2.27 million people or 96.26 percent of eligible voters in the country cast ballots in the referendum the previous day on amendments to the constitution. Of those, 2.07 million or 90.92 percent voted in favor of those amendments. Kyrgyzstan thus becomes the first CIS Central Asian state to introduce private ownership of land, although there is a five-year moratorium on the sale and purchase of agricultural land. Under the other amendments, the parliament cannot discuss budget spending without approval from the government and the number of deputies in the Legislative Assembly is changed from 35 to 67 and in the People's Assembly from 70 to 38. In addition, deputies can be stripped of immunity in some cases and greater freedom of speech has been granted. The referendum questions were was offered as a package, meaning it was not possible to vote on individual amendments. BP[08] UZBEK, TURKMEN PRESIDENTS DISCUSS AFGHANISTANUzbek President Islam Karimov, during a one-day visit to Turkmenistan on 16 October, met with his Turkmen counterpart, Saparmurat Niyazov, to discuss the situation in Afghanistan, ITAR-TASS and Interfax reported. The two leaders said they support UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan's initiative for resolving the Afghan conflict peacefully. They also discussed use of a major river that runs through both countries, the Amu-Darya, but no other details were available. Also on the agenda were terrorism and combating the international drug trade. BP[09] PROBE LAUNCHED INTO KAZAKH OPPOSITION CANDIDATEAccording to deputy chairman of the Kazakh National Security Committee Alnur Musayev, former Prime Minister Akezhan Kazhegeldin has "broken the law," Interfax reported on 16 October. Musayev said Interpol has been investigating purchases made by Kazhegeldin's wife, Natalia, in Belgium that amount to more than $4.5 million. He added that there is information about other property owned by the Kazhegeldins in the U.S., Australia, and Great Britain. Musayev said that a person under investigation "has no moral right to govern the country." And he also argued that the assassination attempt against Kazhegeldin last week was "no murder attempt" (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 14 October 1998). BP[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE[10] MACEDONIAN OPPOSITION LEADS IN ELECTIONSEarly returns in the 18 October parliamentary elections give a comfortable lead to the coalition of the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (VMRO-DPMNE) of Ljubco Georgievski and the Democratic Alternative of Vasil Tupurkovski. The coalition has already elected 19 deputies to the 120-seat legislature, while the governing Social Democrats have elected only seven. Some 19 VMRO-DPMNE candidates have already qualified for the second round on 1 November, as opposed to 15 Social Democrats. Final results are expected by 20 October. Georgievski and Tupurkovski promised to end corruption and promote economic development. They will probably need the support of one of the larger ethnic Albanian parties in order to form a government. Observers in Skopje noted that the opposition Democratic Party of the Albanians (PDSH) of Arben Xhaferi, which previously made local power- sharing agreements with VMRO-DPMNE, is the most likely partner. PM[11] SERBIAN ASSAULT SENDS KOSOVARS FLEEINGSeveral hundred Kosovars fled their homes in the Komoran area, west of Prishtina, on 18 October after Yugoslav army troops and at least 50 vehicles arrived from the provincial capital. Guerrillas of the Kosova Liberation Army (UCK) killed three Serbian policemen in the area the previous day. An unnamed Western diplomat told Reuters in Prishtina that "the Serbs are going to try to clean the area up." The Kosovar news agency KIC reported on 18 October that Serbian forces fired on several villages in the Mitrovica area. There has been no independent confirmation of the KIC account. The following day, Tanjug reported that its journalist Nebojsa Radosevic and photographer Vladimir Dobricic have gone missing on the Prishtina-Magura road. Two months ago, Radio Prishtina's journalist Djuro Slavuj and his driver, Ranko Perinic, disappeared and have not been heard of since. PM[12] OSCE MONITORS ARRIVE IN KOSOVAAn advance team of 20 international monitors arrived in Prishtina on 18 October. Two days earlier, OSCE chairman Bronislaw Geremek signed an agreement in Belgrade that provides for 2,000 members of the international Verification Mission to deploy to the Serbian province. Elsewhere, U.S. special envoy Richard Holbrooke told CNN that the international community must act more quickly to send the full contingent of monitors into the region. He added that NATO remains ready to launch air strikes if the Serbian authorities do not carry out the agreement he negotiated with Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic the previous week (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 13 October 1998). On 16 October, NATO agreed to extend its deadline for compliance by an additional 10 days, until 27 October (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 16 October 1998). PM[13] TOUGHER MEASURES AGAINST SERBIAN MEDIA IN OFFING?Spokesmen for the independent media said in Belgrade on 18 October that the parliament will soon pass a law that will incorporate key parts of a recent government decree that shut down three independent dailies as well as Radio Index, Radio Senta, TV Pirot, Radio Kontakt, and Radio City (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 16 October 1998). The law will make permanent the ban on rebroadcasting foreign radio programs in Serbo-Croatian, including those of RFE/RL, VOA, the BBC, and Deutsche Welle. Elsewhere, supporters of the Democratic Party collected 5,000 signatures in opposition to the ban. The previous day, Serbian Deputy Prime Minister Vojislav Seselj said that the authorities will soon take similar measures against independent Albanian- language media in Kosova. PM[14] VOJVODINA CLAIMS AUTONOMYDragan Veselinov, who is president of the "Vojvodina" coalition of opposition parties, said that Serbia's northern province should receive the same autonomy that Kosova will have as a result of the recent Milosevic- Holbrooke pact, RFE/RL's South Slavic Service reported from Belgrade on 17 October. Veselinov stressed that the agreement opens the way for a complete restructuring of Serbia's political system, beginning with the restoration of parliamentary autonomy to Vojvodina. Milosevic forced the province's leaders from office in October 1988 and subsequently abolished its autonomy. Vojvodina has a large ethnic Hungarian minority and smaller groups of Czechs, Slovaks, Ruthenians, Romanians, and others. Vojvodina Serbs long lived under Habsburg rule and generally regard themselves as distinct from Serbs, who were incorporated into the Ottoman Empire. PM[15] CROATIAN BANK OFFERS REWARD IN TUDJMAN SCANDALOfficials of the Zagrebacka Banka announced on 18 October that the bank will pay $170,000 to anyone providing information as to how the independent daily "Jutarnji List" recently obtained information about the account of Ankica Tudjman, who is the wife of the President Franjo Tudjman. The paper wrote that she has a bank balance of $160,000. Ms. Tudjman recently filed an official declaration in which she said that her property consists only of her car. PM[16] MISS CROATIA STRIPPED OF TITLEIn the Croatian capital on 16 October, the director of the Miss Croatia pageant declared invalid the recent election of Lejla Sehovic. He charged that there were irregularities in the voting and that one ballot was invalid. Sehovic said that the real reason that the pageant organizers oppose her election is that she is a Muslim. Sehovic add that the organizers "will have to take the crown from me physically if they want it, " RFE/RL's South Slavic Service reported. PM[17] TRIAL OF SUSPECTED ISLAMIST OPENS IN TIRANAThe trial of Claude Cheik Ben Abdel, a Muslim with French citizenship who in June killed his 22-year-old interpreter, has opened in the Albanian capital. Abdel says he murdered the interpreter because "that was the will of God." Abdel arrived in Albania early this year to join the UCK and posed as a journalist. He was one of a group of eight Muslim fundamentalists who acquired weapons but did not succeed in linking up with the guerrillas. He is believed to have killed his interpreter because the young man knew too much about the group's activities. In June, police began a crackdown on suspected Muslim fundamentalist terrorists from abroad. FS[18] ALBANIA CREATES SPECIAL UNIT TO PROTECT ARMY CAMPSAlbania's High Defense Council on 17 October approved the creation of a battalion of 150 professional soldiers to protect army bases and arsenals against looters, ATSH reported. The troops will be charged with foiling armed attacks against military installations. People suspected of smuggling arms to Kosova have tried to break into weapons depots throughout the country several times this year. Meanwhile, unknown attackers have blasted a main high-voltage electrical power line in northern Albania. The blast caused a serious power outage. FS[19] OPPOSITION DEPUTIES RETURN TO PARLIAMENT TO DEBATE BASIC LAWThe opposition Democratic Party and its allies on 17 October ended their boycott of the parliament and attended their first legislative session in months. The parliament discussed the draft constitution and asked the drafting commission to review four of the document's articles, ATSH reported. Zef Bushati, leader of the small opposition Christian Democratic Party, proposed changing the draft to provide for the president to be elected directly rather than by the parliament. The head of the drafting commission, Sabri Godo, welcomed the opposition proposals, stressing that he is confident that "we will reach an agreement satisfying everybody, through a consensus between representatives of all parliamentary forces." FS[20] ROMANIAN PRESIDENT, GOVERNMENT'S POPULARITY DOWNA survey released on 18 October showed a decrease in the popularity of Emil Constantinescu and the Romanian government, Reuters reported. The poll, taken by the Life Quality Research Institute, showed Constantinescu with a 25 percent approval rating, down from 38 percent in June. Some 48 percent of respondents voiced dissatisfaction with the performance of Prime Minister Radu Vasile's cabinet, while 20 percent rated it "very bad." In other news, Constantinescu's political adviser, Zoe Petre, said the attempt at self-immolation by a homeless woman last week was "the most brutal expression of the deep economic crisis" in the country (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 16 October 1998). She said "it has shocked us all." The woman was reported in critical condition on 16 October and was not expected to survive. PB[21] ROMANIA OFFERS TO BARTER WITH RUSSIARomanian Agriculture Minister Dinu Gavrilescu said on 16 October that Bucharest had offered to trade food products to Russia for oil and gas, Reuters reported. Gavrilescu said the offer was being made because of the Russian government's hard currency shortage. Romania will offer 1 million tons of wheat along with some meat and edible oil in exchange for crude oil and gas. The food stocks are valued at some $200 million. PB[22] BULGARIA'S RULING COALITION UNITES INTO PARTYThe ruling Union of Democratic Forces announced on 18 October that the 15- party alliance has become a single party, AP reported. Party leader and Premier Ivan Kostov said the UDF seeks to become a party similar to other Christian democratic parties in Europe and hopes to attract centrist voters. The alliance was formed by Kostov more than a year ago. Some 3,000 alliance members approved the change. PB[23] NATO MONEY TO HELP UPGRADE BULGARIAN AIR BASESBulgarian General Ivan Bachev said on 16 October that three of his country's air bases will be upgraded with NATO funds, an RFE/RL correspondent in Sofia reported. Bachev said the upgrades, mainly in communications infrastructure, will allow the bases to be used by NATO aircraft. The bases at Kamenets and Bezmer, in northern Bulgaria, as well as the Graf Ignatievo, in the south, will benefit from the funds. PB[C] END NOTE[24] YET ANOTHER CAMPAIGN FOR SLAVIC INTEGRATIONby Jan MaksymiukWhen the Russian economy began to melt down after the ruble's collapse in mid-August, Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka launched yet another campaign for the closer integration of Belarus and Russia. The two countries have been unsuccessfully trying to consummate some kind of merger since Lukashenka came to power in 1994. But this time, the "third Slavic brother," Ukraine, has been drawn into the process. Kyiv has been wary of any initiatives aimed at closer integration not only with Russia and Belarus but also within the Commonwealth of Independent States. Ukraine stresses that in relations with post-Soviet states, economic issues should take precedence over political ones, while asserting that bilateral accords are more important than multilateral ones. Ironically, the event that sparked a renewed outburst of integration propaganda was Russia's financial crisis and subsequent economic slump. Addressing the Ukrainian Supreme Council on 29 September, Russian State Duma Chairman Gennadii Seleznev called upon Ukraine to form a Slavic union with Russia and Belarus. Some 50 deputies of the right-wing Rukh party jeered at Seleznev and branded his speech a "provocation." But 120 or so Communist deputies received Seleznev's appeal with loud applause. In what seemed to be an attempt at damage control, Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma immediately responded that he "categorically opposes" such a union. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Borys Tarasyuk, pointing out that Russia is a multiethnic country, said the first consideration should be how "tens of millions of non-Slavs" in Russia would react if their state became part of a Slavic union. Nonetheless, the merger proposal was made by a high-ranking official and received much publicity in both Ukraine and Russia. In fact, it may well become a propaganda time bomb planted in Ukraine's fragile economic system. An impoverished population, large parts of which have not been paid for months, may eventually turn a deaf ear to Kuchma's promises to improve the situation in independent Ukraine and may begin to heed Lukashenka's nostalgic appeal to restore the former "unbreakable" union and state- regulated economy. Lukashenka had his moment of triumph when Russia's financial market collapsed in August. The IMF recommendations, he argued, aim at "disrupting the national economic system of post-Soviet republics" rather than "curing" it. Belarus, in his opinion, has a successful state-regulated economy that fares well without foreign advice and assistance. Lukashenka even went so far as to offer to act as consultant to Russian President Boris Yeltsin by showing him how Belarus's economic experience can be applied in Russia. A large amount of pro-Slavic union propaganda has come from other quarters within Belarus. The Chamber of Representatives, the lower house of the legislature, called on the Russian State Duma to urgently adopt bills on introducing a single Belarusian- Russian citizenship, joint state symbols, a Belarusian-Russian Union anthem, and direct elections to the Belarusian- Russian Union Parliamentary Assembly. The Belarusian Foreign Ministry announced that Minsk has "programs" to help Russia overcome its crisis, while Lukashenka vowed to supply foodstuffs to stave off famine in Russia. Lukashenka used the September visit to Minsk of the Patriarch of Moscow and All-Russia to try to secure the support of the Orthodox Church for his integration cause. "Orthodoxy is the only barrier that protects us from falling into abyss" he said, pledging to make Christian values "the state ideology of Belarus." He also took advantage of the Kosova crisis to portray himself as a defender of the Slavic world as a whole, offering military help to Yugoslavia. And he strongly condemned Bulgaria and Romania for granting NATO the right to use their airspace in the event of military action against Yugoslavia and thus for "betraying Slavic [sic] unity." So far, there have been no signs that any of those proposals have been treated seriously by other statesmen or had the intended effect. At another level, however, their effectiveness is more difficult to ascertain. Lukashenka's actions and statements are primarily addressed to ordinary people, to collective farm and industrial workers who are suffering most on account of the crisis in Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus. Such people elected him president in 1994, and a September poll showed that amid Belarus's worst economic crisis since the breakup of the Soviet Union, Lukashenka's popularity jumped to 55 percent, up 11 percent compared with last December. This measure of his popularity offers a clue to what Russian and Ukrainian workers may privately think about Lukashenka's idea of closer Slavic unity. At the same time, the appeal of such a union is not confined to the Slavic former Soviet republics. An Armenian initiative last year collected 1 million signatures in support for that country's accession to the Russia- Belarus Union. Similar, albeit more modest campaigns, have also been launched in Georgia and Kyrgyzstan. Belarus is the only post-Soviet republic that has made reintegration a sustained, long-term policy. Unable to use any economic levers to promote his policy of integration, Lukashenka makes use of his greatest asset: an almost hypnotic populist appeal to the man on the street. In fact, he appeals directly to the deeply wounded pride of people confronted with their humiliating economic misery and what they perceive as their political decline following the demise of the Soviet Empire. Wounded pride seldom responds in a friendly or creative manner. That is why Lukashenka-- although marginalized and isolated on the international scene--should be regarded with due concern as potentially one of the biggest troublemakers in the post-Soviet area. 19-10-98 Reprinted with permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
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