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RFE/RL Newsline, Vol. 2, No. 224, 98-11-20Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty: Newsline Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty <http://www.rferl.org>RFE/RL NEWSLINEVol. 2, No. 224, 20 November 1998CONTENTS[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA
[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[C] END NOTE
[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA[01] NEW GEORGIAN FINANCE MINISTER NAMEDThe parliament on 19 November voted by 142 to three with no abstentions to endorse President Eduard Shevardnadze's candidate for minister of finance, Caucasus Press and Reuters reported. The new minister is 37-year- old David Onoprishvili, who since 1995 has served as chairman of the parliamentary Committee for Economic Policy and Reforms. Outlining a program of austerity measures, Onoprishvili told deputies he is "not very happy" about having to take up the daunting job. He ruled out a money emission to cover the budget shortfall, saying such a move would lead to hyperinflation. A graduate of Columbia University, Onoprishvili worked as a consultant to the World Bank in 1994-1995. He replaces Mikhail Chkuaseli, who resigned a week ago (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 16 November 1998). LF[02] GEORGIAN DISPLACED PERSONS PESSIMISTIC OVER ABKHAZ TALKSMurman Zakaria, one of the leaders of the Coordinating Council of Political Parties of Abkhazia and Samachablo, which represents Georgians forced to flee their homes in Abkhazia and South Ossetia, has expressed doubts that the upcoming meeting between President Shevardnadze and Abkhaz leader Vladislav Ardzinba will alleviate the plight of those displaced persons, Caucasus Press reported on 19 November. Zakaria said that the Abkhaz have no interest in reaching a settlement and that Moscow is encouraging them to prolong the negotiating process indefinitely. He predicted that the agreement to be signed by Shevardnadze and Ardzinba, details of which have not been revealed, will recognize Abkhazia's independence. Georgian and Abkhaz officials have said the agreement will outline measures for the repatriation of Georgian displaced persons to Abkhazia. Meanwhile, another two Abkhaz policemen were killed on 19 November when their car hit a land mine in Gali Raion, Caucasus Press reported. LF[03] GEORGIAN KURDS ON HUNGER STRIKE...Up to 50 Georgian Kurds have begun a hunger strike at the Kurdish cultural center in Tbilisi, Interfax and Caucasus Press reported on 19 November. The center's chairman, Ordukhan Kashaki, told Caucasus Press that the strikers are protesting the 12 November arrest in Rome of Kurdistan Workers' Party leader Abdullah Ocalan and the tendency of the international media to characterize the entire Kurdish nation as separatists and terrorists. LF[04] ...AS AZERBAIJANI NATIONALISTS CALL FOR OCALAN'S EXTRADITION TO TURKEYThe Party of Young Turkic Nationalists requested permission on 19 November from Baku Mayor Rafael Allakhverdiev to picket the Italian Embassy on 24 November, Turan reported. The party intends to protest the Italian authorities' reluctance to extradite Ocalan to Turkey. LF[05] KARABAKH PRESIDENT DENIES DISAGREEMENT OVER PEACE PROPOSAL...Addressing the government of the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh Republic on 19 November, Arkadii Ghukasian denied rumors that some members of the enclave's leadership are unhappy with the new peace proposals advanced by the OSCE Minsk Group earlier this month, RFE/RL's Yerevan bureau reported. Ghukasian said the peace plan contains encouraging new provisions, including elements of an "unconventional status" for Karabakh. Murad Petrosian, the hard-line chairman of the Karabakh parliamentary Defense and Security Committee, has reportedly criticized the proposals. Petrosian has repeatedly expressed skepticism that the OSCE is capable of mediating a political settlement to the conflict. LF[06] ...WHILE AZERBAIJANI OPPOSITION WANTS DETAILSThe opposition Movement for Democratic Elections and Electoral Reform (SIDSUH) issued a statement on 19 November expressing "concern" that the Azerbaijani authorities have not yet made public the details of the latest OSCE peace plan, Turan reported. The statement claims that the proposal reportedly contained in that plan--namely, that the Azerbaijan Republic and the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic form "a common state"--threatens the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan. To accept such a proposal is "betrayal of the [Azerbaijani] people and the state," the statement concludes. LF[07] AZERBAIJANI PAPER FINED IN SECOND LIBEL SUITA Baku district court imposed a 20 million manat ($5,000) fine on the independent newspaper "Yeni Musavat" on 19 November for having implicated a senior Azerbaijani Interior Ministry official in the February 1997 murder of Academician Zia Buniatov, Turan reported. Vidadi Mahmudov, defense lawyer for "Yeni Musavat," complained that the verdict was unfair as the newspaper had printed a statement by the official in question denying any part in the killing. Rauf Arifoglu, the editor of "Yeni Musavat," embarked on a hunger strike a week ago to protest an earlier fine for insulting a member of the presidential apparatus. A second independent newspaper, "Azadlyg," is facing a libel suit brought by President Heidar Aliev's brother Djalal, whom it claimed has bought expensive property in Britain. Arifoglu and "Azadlyg" editor Gunduz Tairli met on 19 November with Western diplomats in Baku who expressed their regret at the court cases. LF[08] BEREZOVSKII VISITS YEREVAN, BAKUCIS Executive Secretary Boris Berezovskii outlined his proposals for reforming and giving a new lease of life to the commonwealth during talks in Yerevan on 19 November with Armenian President Robert Kocharian, RFE/RL's Yerevan bureau reported. Kocharian expressed his approval of those proposals, which include acting on the 1994 proposals to create free trade zones within the CIS, terming them "quite a workable and serious package." Berezovskii, for his part, gave a positive assessment of the latest OSCE peace proposals for Karabakh, saying they are "a step forward," according to Interfax. On arrival in Baku later the same day, Berezovskii met with President Aliev, who made it clear that his country will intensify its cooperation within various CIS bodies only when measures have been implemented to enable the CIS to function more effectively, according to Interfax. LF[09] TAJIK OPPOSITION PARTY DENOUNCES LEADERThe National Unity Party sent a letter to President Imomali Rakhmonov and the parliament on 19 November condemning the rebellion in northern Tajikistan earlier this month and demanding those who took part in it be severely punished, ITAR-TASS reported. The letter also criticized party leader Abdumalik Abdullojonov for his role in the rebellion, saying he has not been in contact with the party for three years and was acting on his own. It also called on residents of northern Tajikistan to hand over voluntarily any weapons they may have been given by "mutineers" during the rebellion. The letter came one day after Russia's "Nezavisimaya gazeta" reported that the Tajik Justice Ministry has asked the Supreme Court to ban the activities of the National Unity Party. BP[10] NAZARBAYEV SEES 'NOTHING BUT VICTORY' IN UPCOMING ELECTIONSKazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev said he is counting on "nothing but victory" in the January presidential elections, Interfax reported on 19 November. Nazarbayev spoke of the success his country has enjoyed since it became an independent state in 1991. He said that during that period, inflation has dropped from 2,900 percent to 2.3 percent and that 75 percent of industrial companies and 90 percent of farms have been privatized, And he added that there are 7,700 new farms and 122,000 new businesses employing some 1.2 million people. Nazarbayev promised the presidential elections will be free and fair. BP[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE[11] EU, U.S. ENVOYS WANT SWIFT PROGRESS ON KOSOVA ACCORDThe U.S. envoy to Kosova, Christopher Hill, and his EU counterpart, Wolfgang Petritsch, called for swift progress on talks between Belgrade and the ethnic Albanian leadership on an accord granting Kosova autonomy, AFP reported on 19 November. Petritsch and Hill made their comments after meeting in Vienna. In New York, the UN Security Council called for the "early deployment" of the international "verifiers," who are to monitor the withdrawal of Serbian forces from Kosova. In a statement, acting U.S. ambassador to the UN Peter Burleigh said the council is concerned about "persisting tensions" in many areas in Kosova. PB[12] MONTENEGRO CONDEMNS FINE, CONFISCATION OF WEEKLYMontenegrin Information Minister Bozidar Jaredic said on 19 November that the seizure by Serbian authorities of copies of the weekly "Monitor" was a "blatant violation of relations between the two republics," the independent Belgrade-based news agency BETA reported. Jaredic said that this action "will contribute to the further deterioration of relations between the two federal units." "Monitor" is published in the Montenegrin capital Podgorica. In addition, a Serbian court fined the weekly the maximum 1.2 million dinars (about $120,000) for publishing a picture of a clenched fist, the symbol of a Belgrade University student group that has called for the overthrow of Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic. Drasko Djuranovic, chief editor of "Monitor," said he had not been notified about the decision but added that "in this country of miracles, everything is possible." PB[13] MACEDONIA WANTS DISPUTE OVER NATO FORCE SETTLEDLjubco Georgievski, the expected prime minister-designate, said on 19 November that he wants the West to help soothe tensions caused by the planned deployment of a NATO rapid reaction force in Macedonia, Reuters reported. Georgievski said "we would be happy if this question were diplomatically coordinated with [Yugoslavia] so we can openly make the final decision." He added that "it would not be good if Yugoslavia took this as a hostile act as it has the last few days." Jacques Huntzinger, the French ambassador to Macedonia, said he had discussed the issue with both Georgievski and Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic, but he would not comment further. The rapid reaction force is to be deployed in Kosova to rescue some of the 2,000 unarmed "verifiers" in the Serbian province if they become endangered. U.S. General Wesley Clark, NATO's supreme allied commander in Europe, will visit Macedonia on 23 November to discuss the force. PB[14] MACEDONIAN PARLIAMENT CONVENESThe newly elected Macedonian parliament convened for the first time on 19 November, AP reported. The assembly, in which a center-right coalition has a majority, elected law professor Slavo Klimovski as speaker. PB[15] BOSNIAN SERBS BACK DOWN ON DINARThe Yugoslav federal authorities announced in Belgrade on 19 November that Republika Srpska Prime Minister Milorad Dodik told Yugoslav Deputy Prime Minister Jovan Zebic that Banja Luka will use the same exchange rate between the Yugoslav dinar and the German mark as is used by the Belgrade authorities, RFE/RL's South Slavic Service reported. The Yugoslav government had announced on 12 November that it would not allow the further transfer of dinars to the Republika Srpska until the Bosnian Serb government lowered its official exchange rate from 7.5 dinars to the German mark to 6 dinars, which is the official rate in Yugoslavia. The Bosnian Serb government shortly before had adopted the rate of 7.5 to 1, which is approximately the black market value. PM[16] U.S. SAYS SERBS USED TEAR GAS, NOT CHEMICALS IN BOSNIAThe U.S. State Department said on 19 November that it believes Serbs used tear gas against Muslims during the Bosnian war. But it added that it has no evidence that chemical weapons were used, as Human Rights Watch charged the same day. State Department spokesman James Rubin said Washington will study the Human Rights Watch report, which called on the international community to investigate whether Serb forces used the BZ chemical nerve agent during the siege of Srebrenica. Some 35 survivors of that attack said Serb mortars released a low-hanging colored cloud that caused people to have hallucinations. The human rights organization said that it failed to find any physical evidence of a chemical attack. Its findings were turned over to the war crimes tribunal at The Hague. PB[17] WESTERN OFFICIAL EXPECTS SIGNING OF BOSNIAN-CROATIAN DEALJacques Klein, the deputy high representative in Bosnia, said on 19 November that he is optimistic that a deal on special relations between Croatia and the Muslim-Croatian half of Bosnia will be signed in Zagreb in the next few days, Reuters reported. The pact was to be signed on 16 November, but Muslim-Croatian Federation President Ejup Ganic did not show up at the signing ceremony (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 17 November 1998). PB[18] CENTRAL EUROPEAN INITIATIVE MEETS IN ZAGREBRepresentatives of the governments of 16 European countries, including 12 prime ministers, opened a three-day gathering of the Central European Initiative (CEI) in Zagreb on 19 November. Business leaders are also attending the meeting. Croatian Economic Minister Nenad Porges said the previous day that the gathering will demonstrate "that central and southern European countries make up a specific, separate European region that is capable of competing with other European countries in attracting foreign investments." Prime Minister Zlatko Matesa called the meeting "the most significant foreign-policy event held in Croatia since it gained independence" in 1991. Austria and Italy are the only members of the CEI that also belong to the EU. The other 14 are former communist countries: Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Albania, Bulgaria, Moldova, Romania, Croatia, Slovenia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Macedonia, Ukraine, and Belarus. PM[19] CROATIAN POLL SHOWS PEOPLE WANT CHANGEA survey published on 19 November showed that two-thirds of Croats believe it is time for a change and want a new party to run the next government, Reuters reported. And, when asked which party they supported, President Franjo Tudjman's ruling Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) only had the support of 21 percent of respondents, the same percentage as the opposition Social Democrats, the former Communists. Some 75 percent of those surveyed said some political power should be transferred from the presidency to the parliament and the government. The poll was conducted by the Puls agency and was sponsored by the U.S.-based International Republican Institute.PB[20] ROMANIAN OPPOSITION THREATENS TO BOYCOTT PARLIAMENTIon Iliescu, chairman of the Party of Social Democracy in Romania (PDSR), says his party will boycott parliamentary debates unless the ruling coalition signs a written pledge to respect the opposition's right to express its views in the legislature. Other opposition parties have they are ready to join such a boycott, which, Iliescu said, will trigger early elections. Iliescu made the statement after the Senate on 19 November voted against debating a PDSR motion on non-respect for the law-based state. The parliamentary coalition said that the motion was unconstitutional because it criticized President Emil Constantinescu, noting that the basic law stipulates that the parliament can debate only motions against the government. MS[21] EXTREMIST ROMANIAN POLITICIAN FINED IN CIVIL LIBEL CASEThe Supreme Court of Justice on 19 November ordered Greater Romania Party chairman Corneliu Vadim Tudor to pay more than $2,000 in damages for having slandered the Romanian Writers' Union, Mediafax reported. Several hundred libel cases have been brought against Tudor, who enjoys parliamentary immunity. The union sued Tudor in 1995, and Tudor agreed to renounce his immunity to appear in court, having already won twice in lower courts. The decision of the Supreme Court is final, but Tudor says he will take his case to an international tribunal. MS[22] BULGARIA RECEIVES SECOND IMF LOAN TRANCHEAn IMF spokeswoman on 19 November confirmed that Bulgaria has met the targets laid down in a three-year $864 million extended agreement and has been allowed to make a second $73 million drawing from the loan, an RFE/RL correspondent in Washington reported. The loan was approved by the IMF's executive board in September. Meanwhile, the World Bank has approved a new $80 million loan to help Bulgaria upgrade its social protection system. MS[23] BULGARIAN STRIKING MINERS IGNORE MINISTER'S WARNINGWorkers on strike at a lead and zinc mine in southern Bulgaria are ignoring Finance Minister Muravei Radev's warning that the pit might close unless they go back to work. About 500 miners at the Zlatograd branch of the GORUBSO firm have been on strike for nine days to demand wage increases of up to 200 percent. The Finance Ministry says the Zlatograd firm has incurred losses of 800 million leva ($446,800) in its core activities between June and September this year and that its debt stands at 5.7 billion leva ($3.18 million), Reuters reported. A similar protest by miners at Zlatograd last February did not result in a pay increase for the strikers. MS[C] END NOTE[24] SCHROEDER'S VISIT MARKS NEW ERA IN RUSSO-GERMAN RELATIONSby Roland EgglestonThis week's visit to Moscow by new German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder has made clear that any personal friendship between the leaders of the two nations will no longer play so large a role in German-Russian relations. Officials in Bonn say the days of the so-called "Maennerfreundschaft"--or male-bonding--between Russian President Boris Yeltsin and former German Chancellor Helmut Kohl are now history. One of those officials says that "Kohl based his policy too much on the person of Boris Yeltsin," adding that "at the time, he may have been quite right: Yeltsin was the strong man who could, and did, exercise control. But those days have past." Political commentator Lutz Steiner says "Schroeder has made clear that the new Germany is ready to support and help Russia through its current crisis. But it will be done on a firm economic basis." Steiner adds that "there will be none of the so- called 'agreements between old friends,' under which Helmut Kohl sometimes offered Russia thousands of millions [of marks] in credit." Yeltsin was quoted by most German newspapers as having declared in Moscow that "relations between Germany and Russia are, and will remain, what they were in recent years." But in Bonn, officials said that Germany's left coalition of Social Democrats and Greens wants to fashion a new relationship independent of any personal friendship between the national leaders. The officials said that Schroeder is acutely aware that Russian politics is in a state of flux. On the one hand, there is Yeltsin's visible frailty and the fact that his term in office will soon expire. In the best of circumstances, Yeltsin will remain in power only until the year 2000. Who his successor will be remains unclear. Schroeder is said also to have taken into account that Russian parliamentary elections are scheduled for next year. They could bring new leaders to the fore even before the expiration of Yeltsin's term. Schroeder's recognition of these realities was expressed not only in his meetings with Yeltsin and Prime Minister Yevgenii Primakov. He also expressed his views when he met with former Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin, Krasnoyarsk Governor, likely presidential candidate Aleksandr Lebed, as well as communist and other political leaders. By contrast, Kohl's visits to Moscow were usually focused only on Yeltsin and those around him. One theme that pervaded all Schroeder's discussions in Moscow was that financial assistance to Russia should be provided internationally and not by Germany independently. Schroeder emphasized several times that, in his phrase, "Germany's resources are exhausted." Most German commentators agree. With more than 10 percent of the nation's workers unemployed and severe problems in some areas of the economy, there is widespread agreement that the new government is being forced to look inward more than in the past. Schroeder also pointed out to his Russian interlocutors that other Western countries are also placing restrictions on their future financial assistance to Russia. A Bonn official said: "Schroeder made clear to all his discussion partners that Russia must lay out firm foundations for economic recovery before it can expect new help from the Western industrial states." Schroeder's view, as he told Primakov, is that "the work must be done" in Moscow. But he publicly described the new Russian economic program as a "good beginning" that ought to receive a friendly reception from the IMF and World Bank. German commentators say that Schroeder paid attention to the complaints he heard from German businessmen at a private meeting. The businessmen expressed frustration with Russian tax policies, problems in implementing contracts, and other difficulties. Schroeder told them that his government is ready to intervene with Russian authorities in individual cases instead of only making a blanket approach on behalf of all German businessmen. Still, Schroeder was said also to have discussed with the businessmen Lebed's suggestion that Germany develop more business and political contacts with the Russian regions. Schroeder has said publicly that he will also recommend to the 17 provincial governments in Germany that they develop contacts with Russia's regions. German commentators are uncertain about what remains of the bilateral relations forged by Kohl and Yeltsin. One question has to do with the so- called "European triangle," the name given to the meeting in March between Yeltsin, Kohl, and French President Jacques Chirac. Under the skeptical eyes of Washington and London, the three leaders agreed to develop triangular cooperation in a number of areas, including a tri-national university, increased exchange of scientists, and more joint cultural projects. None of these programs have been realized, and perhaps now they never will. The author is an RFE/RL correspondent based in Munich. 20-11-98 Reprinted with permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
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