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RFE/RL Newsline, Vol. 2, No. 236, 98-12-09Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty: Newsline Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty <http://www.rferl.org>RFE/RL NEWSLINEVol. 2, No. 236, 9 December 1998CONTENTS[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA
[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[C] END NOTE
[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA[01] UKRAINIAN PRIME MINISTER SIGNS COOPERATION AGREEMENTS IN TBILISI...Meeting on 7 December, Valeriy Pustovoytenko and Georgian Minister of State Vazha Lortkipanidze signed a 10-year agreement on economic cooperation as well as accords on trade, banking, culture, and transportation, Interfax and Caucasus Press reported. The two leaders discussed coordinating efforts to prevent a further devaluation of their countries' currencies. Pustovoytenko also held talks with President Eduard Shevardnadze, parliamentary speaker Zurab Zhvania, and Foreign Minister Irakli Menagharishvili. The Ukrainian leader told Menagharishvili that Ukraine is willing to host talks between Georgian and Abkhaz representatives on confidence-building measures in order to expedite a settlement of the Abkhaz conflict. LF[02] ...VISITS TO POTI, BATUMIThe next day, Pustovoytenko inspected the oil terminal under construction at Georgia's Black Sea port of Supsa and again affirmed Ukraine's interest in exporting via its territory Caspian oil shipped by tanker from Supsa to Odessa, Interfax reported. Pustovoytenko also visited Batumi, where he discussed the prospects for bilateral cooperation with Adjar Supreme Council chairman Aslan Abashidze. A rail ferry service between Batumi, Poti, and Ilichevsk is to begin operating on 19 December after several postponements. LF[03] ARMENIA HOPES AZERBAIJAN WILL RECONSIDER KARABAKH PEACE PLANArmenian Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian said on 7 December that he hopes Azerbaijan will reconsider its approach to resuming talks on a settlement of the Karabakh conflict even though it has rejected what he termed the "compromise variant" of a "common state" proposed in the latest OSCE Minsk Group draft plan. Oskanian was speaking in Brussels, where he is heading the Armenian delegation to a regular meeting of NATO's Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council. At a press briefing in Yerevan on 8 December, Foreign Ministry spokesman Arsen Gasparian said, "We think the most recent proposal by the OSCE Minsk Group co- chairmen on resolving the Karabakh conflict is the only version on the basis of which progress, and later the full settlement of the conflict, will be possible," RFE/RL's Yerevan bureau reported. LF[04] AZERBAIJAN WANTS RUSSIAN ACTION OVER YEREVANGATEAzerbaijani Defense Minister Safar Abiev told journalists in Baku on 8 December that Prime Minister Artur Rasi-zade recently wrote to his Russian counterpart Yevgenii Primakov, to protest alleged continuing shipments of Russian arms to Armenia and to demand that those weapons supplied in 1993- 1996 be returned, Turan reported. Rasi-zade has not yet received a response to that demand. The trilateral Russian-Azerbaijani-Armenian commission established last year to investigate the charges of illicit Russian arms supplies to Armenia has not met since April 1998. LF[05] UTO CANDIDATE FOR DEFENSE MINISTRY AGAIN REJECTEDRFE/RL correspondents in Dushanbe on 7 December confirmed that the United Tajik Opposition re-nominated Mirzo Ziyoyev as defense minister sometime between 4 and 6 December. The government, however, once again rejected his nomination, proposing instead that Ziyoyev receive a lower- ranking position in the Defense Ministry. Under the terms of the Tajik Peace Accord, signed in June 1997, the UTO are to receive 30 percent of the seats in the government. That process is nearly completed. Ziyoyev proved a capable military commander during the Tajik civil war and has strong ties to UTO leadership. BP[06] TAJIK PREMIER DOWNPLAYS REGIONAL TENSIONSUsing language reminiscent of Soviet press attacks on "bourgeois falsifiers" during the 1980s, Tajik Prime Minister Yakhye Azimov has harshly criticized "newly-baked politologists" who he claims seek to undermine Tajikistan's sovereign status by overstating and fanning inter- regional tensions. Writing in "Nezavisimaya gazeta" on 4 December, Azimov concedes that "separatist aspirations" and "regional self-identification" still exist and constitute the main obstacle to the emergence of a sense of Tajik nationhood. But he rejects charges by unnamed international organizations that officials from southern Tajikistan are carrying out "genocide" against persons from other parts of the country. Azimov also denies that only individuals who come from the southern region of Kulyab (as does President Imomali Rakhmonov) are appointed to leading positions, naming a dozen senior officials, including himself, who are from Leninabad, in the north. Mahmud Khudaberdiyev and his putative accomplice in last month's abortive uprising, former premier Abdumalik Abdullojonov, both come from Leninabad. LF[07] TURKMENISTAN PRINTS MORE MONEY, DOLLAR RATE ON BLACK MARKET SOARSThe decision by the Turkmen government to print more money has sent the unofficial dollar exchange rate soaring to nearly three times the official rate, RFE/RL correspondents in Ashgabat reported on 8 December. Central Bank chief Khudaiberdi Orazov announced that decision on 4 December. According to Reuters, there had been a near riot in late November at an Ashgabat Daikhanbank exchange office following the announcement that some banks would be nationalized. The official exchange rate is 5,200 manats to $1, but the unofficial rate is reportedly more than 13,000 to $1. BP[08] KAZAKH FOREIGN MINISTER CONTINUES U.S. VISITKasymjomart Tokayev, speaking at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington on 8 December, said that his country will hold presidential elections, as planned, next month and that they will be fair, RFE/RL correspondents reported. Tokayev also said that while those elections will be democratic, it will be "democracy suited to Kazakh culture." It is unfair to compare democratic structures in the U.S. with those in Kazakhstan, he argued, noting that his country welcomes constructive criticism but asks for fairness. The decision to move presidential elections forward by nearly two years has drawn criticism from the U.S. and the OSCE, as have subsequent incidents in the registration process. BP[09] FURTHER REPORTS ON COMMUNIST PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE'S COMMENTSSerikbolsyn Abdildin, the presidential candidate of the Kazakh Communist Party, said at an 8 December press conference that he believes he will win the January elections, Interfax reported. Abdildin said he expects to take 70 percent of the vote, pointing to strong support from Kazakhstan's "impoverished masses," who he said make up 90 percent of the country's population. He added that is counting on "most of the 4 million unemployed and 3 million pensioners" to vote for him, but he noted that he believes the election will be rigged unless members of the Communist Party are allowed to monitor the vote. According to Reuters the same day, Abdildin said the international community is correct in labeling the January elections "unfair." But he said does not believe incumbent President Nursultan Nazarbayev will postpone the elections, despite the OSCE's 3 December call to do so. BP[10] PREPARATIONS FOR ELECTION CAMPAIGN UNDER WAY...The chair of the Central Election Commission, Zagipa Baliyeva, said on 8 December that the January presidential elections will be held in any weather and regardless of the will of individual figures, Interfax reported. Baliyeva noted that candidates have been nominated and registered in accordance with the law and in a way that she described as "democratic enough." She also criticized the OSCE's call to postpone the election, saying that the organization "cannot recommend" that a government delay such a vote. Baliyeva said her commission is doing everything possible to ensure the ballot will be "open, honest, and transparent." The state will make time available for all four candidates on television and radio and has reserved advertising space in newspapers. All the candidates have received 2.44 million tenge ($30,000) which is equivalent to the sum the candidates paid as a registration fee. Baliyeva dismissed rumors that two of the candidates, which she did not name, will withdraw on the eve of the election. BP[11] ...WHILE BOYCOTT THREATS EMERGEMore than 5,000 workers at the Shymkent Lead and Zinc plant have sent an open letter to the government announcing their intention to boycott the January election if they are not paid back wages, RFE/RL correspondents in Almaty reported on 9 December. Those workers did not receive wages from 1994-1996, according to Interfax. Meanwhile, Interfax reports that workers at the Severnii coal mine, recently acquired by Russia's United Energy Systems (UES), received 39 million rubles (some $2 million) in back wages promised by UES chairman Anatolii Chubais during his late November visit to northern Kazakhstan. Chubais had promised 49 million rubles but said the remaining 10 million will arrive by 15 December. BP[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE[12] DEMACI WANTS HILL TO GOAdem Demaci, who is the political spokesman for the Kosova Liberation Army (UCK), said in Prishtina on 8 December that U.S. envoy Christopher Hill's latest plan for a political settlement in Kosova does not discuss the future of the UCK and is "fully unacceptable" (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 8 December 1998). Demaci added that "Mr. Hill either doesn't understand the Albanian problems, or he is leaning toward the Serbs. The State Department should reconsider the results of his work [and] send us more qualified people." Demaci argued that the "UCK has no illusion that the [Serbian] regime will overnight democratize and that it will give up trying to find a solution to the Kosova crisis by force. It would be dangerous if the Albanians don't continue arming themselves and preparing for resistance." Hill received Washington's mandate to negotiate on Kosova earlier this year because Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic reportedly refused to deal with his predecessor, Robert Gelbard. PM[13] ALBRIGHT CALLS FOR DEMOCRACY IN SERBIAU.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright called on Milosevic on 8 December to grant Kosova "substantial autonomy." Speaking at the annual meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Brussels, she urged the Atlantic alliance to find "an appropriate way to support the democratic aspirations of the Serb people. They have been silenced and shackled far too long." Albright argued that "this crisis will not end until Belgrade accepts [the province's] need for, and right to, substantial autonomy." Albright also said that the Kosovars and Serb leaders alike "have made public statements that do not help the cause of peace. Serb threats to launch a renewed offensive...are dangerous and we view them with extreme seriousness." She criticized the Kosovars' "insistence on rhetoric of independence and [their] rejection" of the Hill plan. PM[14] SERBIA REJECTS HILL PLANDeputy Prime Minister Ratko Markovic said in Belgrade on 8 December that the Hill plan is unacceptable because it calls for the constitutional "restructuring of all Yugoslavia" by making Kosova the third federal republic. Markovic added that a republic controlled by ethnic Albanians would eventually seek independence. He told a visiting delegation from the Russian State Duma that Serbia is willing to "deepen" Kosova's autonomy in line with "the highest international standards and the defense of the rights of ethnic minorities," RFE/RL South Slavic Service reported. PM[15] HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH CHARGES BELGRADE WITH DETENTIONS, TORTUREThe New York-based Human Rights Watch issued a report on 8 December claiming that the Serbian authorities are holding up to 1,000 Kosovars. The report notes that Milosevic promised U.S. special envoy Richard Holbrooke in October that he would grant an amnesty to all persons except war criminals (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 3 December 1998). The study added that many detainees "have been subjected to beatings and torture...and are being tried on charges of 'terrorism.'" PM[16] HAGUE COURT CRITICIZES SERBIATop officials of the Hague-based war crimes tribunal said in a statement on 8 December that the Serbian authorities should send former army officers Mile Mrksic, Veselin Sljivancanin, and Miroslav Radic to The Hague for trial. The statement added that a Serbian court's ongoing investigation of the three is only a ruse "designed to shield the accused from international criminal responsibility." The Hague tribunal indicted the three in 1995 in conjunction with the 1991 killings of 260 non-Serbs who had been undergoing treatment in the Vukovar hospital when in November 1991 that town fell to Serbian forces. PM[17] SERBIAN ENVIRONMENTALISTS PROTEST NUCLEAR DUMPINGRepresentatives of two Serbian environmentalist organizations said in Belgrade that they oppose plans by the domestic "nuclear lobby" to convert the former Gabrovnica uranium mine in the Stara Planina region, near Knjazevac, into a storage site for "nuclear waste from all over Europe." The environmentalists added that they have letters of support from "more than 100 non-governmental organizations from around the world," the independent daily "Danas" reported on 9 December. The spokesmen called on the authorities to turn the region instead into a national park. The environmentalists added that the park could then become part of an "international nature park" and that Belgrade and Sofia signed an agreement to that effect in 1996. PM[18] MONTENEGRO UNDER THREAT?Justice Minister Dragan Soc said in Podgorica on 8 December that the Montenegrin authorities expect an attempt soon by Milosevic and his Montenegrin allies to bring down that republic's independent-minded government, an RFE/RL correspondent reported from the Montenegrin capital. Soc added that the "state bodies are preparing a new strategy against possible attempts to destabilize the republic." He did not elaborate. PM[19] MACEDONIA WANTS ASSOCIATE MEMBERSHIP IN EUPrime Minister Ljubco Georgievski told EU Foreign Relations Commissioner Hans van den Broek in Brussels on 8 December that Macedonia wants associate membership instead of its current partnership and cooperation accord, Reuters reported. Georgievski told reporters that he presented "all our arguments why we think our relations should be upgraded and our complete readiness to correct what [the EU thinks] has to be corrected in the first 100 days" of his government's term in office. Georgievski recently won the legislative election by promising to improve the economy and end corruption. PM[20] ALBANIAN OPPOSITION PROTESTS PEACEFULLYAbout 3,000 opposition supporters held a rally in central Tirana on 8 December to commemorate the 1990 student protests that led to the collapse of communism. The rally took place without incident, although two persons were arrested for possession of explosives. The authorities had earlier expressed concern about possible armed attacks on government offices and public buildings (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 7 December 1998). Addressing the rally, former President Sali Berisha repeated his call for new elections. Also on 8 December, opposition supporters joined Democrats at a ceremony inaugurating a memorial for the former student leader and opposition politician Azem Hajdari, who was killed on 12 September. FS[21] ANOTHER ATTACK ON ALBANIAN POWER GRIDUnidentified persons blew up a high-voltage electricity line near Tirana on 7 December, cutting off power supplies to the university campus and some government buildings. Police spokesmen suggested that those responsible were seeking to increase student discontent with the government. In recent months, explosive devices have been set off at 15 electricity pylons throughout the country (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 3 December 1998). FS[22] ALBANIANS THREATEN FORCE SHUTDOWN OF FACTORYResidents of the Durres district of Porto Romano have sent a letter to city officials threatening to use armed force to shut down a leather- processing plant that they claim pollutes the environment, "Albanian Daily News" reported on 9 December. The residents warned that "if you do not shut down the factory that is poisoning us, we will pick up our guns and solve this problem in our way." The factory was built in 1990, but the health authorities closed it down after several months because it caused environmental damage. It was reopened in 1993. Officials from the Regional Environmental Agency say that the Public Health Institute's most recent tests show that pollution levels do not exceed the legal norm. FS[23] ROMANIAN PRESIDENT WARNS ABOUT EXTREMISMIn a speech to the parliament marking Constitution Day, Emil Constantinescu on 8 December sharply criticized extremist parties and their leaders, saying it is "inadmissible" to allow their "undermining of democracy" and the threat of a "renewal of dictatorship and of [racial] discrimination." Alluding to recent statements by the Greater Romania Party, Constantinescu denounced threats of "24- hour justice performed in stadiums" and "liquidation of political parties." In other news, Prime Minister Radu Vasile on 8 December met with representatives of major trade unions to discuss his recent proposal for a six-month moratorium on labor action as well as the implementation of the government program envisaging the closure of loss-making enterprises by 20 December. The government envisages reducing the budget deficit by 15 percent after those closures. Vasile said the moratorium may also be soon discussed with the opposition parties. MS[24] MOLDOVAN LAWMAKERS PROPOSE GOVERNMENT STREAMLININGDeputies from the ruling coalition parties have submitted to the parliament separate bills on amending the law on the government's structures. A group of 10 deputies from the Party of Revival and Accord, headed by former President Mircea Snegur, proposes reducing the number of ministries from 16 to 10 and government departments from five to two. It also envisages the setting up of a governmental information service. The draft submitted by For a Democratic and Prosperous Moldova Bloc also envisages 10 ministries and an information service but provides for only one government department, Infotag reported on 8 December.[25] BULGARIAN DEFENSE MINISTER REJECTS ALLEGATIONS OF EMBARGO- BREAKINGGeorgi Ananiev told journalists on 8 December that Bulgaria "honors and will be honoring all the international agreements it has signed," adding that "we do not sell weapons to embargoed countries," BTA reported. He refused to comment on a report in the 6 December "New York Times" saying that Bulgaria has sold tanks to Ethiopia and Uganda. That report cited an article that appeared in "Trud" ten days earlier. Colonel Hristo Stanimirov, chief of staff of the Economic Directorate of the Ministry of Defense, told journalists on 26 November that Bulgaria "recently" sold 140 tanks to African countries that were not on an embargo list. MS[C] END NOTE[26] UKRAINE STRADDLES THE NEW DIVIDEby Christopher WalkerDespite internal weaknesses and a range of external challenges, Ukraine has registered a number of impressive foreign-policy achievements since gaining independence in 1991. In order to do so, it has had to juggle demands, as a result of an unstable and unpredictable Russian Federation to the east, unsteady neighbors to the north and south (Belarus, Romania, and Moldova), and the expanding NATO and EU blocs to the West. Whether Ukraine will be able to maintain this level of performance in its foreign policy over the longer term remains to be seen. While the external demands posed by its neighbors are substantial, Ukraine is equally threatened--in terms of its democratic development and stability--by its inability to settle its own domestic affairs. In an effort to normalize regional relations, Ukraine has concluded several important agreements with neighboring countries. Those pacts include a Joint Statement on Mutual Reconciliation with Poland, a Treaty on Good Neighborly Relations and Cooperation with Romania, and, following a nearly four-year delay, a Treaty on Friendship, Cooperation, and Partnership with Russia. At the same time, Ukraine has slowly cultivated closer relations with the West. The NATO-Ukraine Charter, signed at the Madrid Summit in July 1997, established a new framework for NATO-Ukraine relations. Recognizing Ukraine's unique position in the region, the charter establishes a "distinctive partnership" between NATO and Ukraine. The expansion of the alliance has been a difficult question for Ukraine, as Russia has made clear its opposition to further NATO expansion. While Russia continues to view NATO as a threat, Kyiv's position has shifted over the last several years. In July 1998, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Borys Tarasyuk said that Ukraine sees NATO enlargement as a "process of expanding the area of stability and democracy." It is not yet clear whether the majority of Ukrainians believe the potential benefits of greater cooperation with NATO-- or possible future admission to the alliance--outweigh the costs. Russia's own instability and deviation from the path of democratization may provide Ukrainian leaders with further arguments for exploring still deeper relations with Western security alliances. Ukraine is thus faced with the challenge of developing relations with the West without overly antagonizing Russia. Such antagonism would entail several risks, not least since Ukraine is still heavily reliant on Russian trade and energy resources. Early last year, Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma blamed Moscow for the poor state of Russian-Ukrainian relations, claiming that Russia's "biased, prejudiced attitude toward Ukraine has intensified." He added that Russia views Ukraine as a constituent part of the federation or at least as existing within the Russian sphere of influence. With Ukraine moving more perceptibly toward closer relations with the West, it is not unreasonable to expect Russia's insecurities to intensify. Much of Russia's political elite has not accepted Ukraine's post-Soviet status as an independent, sovereign state. The loss of Ukraine, of all the former republics, has arguably been the most difficult for Russians to swallow. The issue of ethnic Russians in Ukraine is of potential concern. Post- Soviet Russia is a nation-state that has 25 million ethnic Russians outside its borders, 11 million of whom live in Ukraine. The treatment of ethnic Russians in the former republics has been a controversial issue for Russian nationalists. Ukraine's leadership has wisely refrained from pushing too hard on issues that could prompt a reaction from ethnic Russians in Ukraine or be used as a pretext by Russian nationalists looking to stir the ethnic pot. In Crimea, where ethnic Russians are in the majority, the threat of unrest is greatest. In general, Ukrainian-Russian discussions of such thorny issues as the payment of outstanding debts, the negotiation of energy agreements, and questions of European security, have been quite tough and often heated but have never slid out of control. However, Russia's internal situation is fluid and volatile, as is Ukraine's. And neighboring Belarus, which has distinguished itself by demonstrating belligerence in international relations, might complicate Ukraine's relationship with Russia, not to mention the entire regional security order. Unlike Belarus, whose main foreign-policy objective has been to pursue a rather flimsy union arrangement with Russia, Ukraine has seized opportunities to settle territorial claims and to otherwise ameliorate differences with its neighbors. Its pre-1991 role as the western-most tenant of the former Soviet Union has been transformed into that of eastern- most flank of the still evolving new Europe. As a result, Ukraine is faced with a wide range of responsibilities. Considering the relative immaturity and fragility of the Ukrainian state, Kyiv has so far handled this challenge with considerable dexterity. The author is manager of programs at the European Journalism Network. 09-12-98 Reprinted with permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
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