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RFE/RL Newsline, Vol. 3, No. 104, 99-05-31Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty: Newsline Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty <http://www.rferl.org>RFE/RL NEWSLINEVol. 3, No. 104, 31 May 1999CONTENTS[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA
[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[C] END NOTE
[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA[01] UNITY ALLIANCE HEADS FOR ABSOLUTE MAJORITY IN ARMENIAN PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS...According to preliminary results released by the Armenian Central Electoral Commission on 31 May, the Miasnutyun (Unity) alliance received 52 percent of the vote in the previous day's parliamentary elections, ITAR- TASS reported. Miasnutyun comprises Defense Minister Vazgen Sargsian's Republican Party of Armenia and the People's Party of Armenia, headed by former Armenian Communist Party First Secretary Karen Demirchian. The Communist Party of Armenia polled 16.33 percent, the Armenian Revolutionary Federation-- Dashnaktsutyun (ARFD) 9.25 percent and the Right and Accord bloc 5.4 percent. The National Democratic Union headed by former Prime Minister Vazgen Manukian failed to surmount the 5 percent minimum required for representation under the proportional system. Voter turnout was 55.7 percent. Millionaire businessman Khachatur Sukiasian and Armenian Pan- National Movement chairman Vano Siradeghian won in single- mandate constituencies. LF[02] ...AS THOUSANDS PREVENTED FROM VOTINGThousands of voters had to appeal to local courts on 30 May in order to cast their votes after finding their names had been left off local voter lists, RFE/RL's Yerevan bureau reported. Self- Determination Union chairman Paruyr Hayrikian said late on 30 May that the omissions were so extensive that the outcome of the poll should be annulled. Other opposition parties, including the Communist Party, the National Democratic Union, Hayrenik and Azatutyun, similarly condemned the exclusion of numerous residents from the lists, which the ARFD claimed was deliberate. But Central Electoral Commission chairman Artak Sahradian blamed the omissions on "the negligence of some civil servants," according to ITAR-TASS. The Miasnutyun alliance also condemned the irregularities but denied that they were so extensive as to affect the outcome of the poll. LF[03] AZERBAIJAN MARKS INDEPENDENCE ANNIVERSARYMore than 1,000 opposition supporters gathered on 28 May, the anniversary of Azerbaijan's 1918 declaration of independence, at a monument to Azerbaijan Democratic Republic leader Mamed Emin Rasulzade, Turan reported. Unlike in previous years, the Azerbaijani authorities did not create any obstacles to the meeting. But in Nakhichevan, local police prevented the local branch of the Azerbaijan Popular Front Party from holding a commemorative ceremony. In an address to mark the occasion broadcast by Turkish television, Azerbaijan's President Heidar Aliev, who is recuperating from cardiac surgery in Antalya, called for expanded ties between Azerbaijan and the West as a means of expediting the repatriation of Azerbaijanis forced to flee their homes during the Karabakh conflict, Interfax reported. LF[04] KAZAKH, UZBEK PREMIERS DISCUSS DISPUTED BORDER, GAS SALESVisiting Tashkent on 27-28 May, Kazakhstan's Prime Minister Nurlan Balghymbaev met with his Uzbek counterpart, Utkir Sultanov, to discuss deliveries of Uzbek gas to southern Kazakhstan and the border between the two countries, RFE/RL's Kazakh service reported. Kazakh Foreign Minister Qasymzhomart Toqaev told RFE/RL correspondents several days earlier that the border demarcation issue is one of the most complicated questions in relations between Astana and Tashkent. Minimal progress was made toward resolving those issues. Tashkent rejected Kazakhstan's request to buy Uzbek natural gas for $30 per thousand cubic meters. Balghymbaev also attended a session of the Kazakh-Uzbek inter-governmental commission and met with Uzbek President Islam Karimov, according to ITAR- TASS. LF[05] KAZAKH OPPOSITION POLITICIAN CALLS FOR CONSOLIDATIONOrleu party leader Seydakhmet Quttyqadam told journalists in Almaty on 28 May that opposition parties should unite in a single bloc to contend this fall's parliamentary elections, Interfax reported. He said that if they do so, opposition parties could form a majority in the next parliament. Quttyqadam added that Orleu is considering cooperating with other opposition parties to monitor the elections. The following day, Interfax quoted Kazakhstan's President Nursultan Nazarbaev as saying that the poll must be "truly democratic" and that "everyone who wants to" must be permitted to participate. In an apparent reference to articles in the new election law that preclude persons convicted of minor offenses from running as candidates, Nazarbaev said that "adjustments" to that law can be made either by presidential decree or by a ruling on the part of the Central Electoral Commission (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 26 May 1999). LF[06] AFGHAN PRESIDENT VISITS KYRGYZSTANOusted Afghan President Burhanuddin Rabbani met behind closed doors with Kyrgyz President Askar Akaev in Bishkek on 28 May, RFE/RL's Bishkek bureau reported. According to presidential press secretary Kanybek Imanaliev, the Afghan delegation came to Kyrgyzstan on their own initiative. Imanaliev said the current situation in Central Asia and bilateral relations between Kyrgyzstan and Afghanistan were discussed. Rabbani thanked Akaev for his offer to host a conference in Bishkek on the peace settlement in Afghanistan. Many Islamic countries, together with France and Germany, have backed that initiative. Akaev expressed support for Rabbani's proposal to open an Afghan diplomatic representation in Bishkek. The Afghan delegation also met the same day with Prime Minister Amangeldi Muraliev to discuss economic cooperation and with Defense Minister Myrzakan Subanov and Security Minister Misir Ashyrkulov to evaluate the possibility of sending arms to the northern regions of Afghanistan through Kyrgyz territory. LF[07] KYRGYZ CABINET ASSESSES ECONOMIC SITUATIONAt a cabinet session in Bishkek on 28 May, Prime Minister Amangeldi Muraliev criticized the Finance Ministry and the National Bank for their failure to keep the Kyrgyz som stable, RFE/RL's Bishkek bureau reported. He asked ministers to work out urgent measures to support the som within the next five days. First Deputy Finance Minister Malabek Toktobolotov told the meeting that inflation in the first quarter of 1999 was more than 15 percent, while industrial output fell by 4 percent. According to Deputy Minister of Industry and Foreign Trade Arzymat Sulaimankulov, trade turnover with Uzbekistan has fallen by 52 percent, with Kazakhstan by 19 percent and with Russia by 15 percent since 1 January. LF[08] TWO KILLED IN NEW FIGHTING IN TAJIKISTANTwo opposition fighters belonging to a contingent that has pledged its loyalty to the Tajik government were killed in fighting with supporters of a renegade opposition field commander in Kofarnikhon, east of Dushanbe, on 28 May, Reuters and ITAR- TASS reported. Six civilian passengers in a bus, including three children, were also injured in the incident, having been caught in cross-fire. LF[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE[09] THACI SAYS AIR STRIKES PROTECT KOSOVARS...Hashim Thaci, leader of the Kosova Liberation Army (UCK) and prime minister of the UCK-backed provisional government, told the "Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung" of 31 May that NATO should intensify its air strikes. He added that NATO's bombing campaign has prevented Serbian forces from carrying out even worse massacres and abuses than has been the case. He noted that morale among Serbian troops in the province is low. Thaci argued that only military pressure will prompt Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic to make concessions. He said that he is pleased with the level of cooperation between the UCK and provisional government, on the one hand, and NATO, on the other. Thaci stressed that he is willing to compromise with Ibrahim Rugova of the moderate Democratic League of Kosova in order to promote Kosovar unity. He added, however, that the Kosovars are already united on most key issues and that the differences between the UCK and Rugova have been "overestimated in Western capitals." PM[10] ...AS DOES UCK COMMANDERThaci also told the 31 May "Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung" that his troops are carrying out an offensive in southwestern Kosova near the Albanian border. He added that the UCK has become much more professional since General Agim Ceku took over its command recently. Ceku is a former Yugoslav army officer who later became a general in the Croatian army. Ceku told RFE/RL on 30 May that NATO air strikes have reduced the ability of Serbian forces to "carry out their war against civilians" in Kosova. Ceku noted that the morale of Serbian forces is low and that reservists have recently deserted their units in large numbers. PM[11] GERMANY, FRANCE URGE NEW G-8 SUMMITGerman Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and French President Jacques Chirac issued a statement in Paris on 29 May saying that the foreign ministers of the G-8 countries should meet again and review recent diplomatic developments in Belgrade. Tanjug reported over the weekend that Milosevic has accepted "the general principles" laid down by the G-8 nations as a basis for bringing peace to Kosova (see Part I). The statement added that "France and Germany consider it necessary to examine whether the content of [Milosevic's] declaration can lead to a political solution on the basis of our principles." NATO Secretary-General Javier Solana said during a visit to Rome that he favors the proposed meeting. Chirac told Reuters in Paris the following day that Milosevic "does not have any [room for maneuver]." FS[12] KUCAN LAUDS NATO ACTIONSSlovenian President Milan Kucan told RFE/RL's South Slavic Service on 30 May that NATO policies in the Balkans are aimed at restoring "normal life" in Kosova and at establishing respect for "human rights as a fundamental principle of the new world order." He added that he does not believe that NATO will end its air strikes until it achieves its objectives. Kucan said he is opposed to the idea of partitioning Kosova (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 27 May 1999). He noted that Ljubljana is willing to host a major international conference on the future of the Balkans. PM[13] CLARK: SERBIAN FORCES FACING 'CERTAIN DEFEAT'General Wesley Clark, who is NATO's chief commander in Europe, told "Le Figaro" of 31 May that "the Serbian forces have been reduced [by NATO bombings] to a state where they must remain hidden by day. They only take up positions at night or in bad weather," he added. Clark argued that desertions and discontent are on the rise and that some units have revolted against their commanders. He concluded that the bombing "has transformed the Serbian forces, which previously were well equipped, efficient, and formidable, into a mosaic of individuals less capable of carrying out [the army's] cruel mission.... The [Yugoslav] army is in decline and knows it is losing" (see also Part I). PM[14] UN REPORT CALLS ON SERBIAN FORCES TO LEAVE KOSOVAMary Robinson, who is the UN's chief official for human rights issues, said in a report on 31 May that the Yugoslav government should "withdraw immediately and unconditionally all the army and [police] units from [Kosova], as well as federal police and paramilitary forces who are responsible for gross violations of human rights in the region." She added that the Hague-based war crimes tribunal's recent indictment of Milosevic was a "major step" toward ending "impunity" in Kosova (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 28 May 1999). Robinson noted that "a number of [ethnic Albanian] refugees interviewed by [her] Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights witnessed or confirmed accounts of summary executions, while others reported having seen mass graves." She also criticized NATO's use of cluster bombs in its air strikes against Serbian targets and its destruction of civilian sites, including schools and hospitals. PM[15] NATO: CIVILIAN CASUALTIES INEVITABLEAn unnamed official of the Atlantic alliance told Reuters in Brussels on 31 May that "you can only fine-tune a bombing campaign so far. At point of impact, even the smartest bomb is unable to distinguish between soldiers and civilians. The Serbs have moved many of their military assets into built-up areas where they are co- located with civilians.... We are going to extraordinary lengths to avoid civilian casualties. Regrettably, they are inevitable as we increase the tempo of the air campaign." He made his remarks hours after Serbian media reported that 11 people died when NATO aircraft attacked a sanatorium in Surdulica. The previous day, nine people were killed when NATO bombed a bridge in Varvarin. Shortly after that attack, a NATO spokesman in Brussels said the bridge was "a major line of communication and a legitimate military target." PM[16] AUSTRALIA CALLS ON MILOSEVIC TO RELEASE AID WORKERSA military court in Belgrade sentenced Steve Pratt and Peter Wallace, who are Australian employees of CARE, to 12 and four years in prison, respectively, for "collecting and passing on secret information," Reuters reported on 30 May. Their Yugoslav colleague Branko Jelen received a six- year jail term. The next day, Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer told Parliament: "We would like the government of President Milosevic, and President Milosevic himself, to treat these two aid workers with at least the humanity that the aid workers have been treating the people of Yugoslavia with." Downer also called Yugoslav Ambassador to Australia Dragan Dragojlovic to Parliament House to lodge a protest against the jailings. Dragojlovic told reporters that he hopes the men can be released but stressed that they must first be proven innocent in court. Australian Prime Minister John Howard said that he will work quietly through diplomatic channels to obtain the men's release. PM[17] UNHCR WORRIED ABOUT REFUGEESSpokesmen for the UNHCR and several other aid agencies said in Skopje on 29 May that only about 1,200 Kosovars arrived in Macedonia the previous day, Reuters reported. The UNHCR's Ron Redmond added that the aid workers "are very concerned because we know that thousands, probably tens of thousands, [of Kosovars] want to come out. Their physical condition is deteriorating by the day. They are not getting any food, they are not getting any medical attention" in Kosova. Another aid worker noted: "It's ironic, but we hope to see more refugees come across because at least that way we know that they are safe and we can help them." PM[18] YUGOSLAV TROOPS DETAIN SFOR PEACEKEEPERSAn unspecified number of Yugoslav soldiers entered Bosnia near Rudo on the border with Serbia, took six NATO peacekeepers with them back into Serbia, and detained the SFOR men for about eight hours before releasing them, AP reported from Sarajevo on 28 May. A NATO spokesman said that some of the men had been mistreated. He added that "the Yugoslav violation of Bosnian sovereignty is a breach of the Dayton Peace Agreement." PM[19] MORE DETAINEES FROM SMREKONICA ARRIVE IN ALBANIAAn additional 400 Kosovar men released by Serbian forces from the prison in Smrekonica arrived in Kukes on 29 and 30 May, Reuters reported (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 26 May 1999). About 2,000 men have been freed from detention there over the past eight days. All of them told similar stories of torture and showed signs of malnutrition. FS[20] ALBANIAN ARMY LAUNCHES MANEUVERS NEAR MORINAIn maneuvers on 28 May, Albanian soldiers fired hundreds of artillery shells and rockets at targets near Morina, in Albania, close to the Kosovar border. The exercises involved tanks, howitzers, and 1,200 ground troops. Unnamed Western military sources told AP that NATO tried unsuccessfully to stop the exercise, fearing a Serbian military response in an area packed with almost 100,000 refugees. NATO spokesman Jamie Shea said in Brussels, however, that Albania "has the right to take any steps which it deems necessary to defend itself." On 30 May, Serbian forces fired several mortar rounds into Albania near Morina. Serbian snipers took up positions in the hills overlooking the border crossing. Over the weekend, Yugoslav army troops and UCK forces fought for control over three small villages near Tropoja, in Kosova. FS[21] GREEK POLICE TO CRACK DOWN ON ILLEGAL ALBANIANS AFTER HIJACKINGAn unnamed high ranking Greek police official told Reuters on 30 May that Greek authorities will "greatly intensify...the checks on refugees...throughout the country" after an illegal Albanian immigrant hijacked a bus and took nine hostages in Thessaloniki on 28 May. The 25 year-old armed ex-convict then forced the driver to take the bus across the border into Albania. The incident ended on 29 May when Albanian special police ambushed the vehicle in central Albania, killing the hijacker and a Greek hostage. Greek Public Order Minister Michalis Chrysohoidis described the storming of the bus as "very foolish behavior on the part of the Albanian police which showed indifference about human lives." FS[22] ROMANIAN PARTIES MERGEThe National Council of the Romanian National Party (PNR) on 29 May approved the party's merger with the Liberal Democratic Party (PLD). PLD chairman Nicolae Cerveni will become PNR deputy chairman as of 31 May, RFE/RL's Bucharest bureau reported. According to "Adevarul" on 31 May, Party of Social Democracy in Romania (PDSR) leader Ion Iliescu and Victor Roman Constantinescu, one of the leaders of the Party of Romanian Unity Alliance (PAUR), signed a protocol in Cluj on 29 May that envisages the merger of the PAUR (a splinter party of the Party of Romanian National Unity) and the PDSR. The former leader of the PAUR is Gheorghe Funar, who went on to join the Greater Romania Party. MS[23] DEMOCRATIC CONVENTION OF ROMANIA TO BACK PRESIDENT CONSTANTINESCUThe National Council of the Democratic Convention of Romania (CDR) announced on 28 May that the CDR will back incumbent President Emil Constantinescu in the 2000 presidential ballot, RFE/RL's Bucharest bureau reported. The council postponed taking a decision on the National Liberal Party's demand that CDR political formations be allowed to run separately in local elections. CDR chairman Ion Diaconescu said his National Peasant Party Christian Democratic believes that the issue cannot be resolved before the parliament decides whether to change the system of parliamentary and local elections and amend the law on political parties. The liberals are also demanding that the CDR chairmanship be rotated and that they be given a veto- right on decisions binding for the CDR. MS[24] ROMANIA'S NATIONAL BANK SAYS 'MOST BANKS' VIABLE"Out of 36 Romanian banks, 29 are economically viable," according to a 28 May statement released by Romania's National Bank after a three-day meeting of its board. The statement says the banks encountering difficulties as a result of bad loans are Agricultural Bank, Albina Bank, Bancorex, Bankcoop, Columna, Credit Bank, and Dacia Felix. On 25 May, the Bucharest Municipal Tribunal declared Albina Bank bankrupt. The state fund guaranteeing deposits said on 28 May that each depositor with the bank may withdraw up to 35.3 million lei (some $2,260) from that bank. Last week, thousands gathered outside Bankcoop branches, fearing its collapse. MS[25] MOLDOVAN CURRENCY LOSES VALUE AGAINThe leu has dropped against the U.S. dollar again, Infotag and Flux reported on 28 May. The National Bank on 26 May fixed the exchange rate at 11.28 lei, while that figure fell to 11.40 on 28 May. Some exchange offices charged as much as 12.86 per $. Flux also reported that on 28 May the price of bread increased by 21 percent on average, mainly owing to the hike in the price of flour. MS[26] BULGARIAN MINISTER TOTS UP LOSSES FROM WAR IN YUGOSLAVIATrade and Tourism Minister Valentin Vasiliev told the parliament on 28 May that the direct losses caused to Bulgaria's economy as a result of the military operations in neighboring Yugoslavia so far amount to 115 billion leva (some $62 million). Lost profits as a result of the war total some 10 billion leva, he added, according to BTA, as cited by the BBC. He added that all losses are the result of canceled foreign trade deals. MS[C] END NOTE[27] THE CARDINAL AND THE PRESIDENTby Paul GoblePresident Alyaksandr Lukashenka's government has announced that foreign priests will no longer be allowed to come to Belarus now that the Minsk authorities have allowed the Roman Catholic Church there to open a seminary. But Cardinal Kazimierz Swiatek, the archbishop of Minsk, told the Keston News Service recently that this decision, the latest example of Lukashenka's efforts to restrict religious activities, will make it extremely difficult for his Church to recover anytime soon from the depredations of Soviet times during which more than 90 percent of parish churches were destroyed or confiscated. Swiatek, 84, is amply qualified to speak on this subject. Despite being accused of murder, sentenced to death, and spending a decade in Soviet camps, the cardinal remained true to his faith and in 1991 became the first Catholic bishop in Belarus in almost half a century. Much of the Church's rebirth so far springs from the 130 Polish priests who arrived after the collapse of the Soviet Union, Cardinal Swiatek said. Without additional pastoral assistance from abroad, he suggested, the Church faces a difficult future, especially since the new seminary can prepare only 25 candidates for the priesthood annually. Lukashenka's actions against what he and some others see as "foreign" faiths mirror Russian religious legislation in its form, content, and consequences. Speaking on 21 May to a panel that advises Russian President Boris Yeltsin on human rights issues, State Duma member Valerii Borshchev said that the 1997 Russian law on freedom of conscience and religious associations violates the Russian Constitution and the European Convention on Human Rights, to which Moscow is a signatory. Borshchev said that the creation of a special privileged position for what that legislation calls "traditional" religions at the expense of all others violates fundamental principles of human rights. And he warned against what he said is the increasingly widespread view that Russian Orthodox Christianity should serve as the ideology of the post-communist Russian State. Other speakers at the gathering, including Gleb Yakunin, a Russian Orthodox priest and former prisoner of conscience, echoed Borshchev's arguments. But despite their criticism, a representative of the Moscow Patriarchate defended the legislation. Vsevolod Chaplin, himself an Orthodox priest, argued that the law does not in fact discriminate against any faith. He suggested that all the problems others were pointing to arise from the misapplication of the law by arbitrary local and regional officials. Chaplin's statement reflects the official line of both the Patriarchate and the Russian government. But it may not convince anyone, especially in the light of both the Belarusian actions and a recent statement by the senior Russian Justice Ministry officials responsible for registering religious congregations in the Russian Federation itself. Speaking to a representative of the Keston News Service recently, Aleksandr Kudryavtsev argued that registration is proceeding "normally" and that there is "still plenty of time" for all groups to register. He noted that the Russian Orthodox Church has managed to register almost 8,000 of its parishes. Other Churches may not be so fortunate, however. If they fail to meet the 31 December deadline, Kudryavtsev said, they "wouldn't be immediately liquidated" but would face liquidation "by legal processes." Human rights activists think that local officials may move more precipitously, especially since Kudryavtsev has said that "we don't need unpleasant publicity connected with such cases." These attacks on religious activity, however, do not appear likely to rein in the efforts of the faithful in either country to continue their work. Nataliya Bronitskaya, a representative of the Union of Evangelical Churches in Russia, recently said that she and her co-religionists "have established our right to faith through suffering. Everyone knows this. Just let them try to question our rights again." And Belarusian Cardinal Swiatek replied to Lukashenka with the confidence that comes from a longer-term view: "The Church in Belarus," he said, "is led by the Holy Spirit. I am only His implement." 31-05-99 Reprinted with permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
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