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RFE/RL Newsline, Vol. 3, No. 118, 99-06-18Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty: Newsline Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty <http://www.rferl.org>RFE/RL NEWSLINEVol. 3, No. 118, 18 June 1999CONTENTS[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA
[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[C] END NOTE
[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA[01] PLANNED ARMENIAN-AZERBAIJANI SUMMIT CANCELLEDA meeting between Armenian President Robert Kocharian and Azerbaijani President Heydar Aliyev scheduled for 22 June in Luxembourg will not take place, Interfax reported on 17 June. Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Tofiq Zulfugarov said that Prime Minister Artur Rasizade would represent Azerbaijan because Aliyevís doctors have told him to remain at home. PG[02] ARMENIAN ASSEMBLY WONíT CHALLENGE NEW GOVERNMENTParliamentarians in Armenia told RFE/RLís Armenian service on 17 June that opposition groups will not seek a no confidence vote in Prime Minister Vazgen Sarkisian and his new cabinet. Under the Armenian Constitution, the president does not need parliamentís backing to appoint a government, but a majority of the National Assembly can unseat it. PG[03] INTERNATIONAL APPEALS FOR ARMENIAN-AZERBAIJANI CEASEFIREUN Secretary General Kofi Annan, the U.S. State Department, and the Turkish government called on Armenia and Azerbaijan to restore the ceasefire that was violated again on 16 June, Turan and other agencies reported. Meanwhile, groups in the two countries staked out tougher positions. Armenians in Karabakh on 17 June acknowledged there had been new fighting but placed the blame on Baku, RFE/RLís Armenian Service reported. Meanwhile, opposition parties in Azerbaijan protested against what they said were Armenian violations of the ceasefire, Bakuís ìAzadlygî newspaper reported. PG[04] AZERBAIJAN LOOKS TO NATO FOR HELP ON KARABAKHAzerbaijani Defense Minister Safar Abiyev on 16 June suggested that NATO could play a positive role in helping to resolve the Karabakh dispute, but Vafa Guluzade, President Heydar Aliyevís foreign policy advisor, suggested on 17 June that Abiyev was ahead of official Azerbaijani thinking, Turan reported. Guluzade, however, said that he too thought NATO could play a role in helping to find a solution. PG[05] AZERBAIJANI OPPOSITION SETS CONDITIONS FOR MUNICIPAL VOTEMembers of opposition parties will take part in the upcoming municipal elections if their conditions are met, Mayis Safarli, the chairman of the Yurddash Party told Turan on 17 June. He said that freedom of assembly must be guaranteed and that both the government and the opposition must be represented on the Central Election Committee on a proportional basis. PG[06] TURKISH PRESIDENT REJECTS OCALAN CHARGES ON BAKUPresident Suleyman Demirel told Bakuís ìAzadlygî newspaper on 17 June that he did not believe PKK leader Abdullah Ocalanís insinuations that Azerbaijan had provided backing for the latterís terrorist organization. ìNaturally it is a lie,î Demirel concluded. PG[07] GEORGIA INCREASES COOPERATION WITH NATONATO has approved a ìprogram of compatibilityî of a Georgian peacekeeping battalion, Tbilisi officials told the Prime-News agency on 17 June. Meanwhile, the Party of National Independence-Merab Kostava Society on the same day called for the introduction of NATO troops into Abkhazia and the withdrawal of all Russian forces ìwithout delay,î Caucasus Press reported. PG[08] CENTRAL ASIAN COUNTRIES EXPAND COOPERATIONAt a meeting in Bishkek on 17 June, the prime ministers of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan approved 25 investment projects with a total value of more than $50 million, Interfax reported. The four also agreed to coordinate the operation of their power grids, but they postponed a decision on the creation of a single economic zone until at least the next meeting of the Central Asian Economic Assembly, scheduled to be held in Dushanbe this fall. PG[09] KAZAKHSTAN FACES SERIOUS DESERTIFICATIONApproximately 60 percent of Kazakhstanís territory is currently subject to desertification, a spokesman for the Kazakh National Ecological Center told Interfax-Kazakhstan on 17 June. Meanwhile, according to the same source, Astana announced plans to privatize some 28.1 million hectares of farmland. PG[10] GAS DELIVERIES RESUMED IN NORTHERN KYRGYZSTANKyrgyzgas announced on 17 June that gas was once again flowing into the northern portion of the country, RFE/RLís Kyrgyz Service reported. The gas, which comes from Uzbekistan but flows across Kazakhstan, was shut off on 14 June because Bishkek owes the Uzbek gas company some $3.2 million for transit. PG[11] TAJIK GOVERNMENT, OPPOSITION MEETTajik President Imomali Rakhmonov and opposition leader Said Abdullov Nuri agreed on 17 June to resume talks within the framework of the National Reconciliation Commission, Reuters reported. The talks began on 18 June, ITAR-TASS reported. The United Tajik Opposition had walked out of the talks in May after the government rejected its proposals for power sharing. Meanwhile, the UN announced on 17 June that its special representative in Tajikistan, Jan Kubis, is resigning in order to become secretary general of the OSCE, AP reported. PG[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE[12] SERBS SET TO MEET WITHDRAWAL DEADLINESerbian forces appear to be on course to meet the deadline of midnight on 18 June for their withdrawal from central Kosova, Reuters reported from Prishtina. A KFOR spokesman said that at least 26,000 out of a total of 40,000 Serbian forces throughout Kosova are now gone as part of a retreat slated to end at midnight on 20 June. NATO forces ó now numbering 15,000 ó continue to advance northward amid warm receptions from local ethnic Albanians, Sky News television added. A brief standoff between British peacekeepers and Serbian forces in Podujeva ended when the Serbs withdrew. The previous day witnessed long traffic jams on several roads in Kosova as thousands of refugees returned while Serbian civilians fled. One group of Serbs left under the protection of Greek troops, who were the only KFOR peacekeepers whom the Serbs said they trusted, RFE/RL's South Slavic Service reported. Some Kosovars said they saw Serbs driving stolen Kosovar vehicles, AP reported. PM[13] UNARMED UCK SOLDIERS HELP KFOR REGISTER REFUGEESUnarmed Kosova Liberation Army (UCK) guerrillas in civilian dress helped German KFOR soldiers to register refugees at the Morina border crossing on 17 June, Reuters reported. A German official said that the guerrillas help KFOR identify other guerrillas and also known criminals. The German troops did not allow non-UCK refugees to return to Kosova carrying weapons but permitted guerrillas to keep their arms if they had UCK identification. About 13,000 refugees crossed into Kosova on 17 June, according to UNHCR officials in Geneva. In Kukes, a gang of 20 armed Albanian villagers injured an Albanian guard during two attempts to loot a refugee camp, a spokeswoman for Medecins sans Frontieres (MSF) told AFP. Albanian police arrested 16 assailants. FS[14] WERE 10,000 KOSOVARS MASSACRED?NATO peacekeepers have learned of or discovered some 90 alleged mass grave sites since KFOR entered Kosova last weekend, the "International Herald Tribune" reported on 18 June. Additional evidence of Serbian atrocities is coming to light on a daily basis (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 17 June 1999). A British spokesman said that Serbian forces killed some 10,000 Kosovars with a savagery that "beggared belief" since March. British investigators at the recently discovered Serbian police torture center in Prishtina said they are hopeful that the documents found there will enable the Hague-based war crimes tribunal to link top officials in Belgrade to the systematic carrying out of atrocities in Kosova, the BBC reported. PM[15] CHIRAC: ONLY DEMOCRACY WILL BRING BALKAN PEACEFrench President Jacques Chirac said at a meeting with his U.S. counterpart, Bill Clinton, on 17 June in Paris that "democracy is the precondition for tolerance" and stability in the Balkans, the "Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung" reported. He repeated the warning of many Western leaders that there will be no reconstruction aid for Serbia so long as Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic remains in power. Chirac added, however, that humanitarian aid will be available for Serbs because the West does not want to punish innocent victims of Milosevic's policies. Clinton noted that if Milosevic "remains in Serbia...presumably he is beyond the reach of the extradition power of the other governments." The U.S. leader added: "I do not believe that the NATO allies can invade Belgrade to try to deliver the indictment" against Milosevic recently issued by the Hague-based war crimes tribunal. PM[16] U.S. PROMOTING PLURALISM IN SERBIAU.S. special envoy Robert Gelbard and other unnamed officials met last weekend on the Montenegrin coast with prominent Serbs and Montenegrins opposed to Milosevic, AP reported on 18 June. Among those attending were Serbian Democratic Party leader Zoran Djindjic, former Yugoslav Prime Minister Milan Panic, Montenegrin Deputy Prime Minister Novak Kilibarda, economist Dragoslav Avramovic, former General Vuk Obradovic, and several others. The U.S. officials stressed that they want to see greater pluralism in Serbia but added that Milosevic's eventual ouster is a matter for the Serbs themselves. The U.S. representatives added that Washington does not support or finance any one opposition politician or party. The officials noted that Clinton will show his support for Montenegrin President Milo Djukanovic by meeting with him in Slovenia this coming week. Kilibarda quoted Gelbard as saying that Momir Bulatovic, who is Milosevic's leading backer in Montenegro, will soon be indicted by the war crimes tribunal. PM[17] MAJKO, GEORGIEVSKI PLEDGE REGIONAL COOPERATIONAlbanian Prime Minister Pandeli Majko and his Macedonian counterpart Ljubco Georgievski told journalists in Skopje on 17 June that they agree on the creation of a "new Balkans," an RFE/RL South Slavic Service correspondent reported. Majko said that "where there are Albanians in the Balkans, there is an interest in cooperation." He added: "We...aim for cooperation, not only with Macedonia, but also for the implementation of peace in Kosova and for cooperation with the [provisional UCK-backed] government of [Kosovar Prime Minister Hashim] Thaci." Majko stressed that Thaci, who met with Georgievski the previous day, "shares our opinion" (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 17 June 1999). He concluded that the three of them "will continue to work with our colleague from Montenegro, [President] Milo Djukanovic." FS[18] MAJKO, THACI, MACEDONIAN ALBANIAN LEADERS REJECT "POLICY OF REVENGE" Majko and Thaci met with Arben Xhaferi of Macedonia's Albanian Democratic Party and Abdurrahman Aliti from the Party of Democratic Prosperity in Tetovo on 17 June, an RFE/RL South Slavic Service correspondent reported. Majko said that the meeting "sent the message that the Albanians in the future will not follow a policy based on revenge." Thaci disclosed that it was in Tetovo where his UCK began its illegal activities in the early 1990s. Thaci said that he is pleased that this meeting could take place there now in a much changed political climate. FS[19] EXPLOSION NEAR NATO OFFICES IN SKOPJEA powerful bomb destroyed a truck parked near NATO's headquarters in Skopje in the early hours of 18 June. No other details are available. A NATO spokesman said that an investigation is under way. PM[20] HERZEGOVINIAN BRASS RESPONSIBLE FOR KILLINGS?British Colonel Bob Stewart, who commanded UNPROFOR peacekeepers in central Bosnia in 1993, told the war crimes tribunal in The Hague on 17 June that the leadership of Herzegovinian Croatian forces (HVO) must have known about the massacres of Muslims that HVO troops carried out in the Lasva Valley in 1993. Stewart was testifying at the trial of Croatian Colonel Tihomir Blaskic for war crimes in conjunction with atrocities committed by the HVO in the village of Ahmici. Stewart attracted attention in a BBC broadcast at the time in which he insisted on entering Ahmici despite an HVO roadblock. Stewart told the Herzegovinians: "I don't need the permission of the bloody HVO. I'm the United Nations." PM[21] DID RADISIC ABUSE HIS OFFICE?Zivko Radisic, who is the Serbian member of the Bosnian joint presidency and who until recently held the rotating chair of that body, authorized his representative to the Hague-based court to inform the tribunal that Bosnia has dropped its case against Belgrade for war crimes, "Oslobodjenje" reported on 18 June. Alija Izetbegovic, who is the Muslim representative on the presidency, said that Radisic's move was illegal and constituted an abuse of his office. Elsewhere, Izetbegovic said he will resign if the international community's Jacques Klein can prove "even 10 percent of his charges of corruption in the Bosnian government," RFE/RL's South Slavic Service reported. Izetbegovic added that he regards Klein as "pro- Croatian." PM[22] MORE REVELATIONS ON SHADY BANKING IN CROATIADeputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Borislav Skegro told Parliament on 17 June that 109 individuals illegally transferred some $150 million abroad recently from four Croatian banks, RFE/RL's South Slavic Service reported. PM[23] TUDJMAN WANTS DIASPORA TO COME HOMEIn Johannesburg on 17 June, President Franjo Tudjman appealed to members of South Africa's Croatian community to settle in Croatia. "Come to Croatia! It may not be a land of milk and honey, but you'll do better there than anywhere else," "Vecernji list" quoted him as saying. Tudjman has often appealed to Croats living abroad to settle in Croatia as part of his policy of increasing the size of the population in general and of its ethnic Croatian component in particular. The Croatian economy, however, needs the hard-currency remittances of the Diaspora, which also wields political influence in many countries on behalf of Zagreb. PM[24] ROMANIA DECLARES MILOSEVIC, CRONIES 'UNDESIRABLE'The government on 17 June approved a decree banning Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic, members of his family, Yugoslav cabinet members and other unspecified officials close to the "Milosevic regime" from entering Romania, declaring them "undesirable," RFE/RL's Bucharest bureau reported. Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Simona Miculescu said the move was in line with EU restrictions on Yugoslavia and that "between Milosevic and the EU, we chose the EU," according to Reuters. On the same day, the parliament approved President Emil Constantinescu's request to permit the transit of NATO Polish and Czech peacekeepers through Romania. The legislature also decided to dispatch a 205-troop military unit to KFOR and to extend the mandate of Romania's 200 peacekeepers in Bosnia until the end of 2000. MS[25] ROMANIAN TEACHERS END LABOR SANCTIONSThe government on 17 June approved an agreement signed with the teachers' unions and the unions announced they are ending their strike. One of the four teachers' unions, which objected to some provisions in the agreement, announced its members will return to work on 19 June and will resume the strike if the cabinet fails to implement the agreement. Also on 17 June, in an interview on Romanian television, Prime Minister Radu Vasile confirmed that the agreement with Bell Helicopters Textron for the privatization of the IAR Ghimbav aircraft company in Brasov has been scrapped, and that new negotiations are to be conducted with other investors, "most probably" the German- French Eurocopter consortium. MS[26] TURKISH PRESIDENT IN MOLDOVASuleyman Demirel and Moldovan President Petru Lucinschi on 17 June signed an accord on Turkish technical assistance to Moldova. Demirel praised Moldova's willingness to grant autonomy to the Gagauz ethnic minority, which is of Turkish origin, but added that Ankara wants cultural ties to improve and cooperation to extend to education. The two presidents visited the Gagauz-Yeri autonomous region and met with its leaders. They also inaugurated a water supply facility system built with Turkish assistance in the region, RFE/RL's Chisinau bureau reported. Security was tightened for the visit, according to a "Flux" report. Interior Ministry sources said the extra security measures were taken due to the large number of Kurds residing in Moldova. MS[27] LUCINSCHI EXPLAINS DRIVE FOR PRESIDENTIAL SYSTEMAddressing a meeting of European justice ministers in Chisinau on 17 June, Lucinschi said he did not want to establish a presidential system in Moldova "out of personal ambition" but rather because such a system would be in "the general interests of society." He said the present parliamentary system is "inefficient" and enables politicians to "shun responsibility" for governing the country, RFE/RL's Chisinau bureau reported. Visiting Council of Europe Deputy Secretary- General Christian Kruger on 17 June told Lucinschi that the council is backing Moldova's drive to find an "acceptable form" of government. He said the 23 May referendum was "the choice [of Moldovans]" and "nobody may impose their point of view on you, " Infotag reported. MS[28] MOLDOVAN GOVERNMENT BACKS TRANSIT OF KOZLODUY SPENT FUELPrime Minister Ion Sturza on 17 June said his cabinet is in favor of allowing Russia to transit spent nuclear fuel from the Bulgarian Kozloduy nuclear reactor through Moldova, Infotag reported. He said Moldova will gain $300,000-400,000 from the transit of three to five trainloads of the fuel and described the parliament's refusal to approve the transit last year as a "political game." MS[29] BULGARIA LIFTS OIL EMBARGO AGAINST YUGOSLAVIA...Bulgaria on 17 June lifted a ban on oil exports to Yugoslavia, BTA reported. Government spokeswoman Stoyana Georgieva explained that the ban has been lifted because military operations in the neighboring country have ceased. MS[30] ...SAYS IT WILL REACT 'FIRMLY' TO YUGOSLAV SENTENCING OF ETHNIC LEADERDeputy Foreign Minister Konstantin Dimitrov on 17 June said Bulgaria will be "very firm" in its reaction to a Yugoslav military court's decision to sentence ethnic Bulgarian leader Marko Shukarev to eight months in prison for desertion, AP reported. Shukarev was drafted to a Yugoslav military unit during the war (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 7,10, and 16 June). The parliament's Human Rights Commission, in a note sent to the Council of Europe and the OSCE, said the "verdict" was "a drastic violation of human and political rights" and the "Bulgarian public views it as an attempt to exert pressure on the...Bulgarian national minority in Yugoslavia." Some 300 protesters on 17 June marched on the Yugoslav embassy in Sofia, chanting "Autonomy" and "Death to Slobo" [Slobodan Milosevic]. MS[31] LUKANOV'S MURDERER ARRESTED IN CZECH REPUBLIC?Czech police on 17 June said it had arrested on 4 June a Bulgarian businessman in connection with the death of a Bulgarian member of parliament, CTK and AP reported. Angel Vasiliev, a business entrepreneur, was arrested after Bulgaria submitted an extradition request. A police spokesman refused to confirm reports in the Bulgarian media that Vasiliev is suspected of involvement in the murder of former Prime Minister Andrei Lukanov, who was killed near his home in Sofia on 2 October 1996. MS[C] END NOTE[32] KOSOVARS RUSH BACK TO THE FUTUREBy Fabian SchmidtInternational aid agencies have been surprised at how quickly many Kosova Albanians have packed their things and headed back to their homes. They started doing so just days after NATO forces entered the region. However, the aid agencies have called on the refugees to stay in their camps for at least a few more weeks so that military experts can check roads, villages, and houses for mines and booby-traps, reinstall water and power supplies and make sure that there is a sufficient supply of food available. They have argued that the refugees are taking great risks in returning so early. But many refugees have not been prepared to listen to such arguments. Some of them have paid a heavy toll for their impatience: within only half a week, 20 people were injured and at least two killed by mines. Still the agencies have had to recognize that they will not be able to stop the Kosovars from returning ó even before the withdrawal of Serbian troops is completed. The fact that some 20,000 refugees have already returned home, despite the various dangers, indicates their eagerness to get started quickly with building a new future after more than a decade of discrimination in an apartheid-like system. They see Kosova as their liberated homeland rather than as the scene of some of the most vicious crimes against humanity committed since World War II. They are willing to embrace a land marked by the horrors of ethnic warfare in their search for a new democratic future. The example of the thousands of Kosovars who have joined the Kosova Liberation Army (UCK) has contributed to the impatience of many of their compatriots to go home. Even though it was NATO that finally assumed control over Kosova and ensured the withdrawal of the Yugoslav forces, most of the UCK fighters view the recent turn of events as "their victory" as well. These fighters come from all walks of life in Kosova ó from villagers to university students, and including women's brigades. Many of these guerillas joined the UCK at the height of Serbian repression in 1998 or 1999 and are not likely to stay with the organization much longer. Essentially, they were "citizens in uniform," and now that the worst is over, they will probably return to their towns and villages. Thus the UCK will diminish in size very soon without any outside pressure. Furthermore, it will also undergo changes as a result of its scheduled demilitarization. In the end, the former fighters will be engaged in the effort to reconstruct their country. The urge of the Kosovars to go home has generated a vital momentum that the international community should not only respect but support. The initiative these refugees show today could be crucial for the success of Kosova's reconstruction and development in the long run. The more initiative the Kosovars take themselves, the more certain it is that theirs will be a success story. Many of those who have returned so far are not willing to wait because they are confident that they can cope with the challenges facing them at home quickly and efficiently by simply getting started. They do not want to wait for the permission and support that may or may not come from international organizations. Many refugees perceive these bodies ó which will have to cope with hundreds of thousands of remaining refugees ó as largely anonymous. In particular, self-reliant villagers from the more remote parts of Kosova do not trust the bureaucracy of government or international aid agencies. Many are prepared to simply drive their tractors home rather than waiting. They know that it is not too late to plant something that they can harvest before the winter. Many even prepared their fields before the beginning of the ethnic cleansing in March and April, and thus are eager to get home sooner rather than later to look after whatever remains of their crops. Similarly, the traders and craftsmen in the cities and market places will want to reopen their shops and businesses, another essential factor for rapid economic recovery. To this end, the international community and the new UN-led civilian administration should from the beginning focus on ensuring full freedom of movement, not only for people within Kosova, but also for goods and services between Kosova on the one hand and Montenegro, Serbia, Macedonia, and Albania on the other. It is important that individual refugees be enabled to go back and forth between their homes in Kosova and the refugee centers. They need freedom of movement in order to create the preconditions for their families to follow later. Therefore, reviving and improving regional public transport ó primarily with busses and mini-busses ó is of paramount importance. Macedonia and Albania should be encouraged to conclude free-trade agreements with the Kosovar interim administration. This will serve all parties concerned. Mobility will thus generate prosperity. The international community could promote such efforts from the beginning in order to give Kosova's reconstruction a head start. It will serve everyone's interest to reduce customs formalities between the neighboring countries to a minimum in order to facilitate the quick and easy flow of goods and services. The UN administration should install a Western-trained customs administration to help the Kosovars and their neighbors apply liberal policies. During a meeting in Skopje on 17 June, Macedonian Prime Minister Ljubco Georgievski de facto recognized UCK leader Hashim Thaci as his counterpart from Kosova. Albanian Prime Minister Pandeli Majko's administration is the only other government to have done so. These three southwestern Balkan leaders have begun to show a willingness to develop a joint vision of future regional cooperation. They will now have to show that each of their countries can profit from a policy of cooperation. Kosova needs the two others for its own reconstruction and the two need Kosova as a partner to ensure that the still ongoing refugee crisis does not destabilize them. If it is sincere in wanting to build peace, democracy, stability, and prosperity in the region, the international community should encourage these trends. 18-06-99 Reprinted with permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
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