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RFE/RL Newsline, Vol. 3, No. 137, 99-07-16Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty: Newsline Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty <http://www.rferl.org>RFE/RL NEWSLINEVol. 3, No. 137, 16 July 1999CONTENTS[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA
[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[C] END NOTE
[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA[01] ARMENIAN GOVERNMENT OBTAINS COURT INJUNCTIONAGAINST GREEK TELECOMThe Armenian government has obtained a court order against Greece's OTE, which owns a 90 percent in Armenia's ArmTelecom monopoly, allowing it to seize shares worth $140 million in ArmTelecom, Noyan Tapan reported on 15 July. Armenia brought a lawsuit against OTE in late June for non-payment of at least $18 million in profit tax. OTE acquired its share in ArmTelecom when the communications monopoly, previously owned by the Armenian government and the U.S. registered Trans World Telecom, was privatized in 1997. LF [02] SUSPECT IN ARMENIAN ELECTION VIOLENCE RELEASEDAFTER QUESTIONINGAshot Aghababian, whose supporters are accused of opening fire on supporters of a rival candidate during the local elections in Yerevan's Ajapniak district on 11 July, was taken into custody for questioning on 15 July but released later the same day, Noyan Tapan reported on 16 July. A spokesman for the Prosecutor- General's Office told the agency that Aghababian has not been formally arrested (as erroneously reported in "RFE/RL Newsline," 16 July 1999). LF [03] AZERBAIJANI OFFICIAL SHEDS LIGHT ON ALIEV-KOCHARIAN MEETINGPresidential administration department head Novruz Mamedov told RFE/RL's Armenian Service on 15 July that the 16 July meeting in Geneva between the presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan was arranged at the urging of the U.S. Mamedov also said that in a letter to both presidents following their meeting in Washington in late April, U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright outlined additions to the most recent Karabakh draft peace plan proposed by the co-chairmen of the OSCE Minsk Group. He added that one of those additions deals with the repatriation of refugees and displaced persons. The two presidents had planned to met in Luxembourg last month, but Aliev's doctors dissuaded him from making that trip (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 15 June 1999). LF [04] AZERBAIJAN OPPOSITION DENIES INVOLVEMENT INCUSTOMS POST INCIDENTHusein Djavadov, a leading member of the Nakhichevan branch of the Azerbaijan Popular Front Party, has rejected allegations by Azerbaijani Interior Minister Ramil Usubov that members of his party arriving in Nakhichevan from Ukraine instigated the violence at the Sadarak border crossing between the Azerbaijani exclave and Turkey earlier this month (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 14 July 1999). A spokesman for residents of Sadarak similarly denied any involvement by the Popular Front, attributing the clash to customs officials' unfair treatment of local residents, Turan reported on 16 July. The Azerbaijan Popular Front Party's Nakhichevan branch and some Azerbaijani newspapers have attributed the fighting to rivalry between mafia groups. LF [05] ABKHAZ PARLIAMENT-IN-EXILE CHAIRMAN DEMANDSPUNISHMENT FOR KODORI KIDNAPPERSTamaz Nadareishvili, who is chairman of the Abkhaz parliament-in- exile (composed of the ethnic Georgian deputies to the Abkhaz parliament elected in late 1991, has cancelled international travel plans and will remain in Tbilisi until the persons responsible for the 9 July kidnapping of the entire Abkhaz government-in-exile are found, Caucasus Press reported on 16 July. Nadareishvili blamed the abduction on "those who cannot reconcile themselves to the existence of legitimate Abkhaz authorities, especially on the eve of parliamentary elections" (see "RFE/RL Caucasus Report," Vol. 2, No. 28, 15 July 1999). He has founded his own political party to contest those elections. Nadareishvili planned to visit Azerbaijan and Ukraine to discuss the possible participation of those countries in an international peacekeeping force for Abkhazia. He also intended to address the UN Security Council in New York. LF [06] MOLDOVAN PRESIDENT VISITS KAZAKHSTANPetruLucinschi arrived in Astana on 14 July at the head of a government delegation that also included First Deputy Prime Minister Nikolae Andronic and Foreign Minister Nicolae Tabacaru, INFOTAG reported. Lucinschi held talks on 15 July with Kazakhstan's President Nursultan Nazarbaev on boosting bilateral trade and Kazakhstan's repayment of its $5.5 million debt to Moldova. Nazarbaev noted that some Kazakh bankers believe the breakaway Transdniester Republic has outstanding debts to Kazakhstan that accumulated before 1991, but his country will not press for repayment, according to Interfax. The two presidents expressed satisfaction at the overall level of bilateral relations and reached agreement on setting up a joint commission for economic cooperation. They also signed a convention on avoiding dual taxation. LF [07] KAZAKHSTAN PROTESTS RUSSIAN BAN ON MEATIMPORTSKazakhstan's Veterinary Agency issued a statement on 16 July terming Moscow's recent imposition of a ban on imports of meat from Kazakhstan "politically motivated," RFE/RL's Kazakh Service reported. Russia had said the ban was prompted by the discovery of hoof-and- mouth disease among cattle in the Qostanay Oblast of northern Kazakhstan. The Kazakh agency claimed the ban was in retaliation for Astana's temporary ban on the launching of Russian rockets from the Baikonur cosmodrome. LF [08] RUSSIAN, UZBEK FOREIGN MINISTERS MEETIgor Ivanovmet with his Uzbek counterpart, Abdulaziz Kamilov, in Tashkent on 15 July to discuss bilateral relations, regional problems, and the conflicts in Tajikistan and Afghanistan, Interfax reported. The two ministers also assessed preparations for Russian Prime Minister Sergei Stepashin's planned visit to Uzbekistan and for the 19-20 July meeting in Tashkent under UN auspices of the "Six Plus Two" group of states (Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan, Iran, and Pakistan, all of which border on Afghanistan, plus Russia and the U.S.) to discuss the situation in Afghanistan. Representatives of both rival factions in Afghanistan have also been invited to that meeting, but it unclear whether the Taliban will send a representative (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 2 and 4 June 1999). LF [B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE[09] RUGOVA ENDS 'MYSTERY VISIT' TO KOSOVA...Kosovarshadow-state President Ibrahim Rugova left Kosova on 15 July, only a few hours after arriving in the province, VOA reported. The "Los Angeles Times" noted that his quick departure "puzzled observers." The daily added that Rugova and his wife briefly returned to their home in the late evening after meetings with UN officials and journalists. While she remained in the car, he went into the house, "rushing out" after a few minutes and departing without smiling, stopping only to wave briefly to a few children. His Democratic League of Kosova (LDK) Vice President Edita Tahiri said that Rugova will return next week to "restart work as president of Kosova." FS [10] ...AFTER CALLING FOR COOPERATION WITH UNADMINISTRATIONEarlier on 15 July, Rugova met with several UN officials in Prishtina, including newly appointed UN Special Representative Bernard Kouchner. Rugova indicated at press conference that he is not willing to share power with his rival Hashim Thaci of the Kosova Liberation Army (UCK). Rugova stressed that "the objective of the people and political groups of Kosova [must be] to cooperate with the international community," an RFE/RL South Slavic Service correspondent reported. Rugova added that "the priority is the economic, democratic, and social reconstruction of Kosova and especially the building of pluralism." Rugova said that elections could be held after "some months." FS [11] LDK DOES NOT PARTICIPATE IN KOUCHNER'SROUNDTABLEKouchner told AFP on 16 July that the LDK did not participate at the first meeting of an UN-sponsored roundtable in Prishtina, which included various political groups. The meeting was intended to support the reconstruction of public administration. Kouchner said: "I am sad that the LDK has chosen not to participate.... They are unhappy about the current composition" of the roundtable. The previous day Kouchner told Reuters that "in our hearts and minds we know this is all about reconciliation. In our heads, we know real peace will take time...." FS [12] THACI 'FEELS GOOD' ABOUT RUGOVAThaci told AFP on15 July: "I've been inviting Rugova to come back to Kosova for a long time.... I feel very good that he accepted." He noted that "there is enough space in Kosova for Rugova." The main positions in the new administration "belong to Kosovars, not to people who are losers, who have been losers before the war, during the war, and now after the war," he commented, adding that he is "not talking specifically about Rugova" but about "the ones...who have placed obstacles in the resistance's path." Thaci said that Kouchner can help "create a better climate among the political factions in Kosova." He also commented that the UCK wants to "build a multi-ethnic, open, and tolerant society, [and] create democratic institutions including [the participation of] Albanians, Serbs, and Montenegrins." FS [13] EXPLOSION INJURES 20 IN KOSOVAA KFOR spokesmansaid in Prishtina on 16 July that some 20 people received shrapnel injuries the previous day in Vitina in the U.S.- controlled sector. A U.S. helicopter evacuated seven of the most seriously wounded people to U.S. military hospital facilities elsewhere. KFOR detained two unidentified males after the blast. Witnesses reported seeing unidentified persons dropping a box from a car in the area shortly before the explosion, AP reported. PM [14] ALLIANCE CALLS FOR SERBIAN OPPOSITION TO UNITEOn15 July in Kragujevac, some 10,000 persons attended an anti-Milosevic rally called by the Alliance for Change, VOA reported. Cacak Mayor Velimir Ilic and former General Vuk Obradovic told the crowd that they hope that Vuk Draskovic and his Serbian Renewal Movement (SPO) will join with the alliance in "a united front fighting for a new Serbia." Democratic Party leader Zoran Djindjic urged all of Milosevic's opponents to sink their partisan differences and support "a social revolution of a people deprived of its rights." Some of the people attending the demonstration told Reuters that they do not care which party organizes rallies so long as the protests are anti-Milosevic. Some of those people added that they plan to attend the Kragujevac rally called by the SPO for 17 July. In Leskovac, some 1,000 people took part in the 11th consecutive day of protests aimed at freeing a local television journalist from prison (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 14 July 1999). PM [15] PENSIONERS STAGE PROTESTSome 2,000 "angrypensioners" gathered in Belgrade on 15 July to demand higher retirement benefits and Milosevic's resignation, AP reported. Among those attending was Dragoslav Avramovic, the former governor of the National Bank, who is widely credited with having stopped hyper-inflation in 1994. Avramovic has recently begun to take an active role in opposition politics. Some observers have suggested that he might hold a high post in a post-Milosevic government if his health permits. PM [16] SERBIAN POLICE HARASS OPPOSITION PETITION DRIVEDemocratic Party officials said in Belgrade on 15 July thatseveral "regime thugs" beat eight party workers who were collecting signatures on the opposition's anti-Milosevic petition in Novi Beograd. The officials added that they have the license plate numbers of the attackers' car and will press criminal charges. In Novi Sad, police harassed several opposition party workers who were putting up signs urging people to sign the petition. In Gornji Milanovac, police prevented opposition activists from collecting signatures on the petition on streets and in a park. The party workers continued the petition drive at the entrance to a church after the priests gave them permission, RFE/RL's South Slavic Service reported. In Sremska Mitrovica, police detained four persons who were gathering signatures, Reuters reported. PM [17] SERBIAN PARLIAMENT MAKES 'WARTIME' MEASURESPERMANENTThe Serbian legislature voted on 15 July to enact into law several economic measures that the government temporarily instituted under its "state of war" during NATO's air campaign in the spring. The SPO, the League of Vojvodina Hungarians, and the Vojvodina Coalition did not take part in the voting. Before the ballot, parliamentary speaker Dragan Tomic of the governing coalition announced that the New Democracy Party has left the coalition. The other members of the coalition thereupon "cancelled" the five legislative mandates that New Democracy received under a pre-election agreement between the coalition parties. New Democracy's Dusan Mihajlovic called the move "illegal" and motivated by a desire for revenge. PM [18] DRASKOVIC POINTS FINGER AT ALBANIANSDraskovicsaid in Athens on 15 July that the situation in Kosova "is more than dramatic. Now there is ethnic cleansing against the Serbs by the Albanians. They burn their houses, their churches, their fields." Referring to the recent hi-jacking of a Greek bus by an Albanian (see below), Draskovic added: "This should show that the Serbs are not the problem, but the Albanians who want to create a Greater Albania," Reuters reported. PM [19] MACEDONIA TO OPEN ALBANIAN-LANGUAGEUNIVERSITYMacedonian Foreign Minister Aleksandar Dimitrov told Reuters on 15 July in Skopje that the Macedonian government will allow the ethnic Albanian minority to establish its own university. He did not indicate when this will happen. Dimitrov added that "it is the inviolable right of everyone to have education in their mother tongue, including higher education." Observers note that the statement marks a milestone in Macedonian politics. Efforts by ethnic Albanians to establish an Albanian-language university in Tetovo in 1994 were met with a violent crackdown by the police. At the time, the Social Democratic government argued that establishing such a university would be tantamount to secession. Prime Minister Ljubco Georgievski told "RFE/RL Newsline" in September 1998, when he was still an opposition leader, that he would allow the establishment of the university if the ethnic Albanian leaders ceased raising ethnically- related issues and joined him in concentrating on economic development. FS [20] GREEK POLICE KILL ALBANIAN HIJACKERGreek policekilled an Albanian who had hijacked a bus after a stand-off near Florina on 15 July (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 15 July 1999). Special police stormed the bus and freed the last five hostages unharmed, AP reported. FS [21] HAGUE COURT OPENS DOOR FOR MORE INDICTMENTSRuling on an appeal by convicted Bosnian Serb war criminalDusan Tadic, the appeals chamber of the Hague-based war crimes tribunal concluded on 15 July that the Bosnian war of 1992-1995 was "an international armed conflict" and not merely a civil war. In light of this ruling, persons inside and outside Bosnia can now be prosecuted for violations in Bosnia of the Geneva conventions that protect civilians in wartime. The court also ruled that there was a "direct chain of military command" from Belgrade to the Bosnian Serbs. PM [22] BOSNIA TO CUT MILITARY EXPENDITURESBosnia'sPermanent Committee for Military Issues, which is chaired by officials from the international community, decided in Sarajevo on 15 July to cut military spending in the Republika Srpska and the mainly Muslim and Croatian federation by 15 percent this year. A spokesman for the committee said that its members hope their decision will serve as an example to other Balkan countries. PM [23] UN EXTENDS PREVLAKA MANDATEThe Security Councilvoted on 15 July to extend by six months the mandate for the 27-member UN military observer mission in Croatia's Prevlaka region (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 14 July 1999). The new mandate runs until 15 January 2000. PM [24] NATO SUPREME COMMANDER EUROPE IN BUCHARESTFollowing his 15 July meeting with President EmilConstantinescu, Prime Minister Radu Vasile, and Chief of Staff General Constantin Degeratu, General Wesley Clark told journalists the Kosova crisis has demonstrated that "Romania is fully prepared to participate in the NATO spirit of shared risks, burdens and benefits in security," RFE/RL's Bucharest bureau reported. At the same time, he said the decision on Romania's NATO entry is a "political one." For now, he said, one can discuss only the "gradual integration" of Romania's armed forces into NATO under "concrete cooperation programs." Clark stressed that his statement last month on the Trianon Treaty did not envisage a change of borders (see "RFE/RL Newsline,"28 June 1999). MS [25] ROMANIAN GENERALS SENTENCEDGenerals VictorStanculescu and Mihai Chitac on 15 July were sentenced by the Supreme Court to 15 years in prison for their part in the attempted quashing of the December 1989 popular revolt in Timisoara, which sparkled the toppling of the communist regime. They were also stripped of their military rank and ordered to pay 500 million lei ($ 31,400) compensation to the relatives of the 72 people who were killed and the 253 wounded during those events. The judges rejected the defendants argument that they had been carrying out orders from dictator Nicolae Ceausescu, saying "military discipline excludes blind subordination and does not annul responsibility for a crime." After the toppling of the Ceausescu regime, Stanculescu became industry and later defense minister, while Chitac was interior minister. MS [26] FIRST MOLDOVAN-RUSSIAN PEACEKEEPING EXERCISESTAKING PLACE NEAR MOSCOWRussian-Moldovan peace- keeping forces began exercises on 16 July in the vicinity of Moscow, Infotag reported. The exercise is the first ever involving troops from the two countries and is taking place within the framework of a military cooperation agreement signed earlier this year. MS [27] BULGARIA RAISES DANUBE BRIDGE DISPUTE WITH EUOFFICIALForeign Minister Nadezhda Mihailova on 15 July handed Bodo Hombach, the EU official in charge of Balkan reconstruction, a file on Bulgaria's decade-old dispute with Romania on building a second bridge over River Danube, Reuters reported. Hombach, was asked to intervene to persuade the Romanian side to drop its objections to the construction of the new bridge and its location (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 24 February and 22 June 1999). From Sofia Hombach went to Bucharest, where he conducted talks with President Constantinescu, Premier Vasile, and other officials. MS [28] ISRAELIS CIRCUMVENT ARAB BOYCOTT OF BULGARIANNATIONAL CARRIERGad Zeevi, chairman of the board of one of two Israeli companies that recently acquired a 75 stake in Balkan Air, told journalists in Sofia on 15 July that the Zeevi-Arkia consortium has transferred its shares to a Dutch subsidiary in response to Lebanon and Syria's annulment of landing rights. He refused to name the new shareholder and said that "the next flight of Balkan Air to Beirut will take off as scheduled, unless the [Bulgarian] Foreign Ministry stops it," AP reported. MS [C] END NOTE[29] HUNGARIAN ARMY CHIEF RESIGNSBy Matyas SzaboChief of Staff and Commander of the Hungarian Armed Forces Colonel-General Ferenc Vegh's resignation last week came as no surprise. Since early June, Budapest dailies have reported on the sharp disagreements between Vegh and Defense Minister Janos Szabo over a government plan to increase the Defense Ministry's control over the armed forces. Paradoxically, Vegh's resignation came at a time when both sides claimed to uphold one and the same principle: namely, that of civilian control over the military. Opinions diverged, however, on how that control was to be achieved. Vegh, a graduate of the Hungarian Military Academy who also studied at the Soviet Union's Military College of Tank Units and the U.S. Army's War College, was promoted to commander in chief in 1996 under Socialist Defense Minister Gyorgy Keleti and played a leading role in preparing the army for accession to NATO. Vegh believes that the 1990 decision to separate the military command and the Defense Ministry was a wise one and that the status quo should be maintained. He told Hungarian Radio on 6 June that he has "always respected civilian control over the army, but the General Staff was established two years ago to ensure conformity with NATO, and it would be a mistake to touch that." Viktor Orban's government, however, thought differently. "We cannot have a situation whereby on the grounds of professional decisions the politicians have no say in how public funds are spent," administrative state secretary at the Defense Ministry Tamas Wachsler said two weeks before Vegh's resignation. "The duty of the military is to execute political decisions. This is what civilian control is all about," he concluded. The conflict peaked on 16 June when Orban told Szabo very firmly that he expected a better performance from the ministry. The same day, Vegh accused Szabo of managing a 400-strong "shadow General Staff" at the Defense Ministry that advises decision-makers, while army commanders are pushed to the background. The ministry's response, transmitted to the media through anonymous sources, was quick and firm: "The General Staff must merge with the ministry and not vice versa. We shall quash anyone who opposes the government program." Szabo broke his long silence by admitting that he had differences with Vegh. He said he was ready to compromise but noted that "there are matters within the ministry that can be settled only through orders." Szabo won Orban's support for personnel changes in the ministry. The first person to be removed, however, was not Vegh, but one of his deputies, Nandor Hollosi. As for his own status, Vegh refused to make a statement until the situation was fully clarified. The daily "Magyar Hirlap" on 1 July reported that NATO military leaders had already been informed about Vegh's dismissal and that he would be offered a diplomatic post should he volunteer to resign. In early July, Orban ordered his military adviser, Jeno Poda, to bring the dispute to an end within one week. Vegh had to choose between three options: accept the new organizational concept, resign, or be fired. Vegh submitted his resignation to President Arpad Goncz on 9 July, thereby ending weeks of guessing about the outcome of the rift between the armed forces and the Defense Ministry. Owing to the laconic statements of all the parties involved in the conflict, it is difficult to say whether questions of principle or of personnel were behind the dispute. The opposition Hungarian Socialist Party believes that "the ministry was obviously acting in accordance with a scenario." According to the party, the unjustified dismissals and personnel changes in the ministry and General Staff as well as internal tensions and operational disorders cast doubt on the competence of the ministry's leadership. The party also noted that Hungary's constitutional system includes the principle of the army's civilian control and that the present government coalition ignored the parliament's role in shaping military decisions. According to some military experts, the merger of the General Staff and the ministry would contravene NATO's basic requirement about civilian control over the army. Paradoxically, those who are in favor of the merger refer to the lack of civilian control in the existing structure. In their opinion, civilian control would be achieved if military commanders were supervised by civilians. Military diplomats, however, are mainly concerned about Vegh's replacement. On 15 July, Lajos Fodor, deputy state secretary at the Defense Ministry, was recommended to succeed Vegh. Surprisingly, both the governing coalition and the opposition--but more important, the ministry and the General Staff--would be satisfied to see Fodor appointed chief of staff. And there is consensus that the personnel change will not affect Hungary's relationship with NATO. Indeed, visiting U.S. Defense Secretary William Cohen said on 12 July in Budapest that Vegh's departure is Hungary's internal affair. 16-07-99 Reprinted with permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
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