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RFE/RL Newsline, Vol. 3, No. 146, 99-07-29Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty: Newsline Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty <http://www.rferl.org>RFE/RL NEWSLINEVol. 3, No. 146, 29 July 1999CONTENTS[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA
[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[C] END NOTE
[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA[01] ARMENIAN PREMIER OUTLINES AUSTERITY MEASURESIn his firsttelevision address since his appointment as prime minister last month, Vazgen Sargsian on 28 July explained his proposed measures to overcome Armenia's budget crisis, RFE/RL's Yerevan bureau reported. Sargsian said that budget revenues for the first half of 1999 were 33 billion drams ($61 million) less than planned, which is equal to some 10 percent of projected government spending for 1999. Characterizing the situation as "extremely difficult but not hopeless," Sargsian vowed to raise some taxes, crack down on tax evasion, and increase excise duties on cigarettes and gasoline. He said those measures will help to bridge the budget shortfall without seriously affecting the poor and the middle class. During talks in Yerevan last week, IMF representatives gave the Armenian government until late August to bridge the budget gap, which has delayed disbursement of planned IMF and World Bank loan tranches totaling some $55 million. LF [02] AZERBAIJAN, TURKEY AT ODDS OVER OIL EXPORT PIPELINEAzerbaijan's State Oil Company SOCAR issued an officialstatement on 27 July saying that talks between Azerbaijani and Turkish working groups have failed to reach agreement on four draft documents that would constitute the legal basis for the construction and use of the planned Baku-Ceyhan oil export pipeline, "Izvestiya" reported on 29 July. Representatives of the two countries had signed a protocol in Istanbul in April pledging to finalize and sign the four documents in question by the end of July. The points of disagreement, according to "Izvestiya," are over transit tariffs and the requirement that Turkey meet additional construction costs if the total cost of building the pipeline exceeds $2.4 billion. Turkey is demanding a tariff fee of $21 per metric ton of oil, while Azerbaijan and Western oil companies engaged in the Caspian refuse to pay more than $18- 19. LF [03] KAZAKH OPPOSITION LEADER ACCUSED OF INSULTING PRESIDENTSeydakhmet Quttyqadam, who heads the Orleu (Progress) Party,told journalists in Almaty on 28 July that he has been formally charged with insulting President Nursultan Nazarbaev, an RFE/RL correspondent in the former capital reported. Quttyqadam had said at a rally in February that he considered that Nazarbaev has failed to fulfill his obligations as president and should resign, adding that Kazakhstan needs a "strong leader" like Ataturk or de Gaulle. Quttyqadam also argued on 28 July that the presidential system should be replaced by a parliamentary one and that the parliament should be empowered to form a government and to appoint regional leaders, according to Interfax. He said that the parliamentary elections scheduled for this fall, in which he will run in a single-mandate district in Almaty, offer "the last chance" for the development of democracy in Kazakhstan. LF [04] GOVERNMENT RESHUFFLE COMPLETED IN KYRGYZSTANPrime MinisterAmangeldy Muraliev on 26 July presented to the cabinet three new ministers appointed to replace those dismissed by President Askar Akaev three days earlier, RFE/RL's Bishkek bureau reported. Former State Property Fund director Sultan Mederov replaces Marat Sultanov as finance minister and is himself replaced by former Customs Director Tashkul Kereksizov. Jalalabad University rector Tursunbek Bekbolotov takes over from Sovetbek Toktomyshev as minister of education, science, and culture, and Imankadyr Rysaliev, a former presidential administration department head, succeeds Mira Jangachareva as minister of labor and social issues. Jangaracheva was named deputy governor of Chu Oblast on 26 July. LF [05] OPPOSITION IN KYRGYZSTAN PLANS JOINT COUNCILMeeting inBishkek on 28 July, representatives of five opposition parties (Free Kyrgyzstan, the Communist Party, the People's Party, the republican Party and "My Country") announced they will form a joint political council on which each party will have one representative, RFE/RL's Bishkek bureau reported. They also expressed their objection to President Akaev's proposal to amend the election law passed by the parliament in April in order to reduce from 12 months to six the period for which a political party must be officially registered prior to parliamentary elections (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 3 May and 22 June 1999). Akaev's proposed amendment is presumably intended to facilitate the participation in the February 2000 parliamentary elections of the Adilet Party, created as a support base for the president. The Jalalabad regional branch of Adilet held its founding conference on 24 July and elected as its head Kubanychbek Djumaliev, the governor of Jalalabad Oblast and a former premier. LF [06] MORE ANTHRAX CASES REPORTED IN SOUTHERN KYRGYZSTANKyrgyzstan's First Deputy Minister of Public Health ViktorGlinenko told Interfax on 28 July that six more cases of anthrax been reported in Osh Oblast over the past nine days, Interfax reported. The victims had eaten infected beef. A total of 957 people have been placed under medical observation. Meanwhile, 10 people have been hospitalized with anthrax in the Bazar-Korgin district of Jalalabad Oblast, which borders on Osh, RFE/RL's Bishkek bureau reported. LF [07] DEMILITARIZATION, REFERENDUM PREPARATIONS ON TRACK INTAJIKISTANUnited Tajik Opposition leader Said Abdullo Nuri told journalists in Dushanbe on 28 July that the opposition will meet the 31 July deadline for disarming its forces, Reuters reported. That deadline is stipulated in the protocol that he and President Imomali Rakhmonov signed on 17 June. Of a total of some 6,000 opposition fighters who have been screened by the Central Attestation Committee, 4,500 have opted for service in either the army or the police. Meanwhile, preparations are continuing for the 26 September referendum on constitutional amendments that will remove the present ban on political parties with a religious orientation, AP-Blitz reported on 27 July. Acting UN Special Representative Joges Saksena told journalists in Dushanbe on 27 July he hopes the constitutional amendments will be approved, paving the way for a special parliamentary session that will schedule new parliamentary elections for January. The opposition has retracted its demand that those elections be held before the 6 November presidential poll. LF [B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE[08] GENEROUS PLEDGES FOR KOSOVARepresentatives of more than 60countries and dozens of aid agencies and regional organizations, meeting in Brussels on 28 July, pledged more than $2 billion for humanitarian and reconstruction aid for Kosova. The largest pledge was the U.S. offer of $500 million, followed by $200 million from Japan, $190 million from Germany, and $145 million from the U.K. Prior to the meeting, representatives of several UN agencies and the EU said that $564 million is needed for immediate aid needs, AP reported. In New York, the General Assembly authorized a budget of $200 million to finance UN operations in Kosova. Marjatta Rasi, who is Finland's ambassador to the world organization and who spoke in the name of the EU, said she fears that the UN will not provide enough money for its agencies to carry out their respective mandates. PM [09] ALBRIGHT ARRIVES IN KOSOVAU.S. Secretary of State MadeleineAlbright arrived in Prishtina on 29 July for a one-day visit. She is slated to meet with KFOR's General Sir Mike Jackson and the UN's Bernard Kouchner. The previous day in Rome, Albright called on Washington's allies to show "the same kind of cooperation in peace as we had during the war." She and her Italian counterpart, Lamberto Dini, said that the reconstruction process is proceeding too slowly. PM [10] ITALY URGES RUGOVA TO RETURN TO KOSOVAForeign Minister Dinitold a press conference in Rome on 28 July that the Italian government has "taken note of the fact that [Rome-based, Kosovar shadow-state] President [Ibrahim] Rugova has not been playing an active role since the arrival of KFOR in Prishtina. The Italian government has been encouraging Rugova to return to the region and play the role that his own election [as president entitles] him to play. He [should become] more active than he has been so far. We have encouraged him to take part in meetings with KFOR and UN administrators, which he has shied away from, and we expect him to go back to Prishtina soon to resume his political role," Reuters reported. PM [11] KOSOVAR LEADER 'PIQUED' AT EXCLUSION FROM SUMMITRugova saidin Rome on 28 July that he is "piqued" that his Democratic League of Kosova (LDK) was not invited to the 29-30 July Balkan reconstruction summit in Sarajevo. He played down reports of tensions between the LDK and the Kosova Liberation Army, saying: "We discuss. There is no war between us." Reuters reported that "sources close to [Rugova's] entourage in Rome" told the news agency that Rugova has no plans to return to Kosova soon (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 16 July 1999). In Prishtina, Kouchner told "Corriere della sera" that "there can never be real change" in Kosova without Rugova. PM [12] KFOR JAILS THREE MEN FOR KOSOVA MURDERSA spokesman forBritish peacekeepers said in Prishtina on 29 July that KFOR has jailed three of the five men whom peacekeepers recently questioned about the murder of 14 Serbian farmers in Staro Gracko (see "RFE/RL Newsline,' 26 July 1999). KFOR released the other two men. The spokesmen did not elaborate. In Staro Gracko, Serbian Orthodox Patriarch Pavle conducted a funeral service for the 14 men. He said that "the only good thing about this misfortune is that you left the world not as criminals but as innocent victims." Kosova Serb leader Momcilo Trajkovic stressed that the international community's mission in Kosova will fail if KFOR does not prevent ethnic Albanians from killing Serbs. Several hundred Serbs attended the funeral, which KFOR troops guarded. Kouchner also attended. PM [13] TWO KEY YUGOSLAV RADIO STATIONS RESUME BROADCASTINGRadioPrishtina went back on the air on 28 July for the first time since NATO's springtime bombing campaign damaged its facilities. The broadcast began with an address by Kouchner. Programs made under UN supervision were in Albanian, Serbian, and Turkish. In Belgrade, the private radio station B-92 resumed broadcasting under the name of B2-92. A spokesman said that the station will broadcast only music until 2 August, when it will resume newscasts. He stressed that any interference by the authorities with the station will lead to "abandoning the project," AP reported. B2-92 broadcasts on a frequency assigned by the Belgrade city council to Studio B Television, which is close to Vuk Draskovic's Serbian Renewal Movement. The Serbian authorities shut down B-92 on 2 April. PM [14] SERBIA'S DJINDJIC TURNS TRIAL INTO PROPAGANDA COUPDemocratic Party leader Zoran Djindjic told a Belgrademilitary court on 28 July that he never received the army call-up notice that the authorities maintain they sent him during the conflict in Kosova, RFE/RL's South Slavic Service reported (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 28 July 1999). He stressed that the proceedings are a "political trial" and vowed to continue his demands for Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic to resign. The court decided not to arrest Djindjic, nor did it set a date for a second hearing. A Democratic spokesman told AP that Djindjic must appear before a Belgrade local court on 3 August to face charges that he failed to report a change of residence to the authorities. PM [15] ANTI-MILOSEVIC PROTESTS CONTINUE IN SERBIASome 4,000 peopleattended a rally sponsored by the opposition Alliance for Change in the southern spa town of Vrnjacka Banja on 28 July. Near Cacak, 30 reservists blocked a road to intensify demands that the government pay their back wages for the weeks they spent in Kosova. One reservist told Reuters that they are determined to get their back pay before winter. PM [16] YUGOSLAV COLONEL BLASTS PRO-MILOSEVIC GENERALSColonelDragan Vuksic, who was a member of the Yugoslav delegation to the 1995 Dayton Bosnian peace talks, told the mass- circulation Belgrade daily "Blic" of 28 July that unnamed, pro-Milosevic "self-styled mouthpieces" have no right to speak for the entire army. He said that the unnamed generals support the regime only to "defend their positions and privileges." This was an apparent reference to recent pro- Milosevic statements by Generals Dragoljub Ojdanic and Nebojsa Pavkovic (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 26 July 1999). Vuksic stressed that "the current regime" has no right to use the army "as a means of last resort to stay in power." He added that he has resigned from the army rather than remain in a situation in which "others speak on my behalf and against my beliefs and will." PM [17] ALBANIA'S MAJKO CALLS ON UN TO TAKE CONTROL OF YUGOSLAV ARMYPrime Minister Pandeli Majko said in Tirana on 28 July thatthe UN should place the Yugoslav army under international control. He argued that Belgrade's military "has waged four wars [since 1991] and caused much suffering to the region. It is the obligation of the international community to take measures to reduce Serbia's military capacity and exert control over its armed forces," dpa reported. PM [18] ALBANIAN GOVERNMENT TELLS COURTS TO 'STAND UP' TO CRIMINALSThe government said in a statement on 28 July that unnamedcourts have undermined the police and the legal system by freeing criminals whom the police have caught red-handed. Observers note that many witnesses are afraid to testify against often powerful local gang members, which prevents courts from convicting the accused. Moreover, criminals are sometimes able to intimidate or bribe judges. PM [19] TAIWAN ANNOUNCES INDUSTRIAL ZONE IN MACEDONIAPeter Cheng,who is Taiwan's charge d'affaires in Skopje, said on 28 July that Taipei will soon make up for time lost during the Kosova conflict and start construction of a special industrial zone in Petrovac, near Skopje. The Taiwanese government hopes to attract investments that will provide employment for Taiwanese-trained Macedonian workers. The government has been urging Taiwanese businessmen to produce goods in Macedonia for European markets. PM [20] HAGUE COURT SEEKS LIFE SENTENCE FOR CROATProsecutorGregory Kehoe told the Hague-based war crimes tribunal on 28 July that Croatian General Tihomir Blaskic deserves a life sentence for his role in the ethnic cleansing of Muslims from the Lasva valley in 1993. This is the first time that a prosecutor has demanded the maximum penalty from the war crimes tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, Reuters reported. PM [21] MOLDOVAN CONSTITUTIONAL COURT CANCELS PRIVATIZATION LAWThe Constitutional Court on 27 July declaredunconstitutional a law on the privatization of the Moldtelcom company, which passed in 1998 by a simple majority of the parliamentary deputies present. The basic law stipulates, however, that so-called organic laws, which are considered of prime importance, must be passed by a majority of all deputies elected to the parliament. The law was contested by deputy Victor Cecan, who represents the Party of Moldovan Communists, Infotag reported the next day. MS [22] BULGARIA HAS LOWEST BIRTH RATE IN EUROPEBulgaria'spopulation is rapidly sinking and the country now has the lowest birth rate in Europe, Reuters reported on 28 July, citing the National Statistics Institute. Yordan Kalchev, an expert with the institute, told journalists that the decline began in 1990. Last year, the birth rate in Bulgaria was 7.9 per 1,000, while the mortality rate was 14.4 per 1,000. In the same year the population decreased by 0.6 percent and now stands at 8.23 million. If the trend continues, the total population will fall to 6.91 million by 2020, Kalchev said, adding that it is also getting older. In 1998, every fourth Bulgarian was a pensioner. MS [C] END NOTE[23] ALBANIA'S NEW ENVIRONMENTBy Fabian SchmidtFollowing the end of the war in Kosova, Albania has begun to return to normality, but its perceptions of both itself and its surroundings have changed. The Albanian public's friendliness and hospitality vis-a-vis the refugees throughout the Kosova crisis and Albania's support for the international military and humanitarian effort gave the country a very good image abroad, which contrasts sharply with its reputation before the crisis of being crime-ridden, impoverished, and politically polarized. Since early 1997, Albania had become notorious for its Kalashnikov-waving adolescents who dominated scenes of civilian unrest that broke out after the collapse of pyramid investment schemes. But Albania's political leaders seized the Kosova crisis as a unique opportunity to show the international community Albania's maturity. Now the country finds itself on the winning side in what is in effect a large international alliance. The post-war order offers Albania a serious prospect of long-term regional development and prosperity, and it is up to the Albanians to make sure that prospect becomes reality. Plans for regional cooperation in the Balkans are not new, but the presence of the U.S., the EU, the UN, and other key international figures instrumental in ending the Kosova conflict has removed numerous practical and psychological barriers that were blocking the country's regional integration with its neighbors. The largest barrier to collapse was that between Albania and Kosova. This development's significance compares to the fall of the Berlin Wall, despite some differences. While before 1989 the Berlin Wall served only the East German regime in helping it prevent its citizens from fleeing to the democratic West, the Albanian-Kosova border, for most of its post-1945 history, was a border between two dictatorships that were highly suspicious of each other. Furthermore, the border dates back to the creation of the Albanian state in 1913; therefore, it had a more profound impact on the cultural and social development on either side of it than did the Berlin Wall. The Rambouillet accord specifies that there must be free movement of goods, services, and people from and to Kosova. With the border now open, regional integration between Albania and Kosova can take place quickly in terms of economy, trade, culture, and other sectors. More so than Kosova, Albania will profit from that integration, which will allow the remote and underdeveloped mountainous northern regions of Bajram Curri and Kukes to link up with their Ottoman-era markets in Gjakova and Prizren. Albanian legislator Neritan Ceka has already suggested that the government draw up plans to build a highway to Kosova. Similarly, closer integration with Montenegro is now possible. In late June, the Yugoslav federation withdrew its border controls between Montenegro and Albania, thus opening the way for free movement of people. Now it is up to Tirana and Podgorica to regulate the border and customs regime in a mutually beneficial way. Both sides have already made clear that they want to promote a liberal border regime. To the south, Athens is interested in linking its Adriatic coastal region with central Europe through a highway via Albania, Montenegro, and Croatia. Albanian Foreign Minister Paskal Milo and his Greek counterpart, George Papandreou, agreed in Athens in early June to put that project high on the agenda of the Sarajevo stability summit that began on 29 July. The two met shortly thereafter with their Macedonian counterpart, Aleksandar Dimitrov, and agreed to launch a smaller-scale regional project designed to facilitate cross-border travel for people living in the frontier region. Another result of the crisis has been the substantial strengthening of many Macedonians' trust toward both their own ethnic Albanian minority and towards Albania. Many Macedonian politicians and voters long feared that an explosion of the Kosova crisis could lead to a breakup of Macedonia. During the crisis, almost a quarter of a million Kosovar refugees entered Macedonia. This, however, did not lead to any moves by Macedonia's Albanians against the Macedonian state, which remained stable. In return, Skopje has shown itself willing to make concessions, including permitting university education in the Albanian language, which the previous Macedonian government had rejected for fear of fostering "separatism." Albania thus faces a much friendlier neighborhood than it did only a short time ago. But Albanians will have to show that they are capable of taking advantage of the new opportunities. Albania's opposition Democratic Party took a first step toward ending the political polarization that has long bedeviled Albania. On 17 July, an extraordinary party congress voted unanimously to end the party's 10- month boycott of the parliament, which the Democrats had launched in response to the killing of one of their legislators. Party leader Sali Berisha told the delegates that: "Fulfilling the request of the U.S. government to return to the parliament is the least we could do, after all that they did for Albanians," indicating that the move was linked to the U.S. involvement in ending the Kosova crisis. Berisha added that "the Democratic Party commits itself to creating a new political climate where nobody will be excluded anymore." But not all Albanians have proven responsible enough to promote a vision for a common future. Another Albanian way of returning to "normal" was evident in Vlora on 10 July, when local citizens armed with machine guns stormed and looted an Italian-run refugee camp. If Albania remains unable to tackle the problem of crime, it will be difficult for its neighbors to take the next large step of relaxing the border regime or establishing a customs union. 29-07-99 Reprinted with permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
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