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RFE/RL Newsline, Vol. 3, No. 164, 99-08-24Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty: Newsline Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty <http://www.rferl.org>RFE/RL NEWSLINEVol. 3, No. 164, 24 August 1999CONTENTS[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA
[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[C] END NOTE
[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA[01] GEORGIAN, RUSSIAN DEFENSE MINISTERS MEETDavid Tevzadze held"consultative" talks in Moscow on 23 August with his Russian counterpart, Igor Sergeev, Russian agencies reported. The main topics of discussion were bilateral cooperation, the Russian peacekeeping force deployed in Abkhazia under a CIS mandate, and the future of the four Russian military bases in Georgia. Georgian parliamentary deputies have repeatedly demanded the closure of two of those facilities. A further bone of contention between the two sides are the conditions for Moscow's return to Georgian jurisdiction of 44 buildings previously used by Russian troops (see "RFE/RL Caucasus Report," Vol. 2, No. 25, 25 June 1999). LF [02] KAZAKH PRESIDENT MEETS WITH SOUTH KOREAN, JAPANESE DIPLOMATSNursultan Nazarbaev met with South Korea's ambassador Lee YenMinh in Astana on 23 August to discuss bilateral trade and economic ties, RFE/RL's Kazakh Service reported. It is unclear whether the alleged sale by Kazakhstan of MiGs to North Korea was also on the agenda. Nazarbaev held talks the same day with visiting senior Japanese diplomat Takemi Keizo on the ecological situation at the former nuclear testing ground at Semipalatinsk, RFE/RL's Kazakh Service reported. Japan is a major participant in a UN-funded program to clean up the territory adjacent to the site and will host an international conference on that problem next month. LF [03] TOP OIL OFFICIAL FIRED IN KAZAKHSTANPresident Nazarbaevfired KazakhOil State Oil Company President Nurlan Qapparov on 23 August for "exceeding his authority in deciding important strategic issues," AP reported. Qapparov's deputy, Uzaqbay Qarabalin, was appointed acting president. Also on 23 August, Foreign Minister Kasymzhomart Toqaev confirmed that in order to plug an anticipated budget shortfall next year, Astana may be constrained to sell part of its 25 percent stake in the Tengizchevroil joint venture, which is developing the vast Tengiz oilfield, according to Interfax. A spokesman for Russia's LUKoil told Interfax on 20 August that his company is interested in increasing the 5 percent stake in Tengizchevroil owned by the U.S.-Russian joint venture LukArco. LF [04] KYRGYZ DEFENSE MINISTER SACKED AS TROOPS BATTLE GUERRILLASPresident Askar Akaev sacked Defense Minister MyrzakanSubanov on 24 August and appointed Chief of Staff General Nurdin Chomoev to replace him, RFE/RL's Bishkek bureau reported. Late on 23 August, Kyrgyz forces attacked the group of guerrillas who took hostage Kyrgyz Interior Ministry forces commander Major-General Anarbek Shamkeev and four Japanese geologists in southern Kyrgyzstan earlier that day. According to unconfirmed reports, both sides incurred casualties during that fighting. A second group of guerrillas has seized control of two more villages, raising the number under their control to four. Parliamentary deputy Dosbol Nur Uulu told RFE/RL's Bishkek bureau that the guerrillas' strength exceeds 200. In Dushanbe, Tajik Security Council Secretary Amirkul Azimov told Interfax that the guerrillas are loyal to ethnic Uzbek field commander Djuma Namangani, who refused to comply with the deadline to disarm issued by Tajikistan's National Reconciliation Commission. That deadline expired last month. LF [05] KYRGYZ NEWSPAPER EDITOR ARRESTEDAleksandr Kim, editor ofthe independent and outspoken daily "Vechernii Bishkek," has been arrested on charges of tax evasion, ITAR-TASS reported on 24 August. LF [06] TAJIKISTAN HOSTS FRUITLESS AFGHAN TALKSRepresentatives ofAfghanistan's ruling Taliban movement and opposition Northern Alliance met for a second round of Pakistan-mediated talks in Dushanbe on 23 August, AP and ITAR-TASS reported. As at the 18 August round, no agreement was reached on adopting proposals made by Pakistan as a basis for ending the civil war. The North Alliance reportedly argued that Pakistan is incapable of acting as a disinterested mediator and called on Islamabad to stop interfering in the conflict, withdraw its forces from Afghanistan, and end its support for the Taliban. LF [07] UZBEKISTAN RELEASES JAILED CHRISTIANSUnder an as yetunpublished decree signed by President Islam Karimov on 20 August, one Jehovah's Witness and all five known Christians imprisoned in Uzbekistan have been freed, Keston News Service reported on 23 August. Three of the five were Pentecostalists serving sentences of 10-15 years. The Uzbek authorities are also reportedly preparing to register several local Baptist and Pentecostalist congregations. Observers believe the gesture of leniency is intended to improve the country's image before the U.S. State Department presents to Congress on 1 September its annual assessment of religious freedom worldwide. LF [08] HOSTAGES TAKEN, RELEASED IN UZBEKISTANUnidentifiedguerrillas seized control of a meteorological station in eastern Uzbekistan on 23 August, ITAR-TASS reported. The guerrillas released the staff of the facility and five local tourists after robbing them of documents, money, clothing, and food and fuel supplies. LF [B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE[09] RUSSIAN-ALBANIAN STANDOFF CONTINUES IN RAHOVECHundreds ofethnic Albanians continued to block roads leading to Rahovec on 24 August, thereby preventing Russian peacekeepers from entering that town (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 23 August 1999). The roadblock includes a long line of trucks, buses, tractors, and other vehicles. Dutch peacekeepers are scheduled to begin mediation between Russian officers and the Albanian protesters later in the day, AP reported. The protesters reject the deployment of Russian soldiers, claiming that Russian mercenaries committed atrocities in that area in March and April. The protesters also say they fear Russian KFOR will protect Serbian paramilitaries who are allegedly hiding in the Serb-dominated quarter of Rahovec. FS [10] KFOR'S JACKSON BACKS RUSSIANS...KFOR commander GeneralSir Mike Jackson told Reuters in Prishtina on 23 August that the Russians are "doing a good job" in all the areas of Kosova that they currently patrol. He added that the Rahovec protests are "no more than a bump in the road." Elsewhere, Colonel-General Georgii Shpak, who is commander of Russian paratroop units, told Interfax in Moscow that "we have a peacekeeping mission in [Rahovec] and we will carry it out." FS [11] ...CONFIRMS UCK DEMILITARIZATION ON SCHEDULEAt a jointpress conference with General Agim Ceku, who is the chief of the Kosova Liberation Army's (UCK) General Staff, in Prishtina on 23 August, Jackson confirmed that the UCK handed in all its heavy weapons, all long- barreled weapons, and 60 per cent of all automatic small arms by 19 August, an RFE/RL South Slavic Service correspondent reported. That day marked the end of the second phase of the UCK's demilitarization. Jackson stressed that the UCK must now concentrate on transforming itself into a non-military group. The UCK has committed itself to completing its demilitarization by 19 September. FS [12] SERBIAN WAR CRIMES SUSPECTS TO BE TRIED IN PRIZRENThree Serbs arrested on suspicion of war crimes by KFORpeacekeeping troops in Rahovec on 20 August will stand trial at a District Court in Prizren, rather than in The Hague, Reuters reported. UN Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) spokeswoman Nadia Younes said, however, that "although this will be a domestic war crimes trial, the [tribunal] takes great interest in this case. [This is] because the events in [Rahovec] are related to the indictment of [Yugoslav President Slobodan] Milosevic." Tribunal officials told Reuters on 23 August that they support the arrest and trial of suspected war criminals in local courts so long as the judiciary is "mature and democratic enough" to ensure that individuals receive a fair trial. FS [13] DID SERBIAN FORCES USE SARIN GAS IN KOSOVA?London's "TheDaily Telegraph" reported on 24 August that "the Serbs used Sarin nerve gas against ethnic Albanians before NATO intervened" in Kosova. A UN expert told "Jane's Defence Weekly" recently that Serbian forces used the gas against the Kosovar Albanians "since the early nineties.... The attacks affected some 4,000 people, including children," the London daily reported. Observers note that Kosovar spokesmen have long charged that the Serbian forces used poison gas against ethnic Albanians. Outside experts have confirmed that poisons were used in several incidents, but not that Sarin gas was one of the toxins involved. PM [14] ANNAN APPOINTS NEW DEPUTY SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE FORKOSOVAUN Secretary-General Kofi Annan appointed German environmental expert Tom Koenigs as deputy special representative in Kosova in charge of civil administration, on 23 August, AP reported. Koenigs, who is a member of the Green Party and a close colleague of Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer, will replace Dominique Vian of France, who is leaving after only two months in office. Koenigs will be one of four deputies to UN Special Representative Bernard Kouchner. Since 1989, Koenigs has been the head of the Environmental Protection Department of Frankfurt, which also includes responsibility for sewage management, the fire department, and energy supplies. Between 1993 and 1997, he was treasurer of Frankfurt. AP noted that he has a reputation as a tough administrator focusing on increasing the efficiency of public services and modernizing the city administration. FS [15] MAJKO WANTS ALBANIANS TO MAKE DONATIONS FOR KOSOVA-ALBANIAN HIGHWAYPrime Minister Pandeli Majko called on the Albanian people on 23 August to donate money for a highway linking Durres with Prishtina, an RFE/RL South Slavic Service correspondent reported. Majko said in Tirana that "the Albanian government has decided that the construction of a road linking Tirana with Prishtina is one of its strategic priorities. That road will serve both ethnic Albanian entities in the Balkans.... It will serve the faster movement of goods, people, capital, and culture." Majko called the plan "a gigantic challenge for our nation" but stressed that "together we...can achieve wonders for our joint future.... This will be the Albanians' road and we Albanians will build it... We shall ask for help from our international partners, but initially we should demonstrate that we are able to help ourselves." FS [16] DJINDJIC SAYS MILOSEVIC RULE WILL LEAD TO CHAOSDemocraticParty leader Zoran Djindjic told AP in Belgrade on 23 August that Serbia will face serious problems if Milosevic remains in office much longer. Djindjic stressed that if the president "does not go by the end of October, we will have a humanitarian catastrophe and social unrest by hungry people." He added that there will also be "further territorial disintegration" if Montenegro declares independence in response to Milosevic's refusal to quit. The opposition leader argued that each unsuccessful attempt by the opposition to unseat Milosevic has been followed by war. Djindjic rejected charges by Milosevic's backers and the Serbian Renewal Movement's Vuk Draskovic that his policies will lead to "civil war" (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 23 August 1999), saying such accusations are "communist-style intimidation." PM [17] ARE SOME MILOSEVIC BACKERS ABANDONING HIM?Alliance forChange leader Vladan Batic said in Belgrade on 23 August that Milosevic's supporters will not fight a "civil war" for him. Batic added that some key Milosevic backers have recently contacted U.S. special envoy Robert Gelbard (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 14 July 1999). Batic said those individuals include prominent businessman Bogoljub Karic, Deputy Prime Minister Ratko Markovic, economics adviser Zoran Lilic, and others, RFE/RL's South Slavic Service reported. Batic stressed that Milosevic must resign and a transitional government must replace the present one. PM [18] UN EXPERTS CAUTIOUS ON SERBIAN CHARGES OF ENVIRONMENTALDAMAGEPekka Haavisto, who is chairman of the United Nations Environmental Program's (UNEP) Balkans Task Force, said in Belgrade on 23 August that he and his colleagues are continuing their investigation into environmental damage in Serbia as a result of the recent NATO air strikes. The team arrived several weeks ago to look for the presence of a wide variety of chemicals and other toxic waste in the environment. In response to Serbian charges that the air strikes led to radioactive fallout because some of the bombs allegedly contained depleted uranium, Haavisto said his team will proceed according to scientific evidence and not be swayed by "rumors." The experts expect to complete a preliminary study in September. They will then decide what to do next, Reuters reported. Officials of UNEP and NATO maintain that NATO used depleted uranium only in shells fired at tanks in Kosova and not in missiles or bombs used against Serbia proper. PM [19] PRESUMED SREBRENICA VICTIMS EXHUMED FROM MASS GRAVERepresentatives of the Muslim Commission for Missing Personscompleted the exhumation of 23 persons from a mass grave near the Serbian-held town of Zvornik on 23 August, "Oslobodjenje" reported. The experts believe that the bodies are those of some of the 7,000 missing persons from Srebrenica (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 11 August 1999). The forensic team will resume work in September. Survivors say that up to 1,000 Srebrenica victims may be buried in mass graves in that area. PM [20] CROATIAN MINISTER TELLS VETERANS NOT TO MAKE POLICYForeignMinister Mate Granic said in Zagreb on 23 August that Dubrovnik-area war veterans who recently blocked the border crossing to Trebinje should desist from such protests in the interest of promoting good relations with Bosnia (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 23 August 1999). He urged the veterans to let the Hague-based war crimes tribunal deal with Serbs who committed atrocities during the 1991 shelling of Dubrovnik, including former Trebinje Mayor Bozidar Vucurevic. Obrad Gazda, who is that town's current mayor, told Rijeka's "Novi List" that the people of Trebinje have nothing to apologize for. He stressed that the former Yugoslav army alone is responsible for the shelling. PM [21] ROMANIAN PREMIER WARNS PARLIAMENTARY DEPUTIES...Before theparliament convened in an extraordinary session on 23 August, Radu Vasile urged parliamentary deputies to pass the government-proposed legislation on restitution of real estate and agricultural land to former owners or their heirs. Vasile said that if they fail to do so by September, the government will legislate such restitution by emergency regulation, RFE/RL's Bucharest bureau reported. The opposition Party of Social Democracy in Romania is threatening to boycott the debate on procedural grounds. It also says government- proposed restitution will increase the budget deficit by $50 billion. MS [22] ...DISMISSES RUMORS ON QUITTINGVasile dismissed rumorsrecently reported in the media that he intends to resign and accept an offer from the World Bank. He said that no such offer has been made and that if it were, he would turn it down. On 20 August, Education Minister Andrei Marga, whom the media tips as a possible successor to Vasile, told journalists that the National Peasant Party Christian Democratic (PNTCD) needs to "urgently embark on [developing a] strategy of reconstruction," Mediafax reported. Marga said that reconstruction can take place at "a doctrinary, an organizational, and a personal" level and that he believes he "has solutions" for all three levels. He added that he does not intend to run for a party leadership post but would "think the offer over" if it were made to him. MS [23] ROMANIA TO CHANGE TAXATION SYSTEMThe government on 23August approved a regulation changing the taxation system. Under the new system, Romanians will be taxed on "global income," which will include wages and earnings deriving from any other sources of income, either in Romania or abroad. The government also decided that the pensions and incomes of farmers are not to be taxed in the future. RFE/RL's Bucharest bureau reported. MS [24] RUN-OFF IN GAGAUZ-YERI ELECTIONSA run-off will take placeon 5 September between incumbent Gagauz-Yeri Autonomous Region Governor Georgii Tabunschik, who placed second (20.6 percent) in the 22 August elections in the region, and Moldovan Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister Dimitrii Croitor, who came first with 21.5 percent of the vote, RFE/RL's Chisinau bureau reported. Turnout was 55.1 percent. Run-offs will also be held in 25 of the 35 constituencies where candidates for the People's Assembly were elected for the first time since 1994, when the region gained autonomous status, using a single-seat majority system. Tabunschik, who has virtually introduced a system resembling the one President Petru Lucinschi favors for the whole of Moldova, has a good chance of being re-elected. MS [25] MOLDOVAN PRESIDENT READY TO COMPROMISE ON PRESIDENTIALSYSTEM?Presidential spokesman Anatol Golea told journalists on 23 August that Lucinschi is "ready to discuss various variants on amending the constitution." He said Lucinschi has initiated the debate on amending the basic law in order to get feed-back from citizens and international organizations and is "ready to discuss any constructive proposals." Golea said that "unfortunately, many representatives of parties are rejecting the draft [proposed by the presidential commission] without having even read it." In response to a question, Golea said the president regards the draft submitted by 38 deputies on instituting a full-fledged parliamentary system as "an attempt to monopolize public [opinion] and ignore people's will freely expressed in the [non-binding] referendum of 23 May." MS [C] END NOTE[26] WHEN FOUR TIMES FIVE MIGHT EQUAL ZEROby Michael ShafirSome 300 days after the four-party ruling Slovak coalition took over the helm, the cracks in that coalition are threatening the country's political stability. The presence of a "Romanian syndrome" of decision-making paralysis, mutual accusations among the coalition partners, and political cronyism is beyond dispute. Mikulas Dzurinda's cabinet was formed by four formations--the Slovak Democratic Coalition (SDK), the Party of Civic Understanding (SOP), the reformed-communist Party of the Democratic Left (SDL), and the Hungarian Coalition (SMK)- -most of which have different social, economic, and political priorities. Like the SDK, the SMK is a political product of former Prime Minister Vladimir Meciar's midwifery. To circumvent an electoral law that raised the parliamentary hurdle for political alliances, three parties representing ethnic Hungarians merged to form the SMK before the 1998 elections. But unlike the SDK, the SMK currently shows few cracks. The cementing force is the coalition partners' failure to fulfill promises made before the elections. As in Romania, where the unity of the Hungarian Democratic Federation of Romania is safeguarded by the struggle of its many wings and various ideological views on how to enforce ethnic Hungarian demands its on coalition partners, the SMK is already threatening to "review" its participation in the coalition. In the first place, Agriculture Minister Pavol Koncos of the SDL refused to appoint an SMK party member as head of the Slovak Land Fund, ignoring what the SMK claims was a "verbal agreement" whereby it withdrew its demand for the agriculture portfolio. The SMK is suspected by the SDL--not to mention the opposition Movement for a Democratic Slovakia (HZDS) and the xenophobic Slovak National Party--of intending to use the land fund to restitute to ethnic Hungarians land confiscated under the Benes decrees. Second, the SMK is dissatisfied with the law on the use of minority languages in contact with official authorities, which it considers too restrictive. Passed by the parliament on 10 July, that law was mainly the brainchild of Deputy Premier in charge of legislation Lubomir Fogas of the SDL. Not surprisingly, Slovak media reported that the SMK is demanding the dismissal of both Koncos and Fogas. Set up on the eve of the 1998 elections by five center- right parties that, like the SMK, aimed at circumventing Meciar's new electoral law, the SDK is the major coalition partner. It is also the party most affected by the Romanian "coalition of coalitions" syndrome. The five "mother parties" of the SDK--the Christian Democratic Movement, or KDH, the Social Democratic Party, the Democratic Union, the Democratic Party, and the Green Party--agreed before the elections to separate again after the ballot. Following the ballot, however, Dzurinda opposed dismembering the SDK. That stance put Dzurinda on a collision course with KDH leader, Justice Minister, and former Premier Jan Carnogursky, who, understandably, objected to seeing Dzurinda, a former KDH member, becoming the dominant personality in Slovak politics. But the Democratic Union and the Democratic Party have also advocated--though less emphatically than Carnogursky-- a return to a looser alliance formed by the "mother parties." Dzurinda says that option is "out of the question." Carnogursky has led the campaign that ended on 9 August with the ousting of former Transportation Minister Gabriel Palacka, Dzurinda's most loyal minister. Palacka's ties with Dzurinda date back to their employment in the Czechoslovak railways company and were strengthened when he became the SDK treasurer. The premier was very disturbed about the forced departure of Palacka, who was held responsible for irregularities in appointments at the ministry and privatization tenders supervised by it. He openly attacked Carnogursky, admonishing him for causing "government instability." Nor is Palacka the only ally of Dzurinda to have come under criticism. Economy Minister Ludovit Cernak, who managed the premier's 1998 electoral campaign, has been linked to the privatization scandal caused by businessman Vladimir Poor's sale of his shares in the Nafta Gbely refinery to the Cincinnati-based Cinergy Company. Whereas Carnogursky and the media blamed the deal on Cernak, Dzurinda deflected the blame on National Property Fund (FNM) chief Ludovit Kanik and his deputy, Ladislav Sklenar, demanding that both resign. He was able to have the government approve a resolution calling for their resignation but failed to have the parliament endorse it. Carnogursky and, above all, the Democratic Party, which had nominated Kanik, came to the FNM chief's defense. All of which made Czech journalist Peter Schultz wonder, in an article published in the 16 July "Lidove noviny," whether Dzurinda was not promoting a sort of "Meciarism without Meciar" by defending his own cronies and attacking those of his adversaries. Dzurinda's conflict with the Democratic Party may have serious consequences. The most ardent promoter of the long- due economic reforms is Privatization Minister Ivan Miklos, who is a member of that party. Should his party leave the coalition, Dzurinda might find himself surrounded by strange bedfellows. The SDL, true to its origins, is refusing to back the Miklos-sponsored bill on the privatization of large state-owned companies, insisting that the state keep a majority stake in energy and gas distributors as well as a 34 percent stake in banks. The Romanian parallel is once more striking, but in Romania it is the Democratic Party that plays a role like that of the SDL in Slovakia. Meanwhile, the HZDS is hinting that the SDL and the SOP may leave the coalition and help Meciar return to power. Is Dzurinda's four-party coalition multiplied by the SDK's five- party "coalition of coalitions" about to result in zero? 24-08-99 Reprinted with permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
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