RFE/RL Newsline, Vol. 3, No. 221, 99-11-12

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From: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty <http://www.rferl.org>

RFE/RL NEWSLINE

Vol. 3, No. 221, 12 November 1999

CONTENTS

[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA

[01] ARMENIAN PRESIDENT SEEKS SUPPORT OVER CABINET STANDOFF

[02] ARMENIAN PREMIER PROMISES CONTINUITY

[03] PROMINENT ARMENIAN OPPOSITION LEADER CALLS FOR NEW ELECTIONS

[04] MORE AZERBAIJANI GROUPS WARN AGAINST SIGNING KARABAKH PEACE

[05] ...WHILE AZERBAIJANI LEADERSHIP SAYS NO SUCH AGREEMENT

[06] GEORGIAN TRADE UNIONS ANNOUNCE PLANS FOR LARGE-SCALE

[07] GEORGIAN ECONOMY MINISTRY DRAFTS ANTI-CORRUPTION PROGRAM

[08] KAZAKH, ROMANIAN PRESIDENTS ASSESS BILATERAL RELATIONS

[09] KYRGYZ PARLIAMENT DEBATES FOREIGN DEBT BURDEN

[10] JAILED OPPOSITION SUPPORTERS RELEASED IN TAJIKISTAN

[11] PROMINENT TAJIK OPPOSITION POLITICIAN TERMS PRESIDENTIAL POLL

[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE

[12] MACEDONIAN PRESIDENT BIDS FAREWELL

[13] HEALTH OF CROATIA'S TUDJMAN 'HAS DETERIORATED'

[14] CROATIAN BISHOPS URGE FAITHFUL TO VOTE

[15] BOSNIAN PEACE IMPLEMENTATION TALKS OPEN

[16] PETRITSCH WARNS BOSNIANS ON FRONTIER LAW

[17] KOSOVA'S SERBS SAY PEACEKEEPERS DISTORT STATISTICS

[18] SERBIA'S PARLIAMENT VOTES LIFE PRIVILEGES FOR MILOSEVIC

[19] ROMANIAN MINERS' LEADER SLAPPED WITH FINE FOR 1991 BUCHAREST

[20] ROMANIA REPORTS STEADY MONTHLY INFLATION RATE

[21] ROMANIA CUTS ELECTRICITY TO MOLDOVA

[22] MOLDOVAN PARLIAMENT WORRIED ABOUT YEREVAN REPEAT?

[23] BULGARIAN PRESIDENT REAFFIRMS SUPPORT FOR GOVENMENT

[24] BULGARIAN DEPUTY GOES ON TRIAL

[C] END NOTE

[25] EAST-WEST SPLIT IN UKRAINE HIGHLIGHTED BY PRESIDENTIAL

[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA

[01] ARMENIAN PRESIDENT SEEKS SUPPORT OVER CABINET STANDOFF

attempt to resolve the ongoing dispute over the composition

of the new cabinet, Robert Kocharian met on 10-11 November

with political parties, including the Miasnutyun majority

parliamentary faction, RFE/RL's Yerevan bureau reported (see

"RFE/RL Newsline," 10 November 1999). Kocharian reportedly

received the unequivocal backing of only the nationalist

Right and Accord Bloc and the center-right Orinats Yerkir

party. Other parties, including the Armenian Revolutionary

Federation-Dashnaktsutyun, which had backed Kocharian's 1998

presidential bid, called for compromises by both Kocharian

and newly appointed Prime Minister Aram Sargsian. LF

[02] ARMENIAN PREMIER PROMISES CONTINUITY

with the heads of parliamentary committees and factions,

Sargsian pledged to continue the programs and policies of his

murdered brother and predecessor, Vazgen, Noyan Tapan

reported. He said those policies are "of vital importance"

for Armenia's future. In particular, Sargsian undertook to

abide by the agreements his brother reached in late September

with the IMF. He also ruled out tax increases in the next

four years, saying he will simplify the tax system. Sargsian

noted the "stabilizing" role played by the military

immediately following the 27 October parliament killings but

added that political institutions must be strong enough to

prevent the army from assuming a political role. He also

noted the need for a state security concept, the lack of

which, he said, had facilitated the parliament shootings. LF

[03] PROMINENT ARMENIAN OPPOSITION LEADER CALLS FOR NEW ELECTIONS

journalists in Yerevan on 11 November that he believes new

presidential and parliamentary elections should be held as

soon as the political situation has stabilized in the wake of

the 27 October shootings. He argued that those elections are

necessary to restore legitimacy to the country's leadership,

RFE/RL's Yerevan bureau reported. While describing Aram

Sargsian as "a clever and balanced person," Manukian added

that those characteristics are not enough to qualify him for

the position of premier and that he considers Sargsian's

appointment to that post unwise. LF

[04] MORE AZERBAIJANI GROUPS WARN AGAINST SIGNING KARABAKH PEACE

Former residents of Shusha, which was the

largest Azerbaijani-inhabited town in Nagorno-Karabakh until

the Azerbaijani population fled in May 1992, have issued a

statement affirming that "a fair struggle is better than an

infamous peace" and vowing to fight "those who are ready to

yield even an inch of Azerbaijani land to the aggressors,"

Turan reported on 11 November. The statement expressed

concern at the Azerbaijani authorities' refusal to make

public details of the Karabakh peace process. The same day,

Turan also quoted National Statehood Party leader Nemat

Panahov as predicting that the present Azerbaijani leadership

might be overthrown if it signs a Karabakh peace agreement

that violates national interests. LF

[05] ...WHILE AZERBAIJANI LEADERSHIP SAYS NO SUCH AGREEMENT

Meeting on 10 November with a group of Azerbaijani

writers, President Heidar Aliev said no formal Karabakh peace

agreement will be signed at the upcoming OSCE Istanbul

summit, but "only a joint declaration on common principles"

of a settlement, Turan reported on 11 November. Foreign

Minister Vilayat Kuliev has also denied that Aliev and his

Armenian counterpart, Kocharian, will sign a "serious"

document in Istanbul, the independent daily "Azadlyg"

reported on 11 November. LF

[06] GEORGIAN TRADE UNIONS ANNOUNCE PLANS FOR LARGE-SCALE

Irakli Tughushi, chairman of Georgia's United Trade

Unions, told journalists in Tbilisi on 11 November that his

members are planning large-scale actions to protest the

chronic non-payment of pensions and wages to state employees,

Caucasus Press reported. Tughushi said that wage arrears

totals 127 million lari (approximately $65 million) and

pensions arrears 88 million lari. The Georgian leadership had

received in August a $32.5 million IMF loan tranche to pay

off at least part of the backlog prior to the 31 October

parliamentary elections (see "RFE/RL Caucasus Report," Vol.

2, No. 35, 2 September 1999). Also on 11 November, the

newspaper "Alia" reported that more than 100 teachers at

technical colleges plan a strike and a picket of the Ministry

of Finance to demand that the Ministry of Education pay their

salaries for the past eight to 10 months. LF

[07] GEORGIAN ECONOMY MINISTRY DRAFTS ANTI-CORRUPTION PROGRAM

response to President Eduard Shevardnadze's call for a

radical effort to stamp out corruption (see "RFE/RL

Newsline," 5 November 1999), Georgia's Economy Ministry has

drawn up a two-year program of measures to target the shadow

economy, Caucasus Press reported on 12 November. Those

measures include improved legislation, regulation of fiscal

policy, expediting privatization, and the creation of a

network of regional groups to target corruption. LF

[08] KAZAKH, ROMANIAN PRESIDENTS ASSESS BILATERAL RELATIONS

counterpart Emil Constantinescu in Astana on 11 November,

Interfax reported. Speaking at a press conference after those

talks, Nazarbaev noted with satisfaction a "quantum leap" in

bilateral relations since his visit to Romania in September

1998, RFE/RL's bureau in the capital reported. In that time,

Nazarbaev noted, trade turnover between the two countries

rose from zero to $30 million. Nazarbaev pledged to revive

traditional economic partnership with East European countries

founded in socialist era. The two presidents focused on the

options available for increasing the transportation of Kazakh

oil to Romanian refineries at Constanza, according to Asia

Plus Blitz, citing Nazarbaev's press service. Those options

include the Caspian Pipeline from Tengiz to Novorossiisk and

by tanker via the Volga-Don canal and the Black Sea. LF

[09] KYRGYZ PARLIAMENT DEBATES FOREIGN DEBT BURDEN

who is chairman of the State Committee on Foreign Investment,

told the lower house of Kyrgyzstan's parliament on 10

November that the country's foreign debt currently totals

$1.37 billion, RFE/RL's Bishkek bureau reported. Isaev

admitted that some loans received in the early 1990s were

stolen and others totaling $379 million were agreed at a very

high interest rate. Last month, ITAR-TASS quoted the Kyrgyz

Finance Ministry as saying that in 2000 the country must

repay $83.6 million, of which $30 million is owed to Russia

and Turkey. LF

[10] JAILED OPPOSITION SUPPORTERS RELEASED IN TAJIKISTAN

Tajik authorities on 10 November released 18 supporters of

the United Tajik Opposition (UTO) who had been imprisoned for

their role in the 1992-1997 civil war, ITAR-TASS reported,

quoting UTO spokesman Khikmatullo Saifullozoda. The 18 men

are the last on a list of 93 whose release had been provided

for under the terms of the 1997 peace agreement ending the

civil war. Saifullozoda, however, did not exclude the

possibility that other opposition supporters may still be in

prison. The release of the 18 men was part of an agreement

concluded on 5 November between UTO leader Said Abdullo Nuri

and President Imomali Rakhmonov. LF

[11] PROMINENT TAJIK OPPOSITION POLITICIAN TERMS PRESIDENTIAL POLL

In a statement that underscores

nascent disagreement within the UTO, one of that

organization's leaders, First Deputy Premier Khodji Akbar

Turadjonzoda, told journalists in Dushanbe on 12 November

that he considers the 6 November presidential poll to have

been free and democratic, Asia Pluz-Blitz reported. The

incumbent, Rakhmonov, was reelected by an overwhelming

majority in that vote. Turadjonzoda accused opposition

Islamic Renaissance Party candidate Davlat Usmon of playing

"political games" that could have seriously destabilized the

political situation in Tajikistan. Stressing that his

differences with other UTO leaders are political, not

personal, Turadjonzoda appealed to his supporters to back the

policies of the country's present leadership. LF

[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE

[12] MACEDONIAN PRESIDENT BIDS FAREWELL

farewell address in Skopje on 11 November. He urged a

"massive turnout" of members of all ethnic groups in the 14

November vote to elect his successor, AP reported. Gligorov

is the grand old man of Macedonian politics and has led his

country since the beginning of the decade. His remarks

reflect concerns that the number of voters will fall short of

50 percent of the country's 1.6 million voters. At least half

of the registered voters must cast their ballots for the

election to be valid. The Social Democrats' Tito Petkovski is

running against the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary

Organization's Boris Trajkovski. Vasil Tupurkovski, who

finished third in the first round, has called on his

supporters to boycott the second round. Observers note that

the vote is unlikely to be valid if the ethnic Albanian

minority, which makes up about 23 percent of the population,

does not go to the polls. If the vote is invalid, the speaker

of the parliament becomes president until new elections are

held. PM

[13] HEALTH OF CROATIA'S TUDJMAN 'HAS DETERIORATED'

Kostovic, who is a spokesman for Croatian President Franjo

Tudjman, told reporters in Zagreb on 12 November that "the

president's health has deteriorated. There has been no

substantial improvement since yesterday's report," Reuters

reported. This is the first official indication that the

president's health has taken a sharp turn for the worse. He

is suffering from internal bleeding following recent surgery

in a Zagreb hospital (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 11 November

1999). Croatian dailies on 12 November ran extensive coverage

on the uncertain political situation. PM

[14] CROATIAN BISHOPS URGE FAITHFUL TO VOTE

Bishops' Conference said in a statement on 11 November that

Roman Catholics should participate in the 22 December

parliamentary elections. The bishops added that Catholics

should vote for unnamed candidates and parties whose programs

are in keeping with "the ethical and moral principles of the

believers." Observers note that the Church is not closely

identified with any one political party. It has opposed

attempts by the governing Croatian Democratic Community (HDZ)

to use the Church for political purposes. The Church is also

mistrustful of the many former Communists in the HDZ and

several other parties. And it opposed the government's

decision to call elections close to Christmas, namely on 22

December. Church officials noted recently that it is not the

practice in most Christian countries to vote at Christmas

time. PM

[15] BOSNIAN PEACE IMPLEMENTATION TALKS OPEN

with several Bosnian leaders on 12 and 13 November in Dayton,

Ohio, to mark the fourth anniversary of the talks that led to

the Bosnian peace agreement. Bosnian participants at Wright-

Patterson Air Force Base will include Muslim leader Alija

Izetbegovic and Republika Srpska Prime Minister Milorad

Dodik. U.S. envoy James Pardew told AP: "We're not going to

make promises before a meeting that you're going to have some

sort of breakthrough here. But we're going to work hard on

some key issues." Among those issues are economic

restructuring, the return of refugees, and the arrest of war

criminals. PM

[16] PETRITSCH WARNS BOSNIANS ON FRONTIER LAW

international community's Wolfgang Petritsch said in Sarajevo

on 11 November that he is concerned about the fact that the

three members of the joint presidency have not endorsed

proposed legislation on controlling Bosnia's frontiers. The

spokesman stressed that Bosnia's frontiers must be manned by

representatives of the central government rather than by

representatives of either of the two entities, an RFE/RL

correspondent reported from the Bosnian capital. PM

[17] KOSOVA'S SERBS SAY PEACEKEEPERS DISTORT STATISTICS

of the Serbian National Council said in a statement on 11

November that KFOR recently provided an artificially low

figure on the number of Serbs killed in the province since

peacekeepers arrived in June (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 11

November 1999). The statement charged that KFOR sought to

hide evidence of its failure to protect local minorities, AP

reported from Prishtina. Elsewhere, General Henry H. Shelton,

who heads the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, told U.S. troops in

Kosova: "There is a void between what the military can

accomplish and what is needed for a sustainable peace." PM

[18] SERBIA'S PARLIAMENT VOTES LIFE PRIVILEGES FOR MILOSEVIC

legislature passed a bill on 11 November that will give all

past Serbian presidents life-long rights to a car, driver,

home, secretaries, and security guards. The state will pay

all costs. Opposition Alliance for Change leader Vladan Batic

said in Belgrade that "this law is the climax of the regime's

hypocrisy. At a time when several million people are on the

brink of starvation and many are literally dying of hunger, a

president is given privileges parallel to that of Egyptian

Pharaohs of ancient times," AP reported. PM

[19] ROMANIAN MINERS' LEADER SLAPPED WITH FINE FOR 1991 BUCHAREST

Miron Cozma, the jailed leader of Romanian miners,

was ordered to pay a 2 million lei ($165,000) fine by a Court

of Appeals on 11 November for damage caused when miners

rampaged downtown Bucharest in 1991, AP reported. Cozma is

serving an 18-year prison term for his role in the 1991

demonstrations, which resulted in three deaths and the fall

of the government. In other news, hundreds of steel workers

blocked a major road in northeastern Romania on 12 November

to protest a privatization deal they say will result in

layoffs. PB

[20] ROMANIA REPORTS STEADY MONTHLY INFLATION RATE

Statistics Board said on 10 November that inflation in

Romania in the first 10 months of this year totaled 44.7

percent or an average of 3.8 percent per month, Rompres

reported. The prices of foodstuffs were reported to be on

average 54 percent higher than a year ago and those of

services 95.9 percent higher. PB

[21] ROMANIA CUTS ELECTRICITY TO MOLDOVA

of industry and trade, said on 10 November that electricity

supplies to Moldova will be cut immediately due to the

nonpayment of its bills, Rompres reported. Berceanu said

Moldova owes Bucharest some $16 million and that the

agreement regarding its repayment is no longer valid

following the fall of the Moldovan government (see "RFE/RL

Newsline," 9 November 1999). An official with the Moldovan

power distributor Moldtranselectro said Chisinau should pay,

otherwise the country "would plunge into darkness." Romania

supplies 15 percent of Moldova's energy needs. PB

[22] MOLDOVAN PARLIAMENT WORRIED ABOUT YEREVAN REPEAT?

chairman of the Moldovan legislature, Dumitru Diacov, called

on deputies on 11 November not to bring their guns into the

parliament chambers, BASA-press reported. Diacov said that

taking into account the "tense state in the house, tragic and

regrettable occurences could occur" if guns are present in

the legislature. Diacov added that the Permanent Office of

the parliament had voted on the measure after the bloodshed

in the Armenian parliament last month. PB

[23] BULGARIAN PRESIDENT REAFFIRMS SUPPORT FOR GOVENMENT

Stoyanov said on 11 November in Plovdiv, his hometown, that

the government of Prime Minister Ivan Kostov should "stay at

the helm of the country after 2001" in order to "be able to

fulfill the tasks it set [for] itself," BTA reported.

Stoyanov said "Bulgaria's road to Europe passes through NATO

and it is impermissible to...try to deny it." He added that

Sofia's position on the conflict in Kosova "was a decisive

one in getting an invitation to accession talks with the

EU.... If we miss our chance this time...there will be no one

to be angry with but ourselves." PB

[24] BULGARIAN DEPUTY GOES ON TRIAL

Kanchev, a parliamentary deputy from the Euroleft party,

began on 11 November. Kanchev, who has been under arrest

since his parliamentary immunity was lifted on 30 July, is

accused of kidnapping, beating, robbing, and blackmailing

people in his district of Zlatiza, about 100 kilometers east

of Sofia. Bulgarian newspapers describe Kanchev as having

acted like a mafia boss in his constituency, where he was

referred to as Don Tsetsi. Several people reported to have

been involved in beatings in which Kanchev took part are to

testify in the trial. PB

[C] END NOTE

[25] EAST-WEST SPLIT IN UKRAINE HIGHLIGHTED BY PRESIDENTIAL

By Askold Krushelnycky

With its cobbled streets and Austro-Hungarian-style

buildings, Lviv is the heartland of Ukrainian patriotism. It

was the center of Ukrainian national re-awakening in the 19th

century and the engine of the drive for national independence

in the Soviet era.

For most of incumbent President Leonid Kuchma's term in

office, much of Lviv's and west Ukraine's population has been

fiercely critical of him. They complain he has not done

enough to nurture Ukraine's national identity or set it on a

pro-Western and market-reform path.

Now, however, they are among his most avid supporters.

At a public meeting last weekend, speakers from more than 20

parties and community organizations urged voters to support

Kuchma in the 14 November runoff between him and Communist

leader Petro Symonenko.

The elections have polarized the electorate between west

and east. In the first round, Kuchma and other pro-democracy

candidates gained more than 70 percent of the votes in the

west. But in the east, leftist candidates gained a similar

share.

The voting differences reflect the different histories

of the two regions. West Ukraine was not incorporated into

the former Soviet Union until during World War Two. Until

then, it had been part of the Austro-Hungarian empire--except

for the inter-war years, when it was annexed by Poland.

West Ukraine's population was fiercely pro-independence

minded and always regarded the Communists, who united them

with East Ukraine, as an alien occupation force. A Ukrainian

guerrilla army known as the UPA fought against the Nazis

during the war and continued battling against what it viewed

as Communist Russian imperialism until the early 1950s.

One veteran UPA soldier who attended the Lviv rally last

week, 80-year-old Mykhailo Palyvko, echoed the beliefs of

many of the speakers at the rally, and of many ordinary West

Ukrainians, who believe a vote for Communists is tantamount

to being a traitor to Ukraine. Palyvko told RFE/RL that "we

veterans of the UPA can only vote for Kuchma because

Symonenko will bring us no good.... He wants the same thing

as [Belarus President Alyaksandr] Lukashenka--to form a new

Soviet Union. We did not fight for that, for a new Soviet

Union. We fought for an independent, sovereign Ukraine."

In contrast to the west, central and east Ukraine had

been in the Russian empire and then the Soviet Union since

the 17th century and experienced intense Communist

repression. This included an artificially induced famine in

the 1930s that killed millions and mass executions of

nationally conscious Ukrainians.

The region also experienced large-scale

industrialization under Soviet rule. That brought in millions

of Russian workers, thereby accelerating the region's

Russification. While Ukrainian is the language commonly

spoken throughout west and parts of central Ukraine, Russian

is the dominant tongue in the east.

The area is also home to huge Soviet-era coal mines and

other heavy industries. Most are now semi-dormant because

they are no longer being subsidized by the state. That, in

turn, has led to millions of workers being paid meager wages

and in most cases having to wait months for even those

payments. Many--especially elderly people with unpaid

pensions--blame their plight on the disintegration of the

Soviet Union.

In the west the main issue is independence. In the

country's central and east regions, what counts most is

obtaining a regular wage. Ukrainians in these regions have

been attracted by Symonenko's Soviet-era rhetoric, and the

ethnic Russians in the region approve of his promise to

reinstate Russian as a state language. Kuchma, for his part,

won the presidency five years ago with most of his support

from the east, having promised massive injections of cash for

the rust-belt industries there.

In the coal mining region of Luhansk, nearly half voted

for Symonenko in the first round, and about a quarter cast

their ballot for other leftist candidates. The first

secretary of the Communist Party in the Luhansk region,

Vladimir Zemlyakov, told RFE/RL that people will vote for his

party because they are tired of living in poverty. He denied

his party would reinstate autocratic rule and said elements

of privatization might be retained.

But by no means all workers want a return to communist

rule. Again, unlike West Ukraine, their considerations are

economic rather than nationalistic. Many, like coal miner

Yuriy Telnoy, fear a Communist return will cause yet more

disruption and increase poverty. "I personally will vote for

Kuchma," he told RFE/RL. "Because if the Communists return to

power they will begin changing things again. As in the past,

five or 10 people will have to share one meal. Therefore, I

will vote for Kuchma."

Kuchma, meanwhile, hopes that desire for stability will

help sway enough of the eastern vote. But the elections have

once more demonstrated the profound differences between the

east and west of Ukraine--a divide that no politician has yet

been able to bridge.

The author is an RFE/RL correspondent based in Prague and

currently covering the Ukrainian presidential election from

Kyiv.

12-11-99

Reprinted with permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
URL: http://www.rferl.org

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