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RFE/RL Newsline, Vol. 3, No. 241, 99-12-14Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty: Newsline Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty <http://www.rferl.org>RFE/RL NEWSLINEVol. 3, No. 241, 14 December 1999CONTENTS[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA
[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[C] END NOTE
[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA[01] EAST-WEST TENSIONS MAY FORCE ARMENIA TO CHOOSESIDESAt a press conference in Yerevan on 13 December, Armenian Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian said that rising tensions between Russia and the West might force his country to choose sides, which he said it has tried not to do until now, RFE/RL's Armenian Service reported. He added that if Yerevan were forced to take one or the other's side, that might further slow progress toward a resolution of Armenia's dispute with Azerbaijan over the status of Nagorno- Karabakh. PG [02] OBSERVERS, OPPOSITION CHARGE IRREGULARITIES INAZERBAIJANI VOTEObservers from the Council of Europe's Congress of Local and Regional Authorities and opposition political parties pointed to widespread irregularities in the 12 December municipal elections in Azerbaijan. Turan reported the next day that the congress found widespread ballot stuffing as well as other irregularities. Officials of the Musavat, Democratic, and Social Democratic party said that not enough voters took part to make the elections valid. A monitor from the Czech Republic reached the same conclusion. And leaders of the Popular Front said there was a "total falsification" of results after the polls closed. PG [03] GEORGIAN PRESIDENT GREETS U.S. SUPPORT ONCHECHEN STANCE...In his weekly radio address on 13 December, Eduard Shevardnadze said he views Washington's public support for his decision to prevent Chechen fighters from entering Georgia as reflecting "the wish of the U.S. to protect Georgia from any complications in connection with the events in Chechnya." He added that by its rapid response to his statement, the US State Department sent a clear message that "the international community, including the U.S., will not allow any violation of the sovereignty of Georgia." PG [04] ...WARNS OF 'CATASTROPHE' IF RUSSIAN GAS CUT OFFGeorgian President Eduard Shevardnadze told a pressconference in Tbilisi on 13 December that it would be a "catastrophe" if a Russian company cuts off gas supplies to Georgia, the Prime News Agency reported. The Georgian leader said that his new fuel and energy minister has invited Russian officials to Tbilisi for talks to resolve the issue of Georgian debts, which have prompted the Russian side to reduce gas supplies to the Caucasian republic. Meanwhile, a report on the Georgian television station Rustavi-2 suggested on 12 December that Georgian officials orchestrated the crisis in order to gain control of key industries in Georgia. PG [05] KAZAKHSTAN CHARGES OPPOSITION WITH STOCKPILINGARMSSpeaking on Kazakhstan Television on 13 December, Internal Affairs Minister Kairbek Suleymanov said that his officers have seized "several barrels of arms...that belong to the supporters of former Prime Minister Akezhan Magzhanovich Kazhegeldin." The minister confirmed the arrest of three of the former premier's bodyguards, who he said have confessed to criminal charges, Interfax reported. The news agency quoted opposition spokesman as saying the charges were a "provocation" designed to discredit Kazhegeldin in the eyes of the population of Kazakhstan. PG [06] NO ISLAMIC MILITANTS IN KAZAKHSTAN, DEFENSEMINISTER SAYSSat Tokpakbayev told journalists in Astana on 13 December that he has no information about the alleged presence of bandit formations and Wahhabis in Kazakhstan, Interfax reported. If representatives of the country's special services have reported the existence of such groups, Tokpakbayev said, then it "seems that they have more detailed information" than he does. In other comments, ITAR- TASS reported on 13 December, the defense minister said Russia will deliver several S-300 surface-to-air missile systems to Kazakhstan later this month. PG [07] KAZAKHSTAN PLEDGES TO MEET FINANCIALOBLIGATIONSAccording to Interfax on 13 December, Deputy Prime Minister Yerzhan Utembayev has told reporters that Astana will meet its $200 million Eurobond obligations by the end of the month. The government will raise money from improved tax collections, the sale of state-owned assets, and borrowing from local companies. Meanwhile, a U.S. businessman is seeking to embarrass President Nursultan Nazarbayev during his visit to the U.S. this week by seeking to force hotels and other vendors to hand over money the businessman says Kazakhstan owes him over a disputed oil deal, ITAR-TASS reported on 13 December. PG [08] TURKEY TO SUPPORT KYRGYSTAN'S MILITARYTurkishState Minister Abdulhaluk Cay said in Bishkek on 13 December that Ankara will provide logical and military- technical assistance to more than 3,000 Kyrgyz soldiers in the coming years, ITAR-TASS reported. Cay said that Ankara was prepared to reschedule Kyrgyzstan's $2.5 million debt to Turkey's Eximbank. PG [B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE[09] CROATIA PAYS LASTS RESPECTS TO TUDJMANSome100,000 people turned out in Zagreb on 13 December for the funeral of President Franjo Tudjman (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 13 December 1999), Reuters reported. The state- run news agency Hina put the number of those present at 250,000. The independent daily "Jutarnji list" stressed that no top official from the major powers attended the funeral and that the only head of state present was Turkey's Suleyman Demirel. Some analysts suggested, however, that Tudjman's Croatian Democratic Community will try to use the snub to its advantage in the 3 January parliamentary elections by claiming that the absence of key foreign leaders is "evidence" of their unfair prejudice against Croatia. PM [10] JELAVIC SAYS MUSLIMS, SERBS SNUB CROATSAnteJelavic, who is the Croatian member of the Bosnian joint presidency, said at Tudjman's funeral on 13 December that he regrets that his Muslim and Serbian colleagues, Alija Izetbegovic and Zivko Radisic, did not accompany him to Zagreb. Jelavic that the two men's absence--especially that of Izetbegovic--is evidence that the Serbs and Muslims do not accept the Croats as their equals. PM [11] CONFRONTATION BREWING BETWEEN SERBS, SFOR OVERBRCKO?General Ronald Adams, who is the commander of NATO peacekeepers in Bosnia, said in Banja Luka on 13 December that he may order the demilitarization of the Brcko area if the Bosnian Serb authorities do not make an agreement with SFOR to demilitarize the area voluntarily. Republika Srpska Defense Minister Manojlo Milovanovic recently said that his government cannot make any agreement on demilitarization at present. It can act only if the Bosnian Serb parliament repeals its resolution rejecting the international community's decision to place Brcko permanently under the joint administration of the Republika Srpska and the mainly Muslim and Croatian federation, he added. Also in Banja Luka, Radisic said the Bosnian Serb authorities will continue to respect the resolution because it best serves Bosnian Serb interests, RFE/RL's South Slavic Service reported. PM [12] HAGUE COURT GIVES 'SERBIAN ADOLF' 40 YEARSTheHague-based war crimes tribunal on 14 December sentenced Goran Jelisic to 40 years in prison for the murder and torture of Muslims at the Luka prison camp near Brcko in 1992. The court convicted him on 31 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity. Jelisic often referred to himself as the "Serbian Adolf" in a boastful reference to his own brutality. Reuters reported that his sentence is one of the toughest that the court has handed down. PM [13] DRASKOVIC PARTY SPURNS AVRAMOVIC AS SERBIANSPOKESMANDragoslav Avramovic, who is a former head of the National Bank and one of the most popular personalities in Serbia, said in Belgrade on 13 December that he has the support of three major opposition coalitions to prepare a common platform. The opposition will use the document in talks with officials of the EU and U.S. in Berlin on 17 December. Ognjen Pribicevic, who is a spokesman for Vuk Draskovic's Serbian Renewal Movement (SPO), said, however, that his party does not recognize Avramovic as the opposition's chief representative. Predrag Simic, who is a top aide to Draskovic, stressed that the SPO will prepare its own documents. Avramovic is credited with stopping Yugoslavia's runaway inflation in 1994 and is widely regarded as the best candidate to head a post-Milosevic opposition-led government. PM [14] BELGRADE TO DEVALUE DINAR?Serbian Prime MinisterMirko Marjanovic said in Belgrade on 13 December that there will be no devaluation of the dinar, RFE/RL's South Slavic Service reported. Marjanovic stressed that the government will continue to control prices for basic goods. Economist Slobodan Milosavljevic said, however, that preparations have been made for a devaluation. In Serbia, the dinar is officially valued at six to the German mark, although the black market rate in recent months has been more than double that. In Montenegro, the official exchange rate in that republic is now 20 dinars to DM 1 (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 7 December 1999). The Bosnian Serb government's exchange rate is 16 to DM 1. PM [15] MORE JUDGES FOR KOSOVAThe UN's Bernard Kouchnersaid in Prishtina on 13 December that he will soon appoint another 400 judges and prosecutors in an effort "to kick- start a justice system that has barely functioned," Reuters reported. It is unclear where he has found or will find these individuals. Kouchner added that Kosova will soon have its own penal code. For his part, KFOR commander General Klaus Reinhardt said that "three out of four [peacekeepers] are out day and night patrolling.... I now have 1,000 soldiers on static guard duty every day. Their sole purpose is the guarding of houses, churches, or other sites where ethnic minorities are located," he noted. Reinhardt added that his troops will soon begin additional joint patrols with UN police. PM [16] ALBANIAN WRITER DEMANDS DIENSTBIER'S OUSTERIsmail Kadare, who is widely regarded as the greatest livingAlbanian writer, wrote in "Le Monde" on 13 December that Jiri Dienstbier should resign as the UN's special envoy for human rights in the former Yugoslavia. Kadare said that Dienstbier has frequently taken openly pro-Serbian stands and placed Serbian genocidal policies in Kosova on the same level as isolated revenge killings by individual ethnic Albanians. Kadare added that the former Czechoslovak foreign minister maintains "close and suspicious" relations with prominent Serbs. Observers note that Dienstbier was one of the few representatives--if not the only one--of the international community in the Balkans who frequently made pro-Serbian statements during the spring 1999 conflict. PM [17] FORMER YUGOSLAV POLITICAN DIESStane Dolanc died inSlovenia at the age of 74 on 13 December, some months after suffering a stroke. One of Yugoslavia's most prominent hard-line leaders in the 1970s and 1980s, Dolanc lived in recent years in virtual seclusion in Kranjska Gora, in western Slovenia. PM [18] U.S. AID FOR MACEDONIAUSAID officials agreed in Skopjeon 13 December to provide a $22 million grant to Macedonia to help the government pay unemployment benefits and create new jobs. U.S. officials said that the grant is in recognition of the help Macedonia provided to Western countries during the Kosova conflict in the spring of 1999. Macedonia's official unemployment rate stands at 54 percent, AP reported. PM [19] ROMANIAN PRESIDENT DISMISSES PREMIER...EmilConstantinescu on 13 December dismissed Prime Minister Radu Vasile in a move that has been contested as unconstitutional. Constantinescu said Labor and Social Affairs Minister Alexandru Athanasiu will take over as interim prime minister until a permanent replacement is found. Athanasiu accepted the appointment but added that his interim government will not have the power to draw up legislation or pass ordinances. All 18 ministers attended a meeting called by Athanasiu on 14 December, despite questions about the legality of Constantinescu's move. The president's decision came after the parties in the governing coalition announced they were withdrawing support from Vasile and that their ministers would resign. The revolt against Vasile began after his own National Peasant Party Christian Democratic withdrew its support from the prime minister, saying it wanted a new government that would be able to handle Romania's economic problems and communicate better with the parliament. VG [20] ...BUT CONSTITUTIONAL EXPERTS SAY DISMISSAL ISILLEGAL...Constitutional experts on 13 December said Constantinescu does not have the power to remove the prime minister. According to the Romanian Constitution, the president has the power to appoint the prime minister but not to dismiss him. Unless the prime minister is incapacitated by illness, the only way to remove him is through a vote of no confidence. One of the author's of Romania's constitution, Antonie Iorgavan, told the Antena 1 television station that the dismissal was a "coup d'etat." Iorgavan said Vasile is still the prime minister "from a constitutional point of view," AP reported. VG [21] ...AND VASILE REFUSES TO STEP DOWNVasile on 13December said he will not accept Constantinescu's decision, adding that governments can be dismissed only by the parliament. However, government spokesman Andrei Anghel said Vasile did not attend a cabinet meeting called by Athanasiu on 14 December and did not come to the government building, AP reported. The day before, Vasile described his dismissal as the result of a "plot against him." He said Romania has become a "presidential regime which can lead to repressive measures." Meanwhile, opposition Party of Social Democracy in Romania Deputy Chairman Adrian Nastase described the prime minister's dismissal as an "unprecedented crisis" and called for early elections, Romanian Radio reported. VG [22] MOLDOVAN PRESIDENT REJECTS EARLY ELECTIONSPetru Lucinschi said early elections would be the "mostundesirable variant" for Moldova, according to a 13 December Infotag report quoting presidential spokesman Anatol Golea. Golea said the president is continuing negotiations with various parliamentary groups on a potential candidate for the prime ministerial post. He said Ion Casian, who has been touted in the press as the most likely candidate, has "rich experience of working in government." However, Casian has said he will not accept the post unless he has a guaranteed parliamentary majority. Golea said that if the parliamentary parties reject Casian, negotiations will continue to find another candidate. VG [23] CHRISTIAN DEMOCRATIC POPULAR FRONT CHANGESNAMEDelegates to a weekend congress of the Christian Democratic Popular Front voted to change the party's name to Christian Democratic People's Party, Infotag and BASA-Press reported on 13 December. The party also removed from its statues a reference to the "spiritual and territorial restoration of the national unity of all Romanians on both banks of the Proute River." That passage was replaced by one calling for "integration within Europe of nations and fulfillment of national unity in full agreement with the will of the people and international treaties and in the natural process of approaching of the two Romanian countries," BASA-Press reported. A deputy from the Romanian National Peasant Party Christian Democratic read out a message from party chairman Ion Diaconescu saying, "Romania and Moldova must find each other again in the family of the United European States." VG [C] END NOTE[24] THE ROMA OF OBILICBy Alexandra PoolosIn Obilic, a small town some 20 kilometers north of Prishtina, some 850 Roma have built a makeshift camp where they will remain throughout the winter. Living 10 or 12 to a tent, the Roma of Obilic spend their days cooking, sleeping, or roaming aimlessly through the rows of muddy tents. They say they are trapped in this small field at the end of a long, tree-lined road. No one ever leaves and there are few visitors. The Roma of Obilic are a disparate group. Before the war they lived in different villages in Kosova as Albanian or Serbian Roma. But now even those Roma who called themselves Ashkalija and spoke Albanian say they face intimidation and violence from ethnic Albanians. They say their own sense of nationality or their actions during the war have no significance whatsoever. They are judged now, they say, by the color of their skin alone. Protected by Norwegian KFOR troops and provided with humanitarian assistance by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the Roma say they have no choice but to remain in Obilic. Most have lived there for five months. Sixty-year-old Nagije Begeshi said that when ethnic Albanians returned to Kosova and saw their homes destroyed, they in turn wanted to punish someone. Emine Adici is 12 years old and a leader among many of the Romany children in Obilic. She speaks Albanian, Serbian, English, and French but say she does not know Romany because before the war she considered herself Albanian, not Romany. Adici says she went to school with other Albanian children and never felt ostracized for her ethnicity. "I never really thought about being Romany at all," she says. "Now it's all I know. The Albanians won't let me forget." Some of Kosova's Roma admit they collaborated with Serbs. They say they often had no choice and were forced to do the "dirty work" for Serbian paramilitaries--to bury the bodies of Albanians, dig trenches for the military, and pillage and destroy ethnic Albanian property. In one interview with the Prishtina-based Humanitarian Law Center, an unnamed Prishtina Rom described how he and nine others were forced by Serbian police to bury the bodies of massacred Kosovar Albanians. He said there were some 40 bodies, all men aged between 25 and 50. Some of the bodies were still warm. He said the bodies were buried one by one in the village's Muslim graveyard. Following the signing of the peace settlement between NATO and Belgrade, the Roma and members of other minority groups who were involved in more violent acts left Kosova with retreating Serbian forces. Most of the minorities who remained after the arrival of KFOR troops last June have since left the province in large numbers. Estimates vary as to the number of non-Albanians now living in Kosova. But it is believed that well under half of the some 200,000 Serbs who lived in the province at the start of this year remain. Among the Roma, only some 6,000 out of some 30,000 are still there. And their numbers continue to dwindle. Serbs, Turks, Bosnian Muslims, and Croats--all these groups contend with harassment and violence from ethnic Albanians. They are isolated in their small ethnic enclaves, unable to gain access to education, health care, or work. Most depend on humanitarian aid for food and shelter. Almost all depend on the protection of KFOR troops. Peter Kessler, spokesman for the Kosova office of the UNHCR, says ethnic violence has recently increased in the province after a period of decline. He attributes the attacks on minorities not only to revenge but also to criminals who he says are targeting those who are most vulnerable. Kessler told RFE/RL that more needs to be done by international officials to create a secure environment for minorities. Ferat Gukatoni, a 20-year-old Rom, believes the Roma will never be able to return to their homes. He says Albanians want all Roma out of Kosova. Gukatoni is pessimistic about his chances of ever leaving the muddy tents of Obilic for his village in southern Kosova. He says he would rather leave the province entirely and try to build a new life for himself and his family outside Kosova, perhaps in Germany or the U.K. Moreover, he does not believe that KFOR or UN organizations will be able to deter ethnic Albanians from attacking the Roma if they dare leave their makeshift camp. "For now," he says, "we are stuck here. There is nowhere else to go." There was a time, not so long ago, when Romany musicians played at every Albanian (or Serbian) wedding in Kosova. The Roma were considered an integral part of society, their presence accepted in schools and businesses and at social gatherings. There are high hopes that Kosova will one day be multiethnic, but the Roma of Obilic do not believe they will return to their former villages. They say that for now, the Romany musicians will play only for themselves in KFOR protected camps. The author is an RFE/RL correspondent based in Prague. 14-12-99 Reprinted with permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
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