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RFE/RL Newsline, Vol. 3, No. 246, 99-12-21Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty: Newsline Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty <http://www.rferl.org>RFE/RL NEWSLINEVol. 3, No. 246, 21 December 1999CONTENTS[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA
[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[C] END NOTE
[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA[01] FORMER ARMENIAN PRESIDENTIAL AIDE CHARGED IN PARLIAMENTSHOOTINGSAleksan Harutiunian, who resigned last week as President Robert Kocharian's foreign policy advisor, has been charged with inciting the five gunmen who killed eight senior officials in the Armenian parliament on 27 October, RFE/RL's Yerevan bureau reported on 20 December. Ruben Sahakian, Harutiunian's lawyer, had said on 18 December after studying the charges that there is no hard evidence to substantiate charges against his client. Sahakian said that the charges against Harutiunian were based on testimony given by the leader of the five gunmen, Nairi Hunanian. Sahakian added that Harutiunian had received the impression when brought face to face with Hunanian for questioning that the latter had been beaten. LF [02] KAZAKHSTAN'S PRESIDENT IN U.S.Nursultan Nazarbaev, who iscurrently on a working visit to the U.S., held talks with Vice President Al Gore in Washington on 20 December, an RFE/RL correspondent in the U.S. capital reported. The two men jointly chair the U.S.-Kazakhstan Bilateral Commission. Gore informed the Kazakh President of his concern over the clandestine sale of MiG- 21 aircraft to North Korea earlier this year, which Nazarbaev said took place without the knowledge of Kazakhstan's leadership. Gore also expressed concern over the conduct of this year's presidential and parliamentary elections, adding that he hopes Kazakhstan will "soon" become a true democracy. Also on 20 December, representatives of a dozen international corporations engaged in litigation with the Kazakh government over thwarted investment projects addressed an open letter to Nazarbaev urging him to crack down on corruption and create a transparent judicial system and adequate legal safeguards for foreign companies operating in Kazakhstan. LF [03] KAZAKHSTAN, U.S. DISCUSS DEFENSE COOPERATIONKazakhstan'sDefense Minister Sat Tokpakbaev held talks in Washington on 17 December with U.S. Defense Secretary WIlliam Cohen, ITAR-TASS reported. The talks focussed on cooperation in fighting terrorism, regional security, peacekeeping, and U.S. assistance to reform Kazakhstan's armed forces. On 20 December, the Department of Defense said Cohen and Tokpakbaev had signed a "Defense Cooperation Plan for 2000" that provides for personnel exchanges and military cooperation, according to dpa. The U.S. also pledged support for Kazakhstan's proposed peacekeeping battalion. LF [04] RUSSIAN OFFICIAL REQUESTS ACCESS TO 'SEPARATISTS' DETAINED INKAZAKHSTANRussian Consul Vladimir Nestoyanov has requested a meeting with the Russian citizens arrested in East Kazakhstan Oblast last month on suspicion of preparing to declare an independent Russian republic there, "Nezavisimaya gazeta" reported on 21 December quoting the oblast's governor, Vitalii Mette (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 22 and 23 November 1999). LF [05] KYRGYZ SUPREME COURT OVERRULES ELECTION BAN RULINGMelisEshimkanov, one of the leaders of the opposition El (Bei-Beshara) Party, told RFE/RL's Bishkek correspondent on 20 December that the Supreme Court has instructed a Bishkek district court to reconsider its ruling upholding the ban imposed by the Central Electoral Commision on the party's participation in the 20 February parliamentary elections under the party list system (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 15 December 1999). The Central Electoral Commission based that decision on the absence from the party's statutes of any statement of intention to contest parliamentary elections. LF [B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE[06] HAGUE COURT HAILS ARREST OF BOSNIAN SERB GENERAL...War crimestribunal spokesman Paul Risley said in The Hague on 20 December that NATO troops arrested former Bosnian Serb General Stanislav Galic under a sealed indictment from the tribunal (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 20 December 1999). Chief Prosecutor Carla del Ponte added: "This latest arrest...is in line with my policy of targeting senior figures in the chain of command for crimes committed during periods of armed conflict." Bosnian Serb wartime leaders Radovan Karadzic and General Ratko Mladic still remain at large, as do top Belgrade leaders, including Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic. PM [07] ...WHILE SERBS PROTEST...Some 20 peacekeepers took part in thecapture of the man who led the wartime siege of Sarajevo and led him away with a hood over his head, AP reported from Banja Luka on 20 December. The Republika Srpska Defense Ministry said in a statement that the arrest is "a serious blow to efforts of the Republika Srpska to cooperate with the Hague tribunal." Deputy President Mirko Sarovic of Radovan Karadzic's Serbian Democratic Party charged that SFOR overstepped its mandate by arresting the general. Observers note that Prime Minister Milorad Dodik was slated to visit The Hague recently but that the trip was postponed, allegedly because of fog at Banja Luka airport (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 16 December 1999). PM [08] ...AND HOLBROOKE RAISES QUESTIONSU.S. Ambassador to the UNRichard Holbrooke said in New York on 20 December that "today's news from Banja Luka that SFOR troops have captured the very high ranking war criminal is evidence enough that we have not finished with the problems of Bosnia, we're not turning away from Bosnia." When reporters asked him why top war criminals are still loose there, he said: "I will not share with you my thoughts on why they're at large. I find it absolutely...I find it very, very difficult. I've long taken the view that they must be brought to justice. My views on this are very well known.... I'm glad that this man was picked up this morning, and I feel that it is absolutely imperative that the rest be brought to justice." Asked why criminals are living quite openly in the U.S. sector, he replied without elaborating: "That's a very good question." PM [09] U.S. PULLS PLUG ON BOSNIAN PRIVATIZATIONA spokesman for USAIDsaid in Sarajevo on 20 December that Washington has stopped all funding for privatization in the mainly Muslim and Croatian federation. USAID noted that only an inconsiderable number of small enterprises have been privatized, and not a single one of the larger ones, RFE/RL's South Slavic Service reported. The U.S. aid agency holds the federal government, the privatization agency, and the management of the large enterprises responsible for the lack of progress. Observers have long noted that Bosnian reconstruction efforts have been hampered by the continued presence of communist-era structures, attitudes, and practices. PM [10] FOUR LEGAL HOLIDAYS IN BOSNIAThe joint Council of Ministersapproved a proposal to declare four days national holidays for all Bosnia. They are: New Year's Day, 1 May, 21 November (marking the signing of the Dayton peace agreement in 1995), and 25 November (day of statehood), "Oslobodjenje" reported on 21 December. PM [11] SNOW CONTINUES TO PARALYZE BOSNIAFresh snow added to lastweek's accumulation on 20 December, seriously affecting power lines and transportation across Bosnia (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 17 December 1999). Public transportation in Sarajevo was halted and the airport closed. People in central Bosnia were told not to go outside unless absolutely necessary, Reuters reported. Heavy snowfalls also affected Croatia, Serbia, and Montenegro, RFE/RL's South Slavic Service reported. PM [12] UN POLICE ARREST ALBANIANSThe UN police force announced inPrishtina on 20 December that it has arrested four ethnic Albanians in connection with the recent murders of at least five Serbs and Roma in a nearby town. PM [13] ROW OVER MITROVICA HOSPITALThe UN Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK)halted funding to the hospital in the divided city of Mitrovica on 20 December, "Koha Ditore" reported. The move was a response to the refusal by the Serbian medical staff to allow 22 ethnic Albanian doctors and nurses to return to their workplace. Local UN administrator Stefano De Mistura warned the Serbian staff on 18 December that the UN will begin to fund another hospital in the ethnic Albanian-dominated southern part of the city unless the Serbian staff fully cooperates in the return of ethnic Albanian employees. The Serbian staff the same day made their cooperation with UNMIK conditional on the return of Serbian doctors to other parts of Kosova and on the return of Serbian refugees to their homes. FS [14] UNMIK, ALCATEL FINALIZE MOBILE PHONE DEALUN AdministratorGerhard Fischer told AP on 20 December that UNMIK officials and representatives from the French telephone company Alcatel signed an agreement last week, providing for the construction of a mobile phone network in Kosova. In early December, UNMIK suspended the director of Kosova's Post and Telecommunications (PTK), Agron Dida, who had refused to sign the deal (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 10 December 1999). Dida told "Koha Ditore" of 20 December that "UNMIK totally disregarded the rules governing the tender." He argued that Siemens had offered to sell technical equipment to PTK at low interest rates, while Alcatel will fully finance the installation but remain the owner of the entire mobile phone system. UN officials favored Alcatel, arguing that the company will install the equipment faster. The Serbian company Mobtel also maintains its network in parts of Kosova. FS [15] BELGRADE CONTINUES DIVERSION CAMPAIGN...Yugoslav InformationMinister Goran Matic said in Belgrade on 20 December that Bernard Kouchner, who is the UN's chief representative in Kosova, and his Nobel Prize-winning Medecins sans frontieres carry out "legalized espionage" on behalf of the French government. In Prishtina, Kouchner's spokeswoman denied the charges. Matic's remarks are the latest installment of a bizarre disinformation campaign aimed at distracting attention from Serbia's domestic problems and discrediting the interim administration of Kosova (see "RFE/RL Balkan Report," 3 December 1999). PM [16] ...AND FIRES JUDGESThe Serbian parliament fired ConstitutionalCourt Judge Slobodan Vucetic on 21 December because of his membership in the opposition organization G-17 Plus. The previous day, parliament sacked Supreme Court Judge Zoran Ivosevic and municipal Judge Bozidar Prelevic, who also oppose the regime. Vucetic protested his sacking, saying that parliament can fire judges only for health reasons or if they are convicted of a crime. He stressed: "This regime is doing everything against the constitution. Repression is their last means to stay in power," AP reported. PM [17] SWISS BLOCK SERBIAN ASSETSOthmar Wyss, who heads the Swissgovernment's export control and sanctions department, said in Bern on 20 December that his office has frozen Yugoslav and Serbian assets in Swiss banks. He declined to say exactly how much money was involved, but noted that it was a "not insignificant sum," AP reported. Swiss police officials added that no solid evidence has emerged of bank accounts linked to Milosevic personally. In June, Bern agreed to freeze assets belonging to top Belgrade officials indicted for war crimes. Unconfirmed reports in Western and private Serbian media have long suggested that Milosevic and his entourage have huge funds stashed away in banks as far afield as Russia, Cyprus, South Africa, and other places. It is widely believed that one of the main duties of Yugoslav Ambassador to Russia Boris Milosevic--the brother of Slobodan--is to oversee money laundering operations there for the Belgrade elite. PM [18] CROATIA TO ELECT PRESIDENT ON 24 JANUARYThe government on 21December approved a proposal by the governing Croatian Democratic Community (HDZ) to hold the presidential vote to succeed the late Franjo Tudjman on 24 January. Croatia will elect a parliament on 3 January. The HDZ plans to announce its presidential candidate after that vote. PM [19] CROATIAN COMMISSION: PAVLETIC NOT BUGGEDA parliamentarycommission concluded on 20 December that the intelligence services have not bugged the offices or telephone of acting president and Speaker of Parliament Vlatko Pavletic (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 8 December 1999). Pavletic said that the time has nonetheless come to reduce the number of conditions under which the intelligence services can legally use wire taps. He argued that such practices are not necessary given the current levels of "security, stability, and democracy in Croatia," RFE/RL's South Slavic Service reported. PM [20] SPLIT: OPPOSITION IN NO HURRY FOR TUDJMANHDZ members of theSplit city council walked out of the 20 December session following the refusal of the opposition-led body to take up immediately the question of renaming a major thoroughfare after Tudjman. The majority of the council members felt that the matter could be referred to the municipal commission dealing with public place names, RFE/RL's South Slavic Service reported. PM [21] ROMANIAN PARLIAMENT MARKS REVOLUTION ANNIVERSARYA 21 Decemberjoint session of the two chambers of the parliament marking the tenth anniversary of the 1989 revolution was marred by the speech of a representative of the revolutionaries. Gheorghe Zanea, chairman of the Jilava 21-22 December Association, attacked President Emil Constantinescu and the National Peasant Party Christian Democratic (PNTCD), reproaching them with failure to respect electoral promises and with having enriched themselves and their families and impoverished the bulk of Romanians. Zanea was cheered by opposition parliamentarians and booed by deputies and senators from the PNTCD. In other news, PNTCD spokesman Remus Opris said the new ministers in the Mugur Isarescu cabinet will have to abide by the provisions of the recently passed law on access to the communist secret police files and declare in writing whether they had collaborated with the Securitate, RFE/RL's Bucharest bureau reported. MS [22] ROMANIAN CONSTITUTIONAL COURT RULES AGAINST OPPOSITION APPEALThe Constitutional Court on 20 December turned down onprocedural grounds an appeal by 51 members of the parliament against the recently passed Law on Civil Service. The opposition parliamentarians from the Greater Romania Party (PRM) and the Party of Romanian National Unity (PUNR) objected to the stipulation providing that civil servants who have contact with the public in localities with 20 percent or more national minorities have to speak the language of those minorities. The court said the appeal had been submitted after President Constantinescu had already promulgated the law. PUNR chairman Valeriu Tabara said the decision was "a strictly political one," Romanian radio reported. MS [23] ANOTHER POLL PUTS OPPOSITION FAR AHEAD IN ROMANIAAccordingto a public opinion poll conducted by Metro Media Transylvania in December, the opposition Party of Social Democracy in Romania would garner 39.9 percent of the vote if elections were conducted now, and would be followed in second place by the opposition Alliance for Romania (APR), with 18.7 percent. The ruling Democratic Convention of Romania trails them with 18.1 percent, followed by the PRM (7.2) and the Democratic Party (4.3). The Union of Rightist Forces and the Hungarian Democratic Federation of Romania would each garner 4.2 percent, while 17 percent of those polled werere undecided. PDSR leader Ion Iliescu and Alliance for Romania leader Teodor Melescanu would be forced in a runoff in a presidential contest, being backed by 37.6 and 21.7 percent, respectively. Constantinescu is in third place, with 17.1 percent backing. MS [24] MOLDOVAN PREMIER-DESIGNATE ON GOVERNMENT PROGRAMPremier-designate Dumitru Barghis on 20 December told representatives of the parliamentary groups that he envisages to propose "a set of extraordinary measures" aimed at improving microeconomic activity. Barghis said that Moldova's most serious problem is that of servicing its foreign debt. He also said the lineup of his government has not been finalized, with four portfolios being still unmanned, RFE/RL's Chisinau bureau reported. MS [25] MOLDOVAN CAPITAL RISKS COLD, DARKNESS OVER NEW YEARChisinaumight be plunged into a blackout and its inhabitants may be left in the cold over Christmas and New Year, the independent Flux agency reported on 20 December. On 18 December the Russian Gazprom concern announced its refusal to grant another debt deferment to Moldova and to sign an agreement for deliveries in 2000. Since Gazprom halted deliveries earlier last week, power plants in Chisinau are being supplied by private Russian firms which cannot meet more than 30 percent of the country's energy needs. MS [26] TRANSDNIESTER SEPARATISTS ASK FOR OBSERVER STATUS IN RUSSIA-BELARUS UNIONThe Supreme Soviet of the separatist Transdniester republic passed a resolution congratulating Boris Yeltsin and Alexander Lukashenka on the recent agreement on strengthening the union between their countries and asked that the republic be admitted to the union with the status of observer, Flux reported on 20 December (see also "End Note"). MS [27] BULGARIAN CABINET DRASTICALLY RESHUFFLEDPrime minister IvanKostov on 20 December announced that he plans to change 10 out of 16 ministers in his government. The parliament is to vote on the streamlined cabinet on 21 December. There will be only one deputy premier in the cabinet instead of three. He is Petar Zhotev, who currently heads the Bank Consolidation Agency, and who will be in charge of the Economy Ministry, which replaces the Industry and the Trade ministries. Former Deputy Premiers Evgeni Bakardzhiev, Alexander Bozhkov and Vesselin Metodiev are no longer in the cabinet. Also departing are Defense Minister Georgi Ananiev, who is replaced by Boiko Noev, currently Bulgaria's ambassador to NATO and the EU. MS [C] END NOTE[28] AN 'EPOCH-MAKING' TREATY FOR HALF A YEAR?by Jan MaksymiukOn 8 December, the eighth anniversary of the Soviet Union's demise, Russian President Boris Yeltsin and his Belarusian counterpart, Alyaksandr Lukashenka, signed a treaty on the creation of a union state of Russia and Belarus. This was the third attempt by those politicians to breathe life into the common state project, which had remained largely on paper. Yeltsin commented that the treaty is "epoch-making." Lukashenka-- who had called the document a "laughing stock" in October--was quick to remark that he will sign another accord with Yeltsin before the end of the Russian president's term in office. He revealed to journalists that the next treaty will deal simply with a union state, not with the creation of a union state. On 8 October, Russia's "Rossiiskaya gazeta" and Belarus's "Sovetskaya Belorussiya" published the draft treaty for "public discussion." That discussion reportedly resulted in 1,500 proposals to amend the document, but no definitive version of the draft was made public before its signing. Belarusian officials working on the draft commented last month that 99 percent of the amendments included in it were "purely technical." However, it remains unclear in what kind of state the Russians and Belarusians have been living since 8 December. The discussion of the treaty draft, which was allegedly conducted in both countries, provoked a slew of sarcastic comments by Russian and Belarusian independent commentators alike. Belarusian official media reported that some 1.5 million people took part in this debate, including 1.1 million in Belarus. "It turns out that 400,000 Russians decided the fate of the remaining 150 million," one Russian newspaper commented wryly. Belarusian independent media reported that the "public discussion" in Belarus took the form of Soviet-style meetings at plants and factories, where management praised the unification with Russia, while workers--instead of stormily applauding as in older times--sat gloomily silent. According to the draft, the new union state will have the following joint bodies: a Supreme State Council, a bicameral parliament, a Council of Ministers, a court, and an Accounting Chamber. The signatory states are to voluntarily surrender part of their sovereign powers to these bodies. The document also calls for conducting coordinated foreign, military, and social policies. At the same time, however, Belarus and Russia will maintain their "sovereignty, independence, territorial integrity, political systems, constitutions, state symbols, and other statehood attributes." The draft does not explain how these contradictory goals can be achieved in practice. The signed treaty is accompanied by a timetable for the phased implementation of unification goals, for example, the introduction of a joint tax system in 2001 and a joint currency in 2005. The timetable, like the treaty itself, lacks any specifics regarding its implementation. For Lukashenka and his regime, the 1999 treaty--even if it does not differ in essence from those signed in 1996 and 1997-- has several obvious benefits. First, it ensures Russia's political protection and patronage for the Belarusian leader, who has become a pariah in international politics. Second, it extends Russia's economic assistance to Belarus's unreformed economy (Minsk will continue obtaining cheap Russian gas and oil and selling its products, which are unwanted elsewhere, on the Russian market). Third, it increases Lukashenka's possibilities as a player on the Russian political scene and doubtless will help sustain his desire to make it to the Kremlin as the ruler of both Russians and Belarusians. Russia's benefits from the treaty are less obvious. From the economic viewpoint, there are virtually none. However, as some Russian commentators note, economic considerations in the union with Belarus are not paramount. Russia, those commentators argue, has never come to terms with the "loss" of Belarus and Ukraine eight years ago and is ready to pay dearly to get them back under its wings. Now, as Russian troops level Chechnya and Russians slowly recover their former sense of "imperial pride," Belarus's "voluntary" merger is a sign of brighter times for greater Russia. Besides, integration with Belarus is an important issue in the electoral rhetoric of all Russia's political forces. Although it cannot be ruled out, it is hardly conceivable that Yeltsin, as his health continues to deteriorate rapidly, would want to use the merger with Belarus as a pretext for extending his term in office for yet another five years. On the other hand, it is also highly unlikely that anybody succeeding Yeltsin in the Kremlin would allow Lukashenka to influence, let alone participate in, Russia's political decision-making. Therefore, an "epoch-making" treaty, the fourth of its kind in four years, is most likely to be the next chapter in the Russian- Belarusian integration story. It is difficult, however, to predict the end of this story. Will the Kremlin eventually absorb Belarus as the 90th subject of the Russian Federation? Or will it install a new leader in Minsk, as loyal to Moscow as Lukashenka, but devoid of pan-Slavic aspirations? The latter scenario might prove positive for the pauperized country of 10 million, all of whose energies seem harnessed either to fanning or hindering Lukashenka's personal ambitions. 21-12-99 Reprinted with permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
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