RFE/RL Newsline, Vol. 4, No. 29, 00-02-10

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

RFE/RL NEWSLINE

Vol. 4, No. 29, 10 February 2000

CONTENTS

[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA

[01] AZERBAIJANI OPPOSITION DECIDES ON MASS PROTESTS

[02] ARMY COLONEL ARRESTED IN AZERBAIJAN

[03] GEORGIAN PRESIDENT ADDRESSES PARLIAMENT

[04] CIS PEACEKEEPING COMMANDER ACCUSES GEORGIA OF VIOLATING

[05] ELEVENTH PRESIDENTIAL HOPEFUL IN GEORGIA

[06] KAZAKHSTAN'S PRESIDENT ENUMERATES GOVERNMENT PRIORITIES

[07] TAJIK FIRST DEPUTY PREMIER'S CAR COMES UNDER FIRE

[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE

[08] WASHINGTON, LONDON BACK LIFTING SERBIAN FLIGHT BAN...

[09] ...AND NEW MEASURES TARGETING BELGRADE REGIME

[10] SERBIAN OPPOSITION WANTS MILOSEVIC TO ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY

[11] HAGUE COURT TO NAME BULATOVIC, TUDJMAN IN INDICTMENTS

[12] UN POLICE SEIZE HERZEGOVINIAN ARMS

[13] CROATIAN PARLIAMENT ENDORSES GOVERNMENT PROGRAM

[14] MACEDONIA EXPECTS SIGNIFICANT HELP

[15] KOUCHNER BANS INCITEMENT IN KOSOVA

[16] ROMANIAN PRESIDENT SATISFIED WITH U.K. VISIT

[17] ROMANIAN PREMIER APPEALS TO STRIKING TEACHERS

[18] FORMER ROMANIAN COMMUNIST PREMIER DEAD

[19] NATO WILL NOT GET INVOLVED IN TRANSDNIESTER SETTLEMENT

[20] NATO SECRETARY-GENERAL IN BULGARIA

[21] BULGARIAN PARLIAMENTARY DEPUTY JAILED

[22] BULGARIAN MEDICAL STAFF TO BE TRIED IN LIBYA

[C] END NOTE

[23] CHARISMA, MISTRUST DECIDE CROATIAN PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS

[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA

[01] AZERBAIJANI OPPOSITION DECIDES ON MASS PROTESTS

Baku on 9 February, the 10 opposition parties aligned in the

Democratic Congress decided to launch mass protests to demand

the resignation of the government, Turan reported.

Participants also adopted a statement addressed to the U.S.

State Department, international human rights organizations,

and NGOs protesting the 7 February attack on the headquarters

of the Musavat Party and the newspaper "Yeni Musavat." LF

[02] ARMY COLONEL ARRESTED IN AZERBAIJAN

arrested Colonel Rasim Alekperov, commander of an army

brigade stationed in Geranboi Raion, and his brother Agasy,

Turan and Interfax reported on 9 February. Citing Azerbaijani

press reports, RFE/RL's Azerbaijani Service reported that on

5 February Azerbaijani special forces units had advanced on

the Geranboi base in order to apprehend Rasim Akperov, who is

a self-declared opponent of President Heidar Aliev. According

to a subsequent statement issued by the National Security

Ministry, a search of the home of their father, a former

police chief in Geranboy, yielded an arms cache. LF

[03] GEORGIAN PRESIDENT ADDRESSES PARLIAMENT

address to the Georgian parliament, Eduard Shevardnadze

predicted on 9 February that within four or five years

Georgia will succeed in making the transition from a

recipient of international aid to a strong state and reliable

partner, Caucasus Press and ITAR-TASS reported. He added that

this year will prove crucial for that transition. At the same

time, Shevardnadze conceded that Georgia faces serious

economic problems, as demonstrated by the failure to meet

last year's budget targets. He also said that Georgia has

drafted and will soon adopt a new national security concept.

Responding to Shevardnadze's address, opposition faction

leaders Djemal Gogitidze and Gogi Topadze criticized

Tbilisi's policy toward Georgia's autonomous Republic of

Adjaria and the refusal of the parliament majority to agree

to amendments to the election law (see "RFE/RL Caucasus

Report," Vol. 3, No. 5, 4 February 2000). LF

[04] CIS PEACEKEEPING COMMANDER ACCUSES GEORGIA OF VIOLATING

Major-General Sergei Korobko, who

commands the CIS peacekeeping force deployed along the border

between Abkhazia and the rest of Georgia, has accused Georgia

of violating the Abkhaz cease-fire agreement concluded in May

1994, Caucasus Press reported on 9 February. Under that

agreement, Georgia is allowed to station 367 police in

Zugdidi Raion, while Abkhazia may deploy 320 militiamen in

neighboring Gali Raion. Korobko claimed that under pressure

from the radical Abkhaz government in exile, Georgia

currently has an entire Interior Ministry battalion in

Zugdidi. Under an agreement signed last week, both Georgia

and Abkhazia undertook to reduce the number of their forces

in the conflict zone to the maximum permitted (see "RFE/RL

Newsline," 4 February 2000). Georgian Interior Ministry

forces commander Giorgi Shervashidze rejected Korobko's

allegation as untrue but declined to give the precise number

of Interior Ministry troops currently in Zugdidi. He added

that the battalion in Zugdidi is guarding strategic

locations. LF

[05] ELEVENTH PRESIDENTIAL HOPEFUL IN GEORGIA

the Corporation of Independent Lawyers, Kartlos

Gharibashvili, announced on 9 February that he intends to run

in the 9 April presidential election, Caucasus Press

reported. Gharibashvili, 46, was one of six candidates in the

November 1995 presidential election but garnered only 0.4

percent of the vote. LF

[06] KAZAKHSTAN'S PRESIDENT ENUMERATES GOVERNMENT PRIORITIES

Nursultan Nazarbaev said that the government formed last

October must set about solving "systemic problems" it

inherited from previous cabinets, Interfax reported. Among

those problems, Nazarbaev named improving the social climate,

making management more efficient, eliminating disparities in

the level of economic development between the country's

oblasts, and restructuring the economy to give precedence to

the processing sector rather than the extraction of raw

materials. Qasymzhomart Toqaev told the same cabinet session

that the government plans to make 2000 a year of "intensive

privatization," Interfax reported. He added that only key

companies and national monopolies will remain state-owned,

including the power transmission grid KEGOC, the railways,

Kazakhoil, and Kaztransoil. LF

[07] TAJIK FIRST DEPUTY PREMIER'S CAR COMES UNDER FIRE

the motorcade of First Deputy Premier Ali Akbar Turadjonzoda

as it traveled from Dushanbe to Turadjonzoda's hometown of

Kofarnihon, 20 kilometers east of the capital, on 7 February,

Asia Plus-Blitz reported three days later. No one was

injured, but two cars in Turadjonzoda's motorcade were

damaged. The agency quoted the first deputy premier as saying

he believes the shooting was a case of mistaken identity. LF

[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE

[08] WASHINGTON, LONDON BACK LIFTING SERBIAN FLIGHT BAN...

Foreign Secretary Robin Cook told the BBC on 9 February that

the U.K. and U.S. have agreed to a long-standing request by

the Serbian opposition to lift the ban on civilian flights to

Serbia. "In response to [the Serbian opposition's]

approaches, we, like the United States, are willing to look

at the suspension of the flight ban for a period of six

months, [so that] the opposition can demonstrate to the

people that we are willing to listen to those who represent

the forces of democracy and future within Serbia," he said.

The opposition has argued that some sanctions, like the

flight ban, hit primarily ordinary Serbs and not the regime.

Opposition leaders have also appealed to the EU and U.S. to

lift some sanctions so that the opposition can demonstrate to

voters that it is capable of delivering concrete benefits of

importance to most Serbs. PM

[09] ...AND NEW MEASURES TARGETING BELGRADE REGIME

of State Madeleine Albright said at a press conference with

Cook in Washington on 9 February that the U.S. is willing to

consider a partial "suspension" of sanctions. The move would,

however, be conditional on the EU's agreeing to "other

measures to strengthen, expand, and focus those sanctions

which most effectively target the regime and its supporters,"

Reuters reported. The suspension will affect flights by

European carriers but not flights by Serbia's airline JAT.

The Belgrade daily "Danas" reported on 8 February that the EU

will soon expand from 600 to 850 the number of names on its

list of top Serbian and Yugoslav personalities banned from

receiving visas for EU countries. Several EU governments have

long been willing to ease sanctions but have encountered

stiff opposition from the Netherlands, the U.K., and the

U.S.. PM

[10] SERBIAN OPPOSITION WANTS MILOSEVIC TO ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY

Vuk Draskovic's Serbian Renewal Movement said in

a statement in Belgrade on 9 February that the regime of

Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic and his wife, Mira

Markovic, is "omnipotent" and therefore must accept

responsibility for the recent murder of Defense Minister

Pavle Bulatovic (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 10 February 2000).

The opposition Democratic Alternative said in a statement

that "in a state in which residents drown in misery and

crime, the last word has long belonged to one man and one

woman. Only their exit...can solve problems in Serbia." PM

[11] HAGUE COURT TO NAME BULATOVIC, TUDJMAN IN INDICTMENTS

spokesman for the Hague-based war crimes tribunal said that

Pavle Bulatovic and late Croatian President Franjo Tudjman

will be named as "accomplices" in some unspecified future

indictments for war crimes against third parties, the Rijeka-

based daily "Novi List" reported on 10 February. The

spokesman ruled out any indictment of Bulatovic or Tudjman

themselves on the grounds that the tribunal does not carry

out posthumous legal proceedings against individuals. PM

[12] UN POLICE SEIZE HERZEGOVINIAN ARMS

UN police confiscated illegal arms and telephone tapping

equipment at police stations in Glamoc and Livno on 9

February. The raids yielded a "large quantity of weapons,"

RFE/RL's South Slavic Service reported. PM

[13] CROATIAN PARLIAMENT ENDORSES GOVERNMENT PROGRAM

parliament approved the government's four-year program aimed

at promoting far-reaching changes in several areas of

government and within society (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 9

February 2000). Key points include fostering economic growth,

cutting state expenditures, promoting employment, and

reorganizing the intelligence services. PM

[14] MACEDONIA EXPECTS SIGNIFICANT HELP

February, Macedonian President Boris Trajkovski said that his

country expects a large influx of Western assistance

following its support for NATO during the 1999 Kosova

conflict. He said Macedonia took in 360,000 ethnic Albanian

refugees, which led to expenses totaling $660 million,

Reuters reported. "Unfortunately, [only] a very small amount

of money has been donated to Macedonia, but we still hope

that the international community will take care of this

region," Trajkovski added. He argued that the EU's Balkan

Stability Pact needs to assume the role of a "catalyst and

coordinator" to promote regional reconstruction and

development. PM

[15] KOUCHNER BANS INCITEMENT IN KOSOVA

heads the UN's civilian administration in Kosova, issued a

decree in Prishtina on 9 February prohibiting any activity

aimed at promoting ethnic or religious intolerance, violence,

or hatred. Those found violating the decree face stiff fines

or jail sentences of up to 10 years, "Vesti" reported. PM

[16] ROMANIAN PRESIDENT SATISFIED WITH U.K. VISIT

three-day visit to the U.K. on 9 February, Emil

Constantinescu said the two countries have "established a

real and secure partnership." He said Premier Tony Blair and

other officials with whom he met "re-confirmed" their support

for Romania's integration into the EU and expressed readiness

to help Bucharest achieve this goal. Among other things, they

proposed "investments in strategic sectors of Romanian

economy," an RFE/RL correspondent in London reported. MS

[17] ROMANIAN PREMIER APPEALS TO STRIKING TEACHERS

letter to teachers, whose strike has entered a third week,

Mugur Isarescu said the state of the economy is such that it

is not possible to meet the teachers' demands for wage hikes,

even if those demands are justified. Isarescu said there is

little possibility that 4 percent of GDP can be allocated to

education, as provided for by law. The government is meeting

on 10 February to discuss allocations from the 2001 budget.

With elections looming later this year, political parties

ranging from the ruling National Peasant Party Christian

Democratic to the opposition Party of Social Democracy in

Romania (which is threatening to boycott parliamentary

debates unless the 4 percent quota is met), have expressed

support for the teachers' demands. Meanwhile, Education

Minister Andrei Marga on 9 February said he will not withdraw

his resignation unless 4 percent of GDP is allocated to

education. MS

[18] FORMER ROMANIAN COMMUNIST PREMIER DEAD

who was prime minister from 1961 to 1974, died on 9 February,

aged 97, Romanian media reported. MS

[19] NATO WILL NOT GET INVOLVED IN TRANSDNIESTER SETTLEMENT

does not intend to become involved in the settlement of the

Transdniester conflict and will not use the Marculesti air

base in Moldova, a NATO representative in Brussels told

Infotag on 9 February. The representative spoke ahead of the

planned visit to Moldova of NATO Secretary-General Lord

Robertson on 10-11 February. Also on 9 February, Moldova's

representative to the Partner for Peace program, Colonel

Nicolae Turtureanu, rejected allegations by the separatist

leadership in Tiraspol that the Marculesti base will be used

by NATO, saying Moldova's offer to that effect was confined

to the partnership's peace keeping and humanitarian

activities. Turtureanu also said NATO has not responded to

Moldova's offer to allow it to use the base, knowing that the

reconstruction of the facility would be very costly and its

use by the alliance "presumably too sensitive politically."

MS

[20] NATO SECRETARY-GENERAL IN BULGARIA

that will also take him to Bucharest and Chisinau, Lord

Robertson said in Sofia on 9 February following talks with

President Petar Stoyanov that Bulgaria is "an important

strategic partner of NATO" but there is still "a long way to

go" before it can achieve NATO membership. Robertson told

journalists that Bulgaria and Romania should not see

themselves as competing for membership in the alliance. "NATO

membership is not some prize in a competition, but is a very

tough test," he commented. Robertson added that Bulgaria has

taken a step toward membership by reforming its armed forces

and participating in the Partnership for Peace program,

Reuters reported. Robertson is to meet with Premier Ivan

Kostov and address the parliament on 10 February, before

departing for Bucharest. MS

[21] BULGARIAN PARLIAMENTARY DEPUTY JAILED

February sentenced Tsvetelin Kanchev, a parliamentary deputy

from the Euroleft Party, to six years in jail. Kanchev had

been charged with extorting $2,000 by means of intimidation

and use of force, Reuters and AP reported. He was also fined

6,000 leva ($3,000) and will have half of his property

confiscated. The parliament lifted Kanchev's immunity last

July. MS

[22] BULGARIAN MEDICAL STAFF TO BE TRIED IN LIBYA

Ministry spokesman Radko Vlaikov told journalists on 9

February that six Bulgarian medical staff detained in Libya

last year have been charged with spreading the HIV virus,

which causes AIDS, and will be put on trial, Reuters

reported. The five nurses and a doctor were detained in

February 1999, together with 13 other Bulgarians who had

worked in a Benghazi hospital and who were later freed.

Vlaikov said that the Bulgarian authorities will try to

secure defense lawyers, who, under Libyan law, must be Libyan

citizens. MS

[C] END NOTE

[23] CHARISMA, MISTRUST DECIDE CROATIAN PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS

On 7 February, voters elected Stipe Mesic of the

governing small four-party coalition to succeed the late

President Franjo Tudjman. Mesic defeated Drazen Budisa, who

was the candidate of the two-party coalition of the Social

Democrats and Social Liberals, which is the larger partner in

the new government. Mesic's victory is one of the biggest

surprises in a campaign cycle that has transformed the

Croatian political landscape and seen the country's

electorate turn its back on the Tudjman legacy.

When the presidential campaign began, Mesic was an

outsider whom many Croats considered a man from the past. He

played a key role in the events leading up to the breakup of

the former Yugoslavia in 1990-1991, but in subsequent years

he became a minor political figure. He now belongs to the

tiny Croatian People's Party. Most popularity polls in early

or mid-December gave him only 10 percent of the vote.

How was Mesic able to pull off this spectacular victory

with more than 56 percent of the vote? There were little

differences in the two candidates' platforms. Both promised a

clean break from Tudjman's authoritarian and nationalistic

legacy. Both vowed to reduce the powers of the presidency in

favor of the parliament and the government, and both centered

their campaign on promoting the country's entry into the EU

and NATO.

But the two differed considerably in personality and

style, and this was one of the keys to Mesic's victory.

Budisa has excellent opposition credentials. Throughout his

political career, he had been a political opponent of

Tudjman's, while Mesic spent three years in Tudjman's

Croatian Democratic Community (HDZ) before breaking with his

former boss. Budisa's seriousness and his tendency to lecture

voters, however, reminded many of Tudjman. Some commentators

even went so far as to call Budisa "Tudjman with a smile."

Mesic's easygoing attitude and his penchant for telling jokes

and stories appealed to voters because they were such a stark

contrast to Tudjman's dour manner and stiffness.

The last two weeks of the election campaign, following

the first round on 24 January, were particularly dirty. Most

of the mudslinging came from the Budisa camp. Media close to

him questioned the origins of Mesic's campaign financing and

alleged that he had worked with the communist secret police.

None of these accusations has held up to scrutiny.

Nevertheless, Budisa seized on this chance to attack his

opponent. He continually harped on those accusations--even

though voters did not seem particularly interested. In the

end, this negative campaigning backfired on Budisa because it

reminded many of the tactics that Tudjman had employed

against his political opponents.

Just as the two candidates differed little in their

platforms, so they held similar positions on the three issues

that most concern Croatia's Western partners. Both men

promised to abandon support for Croatian separatists in

Bosnia-Herzegovina, to cooperate with the Hague-based war

crimes tribunal, and to support the return of ethnic Serbian

refugees who fled Croatia during the 1991-1995 war.

Budisa, however, has been more reserved on these issues

than has Mesic. To some extent, he has adopted the former HDZ

government's position by saying that he will not send to The

Hague those documents relating to offensives that Croats

carried out against rebel Serbs in 1995 and that he deems

"vital to national security." He has also stopped short of

making a clean break with Herzegovinian Croats, as Mesic has

done. Instead, Budisa promised to continue to finance the

Herzegovinians' military. These differences failed to attract

much attention during the campaign--except among the

Herzegovinians, who voted for Budisa en masse. But Budisa's

stands on Herzegovina and The Hague could easily have led to

serious problems in Croatia's relations with the

international community.

One of the major issues now facing Croatia will be

relations between the president and the new government. The

country faces serious economic and social problems, as both

governing coalitions pointed out during the election

campaign. Croatia simply cannot afford a constitutional

crisis or a delay in the government's reform efforts just

because the president and government cannot work well

together. Many Croatian opinion-makers chose to endorse

Budisa precisely because he is from the larger coalition and

would presumably cooperate with a cabinet dominated by that

alliance.

Many voters, however, chose to support Mesic precisely

because he is not affiliated with the large coalition. They

are still skeptical about the new government's ability not to

become corrupted by power. For that reason, they voted for

Mesic from the smaller coalition because they did not want to

recreate the monopoly of power that they previously gave

Tudjman and the HDZ.

In the end, voters chose Mesic because of his charisma

and his promise to keep the new government in check. Whether

this turns out to be a wise choice will depend on Mesic's

willingness to accept cuts in the powers of the presidency--a

move that all parties support--and on his ability to

cooperate with the government in dealing with the serious

social and economic problems the country faces.

The author is a Zagreb-based writer (akrickovic@aol.com.)

10-02-00

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

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