RFE/RL Newsline, Vol. 4, No. 32, 00-02-15

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

RFE/RL NEWSLINE

Vol. 4, No. 32, 15 February 2000

CONTENTS

[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA

[01] DASHNAKS SAY ECONOMIC CRISIS THREATENS ARMENIA'S SECURITY

[02] AZERBAIJAN'S FOREIGN MINISTER SETS RECORD STRAIGHT ON

[03] NEW AZERBAIJANI MEDIA LAW FINALLY MADE PUBLIC

[04] TWO AZERBAIJANI OIL OFFICIALS DETAINED

[05] AZERBAIJANI, GEORGIAN PRESIDENTS PLEDGE SUPPORT FOR BAKU-

[06] TBILISI METRO EXPLOSION NOT A TERORIST ATTACK

[07] KYRGYZ OPPOSITION PROPOSES POSTPONING PARLIAMENTARY POLL

[08] NEW UZBEK DEFENSE MINISTER NAMED

[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE

[09] EU SUSPENDS BAN ON FLIGHTS TO SERBIA

[10] BELGRADE AIRPORT SET TO RESUME FLIGHTS

[11] SERBIAN AUTHORITIES CLOSE MONTENEGRIN AIRPORT

[12] YUGOSLAV ARMY DENIES HAVING PARAMILITARIES IN MONTENEGRO

[13] SERBIAN INDEPENDENT MEDIA TO BOYCOTT SESELJ

[14] FRENCH PEACEKEEPERS STOP AMBULANCE FULL OF ARMS

[15] NATO WARNS KOSOVARS

[16] EU HAILS CROATIAN GOVERNMENT PROGRAM

[17] ROWDY CELEBRATION IN ZAGREB

[18] IZETBEGOVIC HEADS BOSNIAN PRESIDENCY

[19] ROMANIAN GOVERNMENT SETS LOCAL ELECTION DATE

[20] HUNGARIAN ENVIRONMENT MINISTER IN ROMANIA

[21] MOLDOVAN PRESIDENT SAYS 'INTER-STATE UNION' WITH ROMANIA NOT

[22] ...ASKS ROMANIA TO BE STRICTER IN GRANTING CITIZENSHIP

[C] END NOTE

[23] BACKTRACKING IN BISHKEK

[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA

[01] DASHNAKS SAY ECONOMIC CRISIS THREATENS ARMENIA'S SECURITY

a statement adopted last weekend at the end of a two-week

congress, members of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation-

Dashnaktsutiun warned that the ongoing socio-economic crisis

threatens Armenia's security and statehood, RFE/RL's Yerevan

bureau reported on 14 February. The 100 or so delegates from

Armenia and the diaspora also warned that Armenia should not

give way to what they termed "a diplomatic attack by great-

power forces" trying to impose unfavorable conditions for a

solution to the Karabakh conflict. Elected to the post of

party Bureau "representative," or chairman, was Iranian-born

Hrant Markarian, one of several party members arrested

following the December 1994 ban on the party's activities.

Markarian was tried and convicted in 1997 for illegal

possession of arms but amnestied the following year following

the advent to power of now President Robert Kocharian (see

"RFE/RL Newsline," 9 February 1998). LF

[02] AZERBAIJAN'S FOREIGN MINISTER SETS RECORD STRAIGHT ON

Vilayet Guliev has denied proposing that

Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey should create a military

alliance, according to Turan on 12 February and Interfax on

14 February. "Nezavisimaya gazeta" on 2 February had quoted

Guliev as advocating such a pact, and Armenian Foreign

Ministry spokesman Ara Papyan on 11 February expressed

concern that such an alliance would destabilize and polarize

the entire southern Caucasus, according to AP. Guliev

explained that his original statement about the presidents of

Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Turkey all supporting the concept of

a stability pact for the Caucasus was misinterpreted.

Meanwhile on 14 February, Georgian Foreign Minister Irakli

Menagharishvili said Tbilisi is considering the possibility

of declaring Georgia a neutral state as one possible means of

ensuring its security, Caucasus Press reported. LF

[03] NEW AZERBAIJANI MEDIA LAW FINALLY MADE PUBLIC

Azerbaijani state press has finally published the full text

of the country's controversial new media legislation, which

was signed into law by President Heidar Aliev in December,

Turan reported on 14 February. The final version of the law

does not include amendments that the Council of Europe

proposed, arguing that the original draft contained

provisions that violate international guarantees of freedom

of expression. Both Azerbaijani and international

journalists' organizations had criticized the original draft,

which empowers local authorities to withdraw publications

from sale without first obtaining a court ruling. LF

[04] TWO AZERBAIJANI OIL OFFICIALS DETAINED

heads the division of Azerbaijan's state oil company SOCAR

responsible for main-stream pipelines, and his deputy, Rizvan

Vahabov, were detained late last week on suspicion of the

illegal sale of crude oil in 1993-1995, Turan and RFE/RL's

Azerbaijani Service reported on 14 February. Vahabov played a

key role in 1993 in ensuring the return to Baku of then

Nakhichevan Supreme Council chairman and current President

Heidar Aliev. LF

[05] AZERBAIJANI, GEORGIAN PRESIDENTS PLEDGE SUPPORT FOR BAKU-

Speaking in Washington on 14 February at the start of

an official visit, President Aliev said that Azerbaijan will

begin construction of the planned Baku-Ceyhan export pipeline

for Caspian oil "very soon," AP reported. To date, it is not

clear who will provide the estimated $2.4 billion needed for

the project. In Tbilisi, Georgian President Eduard

Shevardnadze told Georgian national radio the same day that

Georgia "will meet all its commitments" with regard to

building that pipeline, according to Interfax. Arriving in

Baku on 14 February for talks on the pipeline project,

Georgian Foreign Minister Menagharishvili played down the

unresolved dispute over Georgia's demand that it receive

$0.20 in transit fees per barrel for oil pumped through the

Georgian stretch of the pipeline. LF

[06] TBILISI METRO EXPLOSION NOT A TERORIST ATTACK

police said on 14 February that the explosion at a Tbilisi

metro station earlier that day that injured several people

was caused by a home-made hand grenade thrown by a teenager,

Caucasus Press reported. Police are investigating the

incident, but no arrests have yet been made. LF

[07] KYRGYZ OPPOSITION PROPOSES POSTPONING PARLIAMENTARY POLL

opposition Ar-Namys (Honor) Party, El (Bei-Bechara), the

Republican Party, the Labor-Popular Party and a coalition of

NGOs appealed to the government to postpone the parliamentary

elections scheduled for 20 February, RFE/RL's bureau in the

Kyrgyz capital reported. None of the parties to the appeal

has been registered to contest the poll, which they suggest

should be held concurrently with the presidential election

due in December (see "End Note" below). Also on 14 February,

an unnamed member of the Ar-Namys leadership told RFE/RL's

Bishkek bureau that Kyrgyz government officials and members

of the presidential administration will be sent to rural

areas to help ensure the election victory of pro-government

candidates. LF

[08] NEW UZBEK DEFENSE MINISTER NAMED

14 February appointed Lieutenant General Yurii Agzamov to the

post of defense minister, Interfax reported. Agzamov, who is

50, previously served as deputy defense minister and

commander of the south-western special military district. He

replaces Khikmatulla Tursunov, who failed to retain his post

when Karimov named his new cabinet last week (see "RFE/RL

Newsline," 14 February 2000). Also on 14 February, the U.S.

delivered to Tashkent 12 military transport vehicles worth

$2.65 million, the first such U.S. government-funded sale of

U.S. military equipment to Uzbekistan, Reuters reported. LF

[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE

[09] EU SUSPENDS BAN ON FLIGHTS TO SERBIA

agreed in Brussels on 14 February to suspend for six months

the ban on flights to and from Serbia. The ministers also

approved a series of measures aimed at making it more

difficult for the Serbian elite to travel abroad and "visit

their bank accounts," London's "The Independent" reported

(see "RFE/RL Newsline," 10 February 2000). The moves come in

response to long-standing requests from the Serbian

opposition to lift the flight ban and other sanctions. The

opposition argued that ordinary Serbs will be harder hit by

the ban than will the regime. The opposition also said that a

relaxation of the sanctions would show Serbian voters that

the opposition is able to bring benefits to Serbia from

Brussels. In Belgrade on 14 February, several opposition

spokesmen greeted the decision to suspend the flight ban. PM

[10] BELGRADE AIRPORT SET TO RESUME FLIGHTS

airport said on 14 February that flights can resume within 10

days. The first routes to reopen will be those to Amsterdam,

Zurich, Frankfurt, and Rome, RFE/RL's South Slavic Service

reported. Observers note that Belgrade-bound air travelers in

recent months have had to fly via Montenegro or Banja Luka or

else come by bus from Hungary or other neighboring countries.

PM

[11] SERBIAN AUTHORITIES CLOSE MONTENEGRIN AIRPORT

state Tanjug news agency reported on 15 February that

Montenegro's small Tivat airport has been temporarily closed

"for technical reasons." Reuters quoted Montenegrin media as

saying that federal air traffic authorities ordered the

closure after monitoring the presence of NATO aircraft in the

area. The airport will reopen on 16 February. In the

meantime, Montenegro airlines must reroute its civilian

flights to Rome, Frankfurt, Zurich, and Ljubljana. PM

[12] YUGOSLAV ARMY DENIES HAVING PARAMILITARIES IN MONTENEGRO

General Staff said in a statement in Belgrade on 14 February

that the army has no paramilitary forces in Montenegro (see

"RFE/RL Newsline," 24 January and 2 February 2000). The

document called recent charges to that effect made by several

Montenegrin politicians and former army officers "inaccurate

and malicious," RFE/RL's South Slavic Service reported. The

statement added that all formations controlled by the army,

including the military police, have been set up "completely

according to the rules." PM

[13] SERBIAN INDEPENDENT MEDIA TO BOYCOTT SESELJ

of Serbia's leading independent and private media announced

in Belgrade on 14 February that they will no longer report

remarks by Serbian Deputy Prime Minister Vojislav Seselj and

officials of his Radical Party. The move comes in the wake of

statements by Seselj that independent journalists should be

careful lest they be "liquidated" (see "RFE/RL Balkan

Report," 15 February 2000). PM

[14] FRENCH PEACEKEEPERS STOP AMBULANCE FULL OF ARMS

Pierre de Saqui de Sannes said in Kosovska Mitrovica on 15

February that French KFOR troops stopped an ambulance full of

arms and ammunition at a checkpoint. The driver escaped.

Reuters reported that the peacekeepers found "10 RPG-7

rocket- propelled grenades, 183 hand grenades, and thousands

of rounds of 7.62 millimeter bullets for rifles or

machineguns" in the vehicle. NATO is investigating where the

ambulance might have come from and where it might have been

heading. Elsewhere, French Captain Cedric Dujardin said that

his troops "flushed out" two snipers who had been firing at

them. One sniper was Albanian, the other Serbian, he added.

PM

[15] NATO WARNS KOSOVARS

NATO Secretary-General Lord Robertson said in the wake of

recent violence in Mitrovica: "Let there be no doubt: KFOR

will not tolerate attacks on its forces by anyone. The robust

response of KFOR soldiers is only the tip of the iceberg when

it comes to our determination to protect our forces and stop

the perpetrators of violence," Reuters reported. He added: "I

would remind all parties...that it was NATO that put an end

to organized ethnic cleansing and has worked to restore peace

and stability for all ethnic groups in the province," AP

reported (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 14 February 2000). Near

Mitrovica, local ethnic Albanian leader Halit Barani said at

the funeral of a former Kosova Liberation Army fighter killed

by KFOR that the French troops are "the same as the Serbian

soldiers." PM

[16] EU HAILS CROATIAN GOVERNMENT PROGRAM

Croatian Prime Minister Ivica Racan in Brussels on 14

February, EU foreign ministers hailed his government's

program. The ministers also called on EU experts to prepare

studies that could lead to talks between Zagreb and Brussels

on "bringing Croatia closer to the EU." EU Commission

President Romano Prodi said that it is "too soon" to set a

time table for talks between the EU and Croatia but that he

will formulate one at the earliest possible opportunity, AP

reported. Racan told a press conference that all refugees are

welcome to return home regardless of their ethnic background.

He stressed that the government represents all citizens. The

EU's Javier Solana said to Racan: "We are going to help your

country.... But I would also like to underline that this

change in Croatia...is a signal for the region as a whole,"

Reuters reported. PM

[17] ROWDY CELEBRATION IN ZAGREB

celebrated the return of the name "Dinamo" to Zagreb's

leading soccer team on 14 February. Some 10 years ago, the

late President Franjo Tudjman forced the club to change its

name to "Croatia," despite energetic protests from the fans.

Observers note that the return of the old name is but one

more example of how Croats have quickly turned their back on

Tudjman's legacy (see "RFE/RL Balkan Report," 28 January

2000). PM

[18] IZETBEGOVIC HEADS BOSNIAN PRESIDENCY

Izetbegovic assumed the rotating chair of Bosnia's joint

presidency on 14 February. He replaces the Croat Ante

Jelavic. Elsewhere in Sarajevo, the international community's

Wolfgang Petritsch told a conference that corruption is the

biggest obstacle to the successful implementation of the

Dayton peace agreement. PM

[19] ROMANIAN GOVERNMENT SETS LOCAL ELECTION DATE

Mugur Isarescu, speaking on television on 13 February, said

the government has set 4 June as the date for local

elections. The runoffs are to be held on 18 June. The

parliament has yet to pass the necessary legislation for the

ballot. Isarescu also announced he plans to reduce personnel

in several ministries in a bid to save some $200 million,

which will be channeled primarily to the Education Ministry.

Also on 13 February, the government said it has managed to

divert 0.5 percent of GDP to that ministry's budget and thus

meet the 4 percent of GDP required by the law and demanded by

striking teachers. But the teachers said their strike will

continue until they receive "credible proof" that the

transfer has taken place. MS

[20] HUNGARIAN ENVIRONMENT MINISTER IN ROMANIA

February visited the Aurul gold mines in Baia Mare, from

where cyanide spilled into a tributary of the Tisa (Tizsa in

Hungarian) River (see above), affecting also the River

Danube, RFE/RL's Bucharest bureau reported. He said it may

take as long as 10 years to re-establish the ecological

balance in the area. Foreign Minister Petre Roman said the

incident has "gravely affected Romania's image" abroad and

that Romania will ask for international aid to deal with the

disaster and prevent similar occurrences in the future. EU

Commissioner for the Environment Margot Wallstrom is visiting

the affected area on 15 February. MS

[21] MOLDOVAN PRESIDENT SAYS 'INTER-STATE UNION' WITH ROMANIA NOT

Petru Lucinschi believes that the National

Liberal Party's (PNL) recent initiative to set up an "inter-

state union" with Romania modeled on the Russia-Belarus union

will not promote EU membership. The PNL said such a union

might assist in Moldova's bid to become a member of the EU

once Romania is admitted into the organization. Presidential

spokesman Anatol Golea on 14 February said Lucinschi is ready

to consider any measure that would advance that goal, but he

noted that for the time being Moldova cannot meet EU

membership criteria. Golea said the lowest per capita GDP

among EU members is that of Greece, at $2,000, while

Moldova's per capita GDP last year was less than $300. MS

[22] ...ASKS ROMANIA TO BE STRICTER IN GRANTING CITIZENSHIP

interview on Moldovan Television, Lucinschi said on 14

February that he has asked the Romanian authorities to be

"more strict" when granting citizenship to Moldovan

nationals. Lucinschi said Foreign Minister Nicolae Tabacaru,

acting on his behalf, drew the attention of Bucharest's

ambassador to Chisinau to the fact that the Moldovan

Constitution does not allow double citizenship. Lucinschi

said "solutions will be sought" to this problem in the

future, Romanian Radio reported. Unofficial figures put the

number of Moldovans with Romanian citizenship at some

300,000. MS

[C] END NOTE

[23] BACKTRACKING IN BISHKEK

On 20 February, Kyrgyzstan will hold parliamentary

elections that look set to demolish the myth that the country

is a small oasis of democracy in authoritarian Central Asia.

True, Kyrgyzstan's President Askar Akaev has pledged

repeatedly that the poll will be free and fair. But on the

basis of dubious court rulings, the Central Electoral

Committee has barred two major opposition parties from

participating. Kyrgyz NGOs, for their part, have gathered

extensive evidence of restrictions on opposition access to

the state-run media and of harassment by local officials of

individual opposition candidates. The National Democratic

Institute and the OSCE last week both issued statements

expressing concern at what they termed unfair and unjustified

restrictions on the election process.

The Kyrgyz authorities' reluctance to risk a free poll

derives less from the perceived need to contain a pernicious

rival political ideology than from the desire to retain

power. By contrast, for the overwhelming majority of the

country's 4.8 million inhabitants, the sole issue at stake is

survival in conditions of increasing economic hardship.

According to a UN Development Program study released last

month, 55 percent of Kyrgyzstan's population live below the

poverty level. Local observers calculate that up to 1 million

people have no fixed employment and live from shuttle trade.

Some 3,000 young people congregate each morning in a Bishkek

street known as "the slave market" in the hope of finding

casual work.

Even those fortunate enough to have jobs find it

difficult to make ends meet. The minimum monthly salary is

about 100 soms ($2.2), while the monthly minimum subsistence

level is 10 times higher. Social benefits are symbolic--the

basic pension is also about 100 soms but is rarely paid

promptly--and as of December 1999, the Kyrgyz government owed

some $2.5 million in unpaid pensions.

Nor is there any prospect of a swift improvement in the

economic situation. Kyrgyzstan's foreign debt now stands at

$1.4 billion, the equivalent of annual GDP, of which $87

million must be repaid this year (that sum is equal to 44

percent of projected budget expenditure). The top priority

for increased budget spending is not the social sector but

the military, in the hope of precluding a repeat of last

summer's humiliating incursions and abductions by Islamic

guerrillas based in Tajikistan.

Given the dimensions of the economic crisis and its

impact on the population, it is hardly surprising that the

authorities sought to preclude the participation in the

parliamentary elections of those parties giving priority to

social justice. In December, a Bishkek district court ruled

that the El (Bei Bechara) Party (the Party of the Oppressed),

which is the country's second-largest after the Communist

Party, cannot participate in the elections, as its original

statutes did not mention that objective. The party's appeals

against that ruling were rejected, several of its leading

members were offered lucrative diplomatic or government

posts, and a court case was brought against its leader,

Daniyar Usenov.

The Central Electoral Commission initially registered

the opposition Party of the Democratic Movement of

Kyrgyzstan, but that registration is in doubt since a Bishkek

court ruled that the party's January congress, which drew up

the list of the party's candidates to contend the 15 seats in

the 60-strong lower house of the new legislature, was

illegal. Heading the party's list was one of the country's

most influential and popular opposition politicians, former

Bishkek Mayor Feliks Kulov. Kulov resigned from that post in

April 1999 to protest what he termed President Akaev's

tolerance of illegal and anti-democratic activities by

unnamed members of his entourage, and he founded his own

political party, Ar-Namys (Honor), which is already the

third-largest in Kyrgyzstan.

Under the existing electoral law, however, Ar-Namys does

not qualify to participate in the polls as it was formally

registered with the Justice Ministry less than 12 months

before the elections. Kulov's campaign to have Russian

designated a state language in Kyrgyzstan would have

guaranteed him the support of much of the country's estimated

700,000 ethnic Russians.

Nine political parties and two blocs remain registered

to contend the poll. Of those, four parties are in opposition

to the government and three are moderate, while two parties

and both blocs are unequivocally pro-government. In addition,

239 candidates registered to contend 45 seats in single-

mandate constituencies in the lower house and another 216 to

compete for 45 seats in the upper house. But of those 455, 37

have been struck off the list for failing either to provide

income declarations or to meet the minimum residence

requirement in the district where they intended to run.

The use of the courts to bar opposition candidates and

parties on the basis of either fabricated evidence or minor

technical infringements is convenient insofar as it is

adduced by government representatives as evidence of the

independence of the three branches of power. In late January,

presidential press secretary Osmonakun Ibraimov told RFE/RL

that the administration has refrained from "interfering" in

the work of the Central Electoral Commission precisely in

order to preclude charges of undemocratic meddling in the

election process.

But that approach ultimately reflects poorly on

Kyrgyzstan's image. It also raises the question, touched on

by Kulov last year, of whether President Akaev is in control

of the situation, or whether, as some Russian journalists

have suggested, he is being manipulated by members of his

entourage and immediate family, including his Kazakh son-in-

law. Even if, as seems likely, the majority of parliamentary

deputies elected on 20 February support the present

leadership's policies, Akaev will face a second test of his

popularity in the presidential poll later this year.

Potential challengers include Kulov and Communist Party of

Kyrgyzstan leader Absamat Masaliev--that is, if they are not

barred from running.

15-02-00

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

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