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RFE/RL Newsline, Vol. 4, No. 40, 00-02-25Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty: Newsline Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty <http://www.rferl.org>RFE/RL NEWSLINEVol. 4, No. 40, 25 February 2000CONTENTS[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA
[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[C] END NOTE
[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA[01] FORMER KARABAKH DEFENSE MINISTER DENIES PRESIDENTIALAMBITIONSIn a statement issued in Stepanakert on 24 February, General Samvel Babayan denied that he intends to run for president of the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, RFE/RL's Yerevan bureau reported. He added that he has not yet decided to participate in the enclave's upcoming parliamentary elections. Babayan's brother Karen, who is mayor of Stepanakert, had predicted in a recent interview with the Armenian newspaper "Aravot" that Samvel will one day become president of Nagorno-Karabakh. Samvel Babayan was dismissed as defense minister last summer following a standoff with Karabakh President Arkadii Ghukasian. He was also ousted as commander in chief of the Nagorno-Karabakh Defense Army in December (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 3 August and 17 December 1999). LF [02] AZERBAIJANI JOURNALISTS HINDERED IN COVERING TRIAL OF PRISONINSURGENTSJournalists from several Azerbaijani newspapers said at a press briefing in Baku on 24 February that they are being subjected to pressure and harassment by the Azerbaijani Ministry of Justice. They said that pressure is part of an attempt to limit media coverage of the trial of participants in what the Azerbaijani authorities claim was a mutiny at a high security jail near Baku in January 1999, Turan reported. That trial opened in Baku last month (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 26 January 2000). The journalists attribute the authorities' reluctance to allow journalists to attend the trial to discrepancies between the official version of what happened and claims by prisoners' relatives that the alleged mutiny was staged in order to facilitate the murder of former General Vahid Musaev. Musaev was sentenced on charges of planning in 1995 to assassinate President Heidar Aliev. He was one of 11 prisoners shot dead by guards during the alleged insurrection (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 11 January 1999). LF [03] OIL EXPORTS FROM AZERBAIJAN VIA RUSSIA RESUMEDTheAzerbaijan International Operating Company (AIOC), the only international consortium currently exporting oil from the Azerbaijani section of the Caspian, has resumed transporting crude through the Baku-Novorossiisk pipeline, Caucasus Press reported on 24 February. Azerbaijan's state oil company SOCAR, which previously used that pipeline, stopped doing so last month in order to conserve domestic crude for use for heating purposes (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 13 January 2000). The AIOC is now exporting 12,000 tons of oil daily via Novorossiisk in addition to the oil it exports via Georgia's Black Sea port of Supsa. LF [04] RUSSIA WARNS AZERBAIJAN OVER ALLEGED CHECHEN PRESENCE...TheRussian Foreign Ministry issued a statement on 24 February expressing the hope that "the territory of Azerbaijan will not be used for anti-Russian purposes," ITAR-TASS reported. The statement was pegged to media reports that injured Chechen fighters are undergoing medical treatment in Baku hospitals. Interfax in early January quoted the Chechen representation in Baku as saying that some 100 civilians injured during Russian bombing raids in Chechnya were receiving medical treatment in Azerbaijan. LF [05] ...AS TURKEY REFUSES TO ALLOW CHECHENS TO CROSS BORDER FROMGEORGIATurkish Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit said on 24 February that Ankara will provide humanitarian aid for Chechen refugees in Georgia but will not allow an estimated 300 Chechens now stranded at the Georgian-Turkish border to enter Turkey, Reuters and Caucasus Press reported. Georgian Interior Minister Kakha Targamadze, who is currently visiting Ankara, told the Anatolia News Agency that Turkey refuses to admit the Chechens as they do not have valid passports or identification. LF [06] BRITISH FOREIGN MINISTER VISITS GEORGIAVisiting Tbilisi on25 February, Robin Cook met with Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze, Minister of State Vazha Lortkipanidze, Foreign Minister Irakli Menagharishvili, and parliamentary speaker Zurab Zhvania, ITAR-TASS reported. Cook pledged his support for Georgia's independence, territorial integrity, and integration into Euro-Atlantic structures, including NATO, according to AP. He and Shevardnadze focused on the war in Chechnya and the situation on the Chechen sector of the Russian-Georgian border. They also discussed the prospects for a peaceful solution of the Abkhaz conflict. LF [07] CORRECTION:Based on an erroneous Caucasus Press dispatch,"RFE/RL Newsline" on 24 February incorrectly reported that USAID and the International Committee of the Red Cross have signed an agreement on aid for Georgian displaced persons. That agreement was in fact signed by USAID and the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. [08] KAZAKHSTAN'S PRESIDENT REAFFIRMS COMMITMENT TODEMOCRATIZATION...Addressing a session of the OSCE Permanent Council in Vienna on 24 February, Nursultan Nazarbaev acknowledged the "universal character" of the criteria applied by the OSCE to compliance with democratic norms, but at the same time he appealed for "a good understanding" of the situation in Central Asia, Interfax reported. Nazarbaev argued that "it is impossible for legal innovations to bridge the gap between new institutions and old models of behavior in a short time." The OSCE criticized both the presidential and the parliamentary elections in Kazakhstan last year as failing to meet international standards. Nazarbaev rejected that criticism, saying that Kazakhstan will choose its own approach and timeframe for gradual democratization. LF [09] ...ENUMERATES REGIONAL SECURITY CONCERNSNazarbaev also toldthe OSCE that it is imperative to prevent the "Balkanization" of Central Asia, Interfax reported. He said the region's enormous energy potential can be successfully developed only if existing problems between regional states are resolved. Nazarbaev said one of the main medium-term problems facing the Central Asian states is international terrorism and extremism stemming from Afghanistan, and he appealed for the assistance of the international community and the OSCE in combating those threats. It is unclear whether Nazarbaev addressed the possible interaction between the OSCE and the Asian regional security forum, which Kazakhstan advocates (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 15 September 1999). LF [10] KYRGYZSTAN SCHEDULES PARLIAMENTARY RUNOFFSA second round ofvoting has been scheduled for 12 March for all but three of the 90 single-mandate seats in the upper and lower chambers of the new Kyrgyz parliament, RFE/RL's Bishkek bureau reported on 24 February citing the Central Electoral Commission. Several opposition candidates have said they will appeal to the prosecutor-general against what they term falsification and procedural violations that deprived them of a first-round win. Also on 24 February, the CEC issued revised results of the party list voting, raising from five to six the number of political parties that surmounted the 5 percent minimum required for parliamentary representation. The sixth party is the pro-presidential My Country. LF [11] TURKEY, U.S. SEEK TO PERSUADE TURKMENISTAN OF PIPELINEBENEFITSTurkey's Deputy Foreign Minister Mithat Balkan and U.S. special adviser for Caspian energy issues John Wolf held talks in Ashgabat on 24 February with Turkmenistan's President Saparmurat Niyazov, Interfax reported. Balkan delivered personal assurances to Niyazov from Turkish President Suleyman Demirel that Ankara is committed to the swift construction of the planned Trans-Caspian pipeline to export Turkmen gas to Turkey. Niyazov had said last week that that project would not be viable if Azerbaijan insists on the use of 50 percent of the pipeline's throughput capacity (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 22 February 2000). In Moscow, Russian Fuel and Energy Minister Viktor Kalyuzhnyi told journalists on 24 February that he supports the bid by Gazprom to conclude a rival agreement under which Turkmenistan would export much of its natural gas via Russia, ITAR-TASS reported. LF [B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE[12] NATO TO DECIDE ON INCREASING KFOR TROOPSThe North AtlanticCouncil, NATO's policy-making body, will hold an emergency meeting on 25 February to discuss the situation in the Kosovar city of Mitrovica and decide on a request to increase KFOR troops in the province, Reuters reported. General Wesley Clark, NATO's supreme commander in Europe, requested the previous day that 2,000 troops be added to KFOR and sent to Mitrovica to help the peacekeepers there contain the violence that has led to several deaths. France has said it will contribute 700 to the extra contingent. U.S. President Bill Clinton supports the increase, but Washington has not yet decided if it will augment KFOR. The U.S. currently has 5,500 troops in Kosova out of KFOR's total 37,400. The UN, meanwhile, has announced that it will begin resettling ethnic Albanians in their former homes in the northern part of the city, which is controlled by Serbs. PB [13] MITROVICA REPORTED CALMTensions in the violence-torn townwere reported to be diminishing after KFOR troops announced they had finished conducting weapons searches in residential areas, Reuters reported on 25 February. In all, some 50 guns, ammunition, nine hand-grenades, and one rocket-propelled grenade were confiscated. Yugoslavia accused the West of fomenting the unrest, with Yugoslav Deputy Premier Nikola Sainovic saying "the sequence of events clearly showed that it was a planned and coordinated scenario." Western officials charged Belgrade the previous day with instigating the violence (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 24 February 2000). On 24 February, The UN chief in Kosova, Bernard Kouchner, met with Oliver Ivanovic, the leader of the Serbian community in Mitrovica. Ivanovic said after the meeting that he is prepared to talk with the town's ethnic Albanian leaders. PB [14] RED CROSS SAYS NEARLY 3,000 STILL MISSING IN KOSOVATheInternational Red Cross said on 24 February that 2,987 people are unaccounted for in Kosova, AP reported. The majority are ethnic Albanians, but the figure includes some 400 Serbs as well as Roma. Of the total, 1,875 are reported to be held by Yugoslav forces. PB [15] SERBIAN OPPOSITION LEADER CHARGED...Dusan Mihajlovic, leaderof the opposition New Democracy party, was indicted by the Belgrade public prosecutor on 24 February on charges of spreading false information, Beta reported. Mihajlovic said he "publicly expressed my and my party's political stands and it's up to the citizens and the general public to judge them." Mihajlovic faces three years in prison if convicted. He said he expects to be arrested. PB [16] ...WHILE OPPOSITION-RUN TELEVISION STATION FINEDStudio B TVwas fined some $20,000 on 24 February because a guest on a talk show criticized a police investigation, AP reported. The news agency Beta said the fine was imposed because a lawyer from the opposition Serbian Renewal Movement criticized the police investigation of a car crash last October that left four people dead (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 4 October 1999). Studio B is the official television station of the city of Belgrade. PB [17] BOSNIAN SERB LEADER CRITICIZES IDEA OF POWER TRANSFERZivkoRadisic, the Serbian member of the presidency of Bosnia- Herzegovina, said on 24 February that the idea of cantonization "would completely undermine the Dayton peace concept" in Bosnia, Radio Bosnia-Herzegovina reported. Radisic was responding to comments made by several Bosnian- Croat officials the previous day that they are willing to transfer powers of the Muslim-Croatian Federation to a central government. Radisic said he opposes that idea, adding that if some institutions in the entities that make up the federation are "not functioning," it does not mean they should be abolished. The office of the international community's high representative and the current chairman of the Bosnian presidency, Alija Izetbegovic, both said the same day that they support the proposal. Such a change would mean the abolition of the Muslim-Croatian Federation and the Republika Srpska, the two entities that make up Bosnia. PB [18] PETRITSCH MEETS WITH CROATIAN PRESIDENTBosnia's HighRepresentative Wolfgang Petritisch met on 24 February with Stipe Mesic in Zagreb, Croatian Radio reported. Petritsch said he stressed the importance of implementing key points of the 1995 Dayton agreement, particularly the return of refugees. Petritsch said no changes to the agreement can be made until Dayton is fully implemented. Mesic stressed his government's commitment to repatriating the refugees but said Zagreb will need financial aid for this purpose because "homes must be repaired and economic resources activated." PB [19] CROATIAN PARLIAMENT CUTS SALARIES, BUT NOT AS MUCH ASPROMISEDCroatian deputies voted on 24 February to reduce their salaries and those of other government officials by some 27 percent, Croatian Radio reported. The cut was lower than the 40 percent proposed by the cabinet and promised by the winning coalition during the election campaign. Deputies will now receive 12,700 kuna ($1,630) a month--about four times the average salary in Croatia. The president will receive some $3,000 per month and ministers $2,000. A labor union said the parliament's first decision showed "unbelievable selfishness." PB [20] MACEDONIAN PRESIDENT DEFENDS ARMY ALERTBoris Trajkovskisaid on 24 February that he was forced to put his armed forces on higher alert because of "tense movements around southern Serbia," AFP reported. Trajkovski, who is in Vilnius on a two-day visit, said Macedonia had to react to changes in Serbia (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 24 February 2000). PB [21] SLOVENIAN GOVERNMENT IN DANGER OF LOSING MAJORITYThe 24February announcement of a merger between the People's Party and the opposition Christian Democrats is threatening Prime Minister Janez Drnovsek's coalition government, Radio Slovenia reported. The People's Party have 19 seats in the 90-seat parliament, and if it went over to the opposition, the government would have only 30 seats. It has not been announced when the merger of the two parties will take place. Some opposition parties, including the Social Democrats, have said they would support a minority government. PB [22] ALBANIA, MONTENEGRO REOPEN BORDER CROSSINGAlbanian DeputyForeign Minister Pellumb Xhufi and his Montenegrin counterpart, Veselin Sukovic, signed an agreement in Shkoder on 24 February reopening the only border crossing between the two countries, at Hani i Hotit--Bozaj, AP reported. Yugoslav officials closed the crossing three years ago. It was used by tens of thousands of Kosovar Albanians fleeing Serbian troops last year. In other news, the World Bank approved a $10 million loan to Tirana for improve the water supply in the towns of Durres, Fier, Lezhe, and Saranda. PB [23] ROMANIAN MINISTER 'APOLOGIZES' TO PRESIDENT CONSTANTINESCUDemocratic Party Deputy Chairman Traian Basescu told Antena 1Television on 24 February that he is "retracting" what he said about President Emil Constantinescu's alleged involvement in the resignation of Victor Babiuc from the Democratic Party. He added, however, that he continues to believe Constantinescu was involved. Basescu also commented that he should not have said that the National Liberal Party (PNL) had "stolen" the Senate's chairmanship from the Democrats, but rather should have said the post was "taken" from his party, RFE/RL's Bucharest bureau reported. The PNL commented earlier that it would not accept Babiuc's replacement as defense minister until Basescu had apologized. Tension between the Democrats and the PNL continues to mount after PNL National Council Chairman Nicolae Manolescu said on national television on 24 February that the coalition could survive without the Democrats and "it might be better if they left it." MS [24] MAVERICK ROMANIAN SENATOR JOINS OPPOSITION PARTYGeorgePruteanu, who was expelled from the National Peasant Party Christian Democratic (PNTCD) in March 1998 for his opposition to improving the education rights of the Hungarian minority, said on 24 February he has joined the opposition Party of Social Democracy in Romania. Also on 24 February, the PNTCD suffered yet another defection when deputy Lia Galic resigned from its ranks. And former Interior Minister Gavril Dejeu said he is resigning all his positions in the PNTCD but will remain a party member. MS [25] TIMISOARA JEWISH COMMUNITY PROTESTS AGAINST ANTI-SEMITICGRAFFITIRabbi Ernst Neumann of Timisoara on 24 February urged the town's local authorities to take legal action against unidentified individuals who have begun daubing anti- Semitic graffiti and swastikas on city walls and trams over the past month, AP reported. He said he believed this development should be seen against the background of Joerg Haider's success in the Austrian elections. MS [26] GAZPROM HALTS GAS DELIVERIES TO MOLDOVAGazprom on 25February made good its threat to cut gas deliveries to Moldova because of that country's failure to pay its debt accrued since the beginning of this year (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 23 February 2000), Infotag and ITAR-TASS reported. On 24 February, the Moldovan government had urged the population to "stay calm" and pay all utilities bills. MS [27] BULGARIAN PRESIDENT ASKS GHADDAFI TO INTERVENE IN TRIALPetar Stoyanov on 24 February asked his Libyan counterpart,Muammar Ghaddafi, to intervene on behalf of the six Bulgarians facing the death penalty in Libya (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 24 February 2000), BTA reported. Stoyanov offered condolences for the death of children infected with the HIV virus but said he cannot believe his countrymen are guilty of having deliberately "caused such a tragedy." He asked Ghaddafi to "use his influence" to have the 28 February trial postponed to allow Bulgarian lawyers to familiarize themselves with the case and defend the accused. Reuters cited Justice Minister Teodossyi Simeonov as saying he and Prosecutor-General Nikola Filichev will fly to Libya to offer legal assistance to the accused. MS [28] BULGARIA, ROMANIA AGREE ON LOCATION OF NEW DANUBE BRIDGEExperts representing Bulgaria and Romania agreed in Brusselson 23 February that the new bridge over the River Danube will be constructed between Vidin and Calafat. This is the proposal that Bulgaria has favored since talks began. Sofia will cover all the costs of the project, Petko Tabakov, deputy transportation and communications minister, told Bulgarian Radio, according to BTA. Speaking in Vidin one day earlier, President Petar Stoyanov said that "many more bridges" must be built over the river to promote the two countries' bid to become part of European and NATO structures. MS [C] END NOTE[29] CROATIA'S NEW LEADERS LOOK TO FIGHT CORRUPTION AND CRONYISMBy Andrej KrickovicLess that a month has passed since Prime Minister Ivica Racan's government took office. The ministers are already living up to their promises to fight corruption and put an end to the system of cronyism that characterized the rule of the late President Franjo Tudjman and his Croatian Democratic Community (HDZ). Just hours after the new ministers took their oaths, police arrested outgoing Minister of Tourism Ivan Herak on embezzlement charges. A week later, police arrested Croatian businessman Miroslav Kutle, the country's most-famous "tycoon"--a term Croats have adopted to describe the class of newly rich entrepreneurs politically connected to the former regime. In the eyes of many Croats, Kutle is a symbol of the "robber-baron" style of privatization that has left the economy in ruins. is accused of enticing officials at the zdistribution company Tisak to embezzle more than $6 million from the company. Tisak holds a virtual monopoly on print media distribution in Croatia, and with more than $500,000 in gross sales daily, it is one of the country's few cash-cows. Before Kutle bought into the company five years ago, Tisak posted revenues of $2.5 million. Today, the company faces bankruptcy and $30 million in debts. Most of this money was either sucked out through embezzlement scams or is debt that Tisak has had to take over for loans that it backed for Kutle's companies and on which those companies later defaulted. This is only the tip of the iceberg. In its heyday, Kutle's holding company Globus Group owned a controlling interest in more than 176 companies, and his business empire was estimated to be worth more than $500 million. Since then, millions of dollars have disappeared from firms owned by Globus Group, and most of those firms face bankruptcy today. Globus Group itself is nearly $500 million in debt. Kutle's exploits would have been impossible without the help and protection of high-ranking government officials. The party and state leadership directly promoted the rise of Kutle and others like him. In fact, they made this a part of the official HDZ practice. Tudjman believed that the country's wealth should be concentrated in the hands of 100 families politically loyal to his party. Kutle and other "tycoons" used their political connections and membership in the HDZ to acquire shares in state-owned companies. In many cases, these purchases of shares were covered by loans from banks, privatization funds, and other financial institutions that were also in HDZ hands. In return, the tycoons helped to fill ruling party coffers. They also did much of the HDZ's dirty work. During the early 1990s, "Slobodna Dalmacija" was one of the most important voices of opposition and hence an irritation to Tudjman's regime. Under the HDZ's direction, Kutle acquired a controlling interest in the paper. Independent journalists and editors were quickly forced to leave, and "Slobodna Dalmacija" became a regime mouthpiece almost overnight. The party also helped Kutle acquire a controlling interest in Tisak in order to keep the distribution of print media in party hands. These policies, which wreaked havoc on the country's economy, prompted the new government to consider carrying out a revision of the entire privatization process. The tycoons' irresponsible lending policies also led to a banking crisis last year that caused the collapse of a dozen banks. Professor Vladimir Veselica of Zagreb University estimates that nearly $7 billion have been illegally transferred out of the country since 1990. Most experts agree that there is very little chance that even a fraction of these funds will be recovered. During the election campaign, the new government promised to clean up the Augean stables left behind by the HDZ. It will be interesting to see whether the new authorities will be willing to prosecute Kutle's political sponsors in addition to the tycoon himself. For his part, Kutle has claimed that he was carrying out the orders of higher authorities. His testimony may implicate several highly-placed officials from the former government, including former Prime Minister Zlatko Matesa, former Interior Minister Ivan Penic, and Ivic Pasalic, who was the late president's domestic-policy adviser and is the current vice president of the parliament. But it will be difficult for the new authorities to prosecute these people. Many of them enjoy immunity because they are members of the parliament. They will also argue that they are being prosecuted for political reasons. In fact, the new government, which faces a host of pressing economic and social problems, may not want that challenge. Some observers believe the new authorities will be satisfied with Kutle's head and that they will delay or even forgo prosecuting these cases in the interest of social peace and political cohesion. But in the final analysis, the new government may have no choice but to investigate and prosecute. If the authorities are truly committed to establishing the rule of law and ending the system of cronyism that has impoverished the country, they will have to put political considerations aside and pursue the Kutle affair and similar cases--no matter where the trail of guilt may lead. The author is Zagreb-based writer on Balkan affairs. 25-02-00 Reprinted with permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
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