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RFE/RL Newsline, Vol. 4, No. 42, 00-02-29

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty: Newsline Directory - Previous Article - Next Article

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

RFE/RL NEWSLINE

Vol. 4, No. 42, 29 February 2000


CONTENTS

[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA

  • [01] ARMENIAN PRESIDENT ENDORSE NEW CABINET
  • [02] AZERBAIJAN MAKES A PITCH FOR GAS EXPORTS TO TURKEY
  • [03] NORTH OSSETIAN PRESIDENT VISITS GEORGIA
  • [04] GEORGIAN PRESIDENT DENIES CONTACTS WITH TALIBAN
  • [05] GEORGIAN SUPREME COURT REJECTS ELECTIONS APPEAL BY STALIN'S
  • [06] KYRGYZ AUTHORITIES PLEDGE TO PRECLUDE FURTHER POLL
  • [07] ...AS U.S. NOTES FIRST-ROUND FLAWS
  • [08] TAJIK RULING PARTY AHEAD IN PARLIAMENTARY POLL...
  • [09] ...WHILE UN, OSCE CAST DOUBT ON FAIRNESS OF BALLOT

  • [B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE

  • [10] EU BANS VISAS FOR ANOTHER 180 SERBS
  • [11] BILDT SAYS BALKAN PEACE AWAITS CHANGE IN BELGRADE
  • [12] KFOR COMPLETES FOOTBRIDGE IN MITROVICA
  • [13] NATO PLANS MANEUVERS IN KOSOVA
  • [14] MONTENEGRIN-ALBANIAN BORDER REMAINS CLOSED
  • [15] TURKEY INCREASES MILITARY AID TO ALBANIA
  • [16] CROATIAN-SLOVENIAN TALKS BEGIN
  • [17] CROATIAN EX-MINISTER TO STAY IN JAIL
  • [18] ROMANIAN GOVERNMENT APPROVES DRAFT BUDGET
  • [19] MOLDOVAN PREMIER SAYS PREMATURE TO SPEAK OF DEFAULT ON
  • [20] MOLDOVAN PRESIDENT ADDRESSES ISSUE OF DUAL CITIZENSHIP
  • [21] LIBYA POSTPONES TRIAL OF BULGARIANS

  • [C] END NOTE

  • [22] UKRAINE PRESIDENT'S PROPOSED REFERENDUM DRAWS CRITICISM

  • [A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA

    [01] ARMENIAN PRESIDENT ENDORSE NEW CABINET

    Robert Kocharian on

    28 February issued a decree appointing five new cabinet

    ministers, RFE/RL's Yerevan bureau reported. The new

    appointees include two Communists, who will be ministers for

    construction and local government and for social security and

    public health, while a member of the National Democratic

    Union who will be minister for state property. The defense,

    interior, national security, finance and foreign ministers

    retained their posts in the new cabinet, which will have 17

    portfolios instead of the previous 24 (not 16, as was

    erroneously reported in "RFE/RL Newsline," 24 February 2000).

    Contrary to earlier reports, Justice Minister Davit

    Harutiunian also retained his post (see RFE/RL Caucasus

    Report," Vol. 3, No. 8, 25 February 2000). Presidential

    spokesman Vahe Gabrielian told journalists that Kocharian

    hopes that the cabinet changes will contribute to an

    improvement in Armenia's economic situation, Reuters

    reported. LF

    [02] AZERBAIJAN MAKES A PITCH FOR GAS EXPORTS TO TURKEY

    Following

    Turkmen President Saparmurat Niyazov's rejection of

    Azerbaijan's claim to 50 percent of the throughput capacity

    of the proposed Trans-Caspian gas export pipeline, two senior

    Azerbaijan gas sector officials have held talks in Ankara

    with the Turkish state pipeline concern Botas on a possible

    alternative pipeline to export gas from Azerbaijan's Caspian

    Shah-Deniz field to Turkey, Caucasus Press reported on 28

    February. That project would entail rehabilitating an

    existing pipeline in Azerbaijan and extending it via Georgia

    to Turkey. Those exports would begin in late 2002 or early

    2003 with an initial volume of 5 billion cubic meters, rising

    to 16 billion cubic meters per year. Turan on 29 February

    quoted Azerbaijan's President Heidar Aliev as describing

    Niyazov's rejection of Azerbaijan's claim as "not serious."

    Aliev was speaking to reporters at Baku airport late on 28

    February on his return from a visit to the U.S. LF

    [03] NORTH OSSETIAN PRESIDENT VISITS GEORGIA

    Aleksandr Dzasokhov

    held talks with Georgian Minister of State Vazha

    Lortkipanidze and with Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze

    in Tbilisi on 28 February, Caucasus Press and ITAR-TASS

    reported. Issues discussed included measures to preclude

    smuggling from Russia to Georgia via the disputed former

    autonomous oblast of South Ossetia, Moscow's intention to

    impose a visa requirement for Georgians, which Dzasokhov

    termed "a step backward," the possible expansion of the

    proposed TRACECA project to include a highway from Siberia

    and the Urals to the Caucasus, and South Ossetia's future

    status within Georgia. LF

    [04] GEORGIAN PRESIDENT DENIES CONTACTS WITH TALIBAN

    Speaking at

    a press conference in Tbilisi on 28 February, President

    Shevardnadze denied that the Georgian government has any

    relations with the Taliban government in Afghanistan.

    Shevardnadze, who was responding to a question from Interfax,

    said the reason that the Taliban had been discussed at a 25

    February session of Georgia's National Security Council was

    that the Taliban "have a certain influence" on the situation

    in Central Asia. LF

    [05] GEORGIAN SUPREME COURT REJECTS ELECTIONS APPEAL BY STALIN'S

    GRANDSON

    The Supreme Court on 28 February rejected the

    Democratic Union of Georgia's appeal against a ruling by the

    Central Electoral Commission barring Yevgenii Djughashvili

    from contesting the 9 April Georgian presidential election,

    ITAR-TASS reported. That ruling was based on the fact that

    Djughashvili is a citizen of Russia, not of Georgia (see

    "RFE/RL Newsline," 21 and 22 February 2000). LF

    [06] KYRGYZ AUTHORITIES PLEDGE TO PRECLUDE FURTHER POLL

    VIOLATIONS...

    Presidential spokesman Osmonakun Ibraimov told

    journalists in Bishkek on 28 February that Kyrgyz police will

    deal resolutely with any attempts by candidates to bribe

    voters during the second round of voting for a new parliament

    on 12 March, Russian agencies reported. He added that special

    commissions have been created to investigate reports of

    serious procedural violations and report their findings to

    the Central Electoral Commission. Ibraimov also said that

    President Askar Akaev has no plans at present to meet with

    the leaders of the six parties that won representation in the

    new legislature under the party list vote, according to

    Interfax. LF

    [07] ...AS U.S. NOTES FIRST-ROUND FLAWS

    Meanwhile U.S. State

    Department spokesman James Rubin on 28 February expressed

    "concern" over violations during the election campaign,

    including judicial proceedings against some opposition

    candidates and bias in the state-controlled media, dpa

    reported. He called on the Kyrgyz government to ensure that

    "all candidates qualifying for the second round are allowed

    to participate in an unhindered electoral process that is

    free, fair and transparent." In Bishkek on 28 February, the

    president of Kyrgyzstan's National Radio and TV Corporation,

    Amanbek Karypkulov, rejected charges of bias, saying that the

    more than 500 candidates received a total of 2,456 minutes of

    free air time, RFE/RL's Bishkek bureau reported. Karypkulov

    said that opposition El (Bei-Bechara) party leader Daniyar

    Usenov received the largest allocation of free air time. LF

    [08] TAJIK RULING PARTY AHEAD IN PARLIAMENTARY POLL...

    Tajikistan's Central Electoral Commission chairman Mirzoali

    Boltuev said on 28 February that the preliminary vote count

    suggests that the People's Democratic Party of Tajikistan,

    headed by President Imomali Rakhmonov, polled some 70 percent

    of the vote in the previous day's elections to the lower

    chamber of the new parliament, Reuters reported. The

    Communist Party came second and the Islamic Renaissance Party

    third. LF

    [09] ...WHILE UN, OSCE CAST DOUBT ON FAIRNESS OF BALLOT

    A

    spokesman for the UN-OSCE election observation mission said

    in Dushanbe on 28 February that high estimates of voter

    turnout before polling stations closed on 27 February cast

    doubt on the integrity of the poll outcome, Reuters reported.

    The mission noted that "in general, political plurality was

    assured," but it added that "Tajikistan must improve the

    process in order to meet the minimum democratic standards for

    equal, fair, free, secret, transparent and accountable

    elections." Spokesmen for the Communist Party and the Islamic

    Renaissance Party claimed there was widespread vote rigging

    and that party representatives were barred from observing the

    vote at some polling stations. LF


    [B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE

    [10] EU BANS VISAS FOR ANOTHER 180 SERBS

    EU finance and economics

    ministers decided on 28 February in Brussels to add the names

    of 180 Serbian officials to the list of 600 persons currently

    banned from receiving visas for travel to EU countries (see

    "RFE/RL Newsline," 10 February 2000). Many of the 180

    individuals are judges, employees of the state prosecutor's

    office, or officials of state security bodies. EU officials

    said that such individuals have played a key role in

    repression against the opposition and independent media,

    RFE/RL's South Slavic Service reported. The ministers also

    gave final approval to lifting the ban on civilian flights to

    and from Serbia. Yugoslavia's JAT airlines recently resumed

    flights to Switzerland. Many western European airlines plan

    to resume flights in approximately one month, when the summer

    season begins. PM

    [11] BILDT SAYS BALKAN PEACE AWAITS CHANGE IN BELGRADE

    Carl

    Bildt, who is UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan's special envoy

    to the Balkans, told the Security Council on 28 February that

    regional peace efforts are at best a "holding operation" as

    long as Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic remains in

    power. Bildt stressed that there can be no peace settlement

    without Serbia but that the international community cannot

    legally negotiate with a regime headed by indicted war

    criminals, Reuters reported. "We must actively seek change,

    we must meet the provocations that are there and will come

    further, and we must actively try to prevent existing

    tensions from boiling over into open conflict.... As long as

    there is no change of regime in Belgrade, [Serbia and

    Montenegro] are set on a somewhat slow but very steady

    collision course," Bildt added. PM

    [12] KFOR COMPLETES FOOTBRIDGE IN MITROVICA

    NATO peacekeepers on

    28 February finished work on a footbridge linking a mainly

    ethnic Albanian neighborhood on the southern bank of the Ibar

    River with three high-rise apartment buildings on the

    northern, Serbian-held bank. KFOR plans to resettle there an

    unspecified number of Albanians who have fled their homes in

    northern Mitrovica. Local Serbs protested the construction of

    the bridge. Serbian leader Oliver Ivanovic called it a

    "cosmetic undertaking" and "an indication that NATO is

    helping the Albanian side and doesn't want to do anything for

    the Serbs," AP reported. The existing bridge across the Ibar

    has been the focal point of tensions between Serbs and

    Albanians. PM

    [13] NATO PLANS MANEUVERS IN KOSOVA

    Officials of the Atlantic

    alliance said in Brussels on 28 February that some 2,000

    troops will take part in exercises named "Dynamic Response

    2000" in Kosova from 19 March to 10 April. A spokesman told

    Reuters that the maneuvers have "been in the planning for

    many, many months" and are not linked to recent clashes in

    Mitrovica. Soldiers from Argentina, The Netherlands, Italy,

    the U.S., Poland, and Romania will take part. PM

    [14] MONTENEGRIN-ALBANIAN BORDER REMAINS CLOSED

    "Vesti" reported

    on 29 February that the Yugoslav army has closed the border

    crossing at Bozaj and that "not even a bird" can cross (see

    "RFE/RL Newsline," 28 February 2000). There is considerable

    military activity in the border region and soldiers have set

    up a checkpoint some 5 kilometers from the frontier on the

    road leading to Albania, the daily added. The troops have

    "forbidden" even the local border traffic that was allowed to

    continue since 1997, when the frontier was officially closed

    during the anarchy that swept Albania. Army officials say

    that the military are carrying out only "normal duties,"

    "Vesti" reported. PM

    [15] TURKEY INCREASES MILITARY AID TO ALBANIA

    Turkish Prime

    Minister Bulent Ecevit said in Tirana on 28 February that his

    country will provide $39 million in aid to the Albanian

    military through the end of 2004. He told a press conference

    that "since we know very well the contribution of Albania to

    Balkan stability, we have paid particular attention to

    helping strengthen its army," AP reported. Among the projects

    that Turkey finances are arming the Republican Guard,

    training special forces, rebuilding the Pashaliman naval

    base, and modernizing the arms factory at Polican. Turkey has

    provided $41 million in military aid to Albania since 1991.

    Ecevit is accompanied by about 60 businessmen and

    journalists. PM

    [16] CROATIAN-SLOVENIAN TALKS BEGIN

    Members of the foreign

    affairs committees of the Slovenian and Croatian parliaments

    began talks in Ljubljana on 28 February aimed at resolving

    outstanding bilateral problems "in keeping with European

    norms," RFE/RL's South Slavic Service. Topics on the agenda

    include delimiting the maritime frontier in the Gulf of

    Piran, sharing the costs and benefits of the Krsko nuclear

    facility, and ratifying a proposed agreement on local border

    traffic. This is the first such meeting since the new

    Croatian parliament was elected in January. PM

    [17] CROATIAN EX-MINISTER TO STAY IN JAIL

    The Pula county court

    ruled on 28 February that former Tourism Minister Ivan Herak

    must remain in prison for at least another month while

    officials prepare charges against him (see "RFE/RL Newsline,"

    28 January 2000). Police arrested him on 27 January just

    hours after the new government took office. Charges against

    him include embezzlement and misuse of office. PM

    [18] ROMANIAN GOVERNMENT APPROVES DRAFT BUDGET

    The cabinet on 28

    February approved the draft budget for 2000, Romanian radio

    reported the next day. That draft provides for a deficit

    equal to 3 percent of GDP and foresees 1.3 percent economic

    growth as well as inflation being halved, to 27 percent. Also

    on 28 February, the Chamber of Deputies voted by 188 to 86

    with three abstentions to reject the opposition Party of

    Romanian National Unity's motion to debate the situation in

    the education sector. Education Minister Andrei Marga said

    the motion no longer has any relevance, since the draft

    budget allocates 4 percent of GDP to education, as required

    by law. The previous day, Marga said he is withdrawing his

    resignation in view of the 4 percent allocation and to comply

    with Prime Minister Mugur Isarescu's request that he do so.

    MS

    [19] MOLDOVAN PREMIER SAYS PREMATURE TO SPEAK OF DEFAULT ON

    FOREIGN DEBT

    In an interview with the Russian daily

    "Izvestiya" on 28 February, Dumitru Braghis said "it is

    premature to speak about Moldova defaulting on its foreign

    debt," Infotag reported. Bragis said that tax collection has

    improved and that in February "we are expecting 150 million

    lei (some $12 million) in revenues to the state budget." He

    acknowledged, however, that Moldova will find it difficult to

    meet foreign and domestic debt arrears, saying that this

    month some 126 million lei in budget funds must be disbursed.

    MS

    [20] MOLDOVAN PRESIDENT ADDRESSES ISSUE OF DUAL CITIZENSHIP

    Petru

    Lucinschi told journalists on 25 February that he does not

    rule out calling a referendum on the issue of dual

    citizenship if the presidency and the parliament do not reach

    agreement on this issue, Flux reported. Lucinschi noted that

    negotiations are under way with Romania and Russia to

    "identify a solution" to this problem, but he added that "the

    consequences must be carefully considered." He said Moldova's

    "statehood" might be endangered if a considerable proportion

    of its citizens hold citizenship of another country as well.

    On 23 February, Lucinschi submitted to the parliament a bill

    that would allow double citizenship only if obtained by

    birth, marriage, or bilateral agreements with other states.

    MS

    [21] LIBYA POSTPONES TRIAL OF BULGARIANS

    Libya has agreed to

    postpone until 3 April the trial of the six Bulgarians

    accused of willfully infecting children with the HIV virus,

    Reuters reported on 28 February, citing Bulgarian state

    radio. The defendants' Libyan lawyer requested that

    postponement so that he can study the 1,600-page indictment.

    President Petar Stoyanov welcomed the decision, calling it "a

    move of good will that will help find out the truth." The six

    Bulgarians will be tried in a special court under laws that

    include elements of the Muslim Sharia law. According to dpa,

    the six are also accused of prostitution, consuming alcohol

    and drug trafficking, and committing adultery. MS


    [C] END NOTE

    [22] UKRAINE PRESIDENT'S PROPOSED REFERENDUM DRAWS CRITICISM

    By Lily Hyde

    Ukrainians might have an unprecedented chance in April

    to express both their lack of faith in a split parliament and

    their confidence in the newly re-elected president.

    A national referendum, called by President Leonid Kuchma

    last month, is due to ask voters if they agree to express no

    confidence in the parliament. If approved by the public, six

    major changes to the constitution would strip parliamentary

    deputies of their immunity from prosecution and create a

    second chamber of the parliament. Those amendments would also

    allow the president to dismiss the legislature if a majority

    is not formed within one month of elections or if a budget is

    not passed within three months.

    Recent opinion polls indicate Ukrainians will approve

    all six points if the referendum goes ahead.

    Kuchma has said he hopes the proposed changes will end

    the years-long stalemate between the parliament and the

    presidency. But opponents say he is trying to impose rule by

    Ukraine's oligarchs--a small group of extremely wealthy

    individuals who are said to use their seats in the parliament

    and stakes in the media to further their own ends. Opponents

    also say that the referendum would violate the constitution

    and would allow the quick passage of far-reaching legislation

    ostensibly endorsed by the electorate.

    Those arguing that the referendum is unconstitutional

    say that, under the law, the president can call a direct

    popular vote on constitutional changes only after the

    parliament has approved the proposals. The only relevant law,

    dating back to 1991, says a referendum can be called only by

    parliament.

    Those concerns have been echoed in a letter sent to

    Kuchma by the president of the council's Parliamentary

    Assembly, Russell Johnston, and in the comments of two

    assembly rapporteurs who visited Ukraine two weeks ago. At

    the time, rapporteur Hanne Severinsen told journalists in

    Kyiv that Kuchma had not been very sympathetic to their

    concerns.

    "We are very concerned in the Council of Europe what

    influence this referendum will have for the democracy of

    Ukraine, " she said. "The president of our assembly launched

    an appeal two weeks ago to your president not to continue

    with the referendum if it is not in accordance with the

    ruling of the Venice Commission [the council's chief legal

    consultative body]. Unfortunately we have got no promise. On

    the contrary, Kuchma said he would not follow this advice."

    The Council of Europe's Venice Commission is due to

    issue a report on the referendum at the beginning of April,

    only two weeks before the vote is scheduled. At the same

    time, more than 100 Ukrainian deputies have appealed to the

    country's Constitutional Court to rule on the referendum's

    legality. Kuchma has said that he will respect the court's

    ruling.

    The proposed referendum has prompted comparison with

    Belarus, where President Alyaksandr Lukashenka used a direct

    popular vote to disband the parliament and extend his term in

    office. Belarus was then an associate member of the 41-nation

    Council of Europe, which asked Minsk not to carry out the

    referendum after the Venice Commission had found it

    undemocratic. Lukashenka refused, and Belarus lost its

    associative status.

    By contrast, Moldova--a Council of Europe member--sought

    to carry out a similar referendum but later heeded the

    council's advice and cancelled the vote.

    Severinsen said she does not want Ukraine to go down the

    same path as Belarus, which under Lukashenka has one of the

    poorest human-rights records in Europe: "We don't like to

    compare the situations, but there are some similarities [to

    Belarus] and we think therefore it's very important for

    [Ukraine] that what the Venice Commission is saying about

    legality is also followed, so we don't run the risk of having

    a referendum that is unconstitutional."

    The Council of Europe has some leverage if Kuchma

    refuses to heed a Venice Commission ruling against the

    referendum. Since Ukraine joined the organization in 1995,

    the council has threatened to suspend Ukraine's membership

    several times because Kyiv has not fulfilled many of its

    obligations as a member. This time, it could carry out the

    suspension threat.

    One of Kuchma's arguments for holding the referendum is

    that the long-standing conflict between the president and the

    parliament--where leftist deputies have blocked all

    government-sponsored draft laws--has to be resolved.

    But the mere proposal of the referendum, which Kuchma

    characterized as "an axe hanging over the head" of lawmakers,

    may have already broken the deadlock in parliament. After

    Kuchma called for the referendum, the parliament formed a

    pro-government majority. Some lawmakers have already dubbed

    that breakthrough Ukraine's "velvet revolution."

    The author is an RFE/RL correspondent based in Kyiv.

    29-02-00


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


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