RFE/RL Newsline, Vol. 4, No. 71, 00-04-10

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. 71, 10 April 2000

CONTENTS

[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA

[01] AZERBAIJAN'S SOCAR TO RESUME OIL EXPORTS

[02] ALIEV, NAZARBAEV HOPE FOR CIS IMPROVEMENTS

[03] TURKIC SUMMIT CALLS FOR COOPERATION ON OIL, CRIME

[04] TURKIC COUNTRIES MARK 1300TH ANNIVERSARY OF LITERARY MONUMENT

[05] SHEVARDNADZE OVERWHELMINGLY WINS SECOND TERM

[06] VIOLATIONS MAR GEORGIAN VOTE

[07] GEORGIA SEEKS EXPANDED OSCE PRESENCE ON CHECHEN BORDER

[08] KAZAKHSTAN TO INCREASE PRODUCTION, EXPORT GAS VIA RUSSIA,

[09] KAZAKHSTAN'S GDP UP 7 PERCENT IN FIRST QUARTER

[10] KAZAKHSTAN'S NAZARBAEV PROMISES HELP FOR UZBEKISTAN

[11] KYRGYZSTAN FEARS FURTHER DESTABILIZATION IN SOUTH

[12] CIS SECURITY TREATY GROUP MEETS IN TAJIKISTAN

[13] UN CLOSES OFFICE IN NORTHERN TAJIKISTAN

[14] U.S. FBI DIRECTOR IN TASHKENT

[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE

[15] CROATS, SERBS CHOOSE NATIONALISTS IN BOSNIAN VOTE...

[16] ...WHILE BOSNIAN MUSLIMS TURN TO SOCIAL DEMOCRATS

[17] POLITICAL CRISIS IN SLOVENIA

[18] IS WASHINGTON SEEKING TIES TO MILOSEVIC?

[19] U.S. DISCIPLINES CIA EMPLOYEES OVER BELGRADE EMBASSY BOMBING

[20] JOURNALISTS DEMAND RESULTS OF SERBIAN MURDER PROBE

[21] FRENCH SEPARATE CROWDS IN MITROVICA

[22] CROATIA AGREES TO EXAMINATION OF MASS GRAVE

[23] CROATIA ONE STEP CLOSER TO NATO

[24] STRIKE EXPANDS IN CROATIA

[25] MOLDOVAN POLITICIANS DISMISS 'REPUBLIC' PROPOSALS

[26] MOLDOVA, RUSSIA SIGN DEBT RESCHEDULING

[27] BULGARIAN POLICE ARREST SUSPECT IN MURDER OF LUKANOV

[28] BULGARIA WANTS COMMON INFORMATION STRATEGY FOR EU CANDIDATES

[29] BULGARIA URGES EU TO APPOINT CHIEF NEGOTIATOR

[C] END NOTE

[30] MONTENEGRO TO EXPAND ITS DIPLOMATIC PRESENCE ABROAD

[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA

[01] AZERBAIJAN'S SOCAR TO RESUME OIL EXPORTS

company will resume oil exports next week via the Baku-

Novorossiisk pipeline. It plans to export approximately 2 million

tons of oil by that route this year. So far this year, however,

SOCAR has used this route for only three days in mid-January,

pumping approximately 7,000 tons of oil. Meanwhile, SOCAR

President Natik Aliev said that Baku does not look to Iran as a

major market for selling its gas. He suggested that Turkmenistan

would dominate that export sector. PG

[02] ALIEV, NAZARBAEV HOPE FOR CIS IMPROVEMENTS

Azerbaijani President Heidar Aliev and Kazakhstan President

Nursultan Nazarbaev said that they hope the election of Vladimir

Putin as president of Russia will make the CIS "a more efficient"

body, Interfax reported. Aliev noted that the CIS has so far

failed to live up to expectations. PG

[03] TURKIC SUMMIT CALLS FOR COOPERATION ON OIL, CRIME

presidents of Turkey, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Azerbaijan as

well as the parliamentary speakers of Turkmenistan and

Uzbekistan--met in Baku on 8 April for their annual summit, ITAR-

TASS reported. They agreed to work more closely to export raw

materials, particularly oil, and to fight crime and international

terrorism. Azerbaijani President Aliev said that this sixth

Turkic summit (the first was in 1992) will help boost trade,

economic, and cultural ties among the six. PG

[04] TURKIC COUNTRIES MARK 1300TH ANNIVERSARY OF LITERARY MONUMENT

April to mark the 1300th anniversary of the Turkic epic Kitab-i

Dede Qorqut, generally considered to be the first literary

monument in Turkic, ITAR-TASS reported. The original manuscript

is in Dresden, Germany, but Azerbaijan was recently given a

facsimile copy. PG

[05] SHEVARDNADZE OVERWHELMINGLY WINS SECOND TERM

year term as Georgian president in the 9 April elections. He

received more than 80 percent of the vote, with his nearest

competitor, Dzhumber Patiashvili, garnering only 16 percent.

Turnout was reported at 70 percent. Shevardnadze's victory came

after two of his opponents, including Adjari's Aslan Abashidze,

withdrew at the last moment. The day before the vote, Russian

President-elect Vladimir Putin telephoned Shevardnadze to wish

him luck, ITAR-TASS reported on 8 April. PG

[06] VIOLATIONS MAR GEORGIAN VOTE

Patiashvili said that there were numerous violations of the

electoral law, a charge the Georgian Central Election Commission

denied on 9 April. But at least some of the 150 foreign observers

also noted violations. One, OSCE representative Hans Gutbod, was

ejected from a polling station in Western Georgia when he

attempted to investigate ballot box stuffing and other violations

of the law, ITAR-TASS reported. PG

[07] GEORGIA SEEKS EXPANDED OSCE PRESENCE ON CHECHEN BORDER

Tbilisi would like the OSCE to expand its presence on the

Georgian-Chechen border. Tbilisi is concerned that with the

coming of spring, Chechen fighters will cross the mountains into

Georgia. Currently, the OSCE has 12 observers there, ITAR-TASS

reported. PG

[08] KAZAKHSTAN TO INCREASE PRODUCTION, EXPORT GAS VIA RUSSIA,

Kazakhoil President Nurlan Balgimbaev announced on 9 April that

his company may double production over the next two years and is

considering exporting natural gas to Turkey via both Russia and

Azerbaijan. To handle these increased exports, he said,

Kazakhstan is vitally interested in the construction of a new

pipeline to the West. PG

[09] KAZAKHSTAN'S GDP UP 7 PERCENT IN FIRST QUARTER

compared with the same period in 1999, Interfax-Kazakhstan

reported on 7 April. PG

[10] KAZAKHSTAN'S NAZARBAEV PROMISES HELP FOR UZBEKISTAN

country will regard actions directed against Uzbekistan as

actions directed against Kazakhstan and will do what it can to

oppose terrorism in the Central Asian region, Interfax reported.

He said that he has information that extremists "operating under

the cover of religion" plan to try to destabilize Uzbekistan.

Meanwhile, Kazakhstan officials again denied any involvement with

a truck allegedly carrying radioactive materials, Reuters

reported on 8 April. PG

[11] KYRGYZSTAN FEARS FURTHER DESTABILIZATION IN SOUTH

ITAR-TASS on 8 April that "the danger of a new aggravation of the

situation in the south of the country and of a new attack by

international terrorists from outside are real." He said that "we

know for sure that international terrorists are being trained in

special camps in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and some other countries.

They are buying weapons and combat equipment, including transport

means." And he called for regional cooperation to "do everything

for the physical destruction of terrorists who pose a serious

threat not only to Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, but to the entire

Central Asian region." PG

[12] CIS SECURITY TREATY GROUP MEETS IN TAJIKISTAN

Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Armenia, and Tajikistan met in Dushanbe

on 8-9 April, ITAR-TASS reported. Russian Security Council

Secretary Sergei Ivanov told the group that they must work

together to fight the spread of narcotics, illegal migration, and

terrorism. He added that he cannot rule out "pre-emptive strikes"

against terrorist groups in Afghanistan. His comments were echoed

by Tajikistan President Imomali Rakhmonov, who welcomed the group

to his country. PG

[13] UN CLOSES OFFICE IN NORTHERN TAJIKISTAN

northern part of the country on 7 April, ITAR-TASS reported.

Earlier, the mission had shut down its offices in the south. The

mission is slated to complete its work in Tajikistan before 15

May. PG

[14] U.S. FBI DIRECTOR IN TASHKENT

Investigation, visited Tashkent on 8-9 April for discussions on

cooperation in the fight against crime and terrorism not only in

Uzbekistan but in Central Asia as a whole, ITAR-TASS reported. He

reportedly will discuss how the U.S. can cooperate in

Uzbekistan's struggle "against extremism and religious

fanaticism," the Russian news agency reported. PG

[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE

[15] CROATS, SERBS CHOOSE NATIONALISTS IN BOSNIAN VOTE...

April municipal and local elections. Voters in some areas had

difficulty finding polling stations, but international observers

said that the vote was generally free and fair and without

serious incident. Preliminary returns suggest that the

nationalist Croatian Democratic Community (HDZ) won in all

predominantly Croatian areas. Radovan Karadzic's Serbian

Democratic Party (SDS) has "swept" most areas in the Republika

Srpska, "Vesti" reported on 10 April. Some observers said that

the large vote for the SDS reflected many Serbs' anger over the

recent arrest of prominent politician Momcilo Krajisnik and his

deportation to The Hague (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 7 April 2000).

Spokesmen for Prime Minister Milorad Dodik's Independent Social

Democrats told Reuters that they are confident that their party

will finish second in the Republika Srpska. Former President

Biljana Plavsic's Serbian People's League and the Socialists

appear headed for a "real catastrophe," "Vesti" reported. PM

[16] ...WHILE BOSNIAN MUSLIMS TURN TO SOCIAL DEMOCRATS

Party of Democratic Action (SDA) and gave the Social Democrats

control of up to 20 municipalities, including Sarajevo, Tuzla,

Bihac, and Gorazde. A spokesman for the SDA conceded losing a

majority in only six municipalities, VOA's Croatian Service

reported. Several representatives of the international community,

including U.S. Ambassador to Bosnia Thomas Miller, hailed the

Social Democrats' gains as the start of a "new era" in which

voters will increasingly opt for issue-oriented, civic-based

parties rather than nationalist ones based on ethnicity. Social

Democratic leader Zlatko Lagumdzija called the election results

the "biggest change since the [1995] Dayton" peace agreements. He

added that "Bosnia has risen to its feet." Complete election

results are expected in the course of 10 April. PM

[17] POLITICAL CRISIS IN SLOVENIA

April, ending his eight years in office (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 7

April 2000). One observer said that the result is Slovenia's

biggest political crisis since independence in 1991, AP reported.

Marjan Podobnik, who heads the conservative People's Party, asked

his party colleague Franci Demsar to try to put together a right-

of-center government. Such a cabinet is expected to consist of

the People's Party, the Christian Democrats, and the rightist

Social Democrats, but they will lack a majority without the

support of the far-right National Party of Zmago Jelincic.

Jelincic has said that he will support Demsar only in return for

the Interior Ministry portfolio. President Milan Kucan must call

elections for no later than mid-July if Demsar fails to form a

government within 30 days. PM

[18] IS WASHINGTON SEEKING TIES TO MILOSEVIC?

bargaining going on at the moment" between Washington and

Belgrade. The Yugoslav government of President Slobodan Milosevic

wants to overcome its isolation. The U.S. State Department hopes

to restore diplomatic ties to Belgrade in order to be better

informed about what is happening inside Serbia, the British

weekly added. The U.S. also concerned about expanding links

between Serbia and China (see "RFE/RL South Slavic Report," 16

and 23 March 2000). Russia and Greece acted as intermediaries in

setting up contacts between the U.S. and Serbia, the newspaper

noted. PM

[19] U.S. DISCIPLINES CIA EMPLOYEES OVER BELGRADE EMBASSY BOMBING

connection with the bombing by U.S. aircraft of the Chinese

embassy in Belgrade on 7 May 1999, AP reported on 9 April. U.S.

officials claim that the bombing was a mistake and the result of

faulty intelligence information. PM

[20] JOURNALISTS DEMAND RESULTS OF SERBIAN MURDER PROBE

statement on 9 April in which it demanded that the Yugoslav

Interior Ministry publish the results of its investigations into

the murder of Slavko Curuvija. Unidentified gunmen killed the

publisher of the banned daily "Telegraf" and weekly "Evropljanin"

on 11 April 1999 in Belgrade after a pro-Milosevic newspaper

accused him of supporting NATO air strikes. PM

[21] FRENCH SEPARATE CROWDS IN MITROVICA

from crossing into primarily Albanian southern Mitrovica on 9

April. The Serbs were upset over a previous incident in which

three ethnic Albanian employees of the OSCE crossed into northern

Mitrovica and took photos. The Serbs were also concerned about

large crowds forming on the Albanian side in conjunction with a

soccer game. In a separate development, a Serb who escaped arrest

by U.S. peacekeepers in southern Kosova the previous week turned

himself in (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 5 April 2000). Local Serbs

accused U.S. forces of "blackmail" by allegedly withholding

escorts for Serbian convoys through Albanian areas until the man

surrendered, Reuters reported. PM

[22] CROATIA AGREES TO EXAMINATION OF MASS GRAVE

crimes tribunal permission to examine a reported mass grave of

ethnic Serbs in the Gospic area. The Serbs are believed to have

been killed by Croatian nationalists in 1991 solely on the basis

of their ethnicity. PM

[23] CROATIA ONE STEP CLOSER TO NATO

told Croatian parliamentary speaker Zlatko Tomcic in Zagreb on 10

April that Croatia has been admitted to the assembly as an

observer. PM

[24] STRIKE EXPANDS IN CROATIA

protest for back wages by blocking roads in the Vrbovec area. The

protest action began several days ago. Union representatives said

in Zagreb on 10 April that workers will block the Zagreb-Budapest

railway line at two unnamed places if they do not receive their

wages by mid-day. Workers told "Jutarnji list" that they must

continue their protest because "people are hungry." PM

[25] MOLDOVAN POLITICIANS DISMISS 'REPUBLIC' PROPOSALS

rejected recent proposals by the Republic movement on how to

solve Transdniester problems as "purely provocative," Infotag

reported (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 7 April 2000). Presidential

spokesman Anatol Golea said on 7 April that the head of state is

open to any suggestions that do not contravene the constitution,

which stipulates that Moldova is a neutral state. Golea said

Republic's proposal is just one of many "extravagant" suggestions

that have been made public recently. VG

[26] MOLDOVA, RUSSIA SIGN DEBT RESCHEDULING

Moldova has signed an agreement with Russia to reschedule

Moldova's $122 million state debt for 20 years with a five-year

pardon period and an interest rate of 7.5 percent, BASA-Press

reported. He said the two sides also initialed an agreement on

the delivery of Russian gas, which is to be signed in two weeks.

In other news, former Prime Minister Ion Sturza has said that he

had "a relationship" with the former Soviet KGB between 1983 and

1990, when he worked in institutions connected to foreign

relations, Infotag reported. VG

[27] BULGARIAN POLICE ARREST SUSPECT IN MURDER OF LUKANOV

connection with the 1996 murder of Andrei Lukanov, who was a top

Socialist Party member. The Ukrainian citizen, Aleksandr Russov,

is the sixth suspect to be arrested in connection with the murder

of Lukanov. VG

[28] BULGARIA WANTS COMMON INFORMATION STRATEGY FOR EU CANDIDATES

that the countries aspiring to EU membership should adopt a

common information strategy to publicize the challenges involved

in joining the EU and to clarify their political positions and

strategies, AP reported. Mihailova made her proposal at a

conference in Sofia that was attended by delegates from countries

striving for EU membership. VG

[29] BULGARIA URGES EU TO APPOINT CHIEF NEGOTIATOR

country is concerned about the fact that the EU has yet to

appoint a chief negotiator for membership talks with Bulgaria,

Reuters reported. The official said it could be another two or

three months before the EU appoints a negotiator, which, he

argued, "is too slow." He added that the country fears that the

delay will "not have a positive effect on the talks." VG

[C] END NOTE

[30] MONTENEGRO TO EXPAND ITS DIPLOMATIC PRESENCE ABROAD

The Montenegrin leadership has been prudently pursuing a

political framework that will enable it to develop its own

democracy and economy. It is now preparing to gradually extend

its activities on the diplomatic front.

Last year, Podgorica proposed a concrete set of measures for

redefining the terms of the federation with Serbia. It soon

became clear that Belgrade was not willing to talk seriously and

was more interested in undermining the leadership of President

Milo Djukanovic through local Milosevic supporters, the military,

and an economic blockade. Podgorica consequently continued with

its gradualist approach toward what will certainly be all but

independence.

The gradualism is the result of a variety of considerations.

First, Djukanovic and his team know what is possible and what is

not. They know that they need the economic, political,

diplomatic, and perhaps military support of the EU and U.S. if

they are to succeed. Brussels and Washington, however, have made

it clear that they do not relish the prospect of the further

disintegration of the former Yugoslavia. Instead, they want

Montenegro to stay within Yugoslavia and support the cause of

democracy in Serbia.

The Montenegrin leaders are under no illusions about what

they can do for Serbia. They have said repeatedly and publicly

that only the Serbs can reform and regenerate Serbia. But as long

as the international community frowns upon Montenegrin

independence, Djukanovic speaks of a referendum on the subject

only in vague terms as something for the future.

A second reason why he does not press ahead is that he does

not have the strong domestic support for independence that

Slovenia's Milan Kucan and Croatia's Franjo Tudjman had in 1991.

The key issue is that there has never been a clear consensus

among Montenegrins as to whether they are a distinct, separate

people or a special branch of the Serbian nation. This problem

has bedeviled Montenegrin politics since the 19th century and

will not be resolved soon. It is the basic question that

underlies the current dispute with Belgrade.

Thus it is not surprising that Djukanovic won the presidency

in late 1997 with barely half the vote. He defeated the pro-

Milosevic Momir Bulatovic only with the support of the Muslim and

Albanian minorities. Public opinion polls suggest that there is

still no clear backing for independence, despite two years of

provocations by Bulatovic's followers and by pro-Milosevic

activities by the army.

Bulatovic knows that and has sought to shore up his

position. He and his supporters have sought to make political

capital out of the fact that Djukanovic needed minority votes to

get elected. The pro-Milosevic camp has also cynically noted

cases of corruption and mafia-like activities among Djukanovic's

backers, knowing full well that the two camps had not yet

separated at the start of the Wars of the Yugoslav Succession in

1991 and both profited handsomely from sanctions-busting in the

following years.

Milosevic's supporters have also sought to consolidate their

backing among the "clans" and other people in the northern and

mountainous territories that were added to the historical

Montenegrin kingdom during or after 1878. People in this area

tend to support union with Serbia.

But not all matters are black and white. Djukanovic told

"RFE/RL Balkan Report" in Prague in October 1999 that opinion in

the north is changing and that, in any case, "we have things

under control." In the long run, Podgorica is counting on growing

support for its policies as voters increasingly come to perceive

the link with Milosevic's Serbia as detrimental to Montenegro's

and to their own personal economic interests.

In the meantime, Djukanovic has been taking concrete steps.

In November 1999, he introduced the German mark as a parallel

currency to the Yugoslav dinar to guard Montenegro against

exported inflation from Serbia. He and his lieutenants frequently

go abroad and make their views known to the international media.

His latest move is to expand Montenegro's fledgling

diplomatic presence. His backers argue that Montenegro has the

oldest tradition of statehood of any country in today's Balkans

and that the demise of the Montenegrin kingdom at the end of

World War I does not change previous history. They say it is only

natural for Montenegro to have its own representatives abroad, as

do, for example, many U.S. or German federal states.

On 6 April, Foreign Minister Branko Lukovac was even more

blunt. He charged that Belgrade's "diplomatic network does not

serve the interests of [Montenegro]. Since Montenegro has great

need for international cooperation and since the world is

interested in supporting Montenegro to help it develop, we must

establish our own state bodies and a network abroad."

Podgorica already has missions in Washington, London,

Ljubljana, and Brussels. Lukovac now wants to add New York,

Moscow, Skopje, and Sarajevo to the list. And certainly an office

in the Zagreb of President Stipe Mesic and Prime Minister Ivica

Racan cannot be far off. Lukovac stressed that "we are also

interested in establishing the best possible relations with

Croatia."

The main issue on the agenda for Zagreb-Podgorica relations

involves Croatia's Prevlaka peninsula, which controls the

entrance to Montenegro's Kotor Bay. Located there is the Yugoslav

navy's only deep-water base. Podgorica has suggested that

Montenegro and Croatia should quickly solve the problem between

themselves, since Belgrade has shown little interest in doing so.

So far, Zagreb has dealt with the federal government. That may

not be the case for long.

10-04-00

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

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