RFE/RL Newsline, Vol. 4, No. 86, 00-05-03

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RFE/RL NEWSLINE

Vol. 4, No. 86, 3 May 2000

CONTENTS

[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA

[01] ARMENIAN PREMIER DISCUSSES ECONOMIC COOPERATION IN MOSCOW

[02] ARMENIAN MILITARY PROSECUTOR ORDERED TO CONTINUE PARLIAMENT

[03] ARMENIAN PARLIAMENT MAJORITY SHELVES IMPEACHMENT OPTION

[04] ARMENIAN, TURKISH UNIVERSITIES SIGN LANDMARK AGREEMENT

[05] KARABAKH PROSECUTOR GIVES DETAILS OF ASSASSINATION BID

[06] POLICE USE FORCE TO BREAK UP DEMONSTRATION IN AZERBAIJAN...

[07] ...ARREST OPPOSITION LEADERS

[08] AZERBAIJAN AIMS TO DEEPEN COOPERATION WITH NATO

[09] AZERBAIJAN, GEORGIA, TURKEY CONCLUDE LEGAL FRAMEWORK FOR OIL

[10] GEORGIAN PRESIDENT INAUGURATED

[11] KAZAKH STRIKERS PLAN PROTEST MARCH

[12] ISSUE OF KAZAKH OPPOSITION NEWSPAPER CONFISCATED

[13] KYRGYZ PICKET PARTICIPANTS ARRESTED

[14] OSCE OFFICIAL MEETS WITH KYRGYZ OPPOSITION

[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE

[15] COHEN, CLARK WARN KOSOVARS

[16] SECURITY COUNCIL CHIEF SLAMS RUSSIAN, CHINESE DIPLOMATS

[17] SERBIAN WORKERS HOLD PROTESTS...

[18] ...WHILE REGIME CELEBRATES IN BAMBI PARK

[19] OSCE DENIES ALBANIAN OPPOSITION'S CHARGE OF BIAS

[20] CROATIAN ADMISSION TO PARTNERSHIP FOR PEACE IMMINENT?

[21] TUDJMAN'S PARTY PICKS NEW LEADER

[22] PARLIAMENT TO VOTE THIRD TIME ON PRIME MINISTER

[23] IMF DELEGATION EXTENDS ROMANIAN STAY

[24] BULGARIAN PRESIDENT PROMULGATES LAW ON COMMUNIST REGIME'S

[25] BULGARIA REACTS TO MACEDONIAN PREMIER'S INTERVIEW

[C] END NOTE

[26] ROMANIA, MOLDOVA CONCLUDE PROBLEMATIC BASIC TREATY

[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA

[01] ARMENIAN PREMIER DISCUSSES ECONOMIC COOPERATION IN MOSCOW

a two-day working visit to Moscow that he had reached

agreement during talks with Russian First Deputy Prime

Minister Mikhail Kasyanov on increased Russian investment in

Armenia's stagnating industrial sector, ITAR-TASS reported.

Also discussed were cooperation in the energy sector and

Armenia's outstanding debts to Russia for supplies of nuclear

fuel to the Medzamor nuclear power station. No details were

divulged of Sargsian's meeting with Russian Defense Minister

Igor Sergeev. Kasyanov for his part told journalists in

Moscow on 28 April that "it is too early" to discuss the

possibility of Armenia's accession to the Union State of

Russia and Belarus (see "RFE/RL Caucasus Report," Vol. 3, No.

16, 21 April 2000). He added that Armenia's accession to that

union would necessitate "mutual concessions." LF

[02] ARMENIAN MILITARY PROSECUTOR ORDERED TO CONTINUE PARLIAMENT

Armenian Prosecutor-General Boris

Nazarian on 28 April rejected a request

by Military Procurator Gagik Jahangirian to take over the

conduct of the investigation into the 27 October Armenian

parliament shootings, RFE/RL's Yerevan bureau reported. In a

written statement, Nazarian said that the investigating team

headed by Jahangirian "has not violated any provision of the

Armenian code of criminal justice" and that "all

[Jahangirian's] actions and petitions are justified and stem

from the requirements of the law." On 26 April Jahangirian

had submitted his resignation to Armenian President Robert

Kocharian to protest the latter's ruling the previous day

that he should not testify before parliament on the ongoing

investigation into the shootings. Kocharian refused to accept

Jahangirian's resignation (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 27 April

2000). LF

[03] ARMENIAN PARLIAMENT MAJORITY SHELVES IMPEACHMENT OPTION

majority Miasnutiun parliament bloc distanced itself still

further from demands expressed earlier in the week for

President Kocharian's impeachment, Interfax and RFE/RL's

Yerevan bureau reported. Miasnutiun leader Andranik Markarian

said that the bloc has not yet raised the impeachment issue

with the Constitutional Court, which must endorse a

parliament vote to impeach the president. But Markarian added

that Miasnutiun may still ask the Constitutional Court to

rule on the legality of Kocharian's order to Military

Procurator Jahangirian not to testify before parliament,

according to Interfax. Hmayak Hovanissian, who is deputy head

of the People's Party of Armenia, the junior partner within

Miasnutiun, told Interfax on 28 April that there is no good

reason for Kocharian's impeachment, and that an impeachment

attempt would "lead the country into a cul-de-sac." Meanwhile

Kocharian on 28 April told journalists that he will shortly

take the "resolute steps" that he believes the Armenian

people expect from him, RFE/RL's Yerevan bureau reported. He

did not elaborate. LF

[04] ARMENIAN, TURKISH UNIVERSITIES SIGN LANDMARK AGREEMENT

Polytechnical University signed a cooperation agreement in

Yerevan on 1 May, RFE/RL's bureau in the Armenian capital

reported. Several dozen members of the youth organization of

the Armenian Revolutionary Federation--Dashnaktsutiun

gathered to protest both the signing of the agreement and

Turkey's refusal to recognize as genocide the killings and

forced deportations of Armenians in Ottoman Turkey in 1915.

Armenia and Turkey have not established diplomatic relations.

LF

[05] KARABAKH PROSECUTOR GIVES DETAILS OF ASSASSINATION BID

Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, told journalists from Armenia in

Stepanakert on 22 April that nine people have been charged

with the 22 March attempt to kill the enclave's President

Arkadii Ghukasian, according to "Azg" of 26 April as

circulated by Groong. The Karabakh prosector said that the

enclave's former Defense Minister, Samvel Babayan, has

confessed to organizing the assassination bid. He said that

the perpetrators had also planned to kill two further senior

officials, whom he did not name. They then hoped to pressure

the enclave's government into naming Babayan as leader. The

prosecutor said that Babayan had paid two of President

Ghukasian's attackers some 2 million drams (approximately

$3,800). He added that Babayan had also provided some

$550,000 and 300 tons of diesel fuel to the Right and Accord

bloc during last year's Armenian parliamentary election

campaign. LF

[06] POLICE USE FORCE TO BREAK UP DEMONSTRATION IN AZERBAIJAN...

unsanctioned demonstration in Baku on 29 April to demand the

resignation of President Heidar Aliev and safeguards to

prevent the falsification of the parliamentary elections due

in November, Reuters and RFE/RL's Baku bureau reported. The

demonstrators also demanded the release of political

prisoners and opposition access to the state-controlled

media, according to Turan. Estimates of the number of

participants range from 5,000--20,000. Dozens of

demonstrators and several journalists, including "Azadlyg"

editor Gunduz Tahirly, were injured or beaten, while a police

spokesman claimed that 34 police were likewise injured by

sticks or stones thrown by demonstrators. The ten opposition

parties aligned in the Democratic Congress had convened the

protest in the city center after refusing an offer from the

municipal authorities to hold it on the outskirts (see

"RFE/RL Newsline," 28 April 2000). LF

[07] ...ARREST OPPOSITION LEADERS

some 50 participants in the Baku demonstration, including

leading Musavat Party member Arif Hadjiev, Akhrar Party

leader Vagif Hadjibeyli, and People's Party leader and former

Premier Panakh Guseinov, Turan reported. Those three, and 12

other people, were sentenced by Baku district courts the same

day to between five and 15 days' detention. The Azerbaijani

Prosecutor-General's office warned on 30 April that criminal

proceedings may be opened against the organizers of the

protest, Reuters reported. Speaking on national television

the same day, presidential administration official Ali

Hasanov said that the opposition has no reason to fear vote-

rigging in the November parliamentary poll, as Azerbaijan's

accession to full membership of the Council of Europe is

contingent on that vote being acknowledged to be free and

democratic. LF

[08] AZERBAIJAN AIMS TO DEEPEN COOPERATION WITH NATO

Baku on 27-28 April, NATO political committee chairman

Admiral Guido Venturoni discussed with Azerbaijan's Defense

Minister Safar Abiev and with President Aliev the prospects

for expanding Azerbaijan's cooperation with NATO within the

parameters of the Partnership for Peace program, Turan

reported. Abiev specifically denied his Georgian counterpart

David Tevzadze's 26 April statement that joint exercises

involving forces from the U.S., Georgia, Azerbaijan and

Armenia are being planned (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 28 April

2000). He also argued that Azerbaijan's military cooperation

with NATO does not pose a threat to Azerbaijani-Russian

relations. LF

[09] AZERBAIJAN, GEORGIA, TURKEY CONCLUDE LEGAL FRAMEWORK FOR OIL

In a written statement issued in Washington on 28

April, U.S. President Bill Clinton hailed the agreement

reached earlier that day by Azerbaijani, Georgian and Turkish

foreign ministry officials and Western oil company

representatives, AP and Caucasus Press reported. That

agreement addressed earlier Georgian reservations concerning

Georgia's legal responsibilities in the event of damage to

the Georgian sector of the planned Baku-Ceyhan oil export

pipeline (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 3 March 2000). LF

[10] GEORGIAN PRESIDENT INAUGURATED

in on 30 April for his second presidential term. Caucasus

Press and Reuters reported. Pledging to become "stronger,

firmer and more decisive," Shevardnadze singled out as a

priority over the next five years purging incompetent and

corrupt officials from the government. He further promised to

pay outstanding wages and pensions arrears within a short

time (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 27 April 2000). Shevardnadze

expressed regret that during his previous presidential term

he had not succeeded in restoring Georgia's territorial

integrity. He said the as yet unratified Georgian-Russian

treaty signed in 1994 is obsolete, and that a new pact should

be drafted. The inauguration ceremony was attended by Russian

oligarchs Boris Berezovskii and Vladimir Gusinskii. Foreign

heads of state were not invited because of economic

constraints. LF

[11] KAZAKH STRIKERS PLAN PROTEST MARCH

employees of the Taraz Phosphorous Plant in Kazakhstan's

southern Zhambyl Oblast plan to begin a protest march to

Almaty on 6 May if their demands for payment of wage arrears,

pensions and other allowances are not met by that date,

RFE/RL's Almaty correspondent reported on 2 May. They began a

protest action and hunger strike on 11 April to demand those

payments (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 19 April 2000).

[12] ISSUE OF KAZAKH OPPOSITION NEWSPAPER CONFISCATED

Gabdullin, editor of the opposition weekly "XXI vek," told

journalists in Almaty on 28 April that the previous day's

issue of the paper had been confiscated by Almaty tax police,

who declined to give any explanation for their action,

RFE/RL's bureau in the former capital reported. The paper has

repeatedly been subjected to official pressure (see "RFE/RL

Newsline," 14 January 2000). LF

[13] KYRGYZ PICKET PARTICIPANTS ARRESTED

April arrested three participants in the ongoing picket in

central Bishkek to demand the release of arrested Ar-Namys

party chairman Feliks Kulov and the annulment of the results

of the parliamentary elections held in February-March,

RFE/RL's bureau in the Kyrgyz capital reported. The three

were charged with hooliganism. The picket entered its 47th

day on 1 May. Kulov's lawyer, Larisa Ivanova, told RFE/RL on

1 May that the Kyrgyz Security Ministry has completed its

investigation into the charges against Kulov. LF

[14] OSCE OFFICIAL MEETS WITH KYRGYZ OPPOSITION

General Jan Kubis held discussions in Bishkek on 28 April

with representatives of several opposition parties and NGOs,

RFE/RL's bureau in the Kyrgyz capital reported. Those talks

focussed on the domestic political situation and the

possibility of an OSCE-sponsored round table discussion

between the opposition and the Kyrgyz leadership. Together

with Premier Amangeldy Muraliev and Foreign Minister Muratbek

Imanaliev, on 29 April Kubis attended the opening of an OSCE

office in the southern city of Osh. LF

[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE

[15] COHEN, CLARK WARN KOSOVARS

May, U.S. Secretary of Defense William Cohen and outgoing

NATO Supreme Commander Europe General Wesley Clark told

ethnic Albanians not to support any insurgency in

southwestern Serbia's Presevo Valley area. Referring to a new

120-member U.S. surveillance team in that region, Cohen said:

"We have strengthened our capability of interrupting the flow

of weapons that may be transported illegally," AP reported.

Referring to the mainly ethnic Albanian Kosova Protection

Force, Clark said: "We're not going to allow them to get

involved in providing logistic support for any fighting.

They're not going to be permitted to have a security role and

certainly not a logistics role." He stressed that "people [in

Kosova] have to have tolerance. They have to move out of the

past, out of the 19th century and move into the 21st

century," Reuters reported. PM

[16] SECURITY COUNCIL CHIEF SLAMS RUSSIAN, CHINESE DIPLOMATS

and currently holds the Security Council chair, said in New

York on 1 May that the UN should appoint a special envoy to

investigate reports of missing persons in Kosova. "The

Council cannot maintain credibility unless we address this

issue," Reuters quoted him as saying. Chowdhury added that he

regrets that Russian Ambassador to the UN Security Council

Sergei Lavrov and Chinese Deputy Ambassador Shen Guofeng met

Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic in Belgrade on 26 April

before a Security Council delegation visited Kosova (see

"RFE/RL Newsline," 27 April 2000). Chowdhury added that the

two diplomats had every right to visit Belgrade but said it

is "regrettable that the ambassadors visited with war

criminals." PM

[17] SERBIAN WORKERS HOLD PROTESTS...

residents held a 1 May demonstration under the auspices of

the Nezavisnost (Independence) trade union movement. The

meeting's theme was: "The world of work is the key to

democracy," RFE/RL's South Slavic Service reported. The union

said in a statement that workers had allowed Milosevic to

"push them into evil and hatred," and that now "the moment

has come to touch every hand that stretches out to help us.

The workers in Serbia must take responsibility for their role

in the democratization of Serbia," Reuters reported. Union

leader Branimir Canak said: "this is the moment to wake up

and say a decisive 'no' to the regime of Slobodan Milosevic."

PM

[18] ...WHILE REGIME CELEBRATES IN BAMBI PARK

unions held their 1 May celebration in Smederevo. The top

leadership, however, attended a festival the previous night

in Milosevic's home town of Pozarevac to mark the opening of

the visitors' season for Bambi [Amusement] Park, RFE/RL's

South Slavic Service reported. The park was built during the

1999 Kosova conflict with money from the Bambi cookie

company, the city government, and the Madona Company, which

is a business venture of Milosevic's son, Marko. Many Serbs

regard Bambi Park as the ultimate symbol of regime corruption

and privilege. PM

[19] OSCE DENIES ALBANIAN OPPOSITION'S CHARGE OF BIAS

spokesman Giovanni Porta told dpa in Tirana on 1 May that the

Democratic Party's charges that the OSCE supports the

governing Socialists "are not fair. The OSCE has always kept

an open, clear and unbiased attitude in its mediation efforts

in Albania." Democratic Party officials have charged that the

OSCE supports the Socialist position on electoral

legislation, which, the Democrats argue, will enable the

Socialists to rig upcoming elections (see "RFE/RL Balkan

Report, 7 April 2000). PM

[20] CROATIAN ADMISSION TO PARTNERSHIP FOR PEACE IMMINENT?

top Croatian leaders visited the aircraft carrier "U.S.S.

Dwight D. Eisenhower" near Dubrovnik on 30 April. Racan told

reporters afterward that he is pleased to have seen the ship

"only eight days before my trip to Brussels, where Croatia

expects to be admitted to Partnership for Peace." He set the

date for formal admission as 25 May, "Jutarnji list" reported

on 2 May. Racan will visit NATO headquarters on 8-9 May to

discuss his country's prospects for admission to the

alliance. The Croatian government of the late President

Franjo Tudjman supported NATO during the 1999 Kosova

conflict, and the former general himself sorely wanted to see

his country admitted to the alliance. But NATO did not allow

Croatia to join Partnership for Peace because of its record

on democratization and minority rights. Mesic and Racan are

firmly committed to overcoming the international isolation of

the Tudjman years. PM

[21] TUDJMAN'S PARTY PICKS NEW LEADER

congress of the Croatian Democratic Community (HDZ) chose

former Deputy Foreign Minister Ivo Sanader as new party

leader in Zagreb on 30 April. Referring to the HDZ's having

slipped to at least fifth place in recent opinion polls,

Sanader told supporters: "The Croatian public seems to have

forgotten everything the HDZ has done for this country....

But we shall return to power much sooner than a lot of people

are expecting," Reuters reported. His main rival was Branimir

Glavas, who is a right-wing leader from eastern Slavonia.

Glavas charged that the party has failed to confront the

scandals and corruption charges that cost it a series of

elections at the beginning of the year. Ivic Pasalic, whom

many regard as Tudjman's chosen successor, took himself out

of the running for any party offices, RFE/RL's South Slavic

Service reported on 29 April. Pasalic has been at the center

of several scandals (see "RFE/RL Balkan Report," 2 May 2000).

PM

[22] PARLIAMENT TO VOTE THIRD TIME ON PRIME MINISTER

agreed in Ljubljana on 28 April to hold a third round of

voting for prime minister on 3 May. The move came two days

after Andrej Bajuk, who is the center-right candidate,

received 43 out of 90 possible votes, thereby falling just

three votes short of an absolute majority (see "RFE/RL

Newsline," 27 April 2000). Under the rules governing a third

round of balloting, a candidate needs only a simple majority.

Reuters quoted top political analysts in Ljubljana as saying

that the outcome is too close to predict. President Milan

Kucan wants early elections to provide a fresh mandate for

parliament. PM

[23] IMF DELEGATION EXTENDS ROMANIAN STAY

Isarescu told journalists on 28 April that after the last

round of talks with the head of the IMF delegation Emmanuel

Zervoudakis he is "optimistic" that the IMF will extend the

stand-by agreement with Romania by 11 months, as requested by

his cabinet. Isarescu also said that the latest economic data

confirms that Romania is heading towards economic growth. But

Zervoudakis on the same day decided to extend his stay in

Romania for further discussions on the recently-approved

budget. He is meeting Isarescu again on 2 May. Government

spokeswoman Gabriela Vranceanu-Firea on 1 May said Romania

has fulfilled 20 out of the 25 conditions demanded by the

fund. The main remaining problems, she said, are the high

burden imposed on the budget by wages and the arrears owed by

loss-making state-owned companies. MS

[24] BULGARIAN PRESIDENT PROMULGATES LAW ON COMMUNIST REGIME'S

President Petar Stoyanov on 28 April signed

into law the recently-approved legislation on the "criminal"

nature of the communist regime (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 27

April 2000). Stoyanov, who earlier said he had misgivings

about the law, said he was doing so because the legislation

"does not grant, annul, or violate any legal rights," BTA

reported. He said the law is of a "declaration type."

Stoyanov also said that he is "encouraged" by the steps the

cabinet has taken as of late to combat corruption, adding

that "the time has come for strong statements to make room

for all-out action." But he also said he does not agree with

Prime Minister Ivan Kostov's proposal to curtail the immunity

of judges as part of the effort to fight corruption. MS

[25] BULGARIA REACTS TO MACEDONIAN PREMIER'S INTERVIEW

Ministry spokesman Radko Vlaikov on 28 April told journalists

that Bulgaria hopes a statement by Macedonian President Boris

Trajkovski has been "misinterpreted" by the Macedonian media,

because "it would be alarming if the opposite were true," BTA

reported. In an interview with the daily "Utrinski Vestik" on

22 April, Trajkovski said that criminals, smugglers and drug

traders penetrate Macedonia from Bulgaria, and urged the EU

not to lift visa requirements for Bulgarian nationals.

"Transferring one's own problems to one's neighbors has never

been a useful thing to do," Vlaikov said. MS

[C] END NOTE

[26] ROMANIA, MOLDOVA CONCLUDE PROBLEMATIC BASIC TREATY

The foreign ministers of Moldova and Romania, Nicolae

Tabacaru and Petre Roman, on 28 April initialed in Chisinau

the basic treaty between their countries in the presence of

the EU coordinator for the South East European Stability Pact

Bodo Hombach. The treaty must now be approved by the two

countries' presidents and by the Moldovan and Romanian

legislatures.

Although negotiations on the treaty have lasted for no

less than seven years, the stumbling blocs do not appear to

have been really solved in the document finally agreed on.

They were rather circumvented through compromises that make

its repudiation by its opponents on both sides of River Prut

a certainty. Bucharest has been pushing for a treaty that

would express the anomaly of the imposed separation of

Bessarabia from the Romanian state. It therefore wished the

treaty to be called one of "fraternity," to speak of "two

Romanian states," to include an explicit denunciation of the

1939 Molotov-Ribbentrop pact that had made possible the

annexation by the Soviet Union in 1940 of Bessarabia and

northern Bukovina, and to be explicitly written "in the

Romanian language." For Chisinau, on the other hand, a treaty

that would emphasize anomalies was a treaty that would in the

long run undermine its independent statehood. The famous

saying "in the long run we are all dead" was quite rightly

perceived to be fully applicable if Moldova were to accept

Bucharest's "suggestions."

The compromise solutions, as all compromises go, are

"neither fish, nor fowl", or, as a Romanian daily put

colloquially, "neither horse, nor donkey." The treaty is

neither one of "fraternity" nor a "regular treaty," but is

rather designated as one of "privileged relations." No

reference is made to "two Romanian states," but mention is

made of the joint "roots in the historic past," and of a

"community of culture and language." The Russian-German pact

is not explicitly denounced, but is implicitly rejected by

making reference to two documents approved by the Moldovan

parliament and by the Romanian government in 1991, upon

Moldova's declaration of independence. One must note that the

Moldovan position on this point is rather delicate: the

declaration of independence approved by the country's

parliament in 1991 had indeed "noted" the pact's denunciation

by the "parliaments of many states" but had stopped short of

embracing that denunciation, for nullification of the pact

would have found Moldova back to the status of a Romanian

province. Not so the Romanian government's 1991 declaration,

which, while welcoming the Moldovan declaration of

independence, viewed it as "a decisive step on the road to

peaceful obliteration of the nefarious consequences" of the

pact, which was described as "directed against the rights and

interests of the Romanian people." Finally, the pact does not

stipulate in which language it is formulated, though it is

clearly written in Romanian. The Moldovans had long insisted

that mention be made of the fact that the treaty is written

in either the "state" or the "official" languages (plural),

for although the two are practically identical, the state

language in Moldovan is defined in the constitution as being

"Moldovan.".

Naturally, each side is now attempting to present the

treaty in the interpretation best suited to over-ruling

possible objections to it. In Moldova, President Petru

Lucinschi and parliament chairman Dumitru Diacov emphasized

the "regular features" of the document, which, they claimed,

contains "all provisions" that a regular treaty (that is

indistinguishable from other basic treaties) should include.

Foreign Minister Petre Roman, on the other hand, chose to

present the treaty as being one "between two fraternal

states" and spoke again of "the two Romanian states" while

referring to the treaty's significance." The Romanian Foreign

Ministry went one step further, explaining that the

"principle of inviolability of borders" included in the text

does not necessarily rule out border modifications (that is,

the eventual re-unification of the two states), since the

Helsinki Final Act stipulates that "peaceful border

modifications," with the agreement of both sides, are

possible.

What, then, is "privileged" about the treaty? What made

the two sides suddenly agree on the compromise? And why now

and not earlier? Bodo Hombach's presence at the initialing

ceremony provides more than a hint. Praising the treaty, the

EU official said that the document is likely to help both

Romania's quest for integration in the EU and Moldova's

effort to achieve EU associate status and to become a full-

fledged member of the South East European Balkan Stability

Pact. Indeed, soon thereafter President Emil Constantinescu,

attending a meeting of Central and East European heads of

states in Hungary, apparently secured the agreement of his

peers for Chisinau to be invited to their next meeting.

Romania's reasons for agreeing to the pact now can also

be linked to the EU integration effort, the more so as

Bucharest, though invited to accession talks recently, has

little else to offer the EU than proof of its eagerness to

solve standing problems with its neighbors. The "privileged

relationship" at closer scrutiny amounts to no more than an

engagement on Romania's side to promote Moldova's integration

efforts alongside its own. By so doing, Romania has in fact

accepted Moldova's position that a "re-integration" of the

two countries can only occur within the larger context of

European integration. But Bucharest is also undertaking to

defend "Moldovan territorial integrity" and "sovereignty" in

all possible forums and in practice. Roman explained that

this is precisely an illustration of the "privileged

relations" aspect of the treaty.

This allusion to the Transdniester conflict is one that

may be problematic. The OSCE rotating chairmanship that

Romania takes over in 2001 could be a forum to defend and

promote Moldovan full sovereignty. But that prestigious

position is by definition limited in time. And an eventual

involvement by Romania in the Transdniester conflict beyond

words and mediation efforts is unlikely to convince the EU

that Bucharest promotes regional stability.

03-05-00

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

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