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RFE/RL Newsline, Vol. 4, No. 213, 00-11-02Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty: Newsline Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty <http://www.rferl.org>RFE/RL NEWSLINEVol. 4, No. 213, 2 November 2000CONTENTS[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA
[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[C] END NOTE
[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA[01] U.S. CALLS FOR CONTINUATION OF ARMENIAN-AZERBAIJANI TALKSAfter meeting in Yerevan on 1 November with Armenian President Robert Kocharian and Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian, Stephen Sestanovich, who is adviser to the U.S. Secretary of State on the Newly Independent States, said "there is no substitute" for the dialogue begun 18 months ago between the presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan on approaches to resolving the Karabakh conflict, RFE/RL's Yerevan bureau reported. But he also warned that it is "too early" to expect "a breakthrough" in the peace process, although he conceded that new policy initiatives may be possible following the 5 November Azerbaijani parliamentary elections. Sestanovich said that to his knowledge, no agreement has been reached between the two countries on resolving the conflict by means of an exchange of territory. Kocharian's political opponents have accused him of secretly negotiating such a deal (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 19 May and 19 October 2000). But Sestanovich said that no ideas that could lead to a settlement should be ruled out. LF[02] TWELVE AZERBAIJANI OPPOSITION PARTIES BACK MUSAVATTwelve Azerbaijani opposition parties, including the conservative wing of the divided Azerbaijan Popular Front Party (AHCP), issued a statement in Baku on 1 November calling on the electorate to vote for the Musavat Party in the 5 November parliamentary ballot, Turan reported. It is unclear whether they also agreed to withdraw their own candidates in single-mandate constituencies which Musavat candidates are contending. Five other small extra-parliamentary parties called on 1 November for a boycott of the poll, according to Turan. LF[03] PROSECUTOR CALLS FOR LENGTHY SENTENCES IN AZERBAIJANI EMBEZZLEMENT TRIALProsecutor Behbet Ismailov on 1 November called for jail sentences of 10-12 years for former Ministers of Foreign Economic Relations Rauf Garaev and Hafiz Babaev and for 14 other persons accused with them of embezzling oil products worth $30 million in 1992-1993, Turan reported. Former parliamentary speaker Rasul Guliev is said to have master-minded those thefts (see "RFE/RL Caucasus Report," Vol. 3, No. 15, 14 April 2000 and "RFE/RL Newsline," 1 September 2000). Giving testimony in September, Garaev rejected the charges as unfounded and absurd. LF[04] GEORGIA UNVEILS DRAFT ANTI-CORRUPTION MEASURESGeorgian newspapers on 1 November published the new draft anti-corruption program prepared by a special commission headed by Supreme Court chairman Lado Chanturia, Russian agencies reported. The draft analyzes the causes of widespread corruption and outlines measures intended to eradicate it, focusing on corruption within the police and cracking down on tax evasion. In an introduction to that document, Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze said corruption threatens to undermine the foundations of Georgia's statehood and described the struggle against it as one of his top priorities. Commentators fear the program will target primarily "survival corruption" by low-level officials who demand small bribes to feed their families and that senior officials who have illegally acquired large sums will be required at best to pay back taxes and at worst to resign, according to Caucasus Press. LF[05] KAZAKHSTAN'S PRESIDENT WRAPS UP VISITS TO DENMARK, SPAINVisiting Copenhagen on 25-26 October, Nursultan Nazarbaev met with representatives of the oil company A.P. Moellez which is negotiating to supply oil rigs to the international OKIOC consortium, operating in Kazakhstan's sector of the Caspian, Interfax reported. A Danish company also has a stake to develop an oilfield in Aqtobe in western Kazakhstan. Nazarbaev also met with Queen Margarethe II, Prime Minister Poul Rasmussen, and parliamentary speaker Ivar Hansen. In Madrid on 30-31 October, Nazarbaev held talks with Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar on expanding bilateral economic cooperation and on the prospects for Spanish investment in Kazakhstan. Agreement was reached on the sale of two Spanish express trains that will link Almaty and Astana. Nazarbaev also met with King Juan Carlos I. LF[06] SAUDI DELEGATION VISITS KAZAKHSTANA delegation from Saudi Arabia led by Deputy Prime Minister Prince Sultan bin Abdul al-Aziz Al Saud held talks in Astana on 1 November with President Nazarbaev and Prime Minister Qasymzhomart Toqaev, Interfax and RFE/RL's Kazakh Service reported. The talks focused on construction projects in which the Saudi government will invest, including a hospital in Almaty. An agreement was signed whereby the Saudi Development Fund will provide a low- interest $12 million loan toward building a stretch of the main Almaty- Astana highway. LF[07] FORMER KAZAKH PREMIER IGNORES PROSECUTOR-GENERAL'S SUMMONSKazakhstan's Prosecutor-General Yurii Khitrin told journalists on 1 November that Akezhan Kazhegeldin failed to comply with a summons to appear at Khitrin's office, RFE/RL's Kazakh Service reported. Khitrin had announced last month the opening of a fourth criminal investigation against the former premier, who has lived abroad since early 1999 (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 24 October 2000). Amirzhan Qosanov, who is deputy chairman of Kazhegeldin's Republican People's Party of Kazakhstan, told RFE/RL that Kazhegeldin has not received any summons from Khitrin. He added that it would be dangerous for Kazhegeldin to return to Kazakhstan as the charges against him are politically motivated. Kazhegeldin was detained on arrival in Moscow in September 1999 at the request of the Kazakh authorities and held for several days before being released and allowed to leave the country (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 13 and 20 September 1999). LF[08] KAZAKHSTAN MAY PARDON RUSSIAN 'SEPARATISTS'Viktor Kartashkin, who heads Russian President Vladimir Putin's Human Rights Committee, told journalists in Moscow on 1 November that a visiting Kazakh delegation told him last week that the 12 Russians sentenced by a Kazakh court in June on charges of planning to establish an autonomous Russian republic on Kazakh territory may soon be released, Interfax reported (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 9 June 2000). Some Russian officials suggested the charges against those men had been fabricated. LF[09] MORE CRITICISM OF KYRGYZ PRESIDENTIAL POLLThe Kyrgyz Committee for Human Rights, whose chairman Ramazan Dyryldaev is in self-imposed exile in Vienna, issued a statement on 1 November saying that the outcome of the 29 October poll, in which Askar Akaev was re- elected Kyrgyz president, was falsified and that Akaev violated the Kyrgyz constitution by running for a third presidential term, RFE/RL's Bishkek bureau reported. The statement said the poll outcome "cannot be celebrated." On 31 October, the Vienna-based International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights sent an open letter to President Akaev expressing concern at the detention or arrest of 12 election campaign staff of opposition candidates. LF[10] POLICE DISPERSE PROTEST IN SOUTHERN KYRGYZSTANPolice in the southern town of Djalalabad forcibly dispersed some 200 people who tried to enter the local administrative building to demand the annulment of the outcome of the presidential poll, RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service reported. Five of the protesters were detained. In Bazar-Korgon, several hundred people continued for the third consecutive day to block the main Bishkek-Osh highway to protest the election result. They insist opposition candidate Omurbek Tekebaev was the real winner (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 1 November 2000). LF[11] KYRGYZ MOSQUES TO BE REREGISTEREDDjolbors Djorobekov, who heads Kyrgyzstan's government commission on religious affairs, said in Bishkek on 1 November that all the country's estimated 1,300 mosques must be reregistered with the Ministry of Justice next year, RFE/RL's Bishkek bureau reported. The qualifications of all imams will also be evaluated. LF[12] TURKMENISTAN RESUMES GAS SUPPLIES TO UKRAINEIn accordance with an agreement signed during Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma's visit to Ashgabat last month, on 1 November Turkmenistan resumed supplies of natural gas to Ukraine, AP reported. Turkmenistan is to supply 5 billion cubic meters this year at a cost of $38 per 1,000 cubic meters (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 5 October 2000. LF[13] ADB TO FUND UZBEK RAILWAYS MODERNIZATIONThe Asian Development Bank has approved a $70 million loan to Uzbekistan to finance the modernization of the 341-kilometer rail link between the cities of Samarkand and Bukhara, Interfax reported on 1 November. The bank had provided a similar $70 million loan two years ago for modernization of the railroad sector linking the Kazakh town of Chingeldy and Samarkand. LF[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE[14] YUGOSLAVIA ADMITTED TO UNThe General Assembly of the UN approved by acclamation Yugoslavia's application to join the international organization, Reuters reported. Goran Svilanovic, an envoy of Yugoslav President Vojislav Kostunica, declared the raising of the Yugoslav flag outside UN headquarters in New York as a "very touching moment for everyone living in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia...thank you for this very bright moment of history in our country." Svilanovic is slated to become Yugoslavia's next foreign minister. The former Yugoslavia was a founding member of the UN in 1945, but in 1992 the UN ruled that rump Yugoslavia was not allowed to "continue automatically the membership of the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia" but had to rejoin, as did Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, and Macedonia. U.S. Ambassador to the UN Richard Holbrooke said "this is indeed an historic day for the UN...we welcome Yugoslavia as the United Nations' newest member." PB[15] SERBIAN PRESS HAILS UN ENTRYReaction in newspapers in Serbia hailed Yugoslavia's entry into the UN on 2 November. The daily "Politika" ran a headline saying "We Are Part Of The World Again," and argued that "the most credit for the rapid return to the world organization goes to the new Yugoslav leader, who has been in place as head of state for a little over three weeks." Another daily, "Vecernje Novosti," stated "We Have Returned To The UN." In Montenegro, the press was more muted. The daily "Pobjeda" had no story on the event, while another daily, "Vijesti," had a report on page two headlined "FRY Now Officially In The United Nations." The daily "Dan" stated that Montenegro should have its own seat at the UN. PB[16] DJINDJIC SAYS AGREEMENT MADE ON SERBIA-MONTENEGRO 'ASSOCIATION'Zoran Djindjic, a leader of the Democratic Opposition of Serbia bloc and a senior aide to Yugoslav President Kostunica, said on 1 November that an agreement has been reached with Montenegrin officials on a new relationship between Montenegro and Serbia, RFE/RL reported. Djindjic said a concept has been established for what he called "a common association of Serbia and Montenegro." He said the association will serve the people of both republics "as a single government." Djindjic said "I'm very satisfied that Serbia and Montenegro finally agreed on certain reasonable fundamentals without heightened emotions and without being mesmerized by the moment. We agreed on two things--the priorities at present and the priorities of the future organizations of our common state." PB[17] YUGOSLAV DEFENSE COUNCIL RECONVENESYugoslavia's Supreme Defense Council, which oversees the country's military, met on 1 November in the Montenegrin capital of Podgorica, Reuters reported. The meeting was chaired by Yugoslav President Kostunica, and attended by Montenegrin President Milo Djukanovic, Army chief of staff General Nebojsa Pavkovic, and the secretary to the Supreme Defense Council, Slavoljub Susic. Serbian President Milan Milutinovic, an indicted war criminal, was reportedly absent for health reasons. A statement released after the meeting said the council "analyzed the current political and security situation in Yugoslavia and the economic situation of the Yugoslav army." It added that the "general security situation" in the country "is getting better and more stable, despite certain [unspecified] negative trends" (see also "End Note" below). PB[18] SERBIAN MINISTERS WARN OF HYPERINFLATIONBoris Milacic, a co-finance minister in Serbia's transitional government, said on 1 November that Belgrade must act quickly to prevent its high inflation rate from turning into hyperinflation, Reuters reported. Milacic said that inflation in October was 26.4 percent and that "it has pushed the annual inflation level already to 70 percent. If this trend continues, we will have hyperinflation like in 1993, which we all want to forget." Inflation seven years ago reached 60 percent a day. Trade Minister Milorad Miskovic said the government is "drawing up emergency measures to halt the prices and improve supply." PB[19] MONTENEGRO TO ESTABLISH OWN CENTRAL BANKThe Montenegrin parliament voted on 1 November to set up its own central bank, AP reported. The bill, drafted by the Montenegrin government in the summer, was approved by 37 deputies with seven abstentions. Most opposition deputies were not in the chamber when the vote took place, and objections may be raised to the law as it was not passed by an absolute majority. There are 78 seats in the parliament. PB[20] ETHNIC ALBANIAN ACTIVIST FREED FROM SERBIAN PRISONFlora Brovina, a doctor, poet, and human rights activist from Kosova, was released from prison in Pozarevac on 1 November on orders from Yugoslav President Kostunica, dpa reported. Upon reaching Kosova, Brovina kissed the ground as she was welcomed by cheering ethnic Albanians. She said "I know that the war is over but until the moment that all [the Kosovar Albanians] who are in a Serbian jail are released, I cannot see freedom." Brovina, 50, spent 18 months in jail on terrorism charges after being arrested in Prishtina in May 1999. The UN's Kosova administrator, Bernard Kouchner, welcomed her release and called on Kostunica to "release all ethnic Albanian political prisoners who remain in Serbia." Eleven others were released along with Brovina; between 700 and 1,000 are thought to still be jailed in Serbia. PB[21] BOSNIAN SERB GENERAL DENIES ORDERING EXECUTIONSProsecutors at the UN war crimes tribunal at The Hague presented an audio tape during the trial of Bosnian Serb General Radislav Krstic on 1 November that allegedly has the general ordering a subordinate to kill Muslims in the Srebrenica area immediately after thousands of men and boys were executed by Serbian forces, Reuters reported. "Kill each and every one...do not leave a single one alive," says a voice, identified as Krstic's, during a telephone conversation with another officer that was intercepted by the Bosnian army on 2 August 1995, around the time of the reported mass executions. Krstic called the tape "a total fabrication" and said he never ordered the summary execution of Muslims. Krstic has been on the witness stand for two weeks. He is charged with genocide. PB[22] HUNGARIAN, ROMANIAN PREMIERS MEET AT BORDERHungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban met with his Romanian counterpart, Mugur Isarescu, at a border post in Romania, "Magyar Hirlap" reported on 1 November. The two discussed a possible compromise over the level of Romanian tariffs imposed on Hungarian meat exports. PG[23] PETROMIDIA OIL REFINERY PRIVATIZED--AGAINThe Romanian State Property Fund (FPS) on 1 November signed an agreement selling the Petromidia Navodari oil refinery to the Rompetrol Group BV Rotterdam company, "Cotidianul" reported. FPS sold 70 percent of the Petromidia shares for $50.5 million, while Rompetrol took over the $340 million debt of the refinery and promised to invest $225 million to modernize it. Rompetrol is owned by Dutch and Swiss investment companies. FPS Chairman Radu Sarbu said the contract provides for canceling the sale should the new owner violate the agreement. Petromidia was previously sold to the Turkish Akmaya Group but that agreement was later cancelled. ZsM[24] NEW MILITARY ASSOCIATION CAUSES CONTROVERSY IN ROMANIAA National Association of Military Personnel has been established by 28 active and retired soldiers in a bid to "form a strong belief in [Romanian] society in order to prevent corruption, anti-social and anti-national acts, and a decrease in crime." The association's members include former Army Chief of Staff Mircea Chelaru, who resigned from that post on 31 October, chief of the police academy General Costica Voicu, and two other generals from the Defense Ministry. However, a Defense Ministry press release says that "on account of its goals and objectives," the ANMR infringes on the Military Personnel Statute, while an Interior Ministry press release said that the ministry does not recognize the ANMR. ZsM[25] POPE DONATES MONEY FOR ROMANIAN ORTHODOX CHURCHSenior Romanian Orthodox clergy said on 2 November that Pope John Paul II has donated $100,000 toward the construction of a huge Orthodox cathedral in Bucharest that will accommodate up to 2,000 people, AFP reported. The pope made the donation shortly after his historical visit to Romania in May 1999. Construction of the cathedral is expected to begin later this year or early next year in downtown Bucharest. Construction costs are estimated at $100 million. ET[26] MOLDOVAN PENSIONERS DEMONSTRATE FOR MORE ASSISTANCESome 2,500 pensioners gathered on 1 November in front of the government building in Chisinau to demand that the government increase their monthly payments and provide them with free public transportation, Infotag reported on 1 November. They shouted down Prime Minister Dumitru Braghis, despite his promises to seek additional funds to meet their demands. And they announced that they will stage additional protests if their demands are not met by 5 December. PG[27] DEMONSTRATORS PROTEST AMENDMENTS TO BULGARIA'S DRAFT LABOR CODESome 5,000 demonstrators rallied in Sofia to protest draft changes in the country's labor legislation that many workers feel will reduce their rights, AP reported on 1 November. Meanwhile, hundreds of railway workers staged a demonstration to demand a 15 percent rise in their average monthly salary of 203 leva ($88). PG[C] END NOTE[28] KOSTUNICA AND DJUKANOVIC HOLD TALKS IN PODGORICABy Jolyon NaegeleYugoslavia's Supreme Defense Council on 1 November convened for the first time since Vojislav Kostunica succeeded Slobodan Milosevic as Yugoslav president last month. The council had last convened two years ago, and this was the first time ever in the council's eight-year history that a meeting was held in Podgorica. The Supreme Defense Council consists of the federal president, the Serbian and Montenegrin presidents, the federal defense minister, and the army chief of staff. But only Kostunica, Montenegrin President Milo Djukanovic, army chief of staff Nebojsa Pavkovic and the council's secretary, General Slavoljub Susic, attended the meeting. Since the federal government is still being formed--Prime Minister- designate Zoran Zizic says he expects a cabinet to be confirmed by 4 November--Yugoslavia has no defense minister yet. The Serbian government was formed last week, but it is in deadlock after two pro-Djukanovic deputy prime ministers, Nebojsa Covic and Spasoje Krunic, stormed out of a cabinet session on 31 October over the refusal of pro-Milosevic Socialist Party members to dismiss the country's state security chief, Rade Markovic. Serbian President Milan Milutinovic, who is vice president of Milosevic's Socialist Party, did not attend the 1 November meeting, on grounds of ill health. But Milutinovic faces a war crimes charge by the UN's Hague tribunal and may not have wanted to risk arrest. A statement released by Kostunica's office after the meeting said the council "analyzed the current political and security situation in Yugoslavia and the economic situation in the Yugoslav Army." It added that the council "noted that the general security situation in the country-- after the recent democratic changes in Serbia--is becoming increasingly stable," despite what it termed "certain negative trends," which it did not specify. The main Montenegrin daily, "Vijesti," reported on 2 November that Djukanovic made several demands at a 30 October a preparatory meeting in Podgorica with the Democratic Opposition of Serbia (DOS), including Kostunica's campaign manager, Zoran Djindjic. Those demands included the dismissal of the Yugoslav army command, including General Pavkovic and the commander of Yugoslav troops in Montenegro, General Milorad Obradovic, and the dissolution of the Yugoslav Seventh Battalion, a paramilitary unit that he says was preparing to seize power in Montenegro in the final months of Milosevic's rule. Quoting "unnamed sources close to military circles," "Vijesti" reported that Djukanovic and Kostunica on 1 November took no concrete decisions owing to Milutinovic's absence. Reuters quoted an unnamed source "close to Kostunica's backers" as saying that DOS had unanimously demanded from Kostunica on 31 October to replace Pavkovic with General Momcilo Perisic. Pavkovic led the Yugoslav Third Army in Kosova last year, while Perisic led the Serbian shelling of Mostar in 1992 before becoming Milosevic's chief of staff until 1998. He currently heads the Movement for a Democratic Serbia, a member of DOS. The Belgrade daily "Blic" reported on 1 November that Djindjic said he and Djukanovic had agreed that the issue of Serbian-Montenegrin relations will not be dealt with until further democratization has been achieved in Serbia. "No definite solution can be made as long as we have the remainders of Milosevic's regime in our institutions," Djindjic is quoted as saying. Early legislative elections in Serbia are scheduled for 23 December, and Djindjic says he agrees with Djukanovic that the discussions on the Serbian- Montenegrin relationship should begin early next year and be conducted through institutions. Djindjic offered further details in an interview with RFE/RL on 1 November. "I'm very satisfied that Serbia and Montenegro finally agreed on certain reasonable fundamentals without [the need for] heightened emotions and without being mesmerized by the moment," he said. "We agreed on two things: present priorities and the priorities for the future organization of our common state." Djindjic went on to say that "a concept has to be established for a common association of Serbia and Montenegro that would have a maximum of practicality and serve citizens as one government quickly responding to their needs." He also dismissed suggestions that personal rivalries will play a role in any such association: "Certainly, this is not an issue of our interpersonal relations but rather of the general level of democracy and the resolution of certain key issues." In an interview with Montenegrin state television on 31 October, Djukanovic stressed his belief that "the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia is a fiction." He said that he does not see that "it is in the interest of Serbia and Montenegro to shroud their statehood in some sort of Yugoslav construction." He called for a looser association of the two republics, to be named the "Alliance of the States of Serbia and Montenegro." Djukanovic also expressed disappointment that Yugoslav authorities proceeded to reapply for membership in the UN without consulting the Montenegrin leadership. He suggests Montenegro and Serbia should have separate seats in the world body and that each should have what he calls its "own international legitimacy." Both republics, he says, have a "historical right" to independence and, according to Djukanovic, "[both] have been functioning as independent states for several years." The UN General Assembly on 1 November admitted the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia as a new member. It had barred Yugoslavia from occupying its seat at the UN since 1992 as a result of the violent breakup of the country. The red-star flag of Titoist Yugoslavia, however, had continued to fly at UN headquarters in New York until 1 November, when it was replaced by the star-less Yugoslav tricolor. The author is an RFE/RL senior correspondent based in Prague. 02-11-00 Reprinted with permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
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