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RFE/RL Newsline, Vol. 4, No. 246, 00-12-21Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty: Newsline Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty <http://www.rferl.org>RFE/RL NEWSLINEVol. 4, No. 246, 21 December 2000CONTENTS[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA
[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[C] END NOTE
[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA[01] FORMER SENIOR ARMENIAN OFFICIAL CLAIMS KARABAKH PEACE PROCESS STALLEDFormer Armenian deputy parliamentary speaker Ara Sahakian has accused the present Armenian leadership of leading the Karabakh peace process into deadlock by substituting the direct dialogue between Presidents Robert Kocharian and Heidar Aliev, from which representatives of the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh Republic are excluded, for the ongoing OSCE-sponsored negotiations, Noyan Tapan reported on 19 December. Sahakian also accused the Armenian leadership of trying to preserve the status quo, arguing that as a result, Armenia is being excluded from integration processes in the South Caucasus. Speaking in Baku on 20 December, President Aliev warned against military action to try to bring Nagorno-Karabakh back under Azerbaijani control, Turan reported, citing the independent daily "Azadlyq." LF[02] GEORGIA READY TO ACCEPT 'ZERO OPTION' IN DIVIDING FORMER SOVIET ASSETSGeorgian President Eduard Shevardnadze told a cabinet session on 20 December that the parliament will soon debate ratifying an agreement whereby Georgia will withdraw its claims to former Soviet assets in return for Moscow 's writing off Georgia's share of the former Soviet debt, Caucasus Press reported. Shevardnadze noted that all other former Soviet republics, except Ukraine, have already accepted that option. Minister of State Giorgi Arsenishvili told ministers that he has twice discussed the "zero option" with Russian Premier Mikhail Kasyanov, who had agreed to it. Russia had made rescheduling of Georgia's $179 million debt contingent on Tbilisi's acceptance of the "zero option." Shevardnadze had previously informed Russian President Vladimir Putin that Tbilisi would accept the zero option only after a debt rescheduling agreement was signed. LF[03] GEORGIAN PRESIDENT LAMBASTES MEDIAShevardnadze also complained during the 20 December cabinet session that the Georgian media are conducting an all-out "informational offensive" against the country's leadership, Caucasus Press reported. He said only the first channel of Georgian state television makes any attempt to counter that "flow of disinformation." Shevardnadze appealed to journalists to focus more attention on measures taken by the government to overcome the ongoing economic crisis. He also charged Justice Minister Mikhail Saakashvili with drafting a new media law. Saakashvili, however, commented to Caucasus Press the same day that since Georgia already enacted a law on the press in 1991, there is no need to adopt new legislation. He suggested that rather than try to curb the media, it would be more appropriate to focus on improving the moral standing of the cabinet. LF[04] GEORGIAN CABINET REJECTS PRESIDENT'S ECOLOGICAL INITIATIVEAt the same 20 December cabinet session, Saakashvili circulated photographic evidence that the State Forestry Commission engages in illegal felling and accused Interior Minister Kakha Targamadze of condoning that activity, Caucasus Press reported. Shevardnadze ordered the creation of a state commission to investigate Saakashvili's allegations. Recalling that at his personal request the World Bank allocated $20 million for the development of forestry in Georgia, Shevardnadze also proposed a two-year moratorium on all felling. The cabinet, however, rejected that proposal. LF[05] FORMER TURKISH PRESIDENT'S PLANNED VISIT TO AZERBAIJAN CANCELLEDSuleyman Demirel's planned 22 December visit to Baku to attend the opening of a clinic renovated by a Turkish company will not take place, Turan reported on 21 December. No reason was given for the cancellation. LF[06] MORE CABINET CHANGES IN KAZAKHSTANPresident Nursultan Nazarbaev on 20 December appointed Uraz Djandosov, head of the state electricity monopoly KEGOC, as deputy prime minister responsible for finance, replacing Yerzhan Utembaev, Russian agencies reported. Djandosov served as deputy premier in the cabinet of Nurlan Balghymbaev, which resigned one year ago. Nazarbaev also replaced Kairbek Suleymenov as interior minister with the head of the presidential guard, Bulat Iskakov, who has simultaneously held the post of one of Suleymenov's deputy ministers. LF[07] KAZAKH OPPOSITION POLITICIAN REFUTES PRESIDENT'S ACCUSATIONSSpeaking at a press conference in Almaty on 20 December, Orleu movement leader Seydakhmet Quttyqadam denied that he has ever accepted money from either Russian or any other foreign intelligence service to sow discord within Kazakh society, RFE/RL's bureau in the former capital reported. In a two-hour television interview one week earlier, Nazarbaev had branded Quttyqadam a "scoundrel" for allegedly taking such money to create discord (see "RFE/RL Newsline" and "RFE/RL Kazakh Report," 15 December 2000). Quttyqadam also admitted that the Opposition Forum, which was created one year ago and unites several prominent opposition parties, has been forced under pressure from the authorities to tone down its activities, Interfax reported. But he vowed that the forum will continue to lobby for a public dialogue between the authorities and the opposition and try to regain "a worthy place on the political scene," rather than risk the emergence of a political vacuum that could be filled by "extremists." LF[08] KAZAKHSTAN TO BE JOINT OPERATOR OF AKTAU-BAKU-CEYHAN PIPELINE?Georgian International Oil Company president Giorgi Chanturia and Georgian presidential adviser on Caspian issues Edward Chou met in Astana on 20 December with Kazakhstan's Prime Minister Qasymzhomart Toqaev to discuss Kazakhstan's participation in the Baku-Ceyhan pipeline project, Interfax and Caucasus Press reported. Chanturia was quoted as saying that Astana plans to export up to 20 million metric tons of crude annually via that pipeline and that Kazakhstan's state pipeline company KazTransOil will be the operator of the Aktau-Baku section of the pipeline. LF[09] KAZAKHSTAN RUSSIA PLAN MILITARY-TECHNICAL COOPERATIONRussia and Kazakhstan will establish a bilateral commission on military- technical cooperation next month, ITAR-TASS quoted Russian Deputy Premier Ilya Klebanov as telling journalists in Moscow on 20 December. Klebanov said Astana has assured Moscow that its 20 Soviet-era defense enterprises "have retained their capabilities." The bilateral commission will draft a cooperation program and a program for exporting armaments jointly produced by the two countries. LF[10] KYRGYZ PARLIAMENT REJECTS LAND RETAIL TAX HIKESThe lower chamber of Kyrgyzstan's parliament on 20 December rejected President Askar Akaev's proposal to increase the land tax by 260 percent, RFE/RL's Bishkek bureau reported. Deputies referred that proposal back to a special government-parliament commission (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 15 December 2000). But deputies did agree to raise the retail tax from 2 percent to 3 percent. Akaev had asked for a 5 percent hike in that tax. LF[11] KYRGYZ AUTHORITIES POSTPONE ROUNDTABLE WITH OPPOSITIONPresidential administration official Arslan Anarbaev told RFE/RL's Bishkek bureau that the roundtable discussion between representatives of the authorities, the opposition, the media and NGOs has been postponed from 23 December until mid-January as President Akaev has not yet named a new government. The opposition boycotted the first such roundtable in June (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 9 and 12 June 2000). LF[12] UZBEKISTAN CHINA REGISTER GROWTH IN BILATERAL TRADEChina's ambassador in Tashkent, Li Jingxian, told Interfax on 20 December that trade and economic relations between the two countries have reached a "qualitatively new level" this year. He said the two countries are focusing on long-term large-scale economic cooperation and the creation of joint ventures. Li added that bilateral trade turnover in 2000 is expected to reach $200 million. Bilateral trade between Kazakhstan and China in 1999 exceeded $1 billion. LF[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE[13] HAGUE PROSECUTOR SAYS EX-YUGOSLAV WAR CRIMINALS MUST GO TO HOLLAND...Carla Del Ponte, who is chief prosecutor at the Hague-based war crimes tribunal, said on 20 December that former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic and other indicted war criminals must face trial in The Hague and not in their own respective countries, as Yugoslav President Vojislav Kostunica recently suggested (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 20 December 2000). Del Ponte argued that "Yugoslavia is not--and for many years will not--be in a position to hold a fair trial of Milosevic for the charges brought, and to be brought, by this tribunal," AP reported. She stressed that she is angry by what she sees as a tendency among Serbs to regard Milosevic's crimes as having been committed primarily against his own people. "What about the other victims: Bosnians, Kosovo Albanians, Croats, among others--those hundreds of thousands of people who fell prey to barbarian warfare, ethnic cleansing, torture, rapes, etc.?" Del Ponte said that such people would not be willing to go to Belgrade to attend a trial. PM[14] ...WANTS AID TIED TO BELGRADE'S BEHAVIORSpeaking in The Hague on 20 December, Del Ponte called upon the new U.S. administration and European leaders to make the surrender of Milosevic and other indicted war criminals a precondition for economic aid to Belgrade, AP reported. Del Ponte, who is Swiss, appeared to echo remarks made in recent weeks by Croatian President Stipe Mesic, Albania's Rexhep Meidani, and many other political figures in the region that the West was too hasty in granting the new Belgrade authorities full recognition. Such individuals argue that other countries in the region have had to meet strict requirements to receive the support of the international community. They add that Belgrade received early recognition before demonstrating that it is ready to comply with international legal standards and that it is prepared to acknowledge its guilt in starting four wars in the region (see "RFE/RL Balkan Report," 1 December 2000). PM[15] YUGOSLAVIA READMITTED TO IMFThe IMF said in a statement in Washington on 20 December that Belgrade's membership in that body has been restored after a break of eight years, Reuters reported. Mladjan Dinkic, who heads the National Bank, said: "This is a great success for the federal government and the central bank, after only two months of negotiations. This effectively means that the gates of world capital are now open to us. It's a green light for investors, and we expect substantial private investments next year." The IMF has already approved a loan of $151 million for Belgrade, some $130 million of which will be used to pay Yugoslavia's arrears with the IMF. German business executives told "Newsline" recently that Yugoslavia must thoroughly overhaul both its legal system and its business culture if it expects to attract serious foreign investment. PM[16] SERBIAN COALITION SET FOR LANDSLIDE VICTORYCampaigning for the 23 December parliamentary elections ended at midnight on 20 December. Polls suggest that the 18-party Democratic Opposition of Serbia (DOS) coalition may take up to 80 percent of the votes. Milosevic's Socialists seem likely to win about 15 percent, with most of the rest going to Vojislav Seselj's Radicals, AP reported. Zoran Djindjic, who is the DOS's choice for prime minister, said that "for us, Serbia is not just a territory, not just a population. For us Serbia is a great idea and a great obligation," Reuters reported. Observers suggest that the real test for the opposition will lie in maintaining its unity after the election and making the transition from criticizing to governing. PM[17] NATO SERBIAN OFFICIALS DISCUSS BORDER CONFLICT...KFOR commander General Carlo Cabigiosu met with Serbian Deputy Prime Minister Nebojsa Covic in Bujanovac on 20 December to discuss how to deal with Kosova-based guerrillas operating in the demilitarized zone on the Serbian side of the border, Reuters reported. It was the first such meeting between NATO and Serbian officials on Serbian territory. Cabigiosu said afterward that the talks were "constructive" and that "it is possible to find a peaceful solution to this problem. This meeting was a step in the right direction." He did not make any mention of Kostunica's recent remarks that Belgrade will "cleanse" the zone of "terrorists" if the foreigners fail to prevent further infiltration from Kosova (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 20 December 2000). PM[18] ...TO CHAGRIN OF GUERRILLA LEADERSShaqir Shaqiri, who is a spokesman for the Liberation Army of Presevo, Medvedja, and Bujanovac (UCPMB), told Reuters in Prishtina on 20 December that the fighters have no interest in attending such meetings. He added that he is "irritated" that it took place. Shaqiri stressed that "the only solution for the Presevo valley problem is through direct negotiations between ethnic Albanian political and military representatives and the Serbian side, under international supervision." PM[19] SERBIAN COURT SENTENCES THREE MILITARY MEN OVER KOSOVA KILLINGSFor the first time, a Yugoslav military court in Nis sentenced two soldiers and an officer to a total of almost 14 years in prison in conjunction with the killing of an elderly Kosovar couple in March 1999, RFE/RL's South Slavic Service reported on 20 December. A representative of the Belgrade- based Humanitarian Law Fund also noted that this was the first time that a Serbian court has worked together with UNMIK, which is the UN's civilian authority in Kosova. PM[20] NEW UN CIVILIAN BOSS IN KOSOVA SEEKS SELF-GOVERNMENTHans Haekkerup, who will soon take charge of UNMIK from Bernard Kouchner, told Reuters in New York on 20 December that his "goal is to get Kosovo away from the headlines, but at the same time keep the interest of the international community on what is going on in Kosovo. First we have to define the legal framework for provisional self-government." He added that he wants to involve local Serbs in the process, and that he hopes that expanding self-government will help contribute to stemming the violence. Haekkerup argued that "when you call elections, Kosovo-wide elections, you should make sure that you also know what you are electing--an assembly, a government but also, of course, what the powers, the competence of these institutions will be," an RFE/RL correspondent reported. The outgoing Danish defense minister added that "the goal, of course, should be that Kosovo in the future would have self-sustained growth so that they, to a higher degree, could support themselves." PM[21] CROATIAN CAPITAL RENAMES SQUARE FOR NAZI VICTIMSThe Zagreb city council voted on 20 December to restore the name of Square of the Victims of Fascism to the place that was renamed Square of Croatian Heroes approximately 10 years ago, RFE/RL's South Slavic Service reported. PM[22] BOSNIAN REFORM LAWS GO INTO EFFECTThe office of Wolfgang Petritsch, who is the international community's high representative in Bosnia, issued a statement in Sarajevo on 21 December saying that a package of laws aimed at promoting economic reform has come into effect. The statement added that "a consistent legal framework based on market economy criteria and European practice will send a positive signal to foreign and domestic investors and business people," dpa reported. Petritsch has long spoken of the need to ferret out corruption and remove communist-era red tape. An important provision of the new legislation is the dismantling of the Payment Bureau, which has been criticized as non-transparent. PM[23] PETRITSCH PLANS TO BUILD BOSNIAN STATEPetritsch said in Sarajevo on 21 December that "next year, the building of a single state of Bosnia-Herzegovina will be at the center of the stage in my office. Once you have a state, that's a precondition for entering the European integration processes," AP reported. He added that Bosnian leaders' failure to introduce necessary reforms had prevented the country from joining the Council of Europe, a development that he called "a scandal." Referring to the recent trend among Western countries toward an early recognition of Yugoslavia, Petritsch argued that "I don't want to see Yugoslavia enter the Council of Europe before Bosnia. That would not be good." PM[24] THINK TANK SAYS BOSNIA CANNOT MANAGE AFFAIRS ALONEThe International Crisis Group (ICG) issued a report in Sarajevo on 20 December saying that "Bosnian politics may be characterized as a paradoxical combination of flawed democracy and a semi-international protectorate, in which the international community often appears reluctant to use its powers effectively," Reuters reported. "Having acknowledged that Bosnia is indeed a protectorate, the point will then be to use the opportunity that this offers in order to build a functioning, sustainable institutional framework." The ICG urged Petritsch to use his powers to ban Radovan Karadzic's Serbian Democratic Party (SDS), arguing that "long-term, sustainable peace in Bosnia will remain impossible as long as the SDS is permitted to participate in the political process." PM[25] NASTASE OFFICIALLY APPOINTED ROMANIAN PREMIER-DESIGNATEPresident Ion Iliescu on 20 December officially appointed Adrian Nastase as premier-designate, RFE/RL's Bucharest bureau reported. Both politicians said they hope the parliament will approve the government on 28 or 29 December. The National Liberal Party said it will support Nastase's minority government, and the Hungarian Democratic Federation of Romania said it "hopes" to be able to support it after consultations with the Party of Social Democracy in Romania (PDSR) are over. Democratic Party leader Petre Roman said his party's support will depend on the government program Nastase presents in the parliament. Greater Romania Party (PRM) leader Corneliu Vadim Tudor said the PDSR has "failed to comprehend" that the national interest "calls for a national unity cabinet" and the PRM will act "as an opposition party." MS[26] ILIESCU INTRODUCES PRESIDENTIAL TEAMAt his first press conference as head of state, Iliescu presented the new main presidential counselors, RFE/RL's Bucharest bureau reported. Former Foreign Intelligence Service Chief Ioan Talpes is counselor for defense issues. Journalist Octavian Stireanu is the new counselor for internal affairs, while former Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Simona Miculescu is foreign affairs counselor. In response to a journalist's question, Iliescu said he cannot "for now" say whether he intends to replace the heads of Romania's intelligence services but added that "it is customary that when governments change, the heads of these institutions are also changed." MS[27] MOLDOVAN PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS POSTPONEDParliamentary chairman Dumitru Diacov on 21 December announced that the next round of the presidential elections, due to be held on the morning of 21 December has been postponed until the afternoon "on judicial grounds and to allow time for consultations," Flux reported. The agency said the ad-hoc Parliamentary Elections Commission has reached the conclusion that the intended boycott of the vote by several center-right parties might result in President Petru Lucinschi dissolving the parliament on 25 December. At least 61 lawmakers must participate in the round for it to be valid. On 20 December, Diacov announced that his For a Democratic and Prosperous Moldova Bloc will boycott the parliament session on 21 December. The other center- right formations have also decided to boycott the elections. MS[28] IMF WORLD BANK RESUME LENDING TO MOLDOVAPrime Minister Dumitru Braghis told journalists on 20 December that the IMF and the World Bank have decided to resume loaning to Moldova, but he warned that unless the parliament approves the agreement with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development on debt restructuring, lending could be stopped again, Infotag reported (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 15 December 2000). MS[29] PARLIAMENTARY IMMUNITY TO BE CURBED IN BULGARIA?The ruling Union of Democratic Forces (SDS) on 20 December submitted a draft law on a constitutional amendment that would curb the immunity from prosecution of law makers and judges, Reuters reported. The draft was submitted by 83 SDS deputies, but observers doubt it will be approved. Constitutional changes require the support of two-thirds of the 240-member parliament, where the SDS holds 139 seats. The main opposition Socialist Party rejected the draft as "unacceptable" and the third largest party in the legislature, the ethnic Turkish Movement for Rights and Freedoms, described the draft as a "populist, pre-electoral move." MS[C] END NOTE[30] FORMER BELARUSIAN LEADER AIMS AT CHANGE THROUGH THE BALLOT BOXby Jeremy BranstenSince his ouster as Belarusian head of state by a Communist-dominated parliament in 1994, Stanislau Shushkevich has been one of President Alyaksandr Lukashenka's most ardent critics. A physicist by training, the 66-year-old Shushkevich became involved in politics in 1986 when he criticized government negligence in reporting on the nuclear accident at Chornobyl in neighboring Ukraine. With the backing of the Belarusian Popular Front, Shushkevich became a member of the Belarusian Supreme Soviet in 1990. The following year, he was named its chairman--the highest post in the country. Shushkevich was one of the three signatories of the Belovezha accords in December of that year. Those accords created the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). He had advocated neutrality in military matters, but in 1993 the Belarusian parliament overrode Shushkevich's objections and voted to join the CIS collective security agreement. Communist legislators forced Shushkevich from his post as head of state soon afterward. He now leads the Social Democratic "Hramada" party. During a visit to RFE/RL's headquarters in Prague recently, Shushkevich said that Belarus's current leadership has been unable to develop the economy and that for the past several years, Belarus has been subsisting on its aging Communist-era infrastructure. "In Belarus, the relics of gigantic unprofitable communist enterprises are being preserved," he commented. "The relative well-being of society--I stress, relative -- and our current survival stems from the fact that we are using up the resources that our fathers and grandfathers amassed." According to Shushkevich, Belarus's feeble economy means the country is not self-reliant, putting its sovereignty at risk: "In the conditions of such a drop in production and the using up of our basic resources, Belarus cannot pay for its own upkeep. The labor of its people is not enough to buy it the necessary amount of energy it requires in Russia--gas and coal." Shushkevich noted that Russia has skillfully manipulated Belarus's predicament--with the willing help of President Lukashenka, to bring Minsk back into its embrace. "As a result, it looks as if Russia is constantly helping this poor Belarus and keeps the poor Belarus afloat, which cannot exist as a sovereign state," he added. In addition to running the economy into the ground, Shushkevich faults the Belarus leadership for gutting all efforts at nation-building. In 1994, when Lukashenka came to power, textbooks that attempted to portray the region's past objectively were pulled from school shelves, to be replaced by Soviet-era books. The country's post-independence flag was replaced by its Soviet equivalent. Currently, in the capital Minsk, there is only one secondary school where teaching is conducted in the Belarusian language. As in Soviet times, all students interested in continuing their education must be fluent in Russian. "The possibility of receiving an education in the Belarusian language has been lost," he lamented. "There is not one higher education institution where courses are taught in Belarusian." The press, too, has been curbed. The few semi-free publications that exist are dwarfed by the output of state-sponsored periodicals. Shushkevich pointed out that "for each edition of the more or less free press--and I say more or less because we have no truly free press--there are 24 government publications of considerably better quality, [that are] cheaper, and so forth." But Shushkevich says that all these factors, have galvanized the divided opposition. Next year, presidential elections are due, and Shushkevich says the opposition intends to field one candidate against Lukashenka. Next year holds the promise of political change for Belarus--if the opposition plays its cards right. But Shushkevich says he is determined to effect change through the ballot box. He shrugs off the possibility of a Yugoslav-style popular revolt, pointing out that after centuries of suppressed national consciousness and 80 years in which personal initiative of any kind was stifled, Belarusians are not ready to take to the streets en masse. "As a physicist, I will tell you: We have different surroundings and different starting conditions." But as a politician, Shushkevich says he intends to be there for his people, whatever happens. The author is an RFE/RL correspondent based in Prague. 21-12-00 Reprinted with permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
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