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RFE/RL Newsline, Vol. 5, No. 31, 01-02-14
RFE/RL NEWSLINE
Vol. 5, No. 31, 14 February 2001
CONTENTS
[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA
[01] ARMENIAN OPPOSITION POLITICIAN ACCUSES PRESIDENT OF SOWING DISCORD
[02] AZERBAIJANI OPPOSITION PARTY EXPELS SECOND PARLIAMENT DEPUTY
[03] GEORGIAN FOREIGN MINISTER VISITS AZERBAIJAN
[04] GEORGIAN PARLIAMENT CONFIRMS NEW PROSECUTOR-GENERAL
[05] GEORGIAN, RUSSIAN MILITARY REPRESENTATIVES SEEK TO NARROW DIFFERENCES
[06] UN REPRESENTATIVE MEETS WITH ABKHAZ PRESIDENT...
[07] ...AS DISPLACED PERSONS PRESSURE GEORGIAN LEADERSHIP
[08] KAZAKHSTAN PROPOSES QUOTAS FOR REPATRIATION IN 2001
[09] JAILED KYRGYZ OPPOSITION POLITICIAN ABANDONS HUNGER-STRIKE
[10] KYRGYZ OPPOSITION PARTIES MULL BOYCOTT OF PLANNED ROUNDTABLE...
[11] ...AS PARLIAMENT DEPUTIES CONDEMN OPPRESSION
[12] TAJIKISTAN REJECTS RUSSIAN REPORTS OF SITUATION ON AFGHAN BORDER
[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[13] KOSTUNICA WANTS REVISION OF KOSOVA PEACE AGREEMENTS
[14] NATO SKEPTICAL OF KOSTUNICA'S PROPOSAL
[15] KOSTUNICA RULES OUT TALKS WITH ALBANIAN 'TERRORISTS'
[16] YUGOSLAV PRESIDENT SAYS COOPERATION WITH HAGUE 'NOT IN NATIONAL
INTEREST'
[17] RUSSIA WANTS HAGUE COURT ABOLISHED
[18] COUNCIL OF EUROPE TELLS CROATIA TO COOPERATE WITH HAGUE
[19] FUGITIVE CROATIAN GENERAL DENIES KILLING CIVILIANS
[20] CROATIAN PRESIDENT AGREES TO MEET GENERAL
[21] HERZEGOVINIAN LEADER WALKS OUT OF BOSNIAN PRESIDENCY
[22] MACEDONIAN-YUGOSLAV BORDER TALKS A DEAD LETTER?
[23] KOSOVARS AMBUSH SERBIAN CONVOY, SERBS RIOT
[24] KOSOVA ELECTIONS ON HOLD?
[25] SERBIAN PARLIAMENT SCRAPS MEDIA LAW
[26] U.S. URGES MONTENEGRO TO STAY WITH SERBIA
[27] CAMERA-SHY YUGOSLAV LEADER?
[28] 'PRIBOI SCANDAL' CONTINUES IN ROMANIA
[29] EXTREMIST ROMANIAN LEADER REACTS TO PARTY DEFECTIONS
[30] ROMANIAN PARLIAMENTARIANS 'EXPLAIN' IRAQI VISIT
[31] ROMANIAN PROSECUTORS STOP PROCEEDINGS AGAINST ILIESCU CRONIES
[32] POLL PREDICTS COMMUNIST VICTORY IN MOLDOVAN ELECTIONS
[33] MAJORITY OF MOLDOVANS WANT TO LEAVE COUNTRY
[34] MOLDOVA WANTS EU ASSOCIATE STATUS
[35] BULGARIA, ISRAELI INVESTOR SET TO CLASH
[C] END NOTE
[36] There is no end note today.
[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA
[01] ARMENIAN OPPOSITION POLITICIAN ACCUSES PRESIDENT OF SOWING DISCORD
Arshak Sadoyan, a leading member of Vazgen Manukian's center-right National
Democratic Union (AZhM), told journalists in Yerevan on 13 February that
while he sympathizes with other AZhM members who recently quit the party to
protest its cooperation with the present Armenian leadership (see "RFE/RL
Newsline," 6 February 2001), he will not do likewise, RFE/RL's bureau in
the Armenian capital reported. Sadoyan said that his defection would
further weaken the AZhM and thus play into the hands of Armenian President
Robert Kocharian who, Sadoyan charged, is seeking to sow discord within the
opposition ranks in order to strengthen his hold on power. LF
[02] AZERBAIJANI OPPOSITION PARTY EXPELS SECOND PARLIAMENT DEPUTY
The Musavat Party has expelled Shirzad Eyubov from its ranks for
participating in the work of the parliament elected last November, Turan
reported on 13 February citing the party's newspaper "Yeni Musavat."
Musavat is one of several opposition parties that decided to boycott the
new legislature to protest the falsification of the ballot. Poet Vagif
Samedoglu has already been expelled from Musavat for defying that decision
(see "RFE/RL Caucasus Report," Vol. 4, No. 5, 2 February 2001). LF
[03] GEORGIAN FOREIGN MINISTER VISITS AZERBAIJAN
Visiting Baku on 13 February, Irakli Menagharishvili met with his
Azerbaijani counterpart Vilayat Quliev and with President Heidar Aliev,
Turan and Caucasus Press reported. Issues discussed included cooperation
within the GUUAM alignment, to which both countries belong together with
Ukraine, Uzbekistan, and Moldova, the planned Baku-Ceyhan oil export
pipeline, and how to promote peace and stability in the South Caucasus.
Menagharishvili stressed that the latter objective cannot be achieved
without Russia. He also briefed Aliev on Georgian President Eduard
Shevardnadze's visit to Turkey in late January. Aliev is scheduled to
travel to Ankara in early March for further talks on the Baku-Ceyhan
project, Turan reported on 13 February. The Azerbaijani daily "Millet"
reported on 10 February that Aliev will also undergo a medical examination
at the Turkish military hospital in Ankara where he was treated in 1999 and
2000. LF
[04] GEORGIAN PARLIAMENT CONFIRMS NEW PROSECUTOR-GENERAL
By a vote of 185 to seven, parliament deputies confirmed Gia Meparishvili
as Georgia's new prosecutor-general on 13 February, Caucasus Press
reported. Meparishvili, who is 41, is a trained lawyer and member of the
Georgian Constitutional Court. He was elected to parliament in October 1999
on the ticket of the majority Union of Citizens of Georgia party. During
the confirmation hearings, he said that his office will not yield to
political pressure, and he pledged to embark upon "serious reforms" in mid-
May. LF
[05] GEORGIAN, RUSSIAN MILITARY REPRESENTATIVES SEEK TO NARROW DIFFERENCES
A Russian Defense Ministry delegation headed by International Military
Cooperation Department chief Colonel General Leonid Ivashov held talks in
Tbilisi on 12-13 February with Georgian Defense Minister David Tevzadze and
other senior officials, Caucasus Press and ITAR-TASS reported. The two
sides agreed on the need for closer defense cooperation, and drafted a
brief program for such cooperation this year. They also undertook to
exchange information regularly concerning the situation in Georgia's
Pankisi gorge, where Moscow believes some Chechen fighters are hiding.
Tbilisi rejected, however, a Russian request to waive the entry visa
requirement in the case of Russian military personnel stationed in Georgia
and their families. Georgian Deputy Foreign Minister Giga Burduli reasoned
that it was Russia, not Georgia, that had first imposed a visa requirement
for travel between the two countries, and that insisting that Russian
military personnel have visas to travel to Georgia constitutes the sole
leverage Tbilisi can bring to bear on Moscow, Caucasus Press reported on 14
February. LF
[06] UN REPRESENTATIVE MEETS WITH ABKHAZ PRESIDENT...
Dieter Boden, who is UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan's special
representative for Georgia, met in Sukhum on 13 February with Abkhaz
President Vladislav Ardzinba to brief him on last month's Security Council
discussion of the Abkhaz conflict, Caucasus Press reported (see "RFE/RL
Newsline," 1 February 2001). Boden said the Security Council urged both
sides to break the deadlock in the negotiating process and embark on a
discussion of the future relationship between Georgia and the breakaway
Republic of Abkhazia. Boden has drafted a document on the division of
powers between the two sides that is intended to serve as a basis for
negotiations (see "RFE/RL Caucasus Report," Vol. 2, No. 48, 3 December 1999
). Ardzinba responded that Abkhazia's status as an independent state is
already enshrined in its constitution. He added that the informal group of
"Friends of the UN Secretary-General for the Abkhaz conflict" should
endeavor "to promote understanding between the two sides and not interfere
in [Abkhazia's] domestic affairs." Boden pointed out that no other state
has recognized Abkhazia's proclaimed independent status, and that the
situation in the South Caucasus will remain unstable as long as the Abkhaz
conflict is unresolved. LF
[07] ...AS DISPLACED PERSONS PRESSURE GEORGIAN LEADERSHIP
Also on 13 February, some 100 Georgian displaced persons who fled Abkhazia
during the 1992-93 war staged a protest outside the Georgian parliament
building to demand an immediate debate on the Abkhaz conflict, Caucasus
Press reported. Speaker Zurab Zhvania assured the demonstrators that
Abkhazia will be discussed during a plenary session in mid-March. The
displaced persons also demanded that they be given priority in the
allocation of credits provided by the international community for the
development of small- and medium-sized businesses. Zhvania ordered the
creation of a special commission that is to draft within 10 days the
appropriate procedures for allocating credits to displaced persons. LF
[08] KAZAKHSTAN PROPOSES QUOTAS FOR REPATRIATION IN 2001
Mukhit Izbanov, who is the deputy chairman of Kazakhstan's State Committee
on Migration, told RFE/RL on 13 February that his agency will propose that
600 Kazakh families be allowed to resettle in Kazakhstan this year within
the framework of the repatriation program begun in 1991. Of that total,
some 400 families are ethnic Kazakhs currently domiciled in Uzbekistan. LF
[09] JAILED KYRGYZ OPPOSITION POLITICIAN ABANDONS HUNGER-STRIKE
Former Vice President and opposition Ar-Namys Party chairman Feliks Kulov
ended on 13 February the hunger-strike he had begun four days earlier to
protest being refused permission to consult with his lawyers, RFE/RL's
Bishkek bureau reported. Kulov was sentenced last month to seven years'
imprisonment on charges of abuse of his official position during his tenure
as National Security Minister in 1997-1998 (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 22
January 2001). The Board of the Bishkek Military Court will hear Kulov's
appeal against that sentence on 22 February. LF
[10] KYRGYZ OPPOSITION PARTIES MULL BOYCOTT OF PLANNED ROUNDTABLE...
Representatives of seven opposition parties, including Ar-Namys and the
Agrarian-Labor, Socialist, Communist, and Social-Democratic Parties,
disapprove of the proposed format for the 17 February round-table
discussion of the socio-economic situation, Communist Party chairman
Absamat Masaliev told Interfax on 13 February. Masaliev said that the
presence at that discussion of 21 representatives each from the Kyrgyz
leadership, the opposition, and the NGOs would give the authorities an
unfair advantage. He also argued that the agenda should be broadened to
encompass the political situation. He said that the seven parties will
attend the discussion only if the number of participants is reduced to nine
from each category. LF
[11] ...AS PARLIAMENT DEPUTIES CONDEMN OPPRESSION
Ten members of Kyrgyzstan's Legislative Assembly (the upper chamber of the
parliament) released a statement on 13 February accusing the Kyrgyz
authorities of jailing opposition politicians to prevent them from
participating in politics and of oppressing the independent press, RFE/RL's
Bishkek bureau reported. They cited the cases of opposition party leaders
Kulov, Topchubek Turgunaliev, and Daniyar Usenov, and of Kyrgyz Human
Rights Committee chairman Ramazan Dyryldaev and the legal action brought
against the newspapers "Asaba," "Res Publica," and "Delo Nomer." LF
[12] TAJIKISTAN REJECTS RUSSIAN REPORTS OF SITUATION ON AFGHAN BORDER
Tajik Foreign Ministry spokesman Igor Sattarov told Asia Plus-Blitz on 14
February that a Russian TV report the previous day claiming that renewed
fighting in northern Afghanistan between the Taliban and Northern Alliance
forces is a threat to the lives of thousands of fugitives congregated along
the border between Afghanistan and Tajikistan is not true. He said that
Russian media have recently aired several such reports on the situation on
the Afghan-Tajik border that "infringe on the interests of the republic of
Tajikistan." Sattarov said that Dushanbe has provided logistical help to
humanitarian organizations engaged in transporting aid to those displaced
persons, and has invited Russian and international journalists to monitor
that process. LF
[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[13] KOSTUNICA WANTS REVISION OF KOSOVA PEACE AGREEMENTS
Speaking at a Belgrade press conference on 13 February, Yugoslav President
Vojislav Kostunica again called for a revision of the 1999 Kumanovo
agreements that ended the Kosova conflict and established a demilitarized
zone on southwest Serbia's border with Kosova (see "RFE/RL Balkan Report,"
6 February 2001). He said that "if NATO and KFOR are still reluctant about
abolishing the buffer zone, we can narrow [the zone in Serbia] and extend
it across the boundary into Kosovo and have joint patrols there by KFOR and
our army," Reuters reported. He added that Yugoslav officers could be
stationed at the U.S. Camp Bondsteel base in Kosova. Kostunica apparently
did not mention how he would deal with the ethnic Albanians, who do not
trust Belgrade and its security forces. It was in their interest that the
zone was set up in the first place. In December, Predrag Simic, who is
Kostunica's foreign policy adviser, wrote two articles in the weekly "NIN"
in which he outlined plans for how Belgrade could re-establish its
authority in Kosova with the cooperation of the international community. PM
[14] NATO SKEPTICAL OF KOSTUNICA'S PROPOSAL
In Brussels, unnamed NATO officials told Reuters on 13 February that it is
"highly unlikely" that the Atlantic alliance will agree to joint patrols
with the Yugoslav military. The sources noted that there is no mention of
joint patrols in their copies of Belgrade's proposed plan for easing
tensions in the Presevo valley (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 13 February 2001).
In Prishtina, unnamed KFOR sources said that they fear that Belgrade will
use any changes in the Kumanovo agreements and the status of the zone to
launch a fresh crackdown on local ethnic Albanians (see "RFE/RL Balkan
Report," 13 February 2001). Albanian leaders in Kosova have repeatedly made
it clear that any return of Serbian forces to the province is unacceptable
following the repression and ethnic cleansing of 1998-1999. PM
[15] KOSTUNICA RULES OUT TALKS WITH ALBANIAN 'TERRORISTS'
The Yugoslav president also said at his Belgrade press conference on 13
February that "we are not going to have talks [or] negotiations with
terrorists," in an apparent reference to the Liberation Army of Presevo,
Medvedja, and Bujanovac (UCPMB), Reuters reported (see "RFE/RL Newsline,"
13 February 2001). He argued that the guerrillas were wrong to take up arms
"when everything has changed in this country, in the region." The fighters
therefore cannot be regarded as "legitimate" representatives of the local
Albanians, he added (see "RFE/RL Balkan Report," 13 February 2001).
Kostunica nonetheless held open the possibility of talks involving the
UCPMB's "political representativesŠas has been done in Northern Ireland,"
by which he presumably meant Sinn Fein's role as a stand-in for the IRA. PM
[16] YUGOSLAV PRESIDENT SAYS COOPERATION WITH HAGUE 'NOT IN NATIONAL
INTEREST'
Kostunica said at his 13 February Belgrade press conference that
cooperating with the Hague-based war crimes tribunal "is not [in] our
national interest," "Vesti" reported. He argued that many international
officials have made it clear that they do not require Belgrade to work with
The Hague as a prerequisite for receiving aid (see "RFE/RL Balkan Report,"
6 February 2001). Kostunica mentioned the EU's Romano Prodi and Bodo
Hombach, as well as "many [unnamed] American officials." The president
argued that "only extremists in the foreign but more so in the domestic
public" insist on cooperating with the war crimes tribunal (see "RFE/RL
Newsline," 13 February 2001). He chided those Serbs who support working
with The Hague, suggesting that they probably regarded NATO's 1999 bombing
of Serbian targets as in "our national interest." Elsewhere during his
press conference, Kostunica said that his government will seek to improve
ties to the Republika Srpska as provided for in the Dayton agreements,
Deutsche Welle's Serbian Service reported. PM
[17] RUSSIA WANTS HAGUE COURT ABOLISHED
Russian envoy Sergei Lavrov told the UN Security Council on 13 February
that the Hague-based tribunal should be shut down "as soon as possible"
because "there is still prejudice -- including anti-Serb bias -- in the
tribunal's work, and you can see this first and foremost in the activities
of tribunal prosecutor Carla Del Ponte," Reuters reported. PM
[18] COUNCIL OF EUROPE TELLS CROATIA TO COOPERATE WITH HAGUE
Walter Schwimmer, who is the secretary general of the Council of Europe,
said in a statement in Strasbourg on 14 February that the Croatian
authorities should try to prevent any further "dangerous display of
nationalism" in support of General Mirko Norac (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 9
and 12 February 2001). Schwimmer added that "while one can understand the
harsh economic and social realities that may encourage such protests, they
should not be used as a pretext for not respecting international
obligations," AP reported. He called on the Croatian authorities "to
maintain their firm commitment to cooperate" with the war crimes tribunal.
PM
[19] FUGITIVE CROATIAN GENERAL DENIES KILLING CIVILIANS
Norac told "Slobodna Dalmatia" of 14 February that he is ready to appear
before a Croatian court but only once he has absolute assurance that he
will not be extradited to The Hague. He denied that he killed any
civilians. Norac expressed appreciation for the support he has received
from many people, adding that he attended the recent rally in Split in
disguise but carrying a sign reading "I am Mirko Norac." Prime Minister
Ivica Racan has already ruled out making any deal with Norac as a
precondition to his surrendering. PM
[20] CROATIAN PRESIDENT AGREES TO MEET GENERAL
President Stipe Mesic said in Zagreb on 13 February that Norac contacted
him and asked for a meeting. Mesic added: "Norac is willing to report to
the court [in Rijeka]. He is not fleeing the court, nor is he wanted by the
Hague war crimes tribunal. He asked that I receive him and I will, maybe as
early as tomorrow," Reuters reported. PM
[21] HERZEGOVINIAN LEADER WALKS OUT OF BOSNIAN PRESIDENCY
Ante Jelavic, who is the ethnic Croat member of the joint presidency,
walked out of that body's meeting on 13 February in Sarajevo after his
Serbian and Muslim colleagues agreed to nominate non-nationalist Bozidar
Matic as prime minister (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 8 February 2001). Jelavic
said that the move violates the "vital interests" of the republic's Croats,
some 90 percent of whom voted for candidates of Jelavic's nationalist
Croatian Democratic Community (HDZ) in the last elections. He added that
the nomination is a violation of the Dayton agreement and demanded a new
international conference to revise Dayton and set up a Croatian entity on
par with Muslim and Serbian ones. In related news, the offices of the high
representative and the OSCE warned the HDZ against setting up parallel
government institutions in areas where it controls the local administration,
RFE/RL's South Slavic Service reported. PM
[22] MACEDONIAN-YUGOSLAV BORDER TALKS A DEAD LETTER?
The ongoing Macedonian-Yugoslav border delineation talks are unlikely to
produce a lasting solution because they do not include Kosovar
representatives, the Albanian-language Macedonian daily "Fakti" reported on
13 February (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 12 February 2001). Jakup Krasniqi of
the Democratic Party of Kosova added that under current international
agreements, Belgrade's authority does not extend to Kosova's frontier with
Macedonia, MIC news agency reported. PM
[23] KOSOVARS AMBUSH SERBIAN CONVOY, SERBS RIOT
Ethnic Albanians opened fire on a Serbian civilian convoy between Ferizaj
and Shterpce on 13 February, killing one Serb and wounding three
individuals, AP reported. Peacekeepers arrested five ethnic Albanians. Up
to 700 angry Serbs then rioted in the dead man's hometown of Shterpce,
burning three UN jeeps and destroying three additional KFOR vehicles. Some
200 peacekeepers from Poland, Italy, Ukraine, the United Arab Emirates,
Greece, and the U.S. brought the riot under control. PM
[24] KOSOVA ELECTIONS ON HOLD?
Jean-Marie Guehenno, who is UN undersecretary-general for peacekeeping,
told the Security Council in New York on 13 February that it will take at
least eight months to prepare general elections for Kosova, AP reported
(see "RFE/RL Balkan Report," 16 January 2001). PM
[25] SERBIAN PARLIAMENT SCRAPS MEDIA LAW
The legislature voted on 14 February to scrap the 1998 press law that the
previous regime used to stifle the non-state and foreign media, AP
reported. On 13 February, parliament voted to restrict the rights and
privileges of former presidents. Among other things, the new legislation
limits former presidents to only one state-supplied bodyguard. It abolishes
former presidents' rights to additional security personnel, a secretarial
staff, and an official car, RFE/RL's South Slavic Service reported. PM
[26] U.S. URGES MONTENEGRO TO STAY WITH SERBIA
U.S. Ambassador to Yugoslavia William Montgomery told Montenegrin President
Milo Djukanovic in Podgorica on 13 February that Washington supports a
"democratic Montenegro in a democratic Yugoslavia," RFE/RL's South Slavic
Service reported (see "RFE/RL Balkan Report," 19 January and 13 February
2001). Montgomery added that Montenegro must bear responsibility for
whatever it decides. He noted, however, that the leaders in Podgorica have
a greater understanding for their situation than do people in Washington,
"Pobjeda" reported. PM
[27] CAMERA-SHY YUGOSLAV LEADER?
Montenegrin Television reported on 13 February that it has issued three
invitations to Kostunica in the space of one month to appear in a joint
broadcast with Djukanovic but has not received a reply from Belgrade to any
of them. PM
[28] 'PRIBOI SCANDAL' CONTINUES IN ROMANIA
Party of Social Democracy in Romania (PDSR) General-Secretary Cosmin Gusa
told journalists on 13 February that the PDSR leadership had been informed
by Ristea Priboi about his activity as an officer in the former
Securitate's Foreign Intelligence Directorate and that this had "nothing in
common" with the Securitate's activity "as a political police," RFE/RL's
Bucharest bureau reported. One day earlier, the National Liberal Party's
(PNL) parliamentary group leader in the Senate, Radu F. Alexandru, called
the appointment of Priboi as chairman of the commission overseeing the
activity of the Foreign Intelligence Service "a provocation and a lack of
responsibility" towards Romania's NATO aspirations. At a press conference
later on 13 February, Priboi denied involvement in any Securitate
activities against Radio Free Europe. His car slightly injured a journalist
after the press conference and left the scene. Neither the driver nor
Priboi stopped to apologize, though the PDSR "suspended" the driver. MS
[29] EXTREMIST ROMANIAN LEADER REACTS TO PARTY DEFECTIONS
Greater Romania Party (PRM) chairman Corneliu Vadim Tudor on 13 February
said the setting up of "the so-called Socialist Party of National Revival
(PSRN)" by PRM defectors is a PDSR "maneuver to create in the parliament a
new majority," Mediafax reported. He said the PSRN was "nothing but a
politically aborted fetus molded in the likeness of similar provocations
conceived by [President Ion] Iliescu's advisors. ...Shame on you, Mr.
Iliescu! Isn't it sufficient that you stole the elections from me, do you
now want to also steal from me my party?" Tudor commented. MS
[30] ROMANIAN PARLIAMENTARIANS 'EXPLAIN' IRAQI VISIT
Returning from Iraq on 14 February, PDSR deputy Nicolae Sersea said he
visited that country "as a businessman who worked in Iraq in 1987 in oil
affairs." Sersea said he does not believe his visit "damaged Romanian or
the PDSR's interests." Sersea said he had not informed the parliament or
his party ahead because "I went there on my own free time" and the PDSR can
count the visit as "vacation." He admitted having conducted talks with
Iraqi officials but said those were organized by the Romanian Chamber of
Commerce "and I participated in them as a businessman, not as a member of
the parliament." PRM Senator Mihai Lupoi said his party had entrusted him
with "the mission to verify with the Iraqi authorities ways of recuperating
the $1.7 billion debt" owed by Iraq to Romania. MS
[31] ROMANIAN PROSECUTORS STOP PROCEEDINGS AGAINST ILIESCU CRONIES
The Prosecutor-General's Office has ordered a halt to the proceedings
launched against Viorel Hrebenciuc, former secretary-general of the cabinet
headed by Nicolae Vacaroiu, his deputy Mihai Unghianu, and Nicolae
Fruntelata, chief of the Department for Public Information in the Vacaroiu
cabinet. The three had been charged in September 2000 with "abuse of
office" and "acting against public interest" in connection with money-
laundering in the affair masterminded by the French-Romanian businessman
Adrian Costea in 1994. No explanation has been offered for the decision to
stop the proceedings, RFE/RL's Bucharest bureau reported. MS
[32] POLL PREDICTS COMMUNIST VICTORY IN MOLDOVAN ELECTIONS
A public opinion poll conducted by the Romanian Center for Opinion and
Market Studies (CSOP) polling institute predicts that the Party of Moldovan
Communists (PCM) will win the 25 February elections but its majority will
not be sufficient to elect the country's next president, Reuters reported
on 13 February. The poll shows the PCM will be backed by 39.2 percent,
followed by the pro-presidential Braghis Alliance (10.2 percent). Since
seats in the parliament are proportionally distributed, this result would
give the PCM 52 out of 101 seats -- enough to form the cabinet by
themselves but short of the 61 votes needed to elect Petru Lucinschi's
successor. MS
[33] MAJORITY OF MOLDOVANS WANT TO LEAVE COUNTRY
The CSOP poll also shows that 36 percent of Moldovans would like to leave
the country and make money abroad for some time, while 26 percent want to
leave "for good," Infotag reported. Almost 50 percent believe that
corruption is to be found among the top echelons of the country and 40
percent say that "corruption is everywhere." MS
[34] MOLDOVA WANTS EU ASSOCIATE STATUS
Unidentified Foreign Ministry sources on 13 February told Infotag that
Moldova is striving to obtain associate status in the EU. A EU delegation
headed by security chief Javier Solana, Swedish Foreign Minister Anna Lindh,
and Foreign Affairs Commissioner Chris Patten begins a visit to Moldova on
14 February. Deputy Foreign Minister Iurie Leanca told journalists that
Moldovan officials will discuss with the guests ways of overcoming
political, economic, and social difficulties with EU help. They will also
discuss Moldova's quest to become a member of the Balkan Stability Pact and
of the World Trade Organization. MS
[35] BULGARIA, ISRAELI INVESTOR SET TO CLASH
Privatization Agency head Levon Hampartsumyan on 13 February said the
government may start bankruptcy proceedings against the national carrier
Balkan Airlines after its Israeli owners filed a $230 million claim against
Bulgaria with the International Court of Arbitration in Paris, AP reported.
The Israeli consortium that acquired a 75 percent stake in Balkan Airlines
is now accusing the government of defaulting on the privatization contract.
In turn, Hampartsumyan accused the company's management of failing to
preserve its status as a national carrier, concealing "dozens of millions
of dollars of its liabilities," and raising aviation fees several times
right after buying the company. MS
[C] END NOTE
[36] There is no end note today.
14-02-01
Reprinted with permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
URL: http://www.rferl.org
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