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RFE/RL Newsline, Vol. 5, No. 56, 01-03-21
RFE/RL NEWSLINE
Vol. 5, No. 56, 21 March 2001
CONTENTS
[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA
[01] ARMENIAN FOREIGN MINISTER VISITS WASHINGTON
[02] NEW ARMENIAN OPPOSITION BLOC OUTLINES AIMS...
[03] ...AS NATIONALIST PARTY WARNS AGAINST CONCESSIONS ON KARABAKH
[04] U.S. ASSURES GEORGIA OF SUPPORT
[05] GEORGIAN AUTHORITIES, OPPOSITION ESTIMATE PROFITS, LOSSES FROM
SMUGGLING
[06] KAZAKHSTAN REJECTS U.S. HUMAN RIGHTS CRITICISM
[07] KYRGYZ PARLIAMENT DEBATES DRAFT LAW ON OMBUDSMAN
[08] TAJIK PRESIDENT APPEALS TO POPULATION TO REJECT RELIGIOUS EXTREMISM
[09] TAJIK ECONOMY CONTINUES TO RECOVER
[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[10] MACEDONIAN GOVERNMENT DECLARES CEASE-FIRE, ISSUES ULTIMATUM
[11] ALBANIAN GUERRILLAS REJECT ULTIMATUM?
[12] MACEDONIAN ALBANIAN PARTIES CALL FOR PEACE
[13] NATO MEMBERS IGNORING PLEAS FOR MORE TROOPS?
[14] U.S. PRESIDENT 'CONCERNED' ABOUT MACEDONIA
[15] GERMANY, FRANCE BACK MACEDONIAN GOVERNMENT'S 'OPEN POSITION' TOWARD
ALBANIAN MINORITY
[16] DIFFERENCES OVER MACEDONIA AT UN?
[17] GERMAN GOVERNMENT DISAPPOINTED WITH RUGOVA, SERBIA
[18] RUSSIA ALLEGES ROLE OF 'WESTERN INTELLIGENCE AGENCIES' IN MACEDONIAN
CONFLICT...
[19] ...CONTINUES TOUGH RHETORIC ON BELGRADE'S BEHALF...
[20] ...CALLS FOR 'ANTI-TERRORIST PACT'
[21] RUSSIAN INTERIOR MINISTER IN SERBIA, KOSOVA
[22] CIVILIANS FLEE MACEDONIAN VIOLENCE
[23] YUGOSLAV, SERBIAN MINISTERS VISIT HAGUE
[24] ITALIAN INVESTMENT IN BOSNIAN STEEL
[25] BOSNIAN UPPER HOUSE OF PARLIAMENT MEETS
[26] ROMANIAN GOVERNMENT DENOUNCES 'ALBANIAN EXTREMISTS' IN MACEDONIA
[27] ROMANIAN FOREIGN MINISTER MEETS NATO SECRETARY GENERAL...
[28] ...WHILE DEFENSE OFFICIALS REVEAL FUTURE NATO ACCESSION PLANS
[29] EXTREMIST PARTY CHALLENGES ROMANIAN LAW IN CONSTITUTIONAL COURT
[30] DISMISSAL OF ROMANIAN PROSECUTOR PROTESTED
[31] FORMER ROMANIAN COMMUNIST PREMIER DEAD
[32] NEW MOLDOVAN PARLIAMENT STARTS WORK...
[33] ...ACCEPTS RESIGNATION OF GOVERNMENT
[34] RUSSIAN DUMA DELEGATION IN CHISINAU
[35] BULGARIA TO ALLOW PERMANENT ACCESS TO NATO TROOPS
[36] FBI DIRECTOR SUPPORTS BULGARIA IN SPY SCANDAL WITH RUSSIA...
[37] ...AND BULGARIA REBUFFS RUSSIAN REACTION
[38] BULGARIAN RADIO BROADCASTS INTERRUPTED BY THIEVES
[39] BULGARIAN PRESIDENT IN LEBANON
[C] END NOTE
[40] There is no "End Note today.
[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA
[01] ARMENIAN FOREIGN MINISTER VISITS WASHINGTON
Vartan Oskanian met in Washington on 20 March with U.S. Secretary of State
Colin Powell and National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice to discuss
bilateral relations, the Karabakh conflict, and plans for the April talks
in Key West between Armenian President Robert Kocharian and his Azerbaijani
counterpart Heidar Aliev, Noyan Tapan and an RFE/RL Washington
correspondent reported. Powell will attend the first day of the Key West
talks, according to Reuters. LF
[02] NEW ARMENIAN OPPOSITION BLOC OUTLINES AIMS...
In a "founding declaration" made public on 19 March and at a press
conference in Yerevan the following day, leaders of the left-wing parties
aligned in the newly formed National Accord Front (AHCh) stated that the
group's aim is to lobby for policy changes, RFE/RL's Yerevan bureau
reported. Specifically, they will draw up a comprehensive anticorruption
program and seek to mobilize popular opposition to the imminent
privatization of power utilities. But they did not list forcing the
resignation of President Kocharian as their primary objective. Nor,
contrary to expectations, have Armenia's two most influential left-wing
parties, the Communist Party of Armenia and the People's Party of Armenia,
formally committed themselves to membership of the alignment (see "RFE/RL
Newsline," 19 March 2001). Observers suggest that, at least for the moment,
they prefer to avoid a direct confrontation with the president. LF
[03] ...AS NATIONALIST PARTY WARNS AGAINST CONCESSIONS ON KARABAKH
The Armenian Revolutionary Federation-Dashnaktsutiun (HHD) issued a
statement in Yerevan on 20 March warning President Kocharian against making
major concessions to Azerbaijan during the Key West talks on Karabakh,
RFE/RL's Yerevan bureau reported. "Any agreement on the settlement of the
Artsakh [Nagorno-Karabakh] issue must recognize Artsakh's reunification
with Armenia, or at least Artsakh's independence," the statement said. It
also said Armenia and Karabakh must be linked by a common border, rather
than the demilitarized land corridor envisaged in earlier OSCE draft peace
proposals, thus underscoring the party's opposition to the return to
Azerbaijani control of the Kelbadjar district that lies between the
disputed enclave and the Azerbaijani-Armenian border. The statement called
on the U.S. to "remain meticulously impartial and avoid attempts to
interfere in Azerbaijan's favor," and cautioned the OSCE Minsk Group, which
is trying to mediate a solution of the Karabakh conflict, against setting
"artificial deadlines" for the signing of a settlement document. LF
[04] U.S. ASSURES GEORGIA OF SUPPORT
Meeting in Washington on 20 March with visiting Georgian Foreign Minister
Irakli Menagharishvili, U.S. Secretary of State Powell assured Tbilisi of
Washington's support in the face of Russian pressure, Reuters reported
quoting State Department spokesman Richard Boucher. Powell also reaffirmed
Washington's commitment to the Baku-Ceyhan export pipeline for Caspian oil,
which will traverse Georgian territory. Menagharishvili expressed thanks
for Washington's support for Georgian independence and for the country's
efforts to build a civil society, and denied that Tbilisi allows Chechen
fighters to use Georgian territory. The two men also discussed the
unresolved conflicts in Abkhazia and South Ossetia. LF
[05] GEORGIAN AUTHORITIES, OPPOSITION ESTIMATE PROFITS, LOSSES FROM
SMUGGLING
Only one-third of the fuel and 20 percent of the wheat and flour imported
into Georgia enter the country legally, Caucasus Press reported on 20 March,
quoting Customs Office data. The value of goods smuggled across the border
between North and South Ossetia alone amounts to 2.5 million laris (just
over $1 million) per day, according to the Georgian Tax Ministry special
police. Speaking at a press conference in Tbilisi on 20 March, Giorgi
Gachechiladze, who heads Georgia's Green party, claimed that the volume of
contraband is even larger, and that the primary beneficiary is the Georgian
leadership. He claimed that the authorities derive $650 million per year
from the smuggling of wheat and flour, $300 million from contraband dairy
products, and $214 million from oil and petroleum. He claimed the annual
profit from smuggled kerosene is $60 million, which is one reason why the
Georgian leadership does not take more resolute steps to ensure
uninterrupted supplies of electricity and gas. LF
[06] KAZAKHSTAN REJECTS U.S. HUMAN RIGHTS CRITICISM
Kazakhstan's Foreign Ministry issued a statement on 17 March taking issue
with the findings of the U.S. State Department's annual survey of human
rights worldwide, RFE/RL's Kazakh Service reported on 20 March. The Foreign
Ministry statement said that the section of the report devoted to
Kazakhstan "distorts and gives an arbitrary interpretation to" developments
in Kazakhstan over the past year, and "ignores any positive developments in
democratization and human rights in the Republic of Kazakhstan," while
emphasizing negative aspects. On 19 March, the leaders of Kazakhstan's
Civic Party and Agrarian Party, both of which are loyal to the country's
leadership, convened press conferences at which they too criticized what
they termed the "biased" U.S. assessment. Interfax on 20 March quoted U.S.
Ambassador to Astana Richard Jones as characterizing the report as "tough,
but honest and accurate." LF
[07] KYRGYZ PARLIAMENT DEBATES DRAFT LAW ON OMBUDSMAN
The Legislative Assembly, the lower chamber of Kyrgyzstan's bicameral
parliament, on 20 March approved the main points of President Askar Akaev's
proposed law on a national ombudsman, Interfax and RFE/RL's Bishkek bureau
reported. Under that draft, the People's Assembly, the upper chamber of
parliament, would elect the ombudsman, who must enjoy popular respect and
have a legal background, for a period of seven years. Deputies rejected an
alternative draft by lawmaker Tursun Bakir Uulu, which proposed that the
Legislative Assembly should elect the ombudsman as it has a larger number
of deputies than the People's Assembly. LF
[08] TAJIK PRESIDENT APPEALS TO POPULATION TO REJECT RELIGIOUS EXTREMISM
In a 20 March address to the Tajik people to mark the Novruz spring holiday,
President Imomali Rakhmonov characterized Tajikistan as a country in
transition to a democratic, law-governed secular society, Russian agencies
reported. Rakhmonov expressed concern at the publication in Tajikistan of
materials of "dubious moral value," and at what he termed "subjective"
reporting by foreign journalists that harms the country's international
reputation. In a clear allusion to the presence in Tajikistan of numerous
members of the clandestine Hizb ut-Tahrir movement, he appealed to the
population to reject "religious extremism and fanaticism which has nothing
in common with true Islam." LF
[09] TAJIK ECONOMY CONTINUES TO RECOVER
During the first two months of 2001 Tajikistan's GDP increased by 6.4
percent compared with the same period the previous year, Interfax reported
on 20 March. GDP growth for 2000 amounted to 8.3 percent, while industrial
production grew by 10.3 percent (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 18 January 2001).
LF
[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[10] MACEDONIAN GOVERNMENT DECLARES CEASE-FIRE, ISSUES ULTIMATUM
The Macedonian army issued a statement on 20 March declaring a unilateral
cease-fire that was to run until midnight the following day. The army gave
the ethnic Albanian National Liberation Army (UCK) until that deadline to
leave Macedonia or face a combined ground and air offensive, Deutsche
Welle's Macedonian Service reported. The Macedonian authorities claim that
the UCK consists primarily of "terrorists" who have infiltrated from
Kosova. But Vienna's "Die Presse" reported on 20 March that the UCK has its
base of support in ethnic Albanian rural communities in Macedonia near the
border with Kosova. The leadership is also primarily from Macedonia.
Fighters from Kosova are present as well, the daily added. The BBC
interviewed an Albanian who is a former officer in the Macedonian army and
who has deserted to the UCK. He said that many of his fellow ethnic
Albanian officers may follow his lead. The Macedonian conscript army is
estimated to be about 40 percent Albanian, "The Guardian" reported. PM
[11] ALBANIAN GUERRILLAS REJECT ULTIMATUM?
Reuters on 20 March quoted an unnamed UCK commander in Tetovo as saying
that the guerrillas reject the ultimatum. He warned that the UCK will bring
its fight from the hills into the city streets if the government does not
negotiate with it. Similar reports were carried by dpa and Deutsche Welle.
PM
[12] MACEDONIAN ALBANIAN PARTIES CALL FOR PEACE
Arben Xhaferi, who heads the governing Democratic Party of the Albanians
(PDSH), and Ymer Ymeri, who leads the opposition Party for Democratic
Prosperity (PPD), signed an agreement in Skopje on 20 March after meeting
with EU security affairs chief Javier Solana. The PDSH and PPD pledged
themselves to peace and called on the UCK fighters to lay down their arms
and go home, RFE/RL's South Slavic Service reported. Xhaferi added that his
party will leave the governing coalition if the government fails to end the
crisis. He denied, however, that PDSH members boycotted a recent cabinet
meeting, saying that the politicians in question were busy "in the field"
trying to end the violence, dpa reported. PM
[13] NATO MEMBERS IGNORING PLEAS FOR MORE TROOPS?
London's "The Guardian" reported on 21 March that "not a single NATO
government has responded to urgent requests from their hard-pressed
military commanders in Kosovo for reinforcements to help deal with ethnic
Albanian extremists infiltrating neighboring Macedonia, NATO sources
disclosed last night... It emerged yesterday that [Secretary General] Lord
[George] Robertson...asked 10 days ago for two extra battalions -- about 1,
400 soldiers -- in the light of increasing incursions of rebel Albanians
across the Kosovo-Macedonia border. His request followed an appeal from
[General] Carlos Cabigiosu, Italian commander of the 42,000 KFOR troops
in...Kosovo. 'Military commanders need more troops. Basically, they are
overstretched. But we have had no offers,' said an alliance official." PM
[14] U.S. PRESIDENT 'CONCERNED' ABOUT MACEDONIA
President George W. Bush's spokesman, Ari Fleischer, said on 20 March that
"the president is concerned about the actions taken by Albanian extremists,
and that's another reason why the president and NATO authorized stepped-up
patrols of...KFOR" along Kosova's border with Macedonia. "The president is
concerned about the level of violence there," he added. National Security
Council spokeswoman Mary Ellen Countryman said the government is "looking
at nonmilitary actions" that will enable Washington to help, stressing that
"we support the Macedonian government's efforts to defend their border,"
Reuters reported. PM
[15] GERMANY, FRANCE BACK MACEDONIAN GOVERNMENT'S 'OPEN POSITION' TOWARD
ALBANIAN MINORITY
Meeting in Herxheim-Hayna in western Germany on 20 March, Chancellor
Gerhard Schroeder and French President Jacques Chirac agreed that "the
territorial integrity of Macedonia should be called into question by no one,
certainly not Albanian terror groups," Reuters reported. "We appeal to
those involved to end the violence. We support the Macedonian government in
its efforts to find a political solution, and we welcome the fact that the
Macedonian government has taken an open position toward its Albanian
minority," Schroeder added. PM
[16] DIFFERENCES OVER MACEDONIA AT UN?
At the UN on 20 March, French diplomats prepared a Security Council
resolution noting that the "violence has support from outside these areas
and poses a threat to the security and stability of the wider region," AP
reported. Speaking in Skopje the next day, Russian Foreign Minister Igor
Ivanov charged that the wording is not tough enough. "Russia wants this
resolution to clearly state that what is happening today in Macedonia is
the result of terrorist actions" from outside (see below). He noted that
Russia will submit its own resolution on "terrorism and extremism," AFP
reported. PM
[17] GERMAN GOVERNMENT DISAPPOINTED WITH RUGOVA, SERBIA
An unnamed senior "German government source" said in Berlin on 20 March
that the government is "disappointed" that moderate Kosovar leader Ibrahim
Rugova has not taken a "clearer line" in condemning the violence in
Macedonia, Deutsche Welle reported. The source added that the government
also feels that the changes in Serbia since last October have not met up to
Berlin's expectations. Berlin notes that Yugoslav President Vojislav
Kostunica has introduced a national holiday to honor Serbians who died as a
result of NATO's 1999 intervention but no holiday to honor the Albanian
victims of President Slobodan Milosevic's ethnic cleansing campaign, which
was the reason for the intervention (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 16 March 2001).
Schroeder spoke to Macedonian President Boris Trajkovski on the telephone
and condemned the violence. Schroeder did not discuss with Trajkovski
sending German peacekeepers to Macedonia, the source added. PM
[18] RUSSIA ALLEGES ROLE OF 'WESTERN INTELLIGENCE AGENCIES' IN MACEDONIAN
CONFLICT...
Foreign Minister Ivanov told Russian troops in Kosova on 20 March that the
international community "is becoming aware of the fact that the conflict in
Macedonia is not about national minority rights and has been provoked by
terrorist organizations, in particular those based outside the country." He
added that unspecified "media reports" to the effect that "Albanian
terrorists" in Macedonia are backed by the intelligence services of various
Western countries are very important and require checking, Interfax
reported from Prishtina. PM
[19] ...CONTINUES TOUGH RHETORIC ON BELGRADE'S BEHALF...
Turning to the affairs of Kosova, Ivanov stressed on 20 March that the
future of the province "cannot be resolved outside a united Yugoslavia"
(see "RFE/RL Newsline," 20 March 2001). The international community must
"state its views on this issue loud and clear," Interfax reported. "Any
ambiguity on this issue plays into the hand of separatists, who intend to
set up an ethnically cleansed unit in the center of Europe," Ivanov said.
PM
[20] ...CALLS FOR 'ANTI-TERRORIST PACT'
Speaking to reporters in Skopje on 21 March, Ivanov said that "passive
reaction by the West to the spread of the Kosovo conflict to the Albanian-
populated regions [of Macedonia]...only helps the separatists [to] go
unpunished and be more radical in their actions," Reuters reported. He said
that NATO intervention has failed to solve the region's problems. Ivanov
called on the Balkan countries "to forge a pact under international
auspices" that would make clear that borders cannot be changed and
territorial integrity must be respected. He added that the Balkan states
should pledge themselves to prevent use of their territory to prepare
"terrorist or similar activity" against their neighbors. PM
[21] RUSSIAN INTERIOR MINISTER IN SERBIA, KOSOVA
Russian Interior Minister Vladimir Rushailo arrived in Belgrade on 21 March
for talks with his Yugoslav counterpart Zoran Zivkovic, after which a
working protocol is expected to be signed, ITAR-TASS reported. The Russian
visitor will also meet with Yugoslav Prime Minister Zoran Zizic and Serbian
Interior Minister Dusan Mihajlovic. Rushailo then goes on to Prishtina "to
familiarize himself with conditions in which peacekeepers from the Russian
Interior Ministry live," the report added. PM
[22] CIVILIANS FLEE MACEDONIAN VIOLENCE
Some 6,000 ethnic Albanians and Turks have arrived in Turkey over the past
two weeks, AP reported from Ankara on 21 March. "Vesti" reported that
Skopje airport is "full" of mainly ethnic Albanian civilians, including
young men of prime military age, waiting for flights to Western Europe.
News agency reports in recent days indicate that hundreds of Macedonian
citizens have fled to Greece or Albania. Exact, total figures are not
available. PM
[23] YUGOSLAV, SERBIAN MINISTERS VISIT HAGUE
Yugoslav Justice Minister Momcilo Grubac and his Serbian counterpart,
Vladan Batic, met with chief prosecutor Carla Del Ponte in The Hague on 20
March, RFE/RL's South Slavic Service reported. Batic said Milosevic could
be arrested "soon" and stressed that "the new Serbian Government has a new
approach toward The Hague," which includes letting the tribunal open a
Belgrade office. He added that the government will take "measures" aimed at
extraditing non-Yugoslav citizens on its territory to The Hague. Del
Ponte's spokeswoman recently said that the Belgrade authorities are not
really cooperating with the tribunal (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 19 March
2001). On 21 March, Del Ponte said she is launching investigations into
alleged war crimes committed by Albanians against Serbs in Kosova and
Presevo since mid-1999. PM
[24] ITALIAN INVESTMENT IN BOSNIAN STEEL
Bosnia's BH Steel Company and Italy's Danieli signed a contract worth $24
million in Sarajevo on 21 March, AP reported. Danieli will modernize
existing production facilities and install new ones. Large-scale foreign
investments are fairly rare in Bosnia due to the absence of thorough
economic and legal reforms. PM
[25] BOSNIAN UPPER HOUSE OF PARLIAMENT MEETS
More than four months after the Bosnian elections, the House of Nations
held its opening session in Sarajevo on 20 March, RFE/RL's South Slavic
Service reported. Ilija Simic of the Croatian Peasants' Party was elected
chairman. His deputies are the Muslim Sejfudin Tokic of the Social
Democratic Party and Nikola Spiric from the Serbian Democratic Party. PM
[26] ROMANIAN GOVERNMENT DENOUNCES 'ALBANIAN EXTREMISTS' IN MACEDONIA
The government on 21 March said it "firmly condemns the escalation of
violent acts on the Macedonian-Yugoslav border due to increased military
actions of armed Albanian extremists," RFE/RL's Bucharest bureau reported.
The cabinet said these Albanian actions are "a threat to the stability and
security of the Macedonian state and to the entire southeast European
region." The government said it is "firmly reiterating its support of the
sovereignty and territorial integrity" of Macedonia and for the existing
borders of that state. MS
[27] ROMANIAN FOREIGN MINISTER MEETS NATO SECRETARY GENERAL...
Mircea Geoana met with NATO Secretary General Lord George Robertson in
Brussels on 20 March. After the meeting Geoana told a Mediafax
correspondent that "it is highly important that Romania have the necessary
resources to fulfill its obligations under the Action Program for NATO
Accession, in order to prove to the organization that it has made progress
when the plan is reassessed at the next meeting" between NATO and Romanian
officials. A NATO delegation assessed Romania's progress in implementing
the plan during a visit made to Bucharest in early March. MS
[28] ...WHILE DEFENSE OFFICIALS REVEAL FUTURE NATO ACCESSION PLANS
"Romania has wasted a lot of time in implementing NATO accession plans and
is lagging 12 to 14 months behind," George Maior, state secretary for Euro-
Atlantic integration in the Defense Ministry, told journalists on 21 March.
Chief of Staff General Mihai Popescu said the program for the army's
modernization and restructuring will be carried out in two phases, because
Romania lacks the resources to implement the plan concomitantly. The first
phase, to last till the end of 2003, envisages the setting up of the
"structure of forces necessary for national security and defense," while
the second will begin in 2004 and envisages "the modernization of military
technique." This phase is to be completed between 2010 and 2015, according
to a Mediafax report. Defense Minister Ioan Mircea Pascu said the
ministry's total budgetary and additional resources in 2001 will be $1
billion. MS
[29] EXTREMIST PARTY CHALLENGES ROMANIAN LAW IN CONSTITUTIONAL COURT
Seventy-three deputies representing the Greater Romania Party (PRM) in
parliament were joined on 21 March by a deputy from the ruling Party of
Social Democracy in Romania in challenging the recently adopted Law on
Local Public Administration before the Constitutional Court. The appeal
says the law contravenes the constitution because it allegedly grants the
Hungarian language "the status of a second official language" in Romania.
MS
[30] DISMISSAL OF ROMANIAN PROSECUTOR PROTESTED
Members of organizations representing people injured and arrested, and
relatives of those killed when miners ransacked Bucharest in 1990 and 1991
are protesting the dismissal last week of Prosecutor General's Office
Military Branch chief General Dan Voinea, AP reported. Voinea, who brought
about the sentencing of the miners' leader, Miron Cozma, to 18 years in
prison in 1999, as well as the sentencing of generals Victor Athanasie
Stanculescu and Mihai Chitac to 15 years for their role in quashing the
anti-Ceausescu revolt, was removed from office without explanation by new
Prosecutor General Tanase Joita. One of Joita's first measures in office
was to suspend the sentences against the two generals. A PRM deputy is
heading the team of lawyers demanding that Joita annul the sentencing of
Cozma, while signatures on a petition demanding Cozma's release are being
collected from miners in the Jiu valley. MS
[31] FORMER ROMANIAN COMMUNIST PREMIER DEAD
Ilie Verdet, honorary chairman of the extraparliamentary Socialist Labor
Party (PSM), died on 21 March, Mediafax reported. He was 76. Verdet was
Romanian Prime Minister between 1980 and 1982. In 1990 he founded the PSM,
and served as chairman of the party between 16 November of that year and 1
July 2000. MS
[32] NEW MOLDOVAN PARLIAMENT STARTS WORK...
The new Moldovan parliament as expected elected Eugenia Ostapciuc as its
new speaker during its first session on 20 March. The 53-year-old Party of
Moldovan Communists (PCM) parliamentary chairwoman will have Vadim Mishin
of the PCM and Mihai Camerzan of the Braghis Alliance as deputies, RFE/RL's
Chisinau bureau reported. Mishin, an ethnic Russian, is 55 and worked for
the Ministry of the Interior between 1983 and 1998. The election of
Camerzan, 59, as deputy speaker triggered the first conflict in the new
legislature. Ostapciuc said the Braghis Alliance, of which Camerzan is a
member, has demanded the post be given to outgoing premier Dumitru Braghis,
but that she refused, "because I have no political experience and want on
my side people I know and trust." Camerzan said he will continue to
represent the Braghis Alliance. MS
[33] ...ACCEPTS RESIGNATION OF GOVERNMENT
In the absence of members of the Braghis Alliance, who withdrew from the
debate in order to consult over Camerzan's appointment as deputy speaker,
the parliament voted to accept the resignation of the cabinet, which had
been announced the previous day by Premier Braghis. Speaker Ostapciuc said
there was "no need" to wait for the cabinet to present a report on its
activities before the vote, "because we all have the written text." The
cabinet will continue in office as caretaker until the appointment of a
successor. The parliament also decided that the election of the new
president will be held on 4 April. MS
[34] RUSSIAN DUMA DELEGATION IN CHISINAU
Boris Pastukhov, chairman of the State Duma's Committee on CIS Affairs, on
20 March held talks with outgoing President Petru Lucinschi and with
Foreign Minister Nicolae Cernomaz, RFE/RL's Chisinau bureau reported.
Pastukhov, who heads a delegation that includes all members of the Russian
Special State Commission for the Transdniester conflict, said Russia is
insisting that the planned OSCE meeting be held in Bratislava on 27-28
March with all sides participating. Pastukhov said the meeting must discuss
different drafts for granting special status to the Transdniester region,
and "whatever draft is accepted at the end, it must include all rational
proposals and ideas." Pastukhov also reiterated his country's readiness to
abide by the decision of the 1999 OSCE Istanbul summit and withdraw all
troops from the breakaway region. MS
[35] BULGARIA TO ALLOW PERMANENT ACCESS TO NATO TROOPS
Bulgaria and NATO will sign on 21 March a memorandum giving NATO troops
permanent access to Bulgarian territory, the English-language daily
"Monitor" reported on 20 March (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 3 March 2001). Prime
Minster Ivan Kostov told journalists that the memorandum will be signed in
Brussels by Defense Minister Boiko Noev and the government will submit the
document for ratification by the parliament on 22 March. Approving the
memorandum necessitates amending the current law, which requires the
legislature to approve every individual passage of foreign troops through
the country. MS
[36] FBI DIRECTOR SUPPORTS BULGARIA IN SPY SCANDAL WITH RUSSIA...
Visiting FBI Director Louis Freeh on 20 March expressed support for
Bulgaria's expulsion of three Russian diplomats suspected of involvement in
a spying scandal, "Monitor" reported. Russia retaliated by expelling three
Bulgarian diplomats (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 18 and 19 March 2001). "Those
individuals, whether working under diplomatic cover or otherwise, cannot be
allowed to conduct such activities and must be removed from the country,"
Freeh said. In reference to Kostov, he added: "I certainly applaud the
prime minister for his prompt reaction in this regard." Following talks
with Kostov and Interior Minister Emmanuel Yordanov, Freeh said Bulgaria is
"a strategic partner of the U.S." and "an oasis of stability." He also said
the Bulgarian authorities recently succeeded in preventing five major
Russian underworld figures from entering the country. MS
[37] ...AND BULGARIA REBUFFS RUSSIAN REACTION
The Foreign Ministry on 20 March said Russia's description (see "RFE/RL
Newsline" 19 March 2001) of the Bulgarian decision to expel the diplomats
allegedly involved in the affair amounts to interference in Bulgaria's
internal affairs, Reuters and AP reported. Foreign Ministry spokesman Radko
Vlaikov said he was "indignant" that Russia "pretends to be in the position
to determine which are Bulgaria's genuine interests and which are not."
Vlaikov said Bulgaria's national interests are "formulated in a sovereign
manner by its own state institutions," unlike the days when those interests
were determined by Moscow. Vlaikov also said the Russian retaliation and
decision to expel three Bulgarian diplomats was "not based on any
evidence." MS
[38] BULGARIAN RADIO BROADCASTS INTERRUPTED BY THIEVES
State radio broadcasts were interrupted for two hours on 19-20 March after
thieves stole a section of cable linking its studios with a nearby
transmission tower, "Monitor" reported. Police said they detained three
suspects. Plamen Kostov, a senior radio executive, said the case was
"unprecedented" and pointed out that it "coincides with the protests" by
state radio journalists against the appointment of Ivan Borislavov as new
radio director. Kostov said he was not accusing the protesting journalists,
but the theft must have been planned by "a person familiar with this sort
of equipment." Protesting journalists' leader Sylvia Velikova responded
that any link between the theft and the protest amounts to "manipulation."
MS
[39] BULGARIAN PRESIDENT IN LEBANON
Petar Stoyanov and his Lebanese counterpart Emile Lahoud on 20 March
discussed conflicts in the Middle East and the Balkans and ways to improve
bilateral relations and to mutually attract investments. Lebanese and
Bulgarian officials signed agreements on enhancing political and economic
cooperation, as well as an agreement on extradition. MS
[C] END NOTE
[40] There is no "End Note today.
21-03-01
Reprinted with permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
URL: http://www.rferl.org
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