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RFE/RL Newsline, Vol. 5, No. 118, 01-06-21
RFE/RL NEWSLINE
Vol. 5, No. 118, 21 June 2001
CONTENTS
[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA
[01] SIX DEFENDANTS IN ARMENIAN PARLIAMENT SHOOTINGS TRIAL AMNESTIED
[02] ARMENIAN-AZERBAIJANI TALKS SCHEDULED FOR AUGUST...
[03] ...BUT AZERBAIJAN'S FOREIGN MINISTER REMAINS PESSIMISTIC
[04] GEORGIA UNABLE TO MET FOREIGN DEBT REPAYMENTS
[05] FEW TAKE ADVANTAGE OF KAZAKHSTAN'S AMNESTY ON REVERSING CAPITAL FLIGHT
[06] KAZAKHSTAN REGISTERS INCREASE IN TRADE WITH EU
[07] TWO ISLAMIC MILITANTS SENTENCED TO DEATH IN KYRGYZSTAN
[08] TAJIKISTAN DENIES REPORTS OF BOMBING
[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[09] SOLANA TRIES TO BREAK MACEDONIAN IMPASSE
[10] ROBERTSON SAYS NATO ROLE IN MACEDONIA IS NOT 'ARMED INTERVENTION'...
[11] ...AND STRICTLY RULES OUT POLICING DEMARCATION LINES
[12] NATO DRAFTING PLANS FOR MACEDONIAN FORCE
[13] WHAT ROLE FOR THE U.S. IN MACEDONIA?
[14] POWELL SAYS IT'S TOO EARLY TO COMMIT TROOPS
[15] MACEDONIAN POLICE ARREST 30 ALBANIANS IN SKOPJE
[16] YUGOSLAV PRESIDENT HAILS RUSSIA AS COUNTERBALANCE TO U.S.
[17] FLOODS FORCE THOUSANDS TO FLEE HOMES IN BOSNIA
[18] ELECTION OF SPLIT MAYOR SIGN OF CHANGE IN CROATIA?
[19] BANDIC, SRICA HEAD GOVERNMENT IN CROATIAN CAPITAL
[20] CROATIAN GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS RELUCTANT TO FACE TOUGH QUESTIONS?
[21] ALBANIA GETS READY FOR GENERAL ELECTIONS
[22] HUNGARIAN LEADER IN ROMANIA SALUTES STATUS LAW...
[23] ...TRIGGERING WRATH OF CHAUVINIST PARTY
[24] WORLD BANK APPROVES LOAN FOR ROMANIA
[25] ROMANIAN PARLIAMENTARIANS FOOLING COUNCIL OF EUROPE?
[26] ...INTRODUCE AMBIGUITY IN LAW ON FORMER STATE LEADERS
[27] VORONIN, SMIRNOV, FAIL TO REACH AGREEMENT ON TRANSDNIESTER STATUS...
[28] ...EXCHANGE UNFRIENDLY REMARKS
[29] MOLDOVAN FOREIGN MINISTER MEETS POWELL
[30] FINAL RESULTS RELEASED ON THE BULGARIAN BALLOT
[31] SIMEON TO DECIDE ON BULGARIAN PREMIERSHIP 'THIS WEEK'
[32] EU RAPPORTEUR SAYS 2007 'REALISTIC DATE' FOR BULGARIA'S ACCESSION
[33] EU TRYING TO ENSURE FAIR TRIAL FOR BULGARIANS IN LIBYA
[C] END NOTE
[34] There is no End Note today.
[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA
[01] SIX DEFENDANTS IN ARMENIAN PARLIAMENT SHOOTINGS TRIAL AMNESTIED
Six men accused in connection with the October 1999 parliament shootings
were cleared of criminal charges on 20 June under the amnesty declared to
mark the 1,700th anniversary of Armenia's adoption of Christianity,
RFE/RL's Yerevan bureau reported. The six include three police officers who
were on duty at the parliament building on the day of the shooting but
failed to prevent the five gunmen from entering the parliament's main
chamber. Also on 20 June, members of the ad hoc parliament commission
charged with investigating possible official interference with the trial
inspected the two Yerevan jails where the remaining defendants are being
held. LF
[02] ARMENIAN-AZERBAIJANI TALKS SCHEDULED FOR AUGUST...
Following the 19 June meeting at which Armenian President Robert Kocharian
briefed political party leaders on the continuing Karabakh peace process,
Orinats Yerkir (Law-Based Country) parliament faction leader Artur
Baghdasarian told Armenian National Television that the next meeting
between Kocharian and his Azerbaijani counterpart Heidar Aliev will take
place in August, Groong reported. Both Baghdasarian and National Democratic
Union Chairman Vazgen Manukian said that the postponement of the talks
scheduled for Geneva this month was due to Azerbaijan's reneging on an
earlier agreement. LF
[03] ...BUT AZERBAIJAN'S FOREIGN MINISTER REMAINS PESSIMISTIC
Speaking at a conference on the Karabakh conflict in Baku on 19 June,
Vilayat Quliev said the OSCE Minsk Group charged with mediating a solution
to the Karabakh conflict has proven incapable of doing so, according to
"Zerkalo" on 20 June, as cited by Groong. "There is a vicious circle: the
Minsk Group co-chairmen place their hopes on the talks between the two
presidents and base their activity on the results of those talks while the
presidents and public in the two countries are waiting for results from the
Minsk Group," Quliev observed. He said there appears to be no way out of
this "vicious circle," given that the Minsk Group has not put forward any
new proposals since November 1998. He implied that a solution to the
conflict depends not merely on an agreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan,
but also on Armenia securing approval for such an agreement from its
"patrons," by which he presumably meant Russia. Quliev also again rejected
any economic cooperation between Armenia and Azerbaijan, branding Armenian
proposals to embark on such cooperation "a well-thought-out step which is
intended for the European mentality," according to the independent daily
"Ekho," as cited by Groong. LF
[04] GEORGIA UNABLE TO MET FOREIGN DEBT REPAYMENTS
The Georgian government has decided to freeze payments on its $16 million
debt to Armenia following failure to reach agreement on rescheduling,
Caucasus Press quoted Finance Minister Zurab Nogaideli as saying on 20
June. He said that talks with Russia on debt rescheduling were similarly
unsuccessful, but that agreement of restructuring debts has been reached
with Turkey, Iran, and Azerbaijan. By 1 September, Georgia must also
conclude rescheduling agreements with the U.S., the Netherlands, Uzbekistan,
and Kazakhstan. Georgia's total foreign debt is $1.6 billion, of which $500
million is due in the next two years. LF
[05] FEW TAKE ADVANTAGE OF KAZAKHSTAN'S AMNESTY ON REVERSING CAPITAL FLIGHT
To date, few people have taken advantage of the window of opportunity that
began on 14 June to return illegally exported capital to Kazakhstan,
RFE/RL's Kazakh Service reported (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 15 June 2001).
According to spokesmen for Kazakh banks, no large sums of money have been
brought back into the country. LF
[06] KAZAKHSTAN REGISTERS INCREASE IN TRADE WITH EU
Kazakhstan's trade turnover with the EU rose by almost 40 percent in 2000,
paralleling a 43 percent overall increase in foreign trade to nearly $16.5
million, Economic and Foreign Trade Ministry official Zaure Abdildina
reported on 20 June, according to Interfax. Trade with EU member states
stood at about $3 billion, and Italy, Germany, and the U.K. were the
largest EU trade partners. Trade with the EU accounted for 22 percent of
Kazakhstan's total trade turnover last year. LF
[07] TWO ISLAMIC MILITANTS SENTENCED TO DEATH IN KYRGYZSTAN
A military court in Kyrgyzstan's southern Batken Oblast on 22 June
sentenced to death two members of the banned Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan,
RFE/RL's Bishkek bureau reported. The two men, one of whom is a Russia and
one a Tajik citizen, were captured during clashes in Batken in August 2000
during fighting between Kyrgyz army forces and an invading IMU force.
Reuters on 20 June quoted court officials as saying that the sentence is
not subject to appeal and will be carried out once a moratorium on the
death penalty expires late next year. LF
[08] TAJIKISTAN DENIES REPORTS OF BOMBING
Tajik Interior Minister Khumdin Sharipov told Asia Plus-Blitz in Dushanbe
on 21 June that foreign media reports that an unidentified aircraft bombed
the Hait district of Gharm Oblast on 20 June are untrue. AFF reported on 20
June that two combat helicopters overflew Hait and dropped at least two
bombs before entering Kyrgyz airspace. Kyrgyz National Security Service
Director General Bolot Djanuzakov told RFE/RL on 20 June that Bishkek was
not responsible for the bombing. LF
[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[09] SOLANA TRIES TO BREAK MACEDONIAN IMPASSE
Javier Solana, the EU's chief security policy official, is slated to arrive
in Skopje on 21 June to provide a fresh impetus for the all-party peace
talks, which appear to have stalled among mutual recriminations, AP
reported (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 20 June 2001). Solana will leave Macedonia
for Israel that same evening and return to Skopje the next day. On 20 June,
President Boris Trajkovski blamed ethnic Albanian leaders for introducing
what he called new and unacceptable demands aimed at "federalizing" the
country. He added that the Albanians "wanted only to prolong the talks,
hoping maybe for international intervention," Reuters reported. Ethnic
Albanian leaders, for their part, claimed that Macedonian politicians are
unwilling to implement change or do anything more than talk, the BBC
reported. One top official of the Party of Democratic Prosperity called for
foreign mediation, Reuters reported. The EU hopes that these charges and
countercharges are little more than political posturing in the run-up to a
25 June deadline that Brussels has set for the all-party talks to conclude
a deal. PM
[10] ROBERTSON SAYS NATO ROLE IN MACEDONIA IS NOT 'ARMED INTERVENTION'...
NATO Secretary-General Lord George Robertson said in Washington on 20 June
that NATO ambassadors agreed only to supply assistance to help collect arms
in Macedonia -- if asked -- and then to leave, all within a short period of
time, Reuters reported (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 20 June 2001). He stressed
that NATO assistance will be offered "when, and only when, there is a
durable cease-fire and an agreement between all of the parties in the
[government] coalition -- and indeed an agreement by the armed extremists
that they will proceed toward disarmament." Robertson stressed that "this
is not some military force going in to fight. It is an offer by the NATO
countries to be prepared to put in place a NATO-led force that will take
the arms and uniforms of all the armed groups who will by that time have
indicated that they wish to disarm." PM
[11] ...AND STRICTLY RULES OUT POLICING DEMARCATION LINES
Robertson said in Washington on 20 June that "there are no circumstances,
no circumstances where NATO troops are going to go to Macedonia to foist
any internal demarcation lines that might exist there or any partition of
Macedonia at all," Reuters reported. "This [idea] seems to have
surfaced...inside the former Yugoslav republic of Macedonia. But I have
made it clear in a letter to the president [of Macedonia] that under no
circumstances would NATO be involved in demarcation or partitioning."
Elsewhere, an unnamed NATO official told the "Financial Times" of 21 June
that "we cannot afford to have Macedonia become another Kosovo in which the
ethnic hatred is...so entrenched and the province is run by an
international protectorate." PM
[12] NATO DRAFTING PLANS FOR MACEDONIAN FORCE
The "Financial Times" reported from Brussels on 21 June that the Atlantic
alliance is preparing an "operational plan" slated to be ready by 27 June.
It envisages a battalion of between 3,000 and 5,000 troops divided into
three units that could be sent to Macedonia "as soon as possible." British,
Spanish, Dutch, Greek, Czech, and Norwegian troops are expected to make up
the lion's share of the force. The U.S. is expected to provide
communications and logistics support. An unnamed "senior NATO diplomat"
told the daily that "the Americans will put their boots on the ground."
Russia will be kept constantly informed of NATO's plans. PM
[13] WHAT ROLE FOR THE U.S. IN MACEDONIA?
Balkan expert Mark Thompson, who works for the NGO International Crisis
Group, told the BBC's Serbian Service on 21 June that the key to ending the
Macedonian imbroglio is greater U.S. involvement. He stressed that American
leadership was essential for dealing with the previous crises in the former
Yugoslavia. In Washington, Secretary of State Colin Powell said on 20 June
that "we are...looking for others who are respected by both sides to come
play a role in bridging these differences," Reuters reported. He did not
indicate who such a mediator might be. He indicated that a settlement
should include constitutional changes to address basic Albanian grievances.
Powell stressed that "we're pressing that as hard as we can, because...only
through a political solution will they be able to keep moderate Albanians
and Macedonians from joining the extremists." PM
[14] POWELL SAYS IT'S TOO EARLY TO COMMIT TROOPS
Powell, a former head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said in Washington on
20 June that "we have roughly 700 people in Macedonia already, and they at
some point could become a part of that [disarmament process]," dpa
reported. He pointed out that some of the 5,400 U.S. troops in Kosova are
helping patrol the border with Macedonia to prevent any infiltration of
Albanian guerrillas. Powell added: "I think we are involved militarily, we
are involved politically, we are involved diplomatically, and we are doing
everything that has been asked of us so far. But we have not yet made any
commitment of troops to the purpose of this potential disarmament mission,
because we really don't need to make such a contribution yet." PM
[15] MACEDONIAN POLICE ARREST 30 ALBANIANS IN SKOPJE
Police arrested 30 men in Skopje near the historical fort on 20 June, dpa
reported. Police officials said that the men came from Albania, were
driving stolen cars, and are suspected of links to the National Liberation
Army (UCK). PM
[16] YUGOSLAV PRESIDENT HAILS RUSSIA AS COUNTERBALANCE TO U.S.
Yugoslav President Vojislav Kostunica told the Russian weekly "Obshchaya
Gazeta" that his country "has always held the view that Russia's presence
is the alpha and omega of stability and balance in Southeastern Europe,"
Interfax reported from Moscow on 20 June. He added that "the major
decisions concerning the Balkans have [always] been adopted with Russia's
participation... I am sure that Russia's presence will also be necessary in
the future." He stressed that "to avoid new crises, Russia should share
responsibility for the Balkans' fate equally with the U.S. in both
diplomatic and peacekeeping aspects" (see "RFE/RL Balkan Report," 15 May
2001). PM
[17] FLOODS FORCE THOUSANDS TO FLEE HOMES IN BOSNIA
Heavy rainfall continues to batter much of Bosnia, an RFE/RL correspondent
reported from Banja Luka on 20 June. Officials have declared a state of
emergency in several regions, and police in both the federation and the
Republika Srpska are out in force to clear roads and assist stranded
motorists (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 20 June 2001). The Tuzla, Brcko, Banja
Luka, Doboj, and Zenica areas have been particularly hard hit. Several
thousand people have been forced to flee their homes, at least 10 of which
have been destroyed by the flood waters, dpa reported. PM
[18] ELECTION OF SPLIT MAYOR SIGN OF CHANGE IN CROATIA?
Social Liberal candidate Ivica Skaric was re-elected mayor by the City
Council on 20 June with the votes of the Croatian Democratic Community
(HDZ), AP reported. The Social Democrats, who have the largest number of
seats, had insisted that Skaric step down in favor of a Social Democrat.
The Social Liberals and Social Democrats are the two largest parties in the
national governing coalition. National Social Liberal leader Drazen Budisa
is widely believed to be waiting for an opportunity to end that coalition
and form a new one with the HDZ and other conservative parties. PM
[19] BANDIC, SRICA HEAD GOVERNMENT IN CROATIAN CAPITAL
The Zagreb City Council re-elected Social Democrat Milan Bandic as mayor on
20 June, RFE/RL's South Slavic Service reported. The new council president
is Velimir Srica of the liberal Croatian People's Party. Srica is a U.S.-
educated IT specialist. PM
[20] CROATIAN GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS RELUCTANT TO FACE TOUGH QUESTIONS?
Veteran journalist Mirjana Rakic resigned as moderator of Croatian
Television's talk show "Forum" after Prime Minister Ivica Racan, Deputy
Prime Minister Goran Granic, and several other top officials cancelled a
planned appearance, AP reported from Zagreb on 20 June. They were slated to
discuss the government's record after 500 days in office. The officials
cancelled after Rakic changed the format to include a panel of critical
journalists. "Vecernji list" wrote that the cancellation raises doubts
about the government's commitment to freedom of the media. Rakic said later
that she has never worked harder on a program and achieved so few results,
"Jutarnji list" reported. PM
[21] ALBANIA GETS READY FOR GENERAL ELECTIONS
Albanians prepare to vote on 24 June after what many experts regard as the
most peaceful and orderly campaign in the post-communist history of that
country, dpa reported. The news agency notes that opposition leader Sali
Berisha deserves much of the credit for the change in the political
atmosphere, because he stopped his confrontational tactics after a visit to
the U.S. in February. Latest polls give 46 percent to the governing
Socialists and 42 percent to the opposition (see "RFE/RL Balkan Report," 15
June 2001). Campaigning has centered on economic issues. PM
[22] HUNGARIAN LEADER IN ROMANIA SALUTES STATUS LAW...
Hungarian Democratic Federation of Romania (UDMR) Chairman Bela Marko on 20
June told journalists that the positions adopted by the Romanian
authorities and by political parties toward the Status Law passed by the
Hungarian parliament one day earlier "create an artificial conflict that
does not serve Romanian interests and the future of our relations with
Hungary," RFE/RL's Bucharest bureau reported. The law, Marko said, is aimed
at helping ethnic Hungarians abroad to preserve their identity. He said the
UDMR will not be directly involved in issuing identity cards attesting to
Hungarian ethnicity but "will be involved in preparations for the law's
implementation." Marko said he will himself request such a card, "but never
the double Romanian-Hungarian citizenship... I am a Romanian citizen, wish
to remain one, and, as a Romanian citizen I want to be able to preserve my
cultural, traditional Magyar identity," he said. MS
[23] ...TRIGGERING WRATH OF CHAUVINIST PARTY
The Greater Romania Party (PRM) on 20 June said in a press release that
"more emphatically than ever in the past," the PRM demands that the UDMR be
outlawed because it allegedly endangers national security. The PRM said it
will submit in the parliament a draft bill stipulating that Romania
unilaterally abrogate the basic treaty with Hungary if Budapest "perseveres
in its plans." It said the Status Law is "a racial law" and that the PRM
members of the Romanian delegation at the Parliamentary Assembly of the
Council of Europe -- the party's chairman, Corneliu Vadim Tudor, and
Senator Ilie Ilascu -- will initiate a motion in Strasbourg condemning the
law. Also on 20 June, Gheorghe Funar, the nationalist Cluj mayor and PRM
secretary-general, announced that "archeological excavations" will be
resumed in the city's center. The excavations, which have been conducted
around major Hungarian historical monuments, led to clashes in 1994. MS
[24] WORLD BANK APPROVES LOAN FOR ROMANIA
The World Bank on 20 June approved a $50 million three-year loan to Romania
for improving social security, Finance Minister Mihai Tanasescu told
journalists. Tanasescu also said that an agreement on the "letter of
intent" stipulating the conditions under which the International Monetary
Fund (IMF) would resume lending to Romania might be signed the next day. A
Romanian Radio report on 21 June said Premier Adrian Nastase met in
Bucharest with Neven Mates, the IMF's chief negotiator for Romania. A 20
June Mediafax report said that at its last meeting, the World Bank's
Executive Board approved the "Strategy of Assistance to Romania" up to
2004. In the event that privatization efforts are pursued and intensified,
the strategy provides lending of up to $995 million in that period. If
privatization is "hesitant or will regress," lending will not be higher
than $60 million. MS
[25] ROMANIAN PARLIAMENTARIANS FOOLING COUNCIL OF EUROPE?
The Chamber of Deputies' Judicial Commission on 20 June changed the
government-proposed amendment of the Penal Code aimed at decriminalizing
homosexual relationships. The commission restored to the code the
punishment of same-sex relations "if they occur in public," but moved that
provision from Article 200 to Article 201. There is no definition of what
"in public" actually means. The amendment is yet to be approved by the
plenum. UDMR Deputy Ervin Szekely, the only member of the commission to
have opposed the decision, told Mediafax its members believe "they can thus
fool the Council of Europe," which has insisted on decriminalizing
homosexual relations. MS
[26] ...INTRODUCE AMBIGUITY IN LAW ON FORMER STATE LEADERS
A mediation commission of Romania's two chambers of parliament on 20 June
decided to strike out a provision in a draft bill on the rights of former
heads of state that specifically mentioned former king Michael among those
to whom the provisions of the law apply, Mediafax reported. The law
entitles former heads of state to an official residence and monthly
stipends of 75 percent of the incumbent president's wages. The decision was
taken in view of the opposition of the PRM. Social Democratic Party Senator
Ionel Olteanu said the concession to the PRM is not significant, since his
party has clarified that the law's provisions will apply to the former
monarch, but observers say the law could be interpreted differently if the
government majority in the parliament changes. MS
[27] VORONIN, SMIRNOV, FAIL TO REACH AGREEMENT ON TRANSDNIESTER STATUS...
Moldovan President Vladimir Voronin and separatist leader Igor Smirnov
failed to reach any agreement on the status of the breakaway region during
their meeting in Chisinau on 20 June, RFE/RL's Chisinau bureau reported.
Smirnov said after the meeting that "the Moldovan leadership is repeating
the mistakes of its predecessors, failing to take into account the actual
reality." He said he has "no less than 11 objections" to the first article
in the draft proposed by Voronin on Transdniester autonomous status.
Smirnov said Voronin is disregarding agreements reached in the past and
repeated that a resolution of the conflict is possible only by "creating a
common state on an equal, treaty-regulated basis." He also said Voronin has
failed to address the Tiraspol proposal that Chisinau "withdraw" from the
OSCE 1999 Istanbul summit resolutions. MS
[28] ...EXCHANGE UNFRIENDLY REMARKS
Voronin said he has expressed to Smirnov his "surprise" that, following
their 16 May agreement on the mutual recognition of official documents,
Transdniester decided to issue its own passports. He emphasized again that
"a state cannot have two passports." Voronin also said Tiraspol's position
on the OSCE summit fails to take into account that those accords were
signed by all OSCE members . He said the issue of checkpoints in the
demilitarized zone was not raised but that he will go ahead and dismantle
"at least six of the 10 existing points." Smirnov replied that Moldova
cannot do that unilaterally, as the matter falls under the jurisdiction of
the Joint Control Commission. The two leaders did, however, agree to
cooperate on "public order maintenance" and to have experts from the two
sides' interior ministries pursue the matter further. The next negotiating
round was scheduled for 8 August in Tiraspol. MS
[29] MOLDOVAN FOREIGN MINISTER MEETS POWELL
Foreign Minister Nicolae Cernomaz, currently visiting the United States, on
20 June told journalists at RFE/RL's Washington bureau that he met with
U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell, an RFE/RL correspondent reported.
Cernomaz said they discussed the problem of human- and drug-trafficking
from Moldova to Western Europe and that Powell told him he will ask the EU
to help Moldova cope with those problems. Cernomaz said much of the
trafficking originates from Ukraine. MS
[30] FINAL RESULTS RELEASED ON THE BULGARIAN BALLOT
The Central Election Commission on 20 June announced that the National
Movement Simeon II (NDSV) garnered 42.74 percent of votes in the 17 June
parliamentary elections and will have 120 seats in the 240-member new
parliament, BTA reported. The United Democratic Forces (ODS) coalition has
51 seats, having been backed by 18.8 percent of the electorate. The
Coalition for Bulgaria, whose main component is the Bulgarian Socialist
Party, was supported by 17.15 percent of voters and has 48 seats. The
ethnic Turkish Movement for Rights and Freedoms has 21 seats, having
garnered 7.45 percent of the vote. Nine deputies were elected in two
constituencies and will have to decide which constituency they want to
represent. MS
[31] SIMEON TO DECIDE ON BULGARIAN PREMIERSHIP 'THIS WEEK'
Former King Simeon II on 20 June said he will decide "later this week"
whether to take over the premiership himself, AP reported. Bulgarian
legislation would enable him to do that, although he did not run for a seat
in the parliament. The NDSV on the same day urged the outgoing government
to suspend important privatization deals in progress and not to sign
additional clauses on already closed privatization projects. Observers say
the NDSV is thus hinting that it suspects irregularities in the ODS-
supervised privatization process. On 20 June, Simeon met with leaders of
the Bulgarian Orthodox Church and received their blessing for success. He
agreed with Patriarch Maxim to set up a working group to resolve the split
in the church between Maxim's supporters and dissenting clergy who accuse
him of having collaborated with the communists and therefore demand his
ouster. MS
[32] EU RAPPORTEUR SAYS 2007 'REALISTIC DATE' FOR BULGARIA'S ACCESSION
In a report prepared for the European Parliament's Foreign Affairs
Committee, Jeffrey van Orden, EU rapporteur for Bulgaria, said he considers
the year 2007, which is being advanced by Bulgaria's outgoing government as
the country's target date for accession to the EU, to be "realistic," BTA
reported on 20 June. Van Orden wrote that the resolution to be adopted by
the European Parliament should commend the country for "serving as a model"
for the viability of the "catching-up principle" in the negotiations with
the EU. But van Orden also said Bulgaria is not yet a functioning market
economy and more effort is needed to strengthen state administration and
intensify the struggle against corruption. The rapporteur emphasized
Bulgaria's positive role as a "stabilizing factor in the Balkans." The
report is to be submitted to the European Parliament in the fall. MS
[33] EU TRYING TO ENSURE FAIR TRIAL FOR BULGARIANS IN LIBYA
Swedish Ambassador to Bulgaria Sten Ask on 20 June told journalists that
the EU is trying to ensure a fair trial for the six Bulgarian medics
accused in Libya of having deliberately infected children with the HIV
virus, AP reported. The ambassador said the EU "shares the concern of the
Bulgarian government" and that it had already sent Libya a memorandum on
the case last year. MS
[C] END NOTE
[34] There is no End Note today.
21-06-01
Reprinted with permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
URL: http://www.rferl.org
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