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RFE/RL Newsline, Vol. 5, No. 160, 01-08-23Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty: Newsline Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty <http://www.rferl.org>RFE/RL NEWSLINEVol. 5, No. 160, 23 August 2001CONTENTS[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA
[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[C] END NOTE
[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA[01] U.S. CONGRESSMEN VISIT ARMENIAA U.S. Congressional delegation headed by Adam Schiff met in Yerevan on 22 August with Armenian President Robert Kocharian, Prime Minister Andranik Markarian, Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian, and parliament deputy speaker Gagik Aslanian. Topics discussed included the Armenian genocide and the current state of Armenian-Turkish relations, the Karabakh conflict, and Armenian-U.S. relations. Kocharian again expressed his desire to begin an Armenian-Turkish dialogue at the state level, RFE/RL's Armenian Service reported. He also predicted that Armenia will become "the best-organized and most stable country in the region," according to Noyan Tapan. Schiff for his part expressed reservations over the recently created Armenian- Turkish reconciliation commission, especially the choice of its Armenian members, RFE/RL's Armenian Service reported. He said he considers it regrettable that the commission will not address the issue of the 1915 genocide. LF[02] U.S. OFFICIAL OPTIMISTIC OVER CHANCES FOR KARABAKH PEACESpeaking in Washington on 21 August on the eve of a trip to the South Caucasus and Ukraine, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for European Affairs Elizabeth Jones said she does not believe that the ongoing search for a solution to the Karabakh conflict is deadlocked, Noyan Tapan and RFE/RL's Armenian Service reported. Jones noted that "a lot of progress" was made at the OSCE-mediated talks in Florida in April, but declined to predict when a final peace agreement might be signed. She said that the U.S. is eager to facilitate the peace talks to the maximum degree. She also said the objective of her upcoming visit to the South Caucasus states is "to underscore the U.S. commitment" to their sovereignty, independence, and stability. LF[03] POLICE, SUPPORTERS OF DECEASED AZERBAIJANI PRESIDENT CLASH IN BAKUPolice in Baku clashed on 23 August with several thousand participants in an unsanctioned march to mark the first anniversary of the death of former President Abulfaz Elchibey, Turan and Reuters reported. Reuters reported that the police were ordered to pull back after the initial clashes. Mirmahmud Fattaev, who heads the conservative wing of the Azerbaijan Popular Front Party of which Elchibey was chairman, said no one was arrested or detained by police. LF[04] AZERBAIJANI GOVERNMENT UNVEILS ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT PLANThe Economic Development Ministry has unveiled a draft strategy for socioeconomic development for the period 2011-2010, Turan reported on 22 August. That program includes reconstruction of districts devastated in fighting with Armenian forces in the early 1990s. It projects annual GDP growth of 8-10 percent, with GDP in 2005 being 64.5 percent greater than in 2000. LF[05] AZERBAIJAN'S PRESIDENT ORDERS HOMES BUILT FOR REFUGEESPresident Heidar Aliev on 22 August issued a decree on the allocation of land for the construction of permanent homes for the estimated 210,000 Azerbaijani refugees who fled Armenia between 1988-1992, Turan reported. In addition, Aliev ordered the reconstruction of 1,422 homes in a district bordering on the north of Nagorno-Karabakh whose Armenian owners were forcibly expelled to the Armenian SSR in the summer of 1990. Aliev allocated 83 billion manats (about $18 million) from the State Oil Fund to finance the construction. The decree does not provide for the construction of permanent housing for some 540,000 displaced Azerbaijanis who fled their homes during the Armenian offensive in the summer of 1993 and have lived since then in appalling conditions in refugee camps. LF[06] RECENT NONCOMBAT AZERBAIJANI ARMY DEATHS ESTIMATEDEighteen soldiers have died in the Azerbaijani armed forces since the beginning of August, of whom 12 committed suicide, three died of sunstroke, two of thirst, and one was apparently killed for money, Roza Aliqizi, who heads the Committee of Soldiers Families, told the independent TV station ANS-TV on 21 August, Groong reported. Azerbaijani Defense Ministry officials have downplayed reports of an increase in noncombat deaths and said the statistics are classified information (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 14 and 16 August 2001). LF[07] VISA REGIME RELAXED ON GEORGIAN-RUSSIAN BORDERIn line with an agreement reached in talks between Russian and Georgian diplomats, as of 23 August the visa regime between Russia and Georgia has been relaxed for residents of border regions, Caucasus Press and ITAR-TASS reported. Residents of Georgia's Kazbegi Raion and of the Republic of North Ossetia-Alaniya, which is a subject of the Russian Federation, may cross the border without a visa provided they stay in the neighboring country for no longer than 10 days and remain in the border district. LF[08] PROSECUTORS FAIL TO PROVE ANOTHER CHARGE AGAINST FORMER KAZAKH PREMIERTwo witnesses summoned on 23 August in the ongoing trial of former Kazakh Prime Minister Akezhan Kazhegeldin failed to substantiate the charge against him of illegal possession of weapons, RFE/RL's Kazakh Service reported. The former governor of West Kazakhstan Oblast Khabibolla Zhaqypov and his then-deputy explained to the court that a pistol that the prosecution claims Kazhegeldin owned illegally was formally presented to him as a gift during a visit to the oblast in 1996. Other witnesses confirmed that Kazhegeldin paid taxes in 1998 on royalties for a book he published; he is accused of failing to pay tax on those monies. The 23 August session was held behind closed doors as classified information was divulged. Kazhegeldin's lawyer Aleksandr Tabarin declined to give any details of the testimony. Meanwhile, 28 Kazakh intellectuals condemned the court proceedings and expressed their support for Kazhegeldin at a press conference in Almaty on 23 August. LF[09] KAZAKHSTAN'S GOVERNMENT DISCUSSES CASPIAN DEVELOPMENT PROJECTA session of Kazakhstan's government chaired by Prime Minister Qasymzhomart Toqaev has reviewed a 15-year development program for Kazakhstan's sector of the Caspian Sea, Caspian News Agency reported on 22 August. The program focuses on environmental protection, development of the region's infrastructure, and the gradual replacement by Kazakh specialists of foreign personnel currently employed by foreign oil companies. LF[10] POWERFUL MAYOR OF TURKMEN CAPITAL DEMOTEDTurkmen President Saparmurat Niyazov on 21 August demoted Ashgabat Mayor Ashiberdy Cherkezov to the post of deputy head of the city administration because of shortcomings in performing his duties, Interfax reported on 22 August. Specifically, Niyazov complained that construction projects in the capital are behind schedule, and that there are potholes in major thoroughfares. According to Western diplomats in Ashgabat, Cherkezov was regarded as the third most powerful official in Turkmenistan, after the president and Committee for State Security Chairman General Mukhammed Nazarov. Like all Turkmen officials, he must serve a six-month probation period in his new position and will be fired if he fails to discharge his duties adequately, according to an unnamed presidential administration official. The deputy premier for transportation and communications, Berdymurad Redjepov, has been named to succeed him as mayor of Ashgabat. LF[11] UZBEK PRESIDENT PROCLAIMS AMNESTY...Islam Karimov has announced an amnesty pegged to the 10th anniversary of Uzbekistan's declaration of independence, AP and Interfax reported on 22 August. Most female convicts, invalids, persons suffering from serious diseases, men over 55, foreign nationals, and persons who were minors at the time of their sentence will be eligible for release, with the exception of those convicted of murder, terrorism, drug trafficking, or crimes against the constitution. It is not clear precisely how many prisoners will be freed. The amnesty is believed to be an attempt to reduce overcrowding in Uzbek prisons. LF[12] ...AS ARRESTS OF PRACTICING MUSLIMS CONTINUEOver the past two months, Uzbek National Security Service officials have arrested six men in the Ferghana valley as part of a campaign to wipe out "Wahhabism," Keston News Service reported on 21 August. Relatives of the six men say they are simply devout practicing Muslims and have no links with any radical Islamic movement. An Uzbek human rights activist estimated that 1,600 people are currently imprisoned in Uzbekistan for alleged Wahhabist sympathies. LF[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE[13] NATO MOVES INTO MACEDONIASome 136 soldiers and officers of the French Foreign Legion arrived in Skopje on 22 August, Reuters reported. They are the first NATO troops to participate in Operation Essential Harvest other than the 400-strong vanguard, which began arriving on 17 August (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 22 August 2001). On 23 August, several hundred, mainly British troops arrived in the Macedonian capital. One British officer told AP: "The sooner we get on with it, the better." It is not clear how many weapons the guerrillas of the ethnic Albanian National Liberation Army (UCK) have. But Danish General Gunnar Lange, the NATO commander in Macedonia, stressed that the political aspects of the collection process are more important than the number of weapons turned in. "The rebels can rearm. They can start fighting again," Lange said. "It's a lot more important that the trust and confidence that comes with the political process...give them no wish to rearm and start fighting again." PM[14] U.S. HAILS NATO DECISION ON MACEDONIASpeaking in Washington on 22 August, State Department spokesman Philip Reeker said: "The NATO mission will assist with the voluntary disarmament of insurgents, a mission NATO is hopeful can be completed in 30 days, if the parties cooperate as they have pledged to do. We look to the insurgents to cooperate with NATO and to fully comply with all their commitments, including to voluntarily disarm, to respect the cease-fire, and to disband, " RFE/RL reported. He added that "The U.S. will contribute to the NATO mission with intelligence, medical, other logistic support. We've not yet determined a specific number of troops. The U.S. will draw largely from forces already deployed in Kosovo and, indeed, in Macedonia in support of KFOR." In Europe, much press commentary has stressed that a 30-day weapons collection mandate is unrealistically limited. Some editorial writers suggest that NATO and the EU have as much at stake in the mission's success as does Macedonia. Other journalists note that Essential Harvest was set up much more quickly and efficiently than were previous, albeit larger, NATO missions in Bosnia and Kosova. PM[15] NATO'S KOSOVA COMMANDER CALLS FOR 'BROADER MANDATE' IN MACEDONIAFormer U.S. General Wesley Clark, who commanded NATO forces in Kosova in the 1999 war with Serbia, said in London on 22 August: "There is still violence in [Macedonia] and it's not possible to eliminate all risks. So what NATO is going to have to do is go in and do the best it can" to ensure that the guerrillas, government, and political parties honor the various agreements they have signed, dpa reported. Clark added: "I would have preferred to have seen a broader mandate initially. I think the most important thing now is to get the troops in there. NATO's presence on the ground signifies something. The question now is doing the best they can with the mission they've got... If NATO's mission needs to change after the troops are in there, then hopefully NATO governments will have the wisdom to change it." Clark recently published his memoirs of the Kosova campaign under the title "Waging Modern War." PM[16] MACEDONIA ASKS GREECE FOR RECONSTRUCTION AIDAfter meeting with her Greek counterpart, George Papandreou, Macedonian Foreign Minister Ilinka Mitreva said in Athens on 23 August: "We have the support of Greece for emergency aid from Europe. Receiving emergency economic aid is critical for my country," AP reported. Papandreou replied: "We call on all [Macedonian parties] to contribute to the disarmament and [to the] retention of the cease-fire." He promised that Greece will make a "significant contribution" to Macedonian reconstruction and call for convening an international donors conference. Greece is a major investor in several post-communist Balkan countries, including Macedonia and Albania. PM[17] NATO COMMANDER CALLS ON ALBANIA FOR HELPIn Tirana on 22 August, U.S. General Joseph Ralston, NATO's top commander, asked Albanian Prime Minister Ilir Meta to support Essential Harvest by using his influence with Macedonia's ethnic Albanians, AP reported. Meta told a press conference: "We have expressed the determination of our government to continue to contribute to peace and stability in the region. We will continue to contribute positively, by encouraging the [Albanians] there to totally comply with the agreement." The news agency added that Meta has yet to receive a response from the Atlantic alliance to his previous request for NATO to take control of Albania's border with Macedonia to prevent arms smuggling. PM[18] ALBANIAN PRIME MINISTER SETS PRIORITIESJust before the start of a new four-year term in office, Ilir Meta told Reuters in Tirana on 23 August that eliminating electrical power cuts and joining the EU are at the top of his agenda (see "RFE/RL Balkan Report," 10 October 2000 and 10 April 2001). He said that he is glad that his last government helped improve law and order. "It will be very important for us to change the image of Albania, but this is always the second step -- the first step is to make real changes in the country," he added. Referring to the electricity problem, Meta said: "We are doing our best to radically change the energy system by the end of 2003 and to resolve this problem in the long term... We also hope to start a new hydro plant this year, but this is not a solution as it will have a limited capacity and we will still rely on the weather," which affects Albania's other sources of power. PM[19] BOSNIAN DIPLOMATIC PURGESome 32 Bosnian ambassadors abroad will be replaced as part of the new non- nationalist government's attempt to purge supporters of the three nationalist parties from official positions, RFE/RL's South Slavic Service reported on 22 August. "Oslobodjenje" printed on 23 August what it claimed are the names and assignments of the 28 new appointees. PM[20] SERBIAN LEADERS MEETYugoslav President Vojislav Kostunica said in Cacak on 22 August that he has met with Serbian Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic to discuss the current crisis within the governing Democratic Opposition of Serbia (DOS) coalition, RFE/RL's South Slavic Service reported (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 22 August 2001). Kostunica added that the steering committee of DOS will meet next week to discuss the crisis in the coalition. Djindjic told Reuters that "We agreed that political stability is a condition for the survival of reforms." Long-standing rivalries between the two men threaten the stability of the coalition following the recent murder of a security official shortly after he discussed government links to the criminal underworld with Kostunica's staff. PM[21] YUGOSLAV AMBASSADOR TO U.S. 'RECALLED'In a widely expected move, Foreign Minister Goran Svilanovic said in Belgrade on 23 August that the government is "recalling" Milan Protic, its ambassador to Washington, AP reported (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 26 July and 8 August 2001). Protic has been in Belgrade for several weeks for "consultations." He has long been outspoken in his criticism of Kostunica, the Foreign Ministry, many Yugoslav diplomats, and various Serbian politicians. He was elected mayor of Belgrade in the 2000 Serbian elections but chose to go to Washington as ambassador. Kostunica has publicly criticized Protic as being too Americanized. Some others consider him too outspoken in his monarchist and Serbian Orthodox views. Protic, who is a professor of Balkan history by profession, studied and taught for years in California, and has a familiarity with the American idiom and culture that few in Belgrade can rival. That fact, in turn, provoked jealousy in some Serbian circles. Protic regards many of his critics as the products of communist-era mentality. It is not clear who will succeed him in the Washington embassy. PM[22] ROMANIAN GOVERNMENT APPROVES DRAFT LAW ON EXTENDING BLACK SEA 'EXCLUSIVE ECONOMIC ZONE'The government on 22 August approved a draft bill that would extend from 12 to 200 nautical miles Romania's "exclusive economic zone" in the Black Sea, Mediafax reported. The agency said the law is a response to the recent Ukrainian drillings around Serpents Island in the Black Sea. The parliament has yet to approve the bill, which would make what Ukraine claims is "scientific research" around the island illegal, unless previously approved by the Romania government. MS[23] RACIALIST BOOK PUBLISHED BY ROMANIAN PRM DEPUTYA book full of venomous attacks on Jews, Hungarians, and Roma, which is authored by Greater Romania Party (PRM) deputy Vlad Hogea, was published in Iasi by an institute claiming affiliation to the Romanian Academy and headed by PRM Deputy Chairman and Senate Deputy Chairman Gheorghe Buzatu, Romanian media and international agencies reported on 22 August. The Prosecutor-General's Office heeded a protest by the Federation of Jewish Communities in Romania and announced that it will launch an investigation into the affair. Hogea, who cites in the book such "authorities" as executed Nazi war criminal Julius Streichner in support of his statements, denied that the book is in any way racialist. The Romanian Academy, in an earlier statement, dissociated itself from the book and said it was not published under its auspices. Hungarian and Roma minority representatives also protested against the publication of the book. MS[24] ETHNIC HUNGARIAN PARTY IN ROMANIA WARNS AGAINST PARLIAMENTARY DEBATE OF STATUS LAWHungarian Democratic Federation of Romania (UDMR) Chairman Bela Marko on 22 August warned against debating the Hungarian Status Law in the Romanian parliament, saying the debate would unwarrantedly "heat up the nationalist rhetoric." Marko said it is not the Romanian parliament's competence to discuss the matter, which should be pursued in negotiations between the Hungarian and the Romanian governments. In reference to Chamber of Deputies Chairman Valer Dorneanu's recent statements on the possibility of outlawing ethnic parties, Marko said that he is "worried" about them and wants the issue brought up at discussions with the ruling Social Democratic Party. MS[25] ROMANIAN LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL OPPOSES PRM DRAFT LAWThe Legislative Council on 22 August advised the Chamber of Deputies' Permanent Bureau to reject a draft law proposed by the PRM on "countering the effects of the [Hungarian] Status Law," Mediafax reported. The council said that the proposed measures "would not efficiently counter the judicial and constitutional effects" of that law or its "extra-territorial implications." The PRM proposed that those who ask for a "Magyar identity card" be considered as having double citizenship and thus unable to run for office or serve in positions of public, civil, or military officials. The draft also envisages that requesting such an ID card should become a crime punished under the Penal Code. MS[26] MOLDOVAN GOVERNMENT TO REVIEW DECISION ON OBLIGATORY TEACHING OF RUSSIAN?Education Minister Ilie Vancea on 22 August told Flux that the government will review its decision to reimpose obligatory Russian-language classes in primary schools "if the decision stirs protests among parents and teachers." He said the decision to reintroduce those classes is "an experiment." Vancea denied that the decision reflects "an intention to Russify [Moldovan] society." That intention has been attributed to the cabinet by Moldovan Historians' Association Chairman Anatol Petrencu, who said that the ministry's decision is in line with the government's "program to bring about the Russification of Bessarabian Romanians." Prime Minster Vasile Tarlev downplayed the significance of the decision and its consequences, saying that if the classes were to be introduced "the earth will still turn around" and "as premier, I am more interested in economic performance." MS[27] POPE TO VISIT BULGARIA NEXT MAY?Pope Paul John II is likely to visit Bulgaria in May 2002, BTA and AP reported on 22 August. Speaking after a meeting with Apostolic Nuncio Antonio Mennini, Foreign Minister Solomon Pasi told BTA that the cabinet "will create the best possible conditions for the visit." Mennini described the tentatively planned visit as an "expression of the pontiff's respect for Christian Orthodox Bulgaria" and added that the pope also hopes to meet with Muslim religious leaders. Metropolitan Gelasii, the secretary of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church's Holy Synod, said that if the pope requests a meeting with Patriarch Maxim, the Holy Synod "will give him the same reception as that granted to all official guests." AP said that Bulgaria's leaders hope the papal visit will help dispel lingering suspicions that the Bulgarian communist secret services were involved in the assassination attempt against John Paul II carried out by Turkish gunman Mehmet Ali Agca in 1981. MS[C] END NOTE[28] MOLDOVA: STILL TROUBLED, 10 YEARS AFTER INDEPENDENCEBy Eugen TomiucThe avenues of Moldova's capital, Chisinau, will once again be flooded by light on the evening of 27 August, when the former Soviet republic celebrates 10 years of independence. But even public lighting has become a luxury for cash-strapped Moldova. The streets of downtown Chisinau have not been lit since Chinese President Jiang Zemin's visit last month. For each of the two special occasions, the electricity has been donated by the owner of the local electricity system, which turned off power earlier this year because of unpaid bills. After 10 years of independence, Moldova has become Eastern Europe's poorest state and the only ex-Soviet state to vote an unreformed Communist Party back into power. The country has also struggled with a nearly decade- long dispute with its breakaway Transdniester region. Moldova's situation looks particularly grim when compared to the enthusiasm that swept over the country a decade ago, when it was one of the first republics to declare independence from the Soviet Union after the failed Moscow putsch in August 1991. Moldova was part of Romania before World War II, and 65 percent of its 4.5- million population are of Romanian nationality. In the late 1980s, during the reforms launched by Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, a strong pro- Romanian movement arose in Moldova, inspired by the nationalist revivals that swept many Soviet republics. In August 1989, Moldova proclaimed Moldovan -- virtually the same as Romanian -- as its state language, and less than a year later the Romanian tricolor -- red, yellow, and blue -- was adopted as the republic's official flag. Closer ties were forged between Romania and Moldova after the Romanian communist regime collapsed during a bloody popular uprising in December 1989. Moldova's pro-democracy movement, which owed its existence to Gorbachev's perestroika reforms, felt particularly threatened when news of the hard- line coup in Moscow broke. It publicly endorsed Boris Yeltsin in his defiance of the plotters. "Of course, we were taking a risk. We were risking a lot," said Mircea Snegur, Moldova's president at the time. "We did not know what turn events would take, what the directives and decisions from Moscow would be. But we resisted together, both during the putsch and after, and we began to think about Moldova's independence." On 27 August, less than a week after the failed Moscow coup, Moldova's parliament unanimously declared the country's independence and adopted the Romanian national anthem. The Moldovan parliament was among the first to declare the local Communist Party illegal. But once the euphoria subsided, Moldova's political and economic troubles resurfaced. Like most ex-Soviet republics, Moldova's agriculture-based economy was in shambles and poverty was already widespread. In addition, the pro-Russian population of the Transdniester region on the left bank of the Dniester River -- which had already seceded from Moldova in 1990 -- was showing increasing signs of uneasiness over the fear that newly independent Moldova would seek reunification with neighboring Romania. A short but bloody war between Moldovan forces and pro-Russian separatists followed in the summer of 1992, leaving several hundred people dead. The fighting was eventually contained by Russian troops already present in the Transdniester region. On the other side of the border, Romanian politicians feared that reunification efforts would lead to regional instability and international isolation for Bucharest. After the end of the Transdniester conflict and amid deepening economic troubles, Moldova gradually drifted apart from Romania and in 1994 scrapped the common anthem. That same year, the center-left Agrarian Party took over from Snegur's Christian Popular Democratic Front. But reforms remained at a standstill, while poverty grew. Elections in 1998 brought to power an alliance of reformist parties but also marked the return to parliament of the Communist Party, which was legalized again in 1995. The economic crisis continued to deepen amid lackluster reforms, while political bickering between then-president Petru Lucinschi and parliament finally resulted in early elections this year and the Communists' victory. Upon coming to power in April, Communist President Vladimir Voronin pledged to strengthen the country's economic and political ties with Moscow and to bring Moldova into the Russia-Belarus Union. He also named as his top priorities resolving the Transdniester dispute and boosting the status of the Russian language. But the Transdniester dispute remains unresolved despite half-hearted mediation attempts by the OSCE, Moldova now says it is ready to grant Transdniester a large degree of autonomy. Pro-Russian separatists, however, insist that they want a loose confederation of two sovereign and independent states. Russia still has some 2,500 troops in the Transdniester and large stockpiles of weapons and ammunition. The withdrawal of the troops and the destruction of the arsenal -- estimated at 50,000 pieces of armaments, as well as 40,000 tons of ammunition -- has long been a bone of contention between the two sides. Russia last month began the weapons destruction in line with a 1999 OSCE agreement. But the Russian troops' withdrawal -- which has been fiercely opposed by the separatists -- has yet to begin. "As long as this problem remains unsolved, as long as Moldova cannot control its borders and cannot protect its citizens, this state is not an independent state, is not a sovereign state, and is not a democratic state." said Moldovan historian Gheorghe Cojocaru. Economically, Moldova remains overwhelmingly dependent on Russian energy, despite its "privileged" relationship with Romania. Both Romania and Moldova -- with average monthly incomes of $100 and $30, respectively -- rank among the poorest countries in Europe, and Romanian influence on the Moldovan economy is nearly nonexistent. Moldova owes Russia some $600 million in unpaid gas and electricity bills. It owes an additional $800 million to international lending organizations. Communists were brought back to power by voters dreaming of a return to the relative economic stability of Soviet times. But the government has done little so far to alleviate the growing poverty that has turned Moldova into a hub of crime and prostitution. Some positive signs, however, have recently appeared. Moldova in June was admitted into the Stability Pact for South-Eastern Europe. In July, it gained entry into the World Trade Organization, ahead of larger and richer post-Soviet countries like Russia, Ukraine, and Kazakhstan. And the new government's reform program was praised earlier this month by an International Monetary Fund (IMF) delegation. The IMF mission said it will support Moldova's attempt to have some $170 million of debt canceled. However, Moldova now appears closer to Moscow than it did 10 years ago when it declared independence from the Soviet Union. And its communist government has yet to give clear signals that it is ready to change its populist rhetoric and engage in the reforms it will need to attract Western support. Eugen Tomiuc is an RFE/RL correspondent. 23-08-01 Reprinted with permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
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