Compact version |
|
Sunday, 24 November 2024 | ||
|
RFE/RL Newsline, 02-02-21Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty: Newsline Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty <http://www.rferl.org>CONTENTS
[01] RUSSIA HEDGES ON EXTENDING OIL-REDUCTION AGREEMENT WITH OPECSpeaking to journalists after a meeting on 20 February between Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov and the heads of the largest Russian oil producers, Energy Minister Igor Yusufov announced that the possibility that Russia may not extend the agreement it made last year with OPEC to scale down oil exports was not discussed, Western and Russian news agencies reported. The world oil market interpreted Yusufov's statement as a signal that Moscow does not plan to continue to abide by OPEC's policy of reducing global oil exports, and this led to a 3 percent fall in crude oil prices during the business day, bloomberg.com reported on 20 February. Meanwhile, Yusufov also said that the government has decided to form a working group composed of energy officials and oil executives to develop Russia's energy strategy. He added that the government is considering the construction of two major pipelines for exporting Russian oil to China, Japan, and Korea, with a projected capacity of 40 million tons (roughly 280 million barrels) a year. VY[02] MILITARY COOPERATION WITH CHINA SEEN AS THREAT TO RUSSIA'S NATIONAL SECURITY...Writing in "Nezavisimoe voennoe obozrenie," No. 5, military expert Sergei Orlov said that in becoming the No. 1 importer of Russian arms, China has led the best minds and weapon designers of the former Soviet military-industrial complex to ignore Russian interests and work to build up China's defense capabilities. Today, China is buying Russia's most advanced weaponry, while Chinese "head hunters" are carefully recruiting leading Russian scientists and research collectives that can fortify Beijing's ambitions to modernize its nuclear industry and develop its space program, including piloted space flights, Orlov said. At present, Russian military cooperation with China is based on several bilateral agreements and codified in a "friendship treaty" signed in July 2001, in which Beijing managed to incorporate maximum guarantees for itself while minimizing its own obligations to Russia. Orlov said that while it would be very shortsighted to judge China's intentions based only on such documents, it is clear that once Moscow helps Beijing reach its objectives, Russia's donor role will expire and subsequently Russian weapons in Chinese hands will pose a threat to Russia itself. VY[03] ...AS RUSSIA MAPS OUT CHINESE EXPANSIONAt a session held by the commission on border policy overseen by Konstantin Pulikovskii, the presidential envoy to the Far Eastern federal district, Russian officials discovered that the map used by the commission designates a Russian island off the coast of Khabarovsk as part of China, "Vremya novostei" reported on 20 February. According to specialists, the map, which was published in Russia, was likely drawn up based on a Chinese map. In fact, China has long considered two islands off Khabarovsk, Bolshoi Ussuriiskii, and Tarabarov, as its territory. According to the daily, the map will be destroyed in order not to assist the "Chinese in their propagandistic aims." JAC[04] EXPERT SAYS RUSSIA NOT PROTECTED FROM NUCLEAR TERRORISMAleksandr Koldobskii, the leading expert from the Moscow State Engineering and Physics Institute (MIFI), told a conference on nuclear terrorism held in Moscow on 19 February that he has no confidence that Russia and the rest of the world are sufficiently protected from the threat of nuclear terror, ntv.ru and ITAR-TASS reported. Koldobskii also said that in the years following the fall of Soviet Union, nuclear facilities in Russia were left practically unguarded and the thefts of fissionable materials multiplied by several times. Koldobskii added that he personally does not believe that reports about stolen weapons-grade radioactive materials have anything to do with nuclear terrorism because "it's simply impossible to steal the amount of plutonium needed for a bomb." But Koldobskii pointed out that among the some 700,000 people working for the Atomic Energy Ministry "one always can find a person who for money will give you access without asking questions or looking to see what you are taking away." VY[05] MOSCOW PROPOSES COMMERCIALIZING INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATIONYurii Koptev, the head of the national space agency Rosaviakosmos, announced on 20 February that the agency has proposed to countries participating in the International Space Station (ISS) project that two additional commercial modules be constructed for the station, RIA-Novosti reported. He said the new modules would allow the ISS to house "space tourists" and would help offset expected funding cuts for the project by the U.S. government. Koptev added that his agency has already designed the modules, and expressed his hope that the plan will be accepted by NASA, as well as the European, Japanese, and Canadian space agencies. VY[06] PREMIER SAYS GOVERNMENT HAS AVERTED POSSIBLE 2003 DEBT CRISISPrime Minister Kasyanov said on 20 February that his government has averted a potential crisis resulting from a peak of foreign indebtedness payments in 2003 thanks to general economic growth, a balanced budget, and a positive trade balance, Prime-TASS reported. "Using the positive monetary situation, the government initiated a buyout of its own debts [due to be paid in] 2003 led by the principle that 'the more spend we today, the more we save tomorrow,'" "Kommersant-Daily" quoted Aleksandr Shokhin, the head of the Duma's credit and financial markets committee, as saying on 20 February. VY[07] ATOMIC ENERGY MINISTRY CREATES OWN POWER COMPANY...Oleg Saraev, the head of the state-owned Rosenergoatom, which is part of the Atomic Energy Ministry, announced that his agency has created a new national electric power operator called Unified Generating Company (EGK), Russian economic news agencies reported on 20 February. EGK will consolidate the output of 10 nuclear power stations, and will compete on the domestic and foreign electrical energy market with Unified Energy Systems (EES), which had been the only national power distributor. The ministry intends to use the profits it earns from EGK to pay debts it owes to EES, and for investment in the development of the nuclear power industry. VY[08] ...AS CULTURE MINISTRY CONSOLIDATES FILM COMPANIESCulture Minister Mikhail Shvydkoi announced on 20 February that his ministry has decided to consolidate 18 state film studios into a holding company to be known as the Russian Cinema Distributor, "Izvestiya" and RBK reported. The new holding has been created in line with this year's decision by the government to strengthen the status of the Russian film industry and its role in the country's culture, and to prevent the further plundering of film studios' assets that has been taking place for years, Shvydkoi added. VY[09] PROSECUTOR-GENERAL SEEKS TO REGISTER HOMELESS CHILDRENSpeaking to the State Duma on the issue of homeless children on 20 February, Vladimir Ustinov said that the number of teenagers and children involved in juvenile crime has doubled over the past decade and has reached 1.14 million, RIA-Novosti reported. Last year, law enforcement agencies detained 301,000 children aged 13 or under, 295,000 of whom were not enrolled in school and 45,000 of whom were illiterate, according to Ustinov. He suggested to the Duma that it introduce state registration for all homeless children as well as those who are not enrolled in school. VY[10] INTERNAL DEBT LOOMS OVER RUSSIAWhile Russia is making progress in solving its foreign debt problems, it faces a catastrophic situation as far as internal debts are concerned, "Nezavisimaya gazeta" reported on 20 February. According to the daily, Russia's internal debt exceeds 6 trillion rubles ($2 billion), whereas the entire state budget for 2002 is not more than 2 trillion rubles ($670 million). Dmitrii Kozak, the deputy chief of the presidential staff, told the daily that if Russia were to meet all the social program obligations it has made, the country would immediately face internal default and financial chaos. Paradoxically, until now the government has been saved from a financial fiasco only by the legal illiteracy of the population, Kozak added. To avoid a potential crisis, he said the government should move quickly to redistribute financial responsibility for internal debts between the center and the regions. VY[11] FSB ACCUSES POLITKOVSKAYA OF WORKING FOR SOROS MONEY IN CHECHNYAThe regional operations headquarters for the antiterrorist operation in Chechnya has accused "Novaya gazeta" journalist Anna Politkovskaya of using her reporting trips to the republic to resolve her own financial problems, ntvru.com reported on 20 February, quoting Ekho Moskvy radio. Ilya Shabalkin, a representative of the Center for Public Relations of the Federal Security Service, charged that each of Politkovskaya's trips arouses "unhealthy sensationalism." He also reported that last year "Novaya gazeta" signed an agreement with the Soros Fund to participate in a project called "Hot Spots" for which it received $55,000. According to the website, military officials in Chechnya earlier accused Politkovskaya of trying to attract the attention of the public and media to further her own celebrity. Meanwhile, "Novaya gazeta" Deputy Editor in Chief Sergei Sokolov explained that "various officials in the federal forces and special services have expressed hostility -- to put it mildly -- toward" Politkovskaya. He continued that "she has received various threats and even had to leave the country" (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 15 and 26 October 2001). Meanwhile, Soros officials told "Kommersant-Daily" on 21 February that Politkovskaya's journalistic activities have nothing to do with the grant. JAC[12] DEPUTIES APPROVE CITIZENSHIP BILL...State Duma deputies voted on 20 February to approve a bill on citizenship that establishes a new procedure for persons seeking Russian citizenship, polit.ru reported. Some 235 deputies voted for the bill, with 177 against and no abstentions, according to RIA-Novosti. The bill was approved in its first reading last October and since then some 204 amendments were proposed, of which the committee for state construction recommended adopting 92, "Izvestiya" reported on 20 February (see "RFE/RL Russian Political Weekly," 22 October 2001). Under the bill, persons are eligible to apply for citizenship if they have lived in Russia for more than five years and have relatives in Russia. If they have no relatives, then they must live in Russia for 10 years before applying. In addition, potential citizens must speak the Russian language and be familiar with the Russian Constitution. JAC[13] ...AS PRESIDENTIAL ENVOY MAKES ETHNIC SLURDuring the debate over the bill, Duma deputy (Russian Regions) Viktor Alknis accused his colleagues of "betraying" millions of former Soviet citizens by not giving them a special status and easier requirements for citizenship, while Vadim Bulavinov (People's Deputy) cautioned that Russia should not be turned into a "vacuum cleaner that sucks up criminals, scoundrels, and bums," the website reported. And presidential envoy to the Duma Aleksandr Kotenkov argued against the claim that an influx of immigrants could benefit Russia, asking rhetorically, "What, is Moscow full of intellectuals? It's full of beggars and Tajiks!" Also on 20 February, deputies rejected an amendment proposed by Tatarstan's legislature that would have given Russian citizens simultaneous citizenship in Tatarstan. Kotenkov argued that the amendment was "impossible to adopt." Tatarstan's amendment attracted only 21 votes in favor. JAC[14] UNITY OFFICIAL SUGGESTS DUMA SHOULD BE TRIMMERUnity faction leader Vladimir Pekhtin met with President Vladimir Putin on 20 February to discuss reforming the Duma's apparatus and committee structure, RIA-Novosti reported. Pekhtin told reporters that he wants to reduce the number of Duma committees from 28 to 12-14, and liquidate most commissions. He is also proposing that the number of persons working for Duma apparatuses, around 2,000, be cut in half. He claimed that "even in the Soviet Union the largest ministry had [only] 980 persons." JAC[15] COAL COMPANY TRIES TO TURN TABLES ON ELECTRICITY SUPPLIERPrimorskugol, the largest coal company in Primorskii Krai, has halted its fuel shipments to Dalenergo, Interfax-Eurasia reported on 20 February. According to the agency, Dalenergo's debt to the company totals around 200 million rubles ($6.5 million), an 88 million ruble increase since December 2001. Meanwhile, Dalenergo announced on 19 February that it will begin massive shut-offs of electricity to enterprises to cities in Dalengorsk, Dalenerechensk, Lesozavodsk, and Partizansk. JAC[16] LOCAL BUSINESSMEN TRY TO GET PRIME MINISTER'S ATTENTIONEntrepreneurs in Ulyanovsk picketed the office of the mayor during the lead-up to Prime Minister Kasyanov's visit to that city, presscenter.ru reported on 20 February (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 20 February 2002). The businessmen carried placards demanding a reduction in the leasing fee for space in the food market. According to the website, the protest violated the rules in force prior to Kasyanov's arrival. JAC[17] PUTIN NOT SEEKING HANDS-ON MANAGER FOR RE-ELECTION CAMPAIGN"Versiya," No. 7, reported in its most recent issue that a recent news report that President Putin's personal masseur, Konstantin Goloshchapov, will head the president's re-election campaign, is false and is part of a smear campaign by security forces to discredit Goloshchapov. According to the original story, Putin brought Goloshchapov down to Moscow from St. Petersburg, and the latter has been accepting bribes from people hoping to influence Putin through Goloshchapov. According to the weekly, rather than organizing a campaign, Goloshchapov is instead trying to set up an association of Russian masseurs, which would issue licenses for certain kinds of medical massages. In addition, the association would also include a special group of masseurs, who have undergone a security check and would service senior government officials. JAC[18] OU EST LE BOEUF?French farmers sent 500 pedigree cows to Siberia on 20 February as part of an intergovernmental agreement to improve Russian meat quality, "The Moscow Times" reported on 20 February. According to the daily, the shipment of 500 cows sent to Tyumen Oblast is just the beginning, and up to 10,000 pedigree cows will be delivered to different Russian regions each year for 10 years. Tyumen Oblast Governor Sergei Sobyanin said that the cows are badly needed as the region has had difficulty trying to raise cattle that are good for both meat and milk. JAC[19] CHECHEN PROTESTS AGAINST RUSSIAN 'SWEEPS' GATHER MOMENTUMResidents of the Chechen villages of Novye and Starye Atagi are converging by foot or bus on the village of Tsotan-Yurt, whose residents have embarked on an open-ended protest against the brutality shown by Russian troops during two recent search operations, Chechenpress reported on 21 February (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 11 January and 15 February 2002). Starye and Novye Atagi were similarly subjected to such searches (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 11 and 19 February 2002), even though local administration head Musa Dakaev told "Kommersant-Daily" on 15 February that Novye Atagi is "one of most peaceful villages in Chechnya." LFTRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA [20] ARMENIAN PRESIDENT'S BODYGUARD CONVICTED OF MANSLAUGHTERA Yerevan court on 21 February handed down a one-year suspended prison sentence to Aghamal Harutiunian, the member of President Robert Kocharian's bodyguard accused of the death in a Yerevan cafe last September of an Armenian from Georgia, Poghos Poghosian, RFE/RL's Yerevan bureau reported. Harutiunian pleaded guilty to manslaughter, having told the court last month that he gave Poghosian a "gentle shove" that caused him to lose his balance and fall, incurring fatal head injuries. Several witnesses testified that they saw a group of men assaulting Poghosian after the latter addressed insulting remarks to Kocharian, but that Harutiunian was not one of them. LF[21] ARMENIAN PRESIDENT SEEKS TO ALLAY CONCERNS OVER NEW MEDIA BILLSpeaking in Yerevan on 20 February, Kocharian said a new draft law on the media that many journalists consider poses a threat to press freedom will not be enacted unless it is approved by Council of Europe experts, RFE/RL's Yerevan bureau reported. The bill envisages a new system of licensing for media outlets (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 8 February 2002), and requires journalists to submit written applications in advance to interview government personnel and to pay an honorarium for such interviews. Kocharian stressed that "we all need free media," but added that the media should be "responsible." LF[22] ISRAEL RESPONDS TO ARMENIAN DIPLOMATIC NOTE ON GENOCIDEIn a 19 February response to Armenia's diplomatic note of 15 February, the Israeli Foreign Ministry again rejected any comparison between the Armenian genocide of 1915 and the Holocaust, according to Mediamax and Arminfo, as cited by Groong. "Israel recognizes the tragedy of the Armenians and the massacre of the Armenian people, but at the same time believes that this should not be described as genocide," the Israeli statement said. Armenia had protested an earlier statement made in Yerevan on 8 February by Rivka Kohen, Israel's ambassador to both Armenia and Georgia. Kohen characterized the 1915 killings as "merely a tragedy" that cannot be compared to the Holocaust (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 19 February 2002). LF[23] RUSSIAN STATE DUMA SPEAKER SAYS KARABAKH SHOULD JOIN PEACE TALKSIn an interview published in the independent newspaper "Golos Armenii" on 19 February and reproduced by Groong, State Duma speaker Gennadii Seleznev underscored Russia's interest in "the soonest possible regulation of the [Karabakh] conflict, the establishment of strong relations between those two Transcaucasus countries, and the continuation of multilateral cooperation with Armenia and Azerbaijan without unresolved political problems." To that end, Seleznev said, "I would like the [unrecognized] Nagorno-Karabakh Republic also to participate" in future talks between Armenian and Azerbaijani representatives on finding a solution to the conflict. Azerbaijan has consistently ruled out any such participation by Karabakh officials. LF[24] TRIAL OF RADICAL ISLAMISTS OPENS IN AZERBAIJANThe trial opened on 20 February in Azerbaijan's Court for Serious Crimes of six men suspected of membership of the underground Islamic organization Hizb-ut-Tahrir, Turan and Interfax reported. The six men, one Ukrainian and five Azerbaijanis, were apprehended in Baku in July 2001 and face charges of preparing to commit acts of terrorism against the U.S. Embassy in Baku and the headquarters of other international organizations, and of seeking to overthrow the country's leadership and establish an Islamic state (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 3 January 2002). LF[25] AZERBAIJANI VILLAGERS CONFRONT BAKU MAYORResidents of the village of Nardaran on the outskirts of Baku accused Baku Mayor Hadjibala Abutalibov on 20 February of failing to deliver on promises he made late last month to provide gas supplies and employment opportunities, and to improve their living conditions, Turan reported (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 30 January 2002). The meeting reportedly took place in a "tense atmosphere," with villagers shouting "We don't believe your promises," and "Allahu akbar," to which Abutalibov responded "I'll wait until you come to your senses." LF[26] U.S. OFFICIAL HOPES FOR GEORGIAN ACTION AGAINST AFGHAN MERCENARIESReuters on 20 February quoted an unnamed U.S. administration official as saying that Washington is considering how to help Georgia apprehend and neutralize Afghan militants who have taken refuge in the Pankisi Gorge, but rules out Russian participation in any such operation. He categorically denied Russian media reports that following a meeting in Washington on 8 February of the U.S.-Russia joint working group on terrorism, the U.S. drafted a plan for a joint operation with Russia against Afghans in Pankisi. Reuters also quoted U.S. State Department spokesman Richard Boucher as saying that the U.S. has made clear to Moscow that it believes the situation in Pankisi "is best dealt with through...cooperation [between] the U.S. and Georgia." Also on 20 February, ITAR-TASS quoted an unidentified NATO official as denying that the alliance has considered any action in Pankisi. LF[27] GEORGIA, ABKHAZIA FAIL TO REACH AGREEMENT ON PATROLS OF KODORI GORGENo agreement was reached during lengthy talks in western Georgia on 20 February between representatives of the Abkhaz and Georgian governments, the UN Observer Mission, and the CIS peacekeeping force deployed in the Abkhaz conflict zone, on the arrangements for joint patrols of the Kodori Gorge that were to have begun that day, ITAR-TASS and Caucasus Press reported (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 20 February 2002). They will resume talks on the issue on 26 February. Georgian Foreign Minister Irakli Menagharishvili had expressed confidence on 19 February that the Georgian and Abkhaz sides would reach agreement on joint patrols by unarmed police of both the upper reaches of the Kodori Gorge and Abkhazia's Gulripsh Raion. LF[28] GEORGIA AGAIN RULES OUT AUTONOMY FOR ARMENIAN-POPULATED REGIONForeign Minister Menagharishvili told journalists on 20 February after a session of the Georgian parliament's Defense and Security Committee that discussed the tense situation in the predominantly Armenian-populated southern region of Djavakheti that the region is an inseparable part of Georgia and that there can be no further discussion of it being granted autonomous status, Caucasus Press reported. Menagharishvili also expressed his appreciation of the Armenian government's support for the Georgian position. LF[29] KAZAKHSTAN MERGES STATE OIL EXTRACTING, EXPORTING AGENCIESPresident Nursultan Nazarbaev issued a decree on 20 February abolishing both the state oil company KazakhOil and the oil and gas export concern KazTransOil, and creating a new organization named KazakhMunaygaz, Interfax and RFE/RL's Kazakh Service reported. Lazzat Kiinov, the 52-year-old governor of Mangystau Oblast, was named to head the new company, while Nazarbaev's son-in-law Timur Kulibaev, the former president of KazTransOil, was appointed his deputy. It is not clear what new position will be offered to Nurlan Balghymbaev, who was named KazakhOil president after resigning as premier in 1999 (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 1 October 1999). On 21 February the "Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung" reported that on 26 February KazakhOil is to launch a five-year Eurobond at an annual interest rate of 9 percent. LF[30] KAZAKH PRESIDENT CONFERS WITH RUSSIAN PRESIDENTIAL AIDE...President Nazarbaev met on 19 February in Astana with Russian presidential apparatus head Aleksandr Voloshin to discuss Russian-Kazakh relations, accelerating integration within the Eurasian Economic Association, and preparations for the informal CIS summit to be held in Almaty in early March, ITAR-TASS and RFE/RL's Kazakh Service reported. LF[31] ...AND WITH HIS TURKMEN COUNTERPARTOn 20 February, Nazarbaev telephoned Turkmenistan's president, Saparmurat Niyazov, to congratulate him on his birthday the previous day, Interfax reported. Niyazov confirmed that he will attend the Almaty summit, on the sidelines of which he and Nazarbaev will meet to discuss the condition of the Aral Sea and the rational use of water resources. LF[32] ABDUCTED KYRGYZ OFFICIALS RELEASEDResidents of the village of Kara-Suu in Djalalabad Oblast, which is the native village of arrested parliament deputy Azimbek Beknazarov, late on 19 February freed the local officials whom they had taken hostage the previous day to demand Beknazarov's release, RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service reported (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 20 February 2002). The officials had traveled to Kara-Suu after villagers kept their children home from school to protest Beknazarov's arrest and trial. A local police official denied on 20 February that the officials were forcibly detained, saying that they had to wait for transportation to return to the town of Djalalabad. LF[33] TAJIKISTAN SIGNS UP FOR NATO'S PFPTajikistan formally joined NATO's Partnership for Peace program on 20 February eight years after its inception, becoming the last of the former Soviet republics to do so. Speaking after he and Tajik Ambassador Sharif Rakhimov signed the relevant documentation in Brussels, NATO Secretary-General Lord George Robertson expressed appreciation of Tajikistan's role in the fight against terrorism, AP reported. Rakhimov for his part said Tajikistan hopes that cooperation with NATO will contribute to regional stability and provide opportunities for modernizing the country's armed forces. LF[34] FRENCH MILITARY INTELLIGENCE CHIEF VISITS TAJIKISTANGeneral Philippe Rondeau met in Dushanbe on 20 February with Tajik President Imomali Rakhmonov to discuss regional security issues, ITAR-TASS reported. No details were divulged. Following talks two days earlier with Tajik Defense Ministry officials, Rondeau said he is "pleased" with Tajikistan's assistance to France and other countries engaged in the ongoing antiterrorism campaign. Tajik officials said France signaled its readiness to provide Dushanbe with unspecified "special technologies." It is not clear, however, if a decision was taken on whether France will help modernize the Ayni military air base outside Dushanbe that the Tajik leadership has offered the antiterrorism coalition. The costs of bringing the airfield up to NATO standards are estimated at several million dollars (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 24 January 2002). LF[35] TAJIKISTAN UNDERTAKES TO REPAY IMF LOANIn a statement released on 20 February and summarized by Asia Plus-Blitz, the Tajik Finance Ministry undertook to comply with the IMF's request that it repay a total of $31 million in loans advanced in violation of the conditions of its agreement with the fund (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 15 February 2002). The ministry explained that the violations centered on unreported loans by two German banks to two state-owned Tajik companies for the purchase of equipment, and that the fund's decision was not politically motivated. LF[36] ANOTHER SENIOR TURKMEN OFFICIAL JOINS OPPOSITIONIn a statement released on 18 February and carried on the website gundogar.com, former Turkmen Deputy Premier Khudaiberdy Orazov announced that he is aligning with the opposition National Democratic Movement of Turkmenistan. Orazov described the current situation in Turkmenistan as "a profound systemic crisis" resulting from Niyazov's "dictatorial regime," and explained his decision to leave the country and join the opposition in exile in terms of his realization that it is impossible to change the situation from within. In a separate interview with "Vremya novostei," Orazov explained that his forced resignation in January 2000 (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 6 January 2000) was prompted by his public disagreements with Niyazov over the latter's plans to secure a $350-$500 million loan from the U.S.'s EximBank to buy agricultural machinery after the country had already received a $1 billion loan for the same purpose. LF[37] U.S. TO EXPAND MILITARY COOPERATION WITH UZBEKISTANVisiting Tashkent on 18-19 February, General Richard Myers, who is chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, met with Uzbek Defense Minister Kadyr Gulyamov and President Islam Karimov to discuss the security situation in Afghanistan and Central Asia as a whole, and the prospects for increasing bilateral military cooperation. Myers told journalists after his talks with Karimov that they discussed the possibility of joint training and maneuvers both in Uzbekistan and the U.S., and that the U.S. will supply unspecified equipment for the Uzbek armed forces. He also commented that the antiterrorist campaign in Afghanistan appears to have weakened the banned Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan in terms of disrupting supplies, arms, and cash to the point that "the IMU is a much less effective force today here in Uzbekistan," RFE/RL's Uzbek Service reported. LF[38] WINTER OLYMPICS MEDAL COUNT -- PART 1 COUNTRIESThrough 20 FEBRUARYCountryGoldSilverBronzeTotal Russia55313 Armenia0000
Azerbaijan0000
Georgia0000
Kazakhstan0000
Kyrgyzstan0000
Tajikistan0000
Uzbekistan0000
CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPE
SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
CountryGoldSilverBronzeTotal
Croatia2103
Bulgaria0123
Estonia1012
Czech Rep.1012
Poland0112
Belarus0011
Slovenia0011
Bosnia-Herzeg.0000
Hungary0000
Latvia0000
Lithuania0000
Macedonia0000
Moldova0000
Romania0000
Slovakia0000
Ukraine0000
Yugoslavia0000
END NOTE
There is a major press scandal brewing in Hungary -- nothing new there
-- but this time the international media is involved. It raises issues
that go beyond local conflicts over the media and directly places the
nature of European journalistic standards on the agenda.
It is commonly accepted that the style of reporting journalists are
traditionally supposed to adopt can be summarized as "the facts are
sacred, but comment is free." But this is beginning to look threadbare.
Increasingly, journalists are using "colorful" language to make their
writing more vivid, and thereby more saleable, and are encouraged in
this by their editors and the journalistic training they receive. There
is a strong propensity to personalize stories, to focus them on an
individual, rather than deal with an issue in the round. And often
enough a critical stance becomes a readiness to give every event the
worst, most sensationalist interpretation.
The trouble in Hungary has arisen because journalists themselves are
the focus of the story and they don't like it. A group of Budapest
students recently set up a media-watch project called Control Group --
probably "survey" is better than "control" -- and have completed a
content analysis of Western media coverage of Hungarian politics.
Indeed, they have gone further, criticizing specific Western
correspondents stationed in Budapest. The response has been a
collective howl of outrage.
The Control Group report argued that Western media coverage of Hungary
has tended to be antigovernment and to reflect the perspectives of the
opposition, especially of the Free Democrats. And these arguments were
backed up by data and direct quotations from the journalists concerned.
There is little doubt, incidentally, that reportage of Hungary does
reflect the general skepticism journalists have toward conservatism in
Europe. Many journalists have left-of-center assumptions, often quite
unconsciously.
The foreign journalists concerned deny bias, of course, and insist that
they report "the truth," possibly even "The Truth." But matters don't
end there. Simultaneously, they also adopt a more modest stance and
suggest that all they do is to offer "the first draft of history." Both
cannot be right. "Truth" is a claim to unchallengeable knowledge and
pure objectivity. The "first draft" position accepts the ad hoc,
contingent nature of what journalists do, of their dependence on their
contacts and, sometimes, their inability to make distinctions that
local journalists make, but which are unimportant to their foreign
counterparts.
The division between different readerships is a further source of
problems. A Hungarian reader will expect something different from that
of a British or Dutch reader, for instance, but journalists seldom
bother with this difference and assume a single, universal readership.
This can lead them to write in such a way as to appear unsubtle or, in
the worst cases, ignorant of local realities.
Matters are made even more complex by the differences between Western
politics and the patterns of post-communism, which Western journalists
either ignore or tend to regard as a local irritant. To Hungarians,
then, what the Western media say about them can seem -- and sometimes
actually is -- patronizing and insensitive. Some Western journalists
are certainly insensitive to the impression they create and reject any
suggestion that they are seen as semicolonial arbiters imposing an
alien set of norms. But then Central Europe has an ambiguous position
in Europe generally -- a part of Europe certainly, but not quite with
the same equal status as, say, Portugal.
Take the case that the Control Group complained of -- the left-wing
bias they allege can be found in much of the Western press. Few foreign
correspondents in Budapest seem to have made much effort to understand
the peculiar dilemma of the post-communist right. If you are a
conservative, what exactly are you conserving? It can't be the recent
past because it is communist, and attempts to conserve the pre-World
War II past have failed miserably. The Polish right has foundered on
this issue, but the Hungarians appear to have managed it rather more
successfully, avoiding the worst excesses of nostalgia, fragmentation,
and isolationism. This success is in itself offensive to the Hungarian
left; Western journalists in Budapest frequently slip into reflecting
the views of their center-left Hungarian informants and to present
these views as the dominant Hungarian position.
Overall, the problem is more than one of insensitivity and being
patronizing, though these are relevant. Underneath it all is the
question of whether there is a single, universal European journalistic
standard. If there is, is it being applied with greater or lesser
stringency to Hungary than it is to, say, France or Britain? Are the
Western media actually applying harsher criteria to the center-right
Hungarian government than they would to a center-left Hungarian
government (a suggestion that has already been made in the Hungarian
press)?
And are the Hungarians correct in their concerns that the Western media
are tarnishing Hungary's image, that the overall presentation of the
country is, in fact, less sympathetic to Hungary than it might be, that
the view of Hungary that a Western reader receives is too strongly
structured by negative issues (anti-Semitism, anti-Roma prejudice,
hints that the Hungarian prime minister is somehow tainted by "fascism"
or "nationalism")? Is the other perspective adequately presented? And
finally there is the question of tone. It is hard to avoid the
conclusion that the patronizing tone adopted by some Western
journalists is one that they would not use from Paris or Berlin. In
that sense the Hungarians have a case.
Ultimately, there is an insoluble issue here. Both the Hungarians and
the Western press start from an assumption that somewhere out there is
a single, objective truth, and that it is the responsibility of the
press to reflect this. In the real world, this is illusory. There may
be agreed views of the truth, which are sometimes imposed as the
hegemonic truth, but in a globalized world, there is only a polyphony
of voices, all of them claiming to speak the truth. What democratic
criteria do demand, however, is that all actors should have a voice. In
so far as the Western media deny the center-right in Hungary a voice,
or present that voice as marginal or inferior, the complaints of the
Hungarians seem more justified than not.
The author is Jean Monnet Professor of Politics at SSEES, University
College London.
|