|
|
|
RFE/RL Newsline, 02-06-06
CONTENTS
[01] PUTIN SAYS RUSSIA MUST BE INTEGRATED INTO GLOBAL SECURITY SYSTEM
[02] DUMA GIVES INITIAL NOD TO HATE-CRIMES BILL
[03] UN SECRETARY-GENERAL PRAISES PUTIN AND RECEIVES GORCHAKOV MEDAL
[04] CHINESE, RUSSIAN LEADERS HOLD CONSULTATIONS BEFORE SHANGHAI GROUP
[05] POLISH PRESIDENT IN MOSCOW, COMES OUT AGAINST KALININGRAD
[06] ...AS RUSSIA STANDS FIRM
[07] GOVERNMENT INTRODUCES LICENSING OF AUDIO AND VIDEO PRODUCTION
[08] HEAD OF IMMIGRATION SERVICE WELCOMES CITIZENSHIP LAW
[09] KOZAK ENDORSES SYSTEM OF FEDERAL DISTRICTS
[10] YAVLINSKII LOSES DEFAMATION LAWSUIT TO BASHKORTOSTAN PRESIDENT
[11] DUMA SAYS CYRILLIC ALPHABET SHOULD BE MANDATORY FOR ALL RUSSIA'S
[12] RUSSIA JOINS INTERNATIONAL FINANCIAL-MONITORING BODY
[13] TAMBOV DUMA REJECTS SALE OF FARMLAND
[14] SAUDI ARABIA DENIES SUPPORTING CHECHEN RESISTANCE
[15] CHECHEN SUPREME COURT OVERTURNS ACQUITTAL OF RUSSIAN OFFICERS IN
[16] LAWYER ACCUSES JUDGE IN ARMENIAN PARLIAMENT SHOOTINGS TRIAL OF
[17] FORMER ARMENIAN DISSIDENT ANNOUNCES PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDACY
[18] ARMENIAN FOREIGN MINISTER MEETS WITH EU OFFICIALS
[19] TEN ARRESTED IN CONNECTION WITH CLASHES IN AZERBAIJANI VILLAGE
[20] AZERBAIJANI JOURNALIST ASSAULTED FOR INSULTING PRESIDENT'S SON
[21] EXXONMOBIL TO PULL OUT OF AZERBAIJANI CONSORTIUM
[22] GEORGIA, RUSSIA TO CREATE JOINT GROUP FOR BILATERAL SECURITY
[23] GEORGIAN OPPOSITIONIST ANNOUNCES FORMATION OF NEW POLITICAL
[24] RUSSIAN GOVERNMENT APPROVES VOLUME OF KAZAKH OIL EXPORTS
[25] BELARUS URGED TO SEEK EXTRADITION OF ACCUSED WAR CRIMINAL
[26] EU CRITICIZES BELARUS'S TREATMENT OF OSCE...
[27] ...AS OPPOSITION PARTIES URGE GOVERNMENT TO CHANGE TUNE IN
[28] WORLD CUP MAY REACH BELARUS EARLIER THAN EXPECTED...
[29] ...AS FANS THREATEN NIGHTLY PROTESTS
[30] BELARUSIAN PRESIDENT WARNS OF 'SURPRISES' DURING ENTRANCE EXAMS
[31] UKRAINIAN GOVERNMENT COULD FACE LAWSUITS IN CASE OF DOWNED
[32] UKRAINE'S TYMOSHENKO DENIES SEEKING ASYLUM FOR ARRESTED FORMER
[33] FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR SAYS NATO READY TO ENCOURAGE COOPERATION
[34] ...WHILE COMMUNISTS SAY THEY WILL NEVER ENDORSE SUCH AN ALLIANCE
[35] UKRAINE'S EUROPEAN INTEGRATION COULD REACH COSMIC PROPORTIONS
[36] ESTONIA ADOPTS SUPPLEMENTARY BUDGET
[37] GOVERNMENT APPROVES 'EUROVISION' CONTEST IN LATVIA
[38] CHANGE IN LEGAL STATUS OF LITHUANIAN NUCLEAR PLANT PROPOSED
[39] POLAND TO SPEND $9.34 BILLION ON IMPROVING POOR HIGHWAY SYSTEM
[40] EU ENLARGEMENT COMMISSIONER SAYS KLAUS WOULD NOT HARM CZECH
[41] CZECH DEFENSE MINISTER'S COMMENTS OFFEND RUSSIA
[42] CZECH, GERMAN PRESIDENTS ATTEMPT TO DEFUSE SUDETEN ISSUE...
[43] ...AND OPEN POLITICAL ART AND LITERATURE EXHIBIT
[44] CZECH COURT FREES FORMER COMMUNIST BORDER GUARD
[45] SLOVAK GOVERNMENT APPROVES CORPS FOR AFGHANISTAN
[46] CANADA SUPPORTS SLOVAK NATO MEMBERSHIP, TOLD MECIAR COULD
[47] COURT UPHOLDS DECISION ON SLOVAK FORMER SECRET SERVICE DIRECTOR
[48] HUNGARIAN DEMOCRATIC FORUM POLITICIAN'S MOVE SEEN AS 'WARNING
[49] EU AMBASSADORS MEET WITH HUNGARIAN PARLIAMENT'S INTEGRATION
[50] IMF WARNS HUNGARY OVER EXCESSIVE SPENDING
[51] SERBIAN PARLIAMENT CHANGES RULES TO SPEED UP REFORM
[52] U.S. OFFICIAL MEETS WITH YUGOSLAV, SERBIAN LEADERS IN BELGRADE
[53] SERBIA ELECTS REPRESENTATIVES TO DRAFT NEW CONSTITUTION
[54] COUNCIL OF EUROPE CHIEF SAYS YUGOSLAVIA TO BECOME MEMBER THIS YEAR
[55] U.S. OFFICIAL IN KOSOVA
[56] HIGHWAY PLAN TO LINK CAPITALS OF ALBANIA, KOSOVA GETS NEW
[57] ...BUT NOT ALL THE FINANCING IS SECURED
[58] BOSNIAN AUTHORITIES LOSE SUSPECT IN ITALIAN EXTRADITION REQUEST
[59] BOSNIAN MUSLIM CLERIC URGES RESTRAINT AGAINST ISLAMIC
[60] ...AS FOREIGN MINISTER GIVES ASSURANCES TO ISLAMIC CONFERENCE
[61] BOSNIAN PRESIDENCY GIVES NOD TO FOREIGN CONSTITUTIONAL COURT
[62] CROATIAN PRIME MINISTER BEGINS MAJOR U.S. VISIT
[63] CROATIA COMES UP EMPTY IN IMF DISCUSSIONS
[64] FORMER TOP BANKER TO RUN FOR SLOVENIAN PRESIDENCY
[65] FORMER REBEL LEADER ELECTED TO LEAD POLITICAL PARTY IN MACEDONIA
[66] NATO SPOKESMAN SAYS CONFERENCE IN MACEDONIA POSTPONED DUE TO
[67] STABILITY PACT ADMITS NEW MEMBERS IN ROMANIA...
[68] ...AND ADOPTS DECLARATION ON DISASTER PREVENTION
[69] THE ECONOMIST GROUP UPBEAT ON ROMANIA'S DEVELOPMENT
[70] WORLD BANK TO SUPPORT ROMANIA'S ANTICORRUPTION FIGHT
[71] MOLDOVAN SUPREME COURT REJECTS GAGAUZ GOVERNOR'S APPEAL
[72] BULGARIAN INTERIOR MINISTRY PLANS MEASURES AGAINST CORRUPTION AND
[73] BULGARTABAK TENDER ENTERS SECOND ROUND
[74] There is no End Note today.
6 June 2002
RUSSIA
[01] PUTIN SAYS RUSSIA MUST BE INTEGRATED INTO GLOBAL SECURITY SYSTEM
Speaking in Moscow on 5 June at a ceremony devoted to the 10th
anniversary of the Russian Security Council, President Vladimir Putin
said Russia must be fully integrated into the international security
system because in the modern world no country can ensure its security
alone, Russian news agencies reported. Nonetheless, he added, Russia
must be prepared to defend its interests and must develop the potential
to continue protecting them in the future. He also repeated his
criticism of the law enforcement and security agencies (see "RFE/RL
Newsline," 31 May 2002), saying they have failed to cope with organized
crime and state corruption. "We have been weak in acting against
extremism and drug trafficking, in protecting business and -- most
importantly -- the interests and rights of our citizens," Putin said.
VY
[02] DUMA GIVES INITIAL NOD TO HATE-CRIMES BILL
Meanwhile, the State Duma passed a government-sponsored anti-extremism
bill in the first reading on 6 June, Western and Russian news agencies
reported. The controversial bill (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 5 June 2002)
is intended to clamp down on racist and nationalist crimes. The vote
was 271 for, 141 against, and one abstention. President Putin and law
enforcement officials have urged the Duma to pass the bill quickly, but
liberal critics maintain that its vague provisions could lead to abuses
by the authorities. According to regions.ru, Deputy Pavel
Krasheninnikov (Union of Rightist Forces), who chairs the Legislation
Committee, said that deputies' complaints will be addressed before the
bill is presented for its second reading. RC
[03] UN SECRETARY-GENERAL PRAISES PUTIN AND RECEIVES GORCHAKOV MEDAL
United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan met in Moscow on 5 June
with President Putin and highly praised his role in efforts to mediate
between India and Pakistan during the recent regional-security forum in
Almaty, Russian and Western news agencies reported on 6 June (see
"RFE/RL Newsline," 4 June 2002). "I was amused to hear them say
President Putin failed to make peace...when the actual situation was
that the two leaders failed to seize the opportunity offered by the
conference," Annan said. While in Moscow, Annan also lauded Russia's
peacekeeping role in the CIS, especially in the Georgian-Abkhaz
conflict. Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov presented Annan with the
prestigious Aleksandr Gorchakov medal, named after an outstanding
19th-century Russian diplomat. Annan became the first non-Russian to
receive the recently created medal, which previously had only been
awarded to Putin, Boris Yeltsin, and former Prime Minister Yevgenii
Primakov. VY
[04] CHINESE, RUSSIAN LEADERS HOLD CONSULTATIONS BEFORE SHANGHAI GROUP
SUMMIT
President Putin arrived in St. Petersburg on 6 June to meet with
Chinese President Jiang Zemin prior to attending the Shanghai
Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit on 7 June, ORT and Russian news
agencies reported. Putin said before the meeting that the discussions
would center on "the quality of Sino-Russian relations and acute
international problems such as combating international terrorism and
extremism, the conflict between India and Pakistan, and the situation
in Afghanistan." Meanwhile, Deputy Economic Development and Trade
Minister Maksim Medvedkov said in Beijing after talks there that China
fully supports Russia's rapid accession to the World Trade Organization
and believes that Russian membership will boost bilateral trade,
RIA-Novosti reported on 6 June. VY
[05] POLISH PRESIDENT IN MOSCOW, COMES OUT AGAINST KALININGRAD
VISA-FREE CORRIDOR...
Polish President Alexander Kwasniewski arrived in Moscow on 6 June to
meet with Russian President Putin, ITAR-TASS reported on 6 June. Flying
from Seoul, South Korea, Kwasniewski stopped over in Novosibirsk, where
he met with presidential envoy to the Siberian Federal District Leonid
Drachevskii. In Novosibirsk, Kwasniewski expressed his opposition to
Russian appeals for a visa-free corridor for Russia's Kaliningrad
Oblast after Poland and Lithuania join the European Union in the next
few years as expected. At the same time, he said he favors a liberal
visa regime for Russians in the exclave. "We would like to do
everything we can to strengthen contacts between neighboring countries,
which means giving long-term multiple-entry, cheap, and maybe even free
visas to students and young people," he said. DW
[06] ...AS RUSSIA STANDS FIRM
Moscow does not intend to back down in its dispute with the European
Union over the Kaliningrad exclave, ITAR-TASS reported on 5 June.
Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Razov said, "Moscow's position is that
it is necessary to preserve unhindered the movement of people between
Kaliningrad Oblast and the rest of Russia." Razov rejected EU proposals
to issue simplified Schengen visas to Kaliningrad residents, noting
that only 230,000 of the region's 1 million inhabitants have
foreign-travel passports and that EU statistics show that 3-5 percent
of visa applicants are rejected. Razov said Russia cannot permit a
situation in which the right of Russian citizens to travel between
areas of Russia would depend on "the good or bad will of an EU
bureaucrat." RC
[07] GOVERNMENT INTRODUCES LICENSING OF AUDIO AND VIDEO PRODUCTION
Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov has signed a decree regulating the
licensing of audio and video production duplication rights, abnews.ru
reported on 6 June. According to the document, the Media Ministry will
be responsible for licensing the production and duplication of
multimedia works on any medium, while the Culture Ministry will license
multimedia products designed for presentation to mass audiences. The
document requires that all video and audio productions should bear the
name of the license holder and the license number. VY
[08] HEAD OF IMMIGRATION SERVICE WELCOMES CITIZENSHIP LAW
The head of the Federal Immigration Service, Lieutenant General Andrei
Chernenko, said the new citizenship law (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 4 June
2002) that came into force on 5 June will "cut off a huge source of
corruption" and put a safe barrier "against the entry into the country
of criminals and HIV-infected persons," "Rossiiskaya gazeta" reported
the same day. Chernenko said he disagrees with those who say that the
tougher citizenship law is "immoral." "It was immoral to sign the
Belovezha accords [the 1991 agreement signed by the leaders of Russia,
Ukraine, and Belarus that disbanded the USSR], which separated
compatriots," Chernenko said. Chernenko's views are typical of many
who, like him, spent their entire careers within the security organs
and the Interior Ministry. VY
[09] KOZAK ENDORSES SYSTEM OF FEDERAL DISTRICTS
Dmitrii Kozak, the deputy chief of President Putin's administration who
oversees the government's federal policies, praised the system of
federal districts on 5 June, but cast doubt over efforts to combine
certain subjects of the federation into larger entities, ITAR-TASS
reported the same day. "I believe the system of federal districts with
their current functions operates effectively," Kozak told journalists.
"It performs the function of coordination between executive bodies
across Russia." Asked about merging regions, Kozak said that no studies
have been done on the matter and that the process of merging regions is
"regulated by the Russian Constitution." RC
[10] YAVLINSKII LOSES DEFAMATION LAWSUIT TO BASHKORTOSTAN PRESIDENT
Moscow's Kuntsevo Municipal Court ruled on 5 June that Yabloko faction
leader Grigorii Yavlinskii must publicly apologize to Bashkortostan
President Murtaza Rakhimov for statements published during the 1999
election campaign in the republic and pay him 20,000 rubles ($645)
compensation, RIA-Novosti reported. Specifically, Yavlinskii was
ordered to publish a statement in the regional newspaper "Izvestiya
Bashkirii" renouncing his assertion that Rakhimov is ruling a "feudal,
patronage-based regime" characterized by "lying, stealing, and making
concessions to bandits." These assertions were included in a flyer
distributed by Yabloko throughout the republic. Yavlinskii's lawyer,
Dmitrii Steinberg, called the verdict absurd and said he will file an
appeal. He said that the court was trying to compel Yavlinskii to
renounce his political convictions and that it is illegal to force him
to issue an apology in a newspaper in which his initial statements did
not appear. VY
[11] DUMA SAYS CYRILLIC ALPHABET SHOULD BE MANDATORY FOR ALL RUSSIA'S
PEOPLES
The State Duma adopted on 5 June in its first reading a bill making the
Cyrillic alphabet obligatory for all ethnic groups in the Russian
Federation, RIA-Novosti reported. Deputy Anatolii Nikitin (Communist)
of the Nationalities Committee introduced the bill as an amendment to
the law on the languages of the peoples of the Russian Federation. The
amendment stipulates that all state languages of the federation and its
constituent republics should use Cyrillic and that the use of any other
graphical basis for alphabets must be affirmed by federal law. The
government's representative in the Duma, Andrei Loginov, said he
supports the amendment because "if everyone invents their own alphabet,
it would bring the state to chaos." VY
[12] RUSSIA JOINS INTERNATIONAL FINANCIAL-MONITORING BODY
Finance Minister Aleksei Kudrin applauded on 6 June Russia's entry into
the Egmont group, a body that unites the financial-monitoring services
of more than 60 countries and organizations to combat money laundering,
Russian news agencies reported. Kudrin said membership in the group
will help remove Russia from "the blacklist" of countries suspected of
facilitating shady transactions, ITAR-TASS reported. He added that it
will also help boost investor confidence in the Russian economy. RC
[13] TAMBOV DUMA REJECTS SALE OF FARMLAND
Legislators in Tambov Oblast passed a resolution condemning a
government-sponsored draft law that would legalize the sale of
agricultural land, smi.ru reported on 5 June, citing the newspaper
"Tambovskoe vremya." Lawmakers said the bill would lead to "the
destruction of -- first of all -- the most effectively working
agricultural enterprises," the website reported. They argued that the
sale of agricultural land would reduce the rights of landowners, lead
to a sharp increase in crime, and flood the courts with legal disputes.
Meanwhile, the Duma on 5 June rejected a motion put forward by leftist
deputies calling for a "national discussion" of the land bill before it
comes up for its second reading, with 144 deputies voting in favor,
polit.ru reported. RC
[14] SAUDI ARABIA DENIES SUPPORTING CHECHEN RESISTANCE
Saudi Arabia's Ambassador to Russia Muhammad Hasan Abdelvali has
categorically denied that his country is providing aid to Chechen
fighters, Interfax reported on 5 June. "The Kingdom of Saudi
Arabia...has never provided and is not providing any assistance to any
side that has any relation to the conflict in the Chechen Republic, in
Chechnya, outside it, or on the territory of Russia in general," the
ambassador said. He said the war in Chechnya is Russia's internal
affair. He also denied that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is interested
in creating a zone of influence in the North Caucasus. Abdelvali
acknowledged that the Saudi Red Crescent Society has provided $2.2
million in humanitarian aid for Chechen displaced persons in
Ingushetia, but explained that the aid is being dispensed under an
agreement signed between that society, the Russian Emergency Situations
Ministry, and the government of Ingushetia. He also said it is
desirable for the international community to differentiate clearly
between "terrorist activities that threaten...the lives of innocent
civilians and those who fight various occupation forces." LF
[15] CHECHEN SUPREME COURT OVERTURNS ACQUITTAL OF RUSSIAN OFFICERS IN
'FRIENDLY FIRE' CASE
The Chechen Supreme Court on 5 June overturned the March acquittal by a
Moscow district court of two Russian Interior Ministry officers charged
with negligence that resulted in the deaths of 22 servicemen in an
ambush in Grozny in March 2000, Russian agencies reported. The Chechen
court ordered further investigation into the case. The Russian
Prosecutor-General's Office had immediately challenged the acquittal
(see "RFE/RL Newsline," 25 and 27 March 2002). LF
TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA
[16] LAWYER ACCUSES JUDGE IN ARMENIAN PARLIAMENT SHOOTINGS TRIAL OF
OBSTRUCTING JUSTICE
Russian lawyer Oleg Yunyshev, who represents the family of slain Prime
Minister Vazgen Sargsian, told journalists in Yerevan on 5 June that
Samvel Uzunian, the judge presiding over the trial of the five gunmen
who shot Sargsian and seven other senior officials in October 1999, is
obstructing the course of justice, RFE/RL's Yerevan bureau reported.
Specifically, Yunyshev said Uzunian has rejected the conclusion of
Russian forensic experts that the video footage of the murders may have
been edited before being broadcast, and that he has refused to publish
a video made the day after the shootings on which, Yunyshev claimed,
presidential adviser Aleksan Harutiunian implicated President Robert
Kocharian and Defense Minister Serzh Sarkisian in the killings.
Yunyshev said he will demand Uzunian's replacement if the latter
continues to reject his request to publicize those materials. LF
[17] FORMER ARMENIAN DISSIDENT ANNOUNCES PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDACY
Self-Determination Union Chairman Paruyr Hairikian told journalists in
Yerevan on 5 June that his party has nominated him as its candidate for
the presidential election due in March 2003, according to Noyan Tapan
and Armenpress, as cited by Groong. He said that "there is an
electorate that wants me to compete" for the presidency, and that
businessmen whom he declined to name have begun raising funds to
finance his campaign. Hairikian, who spent 17 years in Soviet labor
camps between 1969-1987, ran for president in 1991 and 1998; in 1996,
he registered for the ballot but then withdrew his candidacy in favor
of joint opposition candidate Vazgen Manukian. He resigned three months
ago as chairman of the presidential commission on human rights, saying
he intended to return to politics full time (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 18
March 2002). LF
[18] ARMENIAN FOREIGN MINISTER MEETS WITH EU OFFICIALS
Vartan Oskanian held talks in Brussels on 4 June with European Union
foreign and security policy chief Javier Solana and with External
Relations Commissioner Chris Patten, RFE/RL's Yerevan bureau reported
on 5 June, quoting the Foreign Ministry press office. The talks focused
on energy issues, including the EU's demand that Armenia close down the
Medzamor nuclear-power station by 2004, the Karabakh conflict, and
measures aimed at improving Armenian-Turkish relations. LF
[19] TEN ARRESTED IN CONNECTION WITH CLASHES IN AZERBAIJANI VILLAGE
Police have arrested 10 people, including members of the Islamic Party
of Azerbaijan from other parts of the country, in connection with the 3
June clashes in Nardaran between police and angry residents, Turan
reported on 6 June (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 4 and 5 June 2002). The
situation in the village, which is cordoned off by police who refuse
entry except to residents, remains tense. Islamic Party of Azerbaijan
Senior Deputy Chairman Hadji-aga Nuriev told journalists in Baku on 6
June that an unnamed member of the presidential administration traveled
to Nardaran the previous day to meet with residents, who demanded that
all detainees be released, that those responsible for the 3 June
bloodshed be punished, and that they be consulted over the appointment
of a new local administrator. Nuriev denied allegations expressed on 5
June by a senior Interior Ministry official that Iranian intelligence
services were involved in the disturbances. Referring to an Interior
Ministry appeal to Nardaran residents to surrender their weapons,
Nuriev said they do not possess any. LF
[20] AZERBAIJANI JOURNALIST ASSAULTED FOR INSULTING PRESIDENT'S SON
Mubariz Djafarli, who writes for the opposition newspaper "Yeni
Musavat," was attacked and beaten late on 4 June by two men who alluded
to his less-than-flattering references in a recent article to President
Heidar Aliev's son Ilham, Turan reported on 5 June. The Committee for
the Rights of Azerbaijani Journalists has demanded that the
Prosecutor-General's Office open an investigation into the attack. LF
[21] EXXONMOBIL TO PULL OUT OF AZERBAIJANI CONSORTIUM
A spokeswoman for ExxonMobil said in Baku on 5 June that in 2003 the
company will end its agreement with Azerbaijan's state oil company
Socar to jointly develop the Oguz offshore Caspian oil field, Reuters
reported. That $2 billion agreement was signed in 1997 (see "RFE/RL
Newsline," 4 August and 10 November 1997). A test well drilled last
year failed to yield commercially viable quantities of oil or gas. But
a Socar official said in February that Exxon should drill a second well
(see "RFE/RL Newsline," 28 February 2002). LF
[22] GEORGIA, RUSSIA TO CREATE JOINT GROUP FOR BILATERAL SECURITY
ISSUES
Russian Security Council Secretary Vladimir Rushailo told journalists
in Moscow on 5 June following talks with his Georgian counterpart Tedo
Djaparidze that the two countries will set up a group of experts to
address security-related issues that have long imperiled bilateral
relations, Caucasus Press and ITAR-TASS reported. Those issues include
the situation in the Pankisi and Kodori gorges, the Abkhaz conflict,
and the presence in Georgia of refugees from Chechnya. The group will
report to the two countries' security councils, which on the basis of
its conclusions will make concrete proposals to Presidents Vladimir
Putin and Eduard Shevardnadze. No time frame for doing so was
indicated. LF
[23] GEORGIAN OPPOSITIONIST ANNOUNCES FORMATION OF NEW POLITICAL
MOVEMENT, PARLIAMENT FACTION
Former parliamentary speaker Zurab Zhvania formally announced on 6 June
that he and his supporters will quit the Union of Citizens of Georgia
parliament faction and form a new faction and political movement, which
will provisionally be named "Democrats," Caucasus Press reported. The
parliament faction, which will number some 25 deputies, will be headed
by former parliament Defense and Security Committee Chairman Giorgi
Baramidze. LF
[24] RUSSIAN GOVERNMENT APPROVES VOLUME OF KAZAKH OIL EXPORTS
The Russian government has approved a draft bilateral agreement
stipulating the amount of oil Kazakhstan will export via Russia over
the next 15 years, Russian agencies reported. Under that agreement,
Kazakhstan will export annually no less than 15 million tons of oil via
the Atyrau-Samara pipeline and no less than 2.5 million tons via the
Makhachkala-Tikhoretsk pipeline. In July 2001, Kazakhstan's oil-export
agency said it planned to export 13 million tons and 1.2 million tons,
respectively, by those two routes by the end of the year. Kazakhstan
plans to increase oil extraction by 300 percent over the next 15 years
but has not yet made a firm commitment to any proposed additional
export-pipeline route. LF
CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPE
[25] BELARUS URGED TO SEEK EXTRADITION OF ACCUSED WAR CRIMINAL
The U.S.-based Simon Wiesenthal Center sent a letter to Belarusian
Ambassador to Israel Henadz Lavitski on 5 June, urging the Belarusian
government to seek the extradition from the United States of a U.S.
citizen accused of helping kill as many as 3,000 people in
German-occupied Belarus while working for the Nazis in World War II, AP
reported the same day. The United States Justice Department has claimed
that 79-year-old Michael Gorshkow was a Gestapo interpreter and
interrogator who took part in the mass killing of Jews and other
civilians while posted at the headquarters of the German security
police in Minsk in February 1943. The letter challenged Belarusian
President Alyaksandr Lukashenka to follow through on statements
condemning Nazi actions. "We call upon the government of Belarus to
take the practical measures necessary to bring the murderers of Belarus
Jewry to justice as quickly as possible," the letter said. The U.S.
Justice Department asked a court last month to revoke Gorshkow's U.S.
citizenship. CB
[26] EU CRITICIZES BELARUS'S TREATMENT OF OSCE...
The European Union criticized on 5 June the treatment by Belarus of the
Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe mission in Minsk,
including the Belarusian government's refusals to renew the visas of a
number of OSCE officials, AFP reported the same day. Two acting heads
of the mission have left Belarus since 15 April, and a human-rights
officer was recalled on 4 June, leaving only one international officer
at the mission (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 5 June 2002). The EU rotating
presidency, currently held by Spain, said on 5 June that the OSCE has a
fundamental role to play in Belarus in supporting democratic
consolidation and economic and social progress. The EU urged Belarus to
accept a new head of the mission and to remove obstacles hindering
relations between the former Soviet republic and the OSCE. The
Belarusian government has justified its actions by accusing OSCE
officials of supporting the opposition. CB
[27] ...AS OPPOSITION PARTIES URGE GOVERNMENT TO CHANGE TUNE IN
RELATION TO OSCE
Belarus's Consultative Council of Opposition Parties, which unites the
country's eight most prominent opposition parties, demanded that the
government stop its "attacks" on OSCE officers serving at the Minsk
mission, Belapan reported on 5 June. The council said that the OSCE has
done a great deal to improve the country's relations with the
international community and to promote dialogue between the government
and the opposition, adding that the government should respect the OSCE
mandate that it once approved. "The presence of the OSCE AMG [Advisory
and Monitoring Group] in Belarus offered citizens certain guarantees of
protection from the despotism of the authorities and fueled hopes for a
civilized solution to the political crisis and for a gradual
integration of Belarus into the European community," the council said.
CB
[28] WORLD CUP MAY REACH BELARUS EARLIER THAN EXPECTED...
Belarus's state-run television station may begin broadcasts of World
Cup soccer matches as early as 8 June, a source close to the management
of Belteleradiokompaniya told Belapan on 4 June. It had previously been
reported that broadcasts would not begin before the start of the second
round on 15 June (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 4 June 2002). The source said
that Germany's Kirch Media, which owns the worldwide rights to
broadcast the games, offered Belarus a deal to begin broadcasting games
on 8 June for $320,000, the same price they would have had to pay to
begin televising games at the start of the second round. A contract has
reportedly already been signed, and the German company is now waiting
for Belarus to pay up. One of the conditions of the deal was reportedly
that the games be televised in Belarusian only. CB
[29] ...AS FANS THREATEN NIGHTLY PROTESTS
Soccer fans in Minsk announced on 5 June that they will play soccer in
a central square of the Belarusian capital every night until the
national television channel begins broadcasting World Cup matches,
ITAR-TASS reported the same day. Contrary to statements by a
Belteleradiokompaniya source that a contract has already been signed
with Kirch Media to begin showing games on 8 June, an executive at the
German media giant said he doubted the Minsk-based television channel
would be able to get a transmission license even before the start of
the second round on 15 June, ITAR-TASS reported. CB
[30] BELARUSIAN PRESIDENT WARNS OF 'SURPRISES' DURING ENTRANCE EXAMS
President Lukashenka warned the heads of higher-educational
institutions throughout the country on 4 June that the country's secret
service will help a special governmental commission to monitor entrance
examinations, Belapan reported the next day. In his warning, Lukashenka
said: "This is not tyranny. This is a real tightening [of
requirements]. Order and discipline must rule. I strongly urge you
[heads of institutions] to be ready for surprises during entrance
examinations. [Surprises] will occur, which is why I don't promise
anyone anything, especially at prestigious departments. I say this
frankly. [Examinations] will be closely monitored, including with the
aid of the secret services." State Control Committee Chairman Anatol
Tozik, who also heads the governmental commission for monitoring
entrance examinations, said the commission will monitor exams in all
state and private educational institutions. CB
[31] UKRAINIAN GOVERNMENT COULD FACE LAWSUITS IN CASE OF DOWNED
AIRLINER
The relatives of Russian passengers killed when a Ukrainian missile hit
a Russian commercial airliner on 4 October may sue the Ukrainian
government for as much as $100,000 per victim, AP reported on 5 June.
All 78 people aboard a Sibir Airlines Tu-154 en route from Israel to
Russia were killed when the plane crashed into the Black Sea after
being hit by a missile fired by the Ukrainian Navy during training
exercises (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 23 October 2001). Ivan Ivanov, a
representative of the Kyiv-based law firm Sikoilo-Matveev-Gabasov
Partners, said the final amount that will be sought by victims'
relatives still has not been decided. "It will definitely be higher
than the sum named earlier [$20,000 per victim] by representatives of
Ukraine and may be around $100,000," Ivanov said. Representatives of
the victims' families say they plan to file a lawsuit against Ukraine's
Defense and Finance ministries if an out-of-court settlement cannot be
reached. Zeeb Ben-Ari of the Israeli embassy in Kyiv said the amount of
compensation Ukraine will pay the families of Israeli victims will be
negotiated at the end of June. CB
[32] UKRAINE'S TYMOSHENKO DENIES SEEKING ASYLUM FOR ARRESTED FORMER
EESU EXECUTIVES
Ukrainian opposition politician Yuliya Tymoshenko, leader of the
eponymous parliamentary faction, said on 5 June that the former Unified
Energy Systems of Ukraine (EESU) executives arrested in Turkey last
week asked for political asylum of their own accord, adding that she
does not know how their case is progressing as she has not had regular
contact with them, Interfax reported the same day (see "RFE/RL
Newsline," 4 and 5 June 2002). Tymoshenko added that media reports that
she has been seeking political asylum for the four former executives,
including her father-in-law Hennadiy Tymoshenko, cannot be true since
no one has the right to request asylum for someone else. CB
[33] FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR SAYS NATO READY TO ENCOURAGE COOPERATION
WITH UKRAINE...
At a videoconference on 5 June dedicated to U.S.-Ukrainian relations
and Ukraine's potential integration into NATO, U.S. Deputy Assistant
Secretary of State Steven Pifer, who is a former U.S. ambassador to
Ukraine, said that NATO is ready to encourage Ukraine's desire to
integrate into Europe, but that the former Soviet republic has to
facilitate these efforts not only with words but with actions, by
creating structures in line with the requirements of the military
alliance, Interfax reported the same day. Pifer said that NATO regards
Ukraine as a potential partner that will shed its Cold War mentality
and think in terms of the future fight against terrorism. CB
[34] ...WHILE COMMUNISTS SAY THEY WILL NEVER ENDORSE SUCH AN ALLIANCE
Petro Symonenko, leader of the Communist Party of Ukraine, told
ITAR-TASS on 6 June that Communists in the Ukrainian parliament will
never support Ukraine's joining NATO, because the idea "runs counter to
the constitution and national interests." He said the resolution of the
Council for National Security and Defense (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 24
May 2002), as well as a statement by President Leonid Kuchma, about
Ukraine's desire to join NATO "constitutes a gross violation of the
constitution and all the norms of international relations." Symonenko
said that the council and the president have the right to analyze
various problems and to make recommendations, but neither has the right
"to make official statements about the main directions of [Ukrainian]
foreign policy." CB
[35] UKRAINE'S EUROPEAN INTEGRATION COULD REACH COSMIC PROPORTIONS
The European Space Agency recommended on 5 June that Ukraine join a
multinational program that could expand markets for space technology
produced in the country, AP reported the same day. Pierre Brisson, head
of the agency's technology-transfer program, said that he is confident
the European Commission would approve such a move. The endorsement
comes in the wake of announcements by Ukraine that it is seeking
greater integration into European structures, including the wish to
join NATO by 2010. Following a recent trip to Kyiv by European space
experts, Brisson said Ukraine's materials and processing sectors are
the most immediately promising to other European customers, adding that
Ukraine could have "an enormous impact on the future [of space
technology]." Brisson said that EU approval of Ukraine's participation
in the program could come within two months, and that work could begin
within six months. The Ukrainian government must also approve the
country's participation. Eduard Kuznetsov, deputy director of Ukraine's
National Space Agency, said he does not expect any problems in this
regard. CB
[36] ESTONIA ADOPTS SUPPLEMENTARY BUDGET
By a vote of 58 to 25, the parliament on 5 June approved additional
spending of 410 million kroons ($24.6 million) over the initial 2002
state budget of 33.13 billion kroons, ETA reported. The proposal by
opposition parties to increase child-benefit payments for families'
firstborn child to 300 kroons was rejected, as were all but two of 44
suggested amendments received by the parliament's Finance Committee.
Additional funds were allocated to aid local municipalities (120
million kroons), increase pensions (100 million kroons), boost the
government's reserve funds (68 million kroons), and finance free school
lunches in all elementary schools (65 million kroons). Prime Minister
Siim Kallas said a second supplementary budget could be passed in
August if revenues continue to exceed projections. SG
[37] GOVERNMENT APPROVES 'EUROVISION' CONTEST IN LATVIA
Environmental Protection and Regional Development Minister Vladimirs
Makarovs told reporters on 5 June that the cabinet made the decision
the previous day to organize the 48th "Eurovision" contest in Latvia
next year, LETA reported. He said Latvia will sign a letter of
confirmation with the European Broadcasting Union guaranteeing that
Latvian State Television will be allocated sufficient funds to organize
the event. Makarovs said that six proposals have been received for
holding the event, but that the final decision will be made by a task
force composed of high-ranking officials from the Finance, Welfare,
Culture, Interior, and Foreign Affairs ministries as well as the
National Radio and Television Council. The mostly likely cities win the
bid are Riga or Ventspils. SG
[38] CHANGE IN LEGAL STATUS OF LITHUANIAN NUCLEAR PLANT PROPOSED
The cabinet on 5 June approved draft amendments to the law on nuclear
energy that would change the legal status of the Ignalina nuclear-power
plant, ELTA reported. The amendments, which will be sent to parliament
for approval, would restructure the state-run company into a closed
joint-stock entity with the government as its sole owner. They are
intended to help solve the current legal contradictions between the
Civil Code and other laws and international commitments of Lithuania,
as well as boost the country's ability to solve problems related to
financing, administration, and nuclear safety. Noting that it is not
the practice in Western Europe for a state company to be in charge of
nuclear safety, the European Commission has urged Lithuania to change
the status of the Ignalina plant. The amendments were prepared in
accordance with legal practices in the European Union, the Convention
on Nuclear Safety, and the requirements of the Energy Charter Treaty,
as well as with recommendations by the Western European Nuclear
Regulators' Association. SG
[39] POLAND TO SPEND $9.34 BILLION ON IMPROVING POOR HIGHWAY SYSTEM
Polish Deputy Prime Minister for infrastructure Marek Pol announced on
5 June that the government plans to spend 37.5 billion zlotys ($9.34
billion) on highway and housing construction in the next three years,
dpa reported. As the main transit route between Western Europe and the
countries of the former Soviet Union, including European Union
applicants in the Baltic states, Poland has a mere 394 kilometers of
highways. By comparison, similarly sized Spain has more than 9,000
kilometers of highways. Pol said the bulk of the money would be spent
on road construction, with a complete legislative package on both
highway and housing construction expected in the Sejm before the summer
break. He added that Poland intends to ask the European Union for 1.8
billion euros ($1.68 billion) in loans to speed highway construction.
DW
[40] EU ENLARGEMENT COMMISSIONER SAYS KLAUS WOULD NOT HARM CZECH
ACCESSION BID
The Czech Republic's bid to join the European Union would not be harmed
should former Prime Minister Vaclav Klaus, often described as a "Euro
skeptic," come to power, EU Enlargement Commissioner Guenter Verheugen
said in Brussels on 5 June, CTK reported the same day. Verheugen said
he is confident that no Czech government would turn the country against
European integration. Klaus has denied accusations that he is anti-EU,
and instead describes himself as a "Euro realist." The latest public
opinion polls show that Klaus's center-right Civic Democratic Party,
whose election campaign for the 14-15 June poll has often had
nationalistic undertones, running neck and neck with the ruling
center-left Social Democratic Party. BW
[41] CZECH DEFENSE MINISTER'S COMMENTS OFFEND RUSSIA
Jaroslav Tvrdik said on 5 June that comments he made to the Senate last
week that it is necessary to be watchful of the "sleeping Russian
giant" were misunderstood, CTK reported the same day. Tvrdik made the
remarks to the upper house of Czech parliament as he tried to persuade
senators to authorize the purchase of Jas-39 Gripen supersonic jet
fighters, which the Senate rejected (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 3 June
2002). "We would like to believe that these statements do not reflect
the official position of the Czech Republic and the intentions of
Prague in its relations with Russia," said Russian Foreign Ministry
spokesman Aleksandr Yakovenko, RIA-Novosti reported on 5 June. Tvrdik
defended his comments, saying they were made "in a certain context and
I refuse to give these statements such meaning." He added that the
Czech Republic "clearly welcomes the establishment of closer links with
the Russian Federation and we are interested in the continuation of
good relations with Russia. It is a tempest in a teacup." BW
[42] CZECH, GERMAN PRESIDENTS ATTEMPT TO DEFUSE SUDETEN ISSUE...
Czech President Vaclav Havel and his German counterpart Johannes Rau
met in Prague on 5 June and downplayed a dispute between their two
countries over the post-World War II expulsion of ethnic Germans from
Czechoslovakia, Czech and international news agencies reported the same
day. While rhetoric in the run-up to the 14-15 June general elections
has stirred up passions over the Sudeten German issue, "Czech-German
relations are good," Rau said, "and the discussions over the last
couple of weeks cannot change that." BW
[43] ...AND OPEN POLITICAL ART AND LITERATURE EXHIBIT
Rau and Havel opened an exhibition on 5 June titled "Samizdat" that
displays art and literature banned during the communist era, including
some of Havel's own works, Czech media reported. The exhibition at the
National Museum in Prague includes the Charter 77 human rights
manifesto co-authored by Havel, and a manuscript of Soviet dissident
writer Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn's "Gulag Archipelago." At the opening,
Havel said: "All good has a meaning and sometimes it gets an added
value. A man should pursue his aim regardless of whether it brings him
a mock in the short run rather than an award." BW
[44] CZECH COURT FREES FORMER COMMUNIST BORDER GUARD
A court in Plzen has freed Vitezslav Hoerel, a former border guard in
communist Czechoslovakia who was accused of murder, Czech media
reported on 5 June. Hoerel was accused of shooting dead a 14-year-old
boy and injuring his father as they attempted to flee the country in
1950. The court said there was insufficient evidence to convict Hoerel,
one of several guards who opened fire on the two as they attempted to
cross the border. BW
[45] SLOVAK GOVERNMENT APPROVES CORPS FOR AFGHANISTAN
The Slovak government has agreed to send an engineers corps to
Afghanistan, SITA reported on 5 June. Following parliamentary approval,
the corps will likely be dispatched by the end of the year. Prime
Minister Mikulas Dzurinda said Slovakia was asked to send the corps by
the United States, but refused to provide details on the number of
soldiers that will be sent or on where they will be based. The Defense
Ministry is to cover the estimated 80 million to 100 million Slovak
crown ($1.69 million to $2.12 million) cost of the operation. AS
[46] CANADA SUPPORTS SLOVAK NATO MEMBERSHIP, TOLD MECIAR COULD
COMPLICATE IT
Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien reassured Slovak President Rudolf
Schuster on 5 June that he and Canada will support Slovakia's efforts
to join NATO, SITA reported. Schuster, meeting with Chretien in Ottawa
at the beginning of his weeklong official visit to Canada and United
States, was told that Vladimir Meciar's participation in the future
government could complicate Slovakia's NATO bid. According to a
presidential spokesman, Schuster told Chretien that even if Meciar were
to win the elections in September he would not be given a mandate to
form the government. However, Schuster later denied having made any
promises regarding Meciar. The Slovak president asked Chretien to open
a Canadian embassy in Slovakia and also asked the Canadian government
to cancel visa requirements for Slovak citizens. AS
[47] COURT UPHOLDS DECISION ON SLOVAK FORMER SECRET SERVICE DIRECTOR
A Bratislava court has upheld the June 2001 decision of a lower court
to halt proceedings against former Slovak secret service director Ivan
Lexa for the kidnapping of former President Michal Kovac's son in 1995,
SITA reported on 5 June. The court reasoned that the amnesty granted in
1998 by then-acting President Vladimir Meciar does not allow for Lexa's
prosecution. Prosecutor-General Milan Hanzel said he will appeal the
verdict, arguing that the amnesty refers to "crimes related to the
kidnapping and not the kidnapping itself." Lexa's whereabouts are
unknown. His lawyer Lubomir Hlbocan said it was a just decision and
stressed that it is impossible to cancel an amnesty. AS
[48] HUNGARIAN DEMOCRATIC FORUM POLITICIAN'S MOVE SEEN AS 'WARNING
SIGN'
Former Prime Minister Viktor Orban's poaching of Hungarian Democratic
Forum (MDF) Deputy Chairman Csaba Hende was an "extremely unfriendly"
move, "Magyar Hirlap" quoted unidentified politicians as saying in its
6 June edition. Orban this week hired Hende as his chief of staff to
help organize non-party right-wing movements (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 5
June 2002). The unnamed sources claim that Orban "wants to force the
forum into a merger with FIDESZ." MDF officials said the move is a
warning from Orban to MDF Chairwoman Ibolya David that "he will remove
her people one by one if she continues to resist a merger." Orban said
in a recent interview with the weekly "Heti Valasz" that a right-wing
merger will be his top priority during the current parliamentary term.
MSZ
[49] EU AMBASSADORS MEET WITH HUNGARIAN PARLIAMENT'S INTEGRATION
COMMISSION CHAIRMAN
Istvan Szent-Ivanyi, the chairman of parliament's Euro-Atlantic
integration commission, told European Union ambassadors in Budapest on
5 June that the four parliamentary parties intend to amend the media
law as soon as possible, as only that stands in the way of closing the
audio/visual chapter in EU accession talks, Hungarian dailies reported.
Ambassadors said Hungary has a major advantage in having expelled
extremist and Euro-skeptic forces from parliament, in contrast to
several European states. For his part, Szent-Ivanyi said accession
talks can only be closed by the end of the year if the EU adopts a
common position on agricultural subsidies. He added that Hungary mainly
objects to the fact that the EU only wants to grant full subsidies to
farmers in new member countries after a 10-year transition period. MSZ
[50] IMF WARNS HUNGARY OVER EXCESSIVE SPENDING
The latest International Monetary Fund (IMF) report forecasts that
spending by Hungary's previous cabinet and in the new government's
100-day program could push the country's budget deficit up to 6 percent
of GDP, well above the 3 percent ceiling required to join the
euro-zone, "Vilaggazdasag" reported on 6 June. The IMF welcomes the
government's recent announcement that it will review some
public-spending issues. The report praised last year's growth rate of
3.8 percent, especially given the unfavorable global economic climate.
Although growth in 2001 was below the 5.2 percent recorded in 2000, it
was still the highest in the region, the report concluded. In other
news, the IMF has announced plans to close its Central European office
in Budapest, as those countries supervised by the Budapest office will
soon be joining the EU, "Magyar Hirlap" reported. MSZ
SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[51] SERBIAN PARLIAMENT CHANGES RULES TO SPEED UP REFORM
Serbia's parliament on 5 June approved changes to the rules regarding
the number of deputies required for a quorum in order to stifle
attempts by the opposition and dissidents within the ruling coalition
to stall legislation, Reuters reported. The move comes as squabbling
within the ruling Democratic Opposition of Serbia (DOS) coalition
between the reformist bloc led by Serbian Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic
and the Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS) of Yugoslav President Vojislav
Kostunica continues over the coalition's attempt to have deputies from
DSS replaced in parliament for missing debates (see "RFE/RL Newsline,"
4 June 2002). The new rules, which DSS opposed, will lower the quorum
for holding a debate to one-third from one-half of deputies in the
250-seat assembly. "We badly needed these changes to make our work and
the government's work more efficient," DOS member Goran Vesic said,
adding that such a big parliamentary quorum is an exception in Europe.
DW
[52] U.S. OFFICIAL MEETS WITH YUGOSLAV, SERBIAN LEADERS IN BELGRADE
U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Elizabeth Jones met with Yugoslav
President Kostunica, Foreign Minister Goran Svilanovic, and Serbian
Prime Minister Djindjic in Belgrade on 5 June, AP and Hina reported.
Jones urged the leaders to cooperate more fully with the UN war crimes
tribunal in The Hague, a Yugoslav Foreign Ministry source said. She
added that they must take steps to bring to justice the 18 war crimes
suspects believed to be living in the country if they hope to receive
continued U.S. support. A statement from Kostunica's office said he
complained to Jones about the tribunal's "selective approach" in
prosecuting war crimes, in that it has yet to indict any ethnic
Albanian "leaders responsible for crimes against Serbs in Kosovo, which
has a bad effect on our public's view" of The Hague tribunal. DW
[53] SERBIA ELECTS REPRESENTATIVES TO DRAFT NEW CONSTITUTION
The Serbian parliament on 5 June elected its nine representatives to
the constitutional commission that will forge the charter of the joint
state of Serbia and Montenegro, Tanjug reported. Six of the officials
are from the Democratic Opposition of Serbia party and three are from
the Democratic Party of Serbia. Deputies from the Socialist Party of
Serbia and the Serbian Unity Party refused to take part in the process.
They are opposed to the new state, which will end Yugoslavia as a
country. Serbian Premier Zoran Djindjic said the same day that he is
hopeful that a blueprint of the new constitution can be finished by the
end of this month. Others believe the drafting of the document will
last several weeks longer. PB
[54] COUNCIL OF EUROPE CHIEF SAYS YUGOSLAVIA TO BECOME MEMBER THIS YEAR
Walter Schwimmer, the secretary-general of the Council of Europe, said
in Strasbourg on 5 June that he expects Yugoslavia to become a full
member of the council by the end of this year, Tanjug reported. PB
[55] U.S. OFFICIAL IN KOSOVA
U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Eurasia Elizabeth Jones arrived
in Prishtina on 6 June on a two-day visit to the province, Tanjug
reported. Jones is to hold talks with Kosovar Prime Minister Bajram
Rexhepi. She is on an eight-day tour that will take her to
Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, and Serbia. PB
[56] HIGHWAY PLAN TO LINK CAPITALS OF ALBANIA, KOSOVA GETS NEW
IMPETUS...
The prime ministers of Albania and Kosova vowed on 5 June to raise
funds for a 200-kilometer highway through the Kukes border region while
assuring nervous observers in Belgrade that the venture is aimed at
fostering trade and stability and not a "Greater Albania," Western
agencies reported. The $250 million highway would cover a strategic
stretch of land and provide the United Nations protectorate's capital,
Prishtina, with access to the Adriatic Sea. The Albanian government on
4 June approved amendments to the country's tax system to allow for
generating some of the required funds through increased duties, road
taxes, and taxes on businesses and on gasoline, AP said. That plan,
dubbed the "Majko tax" after Albanian Prime Minister Pandeli Majko, is
expected to meet with approval from the country's parliament and would
raise an estimated $25 million per year, the agency noted. AH
[57] ...BUT NOT ALL THE FINANCING IS SECURED
The same day, Kosova's Prime Minister Bajram Rexhepi welcomed the
overture but noted that UN control of his province prevents him from
reciprocating. He said an alternative might be to fund the project
through voluntary donations, Reuters reported. "We would look at other
possibilities to finance this road, not only in Kosova but also in
Albania," the agency quoted him as saying. Majko told reporters that
the World Bank promised to help finance the project, AP reported,
noting that he offered no details. Western governments have generally
been hesitant to back projects that might heighten fears in Serbia and
Macedonia of attempts to create a "Greater Albania." AH
[58] BOSNIAN AUTHORITIES LOSE SUSPECT IN ITALIAN EXTRADITION REQUEST
Bosnia-Herzegovina's Antiterrorist Team said on 5 June that a man
wanted by Italian law enforcement for a host of crimes has escaped
their round-the-clock surveillance, dpa reported. Saleh Nidal, 32,
managed to escape several days ago, the organization announced. A
former Bosnian citizen of Yemeni origin who was declared persona non
grata by Sarajevo in March, Nidal is believed to have committed crimes
as part of the so-called "Bologna Group" in Italy, dpa said. He was
under constant watch by police after Bosnian authorities received an
extradition request in early May, the agency reported. AH
[59] BOSNIAN MUSLIM CLERIC URGES RESTRAINT AGAINST ISLAMIC
CHARITIES...
Mustafa Ceric, the head of Bosnia's Islamic community, warned on 5 June
that thousands of Bosnians could be deprived of valuable humanitarian
aid as authorities target groups suspected of having links to
terrorism, Reuters reported. "Islamic humanitarian organizations are
raided and investigated not because they have done something wrong but
because of suspicion they might think of doing something wrong," AP
quoted him saying in the same statement. Eight groups have been
targeted since the 11 September attacks in the United States heightened
global efforts to curb terrorism, Reuters noted. Ceric charged that
authorities are creating an atmosphere in which accusations of
terrorist links are leveled without having been proven in court,
Reuters said. Police this week raided the Bosnia offices of the
Al-Haramain Islamic Foundation, which has been blacklisted by the
United States for alleged links to terrorism (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 4
June 2002). AH
[60] ...AS FOREIGN MINISTER GIVES ASSURANCES TO ISLAMIC CONFERENCE
Bosnian Foreign Minister Zlatko Lagumdzija told member states of the
Organization of the Islamic Conference in Sarajevo on 5 June that
checks on charity organizations' finances were not aimed solely at
Arabic Islamic charities but at "all those for which there was
sufficient evidence that they breached Bosnia-Herzegovina's
regulations," FENA reported. AH
[61] BOSNIAN PRESIDENCY GIVES NOD TO FOREIGN CONSTITUTIONAL COURT
JUDGES
The country's Presidency on 5 June approved three foreign judges
proposed to take up seats on the nine-member Bosnia-Herzegovina
Constitutional Court, FENA reported the same day. Four of those
positions are filled by the parliament of the Bosnia-Herzegovina
Federation and two by Republika Srpska's People's Assembly. The other
three judges are elected by the president of the European Court of
Human Rights. FENA said the European nominees include David Feldman, a
professor of law and legal adviser of the Joint Committee for Human
Rights; Didier Maus, professor of law and a state adviser; and Tudor
Pautiru, who was a judge at the European Court of Human Rights from
1996 to 2001 and who is currently the international judge in Kosova.
The federation and the Republika Srpska nominees are expected to face
approval by the end of July, in order to have a new bench in place by
August, FENA added. AH
[62] CROATIAN PRIME MINISTER BEGINS MAJOR U.S. VISIT
Ivica Racan launched his sweeping nine-day official visit to the United
States by meeting separately with Senators John McCain (R-Arizona) and
George Voinovich (R-Ohio), and Representative George Radanovich
(R-California) on 5 June, HINA reported. Racan said his country has
received strong support from U.S. Congressmen for its antiterrorist
efforts and steps toward joining NATO, the agency said. Racan is
expected to meet with President George W. Bush briefly, a full range of
government and business leaders, and UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan
before his departure on 12 June, according to HINA. AH
[63] CROATIA COMES UP EMPTY IN IMF DISCUSSIONS
A mission from the International Monetary Fund reported no progress
after two weeks of talks with the Croatian government over a new
standby agreement, HINA reported on 5 June, adding that the
representatives will return for negotiations in September. Mission
chief Hans Flickenschild said serious talks cannot take place until
Zagreb presents its consolidated state accounts, which it is to prepare
ahead of the next meeting, the agency said. Initial figures indicated
the state deficit would be about 6.6 percent of gross domestic product,
including significant construction of highways. Flickenschild noted a
number of positive developments in the past 2 1/2 years, specifically
citing 2001 growth of 4 percent, annual inflation of 2.2 percent in
April, and a closing of the current-account deficit, HINA reported. AH
[64] FORMER TOP BANKER TO RUN FOR SLOVENIAN PRESIDENCY
Slovenia's former central bank governor, France Arhar, announced late
on 4 June that he will run as an independent candidate in presidential
elections later this year, Reuters reported the following day. The
54-year-old Arhar, who now heads state insurer Vzajemna, cited his
record ensuring stability of the tolar under his stewardship, the
agency said. Opinion polls have given him a possible lead over
candidates who have already announced their candidacies and over
current Prime Minister Janez Drnovsek, whose failing health appears to
have at least temporarily derailed his presidential aspirations. AH
[65] FORMER REBEL LEADER ELECTED TO LEAD POLITICAL PARTY IN MACEDONIA
The former political leader of the disbanded ethnic Albanian National
Liberation Army (UCK), Ali Ahmeti, was elected chairman of a new
political party on 5 June, "Dnevnik" reported. At the founding
convention of the Democratic Union for Integration, Ahmeti said the
main aim of the party will be the full implementation of the Ohrid
peace accord that ended the violence between the ethnic Albanian rebels
and government security forces. "The party will stand for a multiethnic
Macedonia, decentralization of power, eradication of corruption and
organized crime, and for a stable Macedonia that is integrated in the
Euro-Atlantic structures," Ahmeti said in his opening speech in the
House of Culture in Tetovo. Ahmeti decided to form a political party of
his own after attempts to bring together the existing ethnic Albanian
political parties in the Coordination Council of the Albanians in
Macedonia failed (see "RFE/RL Balkan Report," 1 February 2002 and
"RFE/RL Newsline," 16 May 2002 ). UB
[66] NATO SPOKESMAN SAYS CONFERENCE IN MACEDONIA POSTPONED DUE TO
ORGANIZATIONAL PROBLEMS
Reacting to reports that the conference on border issues planned for
next month was called off because of the anti-Western speech Prime
Minister Ljubco Georgievski delivered in parliament on 27 May, NATO
Spokesman Craig Ratcliff on 5 June said the postponement is due to
organizational problems, "Dnevnik" reported (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 5
June 2002). "The conference was postponed only because of the timing as
there was not enough time for the preparations," Ratcliff said.
Georgievski, however, told journalists that the conference was called
off at his request. "I could not accept to participate in a conference
between me, the Albanian prime minister, and the Kosovar prime
minister. He who said he called off the conference was not the one who
did it," "Dnevnik" quoted Georgievski as saying. UB
[67] STABILITY PACT ADMITS NEW MEMBERS IN ROMANIA...
Romanian Foreign Minister Mircea Geoana announced on 5 June that
Poland, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia have been admitted to the
Stability Pact for Southeastern Europe, Mediafax reported. The
admissions were decided at the Bucharest meeting of the Stability
Pact's Working Table III on security issues. Geoana also said the
Bucharest SECI Center will also incorporate the Stability Pact's Center
for the fight against organized crime. He added that the Bucharest
center will therefore not only be a regional SECI center, but a "focal
point of the Stability Pact and the Euro-Atlantic community." ZsM
[68] ...AND ADOPTS DECLARATION ON DISASTER PREVENTION
Eleven National Stability Pact coordinators from Southeast European
countries and an International Federation of the Red Cross/Red Crescent
Societies representative signed a joint declaration on Cooperation in
Disaster Preparedness and Prevention for Southeastern Europe in
Bucharest on 5 June, Romanian media reported. The declaration
acknowledges the important role of disaster management at the local,
national, and regional levels and of preparedness for emergency
situations. The pact's Working Table III is to end its Bucharest
meeting on 6 June. ZsM
[69] THE ECONOMIST GROUP UPBEAT ON ROMANIA'S DEVELOPMENT
The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) upgraded its forecast on
Romania's economic growth for this year from 3.5 percent to 4 percent,
the Bucharest-based "Ziarul Financiar" reported on 6 June. The EIU's
May report was published in Bucharest at a Business Roundtable with the
Government of Romania; meeting organized by The Economist Group. The
report said the forecast was improved due to better-than-expected
trends in the global economy. The report estimates an inflation rate of
24 percent for 2002 and 17.5 percent for next year. ZsM
[70] WORLD BANK TO SUPPORT ROMANIA'S ANTICORRUPTION FIGHT
Andrew Vorkink, the World Bank's country director for Bulgaria and
Romania in the Europe and Central Asia region, said on 5 June that the
bank will financially support Romanian programs to eradicate corruption
and will also offer technical assistance, Mediafax reported. The bank
will offer the Romanian government a $250,000 grant and a loan of $18
million strictly for the fight against corruption. Vorkink also
presented a World Bank report on Romanian developments and praised the
judicial reform. The report says, however, that in order to strengthen
the rule of law, the government should further "concentrate reform
efforts" on the legal system. ZsM
[71] MOLDOVAN SUPREME COURT REJECTS GAGAUZ GOVERNOR'S APPEAL
The Supreme Court of Justice on 5 June rejected Gagauz-Yeri Governor
Dumitru Croitor's appeal against the 31 January decision by the
Gagauz-Yeri Popular Assembly initiating a referendum on dismissing the
governor, Flux reported. The court upheld a decision by the Court of
Appeals last month that ruled the Popular Assembly's vote was valid.
Croitor's legal assistant Gheorghii Mihailo said on 5 June that the
court's decision proves once again that in Moldova "laws do no apply."
He further accused the court of issuing the decision under the pressure
from the Communist authorities, which, according to Mihailo, intend to
set up a dictatorship in the Gagauz-Yeri autonomous region. ZsM
[72] BULGARIAN INTERIOR MINISTRY PLANS MEASURES AGAINST CORRUPTION AND
ORGANIZED CRIME
Interior Minister Georgi Petkanov on 4 June presented a number of
amendments to the Law on the Interior Ministry, Bulgarian media
reported. The amendments aim to create the legal basis for infiltrating
undercover agents of the National Service for Combating Organized Crime
(NSBOP) into organized crime structures as well as into the state
administration. At present, data collected by undercover agents of the
National Security Service cannot be used as evidence before a court. To
make this possible, the code of penal procedure has to be amended as
well. The Ministry is also preparing a complete new Law on the Interior
Ministry, which is expected to be finalized by the end of the year.
Petkanov also announced that a bill on confiscation of illegal incomes
will be drafted within a month, BTA reported on 6 June. "The future law
will affect primarily persons who have grown rich on smuggling,"
Petkanov said. UB
[73] BULGARTABAK TENDER ENTERS SECOND ROUND
Economy Minister Nikolay Vasilev announced on 5 June that five bidders
have qualified for the second round of the privatization tender for
Bulgartabak Holding, BTA reported. The five candidates are expected to
submit their final bids for 80 percent of the company's assets between
10 and 22 July. The bids will be opened on 22 July, and the winner of
the tender will be announced within ten days (see "End Note," "RFE/RL
Newsline," 29 May 2002). In other news, Transport and Communications
Minister Plamen Petrov told news.bg on 5 June that there are 12 bidders
for the Bulgarian state telecommunications company BTK, 10 of whom are
considered potential buyers. The tender for 65 percent of company's
assets will end on 10 June. UB
END NOTE
[74] There is no End Note today.
|
