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RFE/RL Newsline, 02-06-13
CONTENTS
[01] PUTIN LAUDS DEMOCRACY AND MULTIPOLAR WORLD ORDER...
[02] ...BUT ZHIRINOVSKII SAYS RUSSIA'S DEMOCRACY IS NOT FOR
[03] ...AS PUTIN CALLS ON CULTURAL ELITE TO HELP RUSSIA FIND 'ITS
[04] COMMUNIST DEPUTY OFFERS HIS THEORY ON SOCCER RIOT...
[05] ...AS DO OTHERS...
[06] ...AND COPYCAT ANTI-SEMITIC SIGN REMOVED
[07] FEMA, EMERGENCIES MINISTRY AGREE TO CONTINUE COOPERATION
[08] YAKOVLEV UNDER NEW PRESSURE?
[09] OVR FACTION RANKING CLIMBS
[10] ANOTHER MUSCOVITE TAPPED FOR FEDERATION COUNCIL
[11] KREMLIN BACKS ANOTHER INCUMBENT IN REGIONS...
[12] ...AS NEW CONTENDERS EMERGE IN RACE TO REPLACE LEBED
[13] TEENS PAY FOR INTERNET ACCESS BY SELLING WEED(S)
[14] RUSSIAN TROOPS SAY PUTIN ORDERED MESKER-YURT REPRISALS
[15] ARMENIAN PARLIAMENT ENDS SPRING SESSION IN TURMOIL
[16] PROSECUTORS REPORT ON ARMENIAN PARLIAMENT SHOOTING INVESTIGATION
[17] KARABAKH PRESIDENT SEEKING OPPOSITION SUPPORT FOR RE-ELECTION
[18] AZERBAIJANI PRESIDENT'S REPRESENTATIVES MEET WITH NARDARAN
[19] TOTALFINAELF JOINS AZERBAIJANI PIPELINE CONSORTIUM
[20] RUSSIAN ENVOY DISCUSSES ABKHAZ CONFLICT
[21] KAZAKH OPPOSITIONIST'S HEALTH DETERIORATES AFTER INTERROGATION
[22] DATE SET FOR FORMER KAZAKH MINISTER'S TRIAL
[23] FORMER KAZAKH PREMIER ACCEPTS EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AWARD
[24] SUPPORTERS OF KYRGYZ PARLIAMENT DEPUTY BEGIN PROTEST MARCH
[25] CIS MANEUVERS GET UNDER WAY IN KYRGYZSTAN
[26] KYRGYZ PREMIER CALLS FOR INCREASE IN INDUSTRIAL OUTPUT
[27] ARMENIAN FOREIGN MINISTER VISITS UZBEKISTAN
[28] WASHINGTON SEEKS MOSCOW'S HELP RESOLVING BELARUS-OSCE ROW
[29] PACE OFFERS HELP IN PROBING DISAPPEARANCES IN BELARUS
[30] BELARUSIAN LEGISLATURE ADOPTS AMNESTY BILL
[31] UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT APPOINTS MEDVEDCHUK AS CHIEF OF STAFF...
[32] ...PROVIDES VERKHOVNA RADA WITH LEGISLATIVE WORKLOAD...
[33] ...ORDERS GOVERNMENT TO DRAFT ACCORD ON INTERNATIONAL GAS-PIPELINE
[34] ...AND APPOINTS CHIEF OF ARMS EXPORTING COMPANY
[35] CHINESE PRESIDENT VISITS ESTONIA
[36] LATVIA'S GOVERNMENT PASSES ECONOMIC POLICY MEMORANDUM WITH IMF
[37] LITHUANIAN PRESIDENT CALLS FOR DIRECT ELECTION OF MAYORS
[38] POLISH PRESIDENT PLEDGES TO DEFEND CENTRAL BANK'S INDEPENDENCE
[39] POLISH DEPUTY DEFENSE MINISTER CHARGED WITH CORRUPTION
[40] POLISH AGRARIAN LEADER PROPOSES PAYING FINE IN INSTALLMENTS
[41] CZECH PARLIAMENTARY VOTING GETS STARTED ABROAD...
[42] ...AS CAMPAIGN COMES TO AN END
[43] GERMAN CHANCELLOR CANDIDATE SAYS ABOLITION OF BENES DECREES IS NOT
[44] ...AS VERHEUGEN WARNS AGAINST REOPENING 'OLD WOUNDS'...
[45] ...WHILE CZECH CARDINAL READY TO MEDIATE IN CZECH-GERMAN RELATIONS
[46] ANOTHER INCIDENT AT TEMELIN NUCLEAR-POWER PLANT
[47] FORMER SLOVAK PREMIER 'WORRIED' ABOUT EU INTERFERENCE IN ELECTIONS
[48] U.S. HELSINKI COMMISSION URGES PASSAGE OF ANTIDISCRIMINATION LAW
[49] SLOVAK MAYOR CONVICTED FOR CORRUPTION
[50] HUNGARIAN GOVERNMENT, OPPOSITION DISAGREE ON TIMING OF LOCAL
[51] FIDESZ-LINKED HUNGARIAN COMPANIES DENY DECLARING BANKRUPTCY
[52] EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT REPORT ON HUNGARY EMPHASIZES POSITIVE
[53] ...BUT COUNCIL OF EUROPE SLAMS STATUS LAW
[54] DJINDJIC WANTS SERBIAN PRESIDENTIAL VOTE IN THE FALL
[55] KOSTUNICA'S PARTY QUITS SERBIAN PARLIAMENT
[56] S-M GROUP TO MEET
[57] MILOSEVIC'S PARTY TO HOLD CONGRESS
[58] BELGRADE TO EXTRADITE ONE MORE WAR CRIMINAL
[59] SERBS END BOYCOTT OF KOSOVA GOVERNMENT...
[60] ...AS KOSOVARS MARK LIBERATION
[61] CROATIAN, MONTENEGRIN PORTS AGREE ON COOPERATION
[62] RACAN CALLS FOR END OF UN PRESENCE IN PREVLAKA
[63] CROATIAN RAILWAY UNIONS STAGE WARNING STRIKE
[64] CROATIA OFFERS WTO HELP TO NEIGHBORS
[65] BOSNIAN MINISTER REBUFFS ASHDOWN
[66] ANNAN CALLS FOR BIG CUTS IN BOSNIAN POLICE FORCE
[67] MACEDONIA: TALKS OVER ELECTION LEGISLATION CONTINUE
[68] ROMANIAN PRESIDENT SPEAKS ON CONSTITUTIONAL CHANGES...
[69] ...SAYS PARLIAMENT MUST PASS LEGISLATION ON JOURNALIST
[70] ...OFFERS MEDIATION IN DISPUTE BETWEEN SRI AND CNSAS
[71] ROMANIAN LIBERALS AT A CROSSROADS, LEADER TO STEP DOWN?
[72] ROMANIAN PARLIAMENT APPROVES CREATION OF PNA
[73] ROBERTSON TELLS ROMANIAN FOREIGN MINISTER THAT FURTHER REFORM
[74] EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT LAUDS ROMANIA'S PROGRESS, OFFERS ADVICE
[75] MOLDOVAN PREMIER STRESSES OFFICIAL LANGUAGE IS NOT ROMANIAN...
[76] ...AND SAYS LEGISLATION ON RELIGIOUS CULTS MUST BE MODIFIED
[77] BULGARIAN PARLIAMENT RATIFIES MEMORANDUM ON MISSILE DESTRUCTION
[78] EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT DISCUSSES REPORT ON BULGARIA'S EU PROGRESS
[79] There is no End Note today.
13 June 2002
RUSSIA
[01] PUTIN LAUDS DEMOCRACY AND MULTIPOLAR WORLD ORDER...
Speaking at an Independence Day banquet in the Kremlin on 12 June,
President Vladimir Putin asserted that, for the first time in decades,
Russia is not involved in any conflict with the world at large or any
foreign country, Russian news agencies reported. However, he added that
Russia must learn to protect its position in a world characterized by
extremely cruel competition, especially economically. Russia has no
special claims in the world, but insists upon treatment commensurate
with its history, potential and enormous size, Putin said. "Russia is
building a democratic society and seeks to be part of a democratic,
multipolar world order," the president concluded. VY
[02] ...BUT ZHIRINOVSKII SAYS RUSSIA'S DEMOCRACY IS NOT FOR
EVERYONE...
Meanwhile, speaking in Moscow at a Russia Day rally, Deputy Duma
Speaker and leader of Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR)
Vladimir Zhirinovskii spoke disparagingly of Asians and Africans living
in Russia, lenta.ru and other Russian news services reported on 13
June. Zhirinovskii said that they are poor, should not have more than
one or two children and should "behave in an appropriate manner" or
leave Russia. "The Russian people have the right to be masters of this
country and should not support unwelcome guests," Zhirinovskii said.
Lenta.ru also claimed that the LDPR has noticeably ratcheted up the
anti-immigrant rhetoric on its official website (http://www.ldpr.ru).
Neither the government nor President Putin's administration have
commented on Zhirinovskii's openly racist campaign. VY
[03] ...AS PUTIN CALLS ON CULTURAL ELITE TO HELP RUSSIA FIND 'ITS
ORIENTATION'
Speaking to members of Russia's cultural elite at a state awards
ceremony in the Kremlin on 12 June, President Putin urged artists not
to yield "to commercial temptations and replace the truth of life with
the primitive exposure of human vices," ORT and Russian news agencies
reported. "You should help society find its orientation, show it
examples of morality, civility, and courage," said Putin to his
audience. Responding to a remark by filmmaker Aleksandr Sakurow that
"there are too few talented people," Putin interjected that there are
"145 million" talented people in Russia. VY
[04] COMMUNIST DEPUTY OFFERS HIS THEORY ON SOCCER RIOT...
State Duma Deputy Vasilii Shandybin (Communist) said in Bryansk on 11
June that he believes the Moscow riot following Russia's 9 June World
Cup soccer loss was a "specially planned action, timed to coincide with
the Duma's discussion of the law on political extremism," regions.ru
reported. "It was a premeditated action following the adoption of the
presidential law on the prevention of extremism in order to ban all
patriotic parties and movements," Shandybin continued. JAC
[05] ...AS DO OTHERS...
"Izvestiya" on 11 June printed comments by a police officer who was on
the scene during the rioting, in which he wondered where rioters
procured the sledge hammers and gasoline that they used to vandalize
cars and storefronts. "Who brings a sledge hammer to watch a soccer
match," the unnamed officer said. Russian national soccer team coach
Oleg Romantsev told ITAR-TASS on 12 June that "someone is apparently
trying to link the ugly incident to soccer," but "it was prepared [by
people] who used the game with Japan as a pretext." Other political
figures, including Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov, have also expressed
doubt that the rioting was spontaneous (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 10 June
2002). The anti-extremism bill was passed in its first reading on 6
June (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 6 June 2002), and the Duma is now
considering amendments prior to the bill's second reading. JAC/RC
[06] ...AND COPYCAT ANTI-SEMITIC SIGN REMOVED
Police in Moscow located and removed an apparent anti-Semitic booby
trap that was virtually identical in appearance to one that seriously
injured a woman on 28 May (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 28 May 2002), dpa
reported on 13 June. Officials used a robot to pull down the sign --
which bore the slogan "Death to yids" -- and the object attached to its
base proved not to be an explosive. Commenting on the incident,
Russia's Chief Rabbi Berl Lazar said that "extremism is the greatest
danger facing our country today, " Interfax reported. RC
[07] FEMA, EMERGENCIES MINISTRY AGREE TO CONTINUE COOPERATION
U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Deputy Director Mike
Brown and First Deputy Emergency Situations Minister Yurii Vorobiev
signed in Moscow on 12 June a protocol of cooperation in 2002 and 2003,
Interfax reported. According to FEMA, the protocol provides for
exchanges of experts and information both to prevent and to cope with
emergencies, exchanges of fire-fighting expertise, joint training, and
coordination of international humanitarian missions. JAC
[08] YAKOVLEV UNDER NEW PRESSURE?
At a meeting with local and federal officials in St. Petersburg over
the weekend, President Putin criticized local officials for mismanaging
funds allocated for construction and renovation projects in the run-up
to St. Petersburg's 300th anniversary in 2003, "The St. Petersburg
Times" reported on 11 June. According to the newspaper, developers of
12 of 21 sites have not yet received proper permits, while existing
documents show a number of discrepancies regarding project costs and
deadlines, as well as the number of architectural objects to be
restored. A spokesperson for St. Petersburg Governor Vladimir Yakovlev
was quoted by the paper as saying that "the governor isn't taking
Putin's comments as criticism. In fact, he is very happy about the
outcome and the fact that the funds will be used more effectively from
now on." In a comment on the Center for Political Technologies'
website, analyst Sergei Mikheev wrote that presidential envoy to the
Northwest Federal District Viktor Cherkesov has decided to audit those
enterprises and organs responsible for preparing for the anniversary,
which he interpreted as a sign of new pressure on the St. Petersburg
administration. JAC
[09] OVR FACTION RANKING CLIMBS
Two Duma deputies have joined the Fatherland-All Russia (OVR) faction,
"Kommersant-Daily" reported on 11 June, bringing the faction's tally to
51 deputies. Joining the group are Sergei Pekpeev, who was elected to
the Duma in May, and Nikolai Olshanskii, who had been a member of the
Russian Regions group. The shifts mean that OVR is now the
fourth-largest faction in the Duma, after the Communists, Unity, and
People's Deputy. JAC
[10] ANOTHER MUSCOVITE TAPPED FOR FEDERATION COUNCIL
Penza Governor Vasilii Bochkarev named Aleksandr Bespalov, chairman of
the General Council of Unified Russia, as his representative in the
Federation Council, "Vremya novostei" reported on 10 June. According to
the daily, Bespalov said that occupying a seat in the upper chamber was
not his personal choice, but the decision was "made at the top." An
unidentified source in the Federation Council told the paper that
Bespalov's selection for the post is a kind of "honorary exile"
following Bespalov's failure to accomplish certain, unspecified tasks
with Unified Russia. Penza Governor Bochkarev was re-elected to his
post in April, reportedly with Kremlin support (see "RFE/RL Newsline,"
6 March 2002). JAC
[11] KREMLIN BACKS ANOTHER INCUMBENT IN REGIONS...
The pro-Kremlin Unified Russia party will support incumbent President
Leonid Potapov in the 23 June presidential election in Buryatia,
Interfax reported on 11 June. In April, following a visit to Ulan-Ude
by Deputy Prime Minister Valentina Matvienko, local observers
speculated that the Kremlin supports Potapov (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 18
April 2002). During the last election, Potapov was supported by the
Communist Party, but he suspended his party membership at the beginning
of this year (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 28 March 2002). JAC
[12] ...AS NEW CONTENDERS EMERGE IN RACE TO REPLACE LEBED
Krasnoyarsk media reported on 11 June that hundreds of leading
Krasnoyarsk politicians and businessmen have signed an appeal
supporting Aleksandr Uss, chairman of the krai's Legislative Assembly,
for governor in the krai's 8 September gubernatorial elections,
strana.ru reported. According to the site, the signatories are among
the region's most prominent individuals, including the heads of
Krasnoyarsk Airlines, Krasnoyarsk Aluminum, and the Bratsk Aluminum
Factory. On the same day, an initiative group to nominate Krasnoyarsk
Mayor Petr Pimashkov informed the krai's election commission that it
has begun to gather signatures to support Pimashkov's candidacy.
According to the site, 10 candidates -- including Alevtina Makovoz,
chairwoman of the Krasnoyarsk branch of the Russian Red Cross; former
State Duma Deputy Vasilii Zhurko; National Military Foundation head
Oleg Ulyanov; former Deputy Governor Anatolii Gridyushkin -- have
already filed documents with the local election commission. A number of
other prominent figures, including Duma Deputy Speaker Zhirinovskii and
Communist Deputy Sergei Glaziev, are also reportedly considering
entering the race (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 7 June 2002). JAC
[13] TEENS PAY FOR INTERNET ACCESS BY SELLING WEED(S)
At an Internet cafe in the town of Oktyabrskoe in Chuvashia,
adolescents are paying for time on computers with medicinal herbs that
they gather in the surrounding countryside, ntvru.com reported on 11
June, citing ITAR-TASS. According to the site, the initiative has
generated interest in other towns in the republic because the low pay
offered for such painstaking work no longer attracts pickers. JAC
[14] RUSSIAN TROOPS SAY PUTIN ORDERED MESKER-YURT REPRISALS
Residents of the Chechen village of Mesker-Yurt on 12 June buried 24
victims of the Russian search operation conducted there between 21 May
and 11 June, chechenpress.com reported. Most of the victims were young
men who had been subjected to torture; none of them had participated in
fighting against the Russian forces, the website said. Before
withdrawing from the village, Russian officers warned the inhabitants
against lodging any official complaints about atrocities committed by
Russian forces. "If you complain, we'll come back and finish you off,"
they were quoted as saying. Russian officers also rejected the argument
that they violated the procedures for conducting such search operations
promulgated in March by Lieutenant General Vladimir Moltenskoi,
commander of the joint federal forces in Chechnya. They said they do
not answer to Moltenskoi and were acting on direct orders from Russian
President Putin, according to the website. LF
TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA
[15] ARMENIAN PARLIAMENT ENDS SPRING SESSION IN TURMOIL
The 12 June parliament session, the last before the summer recess,
ended after 50 minutes without reaching a solution to the standoff
between opposition deputies demanding a debate on President Robert
Kocharian's impeachment and the pro-presidential majority that rejects
that demand as legally unsubstantiated, RFE/RL's Yerevan bureau
reported (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 11 and 12 June 2002). Opposition
deputies continued to block the rostrum and prevent a debate, so the
majority rubber-stamped three bills without discussion, a procedure
that Gagik Harutiunian, deputy chairman of the standing commission on
state-legal issues, protested as a violation of parliamentary
regulations, according to Noyan Tapan. Both sides denied that they are
considering asking the Constitutional Court to rule on the legality of
the opposition demand for a debate on impeachment. LF
[16] PROSECUTORS REPORT ON ARMENIAN PARLIAMENT SHOOTING INVESTIGATION
Military prosecutors seeking to establish who masterminded the October
1999 Armenian parliament shootings told journalists in Yerevan on 12
June that their failure to do so does not reflect on the effectiveness
of the investigation, RFE/RL's Yerevan bureau reported. Deputy Chief
Military Prosecutor Artak Harutiunian said the group is investigating
several theories and has made some progress this year, but he did not
elaborate. He added that two teams of investigators have conducted
"numerous investigative operations" abroad, but did not specify in
which countries. The five gunmen who perpetrated the killings of eight
senior officials have repeatedly said they acted on their own
initiative. LF
[17] KARABAKH PRESIDENT SEEKING OPPOSITION SUPPORT FOR RE-ELECTION
BID?
Faced with a marked decline in his popularity rating in the run-up to
presidential elections scheduled for 11 August, Arkadii Ghukasian is
holding confidential talks with representatives of the Armenian
Revolutionary Federation-Dashnaktsutiun (HHD), which is the opposition
faction in the unrecognized republic's parliament, according to the
Yerevan newspaper "Iravunk" of 11 June, as cited by Groong. Ghukasian
has reportedly offered the HHD five portfolios in the next government
in exchange for its support for his bid for re-election; the party has
not yet responded to that offer. LF
[18] AZERBAIJANI PRESIDENT'S REPRESENTATIVES MEET WITH NARDARAN
VILLAGERS
Baku Mayor Hadjibala Abutalibov and three senior members of the
presidential administration met on 12 June with 15 elders of the
village of Nardaran on the outskirts of the capital where at least one
villager was killed in clashes with police on 3 June, Turan reported.
The village elders demanded that those villagers arrested in the wake
of the clashes be released; that the police posts surrounding the
village be removed; and that residents be allowed to travel freely to
Baku to sell agricultural produce in city markets. The administration
officials relayed those demands to President Heidar Aliev, who issued
instructions later on 12 June that the demands be met and steps taken
to address the grievances that the villagers raised in meetings with
Abutalibov earlier this year (see "RFE/RL Caucasus Report," Vol. 5, No.
8, 28 February 2002). LF
[19] TOTALFINAELF JOINS AZERBAIJANI PIPELINE CONSORTIUM
France's TotalFinaElf signed an agreement with the Owner Group for the
Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil-export pipeline to acquire a 5 percent stake in
the BP-led consortium to build that pipeline, Turan reported on 12
June. The decision leaves a 7.5 percent stake still available, which
will be divided between BP (the project operator), Norway's Statoil,
and Turkey's TPAO, if no other company expresses an interest in
acquiring it before the end of this month. LF
[20] RUSSIAN ENVOY DISCUSSES ABKHAZ CONFLICT
Valerii Loshchinin, who is Russian President Vladimir Putin's personal
envoy for the Abkhaz conflict, met in Sukhum on 12 June with Abkhaz
Prime Minister Anri Djergenia and parliament speaker Nugzar Ashuba,
Caucasus Press reported. Loshchinin praised the Russian peacekeepers
deployed since 1994 under CIS aegis in the Abkhaz conflict zone, saying
they have "kept peace and security at a very high, reliable level,"
ITAR-TASS reported. "This is a fact that nobody can ignore or deny,"
Loshchin said. He added that any decision on amending the peacekeepers'
mandate should be made jointly by Abkhazia and Georgia. Loshchinin
called for efforts to defuse tensions in the Kodori Gorge and for a
resumption of talks between Georgia and Abkhazia within the
UN-sponsored Coordinating Council, Caucasus Press reported. The
council's next session is scheduled for next month in Tbilisi. LF
[21] KAZAKH OPPOSITIONIST'S HEALTH DETERIORATES AFTER INTERROGATION
ATTEMP
The condition of former Pavlodar Oblast Governor Ghalymzhan Zhaqiyanov
deteriorated further on 12 June after an investigator entered his
hospital ward unannounced and began questioning him, RFE/RL's Kazakh
Service reported. The investigator assaulted Zhaqiyanov's wife,
Karlyghash, when she began to film the interrogation. Zhaqiyanov tried
to get out of bed to protect her and collapsed. Karlyghash, who
embarked on a hunger strike last week (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 10 June
2002), has reportedly also been hospitalized. LF
[22] DATE SET FOR FORMER KAZAKH MINISTER'S TRIAL
The trial of former Minister of Industry and Trade Mukhtar Abliyazov,
who is one of the leaders -- with Zhaqiyanov -- of the opposition
movement Democratic Choice for Kazakhstan, will open on 24 June,
RFE/RL's Kazakh Service reported. Abliyazov faces charges of
embezzlement deriving in part from an illegal business deal he
allegedly concluded with the president of Uzbekistan's Savdo-Energiya
company. He is also charged with making private calls costing 400,000
tenges ($2,625) from his official mobile phone. LF
[23] FORMER KAZAKH PREMIER ACCEPTS EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AWARD
Akezhan Kazhegeldin, who has lived in self-imposed exile in Europe and
the United States since 1999, was presented with a "Freedom Passport"
signed by 15 deputies to the European Parliament at that body's plenary
session in Strasbourg on 11 June, RFE/RL's Kazakh Service reported the
following day. Kazhegeldin is the 27th person to receive such an award,
which is generally made in support of the entire democratic opposition
-- rather any single individual -- in countries where human rights
cannot be taken for granted, according to a European Parliament press
release dated 5 June. Asked by RFE/RL's Kazakh Service on 12 June to
comment on the award, Sharip Omar, who is chairman of the International
Affairs Committee of the lower chamber of Kazakhstan's parliament, said
it is "too early" to speak of democratic institutions in Kazakhstan. LF
[24] SUPPORTERS OF KYRGYZ PARLIAMENT DEPUTY BEGIN PROTEST MARCH
Some 1,200 supporters of Azimbek Beknazarov set out on 12 June on a
90-kilometer march from the town of Tash-Komur to Djalalabad, RFE/RL's
Kyrgyz Service reported. They are demanding the release of seven
colleagues detained on 8 June when police used force to disperse their
picket in Tash-Komur; the annulment of the sentence handed down to
Beknazarov last month; and the punishment of those responsible for
clashes between police and demonstrators in Aksy Raion on 17-18 March
in which five people died. Meeting in Djalalabad on 11 June,
Beknazarov's supporters adopted an appeal to President Askar Akaev and
to Abdygany Erkebaev, speaker of the lower chamber of parliament, in
which they warned they will resume their blockade of the main
Bishkek-Osh highway if those demands are not met. They also demanded
the dismissal of Prosecutor-General Chubak Abyshkaev, First Deputy
Prime Minister Kurmanbek Osmonov, and acting Interior Minister
Keneshbek Duishebaev. LF
[25] CIS MANEUVERS GET UNDER WAY IN KYRGYZSTAN
Staff-military exercises involving some 500 troops from the CIS Rapid
Reaction Force began in Bishkek on 12 June, Interfax and RFE/RL's
Bishkek bureau reported. The exercises involve troops from Kazakhstan,
Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and Tajikistan and are designed to improve
cooperation among the various countries' military and interior-ministry
forces in combating an invasion by "bandit formations," presumably
meaning fighters from the banned Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan who are
believed to be in Afghanistan close to that country's border with
Tajikistan (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 12 June 2002). LF
[26] KYRGYZ PREMIER CALLS FOR INCREASE IN INDUSTRIAL OUTPUT
Nikolai Tanaev told heads of industrial enterprises on 13 June that he
would like to see a 5 to 7 percent increase in industrial output this
year, RFE/RL's Bishkek bureau reported. Two days earlier, he revealed
that that indicator fell by 10.7 percent during the first five months
of 2002 compared with the same period last year. It is not clear to
what extent that decline was the direct consequence of nationwide
protests over Beknazarov's January arrest. LF
[27] ARMENIAN FOREIGN MINISTER VISITS UZBEKISTAN
On a two-day official visit to Tashkent, Vartan Oskanian met with his
Uzbek counterpart, Abdulaziz Komilov, on 12 June to discuss ways to
expand what Komilov termed the "friendly" relations between the two
countries, according to Uzbek Radio as cited by Groong. They also
signed a Cooperation Protocol between their countries' foreign
ministries, uza.uz reported. Oskanian met the same day with
Uzbekistan's President Islam Karimov to discuss developing political
and trade ties and cooperation in transport and communications. LF
CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPE
[28] WASHINGTON SEEKS MOSCOW'S HELP RESOLVING BELARUS-OSCE ROW
U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell on 12 June asked Russia to use its
influence to resolve an ongoing dispute between Belarus and the
Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) over the
OSCE's Minsk mission (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 5 June 2002), Reuters
reported. "The secretary raised the situation in Belarus where they
have recently expelled the representatives of the OSCE and just asked
if the Russians could use some positive influence there," the agency
quoted an unidentified senior U.S. State Department official as saying
after a meeting between Powell and Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov
in Whistler, Canada. "Ivanov said they have always emphasized that
Belarus needs to have a constructive and cooperative relationship with
the international community, and he would check where things stood and
get back to us," the official added. JM
[29] PACE OFFERS HELP IN PROBING DISAPPEARANCES IN BELARUS
Wolfgang Berendt, rapporteur of the Parliamentary Assembly of the
Council of Europe (PACE) on Belarus, said in Minsk on 12 June that PACE
is ready to form a group of experts to assist the Belarusian
authorities in investigating the disappearances of political figures in
Belarus, AP and Reuters reported. "We proposed to Interior Minister
[Uladzimir Navumau] that this group be set up, but he was very
reluctant. The reaction of [presidential administration head Ural]
Latypau was much more positive, but the decision hangs on many
circumstances," Berendt noted. Berendt, who led a PACE delegation to
Minsk this week, invited representatives of both the National Assembly
and the Consultative Council of Opposition Politician Parties to
participate in a PACE session in Strasbourg later this month. JM
[30] BELARUSIAN LEGISLATURE ADOPTS AMNESTY BILL
The Chamber of Representatives on 12 June passed a bill that, if
endorsed by the Council of the Republic and signed by the president,
will pardon 1,900 prisoners and reduce the sentences of another 25,000,
Belapan reported. Interior Minister Navumau told legislators that the
amnesty bill was prompted by the authorities' desire to reduce the
current prison population of 53,000, which exceeds the normal capacity
of the country's prisons by 13,000. JM
[31] UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT APPOINTS MEDVEDCHUK AS CHIEF OF STAFF...
President Leonid Kuchma has appointed lawmaker and financial oligarch
Viktor Medvedchuk, the leader of the Social Democratic Party-united, as
head of the presidential administration, UNIAN reported on 12 June,
quoting presidential spokeswoman Olena Hromnytska. "Ukraine lacks a
constructive political course. Medvedchuk's appointment is outside the
context [of such a course]," the "Ukrayinska pravda" website quoted Our
Ukraine leader Viktor Yushchenko as saying. "[Medvedchuk's appointment]
is the price Kuchma had to pay for his victory in the election of
parliamentary speaker," Socialist Party lawmaker Yuriy Lutsenko
commented. "It's obvious that following Medvedchuk's appointment, the
desire of Yushchenko and his adherents to get jobs in the executive
branch will decrease," political scientist Anatoliy Hrytsenko noted. JM
[32] ...PROVIDES VERKHOVNA RADA WITH LEGISLATIVE WORKLOAD...
President Kuchma has submitted 14 draft bills to the Verkhovna Rada,
urging lawmakers to consider them on a priority basis, UNIAN reported
on 13 June. JM
[33] ...ORDERS GOVERNMENT TO DRAFT ACCORD ON INTERNATIONAL GAS-PIPELINE
CONSORTIUM...
Kuchma instructed Deputy Prime Minister Oleh Dubina to work out a
concept and an appropriate draft agreement on the creation of an
international consortium to manage Ukraine's gas-pipeline system, UNIAN
reported on 12 June. Kuchma, Russian President Putin, and German
Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder on 10 June signed a trilateral accord on
cooperation in developing and exploiting the pipeline infrastructure
used to transport oil and natural gas from Russia through Ukraine to
Western Europe. A day earlier, Kuchma and Putin reportedly signed a
bilateral accord on "strategic cooperation" in the natural-gas sector.
JM
[34] ...AND APPOINTS CHIEF OF ARMS EXPORTING COMPANY
Kuchma appointed Valeriy Shmarov, former deputy premier and defense
minister, as the general director of the state-run Ukrspetseksport
company which deals in arms exports, UNIAN reported on 13 June. Shmarov
takes over after the death in March of Valeriy Malev, who was killed in
an automobile accident. JM
[35] CHINESE PRESIDENT VISITS ESTONIA
Accompanied by a large delegation that includes Deputy Premier Qian
Qichen and three ministers, Jiang Zemin began a two-day visit to
Tallinn on 12 June with a meeting with his Estonian counterpart, Arnold
Ruutel, ETA reported. Their talks focused on international cooperation,
NATO and EU enlargement, and bilateral relations, including greater use
of Estonian ports for the transit of Chinese goods. Trade between the
two countries increased dramatically last year to 6.8 billion kroons
($410 million). China was Estonia's fifth-largest trading partner,
accounting for 5.1 percent of its total trade turnover. Foreign
Minister Kristiina Ojuland and her Chinese counterpart, Tang Jiaxuan,
signed an agreement on mutual legal assistance which is designed to
raise the efficiency of bilateral cooperation in handling criminal
cases. Jiang is scheduled to have separate meetings with Prime Minister
Siim Kallas, parliament Chairman Toomas Savi, and ex-President Lennart
Meri on 13 June before flying to Iceland. SG
[36] LATVIA'S GOVERNMENT PASSES ECONOMIC POLICY MEMORANDUM WITH IMF
The cabinet on 12 June approved a new economic-policy memorandum with
the International Monetary Fund (IMF) that includes a pledge to reduce
this year's state-budget deficit to 94 million lats ($154 million), BNS
reported. The deficit would amount to 1.77 percent of gross domestic
product (GDP) instead of the planned 2.45 percent (130 million lats).
The memorandum forecasts that GDP will grow by 5 percent this year and
by 6 percent in the following years, while inflation will remain stable
at 3 percent and the current-account deficit at around 8.5 percent of
GDP. The government expects that direct foreign investment will
continue to cover around two-thirds of the current-account deficit,
thus keeping foreign-debt levels down. Latvia also agreed to keep its
currency, the lats, pegged to the Special Drawing Right (SDR) currency
basket until the country joins the EU. SG
[37] LITHUANIAN PRESIDENT CALLS FOR DIRECT ELECTION OF MAYORS
In a speech to the eighth congress of the Association of Local
Authorities of Lithuania (LSA) in Vilnius on 12 June, Valdas Adamkus
called for the direct election of mayors as a way to strengthen local
government in the country, ELTA reported. Other speakers -- including
Center Union Chairman Kestutis Glaveckas, Christian Democrats Chairman
Kazys Bobelis, and Liberal Union Chairman Eugenijus Gentvilas --
expressed support for the proposal. While not opposing it, parliament
Chairman Arturas Paulauskas said he doubts that parliament will have
enough time to pass the necessary amendments to the constitution before
the next local elections, which should be held in February or March.
The parliament, however, is debating a proposal to move up the
elections to 22 December, when the presidential elections will he held.
Association President Bronys Rope said the association's board opposes
changing the date of the local elections. SG
[38] POLISH PRESIDENT PLEDGES TO DEFEND CENTRAL BANK'S INDEPENDENCE
After chairing a cabinet session on 12 June, President Aleksander
Kwasniewski told journalists that he will defend the independence of
the National Bank against political threats, PAP reported. Kwasniewski
also said he will mediate in the ongoing conflict between Leszek
Miller's cabinet and the Monetary Policy Council (RPP), headed by
National Bank Governor Leszek Balcerowicz, over monetary policies. The
government wants a weaker zloty -- to bolster exports -- through the
central bank's intervention on the foreign-exchange market, while the
RPP argues that such an intervention would be ineffective because the
zloty's appreciation trend a consequence of the restructuring of the
economy and Poland's expected entry into the European Union. JM
[39] POLISH DEPUTY DEFENSE MINISTER CHARGED WITH CORRUPTION
Prosecutors in Warsaw brought a charge of corruption against former
Deputy Defense Minister Romuald Szeremietiew in addition to an earlier
charge that Szeremietiew failed to perform his duty in the ministry,
Polish Radio reported on 12 June. Szeremietiew dealt with the
procurement of weapons and equipment for the Polish armed forces. He
also chaired a tendering commission that was to select a multi-purpose
aircraft for the Polish Air Force. JM
[40] POLISH AGRARIAN LEADER PROPOSES PAYING FINE IN INSTALLMENTS
Self-Defense farmers' union leader Andrzej Lepper wants to pay a fine
of 20,000 zlotys ($5,000) in installments, PAP reported on 12 June,
quoting Lepper's lawyer, Roza Zarska. Lepper was fined by a Gdansk
court in January for insulting the president and two former deputy
prime ministers. If the court rejects Lepper's request to pay the fine
in installments, he is going to apply to replace the fine with a
"socially useful activity," Zarska said. "For instance, we will propose
the presentation of a series of lectures on the subject of the
situation of the Polish countryside after the entry of Poland into the
EU," Zarska added. Lepper is notorious for his disrespect for the law
and his opposition to Poland's EU entry. JM
[41] CZECH PARLIAMENTARY VOTING GETS STARTED ABROAD...
Elections to the Czech Chamber of Deputies, which take place on 14-15
June, got under way one day earlier for Czech citizens living abroad,
CTK reported on 13 June. Voters in North and South America can vote on
13 June at 17 polling stations. However, only 2,960 citizens residing
abroad have registered to vote at the 108 Czech embassies around the
world. All the votes cast abroad will count for the southern Moravia
region, which was chosen at random for this purpose. MS
[42] ...AS CAMPAIGN COMES TO AN END
At the Social Democratic Party's (CSSD) last campaign rally in Prague
on 12 June, Chairman Vladimir Spidla said he is not talking about
"fate, which is unchangeable, but about ways to shape the future."
Spidla was alluding to the Civic Democratic Party's (ODS) electoral
slogan, "Forward to a New Fate." CSSD Deputy Chairman Stanislav Gross
promised that if the CSSD wins the elections, ODS leader Vaclav Klaus
"will be laid off." In turn, the ODS called on the electorate to "stop
the Socialists," and Klaus told a Prague rally that, "The ODS is the
only hope for those who do not want to live in a sort of Spidla-land in
the next generations." MS
[43] GERMAN CHANCELLOR CANDIDATE SAYS ABOLITION OF BENES DECREES IS NOT
A CONDITION FOR EU ENTRY...
Edmund Stoiber, conservative Christian Democratic Union/Christian
Socialist Union candidate for chancellor in September's elections, said
on 12 June that the abolition of the Benes Decrees is not a condition
for the Czech Republic's accession to the EU, CTK and Czech radio
reported. Stoiber denied that he had conditioned accession on the
abolition of the decrees in a speech in May, but added, "Nevertheless,
there is a connection [that is] logical." Stoiber said he hopes the
Czech Republic will start dealing with history more openly after the
elections. MS
[44] ...AS VERHEUGEN WARNS AGAINST REOPENING 'OLD WOUNDS'...
EU Commissioner for Enlargement Guenter Verheugen on 12 June said
during a debate in the European Parliament in Strasbourg that old
historical wounds "should be healed, rather than being reopened," CTK
reported. He said that the discussion over the Benes Decrees should
take into consideration the pain inflicted by the differing historical
experience of both sides. Verheugen said this requires both looking
historical facts directly in the face and keeping in mind the ultimate
goal of an integrated future. MS
[45] ...WHILE CZECH CARDINAL READY TO MEDIATE IN CZECH-GERMAN RELATIONS
The Catholic Church is prepared to act as mediator to improve
Czech-German relations, CTK reported, citing the BBC. According to CTK,
Cardinal Miloslav Vlk told the BBC on 12 June that the Catholic Church
in both countries can be an example for politicians to follow. He noted
that the German church has apologized for the Nazi period and for the
participation of the German Democratic Republic in the 1968 invasion of
Czechoslovakia by Warsaw Pact troops. Likewise, he said, the Czech
church has apologized for the postwar deportation of Germans under the
Benes Decrees. Vlk said it is in the national interests of both
countries to extend mutual forgiveness and find reconciliation. "If we
start digging trenches and shooting one another from them, no
rapprochement will be achieved," he said. MS
[46] ANOTHER INCIDENT AT TEMELIN NUCLEAR-POWER PLANT
A faulty sensor on 11 June triggered an automatic shutdown at the
controversial Temelin nuclear-power plant, and a leak in the generator
forced workers to reduce the output of the reactor to just 3 percent
the next day, AP and dpa reported. Plant spokesman Milan Nebesar said
workers replaced the faulty voltage sensor, but the leak discovered on
12 June forced a sharp output reduction in the plant's Unit 1 reactor.
The malfunction came less than two days after the unit went into final
testing and began running at 100 percent capacity. Nebesar said it is
too early to know how long the shutdown will last. MS
[47] FORMER SLOVAK PREMIER 'WORRIED' ABOUT EU INTERFERENCE IN ELECTIONS
Vladimir Meciar said in a 12 June interview with the Austrian APA
agency that he is worried about the reservations expressed by EU member
states concerning the possible victory of his Movement for a Democratic
Slovakia (HZDS) in the September elections, CTK reported. Meciar said
it would be "unproductive" if European politicians interfere in the
elections and if Slovaks are "collectively punished" for their choice.
He said that "similar voices were heard" after the last Italian
elections and that "something similar happen to Austria," when
"European politicians made a mistake" by isolating Vienna after Joerg
Haider's Freedom Party entered the government. He said that if the HZDS
wins the elections, he expects "careful monitoring" by the West, but
that this will only prove that "our partners' worries are
unsubstantiated." MS
[48] U.S. HELSINKI COMMISSION URGES PASSAGE OF ANTIDISCRIMINATION LAW
IN SLOVAKIA
U.S. Helsinki Commission co-Chairman Christopher Smith, meeting with
Slovak politicians on 11 June, praised the country's democratic reform
process and expressed hope that Slovakia "will stay the course and
build on these achievements." A commission press release said
Representative Smith commended the Slovak government "for preparing
draft antidiscrimination legislation" and added that if the draft
legislation is adopted and implemented, it "would provide remedies for
Roma who experience race discrimination." Smith said the passage of the
legislation would "be a concrete sign of the government's commitment to
ensure equality of opportunity for Roma." MS
[49] SLOVAK MAYOR CONVICTED FOR CORRUPTION
A regional court in Banska Bistrica on 12 June sentenced the mayor of
Ziar nad Hronom, central Slovakia, to an eight-month suspended sentence
for abuse of office, CTK reported. Another unidentified high-ranking
official and the mayor's deputy were convicted to five and seven years
in prison, respectively. MS
[50] HUNGARIAN GOVERNMENT, OPPOSITION DISAGREE ON TIMING OF LOCAL
ELECTIONS
Representatives of the government coalition and the opposition met on
12 June with President Ferenc Madl to discuss setting a date for the
fall local elections, but failed to reach agreement, Hungarian media
reported. Setting the date is a presidential prerogative, but
traditionally the decision is preceded by consultations with
parliamentary parties. Socialist Party Chairman Laszlo Kovacs and Free
Democrat Chairman Gabor Kuncze argued that the elections should take
place on 13 October. They said that on 6 October Hungary observes a day
of mourning for those killed in the 1848-49 revolution, while 20 and 27
October are too close to the 23 October commemoration of the 1956
uprising. The opposition FIDESZ/Democratic forum leaders Zoltan Pokorny
and Ibolya David want the elections to take place in late October,
saying the campaign should not overlap with the summer holidays. The
daily "Vilaggazdasag" commented that the rightist opposition wishes to
build political capital on the 23 October commemorations at the expense
of the Socialist Party, which is regarded by many as a communist
"successor party." MS
[51] FIDESZ-LINKED HUNGARIAN COMPANIES DENY DECLARING BANKRUPTCY
Contrary to earlier reports, the Happy End and Ezusthajo companies,
both beneficiaries of state contracts under the FIDESZ government, have
not declared bankruptcy, "Magyar Hirlap" reported on 13 June. The two
companies' lawyer, Andras Klittka, confirmed the news, saying there
have never been plans to declare bankruptcy. Happy End has lodged a
complaint with the Budapest Prosecutor-General's Office over a recent
search of the company's premises and seizure of its documents. He said
detectives seized 300 files, although no official proceedings have been
initiated against the company. MS
[52] EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT REPORT ON HUNGARY EMPHASIZES POSITIVE
ASPECTS...
The European Parliament in Strasbourg on 12 June approved the
recommendation of its Foreign Affairs Commission to extend the
representation of Hungary and the Czech Republic from 20 to 22
deputies, once the two countries become EU members, "Nepszabadsag"
reported. The commission's report notes that the change of government
in Hungary will not change the country's commitment to the EU and that
Hungary is one of the countries that are best prepared for EU
membership. The report says that Hungary will have no problems
adjusting to the EU's internal market, but adds that it will have to
observe stricter budgetary discipline, curb inflation, and do more to
eliminate inequalities among its regions. The report also warns of the
dangers of corruption and urges speedy and substantial moves toward
transparent public-procurement procedures. It also calls for an
improvement in the status of Roma, noting that the previous government
accomplished much toward that end. The report welcomes the
Hungarian-Romanian memorandum of understanding on implementing the
"status law" and urges an agreement with Slovakia. MS
[53] ...BUT COUNCIL OF EUROPE SLAMS STATUS LAW
The draft of a report commissioned by the Council of Europe's Legal and
Human Rights Commission severely criticizes Hungary's Status Law,
"Nepszabadsag" reported on 12 June. The report says the law should be
revoked and replaced by a new bill after consultations with neighboring
countries. It says that the neighboring countries have argued the
legislation violates basic EU principles such as respect for
territorial sovereignty, good neighborly relations, and
nondiscrimination. The author of the draft, Dutch parliamentary deputy
Eric Jurgens, states in his report that the concept of the Hungarian
"nation," as outlined in the preamble of the Status Law, is too broad
and can be interpreted as infringement of current state borders.
Socialist parliamentary deputy Csaba Tabajdi, who is the new leader of
the Hungarian parliamentary delegation to the Council of Europe,
dismissed the draft as unacceptable, saying it contradicts earlier
council documents on ethnic minorities. MS
SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[54] DJINDJIC WANTS SERBIAN PRESIDENTIAL VOTE IN THE FALL
Serbian Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic said in Sremska Mitrovica on 12
June that he wants Serbian presidential elections to take place in the
fall, RFE/RL's South Slavic and Albanian Languages Service reported. He
added that he wants the date to be announced in July so candidates have
enough time to prepare. The current president, Milan Milutinovic, has
been indicted by The Hague for war crimes and will not run again. Polls
show that the most votes would go to Yugoslav Deputy Prime Minister
Miroljub Labus and Yugoslav President Vojislav Kostunica. Kostunica,
however, cannot run for president of Serbia unless he gives up his
current office. The only announced candidate to date is Velimir Ilic,
the outspoken mayor of Cacak. PM
[55] KOSTUNICA'S PARTY QUITS SERBIAN PARLIAMENT
The Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS) has withdrawn all 45 of its
deputies from the Serbian parliament in the latest stage of that
party's dispute with the 17 other members of the governing Democratic
Opposition of Serbia (DOS) coalition, RFE/RL's South Slavic and
Albanian Languages Service reported on 12 June (see "RFE/RL Newsline,"
12 June 2002 and "RFE/RL Balkan Report," 31 May 2002). Several
commentators have already dubbed this the biggest political crisis in
Serbia since the ousting of the regime of former President Slobodan
Milosevic at the end of 2000. PM
[56] S-M GROUP TO MEET
The first meeting of the commission to draw up a draft constitution for
the new state of Serbia and Montenegro (S-M) will meet on 18 June,
RFE/RL's South Slavic and Albanian Languages Service reported from
Belgrade on 12 June. Of the 27 politicians making up the commission, 21
are from parties that favor the continuation of a joint state, while
six represent parties wanting two independent states. PM
[57] MILOSEVIC'S PARTY TO HOLD CONGRESS
The official organization of the Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS) will
hold its congress on 28 September, RFE/RL's South Slavic and Albanian
Languages Service reported from Belgrade on 12 June. A maverick faction
has already announced that it will hold a rival congress on 23 June
(see "RFE/RL Newsline," 10 June 2002). PM
[58] BELGRADE TO EXTRADITE ONE MORE WAR CRIMINAL
The Serbian authorities are likely to extradite Ranko Cesic to The
Hague as early as 17 June, his lawyer told Reuters in Belgrade on 12
June. Serbian police recently arrested Cesic, whom the war crimes
tribunal has indicted for atrocities he allegedly committed at the Luka
camp near Brcko in 1992 (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 28 May 2002). It was
the first arrest of an indicted war criminal in Serbia since November.
In related news, the tribunal rejected an appeal by three Bosnian Serbs
-- Dragoljub Kunarac, Radomir Kovac, and Zoran Vukovic -- who wanted
their convictions for systematic rape overturned. PM
[59] SERBS END BOYCOTT OF KOSOVA GOVERNMENT...
Representatives of Kosova's Serbian minority took their oath of office
together with their ethnic Albanian colleagues before Michael Steiner,
who heads the UN civilian administration (UNMIK), in Prishtina on 12
June, Reuters reported. All officials swore to work "in the best
interests of all the inhabitants of Kosovo without discrimination on
any ground." Afterward, Steiner said in a statement: "Now that the
government is fully completed, let's get down to work." He warned the
Kosovars that "we should not count on the long-term and eternal
commitment of the international community," AP reported. PM
[60] ...AS KOSOVARS MARK LIBERATION
Celebrations took place across Kosova on 12 June to mark the third
anniversary of the entry of NATO troops into the province, RFE/RL's
South Slavic and Albanian Languages Service reported. President Ibrahim
Rugova said in Prizren that he stands by his goal of independence for
Kosova. Prime Minister Bajram Rexhepi said in Prishtina that he
supports Rugova's proposal to make 12 June Kosova's national holiday
(see "RFE/RL Newsline," 10 June 2002). PM
[61] CROATIAN, MONTENEGRIN PORTS AGREE ON COOPERATION
Officials of Montenegro's chief port, Bar, and Croatia's main port,
Rijeka, signed an agreement in Bar to establish cooperation between
their respective harbor authorities, RFE/RL's South Slavic and Albanian
Languages Service reported on 12 June. PM
[62] RACAN CALLS FOR END OF UN PRESENCE IN PREVLAKA
Croatian Prime Minister Ivica Racan said in New York on 12 June that
Yugoslav President Kostunica and Croatian President Stipe Mesic will
meet on 21 June and formally request that the UN end its monitoring
mission on the Prevlaka peninsula, RFE/RL's South Slavic and Albanian
Languages Service reported (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 11 April 2002). He
said he has asked UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan to end the mandate
before the end of 2002. The move is widely seen as one more sign of the
growing normalization of relations between Belgrade and Zagreb. PM
[63] CROATIAN RAILWAY UNIONS STAGE WARNING STRIKE
In yet the latest example of continuing labor unrest in Croatia and
especially that affecting Croatian Railways (HZ), employees belonging
to three unions staged a four-hour warning strike on 12 June, RFE/RL's
South Slavic and Albanian Languages Service reported. The unions said
the action prevented 15 trains from running, while HZ management put
the figure at four. PM
[64] CROATIA OFFERS WTO HELP TO NEIGHBORS
At a two-day conference of the World Trade Organization (WTO) for
countries of Central and Southeastern Europe in Zagreb on 12 June,
Croatian officials offered their assistance to Bosnia, Macedonia, and
Yugoslavia in obtaining membership in the WTO, RFE/RL's South Slavic
and Albanian Languages Service reported. PM
[65] BOSNIAN MINISTER REBUFFS ASHDOWN
Nikola Grabovac, who is federal finance minister, rejected a recent
call by High Representative Paddy Ashdown for him to step down and
accept responsibility for the massive corruption in his ministry,
RFE/RL's South Slavic and Albanian Languages Service reported from
Sarajevo on 12 June (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 12 June 2002). Grabovac
said that he bears no responsibility for the problem. PM
[66] ANNAN CALLS FOR BIG CUTS IN BOSNIAN POLICE FORCE
UN Secretary-General Annan said in a report in New York on 12 June that
the UN should cut its 1,600-strong police mission to 460 after the 5
October Bosnian elections, AP reported. The world body is preparing to
hand over control of the police mission to the EU at the end of the
year. Annan noted that steps must be taken to prevent the local law
enforcement agencies from being subjected to political control and to
ensure that the State Border Service has enough money to do its job. PM
[67] MACEDONIA: TALKS OVER ELECTION LEGISLATION CONTINUE
Meeting under the auspices of U.S. Ambassador to Macedonia Lawrence
Butler, U.S. special envoy James Holmes, and his EU counterpart, Alain
Le Roy, the leaders of the four largest political parties failed to
reach a compromise over the nomination procedure of election commission
members, Macedonian media reported on 13 June (see "RFE/RL Newsline,"
3, 10, and 11 June 2002). During a visit to Prilep, Prime Minister
Ljubco Georgievski said it is possible that the elections will be held
on 15 September according to the old election legislation should the
deadlock continue. He added: "We even prefer this possibility.... This
law is better for the bigger parties and allows them to gain more seats
in parliament," "Utrinski vesnik" quoted Georgievski as saying. UB
[68] ROMANIAN PRESIDENT SPEAKS ON CONSTITUTIONAL CHANGES...
Addressing students at the private Dimitrie Cantemir University in
Bucharest on 12 June, President Ion Iliescu said an amendment proposing
the election of the country's head of state by parliament instead of a
popular vote is no longer on the agenda, Mediafax reported. That
amendment was originally proposed by Iliescu's own Social Democratic
Party. Iliescu also said he does not believe that changing the
electoral system from proportional representation to
single-constituency representation would contribute to the struggle
against corruption. He pointed out that single-constituency elections
would be very costly for the candidates and might thus generate
corruption instead of fight it. Iliescu deplored the fact that in
contemporary Romania "money is more powerful than value." MS
[69] ...SAYS PARLIAMENT MUST PASS LEGISLATION ON JOURNALIST
PROFESSION...
In an apparent retreat from an earlier promise to oppose the so-called
"right of reply" bill (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 11 June 2002), President
Iliescu said parliament must approve legislation regulating the
journalistic profession, RFE/RL's Bucharest bureau reported. He said
the need stems from obligations assumed by his country when it joined
the Council of Europe in 1994, thus apparently linking the
controversial bill to what he said were the council's recommendations
on "the fundamental principles of journalism, of journalistic ethics,
of respect for the truth." He said the "right of reply" is a
"fundamental democratic right," but reiterated that the "moment chosen
for passing the bill is inopportune" since the legislation has
triggered "a fierce dispute" on matters that "must be calmly debated."
MS
[70] ...OFFERS MEDIATION IN DISPUTE BETWEEN SRI AND CNSAS
Iliescu also told students at the Dimitrie Cantemir University that he
is ready to mediate in the latest dispute between the parliamentary
commission supervising the activity of the Romanian Intelligence
Service (SRI) and the National Council for the Study of the Securitate
Archives (CNSAS), the bureau reported. The commission has criticized
the council's definition of Securitate activities that should be
regarded as "political police" and its intention to make public the
names of former Securitate members still employed by the SRI who had
engaged in such activity under the Communist regime (see "RFE/RL
Newsline," 12 June 2002). MS
[71] ROMANIAN LIBERALS AT A CROSSROADS, LEADER TO STEP DOWN?
National Liberal Party (PNL) Chairman Valeriu Stoica said on 12 June
after a meeting of the party's Standing Central Bureau that he proposed
stepping down in favor of PNL National Council Chairman Theodor
Stolojan, RFE/RL's Bucharest bureau reported. Stoica said this would
put an end to the current strife in the party (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 8
April, 17 May, and 11 June 2002) and that Stolojan is the only
personality capable of preserving its unity. Stolojan responded that it
would be "incorrect" on his part to replace Stoica halfway through his
four-year mandate, adding that he does not believe the step would
restore PNL unity or end the struggles in the party, which he "does not
comprehend." PNL parliamentary deputy Crin Antonescu, who is widely
regarded as the rival "Dinu Patriciu-wing" candidate for the PNL
chairmanship, said in reaction that he does not share Stoica's belief
that only Stolojan can lead the PNL out of its current impasse. MS
[72] ROMANIAN PARLIAMENT APPROVES CREATION OF PNA
The Chamber of Deputies on 13 June approved a government ordinance on
setting up the office of the National Anticorruption Prosecution (PNA),
Mediafax reported. The vote was 184 in favor and 59 against, with all
opposition members voting against the measure. The PNA is to be
subordinated to the minister of justice, and its head is to be
nominated by the president at the proposal of the minister for a
six-year mandate. The mandate can be extended only once. MS
[73] ROBERTSON TELLS ROMANIAN FOREIGN MINISTER THAT FURTHER REFORM
EFFORTS ARE NECESSARY
NATO Secretary-General Lord George Robertson told Foreign Minister
Mircea Geoana in Lisbon on 12 June that Romania has made great progress
toward its NATO membership target, but added: "Many things are yet to
be done, but time [ahead of the NATO November summit] is sufficient."
Robertson was reacting to a letter from Prime Minister Adrian Nastase
handed to him by Geoana and outlining Romania's progress in its NATO
membership quest. MS
[74] EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT LAUDS ROMANIA'S PROGRESS, OFFERS ADVICE
The European Parliament on 12 June praised Romania for its
determination to open all chapters in the acquis communautaire in 2002
and to end negotiations by 2003-04, Romanian radio reported. The annual
review by the European Parliament also lauds Bucharest for progress on
reforms, for its participation in the struggle against international
terrorism, and for efforts to contribute to stability in the Balkans.
At the same time, the report said Romania must improve the
administrative process, solve endemic corruption, ensure the political
independence of the judiciary, and guarantee freedom of religion. MS
[75] MOLDOVAN PREMIER STRESSES OFFICIAL LANGUAGE IS NOT ROMANIAN...
Prime Minister Vasile Tarlev told a cabinet meeting on 12 June that the
country's official language is "Moldovan, not Romanian" and that he
"insists" the language be called by its proper constitutional name in
official documents, RFE/RL's Chisinau bureau reported. Tarlev said that
those who disagree with this name should start gathering signatures for
a petition to amend the constitution. MS
[76] ...AND SAYS LEGISLATION ON RELIGIOUS CULTS MUST BE MODIFIED
Tarlev also asked Justice Minister Ion Morei to submit promptly to the
government his proposals for amending current legislation on religious
cults, RFE/RL's Chisinau bureau reported. He said the government should
no longer be involved in the problems of the different religious
denominations. The government decided to pay 27,025 euros ($25,600) to
the Bessarabian Metropolitan Church in damages in accordance with a
December 2001 European Court of Human Rights verdict. Morei on the same
day said the government will abide by the court's decision and register
the Bessarabian Metropolitan Church. However, he did not specify
whether that church will be registered by 31 July, as recommended by
the 24 April resolution of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of
Europe. MS
[77] BULGARIAN PARLIAMENT RATIFIES MEMORANDUM ON MISSILE DESTRUCTION
In a 12 June closed session, parliament ratified a memorandum of
understanding between the United States and Bulgaria concerning the
scrapping of Bulgaria's stockpile of SS-23, Scud, and FROG missiles,
BTA reported. The document, which was signed by U.S. Ambassador to
Bulgaria James Pardew and Defense Minister Nikolay Svinarov on 31 May,
regulates U.S. assistance for the missile destruction. After the
ratification, Svinarov told journalists that the dismantling will be
carried out with maximum safety and concern for the environment.
Citizens living near the missile-destruction sites have expressed
concerns that toxic missile fuel could harm the environment (see
"RFE/RL Newsline," 21 and 22 May 2002). UB
[78] EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT DISCUSSES REPORT ON BULGARIA'S EU PROGRESS
The European Parliament on 12 June began discussion of a report by
Foreign Policy Committee Chairman Elmar Brock on the progress of the EU
accession negotiations with the 12 aspirant countries, including
Bulgaria, BTA reported. Brock's report notes the Bulgarian government's
desire to speed up the negotiations. He urges member states to give
Bulgaria a clear sign by "extending generous pre-accession aid." During
the debate, parliamentarians will devote particular attention to
questions regarding the Kozloduy nuclear-power plant. Brock demands the
European Commission and Bulgaria reach a compromise on the
decommissioning of the plant's blocks No. 3 and No. 4. There has been
some tension between the European Commission and the Bulgarian
government over this question recently (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 31 May
and 3 June 2002). UB
END NOTE
[79] There is no End Note today.
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