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RFE/RL Newsline, Vol. 1, No. 36, 97-05-22
RFE/RL NEWSLINE
Vol. 1, No. 36, 22 May 1997
CONTENTS
[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA
[01] ABKHAZIA PROPOSES RUSSIA-CHECHEN TREATY AS MODEL FOR SETTLEMENT
[02] GEORGIA, TURKEY DISCUSS MILITARY COOPERATION
[03] UZBEK PRESIDENT ENCOURAGES GREATER FAMILIARITY WITH LAW
[04] NEW INVESTIGATION OF KYRGYZ JOURNALIST
[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[05] ALBANIAN SOCIALISTS WANT ELECTION MONITORING
[06] OSCE DECIDES ON ALBANIAN ROLE
[07] TENSIONS RISE ON ALBANIAN-MACEDONIAN BORDER
[08] U.S. URGES GERMANY TO HOLD OFF ON DEPORTING BOSNIANS
[09] TUNNELS FOUND IN MOSTAR
[10] CROATIA PROTESTS TO HAGUE COURT
[11] SERBS DISCUSS KOSOVO
[12] ROMANIA, UKRAINE TO SIGN TREATY NEXT MONTH
[13] ROMANIA REFUSES ENTRY TO U.S.-EXPELLED NAZI
[14] BELL HELICOPTER MAIN SHAREHOLDER IN ROMANIAN COMPANY
[15] MOLDOVAN PARLIAMENT REFUSES CHANGE TO HOUSE RULES
[16] BULGARIAN PARLIAMENT APPROVES NEW CABINET
[17] BULGARIAN PREMIER DEMANDS RESIGNATION OF BANK CHIEF
[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA
[01] ABKHAZIA PROPOSES RUSSIA-CHECHEN TREATY AS MODEL FOR SETTLEMENT
Abkhaz President Vladislav Ardzinba told journalists in Sukhumi on 20 May
that he favors signing a treaty with Georgia similar to the 12 May Russian-
Chechen peace treaty, ITAR-TASS reported. Ardzinba said such a treaty would
contribute to the normalization of relations between Abkhazia and the
Georgian government. Igor Akhba, Abkhazia's representative in Moscow, told
Interfax on 21 May that such a treaty would preclude the use or threat of
force. Akhba said talks between Tbilisi and Sukhumi on economic cooperation
and Abkhazia's future status within Georgia can take place only after a
peace treaty is signed and Russia's economic blockade of Abkhazia lifted.
[02] GEORGIA, TURKEY DISCUSS MILITARY COOPERATION
Agreements signed during the 16-20 May visit to Tbilisi by Col.-Gen. Cetin
Dogan, Turkish first deputy chief of staff, provide for the training of
Georgian officers in Turkish military academies and the participation of
Georgian servicemen in peacekeeping operations in which Turkey is involved,
ITAR-TASS reported. Turkey will train a Georgian commando unit and provide
the Georgian armed forces with non-combat material supplies. Georgian
trainees will receive Turkish-language instruction, according to BS-Press.
[03] UZBEK PRESIDENT ENCOURAGES GREATER FAMILIARITY WITH LAW
Islam Karimov told a group of legal experts and journalists on 20 May that
there is a need in Uzbekistan for citizens to be more familiar with the law,
Interfax reported. Karimov said "the rights and interests of the
individual" are of greatest importance but that he doubted the people
"fully and deeply" realized what their rights, both political and civil,
are. He encouraged those present to make the law accessible for everyone by
using "simple and understandable terminology." He also proposed opening
legal education centers.
[04] NEW INVESTIGATION OF KYRGYZ JOURNALIST
The judge in the trial of Yrysbek Omurzakov ordered on 21 May a new
investigation into charges against the journalist, RFE/RL correspondents in
Bishkek report. Omurzakov is charged with libel for an article he wrote on
alleged abuse of authority by a factory director in Bishkek. Both Amnesty
International and the Committee for the Protection of Journalists have sent
several letters to Kyrgyz President Askar Akayev asking him to intervene in
the case. Omurzakov has been in detention since March and is to remain in
custody pending the results of the new investigation.
[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[05] ALBANIAN SOCIALISTS WANT ELECTION MONITORING
Socialist Party leader Fatos Nano said in a declaration in Tirana on 21 May
that his party will take part in the 29 June elections if the international
community monitors them. Socialist Prime Minister Bashkim Fino made the
same point in a letter to Franz Vranitzky, the OSCE's special envoy to
Albania. It is unclear whether the smaller parties agree, since their main
concern is not monitoring but rather increasing the number of parliamentary
seats elected by proportional representation. Meanwhile, Fino is continuing
talks aimed at securing an all-party agreement on the elections.
[06] OSCE DECIDES ON ALBANIAN ROLE
OSCE officials discussed in Vienna on 21 May what that organization will do
if Albanian political parties fail to reach an overall pact on holding
elections. Vranitzky announced on 22 May that the Albanian parties have
reached such an agreement, but no details have been given. One OSCE
participant called the 29 June date a "total fantasy" in view of the
anarchy prevailing in much of Albania. Other participants noted, however,
that there is little hope of ending the turmoil or disbanding the rebel
committees without an early vote. Vranitzky, Italian leaders, and other
representatives of the international community have hinted that they are
running out of patience and that outside aid to Albania will cease if there
are no elections.
[07] TENSIONS RISE ON ALBANIAN-MACEDONIAN BORDER
The Macedonian Defense Ministry said in Skopje on 21 May that armed
incidents are increasing along the Albanian frontier. The worst single case
was a four-hour gun battle between Albanian bands and Macedonian security
forces near Debar on 19 May. Defense Minister Blagoje Handziski visited the
area the next day and promised to step up security along the border, which
is already officially closed. In an other incident, a peacekeeper was
wounded on 20 May by shots fired from the Albanian side of the frontier.
[08] U.S. URGES GERMANY TO HOLD OFF ON DEPORTING BOSNIANS
State Department spokesman Nicholas Burns said in Washington on 21 May that
"the United States strongly supports the voluntary return of refugees and
displaced persons to Bosnia. [But Washington also believes] that it is
premature to return forcibly Bosnians to areas where their ethnic group is
in the minority." The next day, German Interior Minister Manfred Kanther
said that Germany does not need any advice from abroad. The State
Department also announced the appointment of David Schefferas special envoy
to deal with war crimes. He is currently an adviser to Secretary of State
Madeleine Albright, who will visit Sarajevo at the end of the month.
Meanwhile, U.S. charge d'affaires in Belgrade Richard Miles heard
complaints from Sandzak human rights activists in Novi Pazar on 21 May.
[09] TUNNELS FOUND IN MOSTAR
Local Croatian authorities said in Mostar on 21 May that they have
discovered a "catacomb" of tunnels under a road separating Croatian and
Muslim positions on the west bank of the Neretva. The officials did not
speculate on the purpose of the network, an RFE/RL correspondent reported
from Herzegovina's main town. In Sarajevo, four non-nationalist opposition
parties said they will run a joint slate in the September local elections.
Spokesmen added that their goal is to keep control of Tuzla and win at
least one of the districts of Sarajevo. The parties' "shadow government"
includes people from either side of the inter-entity frontier.
[10] CROATIA PROTESTS TO HAGUE COURT
Justice Minister Miroslav Separovic sent an open letter to the war crimes
tribunal on 21 May charging that the court violated Croatian sovereignty by
conducting investigations in the country without the government's
permission. Also in Zagreb, Foreign Minister Mate Granic said that Croatia
needs $3 billion in foreign assistance to help resettle returning Serbian
refugees. In Vukovar, UN officials stated that fewer people than expected
took advantage of a three-day program to exchange Yugoslav dinars for
Croatian kunas (see RFE/RL Newsline, 19 May 1997). The officials added,
however, that most local Serbs are using "other mechanisms" to convert
their dinars to Croatian currency.
[11] SERBS DISCUSS KOSOVO
Representatives of several political parties met in Kosovo's Decani
monastery and agreed that the province must remain part of Serbia and that
the ethnic Serbs there must enjoy full rights. The parties also called for
a democratic, peaceful solution to the Kosovo problem. Neither the
governing Socialists nor Vojislav Seselj's Radicals attended the meeting,
BETA noted. Meanwhile in Belgrade, Bratislava Morina, the federal official
in charge of refugees, said that only 10% of the Bosnian refugees entitled
to register to vote for the September elections have done so. Morina called
for an extension of the registration deadline and said refugees' fears that
voting will lead to deportation to Bosnia are "unfounded."
[12] ROMANIA, UKRAINE TO SIGN TREATY NEXT MONTH
The basic treaty initialed between the Romanian and Ukrainian foreign
ministers on 3 May (see RFE/RL Newsline, 5 May 1997) will be signed by the
two country's presidents, Emil Constantinescu and Leonid Kuchma, on 2 June
in the Romanian Black Sea port of Constanta. The announcement was made by
President Kuchma in Kyiv and was confirmed by the Romanian Foreign Ministry
spokeswoman. On the same occasion, the signatories will exchange letters
detailing the agreed solutions to problems not mentioned in the treaty.
Among these are the non-deployment of offensive weapons by Ukraine on the
Black Sea Serpents Island, navigation on the Chilia branch of the Danube
River delta and the delimitation of the continental shelf around Serpents
Island. In the treaty itself, the two countries recognize present frontiers
as inviolable and grant extensive rights to each other's national
minorities.
[13] ROMANIA REFUSES ENTRY TO U.S.-EXPELLED NAZI
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs says Nikolaus Schiffer lost his Romanian
citizenship when he joined the German SS in 1943 and will not be allowed
back in the country. The U.S. Justice Department announced earlier this
week that it would deport Schiffer, who was a concentration camp guard
during World War II, to Romania (see RFE/RL Newsline, 20 May 1997).
RFE/RL's Bucharest bureau reports that the ministry's spokeswoman said on
21 May that Schiffer lost his Romanian citizenship in line with the
provisions of a 1939 law that prohibited service in foreign armies. She
said Romania had on these grounds rejected a U.S. request in 1995 to allow
Schiffer to return and had not been approached since.
[14] BELL HELICOPTER MAIN SHAREHOLDER IN ROMANIAN COMPANY
The U.S. Bell Textron Helicopter company has acquired 70% of the shares in
the Brasov IAR aircraft company, RFE/RL's Bucharest bureau reported on 21
May. The remaining shares are to be held by IAR employees. An agreement
signed the same day in Bucharest stipulates that the Bell Textron IAR
subsidiary will produce 96 Cobra helicopters, to be called AH-1 Ro Dracula,
for the Romanian Defense Ministry.
[15] MOLDOVAN PARLIAMENT REFUSES CHANGE TO HOUSE RULES
The parliament on 21 May rejected an initiative to change house rules to
allow deputies who have left the faction on whose lists they were elected
to form new factions, Infotag reported. The initiative was submitted by 18
members of the house who, at different times, quit their parties. The
largest number of supporters were defectors from the Democratic Agrarian
Party of Moldova and from the Socialist Unity-Edinstvo faction. Opponents
of the initiative said it would encourage factionalism and thereby
complicate and even paralyze the work of the legislature.
[16] BULGARIAN PARLIAMENT APPROVES NEW CABINET
The parliament on 21 May confirmed Prime Minister Ivan Kostov's government
by a vote of 179 to 55. All deputies present, except for the opposition
Socialists, voted in favor. Kostov told legislators that the "years of
false reform" and "officially-sanctioned theft" have come to an end. He
said his cabinet would immediately set to work to "bring Bulgaria into the
21st century as a civilized European country." The immediate priority of
the government, he said, is to stabilize the national currency by tying the
domestic money supply to foreign exchange reserves. The government would
also privatize many state companies, sell off state banks, cut bureaucracy,
and intensify the struggle against organized crime. Kostov said joining the
EU and NATO are the country's main foreign policy goals.
[17] BULGARIAN PREMIER DEMANDS RESIGNATION OF BANK CHIEF
In his first act as premier, Ivan Kostov on 21 May demanded the resignation
of State Savings Bank (DKS) chief Bistra Dimitrova. Dimitrova said she will
resign by the end of the week. She was appointed to head the bank, where
most Bulgarians keep their savings, by the previous Socialist-controlled
parliament. An RFE/RL Sofia correspondent says Kostov's demand indicates
his intention to do away with credit policies at state banks that are
alleged to be politically-biased. The DKS is blamed for issuing bad loans
to companies with links to the former Socialist government and failing to
protect the interests of savers.
Reprinted with permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
URL: http://www.rferl.org
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