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RFE/RL Newsline, Vol. 1, No. 78, 97-07-22Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty: Newsline Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty <http://www.rferl.org>RFE/RL NEWSLINEVol. 1, No. 78, 22 July 1997CONTENTS[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA
[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[C] END NOTE
[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA[01] MINSK GROUP CO-CHAIRMEN TRAVEL TO STEPANAKERT, YEREVANThe three co-chairmen of the Organization for Cooperation and Europe's Minsk Group met in Stepanakert on 19 July with leading Karabakh Armenian officials, Noyan Tapan reported. The talks centered on the need to strengthen the existing cease-fire regime and to open a direct dialogue between Stepanakert and the Azerbaijani leadership in the hope of finding a mutually acceptable compromise solution to the conflict. The co-chairmen then traveled to Yerevan the same day, where they discussed with Armenian President Levon Ter-Petrossyan organizational issues related to the negotiating process.[02] GEORGIAN PRESIDENT WANTS UN PEACEKEEPERS FOR ABKHAZIAMeeting with UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan and the UN Security Council in New York on 21 July, Eduard Shevardnadze again advocated the deployment in Abkhazia of a UN peacekeeping force to supplement the existing UN observer mission there. He subsequently told journalists that Annan had expressed a "positive attitude" toward this proposal, Reuters reported. The mandate of the CIS peacekeeping force currently stationed along the border between Abkhazia and the rest of Georgia expires on 31 July. Tbilisi opposes its extension, while Abkhaz President Vladislav Ardzinba will not agree to the replacement of the CIS peacekeepers by an international force. Meanwhile, Greek Defense Minister Apostolos Tsohatzopoulos said during his recent visit to Tbilisi that Greece is prepared to provide a contingent for a UN peacekeeping force, according to "Delovoi mir" on 18 July.[03] UZBEK-KYRGYZ-CHINESE HIGHWAY OPENSThe prime ministers of Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan met with Chinese officials on 21 July at the new Erkecham customs post on the Kyrgyz-Chinese border for the official opening of the Andijan-Osh-Kashgar highway, according to RFE/RL correspondents in Kyrgyzstan and ITAR-TASS. Uzbek Prime Minister Utkir Sultanov said the road will become the "transcontinental bridge between Europe and Asia."[04] CENTRAL ASIANS DISCUSS WATER DISTRIBUTIONRepresentatives of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan met in the northern Tajik city of Khujand on 19-20 July to discuss water distribution, according to RFE/RL correspondents in Tajikistan. The Kazakhs and Uzbeks requested an increase in the volume of water flowing from the Kairakum reservoir in Tajikistan into the Syr River. Tajik representative Kosim Kosimov said such a decision can be made only by the Tajik central government. Kyrgyzstan has already announced it will begin charging its neighbors for water from the Naryn River; it has not yet decided on a price, however. The sources of most western Central Asia's rivers are found in the mountains of Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.[05] FOUR SENTENCED TO DEATH IN TURKMENISTANFour people from Turkmenistan's Mary Province have been sentenced to death for drug-trafficking, according to the Turkmen newspaper "Adalat" on 22 July. Two of the sentenced men had regularly crossed from Turkmenistan into Afghanistan. The sentences are in contradiction to a June amnesty that commuted the death penalty into life imprisonment for most cases of drug- trafficking.[06] RUSSIAN-KAZAKH CITIZENSHIP TREATY RATIFIEDKazakh Minister of Foreign Affairs Kasymjomart Tokayev and Russian Ambassador to Kazakhstan Valerii Nikolaenko took part in an official ceremony in Almaty on 21 July exchanged the instruments of ratification of an agreement that makes it easier for Russian and Kazakh citizens to transfer their country of residence, according to ITAR-TASS. The original agreement was signed by the parliaments of the two countries in January 1995.[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE[07] PLAVSIC WILL NOT GIVE UP BOSNIAN SERB PRESIDENCYRepublika Srpska President Biljana Plavsic said on Banja Luka TV on 21 July that she intends to finish out her term in 1998, despite her recent expulsion from the governing Serbian Democratic Party (SDS). She charged that she "was not suitable for the party because [she] was merely insisting on resolving the crime problem in the Serb republic. Such widespread crime is the reason why the state cannot pay its workers and pensioners." Plavsic added that Karadzic chaired the meeting at which the SDS's governing body expelled her. Her campaign against the wealthy war profiteers, whom she claims run the Republika Srpska, has much appeal to ordinary Serbs, whose average income is $35 per month.[08] JOINT POLICE PATROLS BEGIN IN MOSTARThe UN police said in Herzegovina's main town on 21 July that Croatian and Muslim police have begun joint patrols on both sides of the Neretva River. In the coming weeks, more men will be added to the units, which will expand their beats to include more parts of the region. The Muslims have charged the Croats with sabotaging previous attempts in Mostar to set up joint patrols by the nominal allies, and the Croats argue that the Muslims obstruct practical cooperation in central Bosnia. Most observers agree that smooth teamwork on the ground between the Croats and Muslims is essential if their federation is ever to become more than just an agreement on paper.[09] MILOSEVIC CRACKS DOWN AHEAD OF SERBIAN ELECTIONSIn recent days, the Serbian authorities have closed down several local radio stations and a television station in Kraljevo in the south. Some reports suggest that there have been closures in other towns as well. Officials claim that the stations are not legally licensed, but independent media spokesmen argue that the crackdown on the non-state stations is part of the governing Socialists' preparation for the Serbian elections due in September. Opposition spokesmen said in Belgrade on 20 July that they may boycott the vote following recent changes in the election law that clearly work to the Socialists' advantage.[10] IS VATICAN HOLDING USTASHA GOLD?A recently released U.S. intelligence document from 1946 suggests that the Vatican held for safe-keeping gold sent by the pro-Axis Croatian government during World War II. It is unclear how much of the original gold valued at some $120 million might remain in the Vatican, which has not yet commented on the reports carried by Western media on 22 July. The press accounts say the Ustasha regime confiscated the gold from its own Serbian, Jewish, Roma, and moderate Croatian citizens. Meanwhile in Split, "Feral Tribune" reported on 21 July that the bibliography of President Franjo Tudjman's works in the country's two main libraries has been purged of almost all his writings from the 1950s and 1960s. The deleted titles deal with Tito's Partisan movement in World War II and with the founding of socialist Yugoslavia.[11] MACEDONIAN UPDATEAlbanian Television on 21 July denied that Tirana played any role in recent ethnic unrest in Tetovo and Gostivar in Macedonia, as some Macedonian politicians have charged. The broadcast added that Belgrade is the most likely source of outside meddling in Macedonia's affairs. On 18 July, a delegation of ethnic Albanian political leaders from Kosovo went to Macedonia to try to calm the situation. Meanwhile in Skopje, Macedonian Defense Minister Lazar Kitanovski denied reports that his country wants to buy Russian tanks. He said that Russia and Macedonia signed an agreement on military cooperation on 20 July but that Macedonia will purchase only weapons that are compatible with NATO systems.[12] BOMB ROCKS CENTRAL TIRANAAn explosion destroyed at least one cafe and damaged nearby buildings and vehicles in the early hours of 22 July in the center of Tirana, near the Interior and Defense Ministries. Three people were badly injured. News agencies said that the injured men were private guards at the Greek-owned cafe. The attackers drove up in a car and planted over four pounds of explosives. No motive for the attack is known, and such explosions are relatively rare in Tirana.[13] ALBANIAN PARLIAMENT TO MEETPresident Sali Berisha issued a decree on 21 July to summon the newly elected legislature for a session on 23 July. His own Democratic Party said in a statement on 20 July, however, that it will boycott the first few meetings of the parliament to protest the conditions under which the legislature was elected. A statement charged that "the elections of 29 June were held in a climate of violence and terror exercised by Socialist gangs against supporters of the Democratic Party and the population in general." International monitors, for their part, said that the elections were fair, if not perfect. Meanwhile, the "Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung" reported on 22 July that the Democrats have agreed to elect Berisha as party leader. He has yet to say when he will resign the presidency and take up his seat in the parliament and the party chair.[14] GREECE STEPS UP SECURITY ALONG ALBANIAN BORDERPrime Minister Kostas Simitis met with top security officials in Athens on 21 July to discuss the deteriorating situation along the Albanian frontier. After the session, the Interior Ministry said in a statement that the "police are to redouble their patrols and their activity will be intensified across the country, while security forces and the army will cooperate in the border regions." Albanian bandits have been attacking and kidnapping Greek citizens, and the Greek government has responded by sending army and police reinforcements to the north. On 22 July, Greece briefly closed and then reopened the main border crossing at Kakavia.[15] UPDATE ON ROMANIAN COALITION TENSIONSDefense Minister Victor Babiuc, in a report prepared for internal use by the Democratic Party, says the party should prepare an alternative program that would make its "separate Social-Democratic options" more clear to the electorate, RFE/RL's Bucharest bureau reported. Babiuc said the dominance of the National Peasant Party Christian Democratic (PNTCD) in the present coalition is due to the influence of President Emil Constantinescu. Premier Minister Victor Ciorbea recently called for a meeting of coalition leaders to discuss differences that have emerged in the last weeks. Among other things, the Senate postponed discussing an amendment to the Land Restitution Law because many Democratic Party senators who oppose the PNTCD's intention to increase the restitution of land from 10 to 50 hectares per family were not present during the debate.[16] FORMER DEPUTY PARLIAMENTARY CHAIRMAN ON POLITICAL SITUATION IN MOLDOVADumitru Diacov, who recently was dismissed by the parliament as deputy chairman, says President Petru Lucinschi has offered him the foreign affairs portfolio. Incumbent Foreign Minister Mihai Popov intends to resign on health grounds. In an interview with RFE/RL's Chisinau bureau on 21 July, Diacov said a group of deputies will soon announce their resignation from the main coalition party, the Democratic Agrarian Party of Moldova (PDAM). Diacov said on 21 July that the group will support President Petru Lucinschi's economic reform program, which has met with resistance in the legislature. Diacov said the group will support Ion Ciubuc's cabinet only if there is a government reshuffle and new ministers who back Lucinschi's program are appointed. On 22 July, 11 PDAM deputies announced they have left the party.[17] MOLDOVAN CONSTITUTIONAL COURT RULES AGAINST PRESIDENTIAL DECREESThe Constitutional Court on 21 July ruled that two decrees issued by President Lucinschi in April 1997 are unconstitutional. The decrees set up a government department for fighting organized crime and corruption and appointed the chief of the department. The court also declared unconstitutional a government decision issued in May 1997 in connection with the implementation of the decrees. The decrees and the government decision were contested in the court by Valentin Dolganiuc, the leader of the parliamentary opposition Christian Democratic Front faction. The court said the prerogative of setting up new departments of the government belongs to the parliament and not to the president. The court also ruled that the government decision on implementing the decrees infringes the constitutional right to personal liberty, the personal and family privacy, inviolability of domicile, and the secrecy of private correspondence and of telephone conversations.[18] MOLDOVAN PRESIDENT ON ANNIVERSARY OF MEMORANDUM WITH RUSSIAIn a message on the fifth anniversary of the signing by Moldova and Russia of the memorandum on the principles of a peaceful settlement of the military conflict in the Transdniester region, Moldovan President Lucinschi said the "tragic consequences" of the conflict have not yet been overcome because Moldova's territory is "still split," Infotag reported on 21 July. He also noted that the negotiations for a final settlement are experiencing "great difficulties." Only when the country is "fully unified" will Moldova "take a worthy place among other European countries," he added. Russian President Boris Yeltsin, in a message to Lucinschi marking the anniversary, said Russia "desires to assist fully in the search for a constructive outcome" to the Transdniester conflict. He commented that no efforts should be spared until that settlement is reached.[19] BULGARIAN GOVERNMENT ON EU MEMBERSHIP NEGOTIATIONSThe government on 21 July said the EU should start negotiations with all the countries aspiring to membership in the union, Reuters reported. The statement said such a move "would be a confirmation that all countries have equal chances to become members of a united Europe." It added that the government in Sofia appreciates the faith recently expressed by the European Commission in Sofia's intention to quickly implement the program of reforms.[20] ZHIVKOV SAYS MARXISM IS WRONGSpeaking to reporters on the occasion of launching his memoirs (see "RFE/RL Newsline, 16 July 1997), Bulgaria's former communist ruler Todor Zhivkov says that in the book he is "smashing the whole Marxist theory. Marxism is mere nonsense, and I am the first one to say that it is completely wrong," Zhivkov told reporters at his grand daughter's villa in a wealthy Sofia suburb, Reuters reported on 21 July.[C] END NOTE[21] POLITICAL COMBAT INSTEAD OF BLOODLETTING IN TAJIKISTANby Salimjon AioubovThe Tajik political scene is set to change significantly following the signing of the peace accord that formally ended long years of fighting in the country. The accord, signed in Moscow on 27 June by Tajik President Imomali Rahmonov and the United Tajik Opposition (UTO) leader Sayid Abdullo Nuri, creates a power-sharing arrangement and legalizes some opposition parties and movements that until now were banned, including the Islamic Renaissance Party, the Democratic Party, the Rastokhez People's Movement, and the Laali Badakhshan. All those parties amalgamated into the Islamic Revival Movement while their leaders were in exile in Afghanistan in 1993. Last year, the movement renamed itself the UTO. Opposition leaders say they want to keep the UTO alive as an umbrella organization until the parliamentary elections that are scheduled to take place by the end of 1998. But at the same time, they are also seeking to amend the Tajik election laws to allow each opposition party to run their own candidates in the election. The new National Reconciliation Commission, which was established in early July, is now laying the groundwork for elections and recommending amendments to election laws. The principal aim of the peace negotiations, which took place under UN auspices, was to transfer disagreements among Tajiks from the battlefield to the political stage. The first possible result of such a transfer is that Tajik society will be aligned along two axes; namely the current ruling party and the Islamic opposition. The Islamic Renaissance Party is the main force on the opposition side, while the National Unity Movement, created in June to put up a monolithic front to the opposition, dominates on the pro-president, pro-government side. Headed by Sulton Mirzoshoev, the former chief of the presidential administration, the movement brings together the People's Party and the Political and Economic Renewal Party, both of which were formed by pro-government supporters after 1993. The upcoming election campaign is expected to be fought vigorously. All the leaders say they look forward to an election without intimidation, as opposed to earlier ballots, when heavily armed men were often present at polling booths in an obvious attempt to influence the vote. Rahmonov says that this time citizens will be able to vote for whom they like without the presence of weapons. Opposition leader Nuri has also pledged that his side will not try to impose its will on the people. Both sides are facing the new political era with various disadvantages. Rahmonov can still count on a solid ruling elite, but he has bled away a lot of its strength through his purging of the ranks, a process that continues today. The country's ruinous economic and social situation has deeply scarred the ruling circles' image. For their part, the opposition parties and leaders do not have a cohesive social base. The government has tried to smear the opposition parties by scaremongering about the threats of fundamentalism, which in the past had some success. But now the opposition leaders say that ideology is not the important factor but that they must demonstrate instead their professionalism and dedication the concept of genuine independence and reform for Tajikistan. Both sides have a credibility problem in that the war-weary and anxiety- ridden population is highly skeptical about all politicians. And both the opposition and the government sides are courting Russia and neighboring Uzbekistan, which have considerable influence on Tajik affairs. Russia still supports Rahmonov, and Uzbekistan has improved its ties with the opposition. Yet another factor is the National Revival Bloc of former Tajik Prime Minister Abdumalik Abdullajonov, which has no formal links to either the opposition or the government but has some influence in the northern region. In short, it can be said that, despite the peace agreement between the two opposing sides, there are still severe threats to the peace process. Those threats take the form of looming power struggles, the possible fragmentation of political forces, and underlying differences between Russia and Uzbekistan. The author is an editor for RFE/RL's Tajik Service. Reprinted with permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
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