RFE/RL Newsline, Vol. 3, No. 225, 99-11-18

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From: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty <http://www.rferl.org>

RFE/RL NEWSLINE

Vol. 3, No. 225, 18 November 1999

CONTENTS

[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA

[01] ARMENIAN, TURKISH PRESIDENTS MEET

[02] AZERBAIJAN WILL NOT PUSH FOR LARGER CFE QUOTA

[03] AZERBAIJAN'S PRESIDENT PARDONS FOUR ISLAMISTS

[04] GEORGIA'S LABOR PARTY TO APPEAL ELECTION RESULTS IN

[05] KYRGYZ PARLIAMENT SESSION ADJOURNED

[06] EU CRITICIZES TAJIK PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION...

[07] ...AS PREPARATIONS ON TRACK FOR PARLIAMENTARY POLL

[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE

[08] SERBIAN OPPOSITIONISTS PREDICT OPPOSITION GOVERNMENT WILL BE

[09] SERBIAN OPPOSITION GROUP CUTTING BACK ON RALLIES

[10] YUGOSLAV ARMY RESERVISTS CHARGED WITH WAR CRIMES, ESPIONAGE

[11] LOSING CANDIDATE CRIES FOUL AS FINAL RESULTS OF MACEDONIAN

[12] THOUSANDS MOURN MASS GRAVE VICTIMS IN BOSNIA

[13] BOSNIAN MUSLIM LEADER MISSES OSCE SUMMIT

[14] OSCE HEAD CALLS ON KOSOVAR ALBANIANS TO END VIOLENCE

[15] DONORS EARMARK MORE THAN $1 BILLION FOR KOSOVA

[16] UN TAKES STEP TOWARD CENTRAL BANK FOR KOSOVA

[17] CROATIAN PREMIER VISITS TUDJMAN

[18] ALBANIAN SAYS CRIMINALS FLED TO KOSOVA

[19] ROMANIAN PREMIER AGREES TO REASSESS SALE OF PETROTUB

[20] ROMANIAN PRESIDENT SAYS COUNTRY HEADING IN RIGHT DIRECTION

[21] MOST ROMANIANS BELIEVE 'REVOLUTION HAS SUCCEEDED'

[22] BALKAN CRIME FIGHTING CENTER OPENS IN BUCHAREST

[23] LEADER OF MOLDOVAN GREENS EXPELLED FROM DEMOCRATIC

[24] STOYANOV: BULGARIA'S TOP PRIORITY IS EU ACCESSION TALKS

[25] PRIVATIZATION OF INDUSTRY IN BULGARIA TO END IN MID-2000

[C] END NOTE

[26] UKRAINE'S VOTE OF WEARINESS

[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA

[01] ARMENIAN, TURKISH PRESIDENTS MEET

Demirel and his Armenian counterpart, Robert Kocharian, met

for 30 minutes in Istanbul on 17 November, on the eve of the

OSCE summit a correspondent for RFE/RL's Armenian Service

reported. Demirel said after the talks that the establishment

of formal diplomatic relations between the two countries is

contingent on resolving the Karabakh conflict. He added that

reaching such a settlement depends not only on Armenia but

also on Azerbaijan. Turkey will do its best to bring about

such a settlement, he noted. Demirel also said that at

present Turkey is not considering routing an oil pipeline via

Armenian territory, but he did not exclude that possibility

in the future. LF

[02] AZERBAIJAN WILL NOT PUSH FOR LARGER CFE QUOTA

Heidar Aliev said in Baku on 17 November before departing for

the OSCE summit in Istanbul that Azerbaijan will not demand

an increase in the quota of arms it is permitted under the

revised CFE treaty, according to Reuters. Aliev said that if

Baku were to do so, "it would mean a corresponding increase

in Russia's quota in the Caucasus region." The previous day,

Azerbaijan's Foreign Minister Vilayet Guliev had argued that

as individual countries' quotas are proportional to the size

of their territory and population, Azerbaijan should be

entitled to almost double Armenia's quota, according to

Interfax. LF

[03] AZERBAIJAN'S PRESIDENT PARDONS FOUR ISLAMISTS

Aliev on 17 November issued a decree pardoning four leading

members of the Islamic Party of Azerbaijan who had been

convicted in April 1997 of espionage on behalf of Iran,

Interfax reported (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 15 April 1997). In

May 1998 Aliev had rejected a plea for clemency for three of

those four men on the grounds that they "pose a threat to

society." LF

[04] GEORGIA'S LABOR PARTY TO APPEAL ELECTION RESULTS IN

Georgia's Supreme Court on 18 November

rejected an appeal by the Labor Party to review the official

returns from the 31 October parliamentary elections,

according to which that party failed to garner the 7 percent

minimum of the vote required for parliamentary

representation, Caucasus Press reported. Natelashvili said

that verdict indicates that the court is not objective. He

had earlier claimed that the ruling Union of Citizens of

Georgia had "appropriated" 700,000 votes cast for his party.

He predicted that "the injustice will drive people out on the

street to demand President Shevardnadze's resignation,"

adding that he will take his case to the International Court

in The Hague. LF

[05] KYRGYZ PARLIAMENT SESSION ADJOURNED

deputies once again rejected as unrealistic the government's

draft budget for 2000, the lower house of the parliament

adjourned on 17 November until next month, RFE/RL's Bishkek

bureau reported. Some deputies argued that the envisaged

increase in tax revenues could throttle the development of

the country's industry, according to Interfax. Deputies had

rejected the budget in the first reading on 15 November (see

"RFE/RL Newsline," 16 November 1999). LF

[06] EU CRITICIZES TAJIK PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION...

issued in Helsinki on 17 November, the EU termed the 6

November presidential poll "not compatible with democratic

principles and values," Reuters reported. "The EU does not

see any progress in the democratic development of Tajikistan

if basic rules of civil society are not respected but even

violated," the statement continued. Incumbent President

Imomali Rakhmonov received 96 percent of the vote in that

poll against opposition candidate Davlat Usmon. Usmon denied

his registration as a candidate was legal as he had failed to

collect the required 145,000 signatures in his support. The

EU statement called for unspecified measures to ensure that

the upcoming parliamentary poll is free and fair. LF

[07] ...AS PREPARATIONS ON TRACK FOR PARLIAMENTARY POLL

presidential adviser Khalifabobo Khamidov as saying that the

Commission for National Reconciliation is trying to reconcile

recommendations from both the government and the opposition

concerning the country's future electoral system. Khamidov

said that the commission hopes to resolve the remaining

disagreements over 12 articles of the draft election law by

20 November. That deadline was specified in a protocol signed

on the eve of the presidential poll by Rakhmonov and United

Tajik Opposition leader Said Abdullo Nuri (see "RFE/RL

Newsline," 8 November 1999). The government proposes that the

upper house have 35 deputies and the lower chamber 55,

whereas the opposition advocates 45 and 91, respectively,

according to Asia Plus-Blitz on 18 November. LF

[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE

[08] SERBIAN OPPOSITIONISTS PREDICT OPPOSITION GOVERNMENT WILL BE

SZP coordinator Vladan Batic said on 17 November

that the group's "transition government," led by former World

Bank official Dragoslav Avramovic, will soon become the de

facto representatives of Yugoslavia in international affairs,

AP reported. Batic said he made that statement based on

"assurances we have received from the U.S. and the EU, the

transitional government will be gaining official

verification." Batic said the current government under

Milosevic is "incompetent and unable to perform its duties of

representing the country." In other news, Dragan Veselinov,

the leader of the Vojvodina Coalition, said in the Banja Luka

weekly "Nezavisne novine" that Montenegro "has to leave"

Yugoslavia and that Vojvodina "will go its own way." He said

Belgrade was "pushing Vojvodina into separatism." PB

[09] SERBIAN OPPOSITION GROUP CUTTING BACK ON RALLIES

opposition movement Alliance of Change (SZP) said on 17

November that it will end its daily street protests and

organize a weekly Saturday rally, Reuters reported. The SZP-

led rallies calling for the resignation of Yugoslav President

Slobodan Milosevic took place for 59 straight days but had

recently been attracting only a few hundred participants. At

the rallies' peak, tens of thousands of people joined in the

demonstrations. Vladan Batic, the coordinator of the SZP,

said the first Saturday rally will take place on 20 November.

Batic said rallies will continue to be held in other Serbian

cities, however. PB

[10] YUGOSLAV ARMY RESERVISTS CHARGED WITH WAR CRIMES, ESPIONAGE

against civilians in Kosova and spying for a NATO country,

Beta news agency reported, citing the daily "Blic." The daily

said the five, who are all Serbs, were arrested on 11

November and brought before a Belgrade judge three days

later. The Serbian State Security Service has reportedly

filed charges against the accused. The daily said the main

defendant is a captain who commanded an army unit in Kosova

during the air campaign against Yugoslavia. PB

[11] LOSING CANDIDATE CRIES FOUL AS FINAL RESULTS OF MACEDONIAN

Macedonia's electoral commission announced on

17 November that Boris Trajkovski won 52.85 percent of the

vote in the 14 November election, compared with 45.94 percent

for his rival, Tito Petkovski, Reuters reported. Turnout was

69.9 percent. The commission has to rule on some 249 official

complaints of irregularities and fraud by 18 November. If

Petkovski's Socialist Democratic Alliance (SDSM) disagrees

with the commission's verdict, it can appeal to the Supreme

Court. The SDSM has asked for the results to be annulled,

alleging that Trajkovski's party and one of the main ethnic

Albanian parties committed fraud by tampering with the vote

count. International observers have said there were some

irregularities but have stopped short of proclaiming they

were widespread or changed the result of the election. Mark

Almond of the British Helsinki Committee for Human Rights,

told the daily "Utrinksi Vesnik" that election rules "were

badly violated" in Tetovo and Gostivar. PB

[12] THOUSANDS MOURN MASS GRAVE VICTIMS IN BOSNIA

thousand people attended an emotional funeral in the

northeastern Bosnian town of Kalesija on 17 November for 264

Muslims exhumed from the largest mass grave yet uncovered in

Bosnia-Herzegovina, Reuters reported. The remains were

discovered in October 1998 at a village near Glumina, close

to the Yugoslav border. Forensic experts say most of the

victims were male civilians from Zvornik and had been shot by

Serbian forces early in the 1992-1995 war. Nearly one-third

of the bodies have not been identified. PB

[13] BOSNIAN MUSLIM LEADER MISSES OSCE SUMMIT

presidency of Bosnia-Herzegovina said on 17 November that

Alija Izetbegovic, the Muslim member of the presidency, will

not attend the OSCE summit in Istanbul, SRNA reported. The

office said Izetbegovic will attend to "work-related

commitments" and that his failure to attend is not related to

his visit to the Walter Reed military hospital in Washington

late last week. Haris Silajdzic, the co-chairman of Bosnia's

Council of Ministers, will be present, along with Croat Ante

Jelavic and Serb Zivko Radisic of the presidency. In other

news, Jelavic said a decision to ban Erotel TV by the

International Media Commission (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 17

November 1999) is "unacceptable" and "its timing misjudged."

PB

[14] OSCE HEAD CALLS ON KOSOVAR ALBANIANS TO END VIOLENCE

Vollebaek, the chairman of the OSCE, urged ethnic Albanians

on 18 November to end the escalation of violence in the

Serbian province, Reuters reported. in the opening address to

the OSCE summit in Istanbul, Vollebaek said the goal of a

stable multiethnic Kosova is not close to being realized. UN

Secretary-General Kofi Annan said in his opening address that

building a safe, pluralistic Kosova has been "an appallingly

difficult task." Vollebaek added that he hopes Yugoslavia

will begin democratic reforms and will end its self-imposed

international isolation. PB

[15] DONORS EARMARK MORE THAN $1 BILLION FOR KOSOVA

donors on 17 November pledged to give more than $1 billion in

aid for Kosova over the next year, AP reported. The money was

donated at a conference in Brussels sponsored by the EU and

the World Bank. A bank official said the total was "in excess

of the expectations that we had." The pledges include $970

million for reconstruction and $47 million for projects to

support free media and local elections, and $18 million in

humanitarian aid. PB

[16] UN TAKES STEP TOWARD CENTRAL BANK FOR KOSOVA

administration in Kosova took steps on 17 November toward

setting up a banking system for the province by establishing

the Banking and Payments Authority of Kosova (BPK), Reuters

reported. The institution will act as a banker to the UN

administration and will supervise the banking sector in

Kosova. Nick Brentnall, the managing director of the bank,

said the BPK will be a "banking system in which the people of

Kosovo can place their trust." The bank is expected to be

operational by the end of the year. PB

[17] CROATIAN PREMIER VISITS TUDJMAN

visited ailing President Franjo Tudjman in hospital on 17

November, Reuters reported. Matesa said doctors told him

Tudjman's condition is stable. The premier said he saw

Tudjman "and wished him a speedy recovery." Matesa did not

say if Tudjman responded. He gave no further details of his

visit. PB

[18] ALBANIAN SAYS CRIMINALS FLED TO KOSOVA

on 17 November that some 40 alleged criminals from Albania

are hiding in Kosova, dpa reported. A police spokesman said

police have identified "all persons who have committed crimes

in Albania and have fled to Kosova." He added that most are

wanted for serious crimes, including murder and bank robbery.

Some are alleged to have taken part in violent attacks

against government and public buildings during street riots

in spring 1997 and September 1998. Albanian newspapers

reported the same day that Jaho Salihi, a policeman suspected

of involvement in the murder of opposition deputy Azem

Hajdari recently fled to Kosova. PB

[19] ROMANIAN PREMIER AGREES TO REASSESS SALE OF PETROTUB

Minister Radu Vasile announced on 17 November that he will

appoint a committee to reassess the sale of a 70 percent

stake in the Petrotub steel pipe manufacturer to a Gibraltar-

based company, Mediafax reported. Petrotub's employees have

been protesting the sale of the company to Tubman

International Ltd. for the past week (see "RFE/RL Newsline,"

15 November 1999). VG

[20] ROMANIAN PRESIDENT SAYS COUNTRY HEADING IN RIGHT DIRECTION

discontent in the country has nothing to do with the

political and economic direction in which Romania is heading

but rather with the speed of its evolution, Romanian radio

reported. A series of protests by workers, students, and

other groups has taken place across the country in recent

weeks. Constantinescu said the population's discontent is

"correct and real" since prices have been rising faster than

incomes. He said his greatest shortcoming in his three years

as president was his failure to communicate adequately with

the Romanian people. He called for the development of a

culture of fighting against corruption. VG

[21] MOST ROMANIANS BELIEVE 'REVOLUTION HAS SUCCEEDED'

62 percent of Romanians say the revolution of 1989 has

succeeded so far, while 27 percent believe it has failed,

according to a poll cited by Mediafax on 17 November.

However, respondents to the poll, which was conducted by the

Center for Urban and Regional Sociology, were divided on how

to describe what happened in 1989 in Romania. While 41

percent describe it as a "revolution," 36 percent say it was

a coup and 19 percent say they don't know. VG

[22] BALKAN CRIME FIGHTING CENTER OPENS IN BUCHAREST

Southeast European Cooperation Initiative (SECI) formally

opened its headquarters in Bucharest on 16 November, Reuters

reported. The center will coordinate information from its 10

member states to facilitate the regional fight against

organized crime. The U.S.-sponsored SECI comprises Albania,

Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Hungary,

Macedonia, Moldova, Turkey, and Romania. SECI President

Richard Schifter said the U.S. will contribute $400,000 to

equip the new center. VG

[23] LEADER OF MOLDOVAN GREENS EXPELLED FROM DEMOCRATIC

The Democratic Convention of Moldova (DCM)

parliamentary faction expelled Green Alliance leader Ion

Dediu from its ranks on 16 November for "inadequate

behavior," BASA-Press reported. Dediu said he was expelled

for supporting the Communists and the Christian Democratic

Popular Front in a vote to establish an environment ministry.

In other news, union leader Serafim Turcanu said on 17

November that some 850 teachers in 20 schools across Moldova

have gone on strike to demand wage arrears dating back one

year. VG

[24] STOYANOV: BULGARIA'S TOP PRIORITY IS EU ACCESSION TALKS

country's top priority is currently securing an invitation at

the EU's December summit in Helsinki to start accession

talks, BTA reported. He said he will focus on this issue at

the 18-19 November OSCE summit in Istanbul. Both Stoyanov and

Foreign Minister Nadezhda Mikhailova, who returned from a

visit to Brussels on 16 November, said the two conditions

recently stipulated by the EU for membership talks to begin

will not necessarily prevent the country from being invited

to accession talks next month. The two conditions are the

closure of four reactors at the Kozloduy nuclear power plant

and further progress in economic reforms. VG

[25] PRIVATIZATION OF INDUSTRY IN BULGARIA TO END IN MID-2000

parliamentary Economic Committee on 17 November approved the

government's privatization program for the year 2000, BTA

reported. The director of the Privatization Agency, Zakhari

Zhelyazkov, said privatization in industry will be completed

in mid-2000. A total of 673 privatization projects are

expected to be wrapped up next year. VG

[C] END NOTE

[26] UKRAINE'S VOTE OF WEARINESS

Leonid Kuchma won a seemingly easy victory in the 14

November presidential runoff, gaining more than 56 percent of

the vote, while his communist rival, Petro Symonenko,

received some 38 percent backing. Kuchma commented the

following day that nobody in Ukraine expected the incumbent

to win by such a wide margin. And he suggested that his re-

election means Ukrainians have chosen a "democratic way to

build their country based on a market economy." Few observers

of the Ukrainian political scene are likely to agree in full

with Kuchma's interpretation of the ballot.

One reason for objecting to such an interpretation is

that during his five years in office, Kuchma has shown

himself to be neither a truly democratic head of state nor a

true advocate of market economy. Both at home and abroad, he

has been described as a half-hearted democrat and a half-

hearted reformer.

Another reason is the large number of violations of

voting and campaigning procedures that were pointed out not

only by the incumbent's rivals in the race or his political

foes but also by international observers. The executive's

almost total control over the electronic media and its

involvement in the incumbent's re-election campaign appear to

have been the most instrumental in determining the final

election outcome.

Despite these violations, no international body will

question Kuchma's re-election. The OSCE--whose opinion on

elections in post-communist Europe seems to play a leading

role in determining their legitimacy--reported that 31

October first round of voting was fair. With regard to the

second round, the OSCE reported many irregularities but did

not suggest that they had a decisive affect on the outcome.

"Serious violations"--including the executive's stifling the

media and public officials' campaigning for Kuchma--were

noted during the election campaign, but, again, the European

election watchdog indicated no immediate link between them

and the final result.

Still, the scent of foul play remains in the air. "The

runoff result is not [the Communists'] defeat but the defeat

of democracy in Ukraine," Symonenko commented. That opinion

is clearly exaggerated, but it nevertheless underscores the

fact that Kuchma did not give the Communists in Ukraine a

fair chance.

Instead, the president's election team modeled his duel

with Symonenko on Russia's 1996 runoff between Boris Yeltsin

and Gennadii Zyuganov, scaring the electorate with the

prospect of a Communist comeback and "red revenge." Between

the first and second rounds, Ukraine's television fed voters

with documentaries and films about Soviet-era repression and

terror. The issue of building the country "based on a market

economy" was present, if at all, only in the deepest

background of the media campaign.

Under these circumstances, Ukrainians voted on 14

November for what appeared the more secure option--namely,

for the country's fragile socio-economic status quo under

Kuchma--and against any radical changes in the country's

course that were linked with Symonenko (or with his media

image).

In 1991, Leonid Kravchuk's installment as the head of

state took place on a nationwide wave of enthusiasm for an

independent Ukraine. The 1994 election of Leonid Kuchma was

an equally emotional event, marking a considerable ebb in

national enthusiasm. Independent Ukraine's third presidential

election--though bustling and enthusiastically fought by the

presidential hopefuls--was a vote of weariness on the part of

the electorate. Rather than enthusiasm for Kuchma's reformist

effort, voters displayed skepticism about the ability of

politicians to improve the economic situation by systemic

change.

By the same token, Symonenko's not unimpressive

electoral showing should not be interpreted as a sign that 10

million politically active Ukrainians want the return of

communism. By casting their votes for Symonenko, many

Ukrainians were in fact protesting their country's current

economic plight, which is widely associated with Ukraine's

failed attempts (under both Kravchuk and Kuchma) to follow a

"Western path."

As expected, the presidential elections showed once

again that Ukraine remains politically split into a Western,

"nationalist" part and an Eastern, "socialist" one. This

time, Kuchma received overwhelming support in western

Ukraine. The dividing lines between east and west in Ukraine

are somewhat blurred by Kuchma's fairly strong showing in

such eastern regions as Donetsk, Dnipropetrovsk, Sumy, or

Kharkiv (where he beat Symonenko), but the overall "two-

nations-in-one" pattern has not changed. It seems that only a

definite improvement in Ukraine's economy can heal the

political, social, and--as Samuel Huntington put it--

"civilizational" cleft between these two parts of one

country.

However, even if the full message of the Ukrainian

presidential ballot is not easily identifiable, there is

nonetheless strong ground for optimism, at least among

Democrats. The re-election of Kuchma--a proponent of

Ukraine's rapprochement with the West--is a good omen for all

those in the post-Soviet area (notably in Russia and Belarus)

who oppose the Communist-sponsored idea of restoring some

kind of USSR in the form of a "Slavic union." Without

Ukraine, such a union makes no sense, either politically or

economically. And it appears that Kuchma is bent on

continuing to strongly oppose that restoration effort.

18-11-99

Reprinted with permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
URL: http://www.rferl.org

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