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RFE/RL Newsline, Vol. 4, No. 121, 00-06-22Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty: Newsline Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty <http://www.rferl.org>RFE/RL NEWSLINEVol. 4, No. 121, 22 June 2000CONTENTS[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA
[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[C] END NOTE
[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA[01] ARMENIAN MAJORITY PARLIAMENT BLOC RECOVERS COHESIONVartanMkrtchian, a leading member of the Miasunutiun (Unity) coalition, the largest parliamentary faction, told RFE/RL's Yerevan bureau on 21 June that the bloc's two constituent parties have overcome the tensions engendered by the appointment of one of the parties' leaders as prime minister last month. The People's Party of Armenia (HZhK) had objected to the appointment of Republican Party of Armenia (HHK) chairman Andranik Markarian to that position and declined to accept any responsibility for the work of his government (see "RFE/RL Caucasus Report," Vol. 3, No. 20, 18 May 2000). Ten members of Miasnutiun quit that faction to protest Markarian's appointment (see "RFE/RL Newsline" 16 May 2000). Mkrtchian said on 21 June, however, that "emotions have given way to common sense" and that "not only has Miasnutiun avoided a breakup, but it is stronger than ever before." LF [02] TURKEY CONDEMNS KARABAKH ELECTIONSThe Turkish ForeignMinistry on 21 June issued a statement affirming that the 18 June parliamentary elections in the unrecognized Nagorno- Karabakh Republic were illegitimate and constitute "yet another indication that Azerbaijan's territorial integrity and sovereignty are being violated," AFP reported. The statement described the enclave as being under Armenian occupation. LF [03] GEORGIAN PARLIAMENT CONSIDERS AMNESTY FOR SUPPORTERS OFFORMER PRESIDENTThe Georgian parliamentary Commission for National Reconciliation, created two months ago at the suggestion of President Eduard Shevardnadze, proposed on 21 June that criminal cases against 236 supporters of deceased President Zviad Gamsakhurdia be terminated, Caucasus Press reported. It also approved a proposal by deputy Davit Salarizde to consider the grounds for rehabilitating Gamsakhurdia, who died in January 1994. LF [04] GEORGIAN PENSIONERS DEMAND 13 MONTHS ARREARS...Pensioners inthe west Georgian town of Zugdidi picketed the town hall and blocked a major highway on 21 June to demand payment of their pensions for the past 13 months, Caucasus Press reported. As of 30 May, the Georgian government owed a total of 110 million lari ($56 million) in pension arrears dating back to 1997. LF [05] ...AS IMF CALLS FOR BUDGET SEQUESTERDavid Owen, the head ofan IMF delegation that has spent the past 10 days in Georgia, warned President Shevardnadze on 22 June that the fund will not discuss any further assistance to Georgia before October, Caucasus Press reported, citing ANS-Press. The IMF official advocated a budget sequester of 110 million lari, which is the equivalent of the budget shortfall for the first five months of this year. On 15 June, Caucasus Press quoted Owen as telling Minister of State Gia Arsenishvili that the fund's further cooperation with Georgia is contingent on that country's eliminating poverty, reducing budget expenditures, and cracking down on corruption. LF [06] KAZAKHSTAN IMPOSES LIMITS FOR REPATRIATIONPresidentNursultan Nazarbaev has imposed a ceiling of 5,000 for Kazakhs from Afghanistan, Mongolia, China, Turkey and elsewhere who wish to settle permanently in Kazakhstan, RFE/RL's Kazakh Service reported on 21 June. Nazarbaev has also finally granted citizenship to some 1,880 Kazakhs who settled in Kazakhstan from Mongolia in the early 1990s. An estimated further 30,000 Kazakhs in Mongolia alone are awaiting permission to move to Kazakhstan. LF [07] CHINESE BUSINESSMAN KIDNAPPED IN KYRGYZSTANA Chinesebusinessman en route for Bishkek was abducted by uniformed armed men in the town of Osh on 21 June, ITAR-TASS reported. The abductors have demanded a $150,000 ransom for his release. LF [08] UN TO PROVIDE FOOD AID FOR TAJIKISTANThe UN World FoodProgram's Dushanbe representative, Bouchan Hadj-Chikh, said on 21 June that the program will provide 90,000 tons of food aid worth $45 million over the next two years to feed an estimated 575,000 people, Reuters and Asia Plus-Blitz reported. Part of that aid will be distributed to the elderly and to children, and some will be given in payment for agricultural produce. The UN agency will fund rehabilitation work in the agricultural sector and reconstruction of schools and hospitals. LF [09] RUSSIAN BORDER GUARD DIRECTOR QUERIES WISDOM OF ENDING TAJIKPEACEKEEPING OPERATIONRussian Federal Border Service Director Konstantin Totskii told Interfax in St. Petersburg on 21 June that he considers it premature to terminate the CIS peacekeeping operation in Tajikistan (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 21 June 2000). He added that in the light of the concentration of Taliban forces near Afghanistan's border with the Central Asian states, he doubts that the decision will be implemented before the situation in Tajikistan reverts to normal. Speaking at the CIS summit in Moscow on 21 June, Russian President Vladimir Putin termed the decision to end the peacekeeping operation correct, adding that Russia is determined to continue promoting peace and stability in Central Asia, Interfax reported. LF [10] PUTIN APOLOGIZES FOR RUSSIAN MEDIA COVERAGE OF TAJIKISTANOnthe sidelines of the 21 June CIS summit, President Putin expressed his regrets to his Tajik counterpart, Imomali Rakhmonov, that the Russia media do not give adequate coverage of positive changes in Tajikistan, Tajik presidential spokesman Zafar Saidov told Asia Plus-Blitz on 22 June. The Tajik Foreign Ministry had issued a statement earlier this week criticizing Russian media bias in reporting developments in Tajikistan (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 20 June 2000). LF [B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE[11] UN SECURITY COUNCIL EXTENDS BOSNIAN MISSIONThe SecurityCouncil voted 14 to zero on 21 June to extend the mandate of the 21,000 SFOR troops and 1,600 international police until 19 June 2001. Russia abstained to protest the refusal by the organizers of the Brussels international conference on Bosnia in May to invite representatives of the Belgrade regime (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 24 May 2000). Russian Ambassador to the UN Sergei Lavrov said that Russia boycotted the Brussels gathering because it allegedly served to "further isolate and...blockade Yugoslavia." He added, however, that he agrees with the "general thrust" of the resolution extending SFOR's mandate, AP reported. Chinese Ambassador to the UN Wang Yingfan voted for the resolution but said that excluding Belgrade "does not help peace," Reuters reported. PM [12] CANADA SAYS MILOSEVIC NOT ACCEPTABLE PARTNERBut Canadianrepresentative told the Security Council on 21 June that "the Belgrade regime under the leadership of indicted war criminal Slobodan Milosevic has consistently sought to actively undermine the implementation of the [1995] Dayton peace agreement [on Bosnia]. As my government made clear at [the Brussels] meeting, we look forward to the day when a democratic Yugoslavia begins to participate constructively in the peace implementation process throughout the region," an RFE/RL correspondent reported. PM [13] BOSNIAN EDITORS PROTEST PRESSURE ON PRESSThe editors-in-chief of several leading periodicals issued a joint statement in Sarajevo on 21 June to protest recent financial and other pressures by the Muslim authorities on the press, "Oslobodjenje" reported. The editors of the dailies "Oslobodjenje" and "Dnevni avaz" and of the weeklies "Slobodna Bosna" and "Dani" expressed solidarity in the face of "every form of pressure against the freedom of the press." They demanded that the authorities act only in accordance with the law and called upon local representatives of the international community to "energetically" respond to any attempt to curtail the freedom of the press. The editors specifically called on the authorities to unblock the bank accounts of "Dnevni avaz," which the tax authorities recently froze. PM [14] BOSNIAN NON-NATIONALISTS TO FORM COALITION?Leaders ofseveral non-nationalist parties and coalitions are expected soon to agree on forming an "alternative bloc" to fight the nationalist parties in the November general elections, "Slobodna Bosna" reported on 22 June. Some of the politicians in question are Zlatko Lagumdzija, Haris Silajdzic, Milorad Dodik, Kresimir Zubak, Safet Orucevic, and Jadranko Prlic. Silajdzic, moreover, has rejected an offer from Muslim leader Alija Izetbegovic to form a coalition with his nationalist Party of Democratic Action, the weekly added. It is not clear, however, whether such an electoral pact between the non-nationalists will materialize. Differences in personalities and political programs have often prevented such cooperation in the past. PM [15] DEL PONTE HAILS CROATIAN COOPERATION WITH TRIBUNALCarla DelPonte, who is the chief prosecutor of the Hague-based war crimes tribunal, thanked President Stipe Mesic in Zagreb on 21 June for Croatia's cooperation with the tribunal. She noted that she now has the documents she needs to investigate charges of war crimes surrounding Croatia's 1995 offensives against Serbian forces, the VOA's Croatian Service reported. Del Ponte went on to Dubrovnik to discuss issues arising from the 1991 Serbian and Montenegrin shelling of that historical town with Croatian Justice Minister Stjepan Ivanisevic. She said that she will also raise the issue of Dubrovnik with the leaders of Montenegro, which is the next stop on her current Balkan trip. PM [16] DECANI MONASTERY SHELLEDUnknown persons fired six mortarshells at the historical Serbian Orthodox Decani monastery during the night from 21 to 22 June, dpa reported. Father Sava, who is a moderate Serbian political leader and who lives and works in the monastery, said that nobody was injured and damage was slight. On 21 June, a series of incidents involving KFOR troops and local Serbs in northern Mitrovica left two Serbs injured, a UN spokeswoman said in Prishtina, AP reported. Two Serbian policemen and one security guard were injured in a series of explosions in Bujanovac and Presevo in southwestern Serbia bordering Kosova. Serbian authorities blamed "Albanian terrorists" for the explosions, Reuters reported. PM [17] DIENSTBIER 'UNSETTLED' BY SERBIAN SITUATIONJiri Dienstbier,who is the UN's special envoy for human rights in the former Yugoslavia, said in Belgrade on 21 June that Kosova is undergoing organized "reverse ethnic-cleansing" as ethnic Albanians force out Serbs and other members of minority groups, AFP reported. Turning to the situation in Serbia, Dienstbier said that he recently told regime officials that their country cannot be destabilized from the outside if it is not first destabilized internally, CTK reported. He urged the officials not to treat their political opponents as "enemies of the state or terrorists." Dienstbier called members of the Otpor (Resistance) student movement "young, educated, and open-minded people. They reject violence.... They want dialogue with the government, but it is refused to them." The former Czechoslovak foreign minister added that he is "unsettled" by "the growing atmosphere of violence, in which several people have been killed, including politicians and journalists." PM [18] GENERAL PERISIC 'HONORED' BY LOSS OF RANKFormer chief ofthe General Staff and General Momcilo Perisic said in Belgrade on 21 June that the military court that recently stripped him of his rank in the reserves has no legal right to make such a decision, "Vesti" reported (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 21 June 2000). He added that while the loss of one's rank is a great disgrace in "normal and decent countries," he considers it "plus" in a country like Milosevic's Serbia. Perisic added that he is proud of his record during 37 years in the military and stressed that he prevented the authorities from using the army against protesters in 1996 and 1997. PM [19] DRASKOVIC HEARING POSTPONEDMontenegrin authorities on 21June postponed for one day the court hearing in Podgorica of two brothers charged with involvement in a recent attempt to kill Serbian opposition leader Vuk Draskovic (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 21 June 2000). At the request of the prosecutor, the authorities replaced Svetlana Vujanovic, who is the wife of the prime minister, with Zoran Zivkovic as judge. Meanwhile in Belgrade, Civic Alliance leader Goran Svilanovic denied reports by the state-run Tanjug news agency that the two brothers had previously served as bodyguards for him and his colleague Vesna Pesic. Svilanovic stressed that "it is well known that neither Pesic nor I ever had a bodyguard," AP reported. PM [20] ROMANIAN LOCAL ELECTIONS TRIGGER CONFLICTS ON THE LEFT....Bucharest Mayor-Elect Traian Basescu on 21 June toldRomanian Radio that Party of Social Democracy (PDSR) in Romania Deputy Chairman Adrian Nastase is a "perestroikist" who represents "hair-styled communism." Basescu was responding to Nastase's 20 June statement that Bucharest voters had backed the PDSR en masse and that the mayor is "walking on PDSR territory" in the capital. Basescu said Bucharest voters elected their representatives to be served by them and not the other way around. He added that Nastase is incapable of understanding this because of his communist mentality. MS [21] ...AND ON THE RIGHTNational Liberal Party (PNL) FirstDeputy Chairman Valeriu Stoica has said the local elections showed the PNL is the strongest formation on the right and that successful opposition to the left is possible only if all rightists rally around the PNL, RFE/RL's Bucharest Bureau reported on 21 June. The leaderships of the PNL and the National Peasant Party Christian Democratic (PNTCD) meet on 22 June to discuss the future of the Democratic Convention of Romania (CDR). PNTCD Deputy Chairman Ioan Muresan said ahead of the meeting that his party is offering the PNL 50 percent of the slots on the CDR lists and that if the offer is rejected "we shall go out separate ways" in the 2000 parliamentary elections (see also "End Note"). MS [22] NATO COMMANDER SAYS NO PLANS TO STATION TROOPS IN BULGARIANATO Supreme Allied Commander Europe General Joseph Ralstonon 21 June told journalists in Sofia that NATO has no intention of deploying forces in Bulgaria or in any other non-member country, AP and dpa reported. He spoke after meeting with Bulgarian President Petar Stoyanov, Prime Minister Ivan Kostov, and members of the cabinet. The talks focused on the situation in the Balkans and Bulgaria's preparations for admission into the organization. MS [C] END NOTE[23] WILL THE 'BUCHAREST SURPRISE' MATTER THIS FALL?By Michael ShafirThe surprising victory of Democratic Party candidate Traian Basescu in the runoff for the post of Bucharest general mayor has produced some amusing debates among analysts. Those analysts have been joined by some foreign correspondents whose lack of familiarity with the Romanian political scene is all too evident. Basescu entered the race after the Democrats had dropped their initial candidate, whom the polls showed performing poorly, and had already produced a mini-surprise by qualifying for the runoff against Sorin Oprescu, the Party of Social Democracy in Romania's (PDSR) candidate. The gap between Basescu's 41.1 percent backing in the first round and Oprescu's 17.2 percent, however, seemed far too large to be bridged. But when the ballots were counted on 19 June, Basescu had produced nothing short of a miracle: he received 9,815 votes more than did Oprescu. Although a very small margin, this was sufficient to open the doors of the mayoral office. The PDSR had seemingly managed a "Phoenix-like" performance in the capital: defying all predictions, a leading member of the ruling coalition Democratic Party had dashed the aspirations of Ion Iliescu's party to return to power after the parliamentary and presidential elections in the fall. "Romania's ruling coalition narrowly won a victory", reported a correspondent for a major news agency. Those more familiar with the Romanian political scene know better, however. While nominally part of the coalition, the Democrats have time and time again caused coalition crises, and no one was personally more involved in engineering those crises than Basescu, who is also a deputy leader of the party. Others attributed Basescu's triumph to his alleged "charismatic personality," though the capable bald manager who heads the Transportation Ministry can be considered anything but charismatic. In fact, there are simpler explanations for his electoral triumph. For example, voters must have wondered what credentials the surgeon Oprescu has to manage a capital city that is successfully competing with Tirana for being Europe's dirtiest (stray dogs and rats are in abundance) and unsafest place on the Continent. To conclude from the "Bucharest surprise" that the Democratic Convention of Romania (CDR) may still "save" the parliamentary elections is to oversee a few significant "details" available in print--both small and large. First, Basescu's victory notwithstanding, each of the six sectors into which Bucharest is divided will have PDSR mayors and the PDSR will have a majority on the town's council. Since 1992, Bucharest has appeared to be a CDR "fiefdom." In fact, the PDSR has always won local elections in districts outside larger towns. This time, however, the party won 53 percent of all large cities and 48 percent of all county-capital towns. This indicates that a major shift is under way among the Romanian electorate in favor of the main opposition party, which has continued to win smaller towns and the countryside. Out of the total of 2,957 mayoral posts contested on 4 and 18 June, the PDSR won 1,051. At the same time, the performance of the Democrats is indeed impressive. Somehow they managed to divest themselves of any responsibility for the economic debacle engineered by the ruling coalition and to place second after the PDSR in all contests decided by the 4 and 18 June elections--mayoral, local councilors, and county councilors. They will now have 392 mayors, 11 of whom are town mayors and seven of whom are mayors in county capitals. This is a 4 percent increase over 1996, before the party returned to the government. The Democrats are entitled to look with optimism toward the fall elections. But this optimism must be qualified. Petre Roman, the party's leader, has repeatedly proved in the past that he is incapable of supporting a popular "number 2," and he is undoubtedly now watching Basescu suspiciously. Third place in terms of mayors, local councilors, and county councilors was taken by the Alliance of Romania (APR), which has 283 mayors. The PDSR, the Democrats, and the APR are all "descendants" of the National Salvation Front and, as such, all three belong to the category of "successor parties" to the former Communist Party. Come the fall elections, they may well form the next coalition. Should this happen, the CDR would certainly lament the "short memory" of Romanians. However, the CDR should engage in some self-examination before "externalizing guilt." The CDR and National Peasant Party Christian Democratic leader Ion Diaconescu, responding to calls that he assume responsibility for the electoral debacle, dismissed any possibility of his stepping down. There is thus little hope that the CDR--regardless of its makeup in the fall parliamentary elections-- will be able to undo much of the damage already done. In the local elections, the CDR placed not only behind the three leading formations mentioned above. In terms of mayors elected (147), it trailed the National Liberal Party (251), independent candidates (159), and the Hungarian Democratic Federation of Romania (148). Even if the National Liberals return to the CDR fold for the parliamentary elections, the prospects for those who seemed to signal "change" in 1996 are far from encouraging. And in view of the PDSR's record on reform, the "change to change"--to cite Chalmers Johnson's classic title--is unlikely to signal a new beginning for Romania. Rather, one can expect a return "to square one," which will only widen the gap between Bucharest and those East Central European capitals already playing at other chess tables, such as NATO and the EU's fast-track. 22-06-00 Reprinted with permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
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