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RFE/RL Newsline, Vol. 5, No. 138, 01-07-24Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty: Newsline Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty <http://www.rferl.org>RFE/RL NEWSLINEVol. 5, No. 138, 24 July 2001CONTENTS[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA
[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[C] END NOTE
[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA[01] FOUR MORE PARLIAMENT DEPUTIES QUITARMENIAN PEOPLE'S PARTY...Deputy parliament speaker Gagik Aslanian and three parliament deputies quit the People's Party of Armenia (HZhK) on 23 July, RFE/RL's Yerevan bureau reported. As a result of those latest defections, the HZhK parliament faction has shrunk from 20 to 13 members over the past month (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 18 and 19 July 2001). LF [02] ...WHILE SECOND ARMENIAN PARLIAMENT FACTIONREGROUPS UNDER NEW NAMEThe Kayunutiun (Stability) parliament faction announced on 23 July its decision to rename the faction the "People's Agro-Industrial Union" (AAZhM), Noyan Tapan reported. Two former HZhK deputies who had left that party announced their decision the same day to join the new faction. Also on 23 July, President Robert Kocharian named Vartan Ayvazian, who headed Kayunutiun, as ecology minister, Noyan Tapan reported. Ayvazian must resign his parliamentary mandate to take up a ministerial post. The new AAZhM faction has 11 members, and one of the former HZhK deputies, Hmayak Hovannisian, was elected its chairman, RFE/RL's Yerevan bureau reported. Hovannisian, who is a staunch Kocharian supporter, said the revamped faction will follow a "centrist" and "pragmatic" line. LF [03] TWO ARMENIAN OFFICIALS SAY THEY WERE SACKEDFOR FIGHTING CORRUPTIONOutgoing Ecology Minister Murad Muradian told RFE/RL on 23 July that his dismissal, which President Kocharian announced on 21 July (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 23 July 2001), was demanded by a criminal mafia that is plundering Armenia's natural resources, including scarce timber. He suggested that Kocharian acceded to that demand out of "political expediency." Also on 23 July, a second sacked official, former Deputy Minister for State Property Vanya Mkhitarian, similarly blamed his dismissal on his previous revelations of the plundering of natural resources. LF [04] ARMENIA REGISTERS GROWTH IN GDP, EXPORTSArmenia's GDP increased by 6.4 percent during the first six monthsof 2001 compared with the same period last year, Noyan Tapan reported on 23 July. Exports during the first six months of 2001 grew by 9.3 percent and amounted to $155.8 million. LF [05] DATE SET FOR PAPAL VISITS TO ARMENIA,KAZAKHSTANPope John Paul II will visit Armenia from 25-27 September at the invitation of President Kocharian and Catholicos Garegin II within the framework of the year-long celebrations to mark the 1700th anniversary of the adoption of Christianity as Armenia's state religion, Noyan Tapan reported on 23 July. The pontiff was originally scheduled to visit Armenia two years ago, but that trip was cancelled due to the terminal illness of Garegin's predecessor (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 7, 17 and 30 June 1999). Prior to his arrival in Armenia, the pope will visit Kazakhstan from 22-25 September at the invitation of President Nursultan Nazarbaev, Interfax reported on 20 July, quoting the presidential press service. LF [06] IRAN WARNS AZERBAIJAN OVER CASPIAN OILDEVELOPMENTIran's Deputy Foreign Minister Ali Ahani on 21 July lodged a formal protest with Azerbaijan's charge d'affaires in Tehran against plans by the Azerbaijan state oil company SOCAR and foreign oil companies, including BP and Exxon/Mobil, to develop the Araz-Alov-Sharg oil deposits that Iran considers lie within its section of the Caspian Sea, Turan and the "Financial Times" reported. Two Iranian air force planes overflew the Araz- Alov-Sharg deposit on the afternoon of 23 July, and later that evening an Iranian warship entered Azerbaijani territorial waters and threatened to open fire on an Azerbaijani oil exploration ship unless it left the area, AP reported. Azerbaijan's Prime Minister Artur Rasizade summoned Iranian Ambassador Ahad Gazai on 24 July to protest those actions, which he described as "a gross violation of international norms," according to Turan. LF [07] FOUR ABKHAZ KILLED IN AMBUSHTwo Abkhaz armyservicemen and two civilians died on 22 July when unidentified attackers opened fire on their horse-drawn cart in the demilitarized zone between Abkhazia and the rest of Georgia, Caucasus Press reported. At an emergency cabinet session on 23 July, Abkhaz Prime Minister Anri Djergenia blamed the killings on Georgian guerillas operating with impunity in the demilitarized zone. An unnamed Georgian spokesman rejected Djergenia's claims, and attributed the killings to fighting between Abkhaz criminal factions. Speaking in New York on 23 July, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan expressed concern that the total 21 killings in Abkhazia over the past three months have led to the suspension of talks between the Georgian and Abkhaz leaderships, RFE/RL's UN correspondent reported on 24 July. LF [08] GEORGIAN PARLIAMENT DEPUTY IMPLICATED INMAJOR CORRUPTION SCANDALParliament deputy David Bezhuashvili of the majority Union of Citizens of Georgia faction on 23 July denied accusations against him made at a Georgian government session by Temur Shashiashvili, the governor of the west Georgian province of Imereti, Caucasus Press reported. Shashiashvili claimed that Bezhuashvili was involved in machinations intended to bring about the bankruptcy of Georgia's two largest industrial enterprises, the Chiatura Manganese Plant and the Zestafon Ferrous Alloys Works, and in the illegal export of silica-manganese from the former. Shashiashvili further alleged that Bezhuashvili has an influential protector in Justice Minister Mikhail Saakashvili. Shashiashvili produced documentation in support of his claims that has been passed to the State Security Ministry. LF [09] KYRGYZ DEFENSE OFFICIAL DENIES NEW INVASIONIMMINENTDefense Ministry spokesman Mirbek Koilubaev on 23 July rejected as inaccurate predictions made the previous day by Russia's RTR television that an incursion into Kyrgyzstan by Islamic militants is imminent, RFE/RL's Bishkek bureau reported. Koilubaev said that separate small groups of militants have taken up positions on the border between Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan, but that Kyrgyz government troops are ready to repel any attempt by those groups to enter Kyrgyz territory. LF [10] KYRGYZ GOVERNMENT DETAILS PLANS FORENERGY SECTOR PRIVATIZATIONThe Kyrgyz government decided on 23 July to form a special commission, to be chaired by First Deputy Premier Nikolai Tanaev, which will oversee the privatization of the Kyrgyzenergo energy giant, RFE/RL's Bishkek bureau reported. As decided in January (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 10 and 15 January 2001), Kyrgyzenergo has already been divided on paper into five separate joint-stock companies in preparation for privatization, despite objections from the parliamentary opposition (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 2 and 3 July 2001). LF [11] KYRGYZ CONSTITUTIONAL COURT REJECTS DUALCITIZENSHIPKyrgyzstan's Constitutional Court has rejected a proposal by some 70 parliament deputies to amend the constitution to allow for dual Kyrgyz-Russian citizenship (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 5 June 2001), parliament deputy Omurbek Tekebaev told RFE/RL's Bishkek bureau on 23 July. LF [12] TAJIKISTAN APPLIES FOR OBSERVER MEMBERSHIPOF WTOTajikistan has formally applied for observer status with the World Trade Organization, Deputy Trade and Economy Minister Isroil Mahmudov told Asia Plus-Blitz on 23 July. LF [B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE[13] BUSH VISITS KOSOVA...U.S. President George W. Busharrived in Kosova on 24 July from Rome for a brief visit with U.S. KFOR troops at Camp Bondsteel, AP reported. He will also meet with Hans Haekkerup, who heads the UN's civilian administration, and Norwegian General Thorstein Skiaker, who commands NATO peacekeepers. National security adviser Condoleezza Rice said that "the president wants to thank our troops for their service there," Reuters reported. The previous day, Bush said that "Americans came into the Balkans with our friends and we will leave with our friends." An unnamed "senior aide" added that "we will go out together, but the other part of that point, which sometimes gets forgotten here in Europe, is that we want to hasten the day when we'll go out together by building democratic institutions by deploying civil police and so forth." PM [14] ...TO A ROUSING WELCOME FROM U.S. TROOPSMany ofthe 6,000 U.S. KFOR troops based at Camp Bondsteel turned out to welcome Bush on 24 July, BBC Television reported. Bush drew loud cheers when he signed a military benefits and spending package on the spot. Bush praised the troops for their "sacrifices for our freedom." He also held up the U.S. military as an example of how people from different ethnic and cultural backgrounds can work together. He noted the role played by KFOR in Kosova and indirectly in Macedonia, recalling his recent measures to cut off aid and support for the guerrillas (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 28 June 2001). PM [15] BUSH CALLS FOR SETTLEMENT IN MACEDONIAIn astatement issued to the media at Camp Bondsteel on 24 July, Bush said: "I call on the parties [in the Macedonian conflict] to maintain the cease-fire. And I call on the elected leaders to work...to overcome the remaining differences to achieving a settlement that will keep Macedonia at peace and on the road to Europe," Reuters reported. Referring to the Kosovars, Bush added: "Those here in Kosovo who support the insurgency in Macedonia are hurting the interests of ethnic Albanians throughout the region. The people of Kosovo should focus on Kosovo." Bush stressed that "our goal is to hasten the day when peace is self-sustaining" in Bosnia and Kosova. PM [16] MACEDONIAN GOVERNMENT THREATENSOFFENSIVEOccasional gunfire could be heard in the vicinity of Tetovo on 24 July, following more serious exchanges over the previous two days (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 23 July 2001). The fighting on 23 July left one girl dead, 19 civilians injured, and five Macedonian soldiers wounded, Reuters reported. The U.S. appealed for calm and criticized any breach of the cease-fire. But Macedonian Defense Minister Vlado Buckovski said that government forces might launch an all-out offensive against the National Liberation Army (UCK) unless the guerrillas pull back from Tetovo. "If the terrorists do not retreat to their previous positions...we will have no other option but to dislodge them with our offensive," AP reported. The minister added: "We demand that NATO secure the cease-fire, because NATO and the international community provided us with guarantees for the cease-fire. We expect NATO to ensure that the terrorists withdraw to their previous positions." PM [17] MACEDONIAN-ALBANIAN GUERRILLAS DENYRESPONSIBILITYIn a signed statement in Tetovo, UCK commander Nazmi Beqiri blamed government forces for the fighting: "The UCK has no reason for military operations at a time when we are expecting a political agreement to be signed," Reuters quoted him as saying on 24 July. An unnamed "senior diplomat" said that "the violence absolutely damages the talks because it hardens the positions of both sides." U.S. mediator James Pardew and his EU counterpart Francois Leotard said in a joint statement: "We urge those responsible for these actions to respect the cease-fire. Violence is unacceptable and does nothing to further the cause of the people in this region. It could only undermine the peace process while the political talks are still ongoing." PM [18] UNHCR CONCERNED OVER RENEWED MACEDONIANFIGHTINGUNHCR spokesman Ron Redmond said in Geneva on 24 July that "despite the renewed fighting, there was no perceptible movement of people out of Tetovo" on 23 July, AP reported. He added that, nonetheless, the "UNHCR is deeply concerned at the latest cease-fire violations." Redmond stressed: "We fear that the longer this uncertainty and displacement goes on, the deeper the rift between ethnic communities." A total of 76,000 persons have fled Macedonia to Kosova since the fighting began in the spring. Some 15,000 have since returned home. PM [19] MONTENEGRIN MARIJUANA HAULPolice officials said inPodgorica on 24 July that they have found 200 kilograms of marijuana on the shores of Lake Shkoder, which forms part of the border between Albania and Montenegro, dpa reported. In recent years, both countries have acquired the reputation of being centers of smuggling activities. The large lake accounts for much of the illicit traffic. PM [20] DETAILS OF CROATIAN-SLOVENIAN AGREEMENT...Information about the recent text agreed to by the Croatian PrimeMinister Ivica Racan and Slovenia's Janez Drnovsek is beginning to leak out to the media, RFE/RL's South Slavic Service reported (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 20 July 2001). The pact stipulates that Slovenia will have access to the open sea through a corridor 3,600 meters wide and 11 kilometers deep. The corridor will be flanked by Croatian territorial waters and will not impinge on Croatia's maritime frontier with Italy. "Novi List" published what it called a precise map on 24 July. PM [21] ...WHICH TOOK A LONG TIME TO PRODUCESlovenianForeign Minister Dimitrij Rupel said in Ljubljana on 22 July that the agreement took a decade to work out, Hina reported. He noted that Slovenia and Croatia came very close to an agreement under former Croatian Prime Minister Zlatko Matesa, but that, otherwise, relations have oscillated between very cordial and "very cold." He noted that "some people," whom he did not name, would have preferred to construct a "Berlin Wall" between the two countries. Other individuals, he added, preferred the former Yugoslavia and refused to accept that Slovenia and Croatia are now sovereign countries that need to regulate their mutual relations. PM [22] CROATIAN WAR CRIMES SUSPECT TO TURN SELF INGeneral Rahim Ademi plans to fly to The Hague on 25 July to facecharges of war crimes, dpa reported on 23 July (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 10 and 18 July 2001). Elsewhere, a Zagreb court put an unnamed general on its wanted list in conjunction with a similar indictment by The Hague-based tribunal, Hina reported. He is believed to be General Ante Gotovina, who was indicted at the same time as Ademi. Media reports have suggested that Gotovina is defiant and in hiding, possibly in Herzegovina. PM [23] ROMANIA, FRANCE BOOST COOPERATIONVisitingFrench Prime Minister Lionel Jospin said in Bucharest on 23 July that Romania can rely on France's support for EU and NATO integration, but it should first rely on its own efforts to facilitate that integration process, Romanian media reported. France is the main foreign investor in Romania, with some $800 million. Jospin is the first important European leader to visit Romania since the November 2000 elections there. Serban Mihailescu, the Romanian Government's general-secretary, and French Minister for European Affairs Pierre Moscovici signed a cooperation agreement on child protection. The French Eurocopter company signed a cooperation agreement with the IAR Ghimbav helicopter factory near Brasov aimed at establishing the Eurocopter Romania company, with a French majority stake. ZsM [24] RAIFFEISEN TAKES OVER ROMANIA'S BANCAAGRICOLARomanian Privatization Minister Ovidiu Musetescu on 23 July signed the protocol concerning the sale of Banca Agricola, Mediafax reported. The government approved the privatization contract by which control of the bank would be handed over to a partnership between the Romanian-American Investment Fund and Raiffeisen Zentralbank Austria. The bank is to be called Raiffeisen Banca Agricola. The new owners paid $15 million for 98 percent of the state-owned shares and are to raise the bank's capital by $37 million. ZsM [25] NEW ILLEGAL CHILD ADOPTION SCANDAL INBUCHARESTThe former director of Bucharest's fifth precinct Child Protection Office was arrested on 23 July, Mediafax reported. Sorin Diaconescu is charged with assisting in the illegal adoption of eight children from foster homes. Four children were selected for adoption by families from abroad through a Constanta-based foundation. The Romanian police are also investigating the allegedly illegal adoptions of 62 Romanian children by families in Greece, Great Britain, Italy, Israel, and the U.S. ZsM [26] ROMANIAN FOREIGN MINISTER MEETS OSCE HIGHCOMMISSIONER ON NATIONAL MINORITIESRomanian Foreign Minister and acting OSCE Chairman Mircea Geoana met OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities Rolf Ekeus on 23 July in Bucharest, Mediafax reported. The two discussed national minorities in the Balkans as well as the Hungarian Status Law. Ekeus said that both the issue of the Status Law and problems relating to the Romany population should receive "European" responses. They also discussed the current situation in Macedonia and Kosova. According to Geoana, the situation of the Roma will be analyzed by an OSCE-sponsored conference to be convened in Romania in October. ZsM [27] BULGARIAN PARLIAMENT APPROVES SIMEON ANDHIS GOVERNMENTSimeon Saxecoburggotski, the former king of Bulgaria, was approved by parliament as the country's premier on 24 July, AP reported. The vote was 141 to 50, with 46 abstentions. Saxecoburggotski said after the vote that "this choice is a turning point in my life and I will do all I can for the country and for every Bulgarian." In a second vote, Saxecoburggotski's cabinet was approved by a 147 to 50 vote, with 41 abstentions. The new premier said: "I dedicate my taking the office of prime minister to the forces of youth and creativity," perhaps a reference to the inclusion of several young members in his cabinet, whose average age is 45. He added: "Today we stand a real chance to usher Bulgaria into the new 21st century and take the place we deserve in a united Europe." Nadezhda Mihailova, the parliamentary leader of the opposition United Democratic Forces, said her party voted against Saxecoburggotski and his government because it includes two members of the Socialist party, the former communist party. Mihailova said their inclusion in the government "distorts" the voters' will. Most members of the Socialist party abstained from the votes. PB [28] BULGARIAN PRESIDENT CONCERNED ABOUTMACEDONIAPetar Stoyanov said on 24 July that he spoke with Macedonian President Boris Trajkovski the previous night about the fighting there, BTA reported. Stoyanov said the situation in Macedonia amid the renewed fighting in Tetovo is "very alarming" and that he will be discussing it with members of the new government. Stoyanov said he is confident that "common sense" will prevail in the talks aimed at resolving the situation. PB [C] END NOTE[29] YUSHCHENKO INITIATES PRO-REFORM ELECTIONBLOC.By Jan Maksymiuk On 15 July, from atop Ukraine's highest peak, Hoverlya in the Carpathian Mountains, former Prime Minister Viktor Yushchenko announced the formation of an electoral bloc named Nasha Ukrayina (Our Ukraine) and called on pro-reformist, democratically minded, and nationally conscious forces to join it. Some 2,000 members of Ukraine's two Rukh parties and the Reform and Order Party as well as journalists climbed Hoverlya to mark the 11th anniversary of Ukraine's sovereignty and listen to Yushchenko's announcement. Yushchenko's announcement had been impatiently awaited in Ukraine since 26 April, when he was voted out of his post as prime minister jointly by the Communists and oligarchical groups in the parliament. Shortly after the vote of no confidence, Yushchenko addressed his supporters outside the parliamentary building, pledging to return to politics soon. Yushchenko said on 15 July that he wants Our Ukraine to win next year's parliamentary elections and form a government. The bloc and its manifesto are to be forged this fall. Yushchenko named no specific forces during his 15 July pronouncement, but it is already clear that Our Ukraine will include the Popular Rukh of Ukraine (Hennadiy Udovenko's wing), the Ukrainian Popular Rukh (Yuriy Kostenko's wing), and the Reform and Order Party of Viktor Pynzenyk. Most likely, the Congress of Ukrainian Nationalists will also join Our Ukraine. Yushchenko is Ukraine's most popular and most trusted politician. A recent poll by the GfK-USM polling center found that if a presidential election had been held in July, Yushchenko would have obtained 32.4 percent of the vote. The same poll found that Communist Party leader Petro Symonenko would have been backed by 17.4 percent of voters, and incumbent President Leonid Kuchma by 10.2 percent. It is no wonder that the bloc headed by the former premier is tipped by most Ukrainian commentators to win a significant parliamentary representation. It is difficult to make any predictions regarding Our Ukraine's election chances some eight months before the election date, but it is already clear that Yushchenko must look for more allies in order to build a force that would be able to control the future parliament. As of now, he may be sure of voters' support in western Ukraine, where both Rukhs have most of their adherents. But in Ukraine the political climate is defined not by the traditionally nationalist western areas of the country, but by the heavily populated and industrialized east. As of now, Yushchenko appears to have little leverage, if any, in the east. There is a danger that his personal popularity may not help Our Ukraine's candidate in eastern constituencies. Yushchenko has apparently decided not to confront President Kuchma directly, therefore he rejected invitations to join and head the anti-Kuchma opposition grouped in the National Salvation Forum (FNP) and the Ukraine Without Kuchma movement. Therefore, the recently created FNP election committee -- the Fatherland Party, the Sobor Party, the Social-Democratic Party, the Republican Party, the Conservative Republican Party, and the Republican Party -- will most likely compete for parliamentary seats with Yushchenko's people. True, Yuliya Tymoshenko, a former close associate of Yushchenko in his cabinet and currently the head of the NFP election committee, said her bloc is going to propose "peaceful coexistence or cooperation" to Yushchenko. But it is difficult to see how such a goal can be achieved in practice, especially as both Our Ukraine and the FNP heavily rely on voting support in western Ukraine. Following in Yushchenko's and Tymoshenko's footsteps, other groups have also announced their political alliances for the 2002 ballot. Socialist Party leader Oleksandr Moroz said his party will forge an election alliance with the All-Ukrainian Party of Working People, the Social Democratic Party, the Party for the Protection of Farmers' Interests, and the Greens of the 21st Century Party. The pro-Kuchma parties -- the Agrarian Party, the Popular Democratic Party, the Party of Regions, and the Labor Ukraine Party -- signed a declaration to create a joint election bloc. Ivan Chyzh, the leader of the All-Ukrainian Association of Leftist "Justice" (and a former associate of Moroz), announced that he is currently negotiating the creation of a "very original and very powerful" election bloc. And two pro-Russian parties are working to create a separate coalition named the Russian Bloc for the 2002 parliamentary elections. One should also remember just how powerful the Communist Party is in Ukraine, with voter approval not below 20 percent. And there are two influential oligarchical parties, the Social Democratic Party (United) and the Democratic Union, which, according to popular opinion, possess considerable administrative, financial, and media leverage in Ukrainian politics. Thus, Yushchenko faces an uphill task in promoting his bloc in Ukraine's political arena. The initial conditions for his initiative are auspicious. According to some analysts, Our Ukraine can count on some 25 percent support among the electorate as of now, which means that the bloc is the country's most popular political force. But the election campaign has not yet started. And this also means that Yushchenko's rivals have not yet started to work toward undermining his political clout. 24-07-01 Reprinted with permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
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