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RFE/RL Newsline, Vol. 5, No. 175, 01-09-14

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty: Newsline Directory - Previous Article - Next Article

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

RFE/RL NEWSLINE

Vol. 5, No. 175, 14 September 2001


CONTENTS

[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA

  • [01] ARMENIA CALLS FOR COORDINATED RESPONSE TO GLOBAL TERRORISM...
  • [02] ...WHILE KAZAKHSTAN ADVOCATES 'NEW APPROACHES'...
  • [03] ...AND UZBEKISTAN AGAIN PROPOSES INTERNATIONAL ANTITERRORIST CENTER
  • [04] SCO CONDEMNS TERRORISM, PLEDGES READINESS TO COMBAT IT...
  • [05] ...SEEKS TO ACCELERATE ECONOMIC INTEGRATION
  • [06] ARMENIAN OFFICIAL RULES OUT INCREASE IN PENSIONS THIS YEAR
  • [07] GEORGIAN OPPOSITION BEGINS CAMPAIGN TO FORCE SPEAKER'S RESIGNATION
  • [08] KAZAKH PRESIDENT, CHINESE PREMIER MEET
  • [09] KYRGYZSTAN RELOCATES BORDER GUARDS DIRECTORATE TO SOUTH
  • [10] INTERNATIONAL MEETING IN TAJIKISTAN DISCUSSES AFGHAN SITUATION
  • [11] TAJIK PRESIDENT, INDIAN FOREIGN MINISTER MEET
  • [12] TURKMEN PRESIDENT MAKES DEBUT AS NOVELIST

  • [B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE

  • [13] SOLIDARITY WITH U.S. IN FORMER YUGOSLAVIA
  • [14] MACEDONIAN ALBANIAN GUERRILLA LEADER SENDS CONDOLENCES TO U.S.
  • [15] ROBERTSON URGES MACEDONIAN LEGISLATORS NOT TO DELAY
  • [16] MACEDONIAN TIMETABLE ON TRACK?
  • [17] MACEDONIAN ALBANIAN PARTIES OPPOSE REFERENDUM
  • [18] MACEDONIAN DEFENSE MINISTER: FORCES WILL RETURN TO FEBRUARY POSITIONS
  • [19] SLOVENIA OFFERS TO MEDIATE IN SERBIAN-MONTENEGRIN DISPUTE
  • [20] REGISTRATION OF KOSOVA SERBS PROCEEDING APACE
  • [21] CROATIAN TENNIS STAR DRAFTED INTO ARMY
  • [22] PNTCD RIFT CREATES MORE WAVES
  • [23] ROMANIAN PARLIAMENT CONDEMNS ATTACKS ON U.S., LIBERALS PROPOSE DEATH PENALTY
  • [24] BULGARIA CONSIDERS BUYING F-16S TO ACHIEVE NATO STANDARD

  • [C] END NOTE

  • [25] RUSSIANS ASK WHETHER SCHOOLS CAN BE REFORMED

  • [A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA

    [01] ARMENIA CALLS FOR COORDINATED RESPONSE TO GLOBAL TERRORISM...

    Speaking in his

    capacity as rotating chairman of the CIS Collective Security Treaty, Armenian

    President Robert Kocharian proposed that the six signatories to that accord

    (Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and Tajikistan) should offer

    to provide collective support for coordinated international measures to clamp

    down on the "rapidly growing danger of international terrorism," RFE/RL's

    Yerevan bureau reported. The six signatories to the treaty termed the struggle

    against "international terrorism and extremism" as one of their main priorities

    at a session in Yerevan in May 2001. LF

    [02] ...WHILE KAZAKHSTAN ADVOCATES 'NEW APPROACHES'...

    National Security Committee

    Chairman Marat Tazhin told Interfax on 13 September that the terrorist attacks

    in the U.S. make it necessary to rethink how terrorism arises and spreads. He

    said his agency engages in a regular exchange of information with the

    intelligence services of unspecified other countries on terrorist plans to

    destabilize the situation in Central Asia. LF

    [03] ...AND UZBEKISTAN AGAIN PROPOSES INTERNATIONAL ANTITERRORIST CENTER

    Uzbekistan's foreign minister, Abdulaziz Komilov, recalled in Tashkent on 13

    September that Uzbekistan has already twice raised the question of establishing

    an international antiterrorism center under the auspices of the UN, Interfax

    reported. LF

    [04] SCO CONDEMNS TERRORISM, PLEDGES READINESS TO COMBAT IT...

    In a statement

    released in Almaty on 14 September at the end of their two-day meeting, the

    prime ministers of the six member states of the Shanghai Cooperation

    Organization (SCO) -- Russia, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and

    Uzbekistan -- condemned the 11 September terrorist attacks in the U.S. as "a

    barbaric act defying the fundamentals of human civilization," and pledged to

    cooperate closely with all states and international bodies to combat the

    "serious threat to humanity" that terrorism represents, Reuters reported. LF

    [05] ...SEEKS TO ACCELERATE ECONOMIC INTEGRATION

    Also on 14 September, the six

    premiers signed a memorandum intended to serve as the basis for "full- blooded"

    economic interaction, dpa and ITAR-TASS reported. Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji

    told journalists that the economies of the six states are "mutually

    complementary." He added that priority will be given to jointly developing the

    oil and gas sector, transport infrastructure, and "creating flows of

    commodities, services, and investments" between SCO member states. LF

    [06] ARMENIAN OFFICIAL RULES OUT INCREASE IN PENSIONS THIS YEAR

    It will not be

    possible for the Armenian government to raise pensions before the end of this

    year, Social Welfare Ministry official Artem Asatrian told Noyan Tapan on 13

    September. Asatrian said the current minimum pension is 2,860 drams ($5.20) and

    the average monthly pension is 4,600 drams as compared with 2,200 and 4,404

    drams respectively in April 1999. Armenian Revolutionary Federation --

    Dashnaktsutiun parliament faction head Aghvan Vartanian argued earlier this

    month that it is quite feasible to raise pensions immediately by between 30- 50

    percent. LF

    [07] GEORGIAN OPPOSITION BEGINS CAMPAIGN TO FORCE SPEAKER'S RESIGNATION

    The

    parliamentary opposition has taken speaker Zurab Zhvania up on his pledge to

    resign from that post if 100 deputies append their signatures to a demand that

    he do so, Parliament deputy speaker Vakhtang Rcheulishvili told Caucasus Press

    on 13 September (see "RFE/RL Caucasus Report," Vol. 4, No. 31, 10 September

    2001). Rcheulishvili did not, however, reveal how many deputies have already

    signed that demand. Meanwhile, at a two-hour meeting on 13 September with

    visiting Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe Chairman Lord Russell-

    Johnston, opposition legislators argued that responsibility for endemic

    corruption in Georgia lies with the ruling Union of Citizens of Georgia,

    Caucasus Press reported. "Industry Will Save Georgia" faction head Gogi Topadze

    said corruption is the reason why the huge amounts of aid the West has given

    Georgia have produced no noticeable improvements in the situation there. LF

    [08] KAZAKH PRESIDENT, CHINESE PREMIER MEET

    Nursultan Nazarbaev met with visiting

    Chinese Premier Zhu on the sidelines of the 13-14 September SCO summit in

    Almaty, ITAR-TASS reported on 14 September, quoting Kazakhstan's Foreign

    Minister Yerlan Idrisov. Just as Prime Minister Toqaev had done when meeting

    with Zhu two days earlier (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 13 September 2001), Idrisov

    positively assessed the current trend of Kazakh-Chinese relations, ITAR- TASS

    reported. He noted the huge unused potential for cooperation in the oil and gas

    sector and the power industry. Interfax reported on 10 September that Zhu and

    Nazarbaev would discuss the project to build an oil export pipeline from western

    Kazakhstan to China, but it is not clear whether they did so. An agreement in

    principle to build such a pipeline was signed four years ago, and Nazarbaev

    reaffirmed his commitment to implementing that project when visiting Beijing in

    November 1999. However, a Chinese oil company official said in March of this

    year that construction is unlikely to start in the foreseeable future (see

    "RFE/RL Newsline," 29 November 1999 and 30 March 2001). In recent months Kazakh

    officials have repeatedly expressed support for the alternative Aqtau-Baku-

    Ceyhan export route. LF

    [09] KYRGYZSTAN RELOCATES BORDER GUARDS DIRECTORATE TO SOUTH

    Kyrgyz President Askar

    Akaev has issued a decree ordering the relocation of the headquarters of the

    Defense Ministry's Border Guard Directorate to the town of Osh in southern

    Kyrgyzstan, RFE/RL's Bishkek bureau reported on 13 September. The transfer is to

    be completed by 1 October 2002. LF

    [10] INTERNATIONAL MEETING IN TAJIKISTAN DISCUSSES AFGHAN SITUATION

    Meeting behind

    closed doors in an emergency session in Dushanbe on 13 September, officials from

    Russia, India, Iran, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan discussed the likely impact on

    future developments in Afghanistan of the 9 September bid to assassinate

    Northern Alliance leader Ahmed Shah Massoud, Reuters and Russian agencies

    reported. They also discussed possible military and technical assistance to the

    embattled Northern Alliance. General Muhammad Fahimkhan, who was selected the

    same day to replace Massoud as military commander of the Northern Alliance, was

    introduced to participants. Fahimkhan is 44 years old and a graduate of the

    theological faculty of Kabul University; he served under Massoud fighting

    against Soviet troops during the 1980s, Interfax reported. LF

    [11] TAJIK PRESIDENT, INDIAN FOREIGN MINISTER MEET

    Imomali Rakhmonov met in Dushanbe

    on 13 September with visiting Indian Foreign Minister Omar Abdullah to discuss

    implementation of previous agreements on cooperation, measures to combat

    terrorism and drug trafficking, and regional security, including the situation

    in Afghanistan, Russian agencies reported. LF

    [12] TURKMEN PRESIDENT MAKES DEBUT AS NOVELIST

    A two-volume novel by Turkmen

    President Saparmurat Niyazov has been published in Ashgabat, Interfax reported

    on 12 September. The work is based on diaries Niyazov kept during the late 1980s

    after he was elected First Secretary of the Communist Party of Turkmenistan. LF


    [B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE

    [13] SOLIDARITY WITH U.S. IN FORMER YUGOSLAVIA

    A day of mourning was marked on 14

    September in Croatia, Bosnia, and Montenegro, RFE/RL's South Slavic Service

    reported (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 12 and 13 September 2001). At 12:00 p.m. local

    time, three minutes of silence were officially observed. Bosnian Prime Minister

    Zlatko Lagumdzija said that the central government and the authorities in both

    entities support the U.S. in the fight against terrorism, "Oslobodjenje"

    reported. He added that he expects no changes in U.S. policy in Bosnia. On 13

    September, the Yugoslav government met in a special session to condemn the

    terrorist attacks and offer support in catching those responsible. "Vesti"

    published statements from numerous Serbian politicians against the attacks.

    Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic said that terrorism affects everyone and will

    force changes in old security concepts as the world enters a new century. Vuk

    Draskovic of the Serbian Renewal Movement argued that "what happened in the U.S.

    should act as a signal to the entire world to settle accounts with terrorism."

    PM

    [14] MACEDONIAN ALBANIAN GUERRILLA LEADER SENDS CONDOLENCES TO U.S.

    Ali Ahmeti, the

    political leader of the ethnic Albanian guerrillas of the National Liberation

    Army (UCK), sent a telegram to President George W. Bush and the American people

    to extend his condolences, Makfax reported on 13 September. He said: "With deep

    pain and much concern we [share] the hard tragedy caused by the enemies of the

    American people and state. This blow also hit the entire Albanian people in

    Macedonia... We condemn the acts of terrorism and deeply sympathize with you."

    PM

    [15] ROBERTSON URGES MACEDONIAN LEGISLATORS NOT TO DELAY

    NATO Secretary-General

    George Robertson said in Skopje on 14 September: "I've come to see that the

    peace process is on track and to give encouragement to the politicians in

    Macedonia to keep on with that process...to ensure peace and security for this

    country and the wider region. Two-thirds of the weapons have been collected and

    destroyed [in Operation Essential Harvest] so [NATO] has done its job with

    efficiency... I would be very concerned if there were going to be delays in

    [the political] process," Reuters reported (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 13 September

    2001). Robertson added that "this has been a black week for the world. The

    events in New York and Washington have cast a shadow not just across America but

    across the Balkans as well." An unnamed "high-ranking Macedonian security

    official" told that news agency that Robertson "is going to pressure the

    government to get moving with the parliamentary procedure on changing the

    constitution and pushing through an amnesty" for the UCK fighters. PM

    [16] MACEDONIAN TIMETABLE ON TRACK?

    Operation Essential Harvest is slated to end on

    26 September, and two days later the parliament is scheduled to have approved

    constitutional amendments that will raise the status of the large Albanian

    minority, Reuters reported from Skopje on 13 September. NATO spokesman Mark

    Laity said that the disarmament process continues to be disrupted by Macedonian

    paramilitaries who "do not appear to be answerable to local [police or army]

    commanders." Macedonian President Boris Trajkovski said that he has no knowledge

    of such illegal activities and will stop them if the accusations are proven.

    Parliament speaker Stojan Andov told AP that the second phase of the

    parliamentary debate will end on 20 September and that discussions on the

    amendments will have to wait until after the disarmament process is over and

    Macedonian forces have entered areas now controlled by the UCK. He added that

    unnamed Western officials have threatened to "impose a financial blockade on

    Macedonia" if parliament were to hold up the overall peace process. PM

    [17] MACEDONIAN ALBANIAN PARTIES OPPOSE REFERENDUM

    On 13 September, the Macedonian

    parliament indefinitely postponed debate on a proposed referendum on the

    constitutional changes, Reuters reported (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 13 September

    2001). Western officials and ethnic Albanian political leaders had warned that

    such a discussion threatened to derail the peace process. Arben Xhaferi, who

    heads the Democratic Party of the Albanians (PDSH), said that the Albanians

    might hold a referendum of their own to decide what constitutional changes they

    want if the Macedonians hold a referendum on the proposed amendments, AP

    reported. Observers note that even though Macedonia's main political leaders

    have all signed the political settlement, many politicians' behavior is heavily

    influenced by the fact that elections are scheduled for January 2002 (see

    "RFE/RL Balkan Report," 17 and 21 August 2001). PM

    [18] MACEDONIAN DEFENSE MINISTER: FORCES WILL RETURN TO FEBRUARY POSITIONS

    After a

    meeting of the National Security Council, Defense Minister Vlado Buckovski said

    in Skopje on 12 September that security forces will return to their positions of

    5 February -- at the beginning of the Albanian uprising -- once the disarmament

    process is completed, Deutsche Welle's "Monitor" reported. He stressed that it

    would amount to accepting an ethnic partition of the country were the forces to

    return only to their front-line positions of 5 July. He added that a plan is

    being drawn up for the return of security forces to guerrilla-held areas, and

    that the process of the forces' return will last until the end of November.

    Buckovski said that an armed international presence would be acceptable

    providing it has a UN mandate and limits its tasks to securing the borders with

    Kosova, Serbia, and Albania. PM

    [19] SLOVENIA OFFERS TO MEDIATE IN SERBIAN-MONTENEGRIN DISPUTE

    Slovenian Foreign

    Minister Dimitrij Rupel offered his government's good offices to help resolve

    the dispute between Belgrade and Podgorica over the future of their relations,

    RFE/RL's South Slavic Service reported from Podgorica on 13 September. Also in

    the Montenegrin capital, Prime Minister Filip Vujanovic called on Djindjic to

    sent representatives to discuss the future of relations with the Montenegrin

    government. Djindjic has previously said that he will not negotiate with

    Montenegro without Yugoslav President Vojislav Kostunica. In Belgrade, leaders

    of the Serbian and Montenegrin parties in the governing Yugoslav coalition

    failed to resolve their differences but said they will try again in yet another

    meeting. PM

    [20] REGISTRATION OF KOSOVA SERBS PROCEEDING APACE

    Officials of the OSCE, which is

    supervising the 17 November general elections in Kosova, said in Prishtina on 13

    September that 130,000 Serbs have registered to vote, RFE/RL's South Slavic

    Service reported (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 7 September 2001). About half of those

    registered live within the province, while the other half are living in Serbia

    or Montenegro. PM

    [21] CROATIAN TENNIS STAR DRAFTED INTO ARMY

    On his 30th birthday on 13 September,

    tennis star Goran Ivanisevic received his call-up papers for the military, AP

    reported from Zagreb. After passing his physical, Ivanisevic said that he has no

    preference as to which branch of the service he would like to join. He noted

    that he has poor vision, however, and that he'd "totally miss something the size

    of a house" if sent to the artillery. As a professional sportsman he is exempt

    from the normal one year of military service, but he will have to report to the

    military authorities whenever he is in Croatia and undergo six months of basic

    training starting 27 November. PM

    [22] PNTCD RIFT CREATES MORE WAVES

    Romanian Premier Adrian Nastase denied on 13

    September having known that National Peasant Party Christian Democratic (PNTCD)

    leader Victor Ciorbea has been forbidden to leave the country, Mediafax

    reported. Nastase was reacting to a letter sent by PACE Popular Party Christian

    Democratic (PPCD) Chairman Hans-Gert Poettering protesting restrictions that

    were allegedly imposed on Ciorbea's family preventing them from leaving Romania.

    Poettering said this reminds him of restrictive measures taken 10 years ago,

    "measures contrary to the attitude expected from an [EU] candidate country."

    Nastase canceled a meeting with Ciorbea scheduled for 14 September in order to

    ensure the cabinet's impartiality until a final verdict is handed down in the

    legal dispute between the two factions. The PNTCD is torn by an internal rift

    between two factions contesting leadership. Nastase previously deplored the

    "internationalization" of the PNTCD's internal conflict (see "RFE/RL Newsline,"

    5 September 2001). ZsM

    [23] ROMANIAN PARLIAMENT CONDEMNS ATTACKS ON U.S., LIBERALS PROPOSE DEATH PENALTY

    Both chambers of the Romanian parliament on 13 September adopted a declaration

    condemning the terrorist attacks against the United States and called on

    democratic countries to act together against all forms of terrorism, Romanian

    media reported. The government declared 13 September a day of mourning. During

    the debate in the Senate, the upper chamber of parliament, National Liberal

    Party Chairman and former Justice Minister Valeriu Stoica called on the

    government to ask the Council of Europe to establish death penalties for

    terrorist attacks. He said such acts should be considered acts of war. ZsM

    [24] BULGARIA CONSIDERS BUYING F-16S TO ACHIEVE NATO STANDARD

    Defense Minister

    Nikolai Sinarov said in Sofia on 12 September that Bulgaria is planning to buy

    F-16 jet fighters to upgrade its air force as part of its bid to achieve NATO

    membership, Reuters reported. Svinarov said in an interview that "a small army

    with high military capability compatible with NATO armed forces is our goal." He

    added that the costs of the fighters would be high and that the country might

    need to upgrade and sell its MIG-29s in order to have the necessary funds to buy

    the new planes. Bulgaria has 21 MIG-29s but only three are airworthy as the

    others lack spare parts. Svinarov said Bulgaria hopes to reduce its armed forces

    from some 77,000 now to about 63,000 by the NATO summit in Prague in 2002. PB


    [C] END NOTE

    [25] RUSSIANS ASK WHETHER SCHOOLS CAN BE REFORMED

    By Francesca Mereu

    The Soviet Union guaranteed free education for everyone. The quality of

    education system had long been a point of pride for Russians; they believed it

    was one of the best in the world.

    But after the 1991 Soviet collapse, education declined as scarce resources

    were diverted to other sectors of the economy. Schools were deprived of

    resources and common teaching standards eroded.

    Those were the problems the high-level State Council attempted to address

    in late August when it gave tentative approval to a long-term education reform

    plan. The council meeting brought together President Vladimir Putin as well as

    cabinet members and state governors.

    The core of the plan is to raise the amount of money channeled into

    education and to raise teachers' salaries.

    Deputy Prime Minister Valentina Matvienko said that under the proposed

    plan the government would allocate about 56 billion rubles ($1.9 billion) from

    federal and regional budgets to reform the system over the next five years.

    Education Minister Vladimir Filipov said monthly salaries for teachers

    would be doubled to 1,200 rubles to 2,450 rubles ($50-$75) a month. Teachers are

    among the poorest paid workers in the country.

    Angelina Burdena, a schoolteacher from Tyumen in Siberia, tells RFE/RL

    it's impossible to survive on such low wages. She said she keeps cattle at her

    home to help feed her family. Burdena said after so much work she has little

    time left to prepare her lessons.

    The situation is not much better in Russia's large cities. "The teachers'

    wages are so low. A teacher has to work many hours to have more or less a normal

    wage," said Svetlana Ryazanova, who teaches in city school No. 325. "A wage can

    range from 1,500 rubles to 3,000 rubles. It depends on the amount of hours a

    teacher works. A teacher has to work 26 to 30 hours to have a wage of 3,000

    rubles [about $100]."

    Ryazanova said she welcomes the proposed 50 percent pay raise, but said

    it's still not enough.

    Olga Leontova, a schoolteacher from Moscow, said that as a result of the

    low wages, she considers teaching a hobby, not a job. She said she could never

    afford what she called a "pleasure" if her husband didn't earn enough money to

    feed their two children.

    Education Minister Filipov said the low wages have encouraged many

    students to avoid the profession. He said only about 50 percent of university

    students who study teaching actually go on to teach in schools.

    The reform plan also calls for extending the length of primary and

    secondary education from 11 years to 12 years, and for introducing a system of

    standardized tests for entering universities.

    Both proposals face strong opposition and are not likely to be implemented

    soon, but if it were, few parents appear enthusiastic about their child spending

    an additional year in school.

    "[This new] system is too long. More subjects will be [introduced]...more

    than children need at their age," said Galina Nazarova while shopping for a

    school uniform for her son Dima.

    According to Nazarova, an additional downside to an extra year would be

    that Dima, as a male, would face the prospect of being conscripted into the

    military immediately following the completion of his degree.

    Russian children typically enter school at age seven, and the 12-year

    system would mean that most would finish at 18. Young men at that age are

    subject to the draft unless they have certain exemptions, such as being admitted

    to a university.

    In regard to the standardized entrance exams for universities, the plan's

    authors believe such a move would reduce the incidences of students paying

    bribes in exchange for admittance to universities.

    Under the current system, Russian universities administer their own

    entrance exams.

    That system has encouraged the development of a "cottage" industry of so-

    called tutors who provide lessons to help students gain admission. In reality,

    those "lessons" are often bribes paid to members of the selection board.

    Nastya is a second-year student at the Faculty of Economy. She said her

    parents paid about $50 per hour to a faculty professor. In turn, the professor,

    a member of the board of examiners, helped her pass the admission exam.

    Nastya said at her school it is impossible to pass the exam without paying

    money. She said her admission cost her parents about $2,500 in "lessons."

    Dmitrii Sergeev, a father of two, is pessimistic that the proposed

    standardized exams would change anything. "There will be [corruption], I'm

    sure," he said. "If it disappears from the universities, it will [reappear] at

    the schools [where the exams would be administered]."

    Nikita Alekseev of the Russian Academy of Education concured. "In our

    country, it is possible to falsify anything. So there will be a lot of good

    students, with very good marks [but all this will be false]," Alekseev said.

    "How can university teachers work with them? This is a problem. [This reform] is

    not part of our tradition, since [in Russia] universities are used to selecting

    the students."

    On the contrary, Alexander Gavrilov, the spokesman with the Moscow

    Education Committee, said his organization supports standardized testing,

    arguing that "We think it might help eliminate [students] paying bribes to be

    admitted to an institute or a university." However, Gavrilov added, "Moscow is

    not taking part in the experiment, since we believe [that it still needs to be

    worked out]."

    Francesca Mereu is an RFE/RL correspondent.

    14-09-01


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


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