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RFE/RL Newsline, Vol. 5, No. 192, 01-10-10Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty: Newsline Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty <http://www.rferl.org>RFE/RL NEWSLINEVol. 5, No. 192, 10 October 2001CONTENTS[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA
[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[C] END NOTE
[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA[01] ARMENIAN PARLIAMENT REFUSES TO STRIP ABSENT DEPUTY OF MANDATEIn a secret ballot on 10 October, only 36 of the 131 deputies voted in favor of depriving former Interior Minister and Yerevan Mayor Vano Siradeghian of his deputy mandate, Noyan Tapan reported. Twenty voted against doing so, 14 abstained, and a further 22 did not participate in the ballot. Siradeghian fled Armenia in April 2000 after deputies voted to strip him of his parliamentary immunity to allow him to be taken into custody for the duration of his trial on charges of having commissioned several political murders (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 4 April 2000). His present whereabouts are unknown. LF[02] KARABAKH LEADERSHIP CALLS FOR DIRECT TALKS WITH AZERBAIJANMeeting in Stepanakert on 8 October with a group of visiting Azerbaijani journalists, Arkadii Ghukasian, president of the unrecognized Nagorno- Karabakh Republic, called on the leadership of Azerbaijan to hold direct talks with the Karabakh leadership on resolving the conflict, Turan reported. To date, Baku has consistently rejected such talks, claiming that the conflict is between Azerbaijan and Armenia. Asked if he would be prepared to travel to Baku for such talks, Ghukasian said that "could be possible." But he added that the OSCE Minsk Group should continue its efforts to mediate a solution to the conflict, according to Noyan Tapan. Ghukasian also flatly rejected Azerbaijani media reports that the Karabakh leadership is engaged in drug trafficking. LF[03] U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE TELEPHONES AZERBAIJANI PRESIDENTColin Powell on 9 October telephoned Azerbaijan's president, Heidar Aliev, to discuss the international situation in the wake of the 11 September terrorist attacks in the United States, Turan reported. Powell thanked Aliev for his expressions of solidarity and support for the U.S.-led campaign against international terrorism. Unlike neighboring Armenia and Georgia, Azerbaijan has not offered the use of its airspace for that purpose. LF[04] AZERBAIJANI OIL OFFICIAL SAYS TRANS-CASPIAN PIPELINE WILL NOT BE BUILTNatik Aliev, the president of Azerbaijan's state oil company SOCAR, had told a Baku newspaper that the proposed Trans-Caspian pipeline to export gas from Turkmenistan via the South Caucasus will not be built, according to Interfax on 8 October. Azerbaijan, Georgia, Turkmenistan, and Turkey signed a letter of intent on that project in Istanbul in November 1999, but Azerbaijan subsequently pegged its consent to implement the project to Ashgabat's willingness to place half the planned pipeline's throughput capacity at its disposal to export gas from Azerbaijan's offshore Shah Deniz field. Turkmenistan rejected that condition (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 19 November 1999 and 6 March 2000). LF[05] AZERBAIJANI CONGRESS ENDS IN MOSCOWSome 300 delegates from various Russian cities attended the first congress of Azerbaijanis resident in the Russian Federation, which took place in Moscow on 4-5 October, Caucasus Press and Turan reported. The congress was intended to prepare for the first world congress of Azerbaijanis, which is to take place in Baku on 9-10 November 2001. Russian President Vladimir Putin and Azerbaijani President Heidar Aliev both sent telegrams of greetings to the participants. Azerbaijani businessman Fizuli Mamedov, aka Frank Alcapone, who had planned to convene an alternative world congress of Azerbaijanis in Moscow, was arrested in that city earlier this summer (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 6 June 2001) and remains in Russian custody. LF[06] GEORGIAN OFFICIALS CONDEMN BOMBING OF KODORI...The Georgian Foreign Minister on 9 October issued a statement characterizing the bombing of the Georgian villages of Lata, Chkhalta, Omarishari, and Sakeni in the upper reaches of the Kodori gorge early that day as an encroachment on Georgia's sovereignty and a "large-scale provocation" staged by unidentified forces wishing to prevent a peaceful solution of the Abkhaz conflict. Georgian border guards said the bombing raid, which took place between 5:00 a.m. and 6:00 a.m. local time, and which did not cause any casualties, was carried out by planes and helicopters without identification markings that entered Georgian airspace from Russia and left in the same direction, Prime News and Interfax reported. Deputy Border Guard Commander Lieutenant General David Gulua said that this suggests that the planes were Russian, as "it is unlikely that planes of some other state could have appeared in Georgia's airspace from Russia." President Eduard Shevardnadze said that while Georgia had overlooked the 1999 bombing by Russian helicopters of the Georgian village of Shatili (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 18 November and 22 December 1999), this time its response will be "severe." Defense Minister Davit Tevzadze said any aircraft that violates Georgian airspace will be shot down. He said that the Abkhaz armed forces have several planes of the type used in the bombing, implying that they may have been responsible, ITAR-TASS reported. "Forest Brothers" Georgian guerrilla formation leader David Shengelaia accused Russia outright of being behind the bombing raid, Prime News reported. LF[07] ...FOR WHICH RUSSIA DENIES RESPONSIBILITYColonel Aleksandr Drobyshevskii, chief of the Russian air force's press service, categorically denied on 9 October that Russian aircraft were responsible for the bombing of the Kodori gorge, Prime News and Interfax reported. "Air force planes have not flown sorties to the area where the bombing was carried out," he said. LF[08] ABKHAZ VILLAGES ALSO BOMBEDAt least one, and possibly as many as five, people were killed when aircraft bombed several villages in Abkhazia's Gulripsh raion on 9 October, Interfax reported. Abkhaz Security Minister Raul Khazhimba and Foreign Minister Sergei Shamba both blamed Georgia for the bombing, which they said was undertaken to provide support for the band of Chechen fighters and Georgian guerrillas currently on Abkhaz territory. Georgian Deputy Defense Minister Gela Bezhuashvili dismissed the Abkhaz accusations as "a provocation," and said it can be documented that no aircraft belonging to the Georgian armed forces undertook any flights at the time of the bombing raids, Interfax reported. LF[09] CONTRADICTORY REPORTS OF MILITARY SITUATION IN ABKHAZIAAbkhaz official and Georgian guerrilla leader Shengelaia have offered contradictory reports of the military situation in Abkhazia. Shengelaia on 9 October claimed that the Georgian/North Caucasus force has advanced westward down the Kodori gorge and occupied the village of Machara, six kilometers from Sukhum. He added that the Georgian guerrillas' ranks have swelled to the point that they are now capable of taking the Abkhaz capital, but at the same time he criticized the Georgian leadership for failing to support the guerrilla movement. On 10 October, however, Foreign Minister Shamba and Abkhaz Deputy Defense Minister Harri Kupalba said that a group of between 200-500 Chechen and Georgian fighters has been surrounded near the Sugar Loaf mountain in the Kodori gorge, 45 kilometers from Sukhum, Caucasus Press and ITAR-TASS reported. Kupalba said that the intruders have lost 10 men killed in fighting with Abkhaz troops, and that they were given an ultimatum to surrender by midday local time on 10 October. LF[10] ABKHAZIA CAUTIOUS OVER REQUESTING RUSSIAN HELPForeign Minister Shamba told Interfax on 9 October that he does not exclude the possibility of asking Russia for military assistance to repel the Georgian/Chechen fighters, but that no such request has yet been made. He said Cossacks and the Confederation of Peoples of the Caucasus "have offered to send volunteers to combat the 'terrorists.'" But he added, "We have turned down these proposals as we realize that this would be a step toward drawing Russia into military activities in Abkhazia." The Abkhaz parliament did, however, issue an appeal on 9 October to the Russian State Duma "to demand that Georgia comply with its commitments to avoid violence and to return to [the search for] a political settlement" of the conflict, ITAR-TASS reported. LF[11] RUSSIAN OFFICIALS CRITICIZE GEORGIAN POLICY...Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov said in Moscow on 9 October "it is becoming obvious that either the Georgian leaders do not control the situation on their own territory or they manipulate the terrorists in order to further their own aims," ITAR-TASS reported. Konstantin Kosachev, deputy chairman of the Russian State Duma International Affairs Committee, commented to ITAR-TASS that "it seems beneficial to someone in Tbilisi to reanimate the Georgian-Abkhaz conflict." He added that "an international scandal will start" if incontrovertible evidence emerges that the Georgians facilitated the transport of the Chechen fighters across Georgia to the Kodori gorge. Meanwhile, presidential aide Sergei Yastrzhembskii said the same day that the Russian leadership is increasingly concerned by the situation in Abkhazia, Interfax reported. PG/LF[12] ...SAY RUSSIAN BASE IN ABKHAZIA SHOULD NOT BE CLOSEDUnion of Rightist Forces leader Boris Nemtsov said on 9 October that Russian troops should remain in Abkhazia, as they constitute "the only guarantee of peace" there, Caucasus Press reported. Moscow and Tbilisi are negotiating the terms for the closure of the Gudauta military base, which Russia was to have vacated by 30 June (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 2 July 2001). But Georgian Foreign Minister Irakli Menagharishvili said the same day that the Gudauta base is an obstacle to improved Russian-Georgian relations and should be closed, Interfax and Prime News reported. He said Tbilisi has information that the Russian troops at the base are supplying the Abkhaz with modern weapons. LF[13] SPANISH DIPLOMATS URGE GEORGIA TO LOCATE, FREE ABDUCTED BUSINESSMENSpanish Ambassador to Russia Jose Luis Trespodevaga and the Spanish Consul to Russia Herminio Morales on 9 October ended a five-day visit to Tbilisi during which they met with Interior Minister Kakha Targamadze to discuss the Georgian authorities' lack of progress in locating and securing the release of two Spanish businessmen taken hostage in eastern Georgia last November (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 1 December 2000). On 3 October, Georgian media reported that the kidnappers had threatened to kill the two men unless a ransom of $250,000 was paid within three days. Trespodevaga told journalists on 7 October that specific measures to secure the men's release have been agreed upon, but did not divulge details. LF[14] KYRGYZ, UZBEK OFFICIALS DISCUSS BORDER TENSIONSA delegation from Kyrgyzstan's southern Batken Oblast met on 6 October at the Kyrgyz-Uzbek border with representatives from the Ferghana Oblast in neighboring Uzbekistan whom they persuaded to remove two additional border checkpoints set up several days earlier, RFE/RL's Bishkek bureau reported. The Kyrgyz side had responded by creating new checkpoints of its own around the Uzbek exclave of Sokh, which will also be dismantled. LF[15] TAJIKISTAN SAYS IT WILL NOT HOST U.S. TROOPS...Speaking to journalists in Dushanbe on 9 October, Tajik Security Council Secretary Amirqul Azimov qualified Tajikistan's position on assistance to the U.S.-led anti-terrorist effort, Reuters reported. On 8 October, the Tajik government said in a statement that "the Republic of Tajikistan has declared its readiness to open its airspace to the U.S. Air Force and, should it prove necessary, its airports for carrying out measures against terrorism" (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 9 October 2001). But Azimov explained that while U.S. specialists engaged in overseeing the distribution of humanitarian aid to Afghanistan will be allowed to enter Tajikistan, "American land troops have not transited...and will not transit Tajikistan en route for Afghanistan." He said that possibility has not even been discussed with the United States. Russian Security Council Secretary Vladimir Rushailo similarly said on 9 October that "for the time being, Tajikistan will not participate in military operations," RFE/RL's Dushanbe bureau reported. LF[16] ...BUT MAY GIVE AID TO NORTHERN ALLIANCETajik Security Council Secretary Azimov told journalists in Dushanbe on 10 October that Tajikistan may provide "support" for the Northern Alliance if asked to do so, Asia Plus-Blitz reported. "Tajikistan has always come out for the stabilization of the situation in Afghanistan. If we want our participation in the operation against terrorism to be effective, it is necessary to provide support for the Northern Alliance," Azimov said. He did not explain what that support might involve. Afghan President Burhanuddin Rabbani is expected to arrive in Dushanbe later on 10 October to meet with Tajik President Imomali Rakhmonov, Asia Plus-Blitz reported. LF[17] CIS COLLECTIVE SECURITY TREATY SIGNATORIES DRAFT ANTITERRORISM MEASURESSenior security officials from the six signatory states of the CIS Collective Security Treaty (Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Russia) met in emergency session in Dushanbe on 8-9 October to discuss how to respond to the increased tensions in Central Asia resulting from the U.S.-led bombing of Afghanistan on 7 October. According to Turan on 8 October, senior Azerbaijani presidential administration officials Ramiz Mekhtiev and Novruz Mamedov also attended that meeting, as did a representative from Georgia. Meeting on 9 October with the participants, Tajik President Rakhmonov expressed confidence that coordinated measures by Russia and the Central Asian states will succeed in halting the escalation of tensions in Afghanistan, Interfax reported. Russian Security Council Secretary Rushailo said that no concentration of Taliban forces has yet been registered on the Tajik-Afghan border. But a group of Russian State Duma deputies who toured that border the same day characterized the situation there as "very tense," ITAR-TASS reported. LF[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE[18] MACEDONIAN GOVERNMENT ADOPTS AMNESTY FOR ETHNIC ALBANIAN FIGHTERS...The government adopted a proposal by President Boris Trajkovski on 9 October to grant an amnesty to members of the ethnic Albanian National Liberation Army (UCK) who have surrendered their arms to NATO, news agencies reported. Trajkovski said the amnesty will open the way for a "process of reintegration" of the fighters, though it does not cover those who may have committed war crimes, and would "allow the return of Macedonian forces to areas that have been temporarily under the control" of the UCK during the seven months of fighting. He did not mention the 11 UCK commanders, including political leader Ali Ahmeti and military chief Gezim Ostreni, for whom the government has issued arrest warrants. DW[19] ...WHICH FAILS TO SATISFY ETHNIC ALBANIAN PARTIES, INTERNATIONAL OBSERVERSThe government decision was made without the participation of the ethnic Albanian Party for Democratic Prosperity (PPD), which walked out of the meeting in protest, AFP reported. "We think that only a law can serve as the basis for an amnesty," said PPD Justice Minister Idzet Memeti. "A declaration is not enough to establish a legal basis for this amnesty." Deputy Prime Minister Dzevet Nasufi, of the Democratic Party of Albanians (PDSH) -- which did approve the government's decision -- said the amnesty represents a "political will" and will have to be followed up with a parliamentary bill. PPD deputy Naser Zyberi told dpa, "The Macedonian legal system does not allow political acts to replace laws and an amnesty is a legal issue." EU envoy Francois Leotard said that the return of troops should not proceed until parliament adopts constitutional amendments aimed at improving the rights of the ethnic Albanian minority, as envisaged under the Ohrid peace agreement. "We have imposed two conditions, and we are maintaining them," he said. "As long as the parliamentary debate has no positive outcome, there will be no return" of Macedonian forces to former conflict areas. DW[20] BOSKOVSKI TO GET THE AXE?According to the daily "Dnevnik," the Macedonian government under Western pressure has sacked Interior Minister Ljube Boskovski, who is regarded as a hard-liner hampering the peace process, dpa reported on 10 October. The Skopje daily named the head of the secret police, Dragi Grozdanovski, as Boskovski's most likely replacement. DW[21] ETHNIC ALBANIAN CADETS, U.S. INSTRUCTORS STOP MACEDONIAN POLICE TRAININGEthnic Albanian police cadets and their U.S. instructors left their training camp and suspended the U.S.-sponsored program on 8 October, ethnic Albanian Deputy Interior Minister Refet Elmazi told dpa on 9 October. "They said they want the Macedonian police reservists to leave the camp before they resume training," he said. "They will not return as long as the reservists are there." Elmazi said U.S. envoy James Pardew had raised similar concerns with President Trajkovski. DW[22] SERBIAN MINERS STILL NOT BACK TO WORKDespite coming to an agreement with the Serbian government, miners at the Kolubara mine had still not returned to work on the morning of 10 October as agreed, Radio B92 reported. Trade union leader Zdravko Vucetic said that work may get underway in the second shift "once the workers' assembly meets, when the workers give their approval, if they give their approval." Vucetic is the only negotiator yet to sign the agreement. Serbian Energy Minister Goran Novakovic claimed salaries have not been increased, but outstanding bonuses and debts are to be repaid. "No one gave in." he said, adding, "I think that the most important issue, the one that we argued most about, is the restructuring of Kolubara." DW[23] BOSNIAN SERBS ACCUSED OF USING TERRORIST THREAT TO DISCREDIT MUSLIMSA UN spokesman has urged Bosnian Serbs to stop using the terrorist attacks on the United States in a disinformation campaign aimed at discrediting Bosnian Muslims, AP reported on 9 October. Stefo Lehmann, a UN spokesman in Bosnia, was quoted as saying recent police statements in the eastern town of Zvornik appear to be "a continuation of a campaign to misinform and even alarm residents." Bosnian Serb police in Zvornik claimed they found apparently falsified documents with the words "Nufus Cuzdani" near a garbage bin, and believed they may have come from a suspicious Islamic group. However, Lehmann said that rather than the name of any "suspect" group, the phrase means "identification cards" in Turkish. Bosnian Serb media and hard-liners have also suggested that Osama bin Laden fought on the Muslim side during the Bosnian war, accusing former President Alija Izetbegovic and former Prime Minister Haris Silajdzic of collaborating with the Saudi-born terrorist. Izetbegovic told Bosnian television on 9 October that such accusations are "a transparent and farcical lie." AH[24] BOSNIAN EXPERTS TO HELP IDENTIFY VICTIMS IN U.S.A Bosnia-based team of experts in DNA analysis will travel to the United States to help identify the remains of victims found in the rubble of the World Trade Center in New York, western agencies reported on 9 October. The group of one American and two Bosnians, members of the International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP) for former Yugoslavia, have experience with a method used to trace thousands of dead in the Balkan wars of the past decade and will depart for the U.S. within days, Reuters reported. The ICMP last year launched a program combining older identification methods with state-of-the-art DNA tests and recently developed software that could improve the pace and quality of the identification process. The ICMP received "an excellent progress report in August this year from some of the world's leading DNA and forensic experts," a representative said. AH[25] UN SAYS BOSNIAN REFUGEES RETURNING HOME IN GREATER NUMBERSThe UN High Commissioner for Refugees registered a year-on-year jump of nearly 70 percent in the number of Bosnian refugees returning to their homes in the first eight months of 2001, AP reported on 9 October. More than 50,000 have returned to areas not dominated by their own ethnic group, the agency quoted UNHCR spokeswoman Aida Feraget as saying in Sarajevo. Some 30,236 people have returned to the Muslim-Croat federation and another 17,899 to the Serb republic, while 2,314 individuals returned to Brcko, the northern district run by the central government, the UNHCR said. The figures indicate that more than half of the nearly 1.5 million refugees the war produced are registered as having returned in the past six years, AP said. AH[26] NEW BOSNIAN POLITICAL PARTY FOUNDEDThe Party of Democratic Development (SDR) held its founding session in Bijeljina on 9 October, electing its leadership as well as its executive and other major committees, SRNA reported. Radovan Simic was elected party chairman and Momir Grahovac his deputy, the agency reported, citing a party statement. The fledgling party also elected a 21-member executive committee and an assembly of 65 members, SRNA said. AH[27] REPARATIONS NO LONGER DIVIDE CROATIA, ITALY...The presidents of Italy and Croatia agreed that a longstanding dispute over Croatian nonpayment of reparations no longer hinders "excellent" bilateral ties, AP reported on 9 October during a Zagreb visit by Italian President Carlo Ciampi. Croatian President Stipe Mesic joined Ciampi in stressing that accords reached in the past are valid and should be implemented. After World War II, thousands of Italians fled Istria and other regions, leaving property for which Yugoslavia eventually agreed to pay reparations. Croatia's share of that legacy following its 1991 independence from Yugoslavia is estimated at $35 million. Croatian media have indicated that the government is prepared to pay those reparations. Ciampi, during a two- day stopover in Croatia, praised that country's stability despite tensions over government efforts to extradite war crimes suspects. He also said Italy supports Croatia's bid to join the EU and NATO, while noting that the country's EU membership is not right around the corner. AH[28] ...WHILE PRESIDENTS SAY MINORITIES SHOULD BE 'BRIDGES' BETWEEN COUNTRIESMeanwhile presidents Mesic and Ciampi said minorities should be bridges between two countries as loyal citizens of the states in which they reside, AP reported on 9 October. Croatian President Mesic meanwhile reiterated his country's support for democracy and respect for human rights. In April 2001, Rome criticized Croatia's restriction on the use of the Italian language in the northern Adriatic region of Istria, where a large Italian minority lives, AP reported. AH[29] CROATIA REPORTEDLY TO BUY U.S. AIR-DEFENSE SYSTEMThe weekly "Nacional" reports on 10 October that Croatia intends to buy a U.S. air-defense system to help bring its armed forces up to NATO standards, dpa reported on 9 October. The report asserts that Zagreb will buy a Hawk- Amram defense system, which includes radar and surface-to-air missiles, to replace Soviet-era equipment inherited from the former Yugoslav army. Croatia has been a member of NATO's Partnership for Peace since May, dpa reported. AH[30] CROATIAN COUNTY COURT DROPS WAR CRIMES CHARGES AGAINST LOCAL SERBSA county court in the eastern Croatian town of Osijek has dropped war crimes charges against two local Serbs, citing a lack of evidence, dpa and HINA reported on 10 October. Desimir Lancanin and Zeljko Lozanovic had been on trial for genocide and ethnic cleansing since 20 September. Their case was separated from that of another 23 local Serbs in eastern Croatia who were accused of genocide during the occupation of the country's eastern counties between 1991 and 1997, dpa reported. AH[31] ROMANIA CONSIDERS ITSELF 'AT WAR WITH INTERNATIONAL TERRORISM'Defense Minister Ioan Mircea Pascu said on 9 October that, due to "the measures taken by Romania," the country may also be considered to be at war against international terrorism, RFE/RL's Bucharest bureau reported. He said this war imposes "a change of strategy" on all the countries participating in it and that he foresees "a growth in the importance of intelligence services, communication services, and other elements required by this informational war." Also on 9 October, Defense Ministry State Secretary George Maior, speaking at a briefing of journalists in Bucharest, said that "not only transportation or refueling planes" of the U.S. Air Force "might have overflown Romanian territory" in the last days. Mediafax said this is a hint that fighter planes have also done so. MS[32] ROMANIA TRIES TO RECRUIT YUGOSLAVIA IN STRUGGLE AGAINST HUNGARIAN STATUS LAWPrime Minister Adrian Nastase on 9 October told his visiting Yugoslav counterpart Dragisa Pesic in Bucharest that it is "important" for countries neighboring Hungary to coordinate policies and, "if necessary, consider joint action" on the controversial Hungarian Status Law, RFE/RL's Bucharest bureau reported. Pesic, who is paying a three-day visit to Romania, was to meet on 10 October with President Ion Iliescu and Foreign Minister Mircea Geoana. On 9 October, Nastase and Pesic agreed to improve bilateral economic relations, and the Yugoslav premier expressed satisfaction at Romania's continuing respect of his country's territorial integrity in its position on the peaceful solution of the conflict in Kosova. Pesic and Nastase also discussed problems related to ethnic minorities on each other's territory and Nastase expressed "confidence" that the dispute over the Vlach minority in Yugoslavia, whose Romanian links the Yugoslavs refuse to acknowledge, will be solved "very soon." MS[33] ROMANIAN LAWMAKERS PROHIBIT DISCRIMINATION, BUT NOT AGAINST NATIONAL MINORITIESThe Chamber of Deputies on 9 October approved a governmental ordinance prohibiting discrimination, but eliminated from the law the prohibition of discrimination against national minorities. Romanian radio reported that the deputies representing the Hungarian Democratic Federation of Romania announced they will challenge the law in the Constitutional Court. Also on 9 October, the Senate's Commission on Human Rights rejected a draft law submitted by the Greater Romania Party that would have abolished the National Commission on the Study of Securitate Archives. MS[34] MOLDOVAN WRITERS PROTEST JUSTICE MINISTER'S DECLARATIONSThe Writers' Union on 9 October protested the anti-Romanian tone of the declarations made last week in Strasbourg by Justice Minister Ion Morei, RFE/RL's Chisinau bureau reported. The union described Morei's statement made in front of the International Court of Human Rights as "provocative, anti-Romanian, and aimed at tensioning relations between the two countries." The union also said that the authorities' refusal to register the Bessarabian Metropolitan Church amounts to "a clear infringement of internationally accepted standards," and that the Bessarabian Church can "in no way be presented as a an exemplification of Romanian expansionism." MS[35] TRANSDNIESTER SAYS IT WILL HELP ABKHAZIAThe "Foreign Ministry" of the separatists in Tiraspol on 9 October issued a statement expressing "concern over the aggression of Georgian and Chechen gangs against Abkhazia," which, it said, has resulted in the death of people (see Part 1). It said this "aggression" is "a direct threat to the regional security system that came about as a result of Russian peacekeeping operation," ITAR-TASS reported. It said the people in Transdniester express "solidarity with, and support for, the fraternal Abkhazian people, who are repulsing the aggression of international terrorism," and added that Tiraspol "has started consultations" with Abkhazia on "joint measures against the aggression." MS[36] BULGARIAN POLLSTER SAYS STOYANOV MIGHT WIN IN FIRST ROUNDThe Alpha research polling institute said incumbent President Petar Stoyanov might win in the first round of elections scheduled for 11 November if the turnout is 60 percent or more, BTA reported on 9 October. Stoyanov and his vice presidential candidate, Neli Kutskova, are backed by 39 percent of those polled; in second place is the Coalition for Bulgaria ticket made up by Georgi Parvanov and Angel Marin; and Bogomil Bonev and Atanas Zhelezchev, the Civil Party's presidential and vice presidential candidates, are backed by 6 percent. MS[C] END NOTE[37] A NEWLY CONFIDENT PUTINBy Julie A. CorwinLast summer, when Vladimir Putin took a number of stands that were at odds with public opinion, such as opposing the death penalty, some commentators suggested that Putin, as a leader, was becoming "less shy" (see "RFE/RL Russian Political Weekly, 23 July 2001). However, those positions were considerably less risky than President Putin's recent enthusiastic support for the U.S.-led coalition to end international terrorism. With his suggestion that Russia may drop its opposition to further NATO expansion and his support for the United States' stationing some of its troops in CIS countries, Putin is taking a stand at odds not only with public opinion but also elements within his own military and foreign policy establishments. With his recent actions, Putin has become not just "less shy," but possibly even quite bold. But viewed in the context of his last 17 months in office, Putin's departure from previous policies can simply be seen as good tactics, because they further a goal Putin and his administration have consistently pursued -- greater integration into Europe and international economic structures. And, it was a risk that the Kremlin could well afford. Vladimir Putin has given Russian voters exactly what they wanted: Politics in Russia has become boring. One by one, the domestic political institutions that once presented opposition for Putin's predecessor, Boris Yeltsin, are gradually being tamed or co-opted -- leaving him more leeway to take risks in the international arena. It is now difficult to imagine how the State Duma -- the legislative organ that once gave Yeltsin so much trouble -- could be more obedient. The 2002 budget passed through its first reading in record time, and the government is so confident of its strength that it is now considering proposing legislation on one of the most divisive issues in Russian politics, the buying and selling of agricultural land (see "RFE/RL Russian Political Weekly," 1 October 2001). The Federation Council, which was once composed of regional leaders who were at least occasionally unruly, is now being taken over by full-time legislative "professionals." They will be based in Moscow and are widely expected to be loyal to Moscow. Already, more than 100 senators have signed up for the pro-Kremlin "Federation" group. The Kremlin is also reportedly even playing a role in the selection of these representatives. The media, which had also once given not only former President Yeltsin but also President Putin a hard time, have been tamed. NTV is now a softer version of its once combative self, and its old stalwarts are finding that their smaller, lower profile refuge at TV-6 is now under attack (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 1 October 2001). Ekho Moskvy, one of the few voices of opposition on the radio airwaves, continues to operate in limbo, as Gazprom delays a decision on its fate (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 16 August 2001). Even the print media, although less influential in terms of their impact on mass public opinion, are quieter. The Boris Berezovsky-financed publications, such as "Nezavisimaya gazeta," Kommersant-Daily," and "Novye Izvestiya," continue to criticize the Kremlin, but they are probably a less effective tool in influencing elite opinion. "Nezavisimaya gazeta" is being dumbed down as the number of its analytical supplements has been reduced, and the process promises to continue (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 2 October 2001). "Kommersant-Daily" and "Novye Izvestiya," meanwhile, now pursue their own political agenda with the subtlety of a jackhammer. Precisely the opposite process is taking place with the country's oligarchs, who appear to have become smarter and to have adopted a lower profile. Having witnessed the Prosecutor-General's Office's relentless pursuit of Media-MOST head Vladimir Gusinsky and of Berezovsky, Russia's oligarchs no longer challenge the Kremlin head-on. Instead, they continue to carve up and consolidate their own spheres of influence both on a regional and economic sector basis, but more quietly. Even the Central Bank, while never that rebellious, is now likely to become even less so. Central Bank Chairman Viktor Gerashchenko has confirmed that he is retiring, and Vladimir Kogan, head of Promstroibank and a close Putin ally, is widely touted to replace him (see "RFE/RL Russian Political Weekly," 16 April 2001). With the gathering of NGOs in Moscow next month for the Kremlin- sponsored Civic Forum, the presidential administration is aiming to co-opt a last set of players that has insisted on retaining their independence, as they lead the state-sponsored process of building a civil society. The Putin administration has captured Moscow, freeing it to advance onwards to Brussels. And if the results of last week's EU summit are any guide, more advances may be expected. Russian and EU officials agreed to set up a joint panel to draw up a concept for a common economic space, as well as a new working group to monitor Russian-EU security issues on a monthly basis. In addition, according to "Izvestiya" on 4 October, the two sides issued a joint communique that is "fairly neutral on the Chechnya problem." Around the same time, U.S. Ambassador to Russian Alexander Vershbow stated publicly that Chechen rebels receive "enormous help from abroad," and argued that they should be convinced "to break these international ties" to "create more favorable conditions for the achievement of a peaceful agreement" (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 4 October 2001). Such immediate rewards for Russia's cooperative attitude may quiet any domestic critics, since Putin can argue that by dropping opposition to things that might have taken place anyway, such as the stationing of U.S. troops in Uzbekistan, Russia had everything to gain and little to lose. 10-10-01 Reprinted with permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
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