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OMRI Daily Digest, Vol. 2, No. 103, 96-05-28
From: Open Media Research Institute <http://www.omri.cz>
Vol. 2, No. 103, 28 May 1996
CONTENTS
[A] TRANSCAUCASIA AND CENTRAL ASIA
[01] FOUR-PARTY INTER-PARLIAMENTARY ASSEMBLY TO BE ESTABLISHED.
[02] DARK CLOUDS OVER TURKISH RESTORATION PROJECT IN KAZAKHSTAN.
[03] DELEGATION ARRIVES IN TAJIKISTAN TO SEEK MISSING U.S. SERVICEMEN.
[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[04] DID THE ALBANIAN DEMOCRATS WIN OVER 95% OF THE SEATS?
[05] INTERNATIONAL MONITORS CONFIRM IRREGULARITIES IN ALBANIAN ELECTIONS . . .
[06] . . . BUT ISSUE NO OFFICIAL STATEMENT YET.
[07] BOSNIAN TERROR TRIAL OPENS IN CROATIA.
[08] BOSNIAN ASSEMBLY MEETS.
[09] UPCOMING CHANGES WITHIN SERBIAN GOVERNMENT RANKS.
[10] INDEPENDENT SERBIAN NEWS AGENCY BARRED FROM PRESS CONFERENCE.
[11] ROMANIAN PRESIDENTIAL SPOKESMAN ON TREATY WITH HUNGARY.
[12] PARENTS ACCUSE DNIESTER AUTHORITIES OF "CULTURAL GENOCIDE."
[13] BULGARIA, IMF REACH AGREEMENT.
[14] BULGARIAN PRESIDENT CALLS FOR STRONGER PRESIDENCY.
[15] TURKISH, BOSNIAN, CROATIAN FOREIGN MINISTERS MEET.
[A] TRANSCAUCASIA AND CENTRAL ASIA
[01] FOUR-PARTY INTER-PARLIAMENTARY ASSEMBLY TO BE ESTABLISHED.
The CIS Inter-Parliamentary Assembly (MPA) met in Bishkek on 28 May to discuss
the ongoing crisis in Tajikistan and ways to assist Tajik President
Imomali Rakhmonov, ITAR-TASS reported. In addition, Russian Federation Council
and MPA Chairman Yegor Stroev said that the representatives from Russia,
Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Belarus will form a separate MPA based on their 29
March Quadripartite Agreement. RTR reported that Stroev also met with
Kyrgyz President Askar Akayev and Prime Minister Apas Jumagulov to discuss
bilateral relations. Meanwhile, Uzbek President Islam Karimov, on an official
visit to Baku, told RFE/RL on 27 May that any efforts to create "new
alliances" run counter to the goals of the CIS. -- Roger Kangas
[02] DARK CLOUDS OVER TURKISH RESTORATION PROJECT IN KAZAKHSTAN.
A high-profile project to restore the tomb of the 12th-century Sufi mystic,
Ahmet Yassawiy, in Turkistan, Kazakhstan, has gone awry, the Turkish paper
Cumhuriyet reported on 27 May. A March 1995 report prepared by the
inspectorate of the Prime Minister's Office uncovered a host of legal
irregularities in connection with the project, but the problems were
subsequently ignored for about one year. Some $2 million allocated by Turkey
for the project are thought to have been misapproriated. The restoration,
organized by the Turkey Foundations General Directorate, was only 20% complete
six months after it was supposed to be entirely finished in September 1994. --
Lowell Bezanis
[03] DELEGATION ARRIVES IN TAJIKISTAN TO SEEK MISSING U.S. SERVICEMEN.
A U.S. delegation headed by Malcolm Toon landed in Dushanbe on 27 May, ITAR-
TASS and RFE/RL reported the same day. Toon has been making trips to former
Soviet republics in order to gather information on U.S. servicemen who have
been registered as missing in action since World War II, the Korean War, and
the Vietnam War. Some of them are believed to have been taken to the USSR
and forced to live in Soviet republics. In return, the U.S. has been giving
the former Soviet republics information on Soviet servicemen reported missing
in the Afghan War. -- Bruce Pannier
[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[04] DID THE ALBANIAN DEMOCRATS WIN OVER 95% OF THE SEATS?
The Democratic Party (PD), in a mixed system ballot, won the majority in all
115 election districts, and its candidates took 101 of the single-member
constituencies. The PD is likely to take the remaining 14 seats during the
second round of voting on 2 June, Gazeta Shqiptare reported on 28 May. The
remaining 25 seats will be divided by proportional representation. Meanwhile,
the Democrats held a victory rally in Tirana on 27 May attended by some 10,000
supporters. The opposition Socialists, Social Democrats, and Democratic
Alliance, who demand new elections, have called for a rally on 28 May and said
they will not participate in a future parliament. Should the parliament meet
despite an opposition boycott, the PD would have the power to change the
constitution with its two-thirds majority. -- Fabian Schmidt in Tirana
[05] INTERNATIONAL MONITORS CONFIRM IRREGULARITIES IN ALBANIAN ELECTIONS . . .
International monitors told OMRI that they observed many irregularities in the
elections. The monitors, who asked not to be named, said that in only three
voting districts out of at least 15 that they observed were irregularities not
decisive in the ballot's outcome. In Kukes, for example, the only polling
station there to gain an opposition majority was the one which was
internationally monitored. Similar observations were made elsewhere. -- Fabian
Schmidt in Tirana
[06] . . . BUT ISSUE NO OFFICIAL STATEMENT YET.
The EU and OSCE monitoring mission, which went all over Albania, has been told
to end its work. The monitors postponed a declaration about the outcome and
correctness of the elections until 28 May. They met with Socialist Party
leader Namik Dokle and Democratic Alliance leader Neritan Ceka, who charged
the government with massively manipulating the ballot. The OSCE Parliamentary
Assembly, however, held a press conference on 27 May in which it indicated
that the elections were free and fair, citing that it monitored "several
polling stations in Tirana." -- Fabian Schmidt in Tirana
[07] BOSNIAN TERROR TRIAL OPENS IN CROATIA.
The trial began in Rijeka on 27 May of five Muslims arrested in April on
charges of "international terrorism." A Croat is also in the dock for
complicity. The six are accused of plotting to assassinate former Bihac pocket
kingpin Fikret Abdic who has been living quietly in Croatia since his empire
crumbled following an offensive by Croatian and Bosnian government troops late
last summer. The Bosnian authorities allegedly promised the six individuals
$66,000 to eliminate the maverick leader. The Sarajevo government denies any
knowledge of the five men and one woman and claims that Abdic and the Croats
staged the whole affair as a publicity stunt for his planned comeback. The
Croatian police claim to have found evidence, however, clearly linking the
Muslims to Bosnian intelligence officials in Bihac. Abdic has charged that
Bosnian President Alija Izetbegovic is afraid of him as a proven vote-getter,
Croatian media reported. -- Patrick Moore
[08] BOSNIAN ASSEMBLY MEETS.
The Republic of Bosnia-Herzegovina Assembly on 27 May accepted a report on the
Dayton peace accords implementation by Prime Minister Hasan Muratovic,
Oslobodjenje reported next day. The government concluded that establishing
freedom of movement and the return of refugees are its current priorities.
When deputies asked whether a law on customs relief for refugees returning
from abroad is still in effect, Muratovic replied it is but the law is not
applied consistently because the Bosnian side has no border control, Onasa
reported. He said there are problems on all federation borders, but the
southern border, where the majority of goods entering the federation cross,
poses the most difficulties. -- Daria Sito Sucic
[09] UPCOMING CHANGES WITHIN SERBIAN GOVERNMENT RANKS.
Several ministers in the Serbian government are expected to be shuffled out of
their cabinet positions, Nasa Borba reported on 28 May, crediting "circles
close to the government" for leaking the story. Ratomir Vico, Minister of
Information, is one of the ministers expected to leave his post but is slated
to remain in the government without a portfolio. His touted successor is
Aleksandar Tijanic, director of BK Telekom and confidante of Mirjana Markovic,
Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic's wife and head of her own United
Yugoslav Left (JUL) party. It is speculated that Tijanic's likely promotion
into cabinet ranks is a de facto means of advancing the political profile and
role of Markovic and her party. -- Stan Markotich
[10] INDEPENDENT SERBIAN NEWS AGENCY BARRED FROM PRESS CONFERENCE.
Serbian Premier Mirko Marjanovic held a press conference on 27 May, to which
the independent news agency Beta was not invited. A Beta journalist attempting
to attend the meeting was reportedly barred and told that the press conference
was organized for the foreign press corps only. Beta, however, has reported
that this official explanation was a ruse and yet another stark demonstration
of the regime's animosity toward the independent media. A number of government
and pro-government media outlets, including the daily Politika, were on
the "guest list." -- Stan Markotich
[11] ROMANIAN PRESIDENTIAL SPOKESMAN ON TREATY WITH HUNGARY.
Traian Chebeleu on 27 May said extremists in Hungary, the Hungarian diaspora,
and the Hungarian Democratic Federation of Romania put pressure on Budapest to
include the controversial Council of Europe Recommendation 1201 in the
Romanian-Hungarian basic treaty, Romanian media reported. He rejected the
claim that Romania had accepted the recommendation providing for collective
rights for ethnic minorities at the time of its admission into the council.
Chebeleu claims Bucharest only committed itself to take into consideration
that document's stipulations while drafting the recently passed education law.
The recommendation's inclusion in the Hungarian-Slovak treaty does not
solve existing problems but rather creates new tensions in bilateral relations,
Chebeleu added. He further proposed the recently signed Romanian-Yugoslav
treaty as a model for Bucharest and Budapest. -- Matyas Szabo
[12] PARENTS ACCUSE DNIESTER AUTHORITIES OF "CULTURAL GENOCIDE."
Parents of pupils attending a Romanian-language school in Slobozia, a town in
Moldova's breakaway Dniester region, accused the authorities of practicing
"cultural genocide" on their children, Moldpres reported on 27 May. In an open
letter addressed to Moldovan President Mircea Snegur, the head of the OSCE
mission in Moldova, and the ambassadors of the U.S., Ukraine, and the Russian
Federation in Chisinau, more than 500 parents protested the compulsory use of
the Russian--rather than the Latin--alphabet in the region's Romanian-
language schools. The letter also complained that textbooks are decades old,
written in the spirit of the bygone Soviet era, and each book is shared by
five to 10 pupils. According to the appeal, some 35,000 pupils throughout the
region are thus condemned to receive a poor, outmoded education. -- Dan
Ionescu
[13] BULGARIA, IMF REACH AGREEMENT.
The Bulgarian government and an IMF mission on 27 May "in principle" agreed on
a new standby loan, Reuters reported. Finance Minister Dimitar Kostov said
Bulgaria should gain around $400 million over the next 20 months from the
agreement. IMF mission head Anne McGuirk said under the agreement a "tough
reform program" lies ahead of Bulgaria. Prime Minister Zhan Videnov said he
will present his IMF-backed reform package to the parliament and the trade
unions on 28 May and appealed to them to back it and not delay its
implementation. The agreement has to be approved by the IMF board. Meanwhile,
Bulgarian citizens will have a last chance to buy privatization vouchers
between 1 and 9 June. Sales initially were closed on 8 May with just 40% of
those eligible participating. -- Stefan Krause
[14] BULGARIAN PRESIDENT CALLS FOR STRONGER PRESIDENCY.
Zhelyu Zhelev on 27 May called for an overhaul of the current parliamentary
system, saying only a stronger presidency can get the country out of its
present crisis, Reuters reported. Zhelev said Bulgaria "needs a stronger
presidential republic" in this transitional stage and that he will push for
changes "within the existing constitution." On state radio, Zhelev said the
Socialists' fall from power is inevitable because they "proved unable to lead
the country out of the crisis." Meanwhile, former Tsar Simeon said his present
visit to Bulgaria will help him assess how he can contribute to the country's
transition to democracy but pointed to the "limitations of what anybody can
achieve with just...goodwill." He stressed that he is still king and repeated
that he does not recognize the 1946 referendum abolishing the monarchy. --
Stefan Krause
[15] TURKISH, BOSNIAN, CROATIAN FOREIGN MINISTERS MEET.
The foreign ministers of Turkey, Bosnia, and Croatia held talks in Ankara,
Western and Turkish media reported on 27 May. The meeting was part of Turkish
efforts to shore up the Muslim-Croat federation, which is one of the
cornerstones of the Dayton system. The talks aimed to demonstrate the
commitment of all sides to the federation, Bosnia's post-war reconstruction,
and the holding of general elections there in mid-September. Discussion also
focused on the training of both Bosnian and Croatian soldiers in Turkey. An
agreement for a ferry service between the Turkish port Mersin and the Croatian
port Ploce was reached. It was announced that the Turkish Cooperation and
Development Agency will open an office in Zagreb after doing so in Sarajevo,
Yeni Yuzyil reported on 28 May. Such tripartite consultations have become
regular affairs. -- Lowell Bezanis
Compiled by Victor Gomez and Deborah Michaels
News and information as of 1200 CET
This material was reprinted with permission of the Open Media
Research Institute, a nonprofit organization with research offices in
Prague, Czech Republic.
For more information on OMRI publications please write to [email protected].
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