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OMRI: Daily Digest, Vol. 2, No. 234, 96-12-05
From: Open Media Research Institute <http://www.omri.cz>
Vol. 2, No. 234, 5 December 1996
CONTENTS
[A] TRANSCAUCASIA AND CENTRAL ASIA
[01] ENERGY TARIFFS TO RISE IN ARMENIA.
[02] HELSINKI WATCH PROTESTS TO ALIEV.
[03] TAJIK FIGHTING CONTINUES, MOVES CLOSER TO CAPITAL.
[04] HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH BLASTS TAJIKISTAN, KYRGYZSTAN.
[05] RUSSIAN STATION PULLED FROM AIR IN KAZAKSTAN.
[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[06] SERBIAN PROTESTS CONTINUE TO GROW . . .
[07] ...WHILE MILOSEVIC TAKES SOME MEASURES.
[08] LONDON CONFERENCE ON BOSNIA OPENS . . .
[09] . . . BUT DELEGATES THINK MAINLY OF SERBIA.
[10] FAILURE TO ACCOUNT FOR MISSING PERSONS THREATENS BOSNIAN PEACE.
[11] DEMONSTRATION IN VUKOVAR AFTER TUDJMAN'S VISIT.
[12] NEW MOLDOVAN PRESIDENT URGES WITHDRAWAL OF RUSSIAN TROOPS.
[13] MOLDOVAN PARLIAMENT RATIFIES TREATY WITH UKRAINE.
[14] ONE MILLION BULGARIANS SUPPORT NATIONWIDE STRIKE.
[15] BULGARIAN ARMY FACES FINANCIAL PROBLEMS.
[A] TRANSCAUCASIA AND CENTRAL ASIA
[01] ENERGY TARIFFS TO RISE IN ARMENIA.
Prime Minister Armen Sarkisyan on 4 December said the government will raise
energy tariffs by 40% starting in January, Noyan Tapan reported the same
day. Sarkisyan said the decision was taken in accordance with the 4 March
agreement with the World Bank which made its loans to Armenia contingent on
bringing energy prices closer to world ones. Armenia has undergone severe
energy shortages and winter rationing since the war in Nagorno-Karabakh
broke out in 1992. The crisis has been substantially alleviated by the
reopening of the Medzamor nuclear plant in summer 1995. -- Emil Danielyan
[02] HELSINKI WATCH PROTESTS TO ALIEV.
The Helsinki Watch human rights organization has sent a letter to President
Heydar Aliev protesting the handling by the Azerbaijani authorities of the
criminal case against former Defense Minister Rahim Ghaziev, Turan reported
on 4 December. The letter said that Gaziev was repeatedly not allowed to
meet with his relatives or his lawyer, who so far has only had one meeting
with his client. Gaziev was Azerbaijan's defense minister in the government
of former President Abulfaz Elchibey, and fled to Russia after Aliev came
to power in June 1993. Gaziev was charged with the "surrender" of the
Shusha and Lachin towns to Armenian forces in May 1992 and sentenced to
death in absentia. He was extradited by Russia in April 1996 at
Azerbaijan's request. -- Emil Danielyan
[03] TAJIK FIGHTING CONTINUES, MOVES CLOSER TO CAPITAL.
An attempt by Tajik government forces to retake the city of Garm has been
repelled by opposition forces who captured the city last week, Russian
sources report. Opposition forces used artillery and tanks to drive back
government troops. Attacks have also been reported as close as 13
kilometers from the capital Dushanbe. A Russian helicopter came under gun
and grenade fire at Dushanbe airport on 4 December. -- Bruce Pannier
[04] HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH BLASTS TAJIKISTAN, KYRGYZSTAN.
In its seventh annual human rights survey, the organization Human Rights
Watch notes a dramatic deterioration of democratic principles in Tajikistan
and Kyrgyzstan, RFE/RL reported on 5 December. On Kyrgyzstan, HRW pointed
to government repression of the media, suspension of freedom of speech and
association, the continued existence of residence permits and internal
passports, and the "alarming" consolidation of power by President Askar
Akayev. HRW also questioned the constitutionality of the rescheduled
presidential elections of December 1995. Tajikistan, which has been
criticized for the last five years for its record on human rights, was
described as having its "worst year" in 1996. The report also condemned
decisions by the IMF and World Bank to lend money to Tajikistan despite the
country's disregard for human rights. -- Bruce Pannier
[05] RUSSIAN STATION PULLED FROM AIR IN KAZAKSTAN.
The Kazakstani National Agency for Press and Mass Media decided to stop
airing the Russian Television (RTR) station, according to 4 December
reports from ITAR-TASS and Radio Mayak. The reason given was lack of
funding. The Russian Public Television station (ORT) will continue to have
its programing shown in Kazakstan. -- Bruce Pannier
[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[06] SERBIAN PROTESTS CONTINUE TO GROW . . .
With mass demonstrations in Belgrade well into their third consecutive
week, local media report that the largest number of people so far took to
the streets on 4 December. Nasa Borba estimates that 150,000 people
gathered in the capital city, while other estimates put the number at more
than 200,000. Students held a peaceful demonstration outside the
presidential residence to demand that the state-run media give coverage to
the protest actions. At a mass rally downtown, student protesters demanded
that independent media be allowed to cover the demonstrations. They
distributed pamphlets saying that "Enough is enough: You have closed
[Radios] B-92 and Index, shameless in your arrogance, but in fact you are
afraid that you won't be able to steal any more or send other peoples'
children to war." -- Stan Markotich
[07] ...WHILE MILOSEVIC TAKES SOME MEASURES.
In what may be a move to appease the demonstrators, Milosevic has fired the
hard-line head of the Socialist Party of Serbia branch in Nis, state radio
and TV reported on 4 December. Beta and Nasa Borba reported that
Milosevic intends to sack other officials, including the Serbian
Information Minister Aleksandar Tijanic, following the closure of
independent Radio B 92. According to some reports, Tijanic has already
resigned. There are also reports that the government has closed down
another independent radio station--BOOM 93, based in Milosevic's hometown
of Pozarevac. Meanwhile, CNN on 4 December reported that police are
arresting protesters, at least in Belgrade, and sentencing them to 25 days
in prison. Finally, 90 Serbian justices are formally protesting the
nullification of the results of 17 November elections. -- Stan Markotich
[08] LONDON CONFERENCE ON BOSNIA OPENS . . .
The latest international gathering to assess implementation of the Dayton
peace agreement began in London on 4 December. Speakers made the usual
admonitions to the former Yugoslavs to keep their promises, and they
stressed that more attention must be paid to enabling refugees to go home
and to catching war criminals, international media noted. But enforcement
of these provisions in 1996 has been lax to say the least, and it is
difficult to see how matters can improve next year with a much smaller
peacekeeping force present. Some speakers reminded the former Yugoslavs
that donations of reconstruction aid will be contingent on good behavior,
but so far this carrot has failed to produce the desired results. --
Patrick Moore
[09] . . . BUT DELEGATES THINK MAINLY OF SERBIA.
Most attention at the 4 December meeting seemed to be directed toward the
dramatic events in Belgrade rather than Bosnia, with speakers warning the
Serbian government not to use force. U.S. envoy John Kornblum went further,
saying that Serbia's "internal structure and its internal order [are]
unacceptable to us." The international community's High Representative Carl
Bildt noted that "peace can never be stable in Bosnia if we don't have
stability throughout the region. That stability can never be built on
repression." NATO's Secretary General Javier Solana, who comes from Spain,
said his message for Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic was "Adios, amigo,
" international media reported. -- Patrick Moore
[10] FAILURE TO ACCOUNT FOR MISSING PERSONS THREATENS BOSNIAN PEACE.
Cornelio Sommaruga, head of the International Committee of the Red Cross
(ICRC), has said there can be no real peace in Bosnia until the fate of the
16,000 missing people can be established, AFP reported on 5 December.
Sommaruga said some 13,000 of the missing are known to have been in the
hands of the Bosnian Serbs, including the 8,000 who disappeared from the
Muslim enclave of Srebrenica, which was taken by the Serbs last year.
Another 1,500 people are thought to have been held by Muslims and 1,000 by
Croats. Sommaruga said the ICRC, which under the Dayton peace accords has a
mandate to reunite families, has faced "aggression" and harassment while
seeking to track down the missing people. In other news, a group of 24
Bosnian refugees expelled by Germany on 4 December have returned to Bosnia,
AFP reported. Thirteen were immediately detained by the police in Sarajevo
on criminal charges. -- Daria Sito Sucic
[11] DEMONSTRATION IN VUKOVAR AFTER TUDJMAN'S VISIT.
Angry Serbian demonstrators on 4 December forced UN spokesman for eastern
Slavonia Philip Arnold and a group of Croatian journalists to cut short
their visit to Vukovar, international and local media reported. The
incident occurred one day after Croatian President Franjo Tudjman visited
the town, which is located in the last Serb-held enclave in Croatia (see
OMRI Daily Digest, 4 December 1996). Arnold said some 150-200 Serbs
gathered in front of the town's cultural center to protest Tudjman's visit.
They prevented Arnold and the Croatian journalists from entering the
building. Meanwhile, the Croatian rail unions on 4 December announced that
passenger traffic will resume but not commercial traffic, Vecernji List
reported the next day. Union head Zlatko Pavletic said the decision was
made to help ordinary citizens, but he added that the strike will continue.
-- Daria Sito Sucic
[12] NEW MOLDOVAN PRESIDENT URGES WITHDRAWAL OF RUSSIAN TROOPS.
Petru Lucinschi on 4 December called for the speedy withdrawal of all
Russian troops from Moldova, Interfax and international news agencies
reported. He urged the Russian side to respect the deadlines set in the
October 1994 bilateral accord. That document, however, has not yet been
ratified by the Russian State Duma. Lucinschi, who was a high-ranking
official during the Soviet era, said he would insist that a Russian-
Moldovan basic treaty be signed as soon as possible. Meanwhile, outgoing
President Mircea Snegur, speaking at the OSCE summit in Lisbon, also called
for the Russian troops to pull out of eastern Moldova. The 6,500-strong
contingent in the breakaway Dniester region is the last Russian military
unit to be based on foreign territory against the host country's will. --
Zsolt Mato
[13] MOLDOVAN PARLIAMENT RATIFIES TREATY WITH UKRAINE.
The parliament on 3 December ratified a friendship and cooperation treaty
with Ukraine, Infotag reported. Moldovan President Mircea Snegur and his
Ukrainian counterpart, Leonid Kravchuk, signed the treaty in October 1992.
The Ukrainian parliament ratified the document last month, after having
insisted that border questions between the two countries be settled before
ratification. According to Moldovan Deputy Foreign Minister Aurelian Danila,
only a few sections of the border continue to be disputed, including areas
near Basarabeasca and Giurgiulesti. -- Dan Ionescu
[14] ONE MILLION BULGARIANS SUPPORT NATIONWIDE STRIKE.
According to strike committee data, almost 1 million people supported the
nationwide one-day strike on 4 December, national media reported. The
Confederation of Independent Trade Unions in Bulgaria (KNSB) organized the
strike to press for the government's resignation and to demand guarantees
for the socially vulnerable throughout the winter. The other big trade
union, Podkrepa, expressed only "moral support," as did some opposition
forces. Meanwhile, KNSB leader Krastyo Petkov and Prime Minister Zhan
Videnov met in Sofia the same day and reached some "verbal" agreements.
Videnov promised compensation in the form of bonds. Trud reported that
outstanding wages have been paid retroactively because of the strike. Most
newspapers characterized the strike as "weak" and "sluggish." Petkov was
jeered at a rally in Plovdiv, and some people in Gabrovo demanded his
resignation. -- Maria Koinova
[15] BULGARIAN ARMY FACES FINANCIAL PROBLEMS.
Defense Minister Dimitar Pavlov on 3 December acknowledged that the
Bulgarian army owes suppliers some 4 billion leva ($10 million), mostly for
food and uniforms, Reuters reported. Pavlov said the army cannot rely on
government funds to feed the troops over the winter and has to make its own
arrangements. Many army units have their own farms and are able to produce
most of the meat eaten by their troops. Pavlov said the army needs at least
$20 billion over the next 10 years to modernize its equipment, but he added
that the state will probably be unable to provide those funds. -- Stefan
Krause
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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