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OMRI: Daily Digest, Vol. 2, No. 237, 96-12-10
From: Open Media Research Institute <http://www.omri.cz>
Vol. 2, No. 237, 10 December 1996
CONTENTS
[A] TRANSCAUCASIA AND CENTRAL ASIA
[01] KAZAKSTANI PRESIDENT IN INDIA.
[02] TAJIK OPPOSITION LEADER ARRIVES IN KUNDUZ.
[03] THREE ABKHAZ SOLDIERS KILLED.
[04] RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTER CALLS FOR COMPROMISE ON NAGORNO-KARABAKH.
[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[05] SERBIAN OPPOSITION VOWS BOYCOTT.
[06] DEMONSTRATIONS CONTINUE IN SERBIA.
[07] BRCKO ARBITRATION POSTPONED.
[08] NEW EVICTIONS OF MUSLIMS IN MOSTAR.
[09] BOSNIAN MUSLIM RULING PARTY NAMES CANDIDATES FOR COUNCIL OF MINISTERS.
[10] CLEAR RESPONSE TO CROATIA'S TUDJMAN.
[11] ILLNESS OF ETHNIC ALBANIAN CHILDREN IN MACEDONIA CAUSED BY STRESS?
[12] NEW ROMANIAN CABINET ANNOUNCED.
[13] POLITICAL REALIGNMENT IN MOLDOVA.
[14] BULGARIA APPROACHING HYPERINFLATION?
[15] BULGARIAN MAIN OPPOSITION GROUP POSTPONES KEY DECISIONS.
[16] ALBANIA AND ITALY AGREE TO FIGHT ORGANIZED CRIME.
[A] TRANSCAUCASIA AND CENTRAL ASIA
[01] KAZAKSTANI PRESIDENT IN INDIA.
Nursultan Nazarbayev arrived in New Delhi on 9 December to discuss
bilateral relations and the situation in Afghanistan with his Indian
counterpart, Shankar Dayal Sharma, Russian and Western agencies reported.
Nazarbayev said he is seeking "the speediest resolution" to the Afghan
conflict and welcomed "the active and constructive role played by India."
Agreements on import taxes, investment protection, and cultural relations
were signed and cooperation in non-military nuclear research was discussed.
-- Bruce Pannier
[02] TAJIK OPPOSITION LEADER ARRIVES IN KUNDUZ.
United Tajik Opposition leader Said Abdullo Nuri flew to Kunduz on 9
December, arriving one day late for a scheduled meeting with Tajik
President Imomali Rakhmonov, international press reported. Details on
Nuri's delay are conflicting, with some reports claiming that Taliban
aircraft forced the plane down at Shindan then transferred it to Kandahar,
while others claiming that the plane had technical difficulties and
requested a landing for repairs. One thing is certain, Nuri did meet with
Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar. -- Bruce Pannier
[03] THREE ABKHAZ SOLDIERS KILLED.
Three Abkhaz troops were killed and two wounded on 8 December when their
vehicles were fired on near the border between Abkhazia and the rest of
Georgia, ITAR-TASS reported on 9 December, quoting Abkhaz security chief
Astamur Tarba. Tarba blamed the attack on the Georgian security services.
Georgia has denied the charges. In a 2 December letter to UN Secretary-
General Boutros Boutros Ghali, Abkhaz Foreign Minister Konstantin Ozgan
accused the UN of "a one-sided approach" to resolving the Abkhaz conflict
and the Georgian leadership of "subversion and terror," according to
Iprinda on 3 December. Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka met with
Abkhaz presidential representative Anri Djergenia recently and proposed
that Abkhazia be incorporated into the Russian-Belarus sphere of
integration, Pravda-5 reported on 10 December. -- Liz Fuller
[04] RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTER CALLS FOR COMPROMISE ON NAGORNO-KARABAKH.
Yevgenii Primakov said after a meeting in Moscow with his Armenian
counterpart, Aleksandr Arzumanyan, that Russia is interested in a peaceful
resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, ITAR-TASS reported on 9
December. He added that a compromise solution should recognize "Nagorno-
Karabakh's right to self-determination and self-government while preserving
Azerbaijan's territorial integrity." Addressing the 24 November
presidential election in the disputed enclave, Primakov reiterated the
official Russian position that such votes should not be held until "a
mechanism for settling the conflict is worked out," while Arzumanyan said
the election did not hamper the peace process. The two ministers pledged to
"develop fraternal and friendly relations," ITAR-TASS reported. -- Emil
Danielyan
[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[05] SERBIAN OPPOSITION VOWS BOYCOTT.
Zoran Djindjic, head of the Democratic Party (DS) and one of the leaders of
the opposition Zajedno coalition, told Radio B92 on 9 December that Zajedno
will boycott the opening session of the federal parliament, slated for
today. This is the latest opposition move to pressure the regime of Serbian
President Slobodan Milosevic to recognize the opposition victories in the
17 November runoff municipal elections. For his part, Djindjic did not rule
out the possibility of negotiating an end to the mass political protests,
but added that Milosevic would have to acknowledge the opposition victories
as a precondition to any talks. -- Stan Markotich
[06] DEMONSTRATIONS CONTINUE IN SERBIA.
In the streets of Serbia's major urban centers, mass demonstrations against
Milosevic and demands for a recognition of opposition victories in
municipal balloting continue unabated. Rallies in Belgrade are entering a
fourth week. On 9 December, demonstrators in the capital also vented
against the arrests and beatings of peaceful protesters. Dejan Bulatovic, a
student demonstrator aged 21, who on 6 December carried an effigy of
Milosevic dressed in a prison uniform, was reportedly beaten and tortured
following his arrest. He has been unable to see a lawyer. Meanwhile,
international reports also note that industrial workers, known for their
opposition to Milosevic, have not formally sided with the opposition in
great numbers. -- Stan Markotich
[07] BRCKO ARBITRATION POSTPONED.
Internationally mediated binding arbitration to decide the fate of the
strategic north Bosnian town of Brcko, scheduled for 14 December, has been
postponed for two months. Carl Bildt's office announced on 9 December that
the Serb side had requested the delay and that the Muslims agreed to it,
Oslobodjenje noted, but the exact circumstances remain unclear. Brcko
lies astride the narrow supply corridor linking the eastern and western
parts of the Republika Srpska, and the future of this area was the only
territorial issue not settled in the Dayton agreement just over a year ago.
On 1 December the Serbs announced they were leaving the talks because the
American mediator had made decisions without consulting them. The following
day the U.S. State Department said that the talks will go ahead with or
without the Serbs. -- Patrick Moore
[08] NEW EVICTIONS OF MUSLIMS IN MOSTAR.
The latest in more than 70 evictions of Serbs and Muslims from the Croat-
held part of Mostar was carried out on 9 December, only hours after NATO
warned Bosnian Croat army units to stop them, AFP reported. After a victim
recognized one of the assailants as a member of the Second HVO (Croatian
Defense Council) Brigade, that particular unit of the Bosnian Croat army
admitted carrying out evictions of Muslims from western Mostar, AFP
reported on 6 December. On 9 December, the NATO-led Implementation Force
warned the HVO of "unspecified military consequences" if its soldiers are
found continuing evictions. -- Daria Sito Sucic
[09] BOSNIAN MUSLIM RULING PARTY NAMES CANDIDATES FOR COUNCIL OF MINISTERS.
The Party of Democratic Action (SDA) on 9 December nominated three
candidates for posts in the Council of Ministers, the newly-formed power-
sharing central government, Oslobodjenje reported the next day. Former
Premier Haris Silajdzic of the Party for Bosnia-Herzegovina has been
nominated as co-chairman of the Council. Bosnia's Serb entity is supposed
to name the other co-chair. The SDA also nominated Hasan Muratovic, the
outgoing republican premier, as minister of foreign trade and economic
relations, and Husein Zivalj as deputy foreign minister. Bosnian Croat
leaders should appoint the minister for foreign affairs and the Serbs
should name the minister for civil affairs and communications. -- Daria
Sito Sucic
[10] CLEAR RESPONSE TO CROATIA'S TUDJMAN.
There have been extensive reactions at home and abroad to President Franjo
Tudjman's 7 December speech in which he blasted a host of "enemies of
Croatia" ranging from the weekly Feral Tribune to George Soros to the BBC
(see OMRI Daily Digest, 9 December 1996). Novi List on 10 December
carried many comments likening Tudjman to a bad communist propagandist who
seeks power at all costs. The speech had been intended to unite Tudjman's
governing Croatian Democratic Community (HDZ) behind him, but some critics
charge that it will only undermine the HDZ itself. Soros, for his part,
told the Feral Tribune that his "Open Society only supports the
development of a democratic society in Croatia. We help education,
publishing, media, art, culture, health, legal and economic reforms. Does
that make me a bad guy?" -- Patrick Moore
[11] ILLNESS OF ETHNIC ALBANIAN CHILDREN IN MACEDONIA CAUSED BY STRESS?
World Health Organization (WHO) officials said on 6 December that a
mysterious illness that afflicted more than 1,000 ethnic Albanian children
in Macedonia's Tetovo district was probably caused by psychological factors,
RFE/RL and international media reported. The schoolchildren, aged 11-17,
complained of abdominal pains, headaches, and breathing difficulties in
late September and early October. Most of them were hospitalized for 2-3
days before recovering. Some ethnic Albanians claimed the children had been
poisoned by ethnic Macedonians. The WHO said the evidence collected by an
WHO team during a three-week trip to Macedonia suggested the illness was
not caused by poisoning, infection, or environmental pollution but by
"psychologically induced events linked to stress and anxiety." The team
indicated tensions between ethnic groups and school conditions as the main
factors. -- Stefan Krause
[12] NEW ROMANIAN CABINET ANNOUNCED.
Designated Prime Minister Victor Ciorbea announced his proposed cabinet and
its governing program on 9 December, Romanian media reported. The new
government comprises 27 ministers and state secretaries, all but one
representing the three parties that form the governing coalition. The
minister of Labor and Social Protection, Alexandru Athanasiu, is an
independent. Most cabinet posts (18) went to the Democratic Convention of
Romania, including three out of the four highest level ministerial posts:
finance, reform and industry and trade. The Social Democratic Union holds 6
posts, including foreign affairs, while the Hungarian Democratic Federation
of Romania has the Ministry of Tourism and the Office for National
Minorities. Parliamentary committee hearings of cabinet members should
start today. -- Zsolt Mato
[13] POLITICAL REALIGNMENT IN MOLDOVA.
Political blocs were set up on 7 December in support of President-elect
Petru Lucinschi and outgoing President Mircea Snegur, respectively, BASA-
press reported on 9 December. The pro-Lucinschi social and political
movement "For a Democratic and Prosperous Moldova" includes the Party of
Social Progress, the Social Democratic Party, the Party of Economic Rebirth,
the Socialist Action Party, and a series of youth and students'
organizations. Parties that had joined the Pro-Snegur Civic Movement during
the electoral campaign launched the idea of forming a permanent umbrella
organization under the name of Democratic Convention of Moldova (CDM). No
deadline was set for the formation of the CDM, which was described as an
"expression of the united opposition." Meanwhile, the Central Electoral
Commission released the official results of the 1 December presidential
runoff. Lucinschi beat Snegur by 54.02% to 45.98%. -- Dan Ionescu
[14] BULGARIA APPROACHING HYPERINFLATION?
Prime Minister Zhan Videnov announced on 9 December that his government and
the Bulgarian National Bank (BNB) can fend off hyperinflation for three
more weeks, Pari and Standart reported. According to Videnov, BNB
cannot intervene in the financial market anymore, since it needs to
preserve its foreign currency reserves when the envisaged currency board is
introduced. The same day, the U.S. dollar was trading for 560-600 leva, 90
more than the previous day. The dollar should trade for no more than 300-
350 leva once the currency board is in place, Videnov commented. Many
Bulgarians have stopped driving their cars, since they can't afford the
steadily rising fuel, tax, and insurance costs. The leva's all-time low
also prompted many shop-owners to close their shops to recalculate prices. -
- Maria Koinova
[15] BULGARIAN MAIN OPPOSITION GROUP POSTPONES KEY DECISIONS.
The 9 December extraordinary meeting of the National Coordinating Council
of the Union of Democratic Forces (SDS) failed to resolve any of the issues
that topped the agenda of the biggest opposition force over the past weeks,
Pari reported. The meeting took no decision on the controversial idea to
transform the SDS from an alliance of 15 political parties and movements
into a single party. It also took no decision on the date of the next
National Conference, which should decide on the proposed merger. The
council meeting also failed to decide whether the SDS will ask for a vote
of no confidence for Zhan Videnov's government. -- Stefan Krause
[16] ALBANIA AND ITALY AGREE TO FIGHT ORGANIZED CRIME.
Italian Interior Minister Giorgio Napolitano and his Albanian counterpart
Halit Shamata signed a police cooperation agreement on 9 November in
Tirana. The agreement provides for joint efforts in fighting organized
crime, such as drug trafficking and illegal immigration, Reuters reported.
Italy will provide more technical assistance to the Albanian police.
Napolitano said Italy was ready to cooperate more on legal immigration of
Albanians, adding that "Italy does not have a closed-door policy."
Napolitano further pointed out that "Albanians may come legally ... but not
in an unlimited number and not in an uncontrolled manner." Hundreds of
immigrants enter Italy illegally each year from Albania . The Italian
government sent troops last year to Puglia to stop the influx of illegal
immigrants. Napolitano also met with President Sali Berisha and Prime
Minister Alexander Meksi. -- Fabian Schmidt
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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