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OMRI: Daily Digest, Vol. 3, No. 47, 97-03-07
From: Open Media Research Institute <http://www.omri.cz>
Vol. 3, No. 47, 7 March 1997
CONTENTS
[A] TRANSCAUCASIA AND CENTRAL ASIA
[01] GEORGIA, SOUTH OSSETIA REACH AGREEMENT.
[02] IRAN DENIES TRANSIT OF RUSSIAN WEAPONS TO ARMENIA.
[03] RUSSIAN SECRET SERVICES ACTIVE IN AZERBAIJAN?
[04] CENTRAL ASIAN DRUG FLOW OR FLOOD?
[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[05] AMNESTY IN ALBANIA . . .
[06] . . . BUT REBELS SET TO CONTINUE FIGHTING.
[07] BOSNIAN LOCAL ELECTIONS POSTPONED AGAIN.
[08] BOSNIAN SERB ASSEMBLY TO RATIFY TREATY WITH YUGOSLAVIA.
[09] SERBIAN STATE TELEVISION STANDS BY MILOSEVIC.
[10] MACEDONIAN STUDENT HUNGER STRIKE IN THIRD DAY.
[11] ROMANIA SLAMS OPPOSITION TO UKRAINE TREATY.
[12] COUNCIL OF EUROPE TO STOP SPECIAL MONITORING OF ROMANIA?
[13] MOLDOVAN MEDIA DEVELOPMENTS.
[14] REGISTRATION OF BULGARIAN PATRIARCH MAKSIM INVALIDATED.
[15] BULGARIA ABOLISHES VISA REQUIREMENT FOR WEST EUROPEANS.
[A] TRANSCAUCASIA AND CENTRAL ASIA
[01] GEORGIA, SOUTH OSSETIA REACH AGREEMENT.
Following two days of talks in Moscow, delegations from Georgia and South
Ossetia have agreed on the breakaway region's political status, according
to a 6 March BGI report monitored by the BBC. First Deputy Foreign Minister
Boris Pastukhov, the chief Russian mediator, said the agreement envisages
that Georgia's territorial integrity will be preserved and that South
Ossetia will have unspecified "special powers for self-determination." The
two have also set up a joint "special commission" to deal with the region's
economic reconstruction. -- Emil Danielyan
[02] IRAN DENIES TRANSIT OF RUSSIAN WEAPONS TO ARMENIA.
A spokesman for the Iranian Embassy in Yerevan has denied Azerbaijani
accusations that alleged Russian arms supplies to Armenia were transported
via Iran (see OMRI Daily Digest, 6 March 1997), RFE/RL reported on 6
March. He described those charges as "propaganda." In addition to the
trilateral cooperation agreement between Iran, Armenia, and Turkmenistan,
Tehran wants to form an Iranian-Armenian-Greek "axis" that might also
include Georgia. -- Emil Danielyan
[03] RUSSIAN SECRET SERVICES ACTIVE IN AZERBAIJAN?
Azerbaijani Security Minister Namig Abbasov has accused Russian secret
services of spying on Azerbaijan and trying to undermine its government,
AFP reported on 5 March, citing the Turan news agency. Abbasov pointed to
the case of Salman Ibrahimov, a Georgian arrested late last year in Baku,
allegedly for spying on behalf of Russia. He also reiterated claims that
Moscow is determined to replace Azerbaijan's present leadership with a more
malleable one. Recently, Baku charged that Moscow has been clandestinely
funneling military support to Armenia. -- Lowell Bezanis
[04] CENTRAL ASIAN DRUG FLOW OR FLOOD?
Moscow police apprehended two Tajik Security Ministry agents who arrived at
the Nikolaevka rail station on 5 March in possession of nearly 8,000
kilograms of opium, ITAR-TASS reported. The two were taking part in a
training program at the Moscow Academy of the Russian Federal Security
Service as part of a CIS agreement on cooperation between secret services.
Meanwhile in Turkmenistan, authorities say some 16 tons of hashish were
confiscated in February alone. Seven tons were found aboard a train en
route from the Afghan city of Herat to Europe via Turkmenistan. -- Bruce
Pannier
[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[05] AMNESTY IN ALBANIA . . .
President Sali Berisha met with leaders of the opposition on 6 March in an
attempt to calm fighting in the southern part of the country. Emerging from
the meeting was an announcement of a blanket amnesty for all involved in
hostilities, except those who had "committed crimes," CNN reported on 7
March. According to the terms, armed rebels were to hand over all weapons,
beginning at 6 a.m. local time today, at which point the military were to
cease all actions for a 48-hour period. In addition, Berisha and the
opposition agreed to the formation of a multiparty commission to
investigate pyramid scheme investments, as the collapse of several of those
had led to thousands losing their life savings and ultimately triggered the
armed conflict. Finally, Berisha has also reportedly agreed to the idea of
holding early elections. -- Stan Markotich
[06] . . . BUT REBELS SET TO CONTINUE FIGHTING.
Rebels throughout the southern part of the country have signaled their
intention to continue the conflict. One rebel leader, identified as Captain
Tato by Greek television, vowed "We won't turn over our weapons until our
demands are met." Surrounded by well-armed supporters, Tato reiterated the
call for Berisha's immediate resignation. "He [Berisha] wants our guns, but
we want his head," he reportedly said. And just before the announcement of
the amnesty, leaders in Sarande reiterated their list of demands, which
include Berisha's resignation, a new coalition government, and compensation
for those who lost their savings in the investment schemes. -- Stan
Markotich
[07] BOSNIAN LOCAL ELECTIONS POSTPONED AGAIN.
Danish Foreign Minister Niels Helveg Petersen, chairman of the Organization
for Security and Cooperation in Europe, said on 6 March that the Bosnian
elections were rescheduled from July to September, international media
reported. That is the third postponement of the elections -- originally
scheduled for September 1996, along with the general elections, then moved
to November, and then again to July 1997. U.S. Defense Minister William
Cohen sharply criticized the delay, and blamed civilian authorities for the
setback. Cohen said the delay will not stand in the way of a U.S. pullout
from Bosnia in June 1998, although "it complicates matters," AFP reported.
But the U.S. State Department fully supported the decision to postpone the
polls, and said there was a greater hope to have free and fair elections,
Reuters reported. High Representative Carl Bildt also welcomed the OSCE
decision. -- Daria Sito Sucic
[08] BOSNIAN SERB ASSEMBLY TO RATIFY TREATY WITH YUGOSLAVIA.
The Bosnian Serb parliament on 15 March will ratify a controversial pact
with the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, despite objections by the Muslim
and Croat partners in the central government of Bosnia-Herzegovina (see
OMRI Daily Digest, 3 March 1997), Oslobodjenje reported. The accord
only calls for ratification by the Yugoslav federal parliament and the
Bosnian Serb assembly, although international treaties and foreign
relations lie within the jurisdiction of Bosnia's central government in
Sarajevo. The U.S. State Department supported a protest by Bosnia's Muslim
presidency member, Alija Izetbegovic, who said the pact was unconstitutional,
Nasa Borba reported on 5 March. The high representative for Bosnia, Carl
Bildt, urged Yugoslavia not to ratify the agreement before it has been
approved by Bosnia's multiethnic parliament. Bosnia's Muslim Party of
Democratic Action said its deputies will not ratify the agreement,
Oslobodjenje reported. -- Daria Sito Sucic
[09] SERBIAN STATE TELEVISION STANDS BY MILOSEVIC.
The state-run Radio and Television Serbia on 6 March announced that it
would no longer provide relays of programs broadcast on BK Television,
international media report. BK, owned and run by wealthy entrepreneur
Bogoljub Karic, has the capacity to reach an estimated 60% of Serbia's
population, but in recent weeks the station has stepped up criticism of
Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic. In addition, reports have recently
circulated that Karic is preparing to launch a political party to run
against the governing Socialists in republican presidential and
parliamentary elections -- slated for later this year -- and has plans to
solicit the support of such influential and popular individuals as American
businessman and former Premier of Yugoslavia, Milan Panic (see OMRI Daily
Digest, 28 February 1997). -- Stan Markotich
[10] MACEDONIAN STUDENT HUNGER STRIKE IN THIRD DAY.
A hunger strike by some 20 Macedonian students from the Pedagogical Faculty
(PF) in a Skopje park near parliament entered its third day on 6 March,
MILS reported. The hunger strikers are conducting their protest in the open
because a permit issued for erecting tents there has been declared invalid
for environmental and public-safety reasons. The hunger strikers were
supported by 3,000 to 4,000 protesters, who marched for the 19th
consecutive day. The protesters included students from Kumanovo, Ohrid,
Skopje, and Stip, along with other citizens. The protesters are demanding
suspension of both a law on the PF passed on 30 January (allowing
instruction in Albanian) and of minority university admission quotas, along
with the resignation of Education Minister Sofija Todorova. University
officials addressed the protesters, asking them to suspend the strike until
the Constitutional Court rules on the law. -- Michael Wyzan
[11] ROMANIA SLAMS OPPOSITION TO UKRAINE TREATY.
A press release from the Foreign Ministry vowed on 6 March to pursue
efforts to sign a basic treaty with Ukraine, which is regarded as boosting
Romania's chances of admission to NATO, Reuters reported on the same day.
The ministry warned against "recent agitation" against the pending treaty,
saying it was "fueled by circles alien to Romania's interests, which want
the country to stay out of European and Euro-Atlantic structures," and
called the drive "unpatriotic." On 6 March, the media reported that
hundreds of leaflets denouncing the intention to agree to a loss of
territories incorporated into the Soviet Union had been distributed
overnight in Timisoara. There had been earlier reports of such leaflets in
Bucharest, Suceava, and Turnu Severin. Police launched an investigation to
trace the authors of the leaflets. -- Michael Shafir
[12] COUNCIL OF EUROPE TO STOP SPECIAL MONITORING OF ROMANIA?
A Council of Europe (CE) delegation of rapporteurs is investigating the
possibility of removing special monitoring of Romania's implementation of
the commitments it took upon joining the organization, Romanian media
reported. Delegation leader Gunnar Jansson said the monitoring might end in
April, but the decision is to be made by the CE General Assembly on 25
April. In related news, the EU commissioner in charge with relations with
Central and Eastern European countries, Hans van den Broek, on 6 March
arrived in Bucharest in an attempt to boost cooperation between the EU and
Romania. He said the EU will effectively support the new government's
economic reform program. -- Zsolt Mato
[13] MOLDOVAN MEDIA DEVELOPMENTS.
The government decided on 3 March to dismiss Andrei Hropotinschi, the
editor in chief of the government daily Moldova suverana, BASA-press
reported on 6 March. Hropotinschi, in fact, had announced on 15 February
that he would resign on grounds of his strong backing of former Premier
Andrei Sangheli in November's presidential race. Constantin Andreev,
currently a reporter for the daily, was named by State Minister Nicolae
Cernomaz as the most likely candidate to succeed Hropotinschi, but the
Moldova suverana deputy editor in chief, Tudor Topa, told BASA press that
"neither I, nor the staff, will accept to work under Andreev." In other
news, the Communications and Information Ministry announced on 6 March that
the airing of Ukraine's first channel television programs will be stopped
on 10 March because the channel refuses to pay its debts to Moldovan
television for the period July 1996-March 1997. Since February 1996, the
channel has aired six hours daily. It covers over 80% of Moldova. --
Michael Shafir
[14] REGISTRATION OF BULGARIAN PATRIARCH MAKSIM INVALIDATED.
Bulgaria's Supreme Administrative Court declared void the registration of
one of the two rivaling synods of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church, headed by
Patriarch Maksim, Reuters and local media reported on 6 March. Patriarch
Maksim was elected in 1971, but his synod has never been registered by the
communists. After almost 5 years of intrachurch feuding over his legitimacy,
the former Socialist government registered Maksim in December 1996. However,
his opponents, backed by the anti-communist Union of Democratic Forces,
enthroned former Metropolitan Pimen as patriarch in July 1996. It was Pimen
who conducted the blessing ceremony when President Petar Stoyanov took
office in January 1997. "It is not possible to withdraw as patriarch, not
only because I do not have any grounds to, but because I would commit a sin
before God and would be betraying those who have elected me," Patriarch
Maksim commented after a meeting with Stoyanov. -- Maria Koinova
[15] BULGARIA ABOLISHES VISA REQUIREMENT FOR WEST EUROPEANS.
Bulgaria's interim government on 6 March abolished visas for Western
Europeans, RFE/RL and Pari reported. The move is aimed at strengthening
the country's position in seeking visa concessions for Bulgarian citizens
and at fostering tourism from EU countries. The government also took
measures to restrict the illicit trade in Bulgarian passports, deciding
that a criminal check will be required before a new international passport
is issued. "We have to stop serving as a transit point to Europe for people
from the Third World," Interior Minister Bogomil Bonev commented. Citing
budget cuts, the ministers also decided that Bulgaria will reduce staff at
its missions in Ethiopia, Uruguay, Nicaragua, Cambodia, and North Korea. In
other news, the head of the Bulgarian Intelligence Service, Brigo
Asparuchov, on 6 March was replaced by a little-known 34-year-old lawyer,
Dimo Gyaurov, a deputy of the Union of Democratic Forces in the recently
dissolved parliament. -- Maria Koinova
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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