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OMRI: Daily Digest, Vol. 3, No. 50, 97-03-12
From: Open Media Research Institute <http://www.omri.cz>
Vol. 3, No. 50, 12 March 1997
CONTENTS
[A] TRANSCAUCASIA AND CENTRAL ASIA
[01] ARMENIAN-AZERBAIJANI RHETORIC.
[02] SOLANA VISITS KAZAKSTAN, KYRGYZSTAN.
[03] TAJIK OPPOSITION DOWNPLAYS TALIBAN THREAT.
[04] BORDER TROOP COMMANDERS MEET.
[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[05] ALBANIAN CRISIS INTENSIFIES.
[06] NEW ALBANIAN PREMIER NAMED.
[07] SERBIAN OPPOSITION LEADER SEEKS INTERNATIONAL SUPPORT.
[08] SECURITY COUNCIL DEMANDS ARREST OF CROATS RESPONSIBLE FOR MOSTAR
SHOOTING.
[09] BOSNIA'S GAS SUPPLY TO BE CUT OFF.
[10] KLEIN SETS ELECTIONS IN EASTERN SLAVONIA FOR NEXT MONTH.
[11] EU ALARMED OVER INTER-ETHNIC TENSION IN MACEDONIA.
[12] MORE LEAFLETS AGAINST ROMANIAN-UKRAINIAN TREATY.
[13] MOLDOVA, UKRAINE SIGN CUSTOMS AGREEMENT . . .
[14] . . . DISCUSS SENDING UKRAINIAN PEACEKEEPERS TO TRANSDNIESTER.
[15] RUSSIA OFFERS BULGARIA $1 BILLION IN JOINT PROJECTS.
[A] TRANSCAUCASIA AND CENTRAL ASIA
[01] ARMENIAN-AZERBAIJANI RHETORIC.
The Armenian Foreign Ministry issued a statement on 11 March calling on
Azerbaijan to refrain from "a provocative propaganda war" characterized by
"misinformation and groundless accusations" and aimed at "discrediting the
Karabakh peace process," and to focus instead on achieving a peaceful
settlement of the conflict, ITAR-TASS reported. Also on 11 March, Turan
quoted Azerbaijani presidential advisor Vafa Gulu-Zade as stating that
direct negotiations between Azerbaijan and the Armenian leadership of
Nagorno-Karabakh can take place only after the latter accepts the
resolution of the December 1996 OSCE Lisbon summit which affirmed support
for the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, thereby excluding the
possibility of de jure independence for Nagorno-Karabakh. A further round
of OSCE-mediated talks on Karabakh is to open in Moscow on 1 April, RFE/RL
reported on 11 March. -- Liz Fuller
[02] SOLANA VISITS KAZAKSTAN, KYRGYZSTAN.
NATO Secretary- General Javier Solana arrived in Kazakstan on 10 March on
the first leg of a five-day, four-country tour, international media
reported. Solana assured the Kazakstani government that NATO expansion did
not pose a threat to the CIS. After meeting with President Nursultan
Nazarbayev, Solana described their talks as "fruitful;" the two, however,
did not hold a planned press conference. Foreign Minister Kasymzhomart
Tokayev said NATO did not represent a threat to Kazakstan but urged that
NATO move slowly in allowing more countries into the organization. Solana
departed for Kyrgyzstan on 11 March and will meet with government officials
on 12 March before moving on to Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan. The four
Central Asian states are part of NATO's "Partnership for Peace" program and
all but Turkmenistan will participate in a joint military exercise,
"Turkestan-97," along with troops from seven other countries in September
to be held in Kazakstan and Uzbekistan. -- Bruce Pannier
[03] TAJIK OPPOSITION DOWNPLAYS TALIBAN THREAT.
In an interview in the 12 March edition of Nezavisimaya gazeta, the
number two man in the United Tajik Opposition, Ali Akbar Turajonzoda,
called the Taliban threat to Central Asian states such as Tajikistan and
Uzbekistan "fabrications." Turajonzoda said the Taliban are no more a
threat than NATO and noted that for one-and-a-half years they have
controlled the area adjacent to Turkmenistan and there have been no
problems. "They shouldn't decide in Moscow if the Taliban are a threat to
us," he added -- Bruce Pannier
[04] BORDER TROOP COMMANDERS MEET.
Border guard commanders from CIS states except Moldova met in Ashgabat on
11 March, ITAR-TASS reported the same day. The 24th such gathering was
chaired by the commander of the Russian Border Troops Gen. Andrei Nikolaev.
The agency noted that exchanges of border troops is foreseen as a means of
strengthening "integration processes" in guarding the outer borders of the
CIS. The participants also greed to cooperate in training border guards. --
Lowell Bezanis
[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[05] ALBANIAN CRISIS INTENSIFIES.
The Albanian crisis has begun spreading to the country's north, the
strongest support base of President Sali Berisha. On 11 March, rebels
looted a military base in Bajram Curri, some 215 km north of Tirana,
seizing artillery and caches of ammunition, international agencies
reported. In the town of Kukes, just 16 km from the border with the Federal
Republic of Yugoslavia, looters seized weapons from a local military depot.
In several instances, government troops offered little or no resistance.
Meanwhile, gunshots and explosions were heard in Tirana during the night
from 11 to 12 March, eyewitnesses said. Sources in the U.S embassy in
Tirana said diplomats' families will be leaving the country, while the
Foreign Office in London has urged all nationals to leave Albania as soon
as possible. -- Stan Markotich
[06] NEW ALBANIAN PREMIER NAMED.
Berisha on 11 March named Bashkim Fino as prime minister in what appears to
be the president's latest bid to resolve the crisis. The 35-year old Fino
is a member of the opposition Socialists and a former mayor of Gjirokastra,
a southern town currently under rebel control. Albanian state radio and
television reported that the parliament on 11 March passed legislation
granting an amnesty to all those involved in "protests," and calling for
rebels to turn in their weapons by 20 March. But AFP reports that the
president's concessions to date have failed to calm the rebels. -- Stan
Markotich
[07] SERBIAN OPPOSITION LEADER SEEKS INTERNATIONAL SUPPORT.
Zoran Djindjic, leader of the Democratic Party and new mayor of Belgrade,
has once again urged Western governments to support the promotion of
democracy in Serbia, Reuters reported on 11 March. Speaking at the
Friedrich Ebert Foundation in Bonn, he said "we need support from abroad"
and cautioned that without it, "we can be sure the communists will be back
by 1999." In other news, Nasa Borba on 12 March reported that a
delegation headed by Montenegrin Premier Milo Djukanovic was in Washington
on a working visit. Following a meeting between Djukanovic and Assistant
Secretary of State John Kornblum, agreement was reached on releasing five
Montenegrin cargo vessels impounded for the past five years in U.S. ports.
The ships were seized in accordance with sanctions imposed on Belgrade for
its role in promoting the wars in the former Yugoslavia. -- Stan Markotich
[08] SECURITY COUNCIL DEMANDS ARREST OF CROATS RESPONSIBLE FOR MOSTAR
SHOOTING.
The UN Security Council on 11 March strongly condemned the involvement of
Bosnian Croat police in a shooting incident in Mostar last month that left
one dead and 34 wounded, AFP reported. The council said those responsible
for the incident should be arrested. But High Representative for Bosnia-
Herzegovina Carl Bildt said the Bosnian Croat authorities were continuing
to reject UN demands to arrest the three police officers seen on
photographs pointing guns at a Muslim crowd. Sir Martin Garrod, chief of
the High Representative's Office in Mostar, said the two long-term problems
in Mostar were the delay in forming a Muslim-Croat police force and the
obstruction of the multi-ethnic city council's work, Oslobodjenje
reported on 12 March. Meanwhile, U.S. military envoy to the Balkans James
Pardew said the U.S. has now replaced Iran as Bosnia's leading military
backer, AFP reported. -- Daria Sito Sucic
[09] BOSNIA'S GAS SUPPLY TO BE CUT OFF.
The Bosnin gas company Energoinvest will cut all supplies of gas at the end
of this month because of its $12.3 million debt to the Russian concern
Intergaz, AFP reported on 11 March. Intergaz reduced its pipeline supplies
to Bosnia last month owing to outstanding debts from 1996. Energoinvest
said the Bosnian Federation has paid its part of the debt, but the other
Bosnian entity, the Republika Srpska, has failed to pay its share. In other
news, the Bosnian donors conference may be postponed for a fourth time
because of delays in passing new economic legislation, AFP reported. The
conference is aimed at raising $1.4 billion for Bosnia' s reconstruction. --
Daria Sito Sucic
[10] KLEIN SETS ELECTIONS IN EASTERN SLAVONIA FOR NEXT MONTH.
Gen. Jacques Klein, UN transitional administrator for eastern Slavonia, has
announced that elections in the region would be held on 13 April, together
with nation-wide elections, Hina reported on 11 March. Klein said voters
have to register by 25 March and lists of candidates have to be published
within the next two weeks. But Serbs in the region are reported unhappy
with the date since they do not feel it gives them enough time to prepare,
according to AFP. UN spokesman Philip Arnold said 37% of the local
population has so far applied for Croatian citizenship, Hina reported.
Meanwhile, Croatian Deputy Premier Ivica Kostovic has said Croatia will
seek help from donors and the UNHCR to enable the return of Croatian
refugees to eastern Slavonia and the region's reconstruction. -- Daria Sito
Sucic
[11] EU ALARMED OVER INTER-ETHNIC TENSION IN MACEDONIA.
The British, French, and Greek ambassadors to Skopje have handed over an EU
declaration to Premier Branko Crvenkovski expressing concern about rising
inter-ethnic tension in Macedonia and its effect on Balkan stability, Nova
Makedonija reported on 12 March. They pointed to Macedonia's obligations
to the OSCE and the Council of Europe to guarantee minority rights and
strive for good relations with neighboring states. The parliament convened
a special session on 12 March to discuss relations between Macedonians and
ethnic Albanians. Meanwhile, Tome Nenovski, deputy governor of the National
Bank of the Republic of Macedonia (NBRM), has resigned, while NBRM Governor
Borko Stanoevski is under growing pressure to quit over alleged negligence
and personal involvement in the scandal surrounding the failure of the TAT
savings house in Bitola (see OMRI Daily Digest, 11 March 1997). Ministers
and politicians are suspected of profiting from TAT's activities. --
Michael Wyzan
[12] MORE LEAFLETS AGAINST ROMANIAN-UKRAINIAN TREATY.
Leaflets denouncing the government's intention to renounce any territorial
claims on Ukraine in the pending treaty with Kyiv have been discovered in
the Transylvanian town of Cluj, Romanian TV reported on 11 March. In the
past, similar leaflets found elsewhere were anonymous. But those discovered
in Cluj were signed by the Association of Christian Orthodox Students in
Romania (ASCOR). The leaflets said Romania's "access to NATO should not
mean forgetting one's own history." In a Romanian TV interview, an ASCOR
member said one cannot forgo one's right to deal with "national problems"
just for the sake of "appeasing the world powers." Orthodox Bishop Anania
refused to comment on the ASCOR initiative but said the Romanian Orthodox
Church "supports the country's reunification" within its historical
borders. -- Michael Shafir
[13] MOLDOVA, UKRAINE SIGN CUSTOMS AGREEMENT . . .
Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma paid a one-day visit to Moldova on 11
March, Infotag reported. He and Moldovan President Petru Lucinschi signed
five agreements, the most important of which deals with setting up a
customs union between the two countries. Customs legislation and tariffs
are to be unified, customs controls improved, and bureaucratic obstacles to
trade removed. At a press conference in Chisinau, the two presidents said
the customs union will be totally different from that between Russia and
Belarus, because it will be based on full equality. -- Michael Shafir
[14] . . . DISCUSS SENDING UKRAINIAN PEACEKEEPERS TO TRANSDNIESTER.
Kuchma also said at the press conference that Ukraine is willing to step up
its mediation efforts between Chisinau and Tiraspol. He said this was one
of the reasons for visiting the breakaway region after his stay in
Chisinau. He added that Ukraine is "very interested" in the withdrawal of
Russian troops from the Transdniester and that Kyiv would work out a
"mutually acceptable approach" to the issue of withdrawing Russian troops
transiting Ukrainian territory. He noted that while Russia must pay for the
transit, Ukraine would not seek to "make any profit out of it." Following
Kuchma's discussions with separatist leader Igor Smirnov, Ukrainian
Security and Defense Council head Volodymir Horbulin said both Chisinau and
Tiraspol have asked Ukraine to send peacekeeping troops to the conflict
region. -- Michael Shafir
[15] RUSSIA OFFERS BULGARIA $1 BILLION IN JOINT PROJECTS.
Visiting Russian Deputy Premier Oleg Lobov on 11 March said that Russia
will invest $1 billion in Bulgaria, Kontinent reported. Projects include
the reconstruction of a gas pipeline ($600-650 million) and a nuclear plant
($250 million) as well as participation in privatizing Balkankar, Neftohim,
and other companies. Although Lobov lost his job in the cabinet reshuffle
in Russia, he asserted that the Russian government would honor his
signature on the protocol signed during his visit. President Petar Stoyanov
told Lobov that he wants to meet with Russian President Boris Yeltsin to
discuss Bulgaria's desire to join NATO. -- Michael Wyzan
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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