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OMRI: Daily Digest, Vol. 3, No. 51, 97-03-13
From: Open Media Research Institute <http://www.omri.cz>
Vol. 3, No. 51, 13 March 1997
CONTENTS
[A] TRANSCAUCASIA AND CENTRAL ASIA
[01] RUSSIAN COASTGUARDS INTERCEPT TURKISH FISHING VESSELS.
[02] REGIONAL OIL AND GAS UPDATE.
[03] RUSSIAN, UZBEK ECONOMIC COOPERATION.
[04] KYRGYZSTAN'S VIEW ON NATO.
[05] PROOF OF TAJIK AID TO ANTI-TALIBAN FORCES?
[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[06] ALBANIA ON BRINK OF CIVIL WAR?
[07] BOSNIAN MUSLIM VILLAGE ATTACKED.
[08] FORMER YUGOSLAV PREMIER APPEALS TO SERBIAN PRESIDENT.
[09] WASHINGTON CRITICAL OF MONTENEGRIN RULING PARTY.
[10] ZAGREB PROTESTS "ANTI-CROATIAN" MEDIA CAMPAIGN.
[11] MACEDONIAN UPDATE.
[12] ITALIAN PRIME MINISTER IN SLOVENIA.
[13] CLUJ HUNGARIAN UNIVERSITY TO BE RE-OPENED?
[14] ROMANIA DENIES UKRAINIAN ALLEGATIONS OVER TREATY TALKS.
[15] TRIPARTITE MEETING IN CHISINAU.
[16] BULGARIA'S IMF DEAL HELD UP BY DISAGREEMENT OVER BANKS.
[A] TRANSCAUCASIA AND CENTRAL ASIA
[01] RUSSIAN COASTGUARDS INTERCEPT TURKISH FISHING VESSELS.
A Russian coastguard patrol on 12 March intercepted nine Turkish fishing
vessels engaged in poaching in Georgian territorial waters off the Black
Sea port of Batumi and opened fire when they ignored instructions to desist,
killing one Turkish sailor, Russian and Western agencies reported. The
Turkish vessels were escorted to Batumi where criminal proceedings were
instigated against the crew members. -- Liz Fuller
[02] REGIONAL OIL AND GAS UPDATE.
The U.S. firm AMOCO will finance Kazakstan's $150 million stake in the
Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) as part of deal permitting the company to
transport 3 million metric tons of oil via the planned CPC line, RFE/RL
reported on 12 March. Nurlan Balgimbayev, the new head of Kazakoil, which
was established on 4 March as part of a wholesale restructuring of the
country's executive bodies, declared the pipeline to the Russian port of
Novorossiisk will be completed by early 1999. In other news, the first load
of Chevron-owned Kazak crude, transported by train across Azerbaijan and
Georgia, was loaded onto tankers in Batumi for sale on international
markets, Russian media reported the same day. Meanwhile, Turkmen Oil and
Gas Minister Gochmurad Nazjanov told a major oil and gas exhibition in
Ashgabat he foresees Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan reaching a compromise
agreement on the disputed Azeri and Chirag fields in the Caspian Sea,
Russian media reported on 11 March. -- Lowell Bezanis
[03] RUSSIAN, UZBEK ECONOMIC COOPERATION.
Russian Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin and his Uzbek counterpart Otkir
Sultanov signed an economic cooperation accord in Moscow, ITAR-TASS
reported on 12 March. The agreement outlines cooperation in 1998-2000 in
spheres including agriculture, petrochemicals, and non-ferrous industries.
Chernomyrdin was quoted as saying the sides also reached agreement on the
formation of undefined "large financial-industrial groups." It was also
agreed that the Ilyushin-114 aircraft to be manufactured in Uzbekistan will
be equipped with Russian engines and avionics. -- Lowell Bezanis
[04] KYRGYZSTAN'S VIEW ON NATO.
President Askar Akayev, in talks with visiting NATO Secretary-General
Javier Solana, said he was opposed to NATO expansion, international media
reported on 12 March. Akayev told Solana it was "important to heed Russia's
concerns," and called Russia "our strategic partner." The two held more
productive talks on the issues of a Central Asian peacekeeping battalion,
mountain rescue operations training, and the planned joint military
exercise between three Central Asian countries and seven other countries
scheduled for September. Radio Rossii reported on 12 March that the
peacekeeping battalion would most likely be used on the Kyrgyz-Tajik border
in the event that the Afghan Taliban movement should reach the Tajik
border. A spokesman for the Kyrgyz Defense Ministry said Kyrgyz troops may
participate in NATO operations in the near future. -- Bruce Pannier
[05] PROOF OF TAJIK AID TO ANTI-TALIBAN FORCES?
According to the 13 March edition of Nezavisimaya Gazeta, Tajikistan is
indeed providing a safe haven and help to Afghan Gen. Ahmed Shah Masoud in
his fight against the Taliban Afghan religious movement. Although Tajik
press secretary Zafar Saidov denied on 7 March that any foreign troops were
based in Tajikistan, the paper quoted its own reporter who had recently
been in the southern city of Kulyab. According to the reporter, it was easy
to meet Afghan pilots who "did not try to hide they were flying daily from
Tajikistan to Afghanistan." The article also alleged that Masoud himself
was living in a hotel in the center of Kulyab and that his personal
airplane was in a hanger at the city's airport. -- Bruce Pannier
[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[06] ALBANIA ON BRINK OF CIVIL WAR?
Rebellion has now reached the capital city, international media report
today. In the early hours of this morning, looters ransacked the Tirana
military academy. Some soldiers broke the city's curfew and chanted "Vlore"
in the main square, in an apparent show of solidarity with the rebels in
that southern town. Tirana's airport has been closed owing to the latest
developments. Reuters reported that five people were killed and at least 40
injured during the night in the northern city of Shkoder, which until now
had staved off the rebellion. Newly appointed Premier Bashkim Fino told the
BBC that the country is now on the brink of civil war, AFP reported. "Let's
be realistic. ... We're on the brink of civil war here. We're in danger.
Europe has to help us at this difficult time," he said. -- Stan Markotich
[07] BOSNIAN MUSLIM VILLAGE ATTACKED.
Gajevi, a Bosnian Muslim village in Serb-held territory in north-eastern
Bosnia, came under attack on 11 March, international media reported the
following day. According to UN officials, it was the third time this year
that the town has been attacked, causing substantial damage to buildings.
An unarmed band of up to 50 civilians were responsible for this latest
incident, which came one day after the NATO-led Stabilization Force lifted
its security cordon around the village, AFP reported. No casualties were
reported, and Russian troops stationed near the village said they were
unaware that it was under attack until they saw the flames from houses that
were set ablaze. -- Stan Markotich
[08] FORMER YUGOSLAV PREMIER APPEALS TO SERBIAN PRESIDENT.
Milan Panic, who was federal Yugoslav premier in 1992, has joined the
chorus of voices urging Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic to allow fair
elections and take steps toward respecting independent media, Reuters
reported on 11 March. Panic has written a letter to Milosevic saying that,
"The dignity of the Serbian nation can be fully restored only if all future
elections pass the test of the most rigorous international scrutiny. ...
The essential first step to achieve this goal is to assure that the Serbian
media is fully independent and free." -- Stan Markotich
[09] WASHINGTON CRITICAL OF MONTENEGRIN RULING PARTY.
The U.S. State Department on 12 March criticized the ruling Montenegrin
Democratic Socialist Party, saying that lawsuits it has brought against
opposition politicians are merely a method of silencing critics,
international media reported. Spokesman Larry Corwin said, "We are very
concerned about the implications for democracy in Montenegro." The State
Department's comments were made during Montenegrin Premier Milo
Djukanovic's ongoing visit to the U.S. A Montenegrin court on 10 March
found opposition leader Novak Kilibarda guilty of slandering both President
Momir Bulatovic and Parliamentary Speaker Svetozar Marovic during last
year's election campaign. Kilibarda has been ordered to pay some $13,000 in
fines. Corwin said the ruling was "an effort by the Montenegrin ruling
party to intimidate opposition parties." -- Stan Markotich
[10] ZAGREB PROTESTS "ANTI-CROATIAN" MEDIA CAMPAIGN.
The Croatian embassy in Sarajevo on 12 March sent a sharply worded letter
of protest to the Bosnian Foreign Ministry complaining of "an anti-Croatian
campaign by the Sarajevo press," Hina reported. The embassy alleged that
Sarajevo press practices were "unacceptable," because high-ranking Croatian
officials are allegedly portrayed "improperly and, of late, in extremely
bad taste." The letter added that "it is particularly worrying that
statements by senior government officials of...Muslim nationality have also
contributed to this campaign." -- Stan Markotich
[11] MACEDONIAN UPDATE.
President Kiro Gligorov on 12 March upgraded the state of combat readiness
already imposed a week ago (see OMRI Daily Digest, 5 March 1997) at the
Debar, Gostivar, Kicevo, Ohrid, and Tetovo bases, all near the Albanian
border, AFP reported. A scheduled parliamentary debate on rising inter-
ethnic tension was canceled on 12 March after the nationalist, non-
parliamentary opposition VRMO-DPMNE refused an invitation to participate,
MILS reported. Meanwhile, Premier Branko Crvenkovski may fire five
ministers from the ruling Social-Democratic Union of Macedonia in
connection with the scandal over the closure of the TAT savings house, MILS
reported, citing Vecer. Finally, the health of 20 students on hunger strike
to protest a law allowing instruction in Albanian at the Pedagogical
Faculty is said to be deteriorating. The students say that over 40,000
people have signed a petition in support of their demands. -- Michael Wyzan
[12] ITALIAN PRIME MINISTER IN SLOVENIA.
Romano Prodi paid a one-day visit to Ljubljana on 11 March, Western
agencies reported. After meeting with Prime Minister Janez Drnovsek and
President Milan Kucan, Prodi said Italy supports Slovenia's bid for
inclusion in the first wave of new NATO members as well as its accession to
the EU. He added that "in the next months, a mixed Italian-Slovenian group
will be established that will work on bilateral questions so that all
shadows of the past will disappear," Reuters reported. Italy is Slovenia's
second most important trading partner, accounting for about 20% of
Slovenia's total trade turnover. -- Michael Wyzan
[13] CLUJ HUNGARIAN UNIVERSITY TO BE RE-OPENED?
Romanian premier Victor Ciorbea's announcement before his departure for
Budapest that the Bolyai Hungarian-language university in Cluj will be
reopened has prompted protests in Romania, not just among extremist
parties. Cluj Prefect Alexandru Farcasan, who is a member of the ruling
National Peasant Party-Christian Democratic, said reopening the university
and permitting bilingual street signs are likely to cause "discontent"
among the Romanian ethnic majority. The reopening of the Bolyay university,
which in 1958 was merged with the Romanian-language Babes University, has
long been demanded by the Hungarian Democratic Federation of Romania, now a
member of the ruling coalition. But ethnic Romanian faculty of the Babes-
Bolyay University, including Rector Andrei Marga, are opposed to the move.
Meanwhile, Radio Bucharest quoted Ciorbea as saying in Budapest on 12 March
that a separate Hungarian-language department would be opened within the
existing university and would train Hungarian-language teachers. -- Michael
Shafir
[14] ROMANIA DENIES UKRAINIAN ALLEGATIONS OVER TREATY TALKS.
Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Gilda Lazar on 12 March denied that Romanian
ambassador to Ukraine Ion Bistreanu said at a press conference that
Bucharest is no longer abiding by the reported compromise reached with Kyiv
in talks over the bilateral treaty, Radio Bucharest reported. ITAR-TASS had
reported on the alleged press conference, and Ukrainian Foreign Minister
Hennadii Udovenko had deplored the new Romanian position in an interview
with the agency, Romanian media reported on 13 March. Lazar said Bistreanu
has not held a press conference for the last ten days. She added that the
Romanian side was waiting for a Ukrainian response to its latest proposals.
Foreign Minister Adrian Severin was "ready to travel anywhere and at any
time" in order to help clarify outstanding issues, she added. -- Michael
Shafir
[15] TRIPARTITE MEETING IN CHISINAU.
Contrary to earlier reports, Infotag said on 12 March that Ukrainian
President Leonid Kuchma and the leader of the Transdniester breakaway
region, Igor Smirnov, met the previous day in Chisinau, not Tiraspol. The
meeting was also attended by Moldovan Prime Minister Ion Ciubuc and
parliamentary chairman Dumitru Motpan, as well as Transdniestrian Supreme
Soviet chairman Grigore Markutsa. Boris Akulov, head of the breakaway
region's State Committee for Information, said the talks do not signal "a
resumption of the negotiation process." He said that summit meetings will
be resumed only if and when Moldova agrees to sign the memorandum on the
long-term settlement of the conflict. Kuchma has invited Smirnov to visit
Ukraine in April to discuss the possible participation of Ukrainian troops
in the peace-keeping process. He also spoke in favor of boosting trade with
the Transdniester. -- Michael Shafir
[16] BULGARIA'S IMF DEAL HELD UP BY DISAGREEMENT OVER BANKS.
Bulgarian Premier Stefan Sofiyanski on 12 March said different views over a
$150 million IMF loan to recapitalize Bulgaria's banks were delaying
agreement with the fund, Pari reported. Bulgaria's Banking Consolidation
Company wants the money to be used for rehabilitating banks before
privatization, while the fund insists that four banks be sold before the
end of 1996 and that foreign managers be sought for another two. The IMF
holds that the banks experienced difficulties because of bad management,
weak supervision, and intentional malfeasance. It says it will not bale out
corrupt institutions. Michael Depler, head of the IMF's European Department
I, said on 12 March he expects an agreement to be reached within two days. -
- 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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