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RFE/RL Newsline, Vol. 2, No. 160, 98-08-20Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty: Newsline Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty <http://www.rferl.org>RFE/RL NEWSLINEVol. 2, No. 160, 20 August 1998CONTENTS[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA
[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[C] END NOTE
[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA[01] RUSSIA, TAJIKISTAN RELEASE STATEMENT ON AFGHANISTANFollowing talks between officials of the Tajik government and a Russian military-political delegation in Dushanbe, a joint statement on the situation in Afghanistan has been released, ITAR-TASS reported on 20 August. That statement calls for the "close interaction" of CIS countries that are signatories to the collective security treaty in protecting the southern borders of the CIS, notably the Tajik-Afghan border. The statement also emphasizes that Russia and Tajikistan are "deeply worried by the escalation in bloodshed in Afghanistan and by the fact that fighting is taking place in immediate proximity to the Tajik- Afghan border." That fighting "poses a real direct threat to the southern borders of the CIS," according to the statement. The signatories also call on the UN to convene an international conference on Afghanistan attended by representatives of all the states bordering Afghanistan, Russia, and the U.S. BP[02] UN CALLS FOR RESULTS IN TAJIK MURDER INVESTIGATIONThe UN Security Council on 19 August called on Tajikistan to complete its investigation into the murders of four UN employees in late July and to bring the guilty parties to justice, Reuters reported. The four UN employees were killed in central Tajikistan. Tajik authorities said recently they know who and where the killers are (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 13 August 1998). The perpetrators are in an area controlled by the United Tajik Opposition (UTO), which has been cooperating in the investigation. Despite UTO promises to extradite them to Dushanbe, the killers appear neither to have been detained or transferred to Dushanbe. BP[03] THREE ARRESTED IN TAJIKISTAN FOR DISTRIBUTING TALIBAN PROPAGANDATajik law enforcement officials on 19 August took three foreigners into custody on charges of distributing "extremist" literature at mosques in Tajikistan, ITAR-TASS reported. The three were apprehended in a Dushanbe mosque and were reported to be in possession of "numerous" pieces of literature based on ideas espoused by Afghanistan's Taliban movement. The three had Pakistani passports. BP[04] OUSTED AFGHAN PRESIDENT IN TAJIKISTANRussian Public Television, citing the RIA-Novosti news agency, reported on 19 August that ousted Afghan President Burhanuddin Rabbani and Prime Minister Ahmad Shah Ahmadzay, have left northern Afghanistan and are now in Tajikistan. BP[05] CONVICTED IRANIANS EXTRADITED FROM TURKMENISTANThirty-eight Iranians convicted by Turkmen courts mainly on charges of drug- smuggling have been sent back to Iran, Interfax reported on 19 August. Some of the convicted had been sentenced to death. Most of those convicted were women. The extradition agreement was reached during Turkmen President Saparmurat Niyazov's visit to Iran in July. BP[06] TENGE FALLS BUT KAZAKHSTAN NOT WORRIEDKazakhstan's national currency has fallen by from 77 to 79 to $1 since 18 August, but officials in the country say they are not concerned. The following day, the National Bank released a statement that there "was no real threat of a sharp devaluation of the tenge," Interfax reported. The statement noted that "Kazakhstan spends roughly 9 percent of its budget to service internal and external debts," unlike Russia and Ukraine, where "the figure reaches 35 percent." The statement also pointed out that "the currency and financial systems of Russia and Kazakhstan were divided long ago" and that the Russian ruble now accounts for "no more than 7 percent of trade settlements" in Kazakhstan. BP[07] U.S., OSCE CONCERNED ABOUT AZERBAIJANI DEVELOPMENTSThe U.S. State Department issued a statement on 18 August registering concern at the detention or arrest of a number of people who intended to participate in the 15 August opposition-sponsored demonstration in Baku, Turan reported. It noted that the right of peaceful assembly and demonstration is an accepted international principle. The statement also registered "disappointment" at the failure of the Azerbaijani authorities and opposition to reach agreement on the composition of the Central Electoral Commission, stressing the responsibility of the Azerbaijani government to ensure that the 11 October presidential elections are free and fair. Turan also quoted an unidentified official of the OSCE's Office of Democratic Institutions and Human Rights as saying that organization is "deeply concerned" at the Azerbaijani authorities' reaction to the 15 August demonstration. LF[08] ARMENIAN FOREIGN MINISTER IN TBILISIVartan Oskanian and his Georgian counterpart, Irakli Menagharishvili, signed a further partnership and cooperation agreement in Tbilisi on 19 August, Caucasus Press reported. The agreement mentioned cooperation within the Black Sea Economic Cooperation Organization and within the TRACECA and INOGATE projects. Oskanian characterized Georgia as Armenia's "strategic partner" and noted Georgia's role in mediating improved relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan. Asked to comment on the 13 August standoff between ethnic Armenians and Georgian troops in Akhalkalaki (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 17 August 1998), Oskanian said the creation of an autonomous region in southern Georgia is a domestic political issue in which Armenia will not interfere. Oskanian also met with Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze, who characterized bilateral relations as exemplary but called for the harmonization of the two countries' tax and customs policies. Shevardnadze extended an official invitation to Armenian President Robert Kocharian to visit Tbilisi. LF[09] KIRIENKO MEETS WITH GEORGIAN MINISTER OF STATEMeeting in Moscow on 19 August, Russian Prime Minister Sergei Kirienko and Vazha Lortkipanidze discussed TRACECA and other Caucasian projects and the possibility of Russian participation in those projects, according to Caucasus Press. Lortkipanidze also briefed his Russian counterpart on the Abkhaz situation, blaming the expulsion of the ethnic Georgian population of Gali in May on the failure of the Russian peacekeeping force to intervene. Kirienko affirmed his support for Georgia's territorial integrity and condemned as unjustifiable attempts to prevent the repatriation of the Georgian fugitives. LF[10] PRIMAKOV MEETS WITH ABKHAZ PRESIDENTRussian Foreign Minister Yevgenii Primakov, who is currently vacationing in Sochi, met with Vladislav Ardzinba on 18 August to discuss the situation in Abkhazia's southernmost Gali Raion and the prospects for a meeting between Ardzinba and Georgian President Shevardnadze, Caucasus Press reported. Ardzinba affirmed that he sets no preconditions for such a meeting, "Kommersant-Daily" reported on 19 August. Russian First Deputy Foreign Minister Boris Pastukhov last week urged the two leaders to meet in order to expedite the signing of agreements on strengthening the present cease- fire accord and the return to Gali of ethnic Georgian displaced persons (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 14 August 1998). LF[11] ABKHAZ, GEORGIAN OFFICIALS DISCUSS RECONSTRUCTIONAbkhaz Prime Minister Sergei Bagapsh visited Gali Raion on 19 August where he discussed with local officials funding for the district and repairs to strategic highways, Caucasus Press reported. How the Russian financial crisis will impact on such plans is unclear: Georgian presidential economic adviser Temur Basilia told journalists in Tbilisi on 19 August that most of Georgia is unlikely to be affected, except for Abkhazia, South Ossetia, and Akhalkalaki, where the Russian ruble, not the Georgian lari, is used. Meanwhile the Abkhaz government in exile in Tbilisi is considering a draft program of urgent measures to improve the situation in Abkhazia's predominantly Svan-populated Kodori gorge, which is the only district of Abkhazia controlled by Georgia. LF[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE[12] SESELJ SAYS SERBS NEED NOT HURRY TO TALKSerbian Deputy Prime Minister Vojislav Seselj said in Nis that the Serbs should wait one year for a more favorable international negotiating atmosphere on Kosova, the Belgrade daily "Danas" reported on 20 August. He charged that the "Americans and Germans" have decided to reduce the size of Serbia and will raise the question of Vojvodina once the Kosova issue is settled. "The Germans are already planning to seek the return of the property of the ethnic Germans," whom the Yugoslav communists expelled in the wake of World War II, he added. Seselj said that the Serbian government has been careful not to provoke a NATO intervention in Kosova and that it has "successfully concluded the police and military action aimed at wiping out Albanian terrorism. We have not yet destroyed all the terrorists, but all that remains is to finish them off in the forests and small localities, which the police will do soon." PM[13] UNHCR'S FOUR-POINT PLAN FOR AVERTING REFUGEE DISASTERSoeren Jessen Petersen, a deputy to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, said in Prishtina on 19 August that it is likely that "many, many people [will die in Kosova] during the coming winter. Humanitarian action must not, once again, as happened in Bosnia four or five years ago, become a substitute for political action." Petersen recommended four steps to avert a major humanitarian disaster, AP reported. First, hostilities must end and negotiations start. Second, journalists and aid agencies must have better access to Kosova. Third, the 170,000 displaced persons within the province and the 50,000 refugees outside it must be able to go home. And fourth, the UN aid operation must receive more support. PM[14] BONINO SAYS NO HUMANITARIAN RELIEF WITHOUT POLITICAL SOLUTIONEmma Bonino, who is the EU's chief official for human rights, said in Prishtina on 19 August that Kosova is headed for a major "humanitarian catastrophe" in the coming months unless a political solution is found. She warned that the rainy season will begin soon, followed by the winter, and that the worsening weather conditions will make the thousands of displaced persons' temporary shelters useless. She added that the "international community must face reality" and seek a political solution in order to avert the crisis. Bonino stressed that it will not be possible to carry out a humanitarian relief mission while fighting is going on, as the international community attempted to do during the recent wars in Croatia and Bosnia. Elsewhere, the Council for the Defense of Human Rights in Prishtina published the names of 800 Kosovars whom the Council claims the Serbian authorities have abducted since the beginning of 1998. PM[15] ALBANIAN FOREIGN MINISTER URGES KOSOVARS TO UNITEPaskal Milo told Reuters in Tirana on 19 August that the divisions between President Ibrahim Rugova's shadow state and the Kosova Liberation Army (UCK) are undermining the Kosovars' international credibility. Milo added that ethnic Albanian political groups need to develop a coordinated strategy, and he urged individual factions to put aside their differences. Milo also said that the UCK has lost political influence as a result of its recent military setbacks and that the five-member negotiating team that Rugova appointed last week should serve as a nucleus for uniting all Kosovar political forces. Meanwhile, the Albanian Foreign Ministry sent a protest note to the federal Yugoslav embassy on 19 August condemning Serbian troops for firing 15 shells on the border town of Padesh the previous day, "Gazeta Shqiptare" reported on 20 August. FS[16] MONTENEGRIN MINISTER DEFENDS TALKS WITH CROATIAMontenegrin Foreign Minister Branko Perovic said in Podgorica on 19 August that he is pleased with the results of the previous day's Yugoslav-Croatian talks (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 19 August 1998). He stressed that Montenegrin representatives participated in all stages of the negotiations. Representatives of the smaller parties in the governing coalition had said that the talks did not serve Montenegro's interests because Serbian diplomats failed to give priority to opening border crossings between Croatia and Montenegro, RFE/RL's South Slavic Service reported. PM[17] SERBIAN NGO PRESENTS BOSNIAN WAR EVIDENCERepresentatives of the Fund for Humanitarian Justice sent documents to the Hague-based war crimes tribunal on 19 August, RFE/RL's South Slavic Service reported. The texts allegedly prove the involvement of top officials of the Serbian Interior Ministry in the 1992-1995 Bosnian conflict, a spokesman for the fund said in Belgrade. Slobodan Miljkovic "Lugar," who recently died in a bar-room shoot- out, allegedly played a key role in Serbia's involvement in the war (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 10 August 1998). PM[18] ALBANIA, U.S. HUNT TERRORISTSAn unidentified Albanian Interior Ministry official told AP on 19 August that U.S. and Albanian secret service agents have launched a "intensive search" across Albania for suspected members of an international Islamist terrorist group. The official added that the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency has found "serious evidence" that the suspected terrorists planned to blow up the American embassy in Tirana (see "RFE/RL Newsline" 19 August 1998). An anonymous Albanian- speaking caller made several phone calls to the embassy last week in which he threatened to drive a car bomb into the building. Each time he spoke only for a few seconds and gave no explanation for his threat, the official said. Unknown persons have also given bomb threats recently to Albania's embassies in France, Italy, and Germany, as well as the offices of the daily "Shekulli," which has written about Islamist activities in Albania. FS[19] EXPLOSION DAMAGES ALBANIAN ORTHODOX CHURCHA bomb heavily damaged an Orthodox church in Shkodra on 19 August, "Gazeta Shqiptare" reported. The blast caused no casualties. Police said they have not been able to identify who was behind the attack or what were the motives. They added, however, that they are looking into all possibilities, including a land dispute. Local politicians and representatives from all religious communities condemned the bombing. The wooden church was built in 1996 in a park near the university. The previous day, unidentified criminals attacked a depot for heavy arms in Palikesht, near Berat. The attackers used machine guns and grenades but failed to take the building. They fled after a shoot-out that lasted over half an hour, "Gazeta Shqiptare" reported on 19 August. FS[20] MOLDOVAN FOREIGN MINISTER ON RUSSIAN TROOPS WITHDRAWALNicolae Tabacaru on 19 August said in Washington that by the end of 1998 he will give the OSCE a new plan for the Russian troops' withdrawal from the Transdniester. The plan will call for the withdrawal of the 2,600 troops stationed in the separatist region, but only after 43,000 tons of ammunition are first removed--as Tabacaru put it, to avoid its falling into the hands of drug traffickers and money launderers, "many of whom operate out of the Transdniester." He also said that during his meeting on 19 August at the State Department, he was informed that the U.S. has decided to include Moldova in the Action Plan for Southeast Europe, which is aimed at intensifying political and economic cooperation among the countries belonging to the program., an RFE/RL correspondent reported. MS[21] BULGARIAN OFFICIALS DENY MACEDONIAN ALLEGATIONSProsecutor-General Ivan Tatarchev and parliamentary deputy Kazimir Karakanchov, leader of the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization, on 18 August denied accusations published the previous day in Skopje's "Nova Makedonija" that they are interfering in Macedonian affairs "in a way unparalleled in Europe." Citing speeches the two officials made at a gathering in early August in Predela marking the anniversary of the 1903 uprising against the Turks, the daily wrote that the two are displaying "extreme impatience to see the border between the two countries abolished and the two peoples spiritually united." In an interview with the BBC on 18 August Karakanchov said that "the idea to lift borders did not originate in Bulgaria and did not apply to the Bulgarian- Macedonian border alone," BTA reported. MS[C] END NOTE[22] THIRTY YEARS LATER, CZECHS STILL DEBATE LEGACY OF 1968by Jeremy BranstenIt has been 30 years since Soviet troops rolled down Wenceslas Square and the Prague Spring was crushed under the metallic tread of tanks on cobblestones. But this year, there will be no big anniversaries, no national outpouring of emotion such as in February, when the hockey team won the gold medal at Nagano and half of Prague spilled out onto the streets. A decade ago, with public opinion muzzled, and Soviet troops still occupying Czechoslovakia, the 20th anniversary of the 1968 invasion had deep resonance. But today, even the 1989 Velvet Revolution seems an increasingly distant memory. And those who remember are asking: Does the Prague Spring have any meaning for Czechs today, 30 years after its premature death? Political scientist Bohumil Pecinka doesn't think so. He says that most people prefer to look to the period before the Communist takeover in 1948, rather than to the 1968 interlude. "After 1989, and the Velvet Revolution," he says, "there wasn't a return to 1968, but a return to 1948, or more accurately, to before 1948, when democracy was destroyed in our country. And the majority of people now look at 1968 as an attempt by the Communist elite to humanize the then Communist regime--not to change it." Yet 1968 was much more than that. Although it was originally devised as a modest reform program within the Czechoslovak Communist Party, the Prague Spring quickly mushroomed into a grassroots movement. And when it was crushed, for a brief few day newspapers splashed photos across their front pages of a sad, defiant people meeting tanks with clenched fists. Prague became synonymous with the dashed hopes of a generation. But the world's attention soon shifted, until another revolution came, whose velvet embrace swept those humiliating memories away. The cobblestones are the same, but these days, wandering down Wenceslas Square, where the American Express and McDonald's outlets disgorge flocks of admiring backpackers, it's hard to conjure up the tanks, or the heady atmosphere of 1968. The only Russians you'll see today are nouveau rich "biznemeni" who cruise by in their BMWs. A small wooden cross and a plaque dedicated "in memory of the victims of Communism" mark the spot where in 1969, Jan Palach, a 20-year-old student, immolated himself to protest the Soviet invasion. Tourists take photos, and move on to the T-shirt stands. Remembering hurts in this country, says Pecinka. "The Communist system was so well perfected that anyone who wanted to live here and not just exist had to somehow conform...to make lots of small compromises. And people don't want to recall that," he explains. Ludvik Vaculik, a leading Czech writer, is one local who didn't compromise and who likes to remember. Vaculik published the "2,000 Words" declaration in the summer of 1968. The manifesto called for true democratic change in Czechoslovakia, from the ground up, directly challenging the regime's role in leading reform. Moscow branded the document counter-revolutionary and used its publication, in part, to justify the invasion. Vaculik says the Prague Spring still has great significance, but many people prefer to ignore it. "The legacy of 1968 is that people, at that time, stepped away from their personal interests and careers and understood that there was a common task. It was an ability to rise above things and act as a human whole--and this, with our new freedom, is now being whittled away." Vaculik notes that the lessons of the Prague Spring are more appreciated in the West than in the East, and he adds that without wanting to, Czechoslovakia became the sacrificial lamb that helped dispel any myths about Eastern European Communism. "This whole process and all of 1968 had greater significance for Europe than for us. The leftist intelligentsia in Europe learned what the USSR was all about--what kind of power it was--and that socialism in the Soviet mold was unreformable. Although he spent the next 20 years shuttling from one interrogation cell to another, for Vaculik the Prague Spring was worth the personal cost." It really can't be measured by the standard of was it worth it or not," he says. "No, that's not important. It was necessary. Some people stood the test, and some simply did not." Historian Pavel Zacek explains the Sisyphean struggle he faces. Zacek, a one-time student activist, is now deputy director of the Office for the Documentation and Investigation of Communist Crimes. The office is a part of the Interior Ministry. Its task is to investigate the activities of the former State Security apparatus and compile evidence against individuals who committed specific crimes on behalf of repressive institutions. On paper, the office enjoys broad powers - more power in fact, than any other such body in Eastern Europe. Its staff-members, as Interior Ministry employees, have broad access to classified files and have prepared indictments against scores of individuals, including some of the main actors in the post-1968 "normalization" period. But the indictments must then proceed to the courts, where they are often thrown out. But Zacek says he is not after punishment. He just wants Czech society to honestly assess its past so that it can move on to a secure democratic future. "We have to bear in mind that some of these perpetrators are 70- to 80-year- old pensioners. The point is not to lock them up, but to decide that what they did was a crime and for society to acknowledge that among it are criminals. Without this assignation of blame, society cannot come to terms with its past, accept a democratic order, and move forward." The author is an RFE/RL editor based in Prague. 20-08-98 Reprinted with permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
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