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RFE/RL Newsline, Vol. 3, No. 196, 99-10-07Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty: Newsline Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty <http://www.rferl.org>RFE/RL NEWSLINEVol. 3, No. 196, 7 October 1999CONTENTS[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA
[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[C] END NOTE
[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA[01] AZERBAIJAN PROTESTS RUSSIAN MISSILE STRIKEAzerbaijan'sForeign Ministry on 6 October protested the Russian denial of any responsibility for an explosion in the village of Gymir in Azerbaijan's northern Zakatala Raion (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 4 October 1999), Turan and Interfax reported. Initial reports claimed that a bomb dropped by a Russian aircraft caused the explosion, which damaged several houses, but a subsequent Azerbaijan Defense Ministry investigation established that the cause was a ground-to-ground missile. The Azerbaijani statement called on the Russian Defense Ministry to acknowledge responsibility for the attack and launch an investigation. LF [02] GEORGIA POISED TO JOIN WTOA meeting of the World TradeOrganization General Council in Geneva on 6 October ruled that Georgia has fulfilled all requirements for membership in that organization, Reuters reported. The Georgian parliament must now ratify the terms of entry agreed with the WTO, according to AP. LF [03] TBILISI, BATUMI AT ODDS OVER AMNESTYGeorgia's DeputyProsecutor-General Anzor Baluashvili said in Tbilisi on 6 October that the Prosecutor-General's Office will open criminal proceedings against the governors of prisons in Batumi, the capital of the Adjar Autonomous republic, if they fail to release 28 prisoners pardoned under Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze's 1 October amnesty, Caucasus Press reported (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 4 October 1999). LF [04] GEORGIAN DISPLACED PERSONS QUERY ACCURACY OF ABKHAZ POLLDATA...The Tbilisi-based Information Center of the Abkhaz Autonomous Republic, which represents ethnic Georgians who fled Abkhazia during the 1992-1993 war, told Caucasus Press on 6 October that the Abkhaz authorities overstated the number of voters eligible to participate in the 3 October presidential elections by including in voter registers the names of 2,500 residents of the Russian Federation. The center also disputed official poll returns according to which turnout in the predominantly Georgian-populated Gali Raion was 65 percent. The White Legion Georgian guerrilla organization claimed that no more than 13 percent of Abkhazia's population participated in the poll. A turnout of 50 percent was required for the election to be valid. Meanwhile the OSCE, the Council of Europe, and the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry have issued statements terming the poll illegal, Interfax and ITAR-TASS reported. LF [05] ...AS ABKHAZ OFFICIAL SAYS REPATRIATION SUCCESSFULOtarKakalia, who heads the Abkhaz presidential commission overseeing the repatriation of ethnic Georgian displaced persons to Gali Raion, issued a statement on 6 October claiming that the process is now completed, ITAR-TASS reported. Kakalia said some 65,000 ethnic Georgians have returned to Gali in response to Abkhaz President Vladislav Ardzinba's appeal to them to do so (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 2 and 8 March 1999). He added that schools have been opened for thousands of Georgian children and that water-supplies and roads in the district are being repaired. LF [06] KAZAKHSTAN'S CENTRAL ELECTORAL COMMISSION WARNS PRO-PRESIDENTIAL PARTY...The Central Electoral Commission warned the Civic Party on 6 October to stop distributing free gifts to voters in the runup to the 10 October elections to the lower chamber of the Kazakh parliament, Interfax reported, quoting commission deputy chairman Kuandyk Turgankulov. He added that the Azamat (Citizen) and Communist Parties and an OSCE mission have complained about those activities. But Kuandykov rejected as untrue claims by the Azamat Party that the Civic Party used foreign funds to finance its election campaign (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 28 and 30 September 1999). LF [07] ...AS DOUBTS EXPRESSED THAT POLL WILL BE FREE AND FAIRAzamat party leader Petr Svojk, speaking to journalists inAlmaty on 6 October, said he expects that local administrators will falsify the outcome of the 10 October polls, RFE/RL's bureau in the former capital reported. Svojk urged that domestic observers be permitted to monitor the vote count. An RFE/RL correspondent who accompanied OCSE Chairman-In-Office Knut Vollebaek on his recent tour of Central Asian capitals quoted ODIHR official Hrair Balian as expressing concern that some local Kazakh election officials may be either ignorant of the new improved election law or may simply choose not to observe those articles of the law providing for monitoring of the vote count and tabulation. LF [08] KAZAKH FINANCE MINISTER ASSESSES ECONOMIC SITUATIONOrazZhandosov told journalists in Almaty on 6 October that the IMF believes Kazakhstan is experiencing a deep economic crisis and will consider the possibility of further loans and credits only after sending a team to the country later this month, RFE/RL's bureau in the former capital reported. The fund and the Kazakh government failed to reach agreement on a new loan program two months ago (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 11 August 1999). Zhandosov said that Kazakhstan's current deficit is $550 million and that it is unlikely that the country can get through the next fiscal year without new foreign credits. Zhandosov said no final decision has yet been taken on whether to sell part of Kazakhstan's 25 percent equity stake in the Tengizchevroil project, but he proposed privatizing KazTelecom and the People's Bank as soon as possible in order to help bridge the budget deficit. Zhandosov estimated Kazakh citizens' combined deposits in foreign banks at $3-4 billion. LF [09] PRO-PRESIDENTIAL PARTY REGISTERED IN KYRGYZSTANThe AdiletParty, which supports President Askar Akaev, was registered by the Minister of Justice on 22 September, five days after holding its founding conference, RFE/RL's Bishkek bureau reported on 6 October. The party already has 33,000 members, including oblast and city heads. The party's chairman is former Finance Minister Marat Sultanov. LF [10] KYRGYZ MEDIATORS CONTINUE EFFORTS TO SECURE HOSTAGES'RELEASEA prominent Kyrgyz religious leader, International Islamic Center Director Sadykzhan Kamalov, has arrived in Dushanbe on a private visit to meet with Tajik religious leaders in an attempt to secure the release of 13 hostages held by ethnic Uzbek militants in southern Kyrgyzstan, ITAR- TASS reported on 6 October. Kamalov met in Dushanbe with Tajikistan's Minister for the Economy and Foreign Economic Relations Davlat Usmon, who last week was nominated as presidential candidate for the opposition Islamic Renaissance Party. Also on 6 October, Kyrgyz Human Rights Movement Chairman Tursunbek Akunov told RFE/RL by telephone that he has still failed to make contact in Pakistan with representatives of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan who had promised to help him travel to Afghanistan to meet with the hostage takers' leaders there. LF [11] TAJIKISTAN PROTESTS UZBEK BOMBING RAIDSThe Tajik ForeignMinistry on 6 October sent an official note to its Uzbek counterpart protesting the air raids by Uzbek aircraft on villages in eastern Tajikistan, Reuters and ITAR-TASS reported (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 5 and 6 October 1999). AP quoted Tajik officials as estimating that 80 bombs were dropped from 2-4 October. LF [12] TURKMENISTAN WILL EXPORT GAS VIA RUSSIA, IRAN IF TRANS-CASPIAN PIPELINE DELAYEDMeeting in Ashgabat on 6 October with Turkish Energy Minister Cumhur Ersumer, Turkmenistan's President Saparmurat Niyazov said that if construction of the Trans-Caspian pipeline to export Turkmen gas to Turkey via Azerbaijan and Georgia is not begun within six or seven months, then his country will begin exporting gas via Iran and Russia, Turan reported. Niyazov held talks in Ashgabat on 4 October with representatives of the U.S. company PSG, which will be the pipeline operator. He also met with representatives of Royal Dutch/Shell, which is the upstream partner in the project. Construction of the Trans-Caspian pipeline is contingent on the signing of a political agreement by Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Turkey. Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan are at odds over how much Azerbaijani gas will be exported via that pipeline. LF [B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE[13] VOJVODINA MARKS ANNIVERSARY OF 'YOGURT REVOLUTION'As manyas 8,000 protesters gathered in Novi Sad on 6 October to mark the 11th anniversary of the seizure of power in Vojvodina by supporters of Serbian leader Slobodan Milosevic. In 1988, pro-Milosevic demonstrators threw pots of yogurt at government buildings, but 11 years later protesters lit candles to honor victims of Milosevic's rule. Vojvodina opposition leader Nenad Canak told the crowd: "We cannot escape from Milosevic because he is not human, he is pollution," Reuters reported. Elsewhere, some 5,000 anti- Milosevic demonstrators turned out in Belgrade, as did a few hundred people in Cacak and Pancevo. PM [14] DRASKOVIC BLASTS MILOSEVIC'S 'EVIL EMPIRE'The SerbianRenewal Movement's (SPO) leader Vuk Draskovic said in Belgrade on 6 October that Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic's rule is "an empire of evil, which causes only death and has destroyed everything," AP reported. The SPO leader spoke at the funeral of three of his aides, who died recently in a mysterious traffic accident. Draskovic has called the accident an "assassination attempt" against him that was organized by the authorities (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 6 October 1999). Elsewhere, SPO officials said the police are planning to issue a report saying that the unidentified driver of the truck that caused the accident did so in an attempt to pass another vehicle. Draskovic has charged that the driver deliberately swerved into his lane for no apparent reason. Finally, the state-run Tanjug news agency reported that police have detained Draskovic aide Vladimir Nikolic in custody on charges of "revealing official secrets." Nikolic is a former employee of the secret service. PM [15] DJUKANOVIC: 'NO ORDINARY ACCIDENT'Montenegrin PresidentMilo Djukanovic said he does "not want to add to the tensions" in Serbia by commenting on Draskovic's accident, London's "The Independent" reported on 7 October. He stressed nonetheless that it "was no ordinary traffic accident if the leader of the most important opposition party...barely survives a car crash at this very sensitive political moment." PM [16] DRASKOVIC KEY TO OPPOSITION SUCCESS?Many observers inBelgrade believe that opposition protests are unlikely to become large enough to threaten Milosevic's hold on power unless Draskovic joins them, VOA's Serbian Service reported on 7 October. The previous day, Social Democratic leader Vuk Obradovic appealed to Draskovic to take part in the protests and thereby help transform them into an expression of the will "of the entire nation." The SPO leader had previously criticized the demonstrations as ineffective. VOA added that some observers expect former General Momcilo Perisic, who heads the Movement for Democratic Serbia, to soon join the opposition's protests (see "RFE/RL Balkan Report," 10 August 1999). PM [17] SERBIAN OPPOSITION LEADER HOPES FOR FUEL DELIVERIESMladjanDinkic, who is a spokesman for the opposition G-17 group of economists, said in Belgrade on 6 October that foreign ministers of Finland, France, and Germany support his call for winter fuel deliveries to Serbia. The G-17's "energy for democracy" program calls for private firms to deliver fuel to Serbian cities and towns under independent supervision. The program would involve all municipalities, regardless of whether they are controlled by the opposition or by Milosevic. EU foreign ministers are slated to vote on 11 October on a Greek and Dutch proposal to provide winter fuel to Serbia. PM [18] VOLLEBAEK CONDEMNS ETHNIC CLASHES IN MITROVICA...OSCEChairman Knut Vollebaek, speaking to students at the Vushtrri police academy on 6 October, condemned an incident the previous day near Mitrovica in which ethnic Albanians attacked Serbs (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 6 October 1999). Vollebaek stressed that "security for each and every citizen is basic if we want to rebuild society.... I'm also happy that we have some representatives of minorities [in the police force]," AP reported. There are about a dozen Serbs among the 176 police students. Vollebaek added that he will urge ethnic Albanian political leaders "to have a very clear stand when it comes to the atrocities now committed against Serbs. I think that is unacceptable." At least one Serb was killed and 26 people injured in the violence, including 15 peacekeepers and 11 Serbs. The private Serbian news agency Beta noted that three Serbs are still reported missing since the incident. FS [19] ...AS DOES JACKSONKFOR commander General Sir Mike Jacksontold Reuters on 6 October that the Mitrovica violence "was an appalling incident.... As far as I can work out, a group of civilians attacked another group of civilians, completely unprovoked, which ended in a very ugly scene." He concluded: "It does tell me that, I'm afraid, ethnic hatred is still just below the surface, which is a shame. But it's a fact." Meanwhile, an unidentified man threw a hand grenade into a shop in Vitina, injuring two Serbs, according to Beta. And KFOR arrested three uniformed members of the Kosova Protection Corps on 5 October, who "threatened" unspecified people in the Prishtina hospital, AP reported. FS [20] BOSNIAN MILITARY COMMITTEE NAMES REPRESENTATIVESMembers ofthe Standing Committee for Military Questions agreed in Sarajevo on 6 October that a Muslim will be Bosnia's military attache in Washington. They also decided that a Serb will be the chief military representative to NATO and a Croat will hold a similar position at the OSCE headquarters in Vienna. The committee also agreed to set up an unspecified number of working groups to draw up by the end of October concrete plans on security and on demilitarization, RFE/RL's South Slavic Service Reported. PM [21] BAN ON HARD-LINE BOSNIAN SERB PARTY IN THE OFFING?The OSCEand the office of the international community's Wolfgang Petritsch issued a joint statement in Sarajevo on 6 October threatening to bar the Bosnian branch of Vojislav Seselj's Serbian Radical Party (SRS) from taking part in local elections in 2000. The statement said the ban will come into effect unless the SRS drops three prominent hard-liners from its leadership. They are Nikola Poplasen, Mirko Blagojevic, and Ognjen Tadic. In response, the SRS issued a statement, signed by Poplasen, calling the decision "fascist." PM [22] KLEIN PLANS JOINT BORDER POLICEJacques Klein, who is theUN's chief representative in Bosnia, spoke with Bosnian Serb leaders in Banja Luka on 6 October about establishing a joint border police force. That body would include police from both the Republika Srpska and the mainly Croatian and Muslim federation. Its first task would be to take charge of police work at Sarajevo airport, RFE/RL's South Slavic Service reported. It is unclear when the force would begin work. PM [23] CROATIAN WEEKLY SUES NATIONALIST LEADERIvo Pukanic, who iseditor-in-chief of the independent weekly "Nacional," told Reuters in Zagreb on 6 October that his newspaper is suing right-wing politician Anto Djapic (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 8 September 1999). Pukanic charged that Djapic has threatened his publication and other independent media with physical violence. PM [24] ALBANIA'S MAJKO REJECTS CRITICISM BY PREDECESSORPrimeMinister Pandeli Majko, speaking at a Socialist Party gathering in Tirana on 5 October, dismissed party leader Fatos Nano's recent criticism of his efforts to achieve a reconciliation with the opposition. Majko argued that "it was necessary to reach out [to the opposition] at a time when the Serbs were preparing the massacre [of the Kosovar Albanians]," the "Albanian Daily News" reported on 7 October. He argued that the Socialists must be open to contacts with "a constructive opposition that knows and respects state institutions and constitutional laws." And he added that Nano's "accusations create a spiral of uncertainty, verbal violence, lack of confidence, and suspicion that targets...solidarity" within the Socialist Party. Majko will challenge Nano for the party leadership at the party's 9 October congress. FS [25] ALBANIA, ITALY PLEDGE BETTER COOPERATIONAlbanian ForeignMinister Paskal Milo and his Italian counterpart, Lamberto Dini, pledged in Rome on 5 October to launch several joint regional projects within the framework of the Balkan Stability Pact, the "Albanian Daily News" reported on 7 October. Both countries will present proposals for those projects at an upcoming donors conference in Bari. One key proposal will be the construction of an east-west "corridor" linking the port of Durres via Macedonia with Bulgarian Black Sea ports and Istanbul. The corridor includes improved telecommunications, road and railway links, and oil and gas pipelines. The ministers also agreed to create a permanent working group to coordinate their efforts in promoting political, economic, and social development and strengthening public order. FS [26] NO FOUNDATION STONE LAID AT 'RECONCILIATION PARK' IN ROMANIAThe 6 October ceremony at which the foundation stone of theRomanian-Hungarian reconciliation park was to have been laid was cancelled without explanation. The same day, a Hungarian delegation headed by Justice Minister Ibolya David attended a Mass in memory of the 13 generals executed by Austria in 1848; later, they laid wreaths at an obelisk commemorating the generals. The delegation was heckled by some 100 Greater Romania Party sympathizers, who shouted obscenities and called for the death of Reformed Bishop Laszlo Toekes, an RFE/RL correspondent in Arad reported. Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Simona Miculescu said the ministry considers "the manipulation of national sentiment for the purpose of building political capital irresponsible." She said relations between the two countries are "irreversibly good" and must not be influenced by "fear of historical shadows or the shadows [cast by] statues." MS [27] ROMANIA SLAMS ABKHAZIA 'ELECTIONS'Foreign Ministryspokeswoman Miculescu said on 6 October that Romania is "worried" about the recent presdidential elections and referendum in "the separatist province of Abkhazia, [which is] an integral part of Georgia, a sovereign and independent state with which Romania has friendly and good neighborly relations," Mediafax reported (see also Part 1). Miculescu said Romania is joining "the international community in refusing to recognize the independence of the so-called Abkhaz Republic." MS [28] ROMANIAN DEFENSE MINISTER IN FRANCEVictor Babiuc met inParis on 6 October with his French counterpart, Alain Richard, and with representatives of the French military industries, Mediafax reported. Richard noted that France's Thomson company is collaborating with Romania's Aerostar aircraft company in the production of military and civilian planes and that the Eurocopter firm is interested in the privatization of the Brasov-based IAR-Ghimbav aircraft company A deal with Bell Helicopter Textron on privatizing IAR-Ghimbav was called off earlier this year. Also on 6 October, Chief of Staff General Constantin Degeratu and British Ambassador to Bucharest Richard Ralph signed a military agreement for the year 2000, which Degeratu called "the most comprehensive military program Romania shares with a NATO member country," AP reported. MS [29] FORMER BULGARIAN KING DONATES PART OF RETURNED PROPERTYFormer King Simeon II on 6 October donated a park on theoutskirts of Sofia to the city's municipality in a "sign of appreciation for the [recent] restitution of property nationalized by the communists," AP reported, citing BTA. The former monarch asked that the park, which includes a small castle, be named after his grandfather, King Ferdinand, who ruled from 1896 to 1918. MS [C] END NOTE[30] A TIME FOR SERGEANTSBy Paul GobleA new and important figure is appearing in the armies of the three Baltic States, one who is likely to prove more important for those countries' integration into NATO and the West than any of the declarations by political figures east or west. That figure is the professional non-commissioned officer, the well-trained and career sergeant or corporal, on whom Western militaries have long depended but who seldom existed in the militaries of the former Warsaw Pact. And nowhere is the rise of this new class of leaders anymore obvious or impressive than at the Rukla Training Area of the Lithuanian defense forces. Located approximately 100 kilometers west of Vilnius, Rukla now serves as the headquarters both for the training of new soldiers and for the seasoning of non-commissioned officers prepared by the Non-Commissioned Officer School in the nearby city of Kaunas. Operating in accordance with Western standards in terms of facilities and of training and doctrine, the Rukla Training Area prepared more than 1,000 new Lithuanian soldiers during the past year and is scheduled to expand to train up to 4,000 a year in the future. No one can visit the site without being struck by the quality of the facilities themselves--many of the buildings and much of the equipment surpass what is found in countries that have been members of NATO for many years. But even more important is the shift in attitudes between officers and soldiers, a change that commanders there and in Vilnius suggest reflect the ever-expanding role of sergeants in this training enterprise and throughout the Lithuanian army. In the view of these commanders, the professional sergeants and other non-commissioned officers, many of whom are competing for permanent positions and a large percentage of whom are women, play three key roles. Each of those roles is more important than pay grades might suggest. First, they perform many of the jobs that junior officers had to do in Soviet-style armies, thereby allowing the latter to be leaders rather than operators. Second, these sergeants and corporals represent an element of continuity, passing on military traditions to soldiers even as officers are shifted from one billet to another. They thus promote the professionalization of both the soldiers under them and the officers under whom they serve. And third, the sergeants help transform the image of soldiers among officers and of officers among soldiers, thus serving as a brake against the kind of hazing that was all too common in Soviet-era armies. This is almost certainly their most important contribution. Precisely because they are professionals, well-trained and often better paid than some junior officers, the non- commissioned officers enjoy remarkable respect from the men and women they lead and thus guarantee that officers respect not only themselves but the soldiers. That shift in attitudes has had a profound impact on the nature of the Lithuanian defense forces. In the past, few Lithuanians saw the military as a profession to be pursued and military rank as a status to be envied. Instead, in a hangover from the Soviet period, until relatively recently many people saw military service as something to be avoided precisely because officers could be counted on to make life miserable for conscripts. Now these attitudes have changed, less because of declarations by senior government officials and military commanders than because of the day-to-day work of sergeants and corporals. Consequently, it may well be the sergeants rather than the generals who will improve the prospects for the inclusion of Lithuania and its Baltic neighbors not only into the world of modern Western militaries but into NATO as well. 07-10-99 Reprinted with permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
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