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RFE/RL Newsline, Vol. 4, No. 76, 00-04-17Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty: Newsline Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty <http://www.rferl.org>RFE/RL NEWSLINEVol. 4, No. 76, 17 April 2000CONTENTS[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA
[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[C] END NOTE
[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA[01] ARMENIAN PRESIDENT VISITS KARABAKHRobert Kocharian traveledto Stepanakert on 13 April, where he met amid tight security with senior members of the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh Republic's leadership, RFE/RL's Yerevan bureau reported. Unconfirmed reports say Kocharian was accompanied by Armenian Defense Minister Vagharshak Harutiunian. Kocharian also met with units of the Karabakh Defense Army, whose former commander, Samvel Babayan, is currently in detention charged with masterminding the 22 March assassination attempt on the enclave's president, Arkadii Ghukasian. LF [02] AZERBAIJAN OPPOSITION PARTY DEMANDS RETURN OF HEADQUARTERSOnly 50 or so people participated in a sanctioned picketoutside the Baku mayor's office on 13 April, Turan reported. The picketers were demanding the return of the Azerbaijan Popular Front headquarters, from which the party was evicted in early 1994. Members of Mayor Rafael Allakhverdiev's staff advised the picketers to address their request to the Ministry for State Property. LF [03] OSCE TO INCREASE MONITORING OF GEORGIAN-CHECHEN BORDERMeeting in Vienna on 13 April, the OSCE Standing Councildecided to increase to 42 the number of its observers deployed along the border between Georgia and Chechnya, ITAR- TASS reported. The observers' mandate was extended until 15 November. The following day, ITAR-TASS quoted Georgian Border Guard Service spokesman Gela Khutsishvili as saying that Tbilisi "views with understanding" Moscow's decision to plant landmines on the most easily accessible paths leading to the Chechen-Georgian border. On 11 April, a senior official of the Russian Border Guards Service had admitted in Moscow that Russian border guards cannot control the entire length of that border. LF [04] KYRGYZ PARLIAMENT REJECTS U.S. CRITICISM OF ELECTIONSTwenty-three newly-elected deputies to the Kyrgyz parliamenthave addressed an open letter to the U.S. Helsinki Commission, RFE/RL's Bishkek bureau reported on 13 April. The deputies reject as untrue statements "by foreign radio stations and local opposition newspapers" claiming that the parliamentary poll was undemocratic and its outcome falsified. The deputies affirm that the poll was democratic and that they "will not depart from the democratic path." The letter rejects the commission's criticism of the conduct of the election in Kara-Buura, where opposition Ar-Namys party chairman Feliks Kulov was apparently defeated in the 12 March runoff. It also denies that Kulov's arrest last month was politically motivated. The open letter was published in the state-run Russian-language newspaper "Slovo Kyrgyzstana" on 13 April. LF [05] OPINION POLL INDICATES KYRGYZ SEE LITTLE HOPE FOR DEMOCRACYA recent survey conducted in Kyrgyzstan by an independentresearch group indicates that only 13 percent of an unspecified number of respondents consider that a democratic society has emerged in Kyrgyzstan, and 26 percent believe that in present conditions the creation of a democratic society is impossible, "Nezavisimaya gazeta" reported on 13 April. Sixty-five percent of respondents said they are not happy with the way the country is currently ruled, and 47.8 percent said they believe that decisions are taken by a small group of bureaucrats who have little contact with the population at large. LF [06] ANOTHER RADICAL ISLAMIST ARRESTED IN TAJIKISTANA secondmember of the banned Islamist organization Hizb-ut-Tahrir has been detained in Leninabad Oblast, Asia Plus-Blitz reported on 14 April (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 13 April 2000). Both detainees have been charged with disseminating subversive literature and planning to overthrow the Tajik government. LF [B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE[07] DEL PONTE WANTS 'ALL FUGITIVES' SENT TO HAGUECarla DelPonte, who is the Hague-based war crimes tribunal's chief prosecutor, told NATO Secretary-General Lord Robertson on 13 April that she wants NATO's help in arresting all indicted war criminals in the former Yugoslavia. She said: "Thanks for the arrests [of Bosnian Serb leader Momcilo Krajisnik and other war crimes suspects], but it's not enough. I'm asking for the arrest of all fugitives. How long is it going to take?" (see "RFE/RL Balkan Report," 4 April 2000.) Robertson replied that the indicted war criminals will be arrested "as soon as possible," Reuters reported. He called on them to "come to The Hague rather than face the rough justice of the Balkans," recalling the Belgrade murder in January of Zeljko "Arkan" Raznatovic. Robertson noted that arresting war crimes suspects will be a dangerous task. "There are risks because these people are violent. The forces of SFOR and KFOR are willing to take those risks.... There is a lot of creativity involved," Robertson added. PM [08] SERBIAN REGIME DETAINS FOREIGNERSSerbian officials detainedsix foreign journalists and three Spanish trade union officials at Belgrade airport on 13 April. The foreigners had come to attend a rally to support early general elections the following day. A spokesman for the independent Serbian trade union Nezavisnost (Independence) called the detentions a "primitive act of revenge" by the regime of Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic, AP reported. PM [09] BELGRADE AUTHORITIES NERVOUS ON EVE OF RALLYSpeaking inBelgrade on 13 April, indicted war criminal and Yugoslav Deputy Prime Minister Nikola Sainovic said that the opposition is responsible for making sure that the rally passes without incident. He added that he fears that the meeting's organizers may "carry out terrorist acts," RFE/RL's South Slavic Service reported. He did not elaborate. Milosevic's Socialist Party said in a statement that holding a rally "is just another attempt at dragging citizens into carrying out the task of destabilizing Serbia," AP reported. Elsewhere, a Belgrade court handed down a ruling against the Serbian Renewal Movement in a slander case stemming from 1994. The party was fined $100,000 in the long-dormant case. A party spokesman called the ruling a "monstrous witch-hunt," Reuters reported. Meanwhile, Milosevic-run TV Politika announced plans to show "The Matrix" and other current Hollywood hit films at the same time as the rally is taking place. PM [10] SERBIAN DEMONSTRATORS WARN REGIME, OPPOSITIONSome 200 youngprotesters left Novi Sad on foot for Belgrade on 13 April. A spokesman for the student organization Otpor (Resistance) told Reuters that the young people's message is "good-bye" both to Milosevic and his regime and to the fractious opposition leaders. A second protester added that "we are going to show everybody that only united can we succeed." Belgrade University Professor Gordana Naunovic said of the opposition leaders: "Friday will be a big test for them. I think this is their last chance" to show that they are worthy of citizens' trust. PM [11] BELGRADE PROTEST LEADERS URGE CALM, ORDERSpeaking inBelgrade on 13 April, Alliance for Change leaders Milan Protic, Vladan Batic, and Goran Svilanovic called on all citizens of the capital to come to the rally in Republic Square. Batic said that he expects the meeting to take place "without incident," adding that his main fear is that the authorities will try to intimidate people into not attending, RFE/RL's South Slavic Service reported. PM [12] PRINCE ALEKSANDAR URGES SERBS TO ATTEND RALLYIn London on13 April, Crown Prince Aleksandar Karadjordjevic, who is the claimant to the Serbian throne, said in a message that "all Serbs and citizens of Yugoslavia [should] come together and establish a broad mass movement for democracy and change. This will bring the nation a rebirth, order, and progress." He added that "this is the moment when the fate of the nation will be decided." PM [13] KOUCHNER DOES NOT WANT TOO MANY REFUGEE RETURNSBernardKouchner, who is the UN's chief civilian administrator in Kosova, urged countries hosting refugees from there not to send back too many people too soon. Speaking in Prishtina on 13 April, he stressed that there are infrastructure and security problems in the province (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 13 April 2000). Kouchner said: "The returns are just starting, and we already have problems with too many [people] arriving simultaneously and with a lack of regard for the dangers to ethnic minorities. It is crucial that we put things right quickly. Otherwise, the tens of thousands of returnees expected this year will swamp the capacity to absorb them." He urged unnamed countries to minimize forced returns of Serbs, Roma, and other minorities, as well as to help the authorities in Kosova integrate returnees, Reuters reported. PM [14] MONTENEGRO, ALBANIA COOPERATE AGAINST CRIMEIn yet anothermove by Montenegro to strengthen ties to neighboring countries despite Belgrade's objections, regional police chiefs from Montenegro and Albania met in Podgorica on 13 April. They agreed on measures to exchange information on criminals and to fight prostitution and smuggling, Reuters reported. Shkoder police chief Bilbil Mema noted that this was the first time "in 50 years" that police from the two countries agreed to cooperate. He stressed that the agreement "means that people who commit crimes in Albania and seek refuge in Montenegro to cover their tracks will be identified by Montenegrin police and vice versa." PM [15] SLOVENIAN MINISTER HOPES TO KEEP ON EU SCHEDULEEuropeanAffairs Minister Igor Bavcar said in Ljubljana on 13 April that he believes that the parliament will pass the necessary legislation to meet EU deadlines despite the current political crisis (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 11 April 2000). He noted that European issues enjoy a broad consensus among parties, Reuters reported. PM [16] DID THE 1991 CROATIAN GOVERNMENT KNOW OF MASSACRES?FranjoGreguric, who was prime minister of Croatia's 1991-1992 wartime government of national unity, said in Zagreb that there were neither concentration camps nor "liquidations" on the Croatian side during that time (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 13 April 2000). He added that there was no "official information" within the government about executions of Serbian civilians, "Jutarnji list" reported on 14 April. Greguric stressed that his cabinet even had one Serb in it and that one should recall that it operated under wartime conditions. Urging "more understanding and objectivity," he argued that charges of atrocities against Serbs call into question whether it was necessary to establish an independent Croatia. One should always remember that Croatia had no choice but to leave Milosevic's Yugoslavia, Greguric concluded. PM [17] SERBIAN POLITICIAN SAYS 'YES'Elsewhere in Zagreb, MilanDjukic of the Serbian People's Party argued that Greguric, President Franjo Tudjman, and other top leaders did indeed know of the 1991 killings in Gospic. Among the others Djukic mentioned who are still active in politics: Stipe Mesic, Drazen Budisa, Zdravko Tomac, Mate Granic, and Josip Manolic, "Novi List" reported on 14 April. PM [18] LATEST BOSNIAN VOTE TALLYPreliminary results in all 145municipalities confirm the sweep of nationalist parties in the 8 April local elections. Thousands of absentee ballots remain to be counted, but "Oslobodjenje" of 14 April gives the following vote totals to date: the Serbian Democratic Party leads in 52 districts, the Croatian Democratic Community in 28, the Muslim Party of Democratic Action in 24, and the civic-based Social Democratic Party in 18. PM [19] BOSNIAN PARLIAMENT PASSES KEY LAWThe Council of Nations ofthe joint parliament passed legislation on 13 April that expands the size and powers of the joint Council of Ministers. Serbian, Croatian, and Muslim ministers will rotate on an eight-month basis. In addition to the previous ministries of foreign affairs, foreign trade, and civilian affairs and communications, three new posts will be added. They deal with refugees and human rights, European integration, and joint government finances, RFE/RL's South Slavic Service reported. PM [20] ROMANIAN FOREIGN MINISTER CALLS FOR 'FLEXIBILITY' IN RUSSIANTREATY TALKS...Petre Roman on 13 April said his country is prepared to show "flexibility" in talks with Moscow on the pending basic treaty and "expects a similar approach" from the Russian side, RFE/RL's Bucharest bureau reported. Roman said a condemnation in the treaty of the Ribbentrop-Molotov pact of 1939 is less important than the restitution of the Romanian state treasury held in Moscow since World War I. And he added that "compromise" could be reached on the condemnation, based on a resolution passed in 1991 by the Congress of People's Deputies of the former Soviet Union in 1991, which also condemned the pact. MS [21] ...WHILE SHOWING LACK OF FLEXIBILITY TOWARD HUNGARYRomanalso said that the opening of a Hungarian consulate in the Transylvanian town of Miercurea Ciuc would be "unsuitable in the present political context" but that Romania would "welcome" the opening of a Hungarian consulate in Constanta, "a town with large economic perspectives." Observers note that while Miercurea Ciuc is in the heart of an area with a large ethnic-Hungarian population, the Black Sea port of Constanta has only a small Hungarian minority. Romanian Radio cited Hungarian Radio as reporting on 14 April that the two countries' premiers had agreed in Budapest last month that consulates would be opened in both towns. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban begins a visit to Bucharest on 14 April and is expected to discuss, among other things, the Hungarian proposal to open the two new consulates. MS [22] TRANSYLVANIA MAKES HEADLINES IN ROMANIA AGAINSome 1,000ethnic Romanians demonstrated in the Transylvanian town of Sfintul Gheorghe on 13 April against what they called the local council's discriminatory policies against the Romanian minority and against discrimination of Romanians in the heavily Magyar-populated counties of Harghita and Covasna, Mediafax reported. The demonstrators were received by Sfintul Gheorghe Hungarian Mayor Albert Almos, who rejected accusations that his policies are anti-Romanian. In Targu Mures, Hungarian Mayor Imre Fodor was questioned at the local prosecutor's office on suspicion of abusing his office. Elod Kincses, chairman of the local branch of the Hungarian Democratic Federation of Romania, said Fodor's interrogation was part of a plan to prevent him from running in the upcoming local elections. The opposition Party of Social Democracy in Romania said it is "worried" about the infringement of Romanians' "natural rights" in Harghita and Covasna. MS [23] BULGARIAN-ROMANIAN BLACK SEA MILITARY EXERCISE ENDSTheBulgarian-Romanian Storm 2000 joint naval exercise on the Black Sea came to an end on 13 April, BTA reported. Bulgarian Naval Chief of Staff Petar Petrov praised the exercise and described it as important for "mutual trust and stability in the Black Sea region." VG [24] MOLDOVAN LEADERS FAIL TO CONVINCE COMMUNISTS TO SUPPORT KEYPRIVATIZATIONPresident Petru Lucinschi and Prime Minister Dumitru Braghis failed on 13 April to convince the Communist faction in parliament to support a bill on the privatization of the country's wine and tobacco industries, BASA-Press reported. After a closed-door meeting which Lucinschi and Braghis attended, the Communists announced that they would not support the bill. The privatization of the two industries is one of the key conditions set by the IMF for the approval of more credits to Moldova. At present, only the Christian Democrats have offered unconditional support to the privatization bill. In other news, the parliament on 13 April adopted the social insurance budget with revenues and expenditures of 1.227 billion lei ($97.5 million), Flux reported. Passage of the budget is another of the conditions set by the IMF. VG [25] BULGARIAN PARLIAMENT APPROVES AMENDMENTS TO JUDICIARY LAWThe Bulgarian legislature approved an amendment to the law onthe judiciary that will strip the Supreme Judicial Council of its power to initiate disciplinary proceedings against judges, prosecutors and investigators, BTA reported. The presidents of the Supreme Cassation and Supreme Administration courts as well as the prosecutor-general will retain those powers in their respective areas. The justice minister will also retain the right to launch disciplinary proceedings against any magistrate. VG [26] BULGARIAN PREMIER EXPRESSES CONFIDENCE IN ECONOMYIvanKostov said on 13 April that the indicators of the Bulgarian economy "are good, irrespective of some negative tendencies," BTA reported. Kostov was responding to preliminary figures released by the National Statistics Office, which indicate that the country's foreign trade deficit in 1999 exceeded $1 billion. However, exports have increased 20 percent in January and February and the trade deficit fell by 43 percent from December 1999 to January 2000, AFP reported. Official statistics also indicate that the unemployment rate is now at 18.2 percent and that some 40 percent of Bulgarians live below the poverty line. VG [C] END NOTE[27] ARMENIA SEEKS TO ACCOMMODATE RUSSIAN, U.S. INTERESTS IN SOUTHCAUCASUSBy Harry Tamrazian Over the past few years, Armenia has abandoned its primarily Russia-centric foreign and security policy in favor of a more balanced and multifaceted approach. One of the fundamental principles of its new foreign policy, as expounded by the country's top diplomats, is that of "complementarity." That same principle was introduced in the EU's Maastricht Treaty of 1992 to denote coordination and cooperation between member states and the union's executive body. In Armenia's foreign policy, complementarity means cooperating and maintaining good relations with all countries that are willing to establish and maintain friendly and mutually beneficial relations with Yerevan. Thus while remaining a close ally of Russia and a trading partner of Iran, Armenia has nonetheless managed to maintain strong relations with the U.S. Yerevan also wants to establish diplomatic ties and start economic cooperation with its traditional foe, Turkey, which is vying with Russia and Iran for influence in the South Caucasus. With regard to Armenia's immediate neighbors in the South Caucasus, complementarity has two dimensions: non- interference in those countries' foreign relations and promoting the maximum degree of economic and security cooperation on a regional level. "We are not playing on the differences and rivalries between major regional powers in Caucasus. Armenia should not be a place where the interests of major powers collide, but rather a country where the interests can be balanced, complemented," Armenian diplomats say in their press briefings. So far, Armenia has been quite successful in keeping a delicate foreign-policy balance. In a bold move last year, when NATO warplanes were bombing Serbia and Russia was threatening to cut ties with the West, Armenian President Robert Kocharian joined fellow South Caucasus Presidents Eduard Shevardnadze and Heidar Aliev in travelling to Washington to celebrate NATO's 50th anniversary with Western leaders. But that was then. Today, there are new questions to consider. Specifically, will Vladimir Putin's victory in last month's Russian presidential election herald a fundamental change in Russia's behavior toward the South Caucasus? Will Moscow be more assertive towards rival and friends alike? What will happen if, for example, Russia pressures Armenia to join its union with Belarus? Armenian diplomats believe they can resist any such tough calls from the Kremlin. In an interview with RFE/RL two weeks ago, Armenian Deputy Foreign Minister Armen Martirossian said President-elect Putin will observe the status quo in the South Caucasus because he was hand-picked as a successor by former President Boris Yeltsin himself. But if Yerevan takes its policy of complementarity too far, it may risk precipitating a cooling of relations with Moscow. Armenian President Robert Kocharian's recent proposal to create a security system in South Caucasus with the participation of Russia, Turkey, and Iran and with the support of the US and the EU--which is a prime example of the complementarity that Armenia wants to introduce in the region--has already engendered negative comment from some Russian leaders. And Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Turkey each have a different idea of how to make the South Caucasus a more secure place. The leaders of those countries have their own security projects in which Russia does not play a major role. During his visit to Tbilisi in March, for example, Turkish President Suleyman Demirel unveiled his security project for the South Caucasus. Russia was invited to participate in Demirel's Security project as one of several neighboring countries. The principle of complementarity is a workable diplomatic concept if the two major players in the region, the U.S. and Russia, are not in a confrontational mood and at least formally remain partners within the OSCE and other international organizations engaged in peace-making missions in the South Caucasus. Armenian diplomats believe that U.S. President Bill Clinton was right when he suggested Putin will seek to cooperate with the West at least in the spheres of nuclear disarmament, nuclear non-proliferation, and other global issues. That approach would make it possible for Armenia to continue its policy of complementarity. But will Russia try to extend that cooperation with the West in the unstable South Caucasus? Many senior officials and experts in the region are skeptical. In an interview last week with the Azerbaijani newspaper "Zaman," former Azerbaijani state adviser Vafa Guluzade warned that Russia is preparing for a war in South Caucasus. But not everyone agrees with that doomsday scenario. Some analysts even suggest that Russia might change its priorities and expand the list of its friends in the South Caucasus to include Azerbaijan. The author is deputy director of RFE/RL's Armenian Service. 17-04-00 Reprinted with permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
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