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RFE/RL Newsline, Vol. 5, No. 48, 01-03-09
RFE/RL NEWSLINE
Vol. 5, No. 48, 9 March 2001
CONTENTS
[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA
[01] ARMENIA, GREECE, IRAN MOVE AHEAD ON PIPELINE PROJECT
[02] AZERBAIJAN TO INCREASE MILITARY SPENDING...
[03] ...AS DEFENSE MINISTER DESCRIBES ARMENIA AS 'GREATEST ENEMY'...
[04] ... AND HIS PREDECESSORS DISAGREE OVER ARMY'S COMBAT READINESS
[05] GEORGIAN PRESIDENT DENIES SECURITY OFFICIALS ASSIST CHECHEN FIGHTERS
[06] IS GEORGIAN PARLIAMENT CHAIRMAN PLANNING TO RESIGN?
[07] GEORGIAN CURRENCY STILL IN DOLDRUMS
[08] KAZAKH AUTHORITIES PLANNING FURTHER REPRISALS AGAINST CORRUPTION
WHISTLE-BLOWER?
[09] RUSSIAN PRESIDENT TO VISIT KYRGYZSTAN
[10] INDEPENDENT KYRGYZ PAPER OFFERS RIVAL'S JOURNALISTS COLUMN SPACE...
[11] ...AS INTERNATIONAL WATCHDOG CONDEMNS REPRESSION OF PRINT MEDIA
[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[12] YUGOSLAVIA'S KOSTUNICA BLASTS NATO
[13] NATO'S ROBERTSON SAYS SERBS WILL BE 'SENSITIVE'
[14] IS SERBIA HAVING SECOND THOUGHTS?
[15] ALBANIA CALLS DECISION 'HASTY'
[16] NATO, U.S. PLAY DOWN LATEST BALKAN VIOLENCE
[17] MACEDONIA WANTS NATO TROOPS ALONG BORDER
[18] MACEDONIAN OFFICIALS UNDER GUERRILLA FIRE
[19] KOSOVAR DAILY IDENTIFIES GUERRILLA LEADERS
[20] MACEDONIAN ALBANIAN LEADER BLASTS VIOLENCE
[21] YUGOSLAV PRESIDENT SLAMS DEL PONTE
[22] POLITICAL STANDOFF CONTINUES IN BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA
[23] DECENTRALIZATION IN CROATIA
[24] ROMANIAN PREMIER RECOMMENDS AMENDING STATE SECRETS LAW
[25] THIRD CANDIDATE EMERGES IN ROMANIAN PARTY CONTEST
[26] PROMINENT ROMANIAN POLITICIAN RESIGNING FROM PARTY
[27] ROMANIAN POLICE TO BE DEMILITARIZED
[28] BULGARIA SENDING 'HUNDREDS OF TONS OF MUNITIONS' TO MACEDONIA
[29] BULGARIA, GREECE, BOTH AGAINST DEPLOYING TROOPS IN MACEDONIA
[30] BULGARIA TO LIBERALIZE ENERGY MARKET
[31] BULGARIAN CONSTITUTIONAL JUDGES RESENT BEING INVESTIGATED
[C] END NOTE
[32] There is no End Note today
[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA
[01] ARMENIA, GREECE, IRAN MOVE AHEAD ON PIPELINE PROJECT
Meeting in Athens on 8 March, the foreign ministers of Armenia, Greece, and
Iran signed a memorandum of understanding aimed at promoting closer
cooperation in the energy sector, economic affairs, trade, technology,
tourism, industry, transport, and communications, AFP reported. Iran and
Armenia pledged to continue to cooperate in construction of a pipeline to
export Iranian natural gas to Armenia. Greece has just completed a
preliminary feasibility study for that pipeline, which Iranian Foreign
Minister Kamal Kharrazi said the EU may help subsidize. Speaking after the
meeting, Armenian Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian said trilateral
cooperation "is becoming deeper and more concrete," adding that there are
"no political differences" between the three countries, AP reported. LF
[02] AZERBAIJAN TO INCREASE MILITARY SPENDING...
Defense spending in Azerbaijan in 2001 will amount to 539.5 billion manats
($111 million), which is equal to 13 percent of all budget expenditures,
Caucasus Press reported on 9 March, quoting the head of the parliament
budget commission. The source said the increase in military spending has
been made possible by a rise in budget revenues. LF
[03] ...AS DEFENSE MINISTER DESCRIBES ARMENIA AS 'GREATEST ENEMY'...
In a 7 March interview with the private TV station ANS TV cited by Groong,
Azerbaijan's Defense Minister Colonel-General Safar Abiev said the
country's defense doctrine categorizes Armenia as Azerbaijan's "greatest
enemy." He declined to name other countries that are classified as foes,
saying only "anyone hostile to Azerbaijan is our enemy." LF
[04] ... AND HIS PREDECESSORS DISAGREE OVER ARMY'S COMBAT READINESS
Abiev was quoted on 6 March by Bilik Dunyasi as saying that the Azerbaijani
army is ready to carry out military tasks "at any time" should President
Heidar Aliev issue such orders as commander-in-chief, according to Groong.
The same agency also quoted retired Major-General Dadash Rzaev, who served
as defense minister from February-June 1993, as saying that the army has
attained a high level of combat readiness and could embark on a full-scale
attack and liberate the seven districts currently controlled by Armenian
forces "in a short period of time." But retired Major-General Tacaddin
Mehdiev, who served as defense minister from December 1991 until mid-
February 1992, said that at least six months of preparations would be
needed before an offensive could be launched. He dismissed as "groundless"
claims that a new war could be won "within 15 days or two months." LF
[05] GEORGIAN PRESIDENT DENIES SECURITY OFFICIALS ASSIST CHECHEN FIGHTERS
President Eduard Shevardnadze has rejected as slander the claim by former
Georgian Defense Minister Tengiz Kitovani that some Georgian National
Security Ministry officials are accepting money from Chechen fighters in
exchange for helping them transfer arms from Turkey via Georgia's Pankisi
gorge to Chechnya, Glasnost North Caucasus reported on 8 March. Kitovani
also repeated his previous claim that Chechen field commander Ruslan Gelaev
is spending the winter encamped in the Pankisi gorge with a detachment of
800 men. LF
[06] IS GEORGIAN PARLIAMENT CHAIRMAN PLANNING TO RESIGN?
Citing "confidential sources" within the Georgian legislature, the internet
publication gazeta.sng.ru claimed on 8 March that Georgian parliament
Chairman Zurab Zhvania plans to resign, Caucasus Press reported. The
Russian publication suggested that Zhvania may have been pressured to do so
because his outspoken anti-Russian rhetoric has created problems for
President Shevardnadze and a rift between the two men. Alternatively, the
rumors of Zhvania's impending resignation may have been circulated
deliberately in order to signal to the West that any openly anti-Russian
Georgian politician is in danger, and that "the young Georgian state is the
victim of Russia's imperial ambitions." "Akhali taoba" on 9 March
discounted the Russian report, noting that Zhvania has more than once
professed his loyalty to Shevardnadze and will not embark on "political
games" directed against him. Zhvania has not commented on the rumors,
according to RFE/RL's Georgian Service. LF
[07] GEORGIAN CURRENCY STILL IN DOLDRUMS
After falling to a rate of 2.085 laris to the U.S. dollar on 21 February
(see "RFE/RL Newsline," 22 and 23 February 2001), the Georgian currency
gained slightly in value, trading at 2.015 to the dollar on 28 February,
but it has since fallen again to 2.09 to the dollar on 9 March, Caucasus
Press reported. A poll of some 851 people conducted by the weekly newspaper
"Kviris palitra" and reported in its 5 March issue revealed that 61 percent
of respondents believe the lari's decline is to be attributed to
speculation on the foreign currency exchange, while only 12 percent believe
that it is a reaction to economic trends either in Georgia or abroad. LF
[08] KAZAKH AUTHORITIES PLANNING FURTHER REPRISALS AGAINST CORRUPTION
WHISTLE-BLOWER?
Municipal authorities in the southern city of Shymkent are preparing to
close a private market owned by Temirtas Tleulesov, independent Kazakh
journalist Nuri Muftah told RFE/RL's Almaty bureau on 8 March. Tleulesov is
the author of two books detailing corruption among local officials in
Shymkent city and Oblast. He was sentenced last month in absentia to two
years' imprisonment on charges of hooliganism (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 7
February and 2 March 2001). LF
[09] RUSSIAN PRESIDENT TO VISIT KYRGYZSTAN
Russian President Vladimir Putin has accepted an invitation from his Kyrgyz
counterpart Askar Akaev to visit Kyrgyzstan in the next few months, but no
date for that visit has yet been set, RFE/RL's Bishkek bureau reported on 8
March. Among the topics to be discussed during the visit is Kyrgyzstan's
$150 million debt to Russia, which Bishkek would like to pay by offering
Moscow part ownership of Kyrgyzstan's 20 largest industrial enterprises. LF
[10] INDEPENDENT KYRGYZ PAPER OFFERS RIVAL'S JOURNALISTS COLUMN SPACE...
The independent Kyrgyz paper "Res Publica" has published in its 9 March
issue numerous articles by journalists from a second independent paper,
"Asaba," which is under threat of closure, RFE/RL's Bishkek bureau reported
on 8 March. The Uchkun publishing house has been warned by a Bishkek
district court not to print further issues of "Asaba" until its owner pays
a total of 8 million soms (about $160,000) from three separate fines (see
"RFE/RL Newsline," 6 March 2001). LF
[11] ...AS INTERNATIONAL WATCHDOG CONDEMNS REPRESSION OF PRINT MEDIA
The Paris-based "Reporters sans Frontieres" wrote on 8 March to President
Akaev condemning as "a brutal decision" the forced closure of "Asaba,"
RFE/RL's Bishkek bureau reported. The organization expressed concern over
"permanent attacks on press freedom" in Kyrgyzstan, adding that the use of
court proceedings and massive fines "is asphyxiating all independent
information." LF
[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[12] YUGOSLAVIA'S KOSTUNICA BLASTS NATO
Yugoslav President Vojislav Kostunica slammed NATO's record in Kosova and
grudgingly agreed to the alliance's decision to readmit up to 2,000 Serbian
paramilitary police and border guards into the Kosova border security zone
(see "RFE/RL Newsline," 8 March 2001). Speaking in Belgrade on 8 March, he
said that "the latest offer to squeeze our forces into a narrow, 5
kilometer-wide zone means that KFOR is abandoning the protection of the
borders with Macedonia, and is placing our forces between the two fires.
The Yugoslav forces will, of course, work to correct [NATO's] mistakes. All
this is a result of years of wrong [NATO] policies... Simply said, the
results of NATO policies in Kosovo are catastrophic," AP reported.
Kostunica added that the alliance has "incited terrorism" and supported the
idea of a "Greater Albania." He charged that NATO behaves like a
"humanitarian organization... Instead of protecting the population of
Kosovo, NATO is protecting its own skin there." NATO Secretary-General Lord
George Robertson told the BBC that Kostunica's remarks are "unhelpful and
rather poor politics." PM
[13] NATO'S ROBERTSON SAYS SERBS WILL BE 'SENSITIVE'
Commenting on the Atlantic alliance's decision to allow Serbian forces into
the safety zone, Robertson said in Washington on 8 March that "we were
given assurances by the Serbs that they will show moderation and
sensitivity," the BBC's Serbian Service reported. Before leaving for
Washington, Robertson said in a statement in Brussels that the alliance's
decision is "a first step in a phased and conditioned reduction of the
[zone]" and the readmission of Serbian forces. The paramilitary police,
which former President Slobodan Milosevic built up as his own Praetorian
guard, are under the command of General Sreten Lukic, who commanded the
well-armed police in Kosova during the 1999 ethnic cleansing campaign. PM
[14] IS SERBIA HAVING SECOND THOUGHTS?
Yugoslav parliament speaker Dragoljub Micunovic said in Sofia on 9 March
that "KFOR must take its part of the responsibility and a part of the risk"
for security on the Serbian border with Macedonia. He added that "we don't
want to take over the obligations of KFOR. [It should] be discussed with
Macedonia in detail, whose forces will guard that border," AP reported. PM
[15] ALBANIA CALLS DECISION 'HASTY'
Albanian Foreign Minister Paskal Milo said in Tirana on 9 March that his
government condemns the Tanusevci gunmen's "extremist acts because they are
against the [real interests of the ethnic] Albanians and multiethnic
existence in Macedonia," dpa reported. Milo stressed, however, that "NATO
has enough forces in the region to maintain peace and stability on
Macedonia's border" and does not need Serbian forces to help. "I think that
this is a hasty and [poorly thought out] decision taken [in response to]
the urgency of the situation," Milo said. He warned that admitting Serbian
forces to the zone could promote instability in the region. PM
[16] NATO, U.S. PLAY DOWN LATEST BALKAN VIOLENCE
NATO's Robertson said in Washington on 8 March that "we want to prevent
what can be limited, localized skirmishes [from] becoming bigger or
spilling over into the wider region," AP reported. U.S. Secretary of
Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld stressed that the situation along the border
between Kosova and Macedonia is now "relatively stable," adding, however,
that the Balkans are "a difficult part of the world" in which to keep
peace. Referring to recent shooting incidents, Rumsfeld said that "that's
one of the risks of a peacekeeper. Shooting is shooting, and it has been
going on throughout the period that [KFOR] troops have been there [at] one
level or another, and it has been relatively minor and it remains
relatively modest." PM
[17] MACEDONIA WANTS NATO TROOPS ALONG BORDER
Macedonian Foreign Minister Srdjan Kerim said in Brussels on 9 March that
his government stands by its previous request that NATO peacekeepers set up
a security zone in Kosova on the border with Macedonia (see "RFE/RL
Newsline," 8 March 2001). Asked if he will call for EU military help if
NATO turns him down, Kerim replied: "Why not? I have a meeting with them
later. But I still believe that KFOR will [meet] its commitments," Reuters
reported. Unnamed EU diplomats said they are working closely with NATO, but
concentrating on seeking a political solution to the conflict. Prime
Minister Ljubco Georgievski said recently that he does not want U.S. troops
patrolling his country's borders because he regards them as ineffective
against ethnic Albanian gunmen, Deutsche Welle reported. PM
[18] MACEDONIAN OFFICIALS UNDER GUERRILLA FIRE
The Macedonian Interior Ministry announced in Skopje on 9 March that border
crossings at Blace and Jazince will be closed as of 2:00 p.m. local time
because of continued violence along the border with Kosova, MIC news agency
reported. Only Macedonian citizens returning home, as well as KFOR and
UNMIK personnel may pass through the crossings, through which supplies for
peacekeepers and Kosovar civilians normally pass. The statement came after
guerrillas in Brest attacked a convoy including State Secretary of the
Interior Ljube Boskovski and Deputy Interior Minister Refet Elmazi, who
were on a tour of checkpoints in the Tanusevci area. One driver was killed.
An Interior Ministry spokesman told Reuters late in the morning of 9 March
that the convoy is still under fire. The attackers are presumed to be
gunmen whom U.S.-led KFOR troops helped clear out of Tanusevci the previous
day, the news agency added (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 8 March 2001). PM
[19] KOSOVAR DAILY IDENTIFIES GUERRILLA LEADERS
"Koha Ditore," which is Kosova's leading daily, wrote on 9 March that
"Maliq Ndrecaj, Emrush Xhemajli, Ali Ahmeti, and Gafurr Elshani" are the
former Kosovar guerrilla leaders behind the current "Tanusevci adventure,"
dpa reported. The "Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung" wrote on 7 March that
the gunmen are increasingly isolated and that their latest actions are a
sign of desperation. PM
[20] MACEDONIAN ALBANIAN LEADER BLASTS VIOLENCE
Arben Xhaferi, whose Democratic Party of the Albanians (PDSH) participates
in the government, said in Skopje on 9 March that "in urban parts of
Macedonia, people are [aware of the fighting] but believe that the conflict
will not escalate," AP reported. He added that some unnamed "political
forces" based far from the urban centers are engaging in violence. He
stressed that "we have to join all our efforts to make the Balkans
democratic." Xhaferi appealed to Macedonian troops to refrain from "radical
actions," adding that such moves will only encourage "extremist elements to
continue their actions." PM
[21] YUGOSLAV PRESIDENT SLAMS DEL PONTE
Carla Del Ponte, who is the chief prosecutor of The Hague-based war crimes
tribunal, said on 8 March that part of the war crimes trial of Milosevic
can take place in Serbia, but only after he surrenders to the tribunal, AP
reported. The court added in a statement that it has first priority in
prosecuting Milosevic, although Yugoslav courts may also do so. Meanwhile
in Belgrade, Kostunica told journalists that Del Ponte has "problems with
herself and her ambitions," "Danas" reported. She recently called him a
"man of the past." PM
[22] POLITICAL STANDOFF CONTINUES IN BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA
Hard-line ethnic Croat leader Marko Tokic told "Jutarnji list" of 9 March
that the Croats of Bosnia-Herzegovina will go ahead with plans to set up
their own "self-government" (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 8 March 2001). He
stressed that it is not correct to speak of a crisis, adding that the Croat
leaders will pursue their goals peacefully. Tihomir Begic, who is an
adviser to hard-line leader Ante Jelavic, criticized the dismissal of
Jelavic by High Representative Wolfgang Petritsch. Begic added that
Croatian political leader Drazen Budisa's proposal for setting up cantons
in Bosnia is the "only light in the darkness," RFE/RL's South Slavic
Service reported. Ivo Andric-Luzanski, whom Petritsch also sacked, told
"Oslobodjenje" that Croats will not respect his decision. PM
[23] DECENTRALIZATION IN CROATIA
Meeting in the port city of Rijeka, the government announced on 8 March
that local elections will take place throughout Croatia on 20 May, RFE/RL's
South Slavic Service reported. A package of seven laws aimed at promoting
the decentralization of government will take effect in June. PM
[24] ROMANIAN PREMIER RECOMMENDS AMENDING STATE SECRETS LAW
Only one day after the approval of a government-sponsored bill on state
secrets (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 8 March 2001), Prime Minster Adrian Nastase
on 9 March said President Ion Iliescu should consider sending the bill back
to parliament, Mediafax reported. Nastase said there are some "ambiguities"
in the bill and the cabinet "by no means intends for journalists to be
damaged" as a result of provisions in the legislation. Nastase also said
parliament should pass a bill on free access to public-interest information
in the near future. MS
[25] THIRD CANDIDATE EMERGES IN ROMANIAN PARTY CONTEST
Senator Simona Marinescu on 8 March announced she would run for the
position of chairwoman of the Democratic Party at that formation's
Extraordinary National Convention scheduled for May. Bucharest Mayor Traian
Basescu announced last month that he will challenge incumbent Petre Roman
for the party's chairmanship at that convention. Marinescu said she decided
to run after realizing that both Roman and Basescu are "moving the party
further and further away from Social Democratic positions," RFE/RL's
Bucharest bureau reported. Also on 8 March and in response to Roman's
recent call for former party leaders to return to the fold of the
Democratic Party, Adrian Severin said Roman's initiative is "wise,
legitimate, and necessary" but that the party can "restore unity only
within the framework of a unified Romanian Social Democratic spectrum." MS
[26] PROMINENT ROMANIAN POLITICIAN RESIGNING FROM PARTY
Alliance for Romania (APR) Bucharest branch Chairman Doru Viorel Ursu on 8
March announced that he and a group of followers are resigning from the APR
but will ask the Bucharest Municipal Tribunal to recognize them as the
legitimate holders of the party's name and insignia, RFE/RL's Bucharest
bureau reported. Ursu said he was resigning in light of protests against
the recent decision by the extraparliamentary party's leadership "to
abandon the party's doctrine and embrace instead Social-Liberalism." The
APR leadership said in reaction that it has "taken note" of Ursu's
intention to resign, which "clearly shows he wanted the APR to be absorbed
in the emerging Social Democratic Party." The leadership also said Ursu and
his followers' demands to be recognized as the APR successors contravene
legal provisions. MS
[27] ROMANIAN POLICE TO BE DEMILITARIZED
The cabinet on 8 March approved a draft bill on the demilitarization of
police. Under the bill, those serving with police would be considered
"civil servants with special status" who are "entitled to bear arms in line
with legal stipulations." Police forces would be subordinated to local
administration authorities. The cabinet will request that parliament debate
the bill "in urgency procedure." MS
[28] BULGARIA SENDING 'HUNDREDS OF TONS OF MUNITIONS' TO MACEDONIA
Defense Minister Boiko Noev on 8 March said Bulgaria is sending "hundreds
of tons" of munitions to Macedonia to help halt incursions by ethnic
Albanian militants from Kosova. He said the shipment does not include tanks,
AP reported. Earlier on 8 March, the parliament unanimously approved in a
closed-door session a secret agreement between the two countries' defense
ministries on the aid. Speaking in Skopje after talks with his Macedonian
counterpart Ljubco Georgievski, visiting Bulgarian Prime Minister Ivan
Kostov said the aid to Macedonia is worth $8 million, and the first
shipment some $400,000. "I am here to express Bulgaria's support to
Macedonia: moral, political and military," Kostov told journalists.
Additional aid to Macedonia will come from Greece, which announced in a 9
March Defense Ministry statement that Athens is sending "five military
trucks, [and an unspecified quantity of] radios, medical supplies, and
bulletproof vests" under a current bilateral military agreement, AP
reported. MS
[29] BULGARIA, GREECE, BOTH AGAINST DEPLOYING TROOPS IN MACEDONIA
Greece and Bulgaria on 8 March agreed there should be no deployment of
foreign troops to neighboring countries, even if the Macedonian government
requested that troops be dispatched, dpa reported. In a telephone
conversation, Greek Premier Kostas Simitis and Bulgarian Prime Minister
Kostov agreed that the present crisis must be "handled exclusively through
diplomatic and political means" and its solution must be based on "UN
decisions." According to an AP report, Prime Minister Kostov also discussed
the crisis in a telephone conversation with Albanian Premier Ilir Meta, who
assured him that his country recognizes the border with Macedonia. Meta
said he intends to invite to Tirana leaders of the ethnic Albanian parties
in Macedonia to discuss the crisis. Meanwhile, Bulgarian Foreign Minister
Nadezhda Mihailova told EU ambassadors to Sofia that NATO and KFOR forces
must become more involved in diffusing the conflict. MS
[30] BULGARIA TO LIBERALIZE ENERGY MARKET
Deputy Premier Petar Zhotev on 8 March told journalists that the cabinet on
the same day had approved draft amendments to current energy bills "aimed
at liberalizing the market, in line with our agreement with the IMF and the
EU," Reuters reported. The liberalization is to go into force in 2002,
after the parliament has approved the bills and after this year's
elections. Zhotev said the amendments will be sent to parliament by 16
March, thus meeting the deadline set by the IMF as a condition for the
final disbursement of funds under an $800 million three-year agreement with
the fund, which expires in June. Under the amendments, local consumers will
be able to sign contracts for electricity supplies with private producers
as of 1 January 2002, thus doing away with the monopoly by the state's
National Electricity Company. MS
[31] BULGARIAN CONSTITUTIONAL JUDGES RESENT BEING INVESTIGATED
Constitutional Court Chairman Hristo Danov on 8 March said the demand by
Prosecutor-General Nikola Filichev to check judges' reports on their income
amounts to an infringement of the judges' immunity, the English-language
daily "Monitor" reported. The daily said it is not clear why Filichev
wanted to check whether the Constitutional Court judges had accurately
reported on their income and property, in line with legal provisions.
Magistrates have repeatedly accused Filichev of conducting a "witch-hunt"
after he launched a number of investigations against senior members of the
bench. Danov told private radio Darik that prosecutors should divulge
suspicions concerning the Constitutional Court's judges before requesting
from the authorities access to their income and property declarations. MS
[C] END NOTE
[32] There is no End Note today
09-03-01
Reprinted with permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
URL: http://www.rferl.org
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