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RFE/RL Newsline, Vol. 5, No. 122, 01-06-27Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty: Newsline Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty <http://www.rferl.org>RFE/RL NEWSLINEVol. 5, No. 122, 27 June 2001CONTENTS[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA
[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[C] END NOTE
[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA[01] ARMENIAN POLITICIAN ESCAPES ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT"Democratic Homeland" party Chairman Petros Makeyan escaped injury when an unidentified gunman opened fire on his home in the village of Panik late on 25 June, Noyan Tapan reported. Makeyan had earlier received death threats. LF[02] ARMENIAN INTERNET ACCESS THREATENED BY PLANNED INCREASE IN TELEPHONE CHARGESThe chief manager of Arminco, one of Armenia's primary Internet providers, warned on 26 June that plans by the ArmenTel telecommunications monopoly to extend to Internet users its planned new per-minute tariffs could cut Internet use in Armenia by 90 percent, RFE/RL's Yerevan bureau reported. The Armenian government and the Greek-owned ArmenTel formed a joint commission last week to try to work out a new compromise pricing policy to replace ArmenTel's planned increases. LF[03] AZERBAIJAN REAFFIRMS INTENTION TO SEEK EU MEMBERSHIPSpeaking in Baku on 26 June on the sidelines of the annual session of the Azerbaijan-EU Cooperation Committee, Deputy Foreign Minister Araz Azimov said that accession to the EU remains one of his country's long-term goals, Turan reported. His fellow deputy foreign minister, Mahmud Mamedquliev, similarly told Turan that "Azerbaijan attaches strong importance to rapprochement with the European Union. I believe that Azerbaijan must become a full-fledged member of this structure in future." In order to achieve that aim, Mamedquliev advocated creating a special center to bring Azerbaijan's legislation into line with that of EU member states. But Cornelius Wittebrod, who heads the European Commission's Caucasus and Central Asian Department, was quoted by Turan on 27 June as saying that the EU is not satisfied with the pace of democratic reforms in Azerbaijan. LF[04] AZERBAIJAN RAISES MILITARY SALARIESAzerbaijan's President Heidar Aliev on 25 June issued a decree increasing by 50 percent the salaries of military personnel, Turan reported. LF[05] AZERBAIJANI MINORITY IN GEORGIA PROTESTS POLICE BRUTALITYSome 300 Azerbaijanis staged a protest on 25 June in the southern Georgian town of Bolnisi after local police beat up one Greek and two Azerbaijani men arrested two days earlier on charges of theft, RFE/RL's Azerbaijani Service reported on 26 June. The three men were subsequently hospitalized. At a meeting with the protesters later on 25 June, local officials pledged to open criminal proceedings against the police officers involved. LF[06] GEORGIAN OPPOSITION LEADER CALLS FOR INVESTIGATION OF INSURGENTS' DEATHSVakhtang Bochorishvili, the leader of the opposition 21st Century parliament faction, on 26 June appealed to the Prosecutor-General's Office to open a formal investigation into the July 2000 shootings of rebel Colonel Akaki Eliava and his lieutenant Gocha Gvilava, Caucasus Press reported (see "RFE/RL Newsline, 10 July 2000). Bochorishvili claimed that the two men were chained before being shot in cold blood. Eliava's supporters in western Georgia blocked highways earlier this month to demand his posthumous rehabilitation, while Gvilava's father has threatened to exhume his son's body if three further supporters of Eliava who have been detained under investigation for the past year are not released (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 14 June 2001). LF[07] RADIOACTIVE CONTAINERS FOUND ON RUSSIAN MILITARY BASE IN GEORGIATwo containers with cesium-137 were discovered at the Vaziani military base near Tbilisi on 26 June, Caucasus Press reported. Russian troops are in the process of withdrawing from that facility. Several Georgian border guards are still undergoing treatment for radiation sickness after being exposed to similar radiation sources at a former Russian military base at Lilo on Georgia in 1997. LF[08] KAZAKHSTAN SEEKS INVESTMENT FOR FORMER CAPITALThe Kazakh cabinet on 25 June reviewed draft programs to attract investment and develop the infrastructure of Almaty, the country's former capital, with the aim of promoting it as a major financial center, RFE/RL's Kazakh Service reported the following day. Prime Minister Qasymzhomart Toqaev said Almaty "should become Central Asia's Singapore." LF[09] KAZAKHSTAN TIGHTENS CONTROLS ON BORDERS WITH KYRGYZSTAN, UZBEKISTANBorder guard official Utezhan Borangaziev told Interfax on 26 June that Kazakhstan is tightening controls on its borders with Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan to prevent illegal migrants from Afghanistan and Tajikistan from entering Kazakhstan via Kyrgyzstan. LF[10] POLICE DISPERSE PROTEST DEMO IN KYRGYZSTANPolice forcibly broke up a demonstration by some 100 people outside the parliament building in Bishkek on 26 June to demand the annulment of border agreements under which Kyrgyzstan cedes some 125,000 hectares of territory to China, RFE/RL's Bishkek bureau reported (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 6, 14, 20 and 22 June 2001). Police warned the protesters they could face criminal charges for participating in an unsanctioned demonstration. Meanwhile, a group of deputies to the Legislative Assembly (the lower chamber of the Kyrgyz parliament) announced on 26 June they will boycott further sessions until the assembly formally demands the annulment of the accords. LF[11] NEWSPAPER EDITOR SUES KYRGYZSTAN'S JUSTICE MINISTRYAleksandr Kim, the editor in chief of the newly founded newspaper "My Capital City" told RFE/RL's Bishkek bureau on 26 June that he has brought a lawsuit against the Justice Ministry after it annulled the 11 June registration of that paper nine days later. The ministry registered 16 new media outlets between early April and mid-June, but then annulled the registration in every case (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 22, 25 and 26 June 2001). Kim resigned as editor of "Vechernii Bishkek," one of Kyrgyzstan's most popular publications, after the paper was taken over in 1999 by pro- government businessmen. LF[12] PROMINENT KYRGYZ FILMMAKER APPEALS FOR POLITICAL ASYLUM IN RUSSIALegislative Assembly deputy Dooronbek Sadyrbaev told RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service on 26 June that he has been promised housing and employment in Russia after appealing one month ago for political asylum in that country. Sadyrbaev said the Kyrgyz authorities seek to restrict both his political and artistic activities. LF[13] UN WARNS TAJIK AUTHORITIES AGAINST OVERKILLIn a statement released on 26 June, the UN mission in Dushanbe expressed the hope that the ongoing operation by Tajik Interior Ministry forces' former opposition field commanders Rakhmon Sanginov and Mansur Muakkalov and their supporters is being conducted in accordance with international humanitarian rules, AP reported. To date, some 36 opposition fighters and at least four (possibly as many as nine) policemen have been killed in fighting that has lasted five days (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 25 and 26 June 2001). The UN further appealed to both the Tajik government and the opposition to cooperate to ensure that the fighting does not undermine the fragile peace. But in an address to mark the fourth anniversary of the signing in Moscow of the peace accord that ended the civil war, President Imomali Rakhmonov condemned Sanginov and his men as "criminals" and vowed that "there will be no mercy for those who go against the peace-building process and national interests," Interfax reported on 26 June. LF[14] NEW TURKMEN DEFENSE MINISTER NAMEDPresident Saparmurat Niyazov has appointed Gurbanberdy Begendzhov, the former head of military counterintelligence, as defense minister, ITAR-TASS reported on 27 June. Former Defense Minister Batyr Sardjaev, a civilian who held that post for two years (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 25 May 1999) was named to head the country's railways, whose chief was killed by a train in Ashgabat last week. LF[15] TURKMENISTAN SAYS AZERBAIJAN DOES NOT WANT 'FAIR' DIVISION OF CASPIANAn unnamed Turkmen Oil and Gas Industry official told Interfax on 26 June that Baku has not yet responded to Ashgabat's proposal last month to invite international experts to define the median line between the two countries' respective sectors of the Caspian Sea. The official accused Azerbaijan of having no interest in a "fair" division of the sea, and of postponing any move to resolve the disagreement for the past five years in order to unilaterally develop oil deposits to which it has no legal claim. LF[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE[16] NEW EU ENVOY URGES MACEDONIAN GOVERNMENT TO TALK TO GUERRILLASIn an apparent change in publicly stated Western policy about the Macedonian crisis, Francois Leotard, the EU's new permanent representative in Macedonia, said in Paris on 27 June that Skopje should talk to representatives of the ethnic Albanian National Liberation Army (UCK), dpa reported. He argued that the government "should talk with the guerrillas [and] with the leaders of the Albanian [political parties] in their country to arrive at a consensus and to bring about peace." The government has repeatedly refused to talk to the insurgents, whom it calls "terrorists." In May, Skopje disassociated itself from an agreement negotiated by OSCE representative Ambassador Robert Frowick that involved the UCK (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 25 May 2001). NATO Secretary-General George Robertson has also argued that "there is no place at a negotiating table for those who prefer bullets to ballots." But German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer has often recalled his maxim that "you don't make peace with your friends, you make peace with your enemies." PM[17] MACEDONIAN GOVERNMENT SENDS JETS AGAINST GUERRILLASFor the first time, the Macedonian military sent jet aircraft into unspecified action against the UCK near Tetovo, dpa reported on 27 June. It is not clear exactly what the modern Russian-built Sukhoi aircraft are doing against the insurgents. Fighting also continued in the Kumanovo region. The UCK has pledged to launch a terrorist campaign in selected cities when the current cease-fire expires later on 27 June (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 26 June 2001). Reuters reported on 27 June that the Macedonian military has begun to shell the UCK-held village of Nikustak near Aracinovo. PM[18] MACEDONIAN PRESIDENT CALMS SLAVSOne day after a Macedonian crowd stormed the parliament building chanting slogans such as "Albanians to the gas chambers," President Boris Trajkovski told a television audience that he saved the lives of Macedonian soldiers by recently agreeing to NATO's evacuation of UCK fighters from Aracinovo, RFE/RL reported (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 26 June 2001). He stressed that "history will remember that, faced with evil, the citizens of Macedonia demonstrated patience and diplomacy, choosing the path of peace." Trajkovski added that "the shooting at the parliament building [by the mob] could have easily thrown us into civil war." He said that he will not play into the hands of those who want to "wreck the country," arguing that everyone would lose in a civil war. The BBC reported on 27 June that the streets of Skopje were calm, adding that members of the Slav majority appeared reassured by Trajkovski's speech and by television footage showing that Macedonian police had indeed returned to Aracinovo. PM[19] MACEDONIAN ALBANIAN LEADER PESSIMISTIC ABOUT PEACEFUL CHANGEMacedonian Deputy Prime Minister Xhevdet Nasufi, who belongs to the Democratic Party of Albanians (PDSH), told RFE/RL's Albanian Unit on 26 June that he does not see much willingness to compromise on the part of the Slavic Macedonian politicians. He said: "Unfortunately, after this last meeting [on 25 June], you cannot see any concrete or clear readiness on the Macedonian side to make a move forward on reform within the political system and which would result in advancing the status of Albanians in Macedonia." PM[20] BRITAIN, U.S., GERMANY ADVISE AGAINST TRAVEL TO MACEDONIAThe Foreign Office has urged all British nationals not on urgent business to leave Macedonia, the BBC reported on 26 June. The U.S. State Department issued a similar warning to its citizens against travel to that country, VOA reported. The State Department has also begun evacuating some embassy staff from Skopje. It said in a statement that "amid a climate of rising antiforeigner sentiment, there has been an increase in acts of intimidation and violence against American citizens in Macedonia." In London, "The Guardian" reported on 27 June that Leotard and British Foreign Secretary have postponed visits to Skopje until the xenophobic sentiment abates. Meanwhile, the German government has warned its citizens not to travel to Macedonia. PM[21] GROWING ANTI-WESTERN SENTIMENT AMONG MACEDONIAN SLAVSThe view seems to have taken hold among many of Macedonia's Slavic majority that Trajkovski's recent agreement with NATO to evacuate guerrillas from Aracinovo amounted to an effort by the Atlantic alliance to save the insurgents and deny a victory to Macedonian forces, Deutsche Welle and "The Independent" reported on 27 June (see "RFE/RL Balkan Report," 5 June 2001). One man in Skopje told the London-based daily: "NATO is holding back our army. If they allowed us [to do so], we could kill all the terrorists in two days." One Macedonian soldier told a Deutsche Welle correspondent: "They're selling the country out to the Shiptars [ed.: a pejorative term for Albanians] and nobody is doing anything about it. And you [Westerners], don't hold us back." Another soldier, referring to the guerrillas, added: "Those are not people, those are animals...criminals...[and] drug dealers." Elsewhere, Vienna's "Die Presse" ran a photo of an angry crowd of Macedonians tearing up a NATO flag. PM[22] BADINTER TO ASSIST PEACE TALKS IN MACEDONIAThe former French justice minister and expert in constitutional law, Robert Badinter, is due in Macedonia on 27 June at Trajkovski's invitation , the Skopje daily "Utrinski vesnik" reported the previous day. The daily quoted Prime Minister Ljubco Georgievski as saying that Badinter's "task will be to facilitate the talks rather than to act as a middleman in them. Badinter was proposed by the Macedonian side, because at the time [when Macedonia became independent in 1991], he gave excellent professional comments on the Macedonian Constitution, and this is exactly why we want this renowned expert and judge for constitutional law in Europe [to come to Macedonia]." UB[23] MACEDONIAN CENSUS DELAYED AGAINAccording to local experts, it is very unlikely that the population count will be held during the scheduled period of 1 to 15 October this year, "Utrinski vesnik" reported on 26 June (see also "RFE/RL Balkan Report," 20 April 2001). The delay is due to a number of technical problems involved in setting up tabulation districts and a regional census commission. The coordination between the various institutions involved in the tabulation process is reportedly also very bad. An additional and perhaps decisive problem is the fact that there are currently some 80,000 internally displaced persons in Macedonia. The Skopje daily "Dnevnik" on 27 June put the number of internally displaced persons at about 35,000, while some 65, 000 persons, mostly ethnic Albanians, have left Macedonia for Kosova. In Prishtina, Red Cross officials said on 27 June that Kosova is now the temporary home of 71,500 arrivals from Macedonia, Hina reported. UB[24] RUGOVA: KOSOVA DOES NOT NEED SERBIA'S OK FOR INDEPENDENCEModerate Kosovar leader Ibrahim Rugova, whose party emerged as the biggest vote-getter in last fall's local elections, told Vienna's "Die Presse" of 27 June that Kosova does not need Belgrade's approval to obtain independence. He argued that Kosova is already independent from Serbia in practice. Rugova seconded the arguments of many Western experts that ever greater instability will result the longer the international community delays determining Kosova's future, by which he means independence. Turning to Macedonian issues, Rugova said that it will be bad for Kosova if the U.S. and EU do not bring about a settlement there soon. He blamed the Skopje government for the current crisis, arguing that it had 10 years to act on the Albanians' demands for constitutional change but did nothing. He declined to answer a question as to whether extremists have gained the upper hand in the Skopje government. PM[25] U.S. STILL UNDECIDED ON SERBIAN DONORS CONFERENCEState Department spokesman Richard Boucher said in Washington on 26 June that the U.S. appreciates Belgrade's recent moves aimed at cooperating with The Hague but has not decided whether to attend the EU's donors conference for Serbia scheduled for 29 June, RFE/RL reported (see "End Note" below and "RFE/RL Newsline," 26 June 2001). Boucher added: "We are encouraged by these positive developments as we consider participating in Friday's donors conference. A recommendation on participation has not yet reached [Secretary of State Colin Powell's] desk, but obviously these steps [by Belgrade] will weigh heavily on our decision on attendance." PM[26] MILOSEVIC BACKERS: HIS TRIAL IS THAT OF ALL SERBSSome 10,000 supporters of former President Slobodan Milosevic demonstrated for his release from prison in central Belgrade on 26 June, AP reported. Branislav Ivkovic, a top official of Milosevic's Socialist Party of Serbia, said that the current authorities "want to extradite the defenders of this country... Once a Serb is put on trial, the whole of Serbia will stand accused. The decision [to permit extradition] is unconstitutional and it is a disgrace to all of Serbia" (see "End Note," below). PM[27] YUGOSLAV PRESIDENT GIVES GRUDGING RECOGNITION OF HAGUE TRIBUNALYugoslav President Vojislav Kostunica told a Belgrade news conference on 26 June that The Hague tribunal is a "reality" that Serbia must accept, RFE/RL reported. "One comes to something that is political reality, and the political reality actually is The Hague tribunal, its existence, and the necessity of cooperation with it." He added that "one way or another, all those political and legal dilemmas [surrounding Milosevic's case] go together or go away together and [lead] to the acceptance of that decree [on extradition of Yugoslav citizens] and the necessity of cooperation with The Hague tribunal, at least as the lesser evil." Kostunica regards the tribunal as an anti-Serbian instrument of U.S. foreign policy. He has dropped his opposition to cooperating with it in order to qualify for Western development aid. It is not yet clear to what extent Belgrade will actually cooperate with the tribunal. PM[28] SERBIA TO EXTRADITE 'VUKOVAR THREE'?Quoting unnamed sources inside the court, the Belgrade daily "Glas javnosti" reported on 27 June that the Yugoslav Justice Ministry has sent to the Belgrade district court a demand for the extradition to The Hague of three former Yugoslav army officers. The three have been indicted for war crimes committed during and after the fall of Vukovar in 1991. Croatia has long regarded the presence of the men in Serbia as an impediment to improved relations between Belgrade and Zagreb. PM[29] PETRITSCH BLASTS BOSNIAN SERBS OVER WAR CRIMESHigh Representative Wolfgang Petritsch said in Sarajevo on 26 June that he finds the Bosnian Serb authorities' failure to cooperate with The Hague- based tribunal "scandalous," Reuters reported. He stressed that their failure to arrest war criminals is "outrageous." He declined to tell the news agency's reporter whether he intends to take any concrete steps to remedy the situation. PM[30] RED CROSS WARNS OF BOSNIAN MINE DANGERSThe International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said in a statement in Geneva on 26 June that the recent heavy rains in north- central Bosnia have led to serious dangers from thousands of land mines washed up to the surface or into rivers, AP reported (see "RFE/RL Balkan Report," 26 June 2001). PM[31] ONE-THIRD OF BOSNIANS HAVE GONE BACKKresimir Zubak, Bosnia's minister for human rights and refugee affairs, said in Sarajevo on 26 June that some 714,000 persons out of 2,200,000 who fled abroad during the 1992-1995 war have gone back to Bosnia, RFE/RL's South Slavic Service reported. Of those remaining abroad, the largest group -- some 223,000 -- are in Serbia and Montenegro, while an additional 83,000 are in Croatia. PM[32] WHY THE DELAYS IN SENDING IN ALBANIAN ELECTION RETURNS?Dpa reported from Tirana on 26 June that the slow pace of submission of returns from the 24 June parliamentary elections is "causing continued uncertainty" (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 25 June 2001). Only five out of 100 electoral districts had filed their returns by the deadline in the evening of 26 June. Final returns were expected at some time on 27 June. PM[33] ROMANIA MOVES RESOLUTION AGAINST STATUS LAW AT PACE...The Romanian delegation at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) on 26 June submitted a draft resolution calling on Hungary to "suspend" the implementation of the Status Law passed by the Hungarian parliament on 19 June, Mediafax reported. The delegation enlisted the support of 26 representatives from France, the U.K., Spain, Italy, the Netherlands, and Denmark in favor of the draft, which could come to debate at the PACE fall session, if earlier approved by its Judicial Committee. The resolution says the Status Law introduces "discrimination" in neighboring countries between their ethnic Hungarian minorities and the ethnic majorities, violates those countries' territorial integrity by introducing "extraterritoriality" as a principle, and is in contradiction to several European conventions on national minorities. MS[34] ...AND PREMIER COMPLAINS TO ECPrime Minister Adrian Nastase wrote to European Commission Chairman Romano Prodi saying Romania supports the granting of cultural rights to national minorities to preserve their separate identity, but that granting those minorities special economic and social rights, as the Status Law does, is "a negation of the principle of nondiscrimination." Nastase also said the Status Law establishes a dangerous precedent that could be used by Russia in the Baltic countries or by Serbia in other states of the former Yugoslavia, RFE/RL's Bucharest bureau reported. MS[35] CLUJ MAYOR RETALIATES AGAINST HIS DETENTIONGheorghe Funar, the nationalist mayor of Cluj, on 26 June fined Teodor Pop Puscas, the local police chief who last week ordered the mayor's detention (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 22 June 2001), for allegedly breaching building regulations on property Puscas owns in the town. Funar imposed a fine of 60 million lei (nearly $2,000) on Puscas, Romanian television reported. Puscas said he has launched in response procedures against Funar for the violation of privacy rights and attempts to intimidate him and his family. He is demanding that the mayor be detained and investigated under "preventive arrest." MS[36] ROMANIAN WORKERS RALLY IN SUPPORT OF RESITA STRIKERSSeveral hundred representatives of trade unions in metallurgical companies from different Romanian towns and miners' union representatives from the Jiu valley on 26 June came to Resita to demonstrate solidarity with the hunger strikers there, who are protesting against the local steel company's failure to pay wages and its cessation of production, a local RFE/RL correspondent reported. Romanian radio on 27 June said delegations representing students who wish to display solidarity have arrived in Resita, as the 239 workers (29 of whom are women) began the ninth day of their fast. The government was to discuss on 27 June the situation in Resita and Privatization Authority Minister Ovidiu Musatescu said the previous day that parleys between the cabinet and the U.S. owners of the steel plant are deadlocked and that a possible solution is for the striking workers to accept unemployment benefits. MS[37] MOLDOVAN AGREEMENT WITH UKRAINE FACES OPPOSITION FROM AFFECTED VILLAGERSVillagers in Palanca, southern Moldova, are opposed to a provision in a border treaty with Ukraine that would split their village and have staged demonstrations against it, dpa reported on 26 June, citing Interfax. Under an agreement reached by the two countries, Moldova is to give Ukraine a short stretch of the Izmail-Odessa high road that passes through Moldovan territory in exchange for 500 square meters of swamp land that would give Moldova access to the Danube River, where it intends to build an oil terminal. The villagers, most of whose dwellings lie in northern Palanca, say this would split their village and leave them without fields. Their spokesman said that if the treaty is approved "Ukrainian border troops will send us and our cows to the Moldovan parliament to find grass." The two countries' parliaments are to debate the treaty on 28 July. MS[38] OUTGOING BULGARIAN PREMIER RESIGNS PARTY LEADERSHIPOn 26 June, outgoing Prime Minister Ivan Kostov resigned the chairmanship of the Union of Democratic Forces (SDS), assuming responsibility for the party's electoral defeat of 17 June, BTA reported. Kostov was replaced by close aide Ekaterina Mihailova, the former SDS parliamentary group leader. That position has now been taken over by Nadezhda Mihailova, the outgoing foreign minister in Kostov's cabinet. The SDS National Council meeting at which Kostov resigned appointed Plamen Ivanov as SDS chief secretary. MS[39] SIMEON'S MOVEMENT WANTS DUBIOUS DEFENSE DEALS RECONSIDEREDThe National Movement Simeon II (NDSV) is insisting that the Defense Ministry reconsider a deal for the modernization of two military airfields up to NATO standards, BTA reported on 26 June. The NDSV said in a statement that NATO accession is among its immediate priorities, and the party commends the outgoing government for the progress made toward that goal. It added, however, that "the frantic efforts of the Defense Ministry to sign contracts for scores of millions of leva at the very end of its term cause serious concern." The NDSV says the tender for the reconstruction of the airports is raising question marks, and major U.S. and British investors decided to withdraw after having consulted the tender's dossier. MS[C] END NOTE[40] SERBIA: DON'T HOLD YOUR BREATHBy Patrick MooreThe Yugoslav government issued a decree on 23 June to permit the extradition of its citizens. But a long time could still pass before former President Slobodan Milosevic goes to The Hague, if indeed he ever does. Milosevic's lawyers lodged an appeal with the Yugoslav Constitutional Court in Belgrade on 25 June challenging the legality of the Yugoslav government's decree permitting the extradition of Yugoslav citizens. Milosevic's chief lawyer, Toma Fila, said: "This was a political decision and it renders the law helpless against such bullying methods," AP reported. The legal battle could last several weeks. The decree was issued after weeks of inconclusive wrangling between the Democratic Opposition of Serbia (DOS) coalition and its Montenegrin allies in the Socialist People's Party (SNP), which was formerly part of Milosevic's governing coalition. The SNP refused to withdraw its opposition to the DOS's proposed law to permit extradition. Some observers thought that the seemingly endless discussions reminded them less of real-life drama and more of a well-scripted Kabuki play intended primarily for a foreign audience. In the end, the government issued the decree in the hope of convincing the U.S. and other Western governments that it is seeking to cooperate with The Hague-based war crimes tribunal in time for the EU's 29 June donors conference. The decree proved necessary because the U.S. in particular did not consider the wrangling over the extradition law to be sufficient progress toward real cooperation with The Hague. It is not clear if the decree will convince Washington that Belgrade is indeed deserving of support. The NGO Human Rights Watch issued a statement recently in which it called for postponing the conference on the grounds that Serbia's record in cooperating with the tribunal is abysmal. Some observers, moreover, have found it incongruous that President Vojislav Kostunica, who has repeatedly made it clear that he has no love for America and that the U.S. should leave the Balkans, should have gone to Washington recently to ask for money. In Washington, a State Department spokeswoman told Reuters after Belgrade issued its decree that "no decision has been made with regard to the donors conference, but we welcome any steps that the Yugoslav government takes with regard to cooperation with the international war crimes tribunal." It still remains to be seen how far Belgrade will go in cooperating with the court. It is clear that at least some of the leadership would dearly like to be rid of Milosevic, especially if extraditing him would lead to a flow of Western money. Polls suggest, moreover, that recent Serbian police revelations about the discovery of mass graves of Milosevic's Kosovar victims have helped turn Serbian public opinion in favor of extradition. It would thus seem politically safe for many Serbian politicians to support sending Milosevic to The Hague. But others are less likely to jump aboard the bandwagon. Many Serbs agree with Kostunica that the tribunal is an "anti-Serbian instrument of American foreign policy" that must be given only grudging cooperation, if any. Such individuals might not be unhappy to see the court procedures over extradition drag on indefinitely, or even to see the Constitutional Court invalidate the decree -- long after the donors conference is over. There are bigger issues at stake here than the legal niceties involved in putting one disgraced dictator on a plane bound for the Netherlands. And such larger matters may be the real reason for the foot-dragging in Belgrade. (Croatian President Stipe Mesic has called Kostunica's legal arguments against cooperating with The Hague "words for children.") If Milosevic goes on trial abroad, substantial issues regarding his rule are sure to get an airing in the international media. Questions will be raised about his role not only in starting and losing four wars but also in the destruction of former Yugoslavia. The international media are likely to examine what kind of Serbian political culture could place a man like that in power and keep him there for well over a decade. The media will also examine a political culture that has failed to break with wartime "heroes" like Radovan Karadzic, General Ratko Mladic, or the late Zeljko Raznatovic, also known as "Arkan." There may thus be more than just constitutional reasons for Belgrade's Kabuki-like pace in dealing with the issue of war criminals and their extradition. But sooner or later, Serbia will have to reexamine its past and its political culture. The "Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung" wrote recently that countries in transition do best when they break with the past sooner rather than later. The daily added that Serbia will serve its own best interests by quickly ridding itself of narcissism and of the view that Serbs are always the victims. 27-06-01 Reprinted with permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
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