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RFE/RL Newsline, Vol. 5, No. 162, 01-08-27Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty: Newsline Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty <http://www.rferl.org>RFE/RL NEWSLINEVol. 5, No. 162, 27 August 2001CONTENTS[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA
[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[C] END NOTE
[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA[01] ARMENIAN MOUNTAINEERS TO CLIMB MOUNT ARARATTwo Armenians are taking part in climbing Mount Ararat at the invitation of the Federation of Mountaineering of Turkey, Noyan Tapan reported on 24 August. PG[02] YEREVAN PAPER CRITICIZES KARABAKH'S EFFORTS AT ENERGY INDEPENDENCEAn article in "Aravot" on 25 August sharply criticized the efforts of the authorities in Nagorno-Karabakh to achieve energy independence instead of working to integrate that unrecognized republic into the Armenian power network. PG[03] KARABAKH REACTS TO COUNCIL OF EUROPE PROPOSALSThe Foreign Ministry of the unrecognized government of Karabakh on 24 August welcomed an officer from the Council of Europe to assist in the peace process in the region, Mediamax reported. But the same day, the ministry condemned the council for saying that local elections in Karabakh were illegitimate, the agency said. Visiting U.S. Congressman Adam Schiff also criticized the Council of Europe's statement about the "illegitimacy" of voters in Karabakh, Mediamax reported the same day. PG[04] ALIEV SAYS BAKU WANTS TALKS BUT IS READY TO FIGHTPresident Heidar Aliev on 25 August said that Baku remains committed to a peaceful solution of the conflict over Karabakh but that the country's military must be ready to restore the country's territorial integrity "at any cost," Azerbaijani and Western news agencies reported. The same day, Azerbaijani Defense Minister Safar Abiev said that "the transformation of Armenia into an uncontrolled weapons warehouse, the unsolved Armenian- Azerbaijani conflict, and the presence of an enormous number of refugees creates the threat of renewed fighting in the region," the agencies reported. PG[05] ALIEV POSTPONES VISIT TO U.S.Officials told "Bilik Dunyasi" on 24 August that the visit of President Aliev to the United States planned for the end of September has been postponed indefinitely. But the Sharg news agency the same day cited a presidential spokesman as denying that Aliev is ill. Meanwhile, Azerbaijani officials blocked the road near the U.S. embassy in Baku for security reasons, ANS television reported on 24 August. PG[06] 500,000 WATCH TURKISH FLIGHTS IN AZERBAIJANI CAPITALA half million people on 24 August watched demonstration flights by Turkish F-5 jets over Baku, the Turan news agency reported. Visiting Turkish Chief of Staff General Huseyn Kivrikoglu said that strengthening military ties between Ankara and Baku is an important task, the news agency said the next day. Meanwhile, Baku's "Zerkalo" newspaper on 25 August suggested that the Turkish air show represented a "warning" to Azerbaijan's enemies. Indeed, the paper said, President Aliev's planned visit to Iran would not be possible "were it not for the flights of the Turkish jets here." PG[07] IRAN WANTS BAKU TO REIN IN GROUP PROMOTING TIES WITH SOUTHERN AZERBAIJANThe Baku newspaper "525 gazet" reported on 25 August that Iranian officials are demanding that Baku clamp down on the activities of the United Azerbaijan Association that seeks to promote the reunification of southern Azerbaijan in Iran with Azerbaijan. PG[08] BAKU SAYS ATTACKS IN NORTH 'CRIMINAL NOT ETHNIC'In response to suggestions in Moscow and by the Azerbaijani Home group representing ethnic minorities in Azerbaijan that tensions in the north reflect a new round of ethnic assertiveness by Avars ("Nezavisimaya gazeta, " Interfax and ANS on 24 August), the Azerbaijani Interior Ministry issued a statement the same day saying that there is no ethnic background to the tension, ANS television reported. Meanwhile, Azerbaijani media outlets, including "525 gazet" and "Zerkalo," accused Armenia, Russia, and Iran of fostering ethnic separatism in Azerbaijan. PG[09] SWISSAIR TO END FLIGHTS TO AZERBAIJANCiting a lack of business and unprofitability, Swissair announced on 24 August that it will end its Zurich-Baku route at the end of October, the Sharg news agency reported. PG[10] UFOS SAID TO HAVE 'RESEARCH BASES' IN CASPIANFuad Zasimov, an official at the Azerbaijani National Aerospace Agency, said that unidentified flying objects have become "more active" over the Caspian Sea in recent weeks because the UFOs have set up "research bases in the Caspian," "525 gazet" reported on 25 August. PG[11] WORLD BANK TELLS GEORGIA TO RENEGOTIATE TRANSIT FEESThe World Bank has sent a letter to Tbilisi directing the Georgian government to renegotiate its oil transit fee schedule with Azerbaijan to get more revenue or face the loss of bank assistance, "The New York Times" reported on 26 August. Talks have reopened, the newspaper reported, but it did not specify whether any progress has been made. PG[12] GEORGIA WON'T SIGN SOME CIS DOCUMENTSGeorgian Foreign Ministry officials told Caucasus Press on 24 August that Tbilisi will not sign several of the documents prepared for the CIS ministerial meeting in Moscow on 5 September. Among the documents that Georgia won't sign, the official said, are several involving political regulation of the actions of member countries. PG[13] GEORGIA SAYS RUSSIAN STATEMENTS ON ABKHAZIA A PROVOCATIONGeorgian officials said on 24 August that Russian and Abkhaz suggestions that Georgia plans to ally itself with Chechen militants to attack Abkhazia are false and is intended to provide a pretext for Moscow to maintain or expand its military presence in the breakaway republic, Caucasus Press reported. The Georgian statement came after both Abkhaz and Russian forces in Abkhazia went on alert. President Eduard Shevardnadze returned from his vacation early in order to deal with the crisis, the news agency said. PG[14] CPC SUSPENDS SENDING OIL VIA TENGIZ-NOVOROSSIISK PIPELINEThe Caspian Pipeline Consortium on 24 August suspended pumping oil into the Tengiz-Novorossiisk pipeline, Interfax-Kazakhstan reported. Officials blamed the suspension on problems at the Atyrau pumping station. PG[15] KAZAKHSTAN OPPOSITION PICKETS U.S. EMBASSYMembers of the political opposition in Kazakhstan picketed the U.S. embassy in Almaty on 24 August to demand that Washington defend the opposition and democracy in that Central Asian country, Kazakh Commercial TV reported. The station added that some of the demonstrators had been paid to take part and left angry when they did not get their money. PG[16] KAZAKHSTAN TO PAY WATER DEBTS TO KYRGYZSTANKazakhstan has pledged to pay in 2002 its water debt to Kyrgyzstan by supplying 400,000 tons of coal worth $12 million and power engineering equipment worth $5.8 million, Kabar reported on 24 August. PG[17] KYRGYZSTAN'S AKAEV SAYS DEMOCRACY ABOUT RESPONSIBILITYAt a news conference on 24 August, Kyrgyzstan's President Askar Akaev said that there has been too much inappropriate criticism of the status of democracy in his country. Democracy, he said, "requires a balance between freedom and responsibility," something many forget. "It is disheartening that international organizations sometimes take the opinions of irreconcilable opponents and certain discontented people at face value and form an image of our country on this basis. It has become almost fashionable for people who have got into trouble with the law due to fraud or criminal cases to go abroad, proclaim themselves as 'political exiles' or 'prisoners of conscience,' receive support and live like heroes." PG[18] KYRGYZSTAN ANTIGOVERNMENT LEADER SAYS NO OPPOSITION EXISTSErkin Topchubek, the recently amnestied leader of the oppositionist party, told Kyrgyz-Press on 24 August that "there has never been an opposition in Kyrgyzstan nor is there one now." He said his definition of an opposition is people who oppose the government and are prepared to use unconstitutional measures. PG[19] CONSULAR OFFICE OPENS AT KYRGYZ-CHINESE BORDERKyrgyzstan's Foreign Ministry has opened an office at a Chinese border checkpoint where people can obtain visas, Kyrgyz radio reported on 25 August. PG[20] TURKMEN LEADER PROPOSES ARAL SEA CONFERENCETurkmen President Saparmurat Niyazov in a telephone conversation with Uzbekistan's President Islam Karimov proposed holding a Central Asian summit on the state of the Aral Sea sometime during the first two months of 2002, Turkmen TV reported on 24 August.[21] UZBEKISTAN WON'T RETURN TO COLLECTIVE SECURITY TREATYPresident Islam Karimov said on 24 August that Tashkent will not return to the CIS Collective Security Treaty, the Caspian News Agency reported. In other comments the same day, Karimov said that the liberalization of the country's judicial system will continue, Interfax-Central Asia reported. PG[22] KYRGYZSTAN'S PRIME MINISTER SAYS CORRUPTION INCREASINGIn an interview published in "Slovo Kyrgyzstana" on 21 August, Kurmanbek Baikiev gave a generally upbeat assessment of his country's economy but said that corruption "is assuming increasingly dangerous dimensions." PG[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE[23] BRITISH SOLDIER KILLED IN MACEDONIAIan Collins, a young sapper, was killed near Skopje on 26 August when what AP described as "marauding youths" threw a concrete block at his armored vehicle, causing fatal head injuries. The identity of the youths is not clear. British commander Brigadier Barney White-Spunner said that "this regrettable incident will not affect the resolve of Task Force Harvest to complete the mission." The news agency noted that "Macedonians largely blame NATO for the country's six-month ethnic Albanian insurgency, accusing the alliance of failing to choke off weapons and supplies coming from Kosovo." It added that "though ethnic Albanians generally welcome the deployment, ethnic Macedonians have been suspicious and sometimes hostile to the presence of foreign troops." In one of several apparently isolated violent incidents over the weekend, an explosion destroyed a Macedonian- owned motel near Tetovo, killing two Macedonians. It is not clear who was responsible for the blast. PM[24] NATO STARTS OPERATION ESSENTIAL HARVESTNATO began collecting weapons from the guerrillas of the National Liberation Army (UCK) near Kumanovo on 27 August at one of a series of movable collection points, dpa reported from Skopje. Danish General Gunnar Lange, who commands the 4,500-strong NATO force in Macedonia, said that "there are no guarantees [of success] and the path will not be easy and the alternative is clear. The alternative is war," AP reported. The alliance has agreed with the UCK on a figure for weapons to be collected but did not announce it (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 24 August 2001). NATO spokesman Major Barry Johnson called the list of weapons, which is believed to be over 3, 000 items, "credible," Reuters reported on 26 August. An unnamed senior NATO officer noted that the list includes mortars, Kalashnikovs, and antitank weapons. Johnson added that the Macedonian government has not formally objected. Prime Minister Ljubco Georgievski called the figure "laughable and humiliating." Elections are due in January 2002, and Georgievski's party has been slipping badly in the polls (see "RFE/RL Balkan Report," 24 August 2001). PM[25] POLITICAL ISSUES CLOUD MACEDONIAN MISSIONAP reported from Skopje on 26 August that unnamed Western observers describe the dispute between Georgievski and NATO over numbers as "an attempt by hard-liners within the government to obstruct the peace deal." The parliament is scheduled to discuss the peace agreement on 31 August. NATO is anxious to establish a "momentum to ease suspicions on both sides" by that date, Reuters reported. PM[26] GUERRILLAS WANT MACEDONIAN PARAMILITARIES DISARMEDThe UCK is worried that Macedonian security forces and paramilitaries will seek revenge on ethnic Albanians unless NATO maintains a military presence once Essential Harvest is completed, Reuters reported from Skopje on 26 August. The UCK humiliated the Macedonian forces, which could not contain, let alone defeat, the guerrillas. One UCK commander told Kosova Live news agency on 23 August that Macedonian paramilitaries should be expected to disarm along with the UCK (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 24 August 2001). Stevo Pendarovski, an aide to President Boris Trajkovski, said in Skopje that the government wants the security forces to return as soon as possible to regions previously occupied by the UCK, RFE/RL's South Slavic Service reported on 27 August. PM[27] NATO CONTINUES TO CATCH GUERRILLAS IN KOSOVAKFOR troops in the U.S. sector detained 96 suspected guerrillas in Kosova on 26 August as they crossed the border from Macedonia, AP reported. NATO troops detained a similar group of 29 ethnic Albanians the previous day. PM[28] ALBANIA CALLS ON KOSOVAR MERCHANTS TO USE ALBANIAN INFRASTRUCTUREGezim Podgorica, who heads the Albanian government office in Prishtina, told Kosova Live on 23 August that Kosovar merchants should use Albanian ports and Tirana airport because the Macedonian authorities have still not reopened the border to Kosova. The diplomat stressed that road security has improved in Albania, adding that violent incidents take place on the roads linking Montenegro and Kosova but are not always reported in the media. RFE/RL's South Slavic Service reported on one such armed robbery on 24 August. PM[29] BELGRADE LEADERS CALL ON KOSOVA SERBS TO REGISTER FOR ELECTIONSSerbian Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic, Deputy Prime Minister Nebojsa Covic, and Yugoslav President Vojislav Kostunica said in Belgrade on 26 August that Kosova Serbs should register for the 17 November general elections in the province, RFE/RL's South Slavic Service reported. The three men said that it is in "state interest" that Serbs register in order to show how many of them there are. Covic outlined his views at length in "Danas" of 27 August. Some observers have suggested that Kosova's dwindling Serbian population -- perhaps about 7 percent of the total -- will find its position there untenable in the long run, much as French colonists did in Algeria after independence. It is unclear whether Belgrade is trying to prevent that from happening, or whether it is seeking to use the Serbs there as part of some broader deal involving the redrawing of regional borders. PM[30] SERBIAN LEADERS TO DISCUSS DIFFERENCESKostunica has called a meeting of the governing Democratic Opposition of Serbia (DOS) for 28 August, RFE/RL's South Slavic Service reported on 27 August. The purpose of the meeting is to work out differences arising from the Gavrilovic affair, which have severely strained relations within the coalition (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 24 August 2001). Serbian Justice Minister Vladan Batic said in Belgrade on 24 August that Kostunica will prove to be the biggest loser in the imbroglio of mutual recriminations between him and Djindjic's government. Cedomir Jovanovic, who heads the DOS faction in the Serbian parliament, said that he does not trust the version of events in the Gavrilovic affair given by Kostunica's staff, "Danas" reported on 27 August. PM[31] REWARD POSTED IN SERBIAN MYSTERY MURDERSSerbian Interior Minister Dusan Mihajlovic has offered a reward of about $140,000 for crucial information regarding a series of unexplained murders of prominent persons between 1996 and 2001, RFE/RL's South Slavic Service reported on 24 August. The murdered men are Slavko Curuvija, Milan Pantic, Radovan Stojcic, Zoran Todorovic, Momir Gavrilovic, and Pavle Bulatovic. The reward also applies to the disappearance one year ago of former Serbian President Ivan Stambolic. PM[32] HAGUE PROSECUTOR WANTS LIFE SENTENCE FOR SERBIAN WAR CRIMINALCarla Del Ponte, the chief prosecutor at The Hague-based war crimes tribunal, told a Dutch newspaper on 25 August that she wants the prison sentence for former Bosnian Serb General Radislav Krstic extended from 46 years to life, Deutsche Welle's Bosnian Service reported (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 2 August 2001). She said she made her decision after talking to widows and other relatives of the 8,000 Muslim males believed to have been massacred at or near Srebrenica in 1995 by troops under Krstic's command. Krstic's lawyers are planning to appeal his conviction for genocide. In related news, the tribunal warned Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic on 24 August that he could lose "all privileges" in jail if he continues to violate prison rules, AP reported. He recently gave a telephone interview to a U.S. television station in contravention of the regulations. PM[33] SLOVENIA TO SEEK BILATERAL MIGRATION AGREEMENTSSlovenian Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel told Reuters in Alpbach, Austria, on 27 August that his Alpine republic will seek bilateral deals with neighboring states on the migration of labor if it is admitted to the EU and that Brussels insists on a transition period for new members. He stressed that his government does not think that restrictions are "right." He added: "We shall continue pressing for a better solution, but in the end probably we shall resort to bilateral arrangements with the countries that we have the strongest interest in -- Italy, Austria, and Germany." He pointed out that "we are treated as a rich country [by Brussels] as far as property issues are concerned. When it comes to our workers, we are treated as a poor country." Rupel warned that continued delays in Slovenia's acceptance into the EU could lead to a growth of Euro-skepticism there (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 20 August 2001). PM[34] PREMIER SAYS ROMANIA IS INTENSIFYING NATO ACCESSION PREPARATIONSPrime Minister Adrian Nastase on 24 August said Romania is intensifying preparations aimed at ensuring its accession to NATO at the 2002 Prague summit and an interministerial committee has been set up to coordinate those efforts. Also on 24 August, Democratic Party Chairman Traian Basescu published the evaluation report on Romania's preparations for NATO membership and revealed that the report was written by Bruce Jackson, co- chairman of the U.S. NATO Enlargement Committee. Basescu also rejected government claims that the report is old and outdated, indicating that it was written in June. On 25 August, Jackson told Mediafax that the report sought to outline the "three main priorities" that each candidate country should fulfill and to emphasize that "moral values are just as important as fulfilling military criteria." He said he "does not want to comment on aspects of Romanian internal affairs." Defense Minister Ioan Morcea Pascu said Jackson's reaction indicates that he acknowledges the progress made by Romania and does not wish the report to be perceived as criticism of the country (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 24 August 2001). MS[35] ...RENEWS CRITICISM OF STATUS LAW, WORRIED ABOUT HUNGARIAN 'CRYPTO- REVISIONISM'...Premier Nastase on 24 August also said that the Hungarian Status Law will make it difficult for Romanians to decide during next March's 2002 census whether their affiliation to Hungarian nationality should not be listed under "occupation" rather than under "nationality" in view of the material advantages the law grants to Magyars. Nastase warned again that Romanian Roma might seek Magyar ID cards in order to be able to travel to that country and work in Hungary, RFE/RL's Bucharest bureau reported. He also expressed concern over "emerging Hungarian crypto-revisionism," pointing out that a monument to Trianon has recently been restored in Nagykanizsa, Hungary, and emphasizing that the monument was a "symbol of Hungarian irredentism" before World War II. MS[36] ...WARNS AGAINST' FEDERALIST TRENDS' IN TRANSYLVANIAAddressing a forum of young Social Democratic Party members on 25 August, Nastase warned that "federalist trends" are becoming "dangerously prominent" in Transylvanian publications and private TV channels, according to a government press release. The premier emphasized that he is not talking only about such trends among the Hungarian minority there, but also among the Romanian ethnic majority, some of whose spokesmen emphasize "local specificity" and the need to decentralize the state along those specific traits. Nastase said the disintegration of the former Yugoslavia and Czechoslovakia owes much to similar trends and that the Romanian authorities are determined not to allow the "national and unitary" state disintegrate. Regarding the Hungarian minority in Transylvania, the premier said: "We display maximum tolerance toward minorities, but must also defend our national interests. We ensure conditions for teaching in mother tongues, but we must also create conditions for all citizens to learn Romanian, and these conditions are not respected everywhere." MS[37] PRM EATS LIBERTARIAN SOUP AND KEEPS ANTI-SEMITIC CAKEGreater Romania Party (PRM) leader Corneliu Vadim Tudor on 24 August told journalists his party "distances itself" from the publication of PRM Deputy Vlad Hogea's book "The Nationalist," RFE/RL's Bucharest bureau reported. Tudor said he had not been informed about the venomously chauvinistic book prior to its publication and had not authorized the reproduction of his own photo on the book's back cover. At the same time, Tudor said his party will "not sacrifice the young deputy -- as some people have summoned us to do -- because we live in a free country, where the right to free expression is guaranteed by the law." Tudor also said that he "failed to comprehend" the "disproportionate reactions" to the book's publication voiced by the Federation of Romanian Jewish Communities and by Public Information Minister Vasile Dancu. Tudor said he will "personally" ask the Prosecutor- General's Office to launch procedures against them for "attempting to restore the most hideous form of Stalinist terror -- which is censorship." MS[38] FORMER ROMANIAN KING ON FUTURE OF PELES CASTLEA lawyer representing former King Michael on 24 August said the former monarch wishes to have his ownership of the Peles castle in Sinaia lawfully acknowledged by the authorities, but does not intend to administer the castle himself, Mediafax reported. The lawyer said Michael wants the castle to continue being a museum administered by the state authorities, with profits from visitors going toward management of the museum. MS[39] MOLDOVAN PREMIER SAYS NO OBLIGATORY RUSSIAN CLASSES IN PRIMARY SCHOOLSPrime Minister Vasile Tarlev on 25 August said on Moldovan Radio that no obligatory Russian-language classes will be introduced in primary schools, RFE/RL's Chisinau bureau reported. Tarlev said Russian will be taught in schools "just like any other foreign language, such as English, French, German, and Turkish." He said he has discussed the situation with Education Minister Ilie Vancea but failed to specify whether that ministry's order to introduce obligatory Russian-language classes has been canceled. On 24 August, Romanian Premier Nastase said his country is "worried" about the reintroduction of Russian-language classes, which might lead Moldovan children to "see the world through Moscow's windows." Nastase also said the step "arouses doubts in Romania and Europe about how seriously Chisinau takes its commitments to European institutions." MS[40] FORMER ROMANIAN KING CRITICIZES MOLDOVAN INDEPENDENCEIn an interview with the Chisinau edition of the Romanian daily "Jurnalul National," former King Michael on 24 August said that "Bessarabia cannot and must not be independent of Romania." The interview was published on the eve of celebrations of Moldova's 10th anniversary of independence on 27 August. Michael said that historically, Bessarabia "has never been an autonomous land," except "in the minds of Russian diversionists." The Russians, he added, "have self-appointed themselves as saviors of peoples, liberators, and defenders of nations and of oppressed minorities" both when they strove to achieve domination "in the name of Orthodoxy" and when they sought to spread communism. The Soviet Union maintained the peoples of its empire "under a state of absolute barbarity" and that situation "survives and will continue to last as long as the institutions created by it have not been abolished." The former monarch said post-communist Romania's decision to recognize Moldovan independence was a "non-Romanian act" and the country's leaders at the time missed an opportunity to bring about reunification when "no one in the world would have dared challenge it." MS[41] BULGARIAN FOREIGN MINISTRY SAYS COUNTRY HAS 'MANY TANDEMS'Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Elena Popotodorova said that Bulgaria "insists on being judged according to its own performance and to stick to its own path of accession to Euro-Atlantic structures," the daily "Dnevnik," cited by Mediafax, reported on 24 August. Popotodorova spoke after opposition Union of Democratic Forces Deputy Chairman Dimitar Abadzhiev again criticized the alleged agreement with Romania to gain accession to those structures "in tandem." Popotodorova said Bulgaria has "many tandems" with other neighbors as well -- such as with Macedonia, Greece, and Turkey, as well as with the U.S. -- and that all of them are designed to promote Bulgarian national interests without infringing on the country's independent path to accession to NATO and the EU. Romanian Premier Nastase, reacting to the "clarifications" of the Hungarian ambassador to Bulgaria's statement advising Sofia against a "tandem" with Romania, said on 24 August that the Romanian proposals "might have unwarrantedly disturbed [Hungarian] plans for other tandems" (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 15, 20, 21, 22, and 23 August 2001). MS[42] BULGARIAN CHIEF NEGOTIATOR SAYS REFORMS WILL SPEED EU ACCESSIONIn an interview with Reuters on 24 August, Bulgaria's chief negotiator with the EU, Meglena Kuneva, said the reforms planned by the Bulgarian cabinet will speed her country's accession to the EU. She said Bulgaria hopes to complete negotiations by 2004 and become a full EU member by 2007. Kuneva said Bulgaria has already developed a good legal framework for a market economy, but lacks investments to stimulate the capital and land markets. The parliament has yet to pass legislation allowing foreigners to purchase land in Bulgaria. Kuneva also said Bulgaria needs to develop its energy strategy before opening talks on that chapter of the acquis communautaire, adding that such talks will involve "tough negotiations" regarding the Kozloduy nuclear power plant. Sofia has bowed to EU pressure and agreed to decommission the plant's oldest reactors by 2003, but has yet to negotiate the fate of other reactors at Kozloduy. MS[43] JORDANIAN KING IN BULGARIAVisiting Jordanian King Abdullah II on 25 August met with President Petar Stoyanov and officials from the two countries signed agreements to improve cooperation on culture, education, health, and air travel, international agencies reported. Stoyanov and his guest also discussed bilateral relations and the situation in the Middle East. Stoyanov told journalists that he also brought up with the guest the trial of six Bulgarians in Libya, expressing hope that the pending sentence will be "just." On 26 August, Abdullah II met with Prime Minister Simeon Saxecoburggotski in Plodviv and inspected a military base there. MS[C] END NOTE[44] MACEDONIAN DISAPPOINTMENTS AND FEARSBy Ulrich BuechsenschuetzShortly after the leaders of the major ethnic Albanian and Macedonian parties signed a political agreement to end the six-month crisis, the Macedonian part of the tiny Balkan country's population remains highly skeptical about what the outcome of the crisis means for it. As previous opinion polls already showed, perceptions of the current situation and future prospects differ widely between the two major ethnic groups (see "RFE/RL Balkan Report," 7 August 2001). On 20 August, the Skopje daily "Utrinski vesnik" published an opinion poll on the popularity of the political parties as well as the respondents' expectations for the future of the Balkan republic. The poll was conducted between 17 and 20 July, before the peace agreement was signed on 13 August. According to this poll, the main political parties of the two largest ethnic groups have lost much of the confidence of their potential voters. All political parties dropped in support compared to precrisis levels. The Internal Revolutionary Organization-Democratic Party for Macedonian National Unity (VMRO-DPMNE) of Prime Minister Ljubco Georgievski and President Boris Trajkovski, as well as the Social Democratic Union of Macedonia (SDSM) of Branko Crvenkovski, fell dramatically in the voters' eyes. According to the poll, the VMRO-DPMNE would win only 7.4 percent of the votes in new parliamentary elections, while the SDSM would take 17 percent. Among the ethnic Albanian parties, the Party for Democratic Prosperity (PPD) would have 5.1 percent of the ballots, while 6.7 percent of the voters would opt for the Democratic Party of the Albanians (PDSH). In comparison with previous opinion polls, the latest poll shows that the four parties represented in the current government have lost up to one-half of their voters. A poll conducted before the outbreak of violence in Macedonian put the SDSM at 32 to 34 percent, the VMRO-DPMNE at 11 to 13 percent, the PDSH at 10 percent, and the PPD at a mere 5.7 percent. The relatively small losses of the PPD may be due to the party leadership's somewhat radical stance during the negotiations. It may also be that the party's support is already reduced to its absolute core constituency and that it cannot lose much more support without disappearing as a political force altogether. What should concern the politicians most is the fact that about one-third of the electorate say they do not plan to vote at all. Among the Macedonians 31.6 percent would boycott elections, while 14.3 percent of the Albanians, 16.7 percent of the Serbs, and 50 percent of the Turks would do likewise. The latest figure is especially revealing, as it shows that the Turkish minority, whose leadership backed the Macedonian side during the conflict, is very unhappy. Their disappointment presumably stems from the fact that, of all the minorities in Macedonia, only the Albanians will benefit from the agreement. The researchers also asked those interviewed for their opinion of the Albanian demands for a more decentralized state administration. The results were probably predictable on the basis of press commentaries in recent weeks: some two-thirds of the Macedonian respondents said that decentralization will eventually lead to the federalization of Macedonia. Federalization is something most Macedonians fear, as it would -- in their view -- undermine the territorial integrity of their country. Two-thirds of the Albanian respondents, on the other hand, do not think that decentralization would lead to federalization. And they presumably do not fear federalization, either. The fall in each party's popularity in the poll, together with the high percentage of Macedonians in particular who will not vote, also reflects a general discontent with the country's political leadership. Recent newspaper editorials mirror the electorate's disappointment with the work of the politicians. Among the editorials in Macedonian-language media under review in this article, there was not a single positive one about the peace agreement. In a number of commentaries, the peace deal is compared to earlier Balkan peace treaties. Zarko Jordanovski of the Skopje daily "Dnevnik" compared the Ohrid agreement to the 1995 Dayton peace agreement (see "RFE/RL South Slavic Report," 23 August 2001). Trajan Petrovski in "Utrinski vesnik" of 17 August draws parallels between the Ohrid agreement and The Treaty of Bucharest 1913, when the geographic region of Macedonia was divided among Greece, Bulgaria, and Serbia at the end of the Second Balkan War. In his view, the provisions of the peace agreement signed on 13 August are the first step toward a new partition of Macedonia, the losers in which are the Macedonians. Mirka Velinovska of the weekly "Zum magazin" on 17 August went so far as to compare the Ohrid agreement with the Munich agreement of 1938, when Britain and France sought to appease Hitler by offering him parts of Czechoslovakia under the pretext of protecting the German minority. Other, less emotional editorials concentrated on the problems that might arise from the amnesty that was promised to the guerilla fighters of the National Liberation Army (UCK). Obviously, for most Macedonians it is hard to accept that -- under the terms of the peace agreement -- the number of ethnic Albanians in the police force is to be increased drastically, and that among the 1,000 new policemen there might be amnestied former members of the UCK. Mirjana Najcevska argued in "Utrinski vesnik" on 21 August on the basis of the Macedonian penal code and on general legal principles that anybody who has committed crimes should not be allowed to become a policeman. While not stating so explicitly, it is clear that she opposes the amnesty. In an article by Zoran Markozanov for "Zum magazin" of 17 August, penal law Professor Gjorgji Marjanovic sees the amnesty from a practical standpoint. "After the amnesty, the terrorist will have the same rights as any honest citizen of Macedonia... This means that even [the political leader of the UCK, Ali] Ahmeti could become a minister, and those who have killed [people] can become policemen." Marjanovic is of the opinion that such a situation can be avoided only by not granting amnesty to the leaders of the UCK. But he adds: "I believe that Ahmeti will not accept this, and that our government will not decide to take such a step." Whether the Macedonian population's fears and disappointments will result in a call for new leaders remains to be seen. Journalists have already begun to outline the abilities any future leader(s) should have. Mirka Velinovska of "Zum magazin" wants people who are "honest, uncompromising, wise, and ready to take risks," while Saso Colakovski of "Utrinski vesnik" wants "a leader, who tells the blunt truth, as painful as it might be." 27-08-01 Reprinted with permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
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