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RFE/RL Newsline, 02-09-03
CONTENTS
[01] RUSSIA READY TO RATIFY KYOTO PROTOCOL...
[02] ...AND SEEKING TO HELP DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
[03] IRAQ SEEKS RUSSIA'S POLITICAL SUPPORT...
[04] ...AS MOSCOW OFFERS BAGHDAD NO PROMISES
[05] ISRAEL TRIES TO BLOCK SALE OF RUSSIAN ANTIAIRCRAFT MISSILES TO
[06] SENIOR POLITICAL OFFICERS RETURN TO ARMY
[07] IN ALL, 36 HELICOPTERS DOWNED IN CHECHNYA
[08] FSB DEPUTY DIRECTOR JOINS LEADING WESTERN AUDITOR
[09] HAVE PUTIN'S POLICIES TRIGGERED OPPOSITION AMONG RUSSIA'S ELITES?
[10] HISTORIAN 'CERTAIN' OF YELTSIN-PUTIN DEAL
[11] FOREIGN MINISTRY REACHES OUT TO THE ONLINE MASSES
[12] UPPER CHAMBER TO PUSH FOR RECONSIDERATION OF BERING SEA BORDER
[13] LOCAL DEPUTIES BAN THEMSELVES FROM SEEKING RE-ELECTION
[14] STREET FIGHTING MARS CITY DAY
[15] U.S. EMBASSY EMPLOYEE VICTIM OF ASSAULT
[16] KASPIISK BOMBING SUSPECT ESCAPES
[17] CHECHEN ADMINISTRATION HEAD BACKTRACKS OVER ELECTION SCHEDULE
[18] ARMENIAN MINISTER DENIES CAMPAIGN UNDER WAY TO REPLACE PREMIER
[19] ARMENIAN SCHOOLS ORDERED TO DISPLAY PORTRAITS OF PRESIDENT,
[20] ARMENIAN PRESIDENT VISITS NAGORNO-KARABAKH
[21] AZERBAIJANI OPPOSITION PARTIES CALL FOR ANNULMENT OF REFERENDUM
[22] AZERBAIJANI VILLAGERS STAGE NEW PROTEST
[23] JOURNALISTIC ORGANIZATIONS CRITICIZE AZERBAIJANI DECREE ON STATE
[24] GEORGIAN PRESIDENT SAYS SITUATION IN PANKISI UNDER CONTROL
[25] GEORGIAN OFFICIALS AGAIN SAY THEY HAVE EVIDENCE OF RUSSIAN AIR
[26] GEORGIAN COURT REMANDS ARAB IN PRETRIAL CUSTODY
[27] GEORGIAN GUERRILLAS KILLED IN ABKHAZ CLASH
[28] RUSSIA'S ENVOY FOR ABKHAZ CONFLICT MEETS WITH SOUTH OSSETIAN
[29] KAZAKH PRESIDENT ADDRESSES PARLIAMENT
[30] KAZAKH INTERIOR MINISTER IMPLICATES JAILED OPPOSITIONISTS IN
[31] INVESTIGATORS SAY USE OF FORCE AGAINST KYRGYZ PROTESTERS WAS
[32] ...AS PARTICIPANTS SCHEDULE PROTEST MARCH TO BISHKEK
[33] KYRGYZ OPPOSITION PROPOSES AMENDING COMPOSITION OF CONSTITUTIONAL
[34] UZBEKISTAN MARKS INDEPENDENCE ANNIVERSARY
[35] BELARUSIAN PRESIDENT WANTS SCHOOLS TO DEFEND STATEHOOD...
[36] ...WHILE SOME MAY DISAGREE
[37] PUTIN SENDS BIRTHDAY GREETINGS TO BELARUSIAN PRESIDENT
[38] BELARUSIAN TRADERS STRIKE OVER FISCAL PRESSURE
[39] UKRAINIAN OPPOSITION CALLS FOR PROTESTS TO OUST PRESIDENT...
[40] ...AS KUCHMA CONTINUES TO URGE POLITICAL REFORM...
[41] ...AND YUSHCHENKO WANTS TO FORM COALITION GOVERNMENT
[42] GONGADZE'S BODY IDENTIFIED AT LAST
[43] CURRENT LINEUP IN UKRAINIAN PARLIAMENT
[44] NEW ESTONIAN CULTURE MINISTER APPOINTED
[45] RUSSIAN PARTIES TO RUN ON A JOINT LIST OF CANDIDATES IN ESTONIA'S
[46] LATVIAN FOREIGN MINISTRY OFFICIAL SAYS EU, NATO ACCESSION WOULD
[47] RUSSIA CONCERNED OVER U.S. RADAR IN LATVIA
[48] CONTROVERSY CONTINUES OVER POLAND'S EU CAMPAIGN CHIEF
[49] POLISH PARLIAMENT PASSES DEBT-RELIEF LAW...
[50] ...SHORTENS MILITARY SERVICE FOR UNIVERSITY GRADUATES
[51] IS FORMER CZECH FOREIGN MINISTER INVOLVED IN SRBA ILLEGALITIES?
[52] CZECH COALITION AGREES ON TAX INCREASES
[53] MORE FLOODING HITS SOUTHERN CZECH REPUBLIC
[54] VERHEUGEN WELCOMES CHANGES IN SLOVAK ELECTORAL POLLS
[55] DEPUTY PREMIER SAYS SLOVAK PRESIDENT UNLIKELY TO SEEK RE-ELECTION
[56] SLOVAKIA WANTS HUNGARIAN STATUS LAW TO BE RADICALLY AMENDED
[57] HUNGARIAN MINISTERS SUSPECTED OF COLLABORATING WITH COMMUNIST
[58] ...WHILE DISPUTE EMERGES IN RULING COALITION OVER REPORT
[59] HUNGARY'S FIDESZ PROTESTS GOVERNMENT'S CONTROL OF MEDIA
[60] PEST COUNTY WANTS ADMINISTRATIVE SEPARATION FROM BUDAPEST
[61] NGO CALLS ON COUNCIL OF EUROPE TO PRESSURE BELGRADE
[62] SERBIAN JUSTICE MINISTER MAY BOYCOTT PRESIDENTIAL VOTE
[63] SERBIAN PARLIAMENTARY COMMISSION RULES AGAINST KOSTUNICA
[64] STEINER: INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY NOT IN KOSOVA FOR THE LONG HAUL
[65] AUTHORITIES FILE KOSOVA'S FIRST TAX-EVASION INDICTMENTS
[66] U.S. SLAMS ATTACKS IN KOSOVA
[67] MACEDONIA CALM AFTER INCIDENTS...
[68] ...AS HOSTAGES ARE RELEASED
[69] FERHADIJA TRIAL OPENS IN BANJA LUKA
[70] BOSNIAN SERBS DENY SREBRENICA MASSACRE...
[71] ...WHICH OUTRAGES HAGUE TRIBUNAL
[72] MEETINGS PLANNED IN BAY OF PIRAN DISPUTE
[73] FRANCE, ROMANIA, TACKLE ILLEGAL EMIGRATION PROBLEM
[74] ROMANIAN DEMOCRATIC PARTY RULES OUT COOPERATION WITH PSD...
[75] ...WHICH DRAWS CRITICISM FROM FORMER PREMIER
[76] PRO-PPCD RALLY CALLS ON MOLDOVAN AUTHORITIES TO FREE MEMBERS OF
[77] ...DEMANDS MOLDOVA LEAVE CIS...
[78] ...AND POLICIES OF COUNTRY'S RUSSIFICATION BE STOPPED
[79] MOLDOVAN LEADERSHIP IGNORES NATIONAL HOLIDAY
[80] SMIRNOV REJECTS OSCE PROPOSALS...
[81] ...WHILE TIRASPOL MARKS INDEPENDENCE DAY
[82] MOLDOVAN PRESIDENT SAYS PACE RESOLUTION FULFILLED
[83] BULGARIAN PRESIDENT CRITICIZES GOVERNMENT, SETS AGENDA FOR THE
[84] ...WHILE PRIME MINISTER SAYS 'BULGARIA IS NOT A PRESIDENTIAL
[85] BULGARIA TAKES OVER UN SECURITY COUNCIL PRESIDENCY
[86] There is no End Note today.
3 September 2002
RUSSIA
[01] RUSSIA READY TO RATIFY KYOTO PROTOCOL...
Speaking to the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg
on 3 September, Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov said that Russia is
ready to sign the 1997 Kyoto Protocol on global warming, RTR and other
Russian news agencies reported. Kasyanov also told delegates that
Russia has reduced its greenhouse-gas emissions by one-third in recent
years and that, at President Vladimir Putin's initiative, the
International Conference on Climate Change will be held in Moscow next
year. Meanwhile, Putin told reporters in Moscow on 3 September
following talks with German President Johannes Rau that Russia will
ratify the Kyoto Protocol, most likely during the fall session of the
State Duma, dpa reported. RC
[02] ...AND SEEKING TO HELP DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
Kasyanov also said that Russia "is ready to provide technological help
to developing countries in solving drinking-water problems," RosBalt
and other news agencies reported on 3 September. Earlier, Kasyanov told
journalists that Russia has written off $35 billion in debts owed by
African countries to the former Soviet Union, about half of the total
African debt written off so far by the world's creditor countries. He
added that Russia is ready to assist in training African medical and
educational specialists. Finally, Kasyanov said that trade barriers
must be eliminated and that Russia is gradually reducing import tariffs
on African goods, RosBalt reported. RC
[03] IRAQ SEEKS RUSSIA'S POLITICAL SUPPORT...
Iraqi Foreign Minister Naji Sabri arrived in Moscow on 2 September
seeking Russian diplomatic and political backing, Russian and Western
news agencies reported. Sabri did not discuss a proposed long-term
trade agreement between Moscow and Baghdad that is believed to be worth
$40 billion (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 19 and 26 August 2002). Foreign
Minister Igor Ivanov told journalists after his talks with Sabri that
Russia will insist that Iraq allow UN weapons inspectors to resume
their work as part of any resolution of the situation. Ivanov
reiterated Moscow's opposition to U.S. military intervention in Iraq,
saying it would only exacerbate the situation in the Middle East. VY
[04] ...AS MOSCOW OFFERS BAGHDAD NO PROMISES
Foreign Minister Ivanov rejected speculation that Russia would use its
UN Security Council veto if the United States seeks UN approval for
military action against Iraq, polit.ru reported on 2 September. "I hope
that there will be no such situation, that there will be no Security
Council meeting on military action against Iraq," Ivanov was quoted as
saying. Russia made no promises to Iraq during Ivanov's talks with
Sabri, "Kommersant-Daily" wrote on 2 September. VY
[05] ISRAEL TRIES TO BLOCK SALE OF RUSSIAN ANTIAIRCRAFT MISSILES TO
SYRIA
The Israeli government is making efforts to prevent Russia from
supplying Igla (SA-18) shoulder-launched antiaircraft missiles to
Syria, lenta.ru reported on 1 September, citing the Israeli daily
"Ha'aretz." According to the report, Syria has offered to purchase the
missiles from Russia, but a deal has not yet been sealed. Israel fears
that the Iglas could end up in the hands of terrorist groups such as
Hezbollah and could be used against Israeli helicopters. The SA-18 was
designed in the 1980s on the basis of the U.S. Stinger missile. VY
[06] SENIOR POLITICAL OFFICERS RETURN TO ARMY
Chief of the General Staff General Anatolii Kvashnin issued a directive
to reinstate in the Russian Army the positions of political officers at
the level of army and corps commanders, "Vremya novostei" reported on 3
September. Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, the institution
of political officers in the army was abolished and replaced with
division-level "educational" officers with limited functions. Valentin
Varennikov, a former commander of the Soviet infantry and a leader of
the August 1991 coup attempt against former Soviet President Mikhail
Gorbachev, told the newspaper that he welcomes all steps leading to the
restoration of the educational system that existed in the Soviet Army.
VY
[07] IN ALL, 36 HELICOPTERS DOWNED IN CHECHNYA
Russian forces in Chechnya announced that an Mi-24 helicopter was shot
down by enemy fire near Nozhai-Yurt on 31 August, Russian news agencies
reported. Both crewmembers were killed. On 18 August, an Mi-26 military
transport helicopter was shot down by a shoulder-launched missile,
killing 119 people (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 20 August 2002). The latest
loss was the 36th military helicopter lost since the beginning of the
second Chechnya campaign in September 1999, strana.ru reported on 2
September. Although the Chechen fighters have virtually no air-defense
weapons, Russia has been losing about one helicopter per month, a rate
that is far too high, the website editorialized. VY
[08] FSB DEPUTY DIRECTOR JOINS LEADING WESTERN AUDITOR
Deputy Director of the Federal Security Service (FSB) Lieutenant
General Yevgenii Lovyrev is leaving that agency to take a senior
position in the human-resources department of auditor
PricewaterhouseCoopers, "Versiya," No. 33, reported. At the FSB,
Lovyrev headed the Organizational-Personnel Department. Prior to that,
he worked in the personnel department of former President Boris
Yeltsin's administration, at a time when Putin also worked there.
"Versiya" noted that PricewaterhouseCoopers audits companies such as
Gazprom, LUKoil, and Alfa-Group, as well as the Central Bank. At a time
when auditing firms are experiencing a severe crisis of public
confidence, the weekly argued, the addition of a seasoned intelligence
officer such as Lovyrev can only bolster the company. VY
[09] HAVE PUTIN'S POLICIES TRIGGERED OPPOSITION AMONG RUSSIA'S ELITES?
In an article in "Vedomosti" on 2 September, political public-relations
specialist Aleksei Koshmarov argues that despite his strong ratings in
public-opinion polls as parliamentary and presidential elections loom,
President Putin is vulnerable because of a conflict within Russia's
elite. Koshmarov argues that the process of consolidating public
support for his policies has caused a significant decrease in the
independence of Russia's "old" elites. For example, the party-political
elite has been stripped of any opportunity to pursue an independent
political stance and is instead "given simply the opportunity to serve
those in power." In addition, Putin's perceived pro-Western foreign
policies contradict the interests of a considerable part of the Russian
establishment, including members of the business elite, security
officials, and some governors. Putin's administrative-reform initiative
directly infringes on the interests of the bureaucratic elite, whose
resistance could contribute to political instability on the eve of
parliamentary elections. "The conflicts within these elites have become
a part of public political life and are impeding inter-elite
stabilization, which is hazardous under the circumstances of the
elections," concludes Koshmarov. Members of these elites face fewer
opportunities, which in turn could create "difficulties" for the
president's electoral prospects. JAC
[10] HISTORIAN 'CERTAIN' OF YELTSIN-PUTIN DEAL
In an interview with "Vremya novostei" on 3 September connected with
his book "Vladimir Putin: The Current President," historian Roy
Medvedev said that he believes President Putin made some sort of deal
with former President Yeltsin in order to become president. "Yeltsin
put [Putin] on such a trampoline from which he 'jumped' into his post
with such a big advantage over the other presidential candidates. But
most likely a bunch of conditions were presented for this. Neither
Yeltsin nor Putin has ever spoken about this, but I am absolutely
certain that Putin took on a number of obligations that he, as a man of
his word, feels obligated to fulfill. Several of Putin's steps are
connected precisely with this," Medvedev said. Characterizing Putin,
Medvedev said, "He is a very capable person who will yet surprise us
more than once." RC
[11] FOREIGN MINISTRY REACHES OUT TO THE ONLINE MASSES
Speaking to students of the Moscow State Institute of International
Relations (MGIMO), Foreign Minister Ivanov announced that his ministry
has launched an Internet page devoted to Russian foreign policy in
cooperation with the Interfax news agency, lenta.ru reported on 2
September. Ivanov said that any citizen can receive an answer to his or
her questions about Russian foreign policy through the interactive
website (http://www.interfax.ru/pressmidnewv.html). VY
[12] UPPER CHAMBER TO PUSH FOR RECONSIDERATION OF BERING SEA BORDER
A group of Federation Council senators will put forward an initiative
calling for reconsideration of a 1990 agreement between the United
States and the Soviet Union delimiting the border between the countries
in the Bering and Chukchi seas, RosBalt reported on 3 September, citing
the chairman of the council's Committee for the North and Numerically
Small Peoples, Aleksandr Nazarov. On 14 June, the Duma passed a
resolution urging the government to renegotiate the treaty (see "RFE/RL
Newsline," 17 June 2002). Nazarov has created a working group -- which
includes Committee for International Affairs Chairman Mikhail Margelov
and a representative of the U.S. Embassy -- to discuss the treaty, and
that group held its first meeting on 3 September. According to Nazarov,
the treaty shifted the 1867 border to the advantage of the United
States, costing Russia some $200 million per year in lost fishing
revenues. "In 1990, the treaty was seen as a breakthrough in
Soviet-American relations. It was an unconsidered measure designed to
bolster a dialogue that was just starting. Today, under different
political circumstances, we can return to this problem...," Nazarov was
quoted as saying. RC
[13] LOCAL DEPUTIES BAN THEMSELVES FROM SEEKING RE-ELECTION
Deputies of the Novgorod Oblast legislature have amended the oblast
charter to forbid municipal heads from serving as legislative deputies
as of 2006, izvestia.ru reported on 3 September. In doing so, the
legislature brought the charter into accord with federal legislation.
The move, however, was unprecedented because municipal heads currently
compose more than half of the legislature meaning that, in effect, they
banned themselves from seeking re-election. The changes must now be
approved by Novgorod Oblast Governor Mikhail Prusak. RC
[14] STREET FIGHTING MARS CITY DAY
One person was killed and one injured during a massive street brawl
during the celebration of Moscow's City Day on 31 August, Russian news
agencies reported on 1 September. Sixteen-year-old Valerii Panikhin was
killed by a knife wound to the neck in the fight, which involved
several hundred people, according to polit.ru. Fifteen people were
arrested during the incident, according to polit.ru, although Moscow
Mayor Yurii Luzhkov was quoted by Interfax as saying that 30 people
were detained. Interfax reported that the fight broke out between
skinheads and fans of rap music. RC
[15] U.S. EMBASSY EMPLOYEE VICTIM OF ASSAULT
A 23-year-old employee of the U.S. Embassy in Moscow was attacked in
the Moscow metro on the evening of 31 August, "The Moscow Times" and
polit.ru reported. Murdoch Lucas, an African-American who works as an
embassy librarian, was reportedly attacked by two unidentified men
while riding a train. The men allegedly struck Lucas in the face
several times and fled when the train stopped. Lucas was treated at a
local clinic. The embassy has declined to comment. RC
[16] KASPIISK BOMBING SUSPECT ESCAPES
Akhmed Magomedov managed to free himself from his handcuffs and escape
on 2 September from the Prosecutor-General's Office in Makhachkala,
where he had been taken to answer questions about his alleged role in
the 9 May Kaspiisk bombing that killed 45 people, Interfax reported. He
is one of 16 people arrested to date in connection with that attack. A
state of emergency has been declared in Makhachkala and a search is
under way. LF
[17] CHECHEN ADMINISTRATION HEAD BACKTRACKS OVER ELECTION SCHEDULE
Addressing Chechnya's Constitutional Commission on 2 September,
administration head Akhmed-hadji Kadyrov said that a minimum of two
years must elapse between the end of the antiterrorism operation in
Chechnya and the setting of the date for new elections, Interfax
reported. Kadyrov also noted that President Putin approves of that
timeframe. "The republic will fall into chaos if the election race
starts today," Kadyrov said. Last month, addressing a government
session that endorsed the new Chechen draft constitution, Kadyrov said
that elections could be held in the spring or summer of 2003 (see
"RFE/RL Newsline," 6 August 2002). LF
TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA
[18] ARMENIAN MINISTER DENIES CAMPAIGN UNDER WAY TO REPLACE PREMIER
Minister for Local Government Hovik Abrahamian denied on 31 August that
the harsh criticism of Prime Minister Andranik Markarian expressed at a
congress of local-government heads on 27 August is part of a campaign
to discredit and replace Markarian, RFE/RL's Yerevan bureau reported
(see "RFE/RL Newsline," 28 August 2002). Abrahamian, who is close to
President Robert Kocharian and is regarded as an unofficial deputy
premier, also denied that he is being groomed as a counterweight to
Markarian within the Republican Party of Armenia, which Markarian
heads. LF
[19] ARMENIAN SCHOOLS ORDERED TO DISPLAY PORTRAITS OF PRESIDENT,
CATHOLICOS
Education Minister Levon Mkrtchian has issued a decree requiring all
secondary schools to display portraits of President Robert Kocharian
and Catholicos Garegin II, the head of the Armenian Apostolic Church,
RFE/RL's Yerevan bureau reported on 2 September. They must also
permanently display the state flag and coat of arms. Deputy Education
Minister Aida Topuzian, a former Armenian Komsomol first secretary,
said the move is intended to boost civic consciousness and patriotism.
LF
[20] ARMENIAN PRESIDENT VISITS NAGORNO-KARABAKH
President Kocharian made an unannounced visit to the unrecognized
Nagorno-Karabakh Republic on 2 September, the 11th anniversary of the
enclave's official declaration of independence from Azerbaijan,
RFE/RL's Armenian Service reported. In a written address to mark the
anniversary, newly re-elected Karabakh President Arkadii Ghukasian
reaffirmed his commitment to seeking a peaceful solution to the
Karabakh conflict and warned Azerbaijan not to resort to a new military
offensive to restore its control over the region. LF
[21] AZERBAIJANI OPPOSITION PARTIES CALL FOR ANNULMENT OF REFERENDUM
RESULTS
Twenty-six Azerbaijani opposition parties adopted a statement in Baku
on 30 August affirming their joint refusal to recognize the validity of
the results of the 24 August referendum on constitutional amendments,
Turan reported. They said that despite pressure from police and the
authorities, no more than 10-15 percent of the electorate participated
in the vote. The Central Election Commission (CEC) gave participation
as 88 percent. The opposition said they will contest the referendum
outcome in both Azerbaijani and international courts. On 2 September,
the Democratic Party of Azerbaijan duly lodged a suit with Baku's
Sabail district court challenging the CEC's endorsement of the
referendum results the previous day. The opposition announced
separately on 30 September that it will convene a demonstration in Baku
on 14 September to demand the annulment of the referendum outcome. LF
[22] AZERBAIJANI VILLAGERS STAGE NEW PROTEST
Residents of the village of Nardaran on the outskirts of Baku staged a
demonstration on 30 August to protest the authorities' failure to
fulfill their earlier demands for improved facilities, employment
opportunities, and the release of 14 people detained after a violent
clash between police and villagers on 3 June, Turan and Interfax
reported. Some protesters reportedly demanded the death sentence for
those who opened fire on villagers during that clash. The demonstrators
included some 300 children who have vowed to boycott school until the
villagers' demands are met. They also complained that their parents
cannot afford to buy them textbooks or school uniforms. LF
[23] JOURNALISTIC ORGANIZATIONS CRITICIZE AZERBAIJANI DECREE ON STATE
SECRETS
In a statement released on 2 September, the journalists' union Yeni
Nesil criticized President Heidar Aliev's 28 August decree on
preventing the publication in the media of information containing state
secrets, Turan reported. Yeni Nesil pointed out that the decree fails
to define the concept of state secret, and that the relevant
legislation should be revised. The international human rights watchdog
Article 19 issued a statement on 30 August expressing concern that
Aliev's decree places the responsibility for ensuring that such
sensitive information is not published on individual media outlets. In
order to do so, editors and journalists must consult a special
presidential commission that is empowered to demand that journalists
divulge the source of the information in question. LF
[24] GEORGIAN PRESIDENT SAYS SITUATION IN PANKISI UNDER CONTROL
Eduard Shevardnadze said on 2 September during his traditional Monday
radio address that the situation in the Pankisi Gorge is under control,
Caucasus Press reported. He added that all but a "few dozen" armed
Chechen and Arab militants previously encamped there have already left.
Some 1,000 Georgian Interior Ministry troops entered the gorge on 25
August to launch an anticrime and antiterrorist operation, which has
already yielded several arrests. On 31 August, Interior Minister Koba
Narchemashvili warned that the operation could last for some time and
that casualties are unavoidable, Caucasus Press reported. On 2
September, the Georgian authorities restricted journalists' access to
the gorge. LF
[25] GEORGIAN OFFICIALS AGAIN SAY THEY HAVE EVIDENCE OF RUSSIAN AIR
RAID
Fragments of the bombs dropped on the Pankisi Gorge on 23 August bear
Russian markings, Georgian Deputy National Security Minister Lasha
Natsvlishvili said in Tbilisi on 30 August. Georgian Intelligence
Service head Avtandil Ioseliani for his part said the same day that
Tbilisi will make that evidence available to any interested party,
according to Interfax. He also said he believes the Russian aircraft
that flew the air raid took off from Armavir or Mozdok. Also on 30
August, Caucasus Press reported that both Russia and the OSCE object to
the participation of the other in a joint investigation to establish
which country's aircraft dropped the bombs. Georgia proposed a joint
Georgian-Russian-OSCE investigation on 28 August (see "RFE/RL
Newsline," 29 August 2002). LF
[26] GEORGIAN COURT REMANDS ARAB IN PRETRIAL CUSTODY
Georgia's Supreme Court ruled on 1 September that the Arab detained in
the Pankisi Gorge on 29 August be held in pretrial custody for three
months, Caucasus Press and Russian news agencies reported (see "RFE/RL
Newsline," 30 August 2002). The man, who is Moroccan and carried a fake
French passport, has been charged with illegally crossing the Georgian
frontier and with membership in a international terrorist organization.
On 2 September, Caucasus Press cited a Japanese news agency as
reporting that the Japanese national apprehended in similar
circumstances has told his lawyers he did not fight with the Chechen
resistance against the Russian Army in Chechnya (see "RFE/RL Newsline,"
22 August 2002). LF
[27] GEORGIAN GUERRILLAS KILLED IN ABKHAZ CLASH
Several members of the White Legion Georgian guerrilla group were
killed in a clash with Abkhaz security forces in the village of
Khumushkuri in Abkhazia's southernmost Gali Raion on 31 August,
Interfax reported on 1 and 2 September. LF
[28] RUSSIA'S ENVOY FOR ABKHAZ CONFLICT MEETS WITH SOUTH OSSETIAN
PRESIDENT
Russian First Deputy Foreign Minister Valerii Loshchinin, who is
President Vladimir Putin's envoy for the Abkhaz conflict, has held
talks in Moscow with Eduard Kokoyty, president of the unrecognized
Republic of South Ossetia, ITAR-TASS and Caucasus Press reported on 31
August. The talks focused on ways to resolve the conflict between the
breakaway republic and Georgia. It is not clear whether the recent OSCE
proposal for resolving the analogous conflict between Moldova and the
unrecognized Transdniester Republic was discussed. Kokoyty said he
wants the Russian peacekeeping troops serving in South Ossetia
(together with Ossetian and Georgian troops) to remain there. LF
[29] KAZAKH PRESIDENT ADDRESSES PARLIAMENT
Nursultan Nazarbaev addressed the opening session of both chambers of
the legislature on 2 September, Interfax reported. For the first time
since Kazakhstan became an independent state in late 1991, he delivered
that address in Kazakh rather than in Russian; simultaneous translation
was provided for legislators who do not speak the state language.
Nazarbaev criticized deputies for failing during their last session to
discuss seven of a total of 15 draft bills he had singled out as of
particular importance. They included bills on joint-stock companies,
obligatory social security, the stock market, and amendments to the
existing pension and antimonopoly legislation. At the same time,
Nazarbaev commended the government's "painstaking" work and expressed
approval of the main parameters of the draft budget for 2003. LF
[30] KAZAKH INTERIOR MINISTER IMPLICATES JAILED OPPOSITIONISTS IN
ATTACK ON JOURNALIST
Speaking at a press conference on 29 August, Interior Minister Qayirbek
Suleymanov suggested that the assault the previous day on independent
journalist Sergei Duvanov may have been masterminded by the criminal
associates of two well-known oligarchs recently sentenced to prison
terms, but refrained from naming former Economy, Industry, and Trade
Minister Mukhtar Abliyazov and former Pavlodar Oblast Governor
Ghalymzhan Zhaqiyanov, RFE/RL's Kazakh Service reported. Alternatively,
Suleymanov said, the attacks may have been the work of the Kazakh
opposition (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 30 August 2002). LF
[31] INVESTIGATORS SAY USE OF FORCE AGAINST KYRGYZ PROTESTERS WAS
LEGAL...
Deputy Prosecutor-General Kurmantai Abdiev and a senior official from
the Prosecutor-General's Office said in Bishkek on 30 August that video
recordings confirm that police acted legally when they opened fire on
demonstrators in Aksy on 17-18 March, Interfax and RFE/RL's Kyrgyz
Service reported. They said the investigation into the standoff in
which five demonstrators were shot dead is continuing, and that six
local officials have been charged with abuse of their official
position. LF
[32] ...AS PARTICIPANTS SCHEDULE PROTEST MARCH TO BISHKEK
Some 300 participants of the Aksy protest gathered on 31 August in the
southern village of Bozpiek and decided to embark on a march to Bishkek
on 4 September to protest the authorities' failure to punish those
responsible for the police violence, RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service reported.
On 2 September, some 3,000 people attended two similar meetings in
Djalalabad Oblast to support the protest march. LF
[33] KYRGYZ OPPOSITION PROPOSES AMENDING COMPOSITION OF CONSTITUTIONAL
COUNCIL
The opposition Movement for the Resignation of President Askar Akaev
released a statement in Bishkek on 2 September protesting that the
opposition was not consulted over the composition of the 38-man
Constitutional Council named by President Akaev last week, RFE/RL's
Kyrgyz Service reported (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 27 and 28 August 2002).
They proposed that half the council's members should be opposition
representatives, and that it should be co-chaired by President Akaev
and an opposition politician. LF
[34] UZBEKISTAN MARKS INDEPENDENCE ANNIVERSARY
Amid tight security precautions, President Islam Karimov addressed a
ceremony in Tashkent on 31 August to mark the 11th anniversary of
Uzbekistan's Declaration of Independence, Interfax and uza.uz reported.
Karimov in his address hailed the progress he said the country has
registered in abandoning totalitarianism and embracing democratization.
But at the same time he warned that changing international
circumstances are fraught with new dangers that necessitate increased
vigilance and farsightedness on the part of the entire population. LF
CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPE
[35] BELARUSIAN PRESIDENT WANTS SCHOOLS TO DEFEND STATEHOOD...
President Alyaksandr Lukashenka said on 2 September, the first day of
the new school year, that schools must promote not only knowledge and
culture but also the policies pursued by the state, Belapan reported,
quoting the presidential press service. Lukashenka was attending the
opening ceremony of a secondary school in Maladzechna (northwestern
Belarus). Lukashenka presented the school with several volleyballs and
some tennis equipment and left the following message in the guest book:
"I will be very glad if our school becomes a bastion of statehood." JM
[36] ...WHILE SOME MAY DISAGREE
In a poll conducted by Belapan last week among 500 Minsk residents, 49
percent of respondents welcomed the idea of a single Belarusian-Russian
state, 38 percent opposed it, and 13 percent found it difficult to
decide on the issue. In a similar poll conducted by Belapan in December
2001, the single-state idea was welcomed by 42 percent and rejected by
29 percent of respondents. Asked whom they would like to be the
president of a single Belarusian-Russian state, 38 percent chose
Russian President Vladimir Putin (26 percent in December 2001) and 12
percent checked Lukashenka (12 percent in December 2001). JM
[37] PUTIN SENDS BIRTHDAY GREETINGS TO BELARUSIAN PRESIDENT
Russian President Putin congratulated President Lukashenka on his 48th
birthday on 30 August, Belapan reported. "The course toward unity of
Russia and Belarus will stand political and historical tests and, by
joint efforts, we will manage to accomplish the ambitious tasks of
ensuring decent living conditions for the present and future
generations of the Russian and Belarusian peoples," Putin said in his
telegram. "In Russia, you will always meet with understanding and broad
support of concrete steps aimed at the strengthening of interaction
between our nations, and at effective use of the potential of bilateral
cooperation for the purpose of creating a democratic and prosperous
union state," Putin added. Last month, Putin offered Belarus
incorporation into the Russian Federation, provoking abusive responses
from Lukashenka (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 29 August 2002). JM
[38] BELARUSIAN TRADERS STRIKE OVER FISCAL PRESSURE
Thousands of Belarusian small traders went on strike on 1 September to
protest increased taxes and rules aimed at increasing government
revenues, Reuters reported. The protesters want to roll back higher
taxes for social programs and on employers as well as the obligation
that traders have cash registers in an effort to tighten control over
transactions. "The authorities simply lobby in favor of big businesses,
which build large shops and wipe us out as a class," the agency quoted
one protester as saying. Belapan reported on 2 September that Premier
Henadz Navitski has instructed Economy Minister Andrey Kabyakou to
organize "constructive talks" with protesting vendors. JM
[39] UKRAINIAN OPPOSITION CALLS FOR PROTESTS TO OUST PRESIDENT...
At a joint news conference in Kyiv on 2 September, the leaders of the
Yuliya Tymoshenko Bloc, the Communist Party, and the Socialist Party
appealed to Ukrainians to take part on a massive scale in the
open-ended nationwide protest campaign that is planned to begin on 16
September, the second anniversary of the disappearance of journalist
Heorhiy Gongadze, Ukrainian media reported. Yuliya Tymoshenko, Petro
Symonenko, and Oleksandr Moroz told journalists that the protest
campaign will be continued until President Leonid Kuchma and "other
representatives of Ukraine's top authorities" resign their posts, UNIAN
reported. The three leaders also called for an early presidential
election. "We cannot wait for another 2 1/2 years [for the regular
presidential election in 2004] because then we will get Kuchma or his
successor," Reuters quoted Tymoshenko as saying. JM
[40] ...AS KUCHMA CONTINUES TO URGE POLITICAL REFORM...
President Kuchma has addressed a letter to the Verkhovna Rada, which
opened its autumn session on 3 September, asking the parliament to back
his proposal last month to introduce constitutional amendments in order
to move Ukraine toward a parliamentary-presidential republic. "My
proposal is not a joke or a test of loyalty, but a considered choice. I
hope that after the initial shock, political leaders will understand
the seriousness of the president's intention and start work on changing
the constitution," Reuters quoted from Kuchma's letter. Meanwhile,
parliamentary speaker Volodymyr Lytvyn in his opening address to the
session warned deputies against "drawing the parliament into debates on
early presidential and parliamentary elections," UNIAN reported. "A
dynamic transformation of the feeble Ukrainian political process into
an outburst of political emotions, multiplied by the president's
political initiatives and innovations, is fraud, apart from everything
else, with pushing to the background all the remaining urgent problems
connected with the country's vital functions," Lytvyn said. JM
[41] ...AND YUSHCHENKO WANTS TO FORM COALITION GOVERNMENT
Addressing the parliamentary session on 3 September, Our Ukraine leader
Viktor Yushchenko called on deputies not to yield to pressure from the
presidential administration while constructing a democratic
parliamentary majority, UNIAN reported. According to Yushchenko, the
most urgent tasks facing the Verkhovna Rada are forming a coalition
government and signing a political accord on harmonious cooperation
between the prime minister, the president, and the parliament. "There
is no other way, all the rest is fuss," Yushchenko stressed. Leonid
Kravchuk from the Social Democratic Party-united responded to
Yushchenko by saying that a coalition cabinet cannot be formed without
introducing relevant amendments to the constitution. Meanwhile,
Tymoshenko, Symonenko, and Moroz appealed to deputies to take part in
the opposition protest campaign scheduled to begin on 16 September.
According to Symonenko and Moroz, the primary task of the current
parliamentary session is to adopt a fully proportional election law. JM
[42] GONGADZE'S BODY IDENTIFIED AT LAST
Prosecutor-General Svyatoslav Piskun told journalists on 3 September
that forensic and medical experts have officially established that the
headless body stored for almost two years in Kyiv is that of journalist
Heorhiy Gongadze who disappeared in September 2000, UNIAN reported.
Piskun added that Gongadze's family will finally be able to bury him.
JM
[43] CURRENT LINEUP IN UKRAINIAN PARLIAMENT
Parliamentary speaker Lytvyn told deputies on 3 August that the current
numerical strength of caucuses and groups in the 449-member Verkhovna
Rada is as follows: Our Ukraine (109 deputies), Communists (63), Party
of Entrepreneurs-Labor Ukraine (40), Ukraine's Regions (37), Social
Democratic Party-united (35), Yuliya Tymoshenko Bloc (23), Socialists
(21), European Choice (18), Democratic Initiatives (18), Popular
Democratic Party (17), Power of the People (17), Ukraine's Agrarians
(16), People's Choice (15), United Ukraine (nine), and 11 independent
deputies. JM
[44] NEW ESTONIAN CULTURE MINISTER APPOINTED
President Arnold Ruutel appointed Culture Ministry Chancellor Margus
Allikmaa as the new culture minister on 30 August, BNS reported the
next day. Former Culture Minister Signe Kivi submitted her resignation
earlier in August after it was discovered that Avo Viiol, the managing
director of Kultuurkapital (Fund for Promoting Culture), which she
supervised, embezzled 8 million kroons ($533,000) from the fund's
account and gambled it away (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 16 August 2002).
The 41-year-old Allikmaa worked as the director of the Estonian Drama
Theater and as manager of the media company Trio LSL before becoming
chancellor in 1999. SG
[45] RUSSIAN PARTIES TO RUN ON A JOINT LIST OF CANDIDATES IN ESTONIA'S
CAPITAL
The leaders of four Russian parties -- the Estonian United People's
Party (EURP), the Unity of Estonia Party, the Russian Party in Estonia,
and the Russian Unity Party -- have agreed to form a joint list under
the name of the EURP for the local-council elections in Tallinn in
October, ETA reported on 31 August. Although the four parties signed a
cooperation agreement in March for the elections (see "RFE/RL
Newsline," 27 March 2002), they have not yet decided under what name
they will eventually merge. SG
[46] LATVIAN FOREIGN MINISTRY OFFICIAL SAYS EU, NATO ACCESSION WOULD
IMPROVE RELATIONS WITH RUSSIA
In talks in Riga on 30 August, Latvian Foreign Ministry State Secretary
Maris Riekstins told Aleksandr Udaltsov, the head of the Russian
Foreign Ministry's Second Political Department, that Latvia's
membership in the European Union and NATO would provide a positive
contribution to the development of Latvian-Russian relations, BNS
reported. Riekstins expressed Latvia's readiness to promote an active
dialogue between Russia and the European Union as well between Russia
and NATO. Riekstins noted that practical cooperation between the two
countries has intensified lately both between specific institutions and
in such spheres as interior affairs, migration, customs issues, and
culture. The two officials emphasized the need to promote the
preparation of draft bilateral treaties that are still in the
coordination process, with Riekstins calling on Russia to sign the
border agreement. SG
[47] RUSSIA CONCERNED OVER U.S. RADAR IN LATVIA
The Russian Defense Ministry is alarmed by the potentially
destabilizing effects of a proposed U.S. radar installation near
Daugavpils in eastern Latvia, ITAR-TASS reported on 3 September. The
radar system is being built by Lockheed Martin and will be deployed at
a former Soviet facility and connected to the Menvis Hill intelligence
center in Great Britain, an unidentified Russian Defense Ministry
source told the news agency. The system is capable of detecting small,
high-speed targets and calculating trajectories of ballistic missiles.
The source told ITAR-TASS that at least one-half of the staff at the
facility will be Americans. RC
[48] CONTROVERSY CONTINUES OVER POLAND'S EU CAMPAIGN CHIEF
Premier Leszek Miller told journalists on 1 September that he will not
yield to opposition demands that he dismiss Slawomir Wiatr -- the
government's commissioner for promoting European Union membership --
who has admitted that he collaborated with the communist-era secret
services (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 30 August 2002), PAP reported. Miller
added that Brussels is not interested in Poland's lustration process.
Ombudsman Andrzej Zoll said the following day that Wiatr's appointment
was "very dubious," adding that the EU promotion campaign supervised by
Wiatr will be less efficient following his revelation. Meanwhile, the
Law and Justice group has prepared an appeal requesting that Miller
sack Wiatr. Wiatr commented on 2 September that he "resolutely"
dismisses the idea of resigning his post. JM
[49] POLISH PARLIAMENT PASSES DEBT-RELIEF LAW...
The Sejm on 30 August passed a debt-relief law providing for special
aid for indebted firms, in line with an anticrisis package proposed by
Finance Minister Grzegorz Kolodko (see "RFE/RL Newsline," RFE/RL
Poland, Belarus, and Ukraine Report," 30 July 2002), PAP reported.
Under the law, indebted firms will be able to file for the writing-off
of their obligations in return for a so-called restructuring fee equal
to 1.5 percent or 15 percent of their debts. JM
[50] ...SHORTENS MILITARY SERVICE FOR UNIVERSITY GRADUATES
The Sejm also cut the length of compulsory military service for
university graduates from six months to three, PAP reported. However,
the bill simultaneously provides for the reintroduction of
defense-training courses for students. Upon completion of these
courses, students will be obliged to pass exams. Within 18 months after
graduation they will be eligible to be called up for three-month
service. Another provision of the bill allows farmers and people
running their own businesses to serve in the armed forces -- normal
compulsory military service lasts 12 months -- for shorter periods
spread over three years. JM
[51] IS FORMER CZECH FOREIGN MINISTER INVOLVED IN SRBA ILLEGALITIES?
Czech Foreign Ministry official Vladimir Zavzal on 2 September
confirmed that hundreds of thousands of crowns were found in a safe
near former Foreign Minister Jan Kavan's office in 2000, CTK reported.
He added that the money was given to the ministry's former
secretary-general, Karel Srba, in Kavan's absence from the country, the
agency reported. Zavzal, who on the same day was appointed the
ministry's new secretary-general, thus confirmed a report first
published by the weekly "Euro." Zavzal said he does not see any
connection between that incident and the current investigation of Srba
for the alleged contracting of a journalist's murder and corruption
(see "RFE/RL Newsline," 23 July and 27 August 2002). Kavan told CTK
that the 250,000 crowns ($8,090 at the current exchange rate) involved
was to be mostly used for financing a senate-election campaign. He said
the rest was either his own money or money received from the ministry
as allowance for his foreign visits. Kavan said Srba gave him the money
after he returned to Prague and that he cannot see why the issue should
surface now as a problem, the agency reported. MS
[52] CZECH COALITION AGREES ON TAX INCREASES
Prime Minister Vladimir Spidla on 2 September told BBC that the
coalition partners have agreed on increasing taxes to meet the costs of
reconstruction in the wake of the recent floods, CTK reported. Spidla
said the government will submit a bill providing for raising the income
tax to 37 percent for those with an annual income of 900,000 crowns
($29,126) or more -- five percentage points higher than at present. The
government is also planning to raise levies on tobacco and alcohol,
increase value-added taxes, and reduce the corporate income-tax rate.
On 30 August, AP reported that the Czech government and trade-union
representatives reached a compromise on a smaller rise in wages in 2003
due to restraints imposed on the budget by the flooding. Under the
agreement, firefighters, teachers, police, doctors, and other state
workers will get a 7 percent pay rise in 2003 -- six percentage points
less than what they were originally promised. Premier Spidla on the
same day told Czech Radio that he intends to freeze the salaries of
cabinet ministers and will propose that the same apply for members of
parliament. MS
[53] MORE FLOODING HITS SOUTHERN CZECH REPUBLIC
Heavy rains on 1 September caused new flooding in southern Czech
Republic, dpa reported. Meteorologists said that up to 96 millimeters
of rain fell in areas still recovering from last month's floods. A few
houses had to be evacuated in the historic town of Cesky Krumlov. In
Trebon, southern Bohemia, a 47-year-old man died on 31 August after he
was overcome by fumes from a gas-powered pump in his flooded cellar.
Police said he fell into the water and drowned. The man thus became the
17th victim of the floods. President Vaclav Havel on 2 September
visited four flood-stricken localities, including the southwestern town
of Svihov, and discussed flood protection with local officials. MS
[54] VERHEUGEN WELCOMES CHANGES IN SLOVAK ELECTORAL POLLS
Guenter Verheugen, EU commissioner for enlargement, on 30 August
welcomed the recent trends in Slovak opinion polls showing that former
Prime Minister Vladimir Meciar's Movement for a Democratic Slovakia has
lost support, TASR and AFP reported. Speaking in Elsinroe, Denmark,
Verheugen said he believes that "the Slovaks are probably aware that
this is the most important election in the history of the country, and
according to my information, the situation now looks much better than
it did before the summer break," AFP quoted him as saying. "Slovakia
needs a government that is trusted in Europe and is able to lead
Slovakia into the EU, while guaranteeing the continuation of the
process of political, economic, and social change." MS
[55] DEPUTY PREMIER SAYS SLOVAK PRESIDENT UNLIKELY TO SEEK RE-ELECTION
Deputy Premier Pal Csaky said on 1 September on the private Joj TV
channel that, in view of his deteriorating health, Slovak President
Rudolf Schuster is unlikely to seek re-election in 2004, TASR reported.
Csaky added, however, that Schuster alone will decide whether to seek a
second mandate. Presidential spokesman Jan Fuele said on 2 September
that tests established that Schuster is suffering from an infection and
he has been prescribed antibiotics. On the same day, Schuster hosted a
banquet marking the 10th anniversary of the Slovak constitution at
Bratislava Caste. MS
[56] SLOVAKIA WANTS HUNGARIAN STATUS LAW TO BE RADICALLY AMENDED
Foreign Ministry State Secretary Jaroslav Chlebo said in Bratislava on
2 September that Slovakia wants radical amendments to Hungary's Status
Law and will not content itself with mere cosmetic changes, TASR and
"Magyar Nemzet" reported. Chlebo noted that all of Hungary's neighbors
are critical of the law, and particularly of those provisions that can
be viewed as discriminatory and as an infringement on the sovereignty
of neighbors. He was speaking ahead of a bilateral consultation on the
issue that was to take place on 3 September. MS
[57] HUNGARIAN MINISTERS SUSPECTED OF COLLABORATING WITH COMMUNIST
SECRET SERVICES NAMED...
Free Democrat deputy Imre Mecs, the chairman of the parliamentary
commission investigating government officials' secret-service pasts, on
30 August released a list of 10 politicians who might have been
informers for the communist-era secret services, Hungarian dailies
reported. The 10 are: Laszlo Bogar, Imre Boros, Szabolcs Fazakas, Bela
Kadar, Janos Martonyi, Peter Medgyessy, Laszlo Nogradi, Erno Raffay,
Laszlo Sarossy, and the late Ferenc Rabar. The list corresponds with
the one published by "Magyar Hirlap" on 24 August (see "RFE/RL
Newsline," 26 August 2002), with the exception of former Finance
Minister Zsigmond Jarai. Mecs said that Kadar and Nogradi have since
been cleared of suspicion and the remaining eight will be given the
opportunity to comment on the commission's findings. MSZ
[58] ...WHILE DISPUTE EMERGES IN RULING COALITION OVER REPORT
Mecs said on 2 September that he wants to submit an independent report
on the findings of the parliamentary commission despite objections from
deputies from the Socialist Party, the Free Democrats' coalition
partner, "Nepszabadsag" reported. Mecs told reporters that the
commission will draft a report and submit it to parliament by
mid-September. However, "Nepszabadsag" commented that a commission
report is out of the question, as the commission has no quorum because
deputies from the opposition FIDESZ and Hungarian Democratic Forum have
been boycotting it. According to parliamentary rules, Mecs can only
submit a report through an independent motion of his own. Karoly Toth,
a Socialist member of the commission, argued that without the
cooperation of the opposition no legal conditions exist for the
commission to draft a report. Instead, he said, a summary to be
submitted to parliament should state merely that the opposition managed
to stop the committee from drafting a report. MSZ
[59] HUNGARY'S FIDESZ PROTESTS GOVERNMENT'S CONTROL OF MEDIA
Tens of thousands of supporters of former Prime Minister Viktor Orban
gathered outside state-run MTV television's headquarters on 30 August
to protest what they claim is the control over public media exercised
by the ruling Socialist-Free Democrat coalition, Hungarian media
reported. Orban told the crowd that "it is no longer enough to have a
Socialist channel, we also need one based on civic and national
values." He said that if parliament fails to pass such a bill the
right-wing opposition must initiate a referendum on the matter. Prime
Minister Peter Medgyessy told reporters on 31 August that one genuine
public-service television network is enough and that "Those who need a
television of their own should buy one." He also said that "a good,
stable, predictable, and constructive opposition is needed in
parliament," but dismissed Orban's proposal to set up right- and
left-wing state-television channels as "legally and democratically
absurd." Socialist Party Chairman Laszlo Kovacs and Free Democrat
executive Ivan Peto also rejected Orban's proposal, stressing that
FIDESZ has "occupied" MTV driven it to bankruptcy. MSZ
[60] PEST COUNTY WANTS ADMINISTRATIVE SEPARATION FROM BUDAPEST
The Pest County Council on 30 August decided to hold a referendum on
whether the county should secede from the Central Hungary Region it
forms with Budapest, Hungarian media reported. The council argued that
the county will be ineligible for subsidies from the European Union as
long as it is paired with the wealthier Budapest. The referendum is to
be held simultaneously with statewide local elections on 20 October.
Budapest Mayor Gabor Demszky told reporters on 2 September that even if
the county were to secede from the Central Hungary Region, it would not
be granted any more EU funds. He said the secession plan only serves
the interests of a handful of county politicians. Pest County Council
Chairman Andras Meszaros (FIDESZ) said Demszky's comment misinformed
the public. Socialist members of the council said they will challenge
the referendum decision in court, claiming that FIDESZ intends to use
the referendum as an opportunity to divert funds from the local
government for its upcoming local-election campaign. MSZ
SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[61] NGO CALLS ON COUNCIL OF EUROPE TO PRESSURE BELGRADE
The New York-based NGO Human Rights Watch said in a statement on 31
August that the Council of Europe should make maximum use of its
leverage on Belgrade, which seeks admission to that body, to force
Yugoslavia to improve its respect for human rights. The statement added
that "the Council of Europe should seek stronger commitments on police
abuse, war crimes accountability, and Roma rights in connection with
admission" to the council. The NGO notes that recently "the Belgrade
authorities accepted a list of accession demands from the Council of
Europe, but Human Rights Watch said the list omits important
commitments in areas where Yugoslavia's record remains poor." The
statement added that the list of demands "remains silent on the issue
of domestic trials of war criminals not sought" by The Hague-based
tribunal. Human Rights Watch has been at the forefront of efforts to
remind the international community that the post-Milosevic Belgrade
leadership should be expected to prove its commitment to democracy with
deeds as well as words (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 28 August, and "End
Note," 26 August 2002). PM
[62] SERBIAN JUSTICE MINISTER MAY BOYCOTT PRESIDENTIAL VOTE
Vladan Batic said in Valjevo on 31 August that he is unhappy with the
current candidates in Serbia's 29 September presidential election
because none of them supports Serbian independence from Montenegro,
"Vesti" reported. He stressed that he finds Miroljub Labus, who is the
candidate backed by most of Batic's political allies, particularly
unacceptable. Serbian Deputy Prime Minister Nebojsa Covic, who supports
the union of Serbia and Montenegro, has also said he may boycott the
vote (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 20 August 2002). PM
[63] SERBIAN PARLIAMENTARY COMMISSION RULES AGAINST KOSTUNICA
In the latest installment of what is known as the Pavkovic affair, the
Serbian parliament's investigating commission ruled on 30 August that
close aides of Yugoslav President Vojislav Kostunica demanded that the
army enter the offices of the Serbian government's communications
department in June 2001, AP reported (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 24 July
2002). The commission also ruled that Kostunica has tried to "obstruct
efforts to investigate details" of the incident. Kostunica and his
supporters have denied the charges and consider the parliament's
commission a political tool of their rivals. Dragan Marsicanin, who is
a leading official of Kostunica's Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS),
said that the commission's findings amount to "political campaigning."
PM
[64] STEINER: INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY NOT IN KOSOVA FOR THE LONG HAUL
Michael Steiner, who heads the UN civilian administration in Kosova
(UNMIK), told RFE/RL's South Slavic and Albanian Languages Service on 1
September that the international community will not remain present in
Kosova for 10 to 12 years as it originally planned. He stressed that
the international community has rethought the nature and duration of
its missions following the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks in the
United States. Steiner added that he wants to be sure that any project
begun in Kosova is carried to completion. PM
[65] AUTHORITIES FILE KOSOVA'S FIRST TAX-EVASION INDICTMENTS
UNMIK spokeswoman Andrea Angeli said in Prishtina on 2 September that
the District Court of Prishtina has formally accused five Kosova
businessmen of fraud and tax evasion, dpa reported. After a long
investigation, the authorities accused the five of falsifying and
doctoring receipts and other documents for importing oil and oil
products from Macedonia worth about $1 million. Two of the accused are
in prison, and the other three are awaiting trial without being
arrested. Angeli added that an international prosecutor in Prizren
recently accused Alush Shala, who is an official of the civilian Kosova
Protection Corps (TMK), of tax evasion and abuse of office. KFOR
arrested him in January and turned him over to the police in May. Early
in 2002, Steiner proclaimed a policy of "zero tolerance for crime." PM
[66] U.S. SLAMS ATTACKS IN KOSOVA
State Department spokeswoman Brenda Greenberg said in Washington on 30
August that a recent attack by gunmen on Serbian woodcutters and KFOR
peacekeepers "represents an unacceptable challenge to the authority of
the UN mission in Kosovo and the stabilization forces in Kosovo, and
will not be tolerated," Reuters reported (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 30
August 2002). She noted that the circumstances of the incident are
still being investigated. PM
[67] MACEDONIA CALM AFTER INCIDENTS...
Relative calm has returned to Macedonia following a series of
mysterious incidents in the run-up to the 15 September parliamentary
elections, international news agencies reported (see "RFE/RL Newsline,"
30 August 2002). On 2 September, unidentified persons in the Kale
district of Skopje threw a hand grenade at the offices former guerrilla
leader Ali Ahmeti's Union for Democratic Integration (BDI). No one was
injured, and damage was minimal in the third such incident against the
BDI's offices in recent days. During the weekend of 31 August-1
September, unidentified persons "demolished" the offices of the
opposition Social Democrats (SDSM) in Tetovo, dpa reported. PM
[68] ...AS HOSTAGES ARE RELEASED
On 31 August, ethnic Albanian gunmen freed five ethnic Macedonian
hostages in Gorna Lesnica after "tense negotiations," Reuters reported.
The five were unharmed, and the hostage takers remain at large. Envoys
of the United States, European Union, the OSCE said in a joint
statement that "the government and all parties acted with restraint. We
appreciate their efforts and the efforts of the local Albanian leaders
and population, who worked diligently in helping to resolve the issue.
We look forward to a peaceful campaign." But Arben Xhaferi, who heads
the governing Democratic Party of the Albanians (PDSH), told a
Prishtina radio station on 31 August that the recent violence could
continue and threaten the survival of the state, RFE/RL's South Slavic
and Albanian Languages Service reported. PM
[69] FERHADIJA TRIAL OPENS IN BANJA LUKA
In Banja Luka on 2 September, the trial began of four Bosnian Serbs for
their role in the 2001 riots aimed at preventing reconstruction work on
the 16th-century Ferhadija Mosque, RFE/RL's South Slavic and Albanian
Languages Service reported (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 8 and 9 May 2001,
and 29 April and 14 June 2002). All four pleaded not guilty. A total of
16 Serbs have been charged in conjunction with the violence. Ferhadija
is one of 16 mosques in Banja Luka and 618 throughout Bosnia that
Serbian nationalists destroyed during the 1992-95 war. Ferhadija and
another Banja Luka mosque were both listed as UNESCO-protected cultural
sites prior to the conflict. PM
[70] BOSNIAN SERBS DENY SREBRENICA MASSACRE...
Three Bosnian Serb officials have released a report denying that a
massacre of 8,000 Muslim male civilians took place at Srebrenica in
July 1995, RFE/RL's South Slavic and Albanian Languages Service
reported on 3 September. The report alleges that some 1,800-1,900
Muslim soldiers died in combat. Women whose male relatives were killed
told Deutsche Welle's Bosnian Service that they are furious over the
report. PM
[71] ...WHICH OUTRAGES HAGUE TRIBUNAL
Jim Landale, who is a spokesman for the war crimes tribunal in The
Hague, told RFE/RL's South Slavic and Albanian Languages Service on 3
September that "any claim that the number of victims after the fall of
the Srebrenica enclave was around the 2,000 mark, and most of those
killed in battle, is an absolutely outrageous claim. It's utterly
false, and it flies in the face of all of the evidence painstakingly
collected in the investigation into the tragedy." He stressed that "any
claim contrary to that, trying to minimize the number of victims, is,
frankly, disgusting." Jean-Jacques Joris, who is legal adviser to the
chief prosecutor, Carla Del Ponte, called the report "a saddening
example of revisionism and an element which certainly stands in the way
of reconciliation in the region." He noted that "approximately 3,000
[bodies] have been exhumed by or under supervision of [the tribunal],
3,000 bodies which are related to Srebrenica, to the fall of
Srebrenica, to the aftermath of the fall of Srebrenica, many of them
with clear evidence...of having been severely executed." PM
[72] MEETINGS PLANNED IN BAY OF PIRAN DISPUTE
Croatian Prime Minister Ivica Racan is expected to host his Slovenian
counterpart, Janez Drnovsek, in Zagreb on 6 September to discuss the
recent tensions between their two countries, RFE/RL's South Slavic and
Albanian Languages Service reported on 2 September (see "RFE/RL Balkan
Report," 30 August 2002 and "RFE/RL Newsline," 29 August 2002).
Fishermen from both countries are expected to meet in the course of 3
September to discuss recent incidents in the Bay of Piran. PM
[73] FRANCE, ROMANIA, TACKLE ILLEGAL EMIGRATION PROBLEM
Visiting French Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy met in Bucharest on
30 August with Prime Minister Adrian Nastase, President Ion Iliescu,
and with his Romanian counterpart Ioan Rus, RFE/RL's Bucharest bureau
reported. Sarkozy said after meeting with Nastase that the premier has
agreed that Romanians who commit crimes in France could have their
assets confiscated in Romania. A draft law that would allow this will
be submitted to parliament and an agreement is to be signed during a
visit by Nastase to Paris in October. Sarkozy also said France will
help Romania improve border controls and will support a
social-integration program for the Romany minority. Dominique Versini,
the French minister for combating poverty and exclusion, who
accompanied Sarkozy, is to work with Romanian officials to set up a
system of French and Romanian nongovernmental organizations that would
prepare young Romanian Roma in France for voluntary return home.
Sarkozy and Iliescu signed three agreements on fighting organized crime
and illegal immigration. MS
[74] ROMANIAN DEMOCRATIC PARTY RULES OUT COOPERATION WITH PSD...
The National Coordination Council of the Democratic Party on 30 August
approved new party statutes and an addendum to the party's list of
political aims, RFE/RL's Bucharest Bureau reported. The addendum states
that the Democrats will aim to oust the ruling Social Democratic Party
(PSD) from power by democratic means and that the party will under no
conditions cooperate with the PSD after the 2004 elections. The status
amendment co-opts into the party's Standing National Bureau all former
ministers who represented the party in previous governments. Both
changes were approved the next day by the party's annual conference. MS
[75] ...WHICH DRAWS CRITICISM FROM FORMER PREMIER
Former Prime Minister Petre Roman on 30 August criticized the
resolution to exclude any cooperation with the PDS, saying the decision
is "more courageous than wise," RFE/RL's Bucharest bureau reported.
Roman said the Democrats would do better to explain to the electorate
why they distance themselves from the policies of the PSD and to
present alternative policies. On 31 August, the former premier
boycotted the annual conference, failing to take the seat he regained
in the Standing National Bureau. Roman said in an interview with the
daily "Evenimentul zilei" on 2 September that he has no intention of
returning to the party's leadership bodies "through the back door." He
also rejected Democratic Party Chairman Traian Basescu's statement of
30 August that all former ministers are indebted to the party they
represented in the government. Roman said one should not forget that
"this party was set up by me and did not even exist when I was premier
[1990-91]." In an interview with the daily "Jurnalul national" on 3
September, Roman reiterated his readiness to renew collaboration with
President Ion Iliescu. MS
[76] PRO-PPCD RALLY CALLS ON MOLDOVAN AUTHORITIES TO FREE MEMBERS OF
'ILASCU GROUP'...
A resolution approved at a rally organized in Chisinau by the Popular
Party Christian Democratic (PPCD) on 1 September called on Moldovan
authorities to "take all necessary measures" leading to the liberation
of the three members of the Ilie Ilascu group still being detained in
Tiraspol, RFE/RL's bureau in the Moldovan capital reported. The
resolution asserts that the "tragic situation" of the three members of
the group, who have been imprisoned for 10 years, "once again attests
to the inhuman and illegal character of the separatist group headed by
[Igor Smirnov], a citizen of the Russian Federation." The rally also
approved a resolution demanding the unconditional and full withdrawal
of Russian forces from the separatist region and the disarming and
dissolution of the paramilitary forces subordinated to the regime in
Tiraspol. MS
[77] ...DEMANDS MOLDOVA LEAVE CIS...
The 1 September rally participants also approved a resolution saying it
is "vitally necessary" for Moldova to break away from the CIS in order
to attain integration in Europe, RFE/RL's Chisinau bureau reported. The
resolution says the 11 years' experience garnered since independence
shows that Moldova's foreign policy was "duplicitous." It adds that
while the Baltic states and other former communist countries had a
consistent policy of integration into the EU, Moldova has remained a
hostage of the Russian Federation within the CIS and does nothing more
than have its leaders deliver occasional pro-Western speeches that are
backed by neither concrete diplomatic, legislative, nor economic
action. In a separate resolution, the rally's participants called for
Moldova to join NATO. MS
[78] ...AND POLICIES OF COUNTRY'S RUSSIFICATION BE STOPPED
Participants at the 1 September rally also approved a resolution
calling on the ruling Party of Moldovan Communists to put an end to the
policies of Russification of both the Romanian majority and of
non-Russian national minorities, RFE/RL's Chisinau bureau reported. The
resolution also denounced the destruction of the country's democratic
institutions, infringements on the independence of the judiciary and on
local autonomy, censorship at national radio and television
broadcasters, the alleged persecution of the opposition, and the
attempt to impose the communist ideology on society as a whole.
Estimates of participation in the rally ranged from 4,000-15,000. PPCD
Chairman Iurie Rosca accused authorities of having prevented people
from reaching Chisinau to participate in the rally. Rosca also said
another rally of PPCD supporters will take place on 6 October. MS
[79] MOLDOVAN LEADERSHIP IGNORES NATIONAL HOLIDAY
No Moldovan officials participated on 31 August in any of the events
organized by the Chisinau mayoralty to mark the official Language Day,
RFE/RL's Chisinau bureau reported. Romanian Radio said several
politicians and intellectuals from Romania participated in the
celebrations. MS
[80] SMIRNOV REJECTS OSCE PROPOSALS...
Separatist leader Igor Smirnov told journalists on 31 August that
Transdniester will not accept the proposals of the Organization for
Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) as they are "anonymous."
Smirnov said no one has accepted authorship of the proposals. He added
that Transdniester has only agreed to start negotiating, but it has not
agreed to the document itself, an RFE/RL correspondent in Chisinau
reported. (On the same day, the OSCE officially approved the proposals
and distributed them as an official document of the organization.)
Smirnov said the only conceivable agreement is one based on recognition
of the existence of two independent states forming what he called a
"contractual federation." MS
[81] ...WHILE TIRASPOL MARKS INDEPENDENCE DAY
The unrecognized Transdniester Republic on 2 September marked
"Independence Day" with a military parade in the capital, an RFE/RL
correspondent in Chisinau reported. Defense Minister Stanislav Hajeev,
who delivered the main speech at the festivities, deplored the fact
that Russia is no longer backing Transdniester as it did in the past
but said the separatists are grateful for the growing "political,
economic, and humanitarian aid" from Ukraine. The military parade was
attended by representatives from the Gagauz-Yeri Autonomous Region and
from the unrecognized republics of Nagorno-Karabakh and South Ossetia.
MS
[82] MOLDOVAN PRESIDENT SAYS PACE RESOLUTION FULFILLED
In a message to the Council of Europe, President Vladimir Voronin on 2
September said all recommendations of the 24 April Parliamentary
Assembly of the Council of Europe have been implemented, ITAR-TASS
reported. Voronin also said Moldova is ready to take over the rotating
chairmanship of the council's Council of Ministers. MS
[83] BULGARIAN PRESIDENT CRITICIZES GOVERNMENT, SETS AGENDA FOR THE
COMING MONTHS...
In his first official address to the nation after seven months in
office, President Georgi Parvanov on 30 August openly criticized the
government's work, mediapool.bg reported. Parvanov said the government
must step up its efforts to resolve the country's most pressing
problems -- organized crime and corruption, poverty and unemployment,
and NATO and EU integration. Parvanov expressed his disappointment with
the low attendance at the first session of the newly formed Crime
Coordination Council (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 28 August 2002). He urged
the government to adopt a more consistent policy toward the European
Union regarding Bulgaria's nuclear-power plant in Kozloduy. Parvanov
also demanded that the government bolster state institutions in order
to achieve real stability, which he said would make Bulgaria a reliable
NATO and EU member. UB
[84] ...WHILE PRIME MINISTER SAYS 'BULGARIA IS NOT A PRESIDENTIAL
DEMOCRACY'
Upon his return from vacation in Madrid, Prime Minister Simeon
Saxecoburggotski said on 1 September that President Parvanov told him
prior to his address that he would criticize the government, BTA
reported. Saxecoburggotski said he focused on "the constructive
implications in the president's statement, not the negative ones."
However, he added that "The president's view is one thing, and the
responsibilities and the work of the executive are another. Bulgaria is
not a presidential republic." Saxecoburggotski refuted speculation that
a change in the government is imminent. "This cabinet is functioning,
which is obvious in every respect, provided that one wishes to be
objective. Those who focus solely on the negative can, of course, find
various faults, shortcomings, or evidence of incompetence,"
Saxecoburggotski said. UB
[85] BULGARIA TAKES OVER UN SECURITY COUNCIL PRESIDENCY
Bulgaria took over the rotating presidency of the UN Security Council
on 1 September, BTA reported. In a press release, the Foreign Ministry
stated that among the highlights of Bulgaria's presidency will be a
meeting in commemoration of the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks
against the United States. The meeting will be chaired by President
Parvanov. The Security Council's agenda during Bulgaria's presidency
includes discussions on Kosova and Bosnia and Herzegovina, the
situation in the Middle East and Afghanistan, as well as the conflict
between Eritrea and Ethiopia. UB
END NOTE
[86] There is no End Note today.
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