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RFE/RL Newsline, 02-09-05
CONTENTS
[01] PUTIN PRESSURES GEORGIAN PRESIDENT...
[02] ...GENERAL STAFF DISMISSES GEORGIAN ANTITERRORISM OPERATION...
[03] ...DUMA SUPPORTS FEDERATION COUNCIL'S ANTI-SHEVARDNADZE PUSH...
[04] ...AND 'IZVESTIYA' PUBLISHES INTERVIEW WITH GEORGIAN PRESIDENT'S
[05] SPS LEADER CAUGHT CONSPIRING WITH BELARUSIAN OPPOSITION
[06] GENERAL: RUSSIA'S NUCLEAR ARSENAL IS SAFE
[07] ANOTHER UNDOCUMENTED TANK FOUND NEAR MOSCOW
[08] COURTS RULE IN FAVOR OF LEADING KRASNOYARSK CANDIDATES
[09] DRAFT BASHKIR POWER-SHARING AGREEMENT NEARLY COMPLETED
[10] SECURITY COUNCIL SECRETARY ARRIVES IN VLADIVOSTOK
[11] WRITER APPEALS TO PRESIDENT
[12] MOSCOW, ST. PETERSBURG ENGULFED BY SMOKE
[13] DUMA DEPUTY KILLED IN CAR ACCIDENT
[14] 'SOMEONE LIKE PUTIN' COMPOSER TELLS WHAT IS COMING NEXT
[15] KIROV GOVERNOR WINS LIBEL CASE
[16] DEPUTY PREMIER DENIES CHECHEN PRESIDENT IS DEAD
[17] SHALI POLICE DEATHS CAUSED BY BOOBY-TRAP BOMB
[18] PACE DELEGATION VISITS GROZNY
[19] ARMENIAN OPPOSITION RELEASES JOINT DECLARATION
[20] ARMENIAN INTERNET PROVIDER SABOTAGED
[21] SOME CADETS RETURN TO AZERBAIJANI MILITARY COLLEGE
[22] AZERBAIJANI PRESIDENT, OPPOSITION ANGERED BY CHOICE OF PIPELINE
[23] AZERBAIJANI OPPOSITION NEWSPAPER THREATENED AFTER PUBLISHING
[24] GEORGIA TO BAN STRIKES AT STRATEGIC FACILITIES
[25] GEORGIAN OFFICIALS DENY GELAEV IS ON GEORGIAN TERRITORY
[26] KAZAKH POWER MINISTERS MEET WITH JOURNALISTS
[27] KYRGYZ PRESIDENT REJECTS CALLS FOR PARLIAMENTARY REPUBLIC
[28] MOSCOW EXTRADITES TURKMEN DISSIDENT
[29] PUTIN URGES BELARUSIAN PRESIDENT TO RESPOND TO INTEGRATION
[30] ...AS LUKASHENKA CONSULTS WITH RUSSIA-BELARUS UNION SECRETARY
[31] BELARUSIAN TRADERS CONTINUE STRIKE OVER FISCAL PRESSURE
[32] UKRAINIAN OPPOSITION LEADERS MUSTER REGIONAL SUPPORT FOR PLANNED
[33] UKRAINIAN OFFICIAL PROPOSES TO PROLONG KUCHMA'S TERM BY TWO YEARS
[34] ESTONIAN PREMIER DISCUSSES NATO ASPIRATIONS DURING WHITE HOUSE
[35] LATVIAN, RUSSIAN RAILWAYS TO COOPERATE
[36] LITHUANIAN DEFENSE MINISTER VISITS BELGIUM
[37] POLISH, CZECH PREMIERS AGREE TO COORDINATE EU REFERENDUM
[38] STILL NO ANSWER TO LUKOIL'S OFFER TO BUY INTO POLISH REFINERY
[39] CZECH DEFENSE MINISTER TAKES TOUGH STAND ON IRAQ
[40] INVESTIGATION REVEALS MILITARY INTELLIGENCE INVOLVEMENT IN ILLICIT
[41] CZECH PRESIDENT URGES WORLD LEADERS TO 'ACCEPT GLOBAL
[42] CZECH REPUBLIC TO IMPLEMENT SCHENGEN AGREEMENT IN 2006
[43] CZECH MEDIA CARRY CONFLICTING REPORTS ON CSSD-BACKED PRESIDENTIAL
[44] CZECH FOREIGN MINISTER VISITS SLOVAKIA
[45] CONFLICTING POLLS PREDICT CLOSE RACE IN SLOVAK ELECTIONS
[46] SLOVAK GOVERNMENT APPOINTS NEW STATE NEWS AGENCY CHIEF
[47] MECS COMMISSION FALLOUT CONTINUES IN HUNGARY
[48] HUNGARIAN YOUTH AND SPORTS MINISTER ACCUSES PREDECESSOR OF
[49] EXTREMIST HUNGARIAN LEADER REFUSES TO QUIT MAYORAL RACE
[50] FIRST BLACK CANDIDATE RUNS FOR OFFICE IN HUNGARY
[51] MONTENEGRIN ELECTIONS POSTPONED
[52] MONTENEGRIN JOURNALISTS SEE PINK
[53] SLOVENIA AND CROATIA ON THE SAME FREQUENCY?
[54] EU SLAMS BOSNIAN SERB REPORT ON SREBRENICA
[55] ASHDOWN MARKS 100 DAYS IN OFFICE
[56] ETHNIC ALBANIAN PARTIES REJECT PROPOSAL FOR COOPERATION IN FUTURE
[57] MACEDONIAN JOURNALISTS UNION PUBLISHES HANDBOOK ON ELECTION
[58] U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE REPORTEDLY ASSURES ROMANIAN PRESIDENT ON
[59] ROMANIAN PRESIDENT SAYS ICC TREATY WILL AWAIT PARLIAMENTARY
[60] ...WHILE ROMANIAN PREMIER FORESEES EU-U.S. 'COMPROMISE' ON ICC
[61] ROMANIAN PREMIER RECEIVES HUNGARIAN FOREIGN MINISTER
[62] UDMR LEADER EXPLAINS POSITION ON CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT
[63] ROMANIAN PARLIAMENTARY COMMISSION BACKS DRAFT FORBIDDING FORMER
[64] GEORGIAN DEPUTY DEFENSE MINISTER IN ROMANIA
[65] MOLDOVAN PUBLICATION ACCUSES PPCD OF ENCROACHING ON PRESS FREEDOM
[66] FORMER GAGAUZ-YERI GOVERNOR STEPS INTO ELECTION RACE
[67] BULGARIAN GOVERNMENT TO STEP UP EFFORTS AGAINST ILLICIT ARMS TRADE
[68] BULGARIA'S CONSERVATIVE OPPOSITION ANNOUNCES VOTE OF NO
[69] ...WHILE RULING COALITION STRESSES NEED FOR POLITICAL CONSENSUS
[70] There is no End Note today.
5 September 2002
RUSSIA
[01] PUTIN PRESSURES GEORGIAN PRESIDENT...
President Vladimir Putin sent Eduard Shevardnadze a response to the
Georgian president's recent message on the heightened tensions between
the two countries, RIA-Novosti and other Russian news agencies
reported. In his message, Putin wrote that he is "seriously concerned
by the further activity" of Chechen fighters on Georgian territory.
Putin said Russia does not accept Georgia's "tactic of peacefully
squeezing out the terrorists from the Pankisi Gorge" and "insists on
decisive, concrete, and purposeful actions for the destruction of
bandit formations." Putin also said Russia wants to see the Pankisi
Gorge blocked and all the fighters there disarmed and turned over to
Russia. He offered to send Russian security and law enforcement
officials to help Georgia achieve these goals. VY
[02] ...GENERAL STAFF DISMISSES GEORGIAN ANTITERRORISM OPERATION...
Russia's military leadership doubts the effectiveness of the Georgian
operation against terrorists and criminal elements in the Pankisi Gorge
and sees it as "buffoonery and an imitation of a fight against
terrorism," Colonel General Yurii Baluevskii, first deputy chief of the
General Staff, told Interfax on 4 September. Baluevskii also said that
he will send a delegation of Russian generals headed by Deputy Air
Force Commander Colonel General Aleksandr Zelin to Tbilisi to prove to
the Georgians that Russia has not bombed its territory. VY
[03] ...DUMA SUPPORTS FEDERATION COUNCIL'S ANTI-SHEVARDNADZE PUSH...
Aleksandr Chernyshenko, deputy chairman of the State Duma's Committee
on the Problems of the North and the Far East, said on 5 September that
the Duma backs a recent Federation Council initiative to renegotiate
the 1990 U.S.-Russian agreement delimiting the border between the two
countries in the Bering and Chukchi seas (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 3 and
4 September 2002), strana.ru and other Russian news agencies reported.
Deputy Dmitrii Rogozin, chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee,
stated that both chambers are united in the belief that "[former Soviet
Foreign Minister] Shevardnadze sold out Russia's interests." Rogozin
added that the problem of fishing rights in the Bering Sea is not "a
territorial, but an issue-based question." He said that only
U.S.-Russian cooperation can preserve the biological resources of the
region. VY
[04] ...AND 'IZVESTIYA' PUBLISHES INTERVIEW WITH GEORGIAN PRESIDENT'S
ARCHENEMY
General Igor Giorgadze, the former head of the Georgia's secret service
who is wanted by Interpol at Georgia's request for allegedly organizing
an attempt on Shevardnadze's life, told "Izvestiya" on 5 September that
he has numerous followers in Georgia and that Shevardnadze's
adversaries are united. Giorgadze -- whose extradition from Russia has
been repeatedly demanded by Tbilisi -- also denied that he had anything
to do with the 1995 assassination attempt against Shevardnadze. "If I
had organized his assassination, we'd be speaking at his graveside,"
said Giorgadze, who is a veteran of the Soviet KGB's special task force
Cascade. VY
[05] SPS LEADER CAUGHT CONSPIRING WITH BELARUSIAN OPPOSITION
Duma Deputy and Union of Rightist Forces (SPS) leader Boris Nemtsov
said on 5 September that he will sue the newspaper "Sovetskaya Rossiya"
for publishing on 4 September a transcript of a late-August telephone
conversation between Nemtsov and a leader of the Belarusian opposition,
polit.ru reported on 5 September. According to the report, Nemtsov has
acknowledged that the conversation took place. In the transcript,
Nemtsov discussed with Anatol Lyabedzka possible models for uniting
Russia and Belarus that would be amenable to the opposition lined up
against Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka. Nemtsov said that
he supports President Putin's line toward Lukashenka and discussed
developing a joint strategy against the Belarusian president.
"Sovetskaya Rossiya" reported that it acquired the tape from the
nationalist weekly newspaper "Zavtra," which in turn purchased it from
a man who offered an entire collection of taped telephone conversations
featuring leading Duma members. "Zavtra" claimed that it only had
enough money to purchase one of the tapes. Nemtsov also said that he
will ask the Prosecutor-General's Office to explain how the telephone
conversations of Duma members could have been illegally recorded. VY
[06] GENERAL: RUSSIA'S NUCLEAR ARSENAL IS SAFE
Speaking to journalists in Moscow on 4 September, Colonel General Igor
Volynkin, who is responsible for the safety of Russia's nuclear
arsenal, said that over the last two years the security measures around
nuclear objects have been strengthened considerably, Russian news
agencies reported. Volynkin said that access to the installations of
the Defense Ministry's 12th Main Directorate, which is in charge of
nuclear weapons, is so sophisticated that even within the directorate
itself only authorized personnel have access to sensitive objects.
Volynkin added that nuclear-weapons storage sites are guarded by
special mobile units armed with the most advanced equipment and weapons
provided with help from the United States. VY
[07] ANOTHER UNDOCUMENTED TANK FOUND NEAR MOSCOW
For the second time in a week, law enforcement authorities have
discovered a T-72 tank in battle-ready condition in an unguarded
warehouse outside Moscow, ntvru.com and other Russian news agencies
reported on 5 September. The undocumented tank was found in a warehouse
belonging to the firm Metallist near the town of Pavlovskii Posad. On
28 August, police found another T-72 tank, two Smerch multiple-launch
rocket systems, and several tracked vehicles mounted with machine guns
in a separate unguarded warehouse belonging to a firm called Konversiya
near the Moscow Oblast village of Novyi Byt (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 29
August 2002). According to ntvru.com, Colonel General Nikolai
Svertilov, commander of the Main Rocket-Artillery Force, later said
that Konversiya is a branch of a state agency that has a contract to
test and repair military equipment. However, RIA-Novosti reported on 29
August, citing police sources, that members of a "terrorist
organization" had attempted to purchase the weapons found at
Konversiya. RC
[08] COURTS RULE IN FAVOR OF LEADING KRASNOYARSK CANDIDATES
Two leading candidates for the post of governor of Krasnoyarsk Krai won
court rulings that will enable them to participate in the 8 September
poll, RosBalt reported on 5 September. Krasnoyarsk Mayor Petr Pimashkov
will remain on the ballot after a krai court ruling on 5 September.
Pimashkov had been accused by another candidate, Igor Priimak, of
holding a campaign event that was not paid for out of campaign funds
when he addressed a meeting of krai farmers and industrialists. Meeting
organizers had invited all the candidates to address them, but only
Pimashkov responded. Priimak, however, was unable to present evidence
of a violation and his complaint was dismissed. Meanwhile, another
local court on 4 September dismissed more than 20 allegations against
another candidate, Krasnoyarsk Krai legislature Speaker Aleksandr Uss,
brought by an "anti-Uss coalition" of three other candidates, RosBalt
reported. RC
[09] DRAFT BASHKIR POWER-SHARING AGREEMENT NEARLY COMPLETED
The draft of a new agreement on power sharing between Moscow and
Bashkortostan is nearly completed, RosBalt reported on 5 September. The
working group in the administration of Bashkortostan President Murtaza
Rakhimov will reportedly present the draft to the president in the next
few days. The draft updates a 1994 agreement between the republic and
the center and reportedly includes a mechanism for resolving conflicts
between federal and republican organs. Meanwhile, RIA-Novosti reported
that President Putin and North Ossetian President Aleksandr Dzasokhov
signed on 4 September an agreement dissolving a 1995 power-sharing
agreement between Moscow and that republic. RC
[10] SECURITY COUNCIL SECRETARY ARRIVES IN VLADIVOSTOK
Vladimir Rushailo continued his inspection tour of the Far East (see
"RFE/RL Newsline," 4 September 2002), arriving in Primore on 5
September, polit.ru reported. In Vladivostok, Rushailo will meet with
presidential envoy to the Far East Federal District Konstantin
Pulikovskii, Primore Governor Sergei Darkin, and other officials.
Before leaving Khabarovsk, Rushailo told journalists that he is
preparing materials for a fall Security Council session devoted to the
problems of the Far East. On 7 September, Rushailo will fly on to
Sakhalin, and later he will also visit Kamchatka. RC
[11] WRITER APPEALS TO PRESIDENT
The full text of an open letter from writer Viktor Yerofeev to
President Putin was printed in "Vremya MN" on 5 September. In the
letter, Yerofeev draws the president's attention to the recent actions
against contemporary writers by the pro-Putin youth movement Moving
Together (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 4 September 2002). He notes that
Moving Together has created a list of "harmful" writers and has
interfered with the presentation of new books, in addition to urging
criminal cases against writers Kirill Vorobev and Vladimir Sorokin.
"Does not this violence against the creative personality remind you of
Germany in the 1930s?" Yerofeev writes. He adds that he is not writing
"in order to break off relations with the authorities, but so that the
authorities would understand and think about what is happening in
Russia. In the center of Moscow, books are being destroyed and writers
are being brought into court. This situation is absolutely not normal."
Yerofeev predicted that there will be "show trials" against writers
this fall. Sorokin supports Yerofeev's initiative, ntvru.com reported.
"All this reminds one of the dark times when writers were destroyed,"
he was quoted as saying. RC
[12] MOSCOW, ST. PETERSBURG ENGULFED BY SMOKE
Thick smog choked Moscow and St. Petersburg on 5 September as hundreds
of fires blazed in the surrounding areas, Russian and Western news
agencies reported. In Moscow, visibility was reduced to just a few
hundred meters, and flights were affected at the city's three major
airports. Domodedovo Airport closed for more than five hours. According
to Interfax, more than 900 separate fires -- many of them smoldering
peat bogs -- are burning in Moscow Oblast and about 240 are blazing
near St. Petersburg. According to strana.ru, work was affected at the
Kremlin, the White House, and the State Duma. The Emergency Situations
Ministry briefly grounded its firefighting aircraft because of poor
visibility, but by late afternoon flights had been resumed.
Firefighting trains were also being used to keep the fires away from
rail lines. RC
[13] DUMA DEPUTY KILLED IN CAR ACCIDENT
State Duma Deputy Vladimir Semenkov (Unity) was killed on 5 September
in a road accident near the city of Achinsk in Krasnoyarsk Krai,
polit.ru and other Russian news agencies reported. Semenkov, who was
elected to the Duma as a member of Vladimir Zhirinovskii's Liberal
Democratic Party of Russia before switching to Unity last year, was
driving his Toyota when it collided with a truck on a highway. Semenkov
was taken to a hospital, where he died without regaining consciousness.
According to AP, Semenkov's car veered into the oncoming lane just
before colliding with the truck. RC
[14] 'SOMEONE LIKE PUTIN' COMPOSER TELLS WHAT IS COMING NEXT
In a long interview with utro.ru on 5 September, composer Kirill
Kalashnikov described how he wrote the music to the pop song "Someone
Like Putin," the first release by the all-female band Singing Together
that is currently receiving a lot of play on Russian radio stations
(see "RFE/RL Newsline," 26 August 2002). Kalashnikov said that he wrote
the song in about an hour and that the song was not written "to convey
some super-social meaning," but rather "from the perspective of light
humor." As for the future, Kalashnikov said Singing Together will
prepare a Spanish-language version of "Someone Like Putin" and an
antiabortion song that "will speak of the positive role of motherhood
and, maybe, if you think on a global level, influence questions of the
demography of our country." Another song in the works will have "an
antimilitary character," Kalashnikov said. Asked about the effect of
"Someone Like Putin" on the public, the composer said: "We are not
using nefarious methods to influence the conscious mind. Other agencies
are doing that. We simply wrote a good, happy tune." RC
[15] KIROV GOVERNOR WINS LIBEL CASE
A raion court in Kirov Oblast ruled on 5 September that the independent
newspaper "Novyi variant" and a journalist identified only as I. L.
Veletminskii libeled Kirov Oblast Governor Vladimir Sergeenkov in an
article published earlier this year. The court order the newspaper to
pay Sergeenkov 5,000 rubles ($161) and Veletminskii to pay 1,500 for
the article "The Governor Has Managed To Get the Cold Water Turned Off
in Kirov," which alleged that more than 80 million rubles allocated by
the federal budget to pay for city water had been misspent with
Sergeenkov's consent. RC
[16] DEPUTY PREMIER DENIES CHECHEN PRESIDENT IS DEAD
Chechen President Aslan Maskhadov is alive and well and preparing his
fighters for decisive battles, Chechen Deputy Premier Akhmed Zakaev
told Russian journalists, according to chechenpress.com on 5 September.
On 4 September, "Moskovskii komsomolets" suggested that Maskhadov might
have been killed, noting that Russian intelligence has not intercepted
any radio communications by him for two months. Interfax noted on 4
September that there has been no reaction from Russian law enforcement
agencies to the reports of Maskhadov's alleged death. Zakaev also
rejected as a lie Chechen administration head Akhmed-hadji Kadyrov's 4
September claim that someone from Maskhadov's entourage approached him
and tried to persuade him to meet with the Chechen president. Interfax
quoted Kadyrov as saying he rejected that proposal. LF
[17] SHALI POLICE DEATHS CAUSED BY BOOBY-TRAP BOMB
Chechen Prosecutor-General Nikolai Kostyuchenko told journalists in
Grozny on 4 September that the explosion that killed eight Chechen
police officers in Shali two days earlier was caused by a booby-trap
bomb packed with metal bolts, not a landmine or an artillery shell
fired in error, Russian agencies reported on 4 September (see "RFE/RL
Newsline," 4 September 2002). LF
[18] PACE DELEGATION VISITS GROZNY
A delegation from the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe
headed by Lord Frank Judd traveled to Grozny on 3 September and met the
following day with Kadyrov, Prime Minister Stanislav Ilyasov, and
Chechen displaced persons who recently returned from Ingushetia to
Grozny, Interfax and "The Moscow Times" reported. Judd described the
conditions in hostels for displaced persons as "grim," noting the
absence of running water, disruptions in power supplies, and shortages
of food. He expressed concern over widespread reports that displaced
persons are being pressured to leave Ingushetia (see "RFE/RL Caucasus
Report," Vol. 5, No. 21, 14 June 2002), and that during searches for
Chechen fighters Russian soldiers indiscriminately target civilians or
abduct them and hold them for ransom. LF
TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA
[19] ARMENIAN OPPOSITION RELEASES JOINT DECLARATION
The 16 opposition parties that aligned last week with the aim of
fielding a single candidate to oppose incumbent Robert Kocharian in the
presidential ballot scheduled for 19 February 2003 unveiled their joint
declaration on 4 September. According to Noyan Tapan, it accuses
Kocharian of neglecting the country's interests in his determination to
retain power at all costs, and stresses the 16 parties' shared
determination to bring about a change of leadership. The 16 parties
pledge to coordinate their political activities and to agree on a
single presidential candidate and program. But Albert Bazeyan, one of
the leaders of the opposition Hanrapetutiun Party, told journalists on
4 September that the opposition may in fact field several candidates in
the first round of the presidential ballot, RFE/RL's Yerevan bureau
reported. Doing so would offer voters a choice of alternatives to the
incumbent president and thus lessen his chances of gaining the 50
percent-plus-one vote needed for a first-round victory. "Haykakan
zhamanak" observed on 5 September that at least six of the 16
opposition leaders have said they plan to contest the upcoming
presidential election. LF
[20] ARMENIAN INTERNET PROVIDER SABOTAGED
Up to 4,000 Armenians have been deprived of their Internet access
following deliberate damage to the fiber-optic cable of Arminco, one of
the country's largest Internet providers, according to Arminfo on 3
September as cited by Groong. An Arminco official said the cable was
severed in two places several kilometers apart within the space of five
minutes on 2 September. Arminco threatened a lawsuit last month against
rival Internet provider Armentel after the latter demanded that Arminco
immediately vacate the premises it was leasing from Armentel. LF
[21] SOME CADETS RETURN TO AZERBAIJANI MILITARY COLLEGE
Some 800 of the 2,000 cadets who walked out of the Azerbaijani Higher
Military College on 3 September to protest poor living conditions and
unfair treatment on the part of teaching staff returned on 4 September,
Turan reported (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 4 September 2002) The remainder
will not return until 6 September unless their demands for improved
conditions and the return of Turkish instructors are met, according to
zerkalo.az on 5 September. LF
[22] AZERBAIJANI PRESIDENT, OPPOSITION ANGERED BY CHOICE OF PIPELINE
CONSTRUCTION FIRM
Azerbaijan's President Heidar Aliev has expressed his dissatisfaction
to British Petroleum, which is the operator of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan
pipeline-construction project, over the choice of Consolidated
Contractors International Company to build the Azerbaijani sector of
the pipeline, zerkalo.az reported on 5 September. The website claims
that although registered as Greek, CCC is owned by Lebanese Arabs, and
that one of its top advisers is of Armenian origin and has reportedly
rendered unspecified "assistance" to the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh
Republic. Moreover, unlike other bidders in the tender such as Bechtel
(United States) and Tekfen (Turkey), CCC specializes primarily in
mechanics and its only experience in pipeline construction is in
Kazakhstan in alliance with Italy's Saipem. Several leading Azerbaijani
opposition parties demanded on 4 September that the government ask the
state oil company SOCAR, which is a participant in the pipeline
consortium and whose president heads the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan Pipeline
Company that was formally established in London on 3 September, to
explain the choice of CCC to build the Azerbaijani section of the
pipeline. LF
[23] AZERBAIJANI OPPOSITION NEWSPAPER THREATENED AFTER PUBLISHING
CORRUPTION ALLEGATIONS
Aydyn Guliev, who is editor in chief of the opposition newspaper
"Hurriyet," has appealed to the State Security Ministry for protection
after receiving threats from unnamed senior officials and persons
connected with Mubariz Panakhov, who heads the Sadarak customs office,
Turan reported on 4 September. On 30 August, "Hurriyet" published an
article claiming that profits from oil smuggled from the exclave of
Nakhichevan to Turkey with the connivance of customs officials at the
Sadarak border crossing have been channeled to the Kurdistan Workers
Party (PKK). The Turkish government recently banned the import of oil
from Nakhichevan. On 3 September, some 150 tanker drivers picketed the
Turkish Consulate in Nakhichevan to protest the ban, which they say
deprives them of their livelihood. LF
[24] GEORGIA TO BAN STRIKES AT STRATEGIC FACILITIES
Following weeks of strikes by power-sector workers demanding the
payment of wage arrears, President Eduard Shevardnadze proposed at a
government session on 4 September drafting legislation banning strikes
at strategic facilities, Caucasus Press and Interfax reported. He also
ordered Energy Minister David Mirtskhulava to pay all outstanding wages
in the energy sector. Addressing the same session, National Security
Minister Valeri Khaburzania said he has information that some
opposition factions are planning to incite energy sector workers to
mass strikes in the autumn and winter months. LF
[25] GEORGIAN OFFICIALS DENY GELAEV IS ON GEORGIAN TERRITORY
Responding to a statement by Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman
Aleksandr Yakovenko demanding that the Georgian authorities immediately
apprehend and extradite Chechen field commander Ruslan Gelaev, Georgian
National Security Minister Khaburzania said on 4 September that Gelaev
is no longer in Georgia, Caucasus Press reported. An official at the
Georgian Prosecutor-General's Office told ITAR-TASS the same day that
Georgia received a request from Moscow in November to extradite Gelaev,
but has been unable to locate him. The official added that if Gelaev is
found and captured, the Prosecutor-General's Office "will consider" the
extradition request. LF
[26] KAZAKH POWER MINISTERS MEET WITH JOURNALISTS
Interior Minister Qayirbek Suleymanov, National Security Committee
Chairman Nurtai Dutbaev, Justice Minister Georgii Kim, Deputy
Prosecutor-General Onalsyn Zhumabekov, and Minister of Culture and
Social Accord Mukhtar Kul-Mukhammed met on 4 September with heads of
independent media outlets to discuss recent reprisals against
journalists, RFE/RL's Kazakh Service reported. Zhumabekov accused
unnamed media outlets of distorting facts or publishing unverified
information, while Dutbaev accused them of ascribing political motives
to simple crimes and of seeking to drive a wedge between his committee
and the Interior Ministry. LF
[27] KYRGYZ PRESIDENT REJECTS CALLS FOR PARLIAMENTARY REPUBLIC
Chairing the first session of the Constitutional Council on 4
September, Askar Akaev rejected calls by some opposition parties to
abolish the presidency, Interfax and RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service reported.
Akaev argued that a parliamentary republic is not viable because Kyrgyz
political parties are weak and "do not represent public views and
sentiments." He said the experience of other CIS states has
demonstrated the advantages of strong presidential rule combined with
"a competent parliament." Akaev did, however, offer to replace the
present bicameral legislature with a unicameral one. Council members
rejected an opposition proposal to rename the council a consultative
council and to appoint an opposition representative as co-chairman.
Some opposition politicians left the session in protest. LF
[28] MOSCOW EXTRADITES TURKMEN DISSIDENT
The Russian authorities sent Turkmen dissident Gulgeldy Annaniyazov
back to Kazakhstan on 2 September after he arrived at Domodedovo
Airport on a flight from Aqtau earlier that day with false travel
documents, Yevgeniy Zhovtis, who heads the Kazakh Bureau of Human
Rights, told RFE/RL's Kazakh Service on 4 September. Annaniyazov, who
is 42, has been forbidden to leave Turkmenistan because of his
political activities; he reportedly crossed the Turkmen-Kazakh border
in late August. In a 3 September press release, Amnesty International
noted that as a signatory to the United Nations Convention Against
Torture, Kazakhstan is legally obliged not to return Annaniyazov to
Turkmenistan, where he might be subject to torture in detention. LF
CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPE
[29] PUTIN URGES BELARUSIAN PRESIDENT TO RESPOND TO INTEGRATION
PROPOSAL...
Russian President Vladimir Putin has sent a letter to his Belarusian
counterpart Alyaksandr Lukashenka assuring him that the development of
integration with Belarus remains a priority task for the Kremlin,
Russian and Belarusian media reported. The letter was passed to
Lukashenka by Russian First Deputy Foreign Minister Valerii Loschinin
on 4 September in Minsk. Putin reportedly confirmed in his letter that
Moscow sees three possible integration scenarios: a full merger of
Russia and Belarus into a single state, a suprastate formation like the
European Union, and unification on the basis of the 1999 union treaty.
Putin proposed to set up a joint team to analyze these three
integration models. Putin also said he is waiting for Lukashenka's
answer to his offer on 14 August to introduce the Russian ruble as the
single currency for Belarus and Russia as of 1 January 2004 (see
"RFE/RL Newsline," 15 August 2002). JM
[30] ...AS LUKASHENKA CONSULTS WITH RUSSIA-BELARUS UNION SECRETARY
President Lukashenka and Russia-Belarus Union Secretary Pavel Borodin
met in Minsk the same day to discuss issues related to
Russian-Belarusian integration, ITAR-TASS reported. Borodin said after
the meeting that their talks focused on economic matters. "There are
different approaches to and opinions [about the union of the two
countries], and the two presidents may have somewhat different views as
well, but we will reach agreement eventually -- I do not have any
doubts about it," Borodin noted. JM
[31] BELARUSIAN TRADERS CONTINUE STRIKE OVER FISCAL PRESSURE
Some 1,000 market vendors staged a demonstration in Minsk's central
square to protest tax increases, insurance fees, and regulations they
say are intended to make small business unprofitable, AP reported.
Anatol Shumchenka, a representative of the United Council of
Entrepreneurs, told the agency that some 70 percent of the 180,000
people registered as individual entrepreneurs are taking part in the
strike that began on 1 September (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 3 September
2002). Shumchenka said half the markets in 20 cities are effectively
shut. He added that the 1 September strike was planned as a one-day
action, but vendors groups decided to prolong it indefinitely because
there was no reaction from the government. JM
[32] UKRAINIAN OPPOSITION LEADERS MUSTER REGIONAL SUPPORT FOR PLANNED
PROTEST
Some 10,000 people attended a meeting with Yuliya Tymoshenko, Oleksandr
Moroz, and Petro Symonenko in Zhytomyr on 4 September, UNIAN reported.
According to what the agency was told by the Socialist Party press
service, participants in the rally voiced "whole-hearted support" for
the opposition protest campaign that is scheduled to start on 16
September. Later the same day, the three opposition leaders met with
some 9,000 people at a similar rally in Rivne. "[The rally in Rivne]
took place under slogans demanding that President Leonid Kuchma be
ousted, early presidential elections be held, and honest politicians
come to power," the Fatherland Party press service told UNIAN. JM
[33] UKRAINIAN OFFICIAL PROPOSES TO PROLONG KUCHMA'S TERM BY TWO YEARS
Deputy Prime Minister Volodymyr Seminozhenko has said that Kuchma's
presidential term should be prolonged by two years beyond 2004 in order
to give him time to fulfill the systemic reforms he announced last
month (see "RFE/RL Poland, Belarus, and Ukraine Report," 27 August and
2 September 2002), UNIAN reported on 4 September. "Prolonging the term
of presidential powers in the process of the constitutional reform will
provide an additional resource of stability under circumstances when
the legislative power will be subject to qualitative changes,"
Seminozhenko said in a statement. According to Seminozhenko, the
presidency in Ukraine could be abolished altogether after the
conclusion of the constitutional reform and Kuchma's prolonged
presidential term in 2006. "Those opposing this idea do not want to
change anything in Ukraine apart from replacing the president with
another figure," Seminozhenko added. JM
[34] ESTONIAN PREMIER DISCUSSES NATO ASPIRATIONS DURING WHITE HOUSE
VISIT
After meeting with U.S. President George W. Bush at the White House on
4 September, Prime Minister Siim Kallas said that "Bush confirmed that
the United States gives its strong support to Estonia's accession to
NATO, but added that nothing has been conclusively decided and Estonia
must do a lot of work," BNS reported the next day. Bush praised
Estonia's success in reforming its economy and also raised the issue of
Estonia signing an agreement that would exempt U.S. citizens from
extradition to the proposed International Criminal Court, but he noted
that Estonia's NATO accession is not dependent on such an accord.
National security adviser Condoleezza Rice, the president's Chief of
Staff Andrew Card, and Assistant Secretary of State Elizabeth Jones
were also present at the meeting. Kallas met earlier on 4 September
with representatives of the Joint Baltic-American Committee and
Estonian National Council and also met with IMF Director General Horst
Kohler. Kallas was scheduled to meet with former Vice President Al Gore
on 5 September and give a press conference at the International Press
Club. SG
[35] LATVIAN, RUSSIAN RAILWAYS TO COOPERATE
A delegation from the state-owned Latvijas Dzelzcels (Latvian
Railways), headed by its board Chairman Andris Zorgevics, held talks
with Russian Railways Minister Gennadii Fadeev, BNS reported on 4
September. They signed an agreement on the establishment of
representation offices of the Latvian and Russian railways in each
other's territory and discussed ways to increase transit cargo flow and
maintain international passenger transportation at the current level.
The transportation of cargo to Russia's Kaliningrad Oblast was one of
the key subjects of the talks, with Zorgevics suggesting possible cargo
transit via Latvia. Russia also agreed to revise existing tariff policy
and regulations concerning transportation of perishable goods by
Latvian refrigerator trains. SG
[36] LITHUANIAN DEFENSE MINISTER VISITS BELGIUM
Linas Linkevicius traveled to Brussels on 3 September for an official
three-day visit, BNS reported. The main point of the visit was a
meeting the next day with his Belgian counterpart Andre Flahaut, during
which it was agreed to sign an accord in the nearest future on
protection of classified information. The two countries signed a
military cooperation agreement last year. Linkevicius accepted the
Belgian offer to assist the Lithuanian Navy in military training and to
allow Lithuanian soldiers to study mine-sweeping at the Belgian-Dutch
military academy. The ministers agreed that small European countries
should hold regular bilateral consultations to help implement various
initiatives in the defense sphere. Linkevicius was scheduled to visit
the defense headquarters of the Belgian armed forces on 5 September as
well as meet with ambassadors from NATO countries. SG
[37] POLISH, CZECH PREMIERS AGREE TO COORDINATE EU REFERENDUM
PREPARATIONS
Polish Prime Minister Leszek Miller and his Czech counterpart Vladimir
Spidla agreed during their meeting in Warsaw on 4 September that
Central European countries seeking entry to the European Union should
coordinate the preparation and holding of national referendums on EU
accession, Polish and Czech media reported. "We agreed that the
referendums both in Poland and in the Czech Republic should be
coordinated, that we should exchange information and study the methods
used to inform the public," Polish television quoted Miller as saying.
The premiers stressed that relations among the two countries are very
good and tension free. Spidla, who is on his first foreign visit as
prime minister, thanked Poland for assistance it has provided to the
Czech Republic following the recent floods. JM
[38] STILL NO ANSWER TO LUKOIL'S OFFER TO BUY INTO POLISH REFINERY
LUKoil President Vagit Alekperov held a working meeting with Polish
Prime Minister Leszek Miller in Warsaw on 4 September, Interfax
reported, quoting a source in the LUKoil press service. Alekperov
confirmed LUKoil's intention to acquire, together with Britain's Rotch
Energy, a 75 percent stake in the Polish oil refinery Rafineria Gdanska
from the state company Nafta Polska. "Now we are waiting for a reaction
from the Polish side," the source said. In mid-June, Rotch Energy and
LUKoil submitted a joint bid to acquire a 75 percent stake in Rafineria
Gdanska. According to the offer, Rotch Energy would hold a 51 percent
stake in the Russian-British consortium. In view of the country's great
dependence on Russian energy resources, making a decision on the sale
of Rafineria Gdanska to the British-Russian consortium seems to be a
tricky issue for Miller's cabinet. JM
[39] CZECH DEFENSE MINISTER TAKES TOUGH STAND ON IRAQ
Defense Minister Jaroslav Tvrdik on 4 September told journalists that
the Czech Republic must insist that Iraq unconditionally implement the
UN Security Council resolutions, CTK reported. In response to a
journalist's question, Tvrdik admitted that he advocates a harder line
than that recently displayed by Prime Minister Vladimir Spidla and
Foreign Minister Cyril Svoboda. He said he finds himself closer to the
views of Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski, whom he quoted as
saying the West was surprised by the 11 September terrorist attack on
the United States but cannot afford to be surprised again. Asked about
the Czech position in the event of a U.S. attack on Iraq, Tvrdik said
the answer to that question "will be sought by all political
representatives, not just by the defense minister." MS
[40] INVESTIGATION REVEALS MILITARY INTELLIGENCE INVOLVEMENT IN ILLICIT
DEALS, CZECH DAILY CLAIMS
An investigation launched by Tvrdik last month revealed that senior
commanders in the Czech Military Intelligence Service (VZS) abused
their positions and manipulated Defense Ministry funds, the daily
"Hospodarske noviny," cited by CTK, reported on 5 September. Tvrdik
ordered the investigation after it was revealed that former Foreign
Ministry Secretary-General Karel Srba (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 23 July
and 27 August 2002) was a VZS agent. "Hospodarske noviny" also said
authorities have reopened an investigation into allegations that former
VZS head Andor Sandor and two other officials were involved in the
illegal export of strategic-missile equipment. The daily also published
a photocopy of what it claimed is a monthly pay slip showing a gross
salary of 95,000 crowns ($3,129), while Sandor's official basic salary
was 15,760 crowns. It says such discrepancies at the VZS command level
were "part of a mechanism" that included ways to boost benefits high
above official incomes. MS
[41] CZECH PRESIDENT URGES WORLD LEADERS TO 'ACCEPT GLOBAL
RESPONSIBILITY'
In a message to world leaders taking part in the Johannesburg World
Summit on Sustainable Development, President Vaclav Havel on 4
September urged them to learn from the natural disaster that his own
country recently faced, dpa reported. Havel said the international
community must accept "global responsibility" to change human behavior,
the agency reported. Central Europe's recent floods, Havel said, proved
that man's "encroachment on the countryside must change, and that our
relation to the world cannot be determined exclusively by the level of
our production or of our exports." MS
[42] CZECH REPUBLIC TO IMPLEMENT SCHENGEN AGREEMENT IN 2006
Government spokesman Jiri Marek said after a cabinet meeting on 4
September that all legislation needed for joining the so-called
Schengen zone will be enacted by January 2003 and the Czech Republic
will meet the target of joining the zone in 2006, Reuters reported.
Under the EU's Schengen agreement, mutual border controls were
eliminated by the signatories, which include all EU members except the
U.K. and Ireland, as well as Norway, which is not an EU member. To join
the zone, countries must toughen controls at their borders with non-EU
countries and at airports to stem the flow of illegal immigration and
combat international crime. MS
[43] CZECH MEDIA CARRY CONFLICTING REPORTS ON CSSD-BACKED PRESIDENTIAL
CANDIDACIES
The daily "Mlada fronta Dnes" reported on 4 September that the ruling
Social Democratic Party (CSSD) has asked former Justice Minister
Jaroslav Bures to run for the position of Czech president, CTK
reported. The daily "Hospodarske noviny," on the other hand, reported
that Dr. Zdenek Dienstbier, chairman of the Czech League Against
Cancer, has been asked to run for the post by Premier Spidla. Bures,
48, confirmed that he has been "unofficially" approached by the CSSD,
but said he would consider running only after a "binding offer,"
according to "Mlada fronta Dnes." Dienstbier told "Hospodarske noviny"
that he was "surprised" by the offer made to him and needs time to
"think it over." He added that at the age of 76 he is "not young
anymore." President's Havel's term ends in early 2003. MS
[44] CZECH FOREIGN MINISTER VISITS SLOVAKIA
In his first visit abroad as Czech Foreign Minister, Cyril Svoboda on 4
September agreed with his Slovak counterpart Eduard Kukan that the two
countries will continue coordinating their positions in accession talks
with the EU, TASR and CTK reported. They said the coordination will be
particularly close on the two difficult chapters of agriculture and
budget. Kukan and Svoboda also agreed to coordinate their joint
opposition to demands to abolish the Benes Decrees, though Svoboda
added that this does not mean refusal to discuss the decrees. Svoboda
also briefly met with Prime Minister Mikulas Dzurinda and was briefed
by Christian Democratic Movement Chairman Pavol Hrusovsky about the
political situation in Slovakia ahead of the 20-21 September elections.
MS
[45] CONFLICTING POLLS PREDICT CLOSE RACE IN SLOVAK ELECTIONS
Contrary to trends shown by the latest opinion polls, the prestigious
Institute for Research of Public Opinion (UVVM) on 4 September released
a survey showing the Movement for a Democratic Slovakia (HZDS) ahead of
Smer (Direction), TASR and CTK reported. According to the UVVM, the
HZDS has the support of 18.7 percent of voters, while Smer is backed by
15.2 percent. The UVVM poll was conducted in late August and early
September. The MVK polling institute on the same day released a survey
showing Smer ahead of the HZDS. This poll was also conducted in late
August-early September and shows Smer backed by 18.5 percent, with the
HZDS garnering 17.6 percent. Sociologist Pavel Haulik of the MVK was
quoted by CTK as saying the outcome of the elections will be "a
lottery" and is less predictable than ever before. Since Slovak law
forbids publication of opinion-poll results in the final two weeks
before the ballot and in view of the close race between the HZDS and
Smer, it will not be possible for pollsters to do more than measure the
mood of the public two weeks ahead of the vote, and that mood may
change, Haulik said. MS
[46] SLOVAK GOVERNMENT APPOINTS NEW STATE NEWS AGENCY CHIEF
The Slovak government on 4 September appointed Peter Nedavska as the
new director of the state-run TASR news agency, AP reported. Nedavska,
48, has worked for TASR for 24 years and was chosen from among four
candidates. The government fired the previous director, Ivan Ceredejev,
in June after Ceredejev purchased a BMW as an office car. The car cost
1.48 million crowns ($33,260) -- almost double the maximum allowed for
state-agency directors' cars. MS
[47] MECS COMMISSION FALLOUT CONTINUES IN HUNGARY
Szabolcs Fazakas, former Industry Minister in Gyula Horn's cabinet in
1994-98, told Inforadio on 4 September that during his youth he
provided information to the Interior Ministry as a tourist guide and
later as a Foreign Trade Ministry official and as a secretary at the
Vienna trade office as part of his job. "I see nothing wrong with
that," he declared, "this was part of our life -- I was no informer or
spy." Fazakas said he will attend a hearing of the parliamentary
commission headed by Imre Mecs probing the links of former and present
cabinet members with the communist-era secret services. In other news,
Imre Boros, former minister in charge of overseeing PHARE funds, on 4
September made it clear that he will not voluntarily leave the
Democratic Forum parliamentary group, despite being asked to do so by
the party's leadership (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 4 September 2002). Boros
said leaving would indicate he agrees with the ruling and methods of
the party's leadership. MSZ
[48] HUNGARIAN YOUTH AND SPORTS MINISTER ACCUSES PREDECESSOR OF
MISMANAGEMENT...
Youth and Sports Minister Gyorgy Janosi announced on 4 September that
the ministry leadership will file a criminal report to the authorities
regarding suspicion of misappropriation of funds by the ministry's
previous leadership, Hungarian dailies reported. The ministry will
cancel illegal contracts and attempt to amend those that are
disadvantageous to the state. Janosi claimed the ministry's former
leaders violated the law on public finances by signing commitments for
which they had no funds. In response, former Youth and Sports Minister
Tamas Deutsch told a press conference that the present ministry leaders
"have not done anything of value" since they took office in May and
want to cover that up by making accusations and expressing lies and
nonsense to discredit FIDESZ politicians in the local election
campaign. MSZ
[49] EXTREMIST HUNGARIAN LEADER REFUSES TO QUIT MAYORAL RACE
FIDESZ Deputy Chairman Tamas Deutsch recently met Hungarian Justice and
Life Party (MIEP) Chairman Istvan Csurka and asked him to withdraw from
the Budapest mayoral election for the benefit of right-wing candidate
Pal Schmitt, "Nepszabadsag" reported on 5 September. Csurka confirmed
that he had a "friendly conversation" in the lobby of a Budapest hotel
with Deutsch on the matter. "Deutsch called me on the phone, asked for
a meeting and I willingly complied, but I let him know that I have no
intention of stepping aside," he said. Deutsch denied that he held
consultations with Csurka. He acknowledged that they met in the lobby
of a hotel, and exchanged a few sentences, but he said "this cannot be
called consultations." MSZ
[50] FIRST BLACK CANDIDATE RUNS FOR OFFICE IN HUNGARY
Bailo Amadou, who arrived to Hungary from Mali in 1984 and has been a
Hungarian citizen since 1994, is the first black person to run for
local office in Hungary, "Magyar Hirlap" reported on 5 September. He
will run as a Socialist candidate for local council in the southern
town of Bacsalmas. Amadou said his color will help him in the elections
as he is known to everyone in the town because of it. Amadou obtained a
degree from the University of Agriculture in Godollo. MSZ
SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[51] MONTENEGRIN ELECTIONS POSTPONED
The parliamentary elections planned for 6 October will be held on 20
October instead, RFE/RL's South Slavic and Albanian Languages Service
reported from Podgorica on 4 September. The decision by the parties
represented in the parliament follows weeks of bickering by the
governing coalition and its opponents over recent opposition-backed
electoral and media legislation, which was widely criticized by the
international community. A final agreement on electoral legislation is
expected shortly. Opposition representatives said that it has already
been agreed that all parliamentary parties will enjoy proportional
representation in the republican and district electoral committees,
that the number of legislative seats for the ethnic Albanian minority
will be reduced from five to four, and that all parties will be
consulted before new judges are named to the Constitutional Court. But
a session of the parliament at which media legislation was scheduled to
be discussed was postponed at the request of the governing Democratic
Party of Socialists. PM
[52] MONTENEGRIN JOURNALISTS SEE PINK
The Association of Independent Electronic Media (UNEM) protested the
decision of one government agency to allow Serbia's biggest private
television station, TV Pink, to broadcast programs on 12 frequencies in
Montenegro, RFE/RL's South Slavic and Albanian Languages Service
reported from Podgorica on 4 September. UNEM called the decision
illegal and demanded its reversal. PM
[53] SLOVENIA AND CROATIA ON THE SAME FREQUENCY?
Croatian Prime Minister Ivica Racan sent a letter on 4 September to his
Slovenian counterpart Janez Drnovsek in which he said that the two
men's agreement of one year ago on their joint border is a dead letter
because the Croatian parliament will not approve it, RFE/RL's South
Slavic and Albanian Languages Service reported (see "RFE/RL Newsline,"
3 and 4 September 2002, and "RFE/RL Balkan Report," 3 August 2001 and
30 August 2002). Racan said that he is willing to put the border issue
to international arbitration but wants the matter linked to a number of
other bilateral issues, including those regarding the Krsko nuclear
plant. In response, Drnovsek said in Ljubljana that Racan's proposals
suggest a step in the right direction and that he is "moderately
optimistic" that the two men can reach an agreement. Elsewhere,
Croatian and Slovenian representatives reached an agreement in Zagreb
on cooperation in education. But the Slovenian government sent its
Croatian counterpart two protest notes regarding recent incidents in
the Bay of Piran. PM
[54] EU SLAMS BOSNIAN SERB REPORT ON SREBRENICA
In the name of the European Union, the Danish Embassy in Sarajevo
released a statement saying that it fully supports the objections
raised by Paddy Ashdown, who is the international community's high
representative in Bosnia, to a recent Bosnian Serb report denying that
a massacre took place in Srebrenica, Deutsche Welle's Bosnian Service
reported on 5 September (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 3 and 4 September
2002). The EU called on "all responsible people and institutions" to
reject the study. In Banja Luka, Republika Srpska President Mirko
Sarovic said that the report should not be dismissed out of hand but
merits careful study, "Nezavisne novine" reported. PM
[55] ASHDOWN MARKS 100 DAYS IN OFFICE
British politician Ashdown marked his first 100 days in office as the
international community's high representative in Bosnia on 5 September,
dpa reported from Sarajevo (see "RFE/RL Balkan Report," 26 April and 10
May 2002). Principal Deputy High Representative Donald Hays, a U.S.
diplomat, told the news agency that the international community still
has "much, much more" to do to turn Bosnia into a normal country. Hays
added that "the biggest security threats to this country are
criminality, corruption, and unemployment." With an eye toward the
general elections on 5 October, he argued that "the great good sense of
the people of this country suggests that pragmatism is going to triumph
over nationalist grandstanding. The people of this country and their
elected leaders will find willing partners in the international
community to make this country a prosperous part of Europe." PM
[56] ETHNIC ALBANIAN PARTIES REJECT PROPOSAL FOR COOPERATION IN FUTURE
MACEDONIAN GOVERNMENT
Spokesmen of the ethnic Albanian Democratic Union for Integration (BDI)
and the smaller National Democratic Party (PDK) rejected a recent
coalition proposal by Arben Xhaferi, the chairman of the Democratic
Party of the Albanians (PDSH), Makfax news agency reported on 4
September. Xhaferi had called upon all ethnic Albanian parties to
participate together in the new government to be formed after the 15
September parliamentary elections. "In practical terms, [it is clear
that] the party that wins the majority of votes [among the ethnic
Albanian voters] will form a coalition with the major [Macedonian]
parties," BDI spokesman Agron Buxhaku said. "The PDSH has no mandate to
speak on behalf of all Albanian political [parties]," PDK
Secretary-General Xhevat Ademi said. Ademi ascribed Xhaferi's proposal
to his possible fear of an election defeat. Polls suggest that the BDI
of former guerrilla leader Ali Ahmeti will do well in the upcoming
vote. Many Albanians say that Ahmeti did more for them in a few months
than all the established parties did in a decade. UB/PM
[57] MACEDONIAN JOURNALISTS UNION PUBLISHES HANDBOOK ON ELECTION
COVERAGE
The Macedonian Journalists Union (ZNM) presented its "Handbook on
Election Coverage" to the public on 4 September, "Utrinski vesnik"
reported. The handbook is intended as a guideline for providing
"unbiased, independent, and correct information" about the elections to
the general public. "It contains guidelines...that are meant to be
truly useful rather than patronizing," SNM Secretary-General Saso
Colakovski said. UB
[58] U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE REPORTEDLY ASSURES ROMANIAN PRESIDENT ON
NATO MEMBERSHIP BID
President Ion Iliescu said on 4 September after meeting with U.S.
Secretary of State Colin Powell on the sidelines of the World Summit on
Sustainable Development in Johannesburg, South Africa, that Powell gave
him very clear signals of U.S. support for Romania's NATO bid at the
November Prague summit, Romanian media reported. Iliescu said on
Romanian television that Powell reiterated U.S. support for a
substantial NATO enlargement at the summit and that Romania is
considered to be "a reliable partner" that has demonstrated its
friendship by its actions after the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks
against the United States. Iliescu quoted Powell as saying that "this
solidarity is not forgotten and the U.S. sees it as its duty to support
Romania's efforts." The daily "Ziua" on 5 September reported that U.S.
President George W. Bush, in a message conveyed to Iliescu by Powell,
said he regards as "inconceivable" an enlargement of NATO that would
not include Romania and Bulgaria. MS
[59] ROMANIAN PRESIDENT SAYS ICC TREATY WILL AWAIT PARLIAMENTARY
RATIFICATION...
Iliescu also met in Johannesburg with Danish Premier Anders Fogh
Rasmussen, who currently chairs the rotating EU Presidency, and told
him that the parliament will not ratify the treaty Romania recently
signed with the United States on the proposed International Criminal
Court (ICC) until the EU officially formulates its own position on the
treaty, Romanian Radio reported. EU officials have criticized Romania's
accord with the United States, which stipulates that U.S. citizens will
not be extradited to the court. Iliescu said after the talks with
Rasmussen that the Danish premier told him Denmark will insist that at
the December EU summit in Copenhagen Romania and Bulgaria receive a
so-called "road map" stipulating deadlines for them to meet conditions
in order to advance their EU membership bids. Rasmussen said Denmark
will also insist on increased EU aid to the two countries to assist
them in progressing toward membership and assured Iliescu of Danish
support for Romania's NATO membership bid. MS
[60] ...WHILE ROMANIAN PREMIER FORESEES EU-U.S. 'COMPROMISE' ON ICC
Prime Minister Adrian Nastase said on 4 September that Bucharest must
be "sensitive" to its relations with the both the United States and the
European Union, and that he believes the sides will reach a compromise
on the contentious ICC issue by the end of this month, RFE/RL's
Bucharest bureau reported. Nastase said that the EU must understand
that in 1997 Romania failed in its NATO bid because it lacked U.S.
support and that none of the EU countries stood up for Romania at that
time. This, he said, should make the EU better understand the position
Romania has taken on the ICC issue, but Romania should not be held
responsible by the EU for the position of the United States. MS
[61] ROMANIAN PREMIER RECEIVES HUNGARIAN FOREIGN MINISTER
Premier Nastase on 4 September received Hungarian Foreign Minister
Laszlo Kovacs and told him Romania is paying particular attention to
its relations with Hungary, Romanian Radio reported the next day.
Kovacs was to attend as a special guest on 5 September a Foreign
Ministry meeting of diplomats stationed abroad. Nastase told Kovacs
that Romania hopes the forthcoming local elections in Hungary will
create conditions for "authentic self-governance" by the Romanian
minority in that country. Kovacs acknowledged problems resulting from
the current Hungarian legislation that stipulates that national
identity is established on the basis of a person's declaration. He said
the Hungarian government regards it as "unacceptable" that people
[meaning members of the Romany minority in Hungary] declare their
identity as Romanian in order to benefit from local autonomy funds,
calling this "ethno-business." MS
[62] UDMR LEADER EXPLAINS POSITION ON CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT
Hungarian Democratic Federation of Romania (UDMR) Chairman Bela Marko
told journalist on 4 September that the UDMR will not submit a proposal
to amend Article 1 of the constitution, RFE/RL's Bucharest bureau
reported. Marko said that UDMR legal experts reached the conclusion
that amending the provision of the constitution's Article 1, which
defines Romania as a "national state," requires the prior amendment of
Article 148. This article prohibits amending several constitutional
stipulations, including those in Article 1. Marko also said the UDMR's
proposals for amending the constitution include several improvements of
national minority rights, such as the right to use native languages in
courts. He said that if these proposals are not accepted, the UDMR will
not support other proposed amendments. MS
[63] ROMANIAN PARLIAMENTARY COMMISSION BACKS DRAFT FORBIDDING FORMER
NAZIS' ENTRY
The Senate's Judicial and Defense commissions on 4 September approved
an amendment to the Law on the Status of Foreign Nationals, Mediafax
reported. The amendment prohibits entry to Romania of foreign nationals
if proof exists that they participated in the perpetration of "crimes
against peace" or war crimes. Three former Nazis of German origin born
in Romania were expelled from the United States to Romania this year,
and if the amendment is approved by the Senate's plenum, similar action
will not be possible in the future. MS
[64] GEORGIAN DEPUTY DEFENSE MINISTER IN ROMANIA
In Bucharest on 4 September, visiting Georgian Deputy Defense Minister
Gela Bezhuashvili and his Romanian counterpart George Maior discussed
bilateral relations, NATO expansion, and the international struggle
against terrorism, Mediafax reported. Maior said the international
community is displaying a growing interest in the stability of the
Black Sea zone in light of the new geostrategic framework for combating
international terrorism. He said Romania is willing to share with
Georgia its experience on meeting NATO membership requirements.
Bezhuashvili said Romanian progress on military reforms is "visible"
and thanked Maior for the aid extended by Romania's armed forces to
Georgia. The Romanian military has made donations to Georgia of
uniforms and special military equipment. He said his country is paying
special attention to the need for "good-neighborly relations" with
Russia, adding that the bombing of Georgian territory last month, which
he blamed on Russia, has not contributed to improving relations between
the two countries. The sides signed an agreement on cooperation in
military medicine. During his 3-6 September visit, Bezhuashvili is to
be received by Defense Minister Ioan Mircea Pascu and other Romanian
officials. MS
[65] MOLDOVAN PUBLICATION ACCUSES PPCD OF ENCROACHING ON PRESS FREEDOM
Valeriu Renita, editor in chief of the publication "Sens," on 4
September told Infotag that on 31 August two bodyguards of Popular
Party Christian Democratic (PPCD) Chairman Iurie Rosca assaulted a
"Sens" employee who was distributing the publication on the streets.
Renita said the bodyguards ordered the man to throw his copies of the
publication in a garbage container and set them on fire. They also
warned him against "selling this filth again" and threatened to beat
him up if he does so again. Renita said a complaint has been filed with
the Prosecutor-General's Office. He said law enforcement authorities
must take measures against the "offensive against the freedom of the
press." Infotag reported that Renita was earlier attacked in the
pro-PPCD daily "Flux" for allegedly supporting the ruling Party of
Moldovan Communists. Renita is also a member of the BASA-press managing
board. MS
[66] FORMER GAGAUZ-YERI GOVERNOR STEPS INTO ELECTION RACE
The Democratic Party and the "For Gagauz" movement on 4 September
nominated former Gagauz-Yeri Governor Dumitru Croitor as their joint
candidate in the elections for that post scheduled for 6 October,
Infotag reported. Croitor, who resigned from that office in June, said
that after his resignation he was urged by numerous people to run
again. The registration deadline for candidates for the post expires on
6 September, and Infotag reported that the autonomous region's Election
Commission Chairman Ivan Petrov said he does not believe Croitor can
obtain in one day the 5,000 signatures of support required for
registering in the race. Six candidates have already registered to run
for the position, with Comrat Mayor Constantin Tausandji being the last
to do so. MS
[67] BULGARIAN GOVERNMENT TO STEP UP EFFORTS AGAINST ILLICIT ARMS TRADE
Economy Minister Nikolay Vasilev announced on 4 September that the
government will tighten controls over the export of dual-purpose
technologies, BTA reported. Vasilev spoke after a meeting of the
Interdepartmental Council on Military-Industrial Complex Affairs,
during which its members discussed measures to coordinate the efforts
of the state institutions to prevent illicit arms trade. Vasilev said
the council has urged the Finance Ministry and the Customs Agency to
pay special attention to exports of possible dual-use goods to a number
of areas. UB
[68] BULGARIA'S CONSERVATIVE OPPOSITION ANNOUNCES VOTE OF NO
CONFIDENCE...
During the first parliamentary debate after the summer break, Nadezhda
Mihailova, the leader of the conservative opposition Union of
Democratic Forces (SDS), said on 4 September that her party will move a
vote of no confidence in the government if Bulgaria is not invite to
join NATO this fall, BTA reported. "For the SDS a failure to receive an
invitation to join NATO would mean not only that the incumbents have
failed but also that a historic chance for Bulgaria has been missed,"
Mihailova said. Sergey Stanishev, the chairman of the opposition
Socialist Party (BSP), warned of looming social unrest. "An abyss has
emerged between politicians and the people, which may turn into the
front line of an undeclared civil war sweeping us all away on a wave of
public discontent by the end of the winter," Stanishev said. UB
[69] ...WHILE RULING COALITION STRESSES NEED FOR POLITICAL CONSENSUS
Replying to Mihailova's and Stanishev's threats, Plamen Panayotov, the
chairman of the parliamentary group of the ruling National Movement
Simeon II (NDSV), said on 4 September that it is time for the
opposition to show whether it places national interests above
increasing its popularity rating by a few points, BTA reported. "Let us
discuss the country's real problems: its economic development, social
policies, and the fight against crime and corruption," Panayotov said.
Lutfi Mestan of the NDSV's junior coalition partner, the ethnic Turkish
Movement for Rights and Freedoms (DPS), also stressed the need for
political stability prior to the NATO summit in Prague. Mestan
underscored the role of the country's economic development. "Regardless
of all political juggling, if we fail to meet the economic standards,
membership in the EU will remain a dream," Mestan said. UB
END NOTE
[70] There is no End Note today.
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