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OMRI Daily Digest, Vol. 2, No. 146, 96-07-29

Open Media Research Institute: Daily Digest Directory - Previous Article - Next Article

From: Open Media Research Institute <http://www.omri.cz>

Vol. 2, No. 146, 29 July 1996


CONTENTS

[A] TRANSCAUCASIA AND CENTRAL ASIA

  • [01] GEORGIA AND RUSSIA SIGN MILITARY TREATY.
  • [02] AZERBAIJANI TRADERS BEATEN.
  • [03] UZBEK ECONOMIC FIGURES RELEASED.
  • [04] TAJIK CEASEFIRE AGREEMENT NEAR TOTAL COLLAPSE.
  • [05] OSH OBLAST GOVERNOR SACKED.

  • [B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE

  • [06] EU WARNS CROATIA OVER MOSTAR BOYCOTT.
  • [07] SERBS IN EASTERN SLAVONIA RALLY FOR AUTONOMY.
  • [08] CROATIAN SERBS BRING LEGAL ACTION AGAINST BELGRADE.
  • [09] EXPLOSIONS AT CROATIAN ARMS FACTORY INJURE 18.
  • [10] BOSNIA, IRAN SIGN MEMORANDUM ON ECONOMIC COOPERATION.
  • [11] RUMP YUGOSLAV PRESIDENT ON UPCOMING BOSNIAN ELECTIONS.
  • [12] MONTENEGRIN ELECTIONS SCHEDULED.
  • [13] ILIESCU NOMINATED PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE.
  • [14] UPDATE ON BULGARIAN GRAIN CRISIS.
  • [15] BULGARIAN CHURCH TO ANATHEMATIZE ANOTHER CHURCH'S HEAD.
  • [16] U.S. URGE NEW ELECTIONS IN ALBANIA.

  • [A] TRANSCAUCASIA AND CENTRAL ASIA

    [01] GEORGIA AND RUSSIA SIGN MILITARY TREATY.

    Georgia's defense ministry on 28 July revealed that Defense Minister Lt.-Gen. Vardiko Nadibaidze signed a military cooperation treaty with his Russian counterpart during his visit to Moscow the previous week, ITAR-TASS reported. The statement emphasized that Nadibaidze had been the first foreign military official to be received by newly appointed Russian Defense Minister Igor Rodionov. On 27 July, a Russian military spokesman had said the two would discuss the operation of Russian military bases in Georgia and the "flanks" restrictions of the Conventional Forces in Europe (CFE) treaty. Georgia has agreed to "loan" Russia some of its entitlements. -- Doug Clarke

    [02] AZERBAIJANI TRADERS BEATEN.

    Some 40 Azerbaijani traders were beaten by police during a 26 July raid on the Krasnogvardeiskii market in southern Moscow, RTR reported. One man was hospitalized. The ostensible purpose of the raid was to check the traders' residence papers, but witnesses reported that the police tore up the men's passports and registration documents. The Azerbaijani ambassador lodged a protest, and a Ministry of Interior investigation into the police action is under way. -- Peter Rutland

    [03] UZBEK ECONOMIC FIGURES RELEASED.

    A government report summarizing Uzbekistan's economic development for the first half of 1996 highlights several positive trends, ITAR-TASS reported on 26 July. According to the report, the budget deficit is currently 2.1% of GNP, compared to 3.5% in the same period last year. The inflation rate dropped by over half from last year (now at 4-5% per month), real income rose by 16% comapred to the first half of 1995, and only 80 businesses are listed as in debt, compared to 630 last year. President Islam Karimov was reported as saying that the private sector now accounts for over 50% of industrial output and 95% of agricultural output, and that "the current year will become the year of economic growth for Uzbekistan." -- Roger Kangas

    [04] TAJIK CEASEFIRE AGREEMENT NEAR TOTAL COLLAPSE.

    With fighting continuing in the Tavil-Dara region despite the Ashgabat ceasefire agreement signed on 20 July, the Tajik Defense Ministry says it will no longer hold back its forces in central Tajikistan, Russian Independent Television (NTV) reported on 27 July. Tajik Radio reported that two government soldiers were killed and five wounded in the Tavil-Dara region since the ceasefire came into effect. Hostilities continue to spread in the region with the town of Jirgatal being the latest area to report fighting. Opposition forces shelled the town for two hours on 25 July, according to ITAR-TASS. -- Bruce Pannier

    [05] OSH OBLAST GOVERNOR SACKED.

    During President Askar Akayev's visit to the Osh Oblast of southern Kyrgyzstan on 27 July, the Osh "Kenesh" (regional council) voted to sack Governor Janysh Rustenbekov, Vechernii Bishkek reported on 29 July. Rustenbekov was critical of the results tallied from his oblast during the December 1995 presidential elections. Akayev reportedly won more than 50% of the vote from the Osh Oblast, where he is rumored to be unpopular. -- Bruce Pannier

    [B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE

    [06] EU WARNS CROATIA OVER MOSTAR BOYCOTT.

    The EU on 26 July warned Croatia that it will be responsible if Mostar's Croats continue to boycott the Mostar City Council, AFP reported. The city council was elected last month in Bosnia's first post-war poll. Dutch ambassador Jozef Scheffers informed the Croatian Foreign Ministry that Croatia will face consequences in its relations with the EU if it does not convince the Bosnian Croats to accept the election results. Croatian President Franjo Tudjman said he will "seriously consider" the EU ultimatum but stressed he will not accept "solutions that are degrading or unjust for the Croatian people," Vecernji list reported on 29 July. But Croatia's hard-line defense minister, Gojko Susak, said he backed the Croatian boycott because "the Bosnian Croats would have no chance in the [September] general elections" if they accepted the results of the Mostar poll. -- Daria Sito Sucic

    [07] SERBS IN EASTERN SLAVONIA RALLY FOR AUTONOMY.

    An estimated several thousand Serbs rallied in the town of Vukovar on 28 July, demanding autonomy and the extension of the one-year mandate for the U.N. Transitional Authority in Eastern Slavonia (UNTAES) before the Serb-held enclave comes under Croatia's jurisdiction in January 1997, Reuters reported. Rally organizers also demanded "civil rights guarantees for Serbs and political and economic autonomy from the central government in Zagreb." The news agency observed that the Serbs' demands for autonomy may be "unrealistic, " particularly at this stage and particularly since rump Yugoslavia has agreed to the Croatian army's jurisdiction over its internationally recognized borders. -- Stan Markotich

    [08] CROATIAN SERBS BRING LEGAL ACTION AGAINST BELGRADE.

    Thirty Serbian refugees from Croatia are to bring legal action against Belgrade on charges of knowingly violating and ignoring internationally recognized regulations and conventions on the treatment of refugees, Onasa reported. Natasa Kandic, head of the Belgrade-based Humanitarian Law Foundation, said the thirty are among the some 40,000 ethnic Serbian refugees from Croatia's Krajina region who were systematically press-ganged by Belgrade authorities and forced to fight in front-line combat units. According to Onasa, an estimated 4,000-6,000 ethnic Serbs from Croatia who were forcibly conscripted by Belgrade continue to be listed as killed, wounded, captured, or missing. -- Stan Markotich

    [09] EXPLOSIONS AT CROATIAN ARMS FACTORY INJURE 18.

    Two major explosions and six minor ones rocked the arms factory in Slavonski Brod, 250 kilometers east of Zagreb, injuring 18 people, AFP reported on 26 July, citing Croatian radio. The factory, which produced weapons for the Croatian army during the 1991-1992 war against the rebel Croatian Serbs, was razed to the ground. -- Daria Sito Sucic

    [10] BOSNIA, IRAN SIGN MEMORANDUM ON ECONOMIC COOPERATION.

    Bosnian Prime Minister Hasan Muratovic and First Iranian Vice President Hasan Habibi, meeting in Sarajevo on 27 July, signed a memorandum on trade and economic cooperation, Onasa reported. The two countries will also cooperate in civilian air traffic. The officials discussed the reconstruction of the Zenica steel works, with the Iranian side agreeing to release this year a fifth of the $50 million credit pledged to Bosnia-Herzegovina for setting up small companies and for reconstruction. -- Daria Sito Sucic

    [11] RUMP YUGOSLAV PRESIDENT ON UPCOMING BOSNIAN ELECTIONS.

    Signaling that relations between Belgrade and the current Bosnian Serb leadership in Pale are under strain, Zoran Lilic has said that the 14 September elections in Bosnia will "eliminate from power the illegal regimes...[whose mandates] ran out a long time ago." He added that the elections will pave the way for the consolidation of democratic institutions, AFP reported on 28 July, citing local Belgrade media reports. Lilic also praised the international community's peace efforts in Bosnia, noting that the normalization of relations with the other republics of the former Yugoslavia was one of Belgrade's priority. -- Stan Markotich

    [12] MONTENEGRIN ELECTIONS SCHEDULED.

    Montenegrin President Momir Bulatovic on 27 July announced that republican parliamentary elections will be held on 3 November, Tanjug reported. Balloting is expected to take place in accordance with recent controversial legislation dividing Montenegro into 14 electoral districts and stipulating a proportional representation system of voting (see ). It is speculated that parliamentary elections in Serbia will be held on or around the same day. -- Stan Markotich

    [13] ILIESCU NOMINATED PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE.

    The Party of Social Democracy in Romania (PDSR) on 26 July nominated Ion Iliescu as its candidate in the fall presidential elections, Romanian and Western media reported. PDSR Executive Chairman Adrian Nastase made the announcement at a nationwide convention. Iliescu, 66, was elected Romania's first post-communist president in 1990 and re-elected in 1992. The PDSR fared poorly in the June local elections, and its image has been seriously damaged by accusations of corruption. Opinion polls suggest that Iliescu may retain his post but is unlikely to win an outright majority in the first round of voting, scheduled for 3 November. His main rivals are Emil Constantinescu, leader of the Democratic Convention of Romania, and Petre Roman, former prime minister under Iliescu and chairman of the Democratic Party--National Salvation Front. -- Dan Ionescu

    [14] UPDATE ON BULGARIAN GRAIN CRISIS.

    EU Agriculture Commissioner Franz Fischler on 27 July announced that the EU will help Bulgaria to deal with its grain shortage, Reuters reported. He said specialists will visit Bulgaria in September to help analyze its agricultural problems, adding that the EU is ready to provide assistance but needs a clear picture of the country's grain and land market to plan investment credits. He urged the government to speed up agricultural reforms in order to raise productivity. Bulgarian farmers are reluctant to undertake extensive planting because the state-run grain purchasing agency pays only a fraction of world market prices. Prime Minister Zhan Videnov on 26 July told the parliament that Bulgaria must import 1.5 million metric tons of grain to secure sufficient supplies. Demokratsiya on 27 July reported that Videnov has unblocked the military and state grain reserves and that the opposition may ask the prosecutor-general to investigate the case. -- Stefan Krause

    [15] BULGARIAN CHURCH TO ANATHEMATIZE ANOTHER CHURCH'S HEAD.

    The official Bulgarian Orthodox Church, headed by Patriarch Maksim, on 26 July announced it will anathematize Metropolitan Pimen, Reuters reported. Pimen heads clergymen who oppose Maksim and accuse him of collaborating with the former communist regime. Pimen's followers also claim that Maksim was appointed rather than properly elected patriarch when he took office in 1971. Their election of Pimen as the new patriarch on 3 July has not been recognized by the state or the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople. The anathematizing is expected to be carried out in March 1997, a priest said. Declaring someone anathema is a final and irrevocable act formally severing that person from the Church. So far, the Holy Synod has expelled all rebel bishops from it ranks but has not anathematized them. -- Stefan Krause

    [16] U.S. URGE NEW ELECTIONS IN ALBANIA.

    U.S. State Department spokesman Nicholas Burns on 27 July demanded that new elections be held in Albania, Reuters and Gazeta Shqiptare reported. Burns said Tirana did not respond satisfactorily to foreign observers' complaints about the recent parliamentary elections. He also noted that re-runs in 17 constituencies in mid-June were also unsatisfactory. Until now, the U.S. had only asked for a partial re-run to correct obvious irregularities. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Rudolf Perina said the U.S. is reviewing its ties with Albania, including financial aid. Meanwhile in Tirana, the ruling Democratic Party blamed the Greek lobby in the U.S. for the change in the American position. Visiting EU Commissioner for External Affairs Hans van den Broek the previous day said the local elections in October will be a test influencing Albania's future ties with the EU. -- Stefan Krause

    Compiled by Steve Kettle and Jan Cleave
    News and information as of 1200 CET


    This material was reprinted with permission of the Open Media Research Institute, a nonprofit organization with research offices in Prague, Czech Republic.
    For more information on OMRI publications please write to info@omri.cz.


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