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RFE/RL Newsline, Vol. 3, No. 175, 99-09-08

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty: Newsline Directory - Previous Article - Next Article

From: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty <http://www.rferl.org>

RFE/RL NEWSLINE

Vol. 3, No. 175, 8 September 1999


CONTENTS

[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA

  • [01] AZERBAIJANI OPPOSITION OBJECTS TO THIRD PRESIDENTIAL TERM FOR
  • [02] AZERBAIJAN DEMOCRATIC PARTY PROTESTS FALSE REPORTS OF
  • [03] NO ARMS REACHING DAGHESTAN VIA AZERBAIJAN, GEORGIA
  • [04] GEORGIA SAYS RUSSIAN OBJECTIONS TO WARGAMES UNFOUNDED
  • [05] DATE SET FOR PAPAL VISIT TO GEORGIA
  • [06] KAZAKH OPPOSITION TERMS ELECTION PROSPECTS DISCOURAGING
  • [07] KAZAKH DEPUTY PREMIER DISCUSSES TENGIZCHEVROIL SALE
  • [08] KYRGYZ GOVERNMENT MULLS MEETING WITH MILITANTS
  • [09] UZBEKISTAN REJECTS MILITANTS' DEMANDS...
  • [10] ...WHILE CHINA OFFERS HELP
  • [11] TAJIK RENEGADES SENTENCED

  • [B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE

  • [12] SERBIAN GENERAL THREATENS TO RETAKE KOSOVA BY FORCE
  • [13] EXPLOSIONS ROCK U.S. SECTOR IN KOSOVA
  • [14] ATTACKERS TRY TO BLOW UP CHAPEL IN KOSOVA
  • [15] OSCE OPENS POLICE ACADEMY IN KOSOVA
  • [16] DJINDJIC SEEKS PROTECTION FOR KOSOVA SERBS
  • [17] AVDEEV MEETS MILOSEVIC...
  • [18] ...AND SESELJ
  • [19] SERBIAN UNIONS CALL FOR GENERAL STRIKE
  • [20] LEADING SERBIAN BANKER WARNS OF INFLATION
  • [21] BOSNIAN SERB OFFICERS TO GO ABROAD ONLY WITH GUARANTEE
  • [22] CROATIAN NGO WANTS LEGAL MEASURES AGAINST RIGHTIST LEADER
  • [23] BERISHA CHARGES INVESTIGATORS WITH DESTROYING EVIDENCE ON
  • [24] SERBIAN OPPOSITION LEADER IN ROMANIA
  • [25] ROMANIAN PRESIDENT CONVENES MEETING OF PARLIAMENTARY PARTIES
  • [26] ROMANIAN OPPOSITION PARTY LOSES PARLIAMENTARY GROUP STATUS
  • [27] MOLDOVAN COMMUNISTS ATTACK PARLIAMENTARY CHAIRMAN OVER
  • [28] BULGARIA RESPONDS TO BLOCKING OF ROMANIAN DANUBE
  • [29] ZHIVKOV GETS MEMORIAL PLAQUE IN BULGARIAN HOMETOWN

  • [C] END NOTE

  • [30] TRANSYLVANIA'S 'COSI FAN TUTTE'

  • [A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA

    [01] AZERBAIJANI OPPOSITION OBJECTS TO THIRD PRESIDENTIAL TERM FOR

    ALIEV

    The leaders of the Azerbaijan National Independence

    Party, Musavat Party, Democratic Party and Azerbaijan Popular

    Front Party, Etibar Mamedov, Isa Gambar, Ilias Ismailov and

    Abulfaz Elchibey, told Turan on 7 September that they do not

    consider the results of the October1998 presidential

    elections valid. They added that President Heidar Aliev's

    statement that he may run in 2003 for a third term is

    therefore inappropriate (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 7 September

    1999). Elchibey noted that many Azerbaijani citizens likewise

    believe that Aliev's re-election was not legitimate. LF

    [02] AZERBAIJAN DEMOCRATIC PARTY PROTESTS FALSE REPORTS OF

    LEADER'S DETENTION

    Also on 7 September, the Democratic Party

    announced it will hold a demonstration outside the U.S.

    Embassy on 14 September to protest the erroneous report

    circulated by the Azerbaijani authorities that the party's

    co-chairman, Rasul Guliev, was detained in the U.S. by

    immigration officials, Turan reported (see "RFE/RL Newsline,"

    7 September 1999). Senior Democratic Party official Nuraddin

    Mamedli has filed suit against the Prosecutor-General's

    Office and demanded a published official refutation of the

    report. LF

    [03] NO ARMS REACHING DAGHESTAN VIA AZERBAIJAN, GEORGIA

    Georgian

    Border Guard Service chief Valerii Chkheidze on 7 September

    rejected Russian State Duma speaker Gennadii Seleznev's call

    earlier that day to close Russia's borders with Georgia and

    Azerbaijan in order to prevent the shipment of arms to the

    Chechen militants fighting in Daghestan, Caucasus Press

    reported. Chkheidze said that Georgia's borders with Chechnya

    and Daghestan are reliably controlled. There are no longer

    any Russian border guards deployed along the Chechen side of

    that border. In Baku, a National Security Ministry official

    similarly told Interfax that Seleznev's charges are

    unsubstantiated. Moscow closed its borders with Georgia and

    Azerbaijan in December 1994 at the start of the war in

    Chechnya. LF

    [04] GEORGIA SAYS RUSSIAN OBJECTIONS TO WARGAMES UNFOUNDED

    Georgian Defense Minister David Tevzadze said on 7 September

    that the two-day military maneuvers that began the same day

    at the Kulevi training ground in western Georgia do not

    violate any regional peace agreements, ITAR-TASS and Caucasus

    Press reported. Colonel-General Sergei Korobko, who commands

    the Russian peacekeeping force deployed along the border

    between Abkhazia and the rest of Georgia, wrote to Tevzadze

    to object that the maneuvers entail bringing heavy military

    equipment into a zone from which such weapons are banned

    under the Georgian-Abkhaz cease-fire agreement of May 1994.

    Russian Foreign Ministry special envoy for Abkhazia Lev

    Mironov termed the maneuvers an "outrageous violation" of the

    1994 agreement. But Georgian parliamentary defense and

    security committee chairman Revaz Adamia pointed out to

    Caucasus Press that Kulevi is the only suitable training

    ground available to the Georgian forces. LF

    [05] DATE SET FOR PAPAL VISIT TO GEORGIA

    Pope John Paul II will

    visit Georgia on 8-9 November, Caucasus Press reported on 8

    September. The visit had originally been planned for early

    summer but was postponed because of the pontiff's poor

    health. Agreement that the pope would visit Georgia before

    the end of 1999 was reached during a visit to Tbilisi last

    month by Vatican Assistant Secretary of State Giovanni

    Battista Re (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 16 August 1999). LF

    [06] KAZAKH OPPOSITION TERMS ELECTION PROSPECTS DISCOURAGING

    Alash Party leader Zhaqsybay told journalists in Almaty on 7

    September that he has decided to withdraw his candidacy for

    the 10 October elections to the lower house of the

    parliament, RFE/RL's bureau in the former capital reported.

    Bazylbaev explained he has received telephone threats. At

    another press conference in Almaty, Serikbolsyn Abdildin, who

    heads the Kazakh Communist Party, said he does not believe

    his party has any chance of success in that poll. He

    predicted that international observers, including the OSCE,

    will prove incapable of ensuring free and fair elections

    since the existing election law enables election commissions

    to falsify the vote count in favor of the two "parties of

    power," according to "Nezavisimaya gazeta" on 8 September.

    Those parties are Otan (Fatherland) and the Citizens' Party.

    A recent opinion poll showed 21.4 percent support for Otan,

    9.4 percent for the Communists, and 4.6 percent for the

    Citizens' Party, "Novye izvestiya" reported on 2 September.

    LF

    [07] KAZAKH DEPUTY PREMIER DISCUSSES TENGIZCHEVROIL SALE

    Daniyar

    Abulgazin told journalists in Astana on 7 September that the

    precise date for the sale of part of Kazakhstan's 40 percent

    stake in the Tengizchevroil consortium will depend on

    fulfillment of the state budget, Interfax reported. "If the

    budget situation is okay, the Kazakh stake will not be sold

    before the end of 1999," he said, adding that current tax

    revenues "give grounds for optimism." Abulgazin confirmed

    that Kazakhstan will sell 40 percent of its stake, which is

    equal to a 10 percent stake in the consortium, and that some

    20 oil companies have been invited to participate in the

    tender. But he declined to specify the asking price. LF

    [08] KYRGYZ GOVERNMENT MULLS MEETING WITH MILITANTS

    General Bolot

    Djanuzakov told journalists in Bishkek on 7 September, after

    President Askar Akaev named him to head the Kyrgyz Security

    Council, that the government will not conduct official

    negotiations with the ethnic Uzbek guerrillas who still hold

    a dozen hostages in southern Kyrgyzstan, RFE/RL's Bishkek

    bureau reported. Djanuzakov did not rule out lower-level

    talks with the guerrillas and suggested that some members of

    the Kyrgyz government might participate. The guerrillas have

    sent a letter to the Kyrgyz authorities, via intermediary

    Tursunbek Akunov, proposing talks either in southern

    Kyrgyzstan or the Djirgtal region of neighboring Tajikistan

    to discuss the release of the hostages. Four Japanese

    geologists who are among the hostages have also sent a letter

    to the Kyrgyz leadership urging that everything possible be

    done to secure their release, Reuters reported. Meanwhile the

    situation in the south of the country remained calm on 7

    September. LF

    [09] UZBEKISTAN REJECTS MILITANTS' DEMANDS...

    The Uzbek Foreign

    Ministry issued a statement on 7 September rejecting as a

    "provocation" and "scandalous outrage" the Islamic Movement

    of Uzbekistan's demand for the release of 50,000 Muslims

    imprisoned in Uzbekistan in exchange for freeing the hostages

    held by the movement's guerrillas in southern Kyrgyzstan,

    Reuters and Interfax reported. The Islamic Movement of

    Uzbekistan faxed that demand to the Kyrgyz leadership on 4

    September, insisting that the Kyrgyz leadership allow the

    guerrillas to cross unimpeded into Uzbekistan (see "RFE/RL

    Newsline," 6 September 1999). Uzbek National Security Council

    Secretary Mirakbar Rakhmankulov told Uzbek Television on 7

    September that the militants aim to destabilize the whole of

    Central Asia, according to Interfax. He added that they are

    supported by the Afghan Taliban movement and other

    organizations with the same goal. LF

    [10] ...WHILE CHINA OFFERS HELP

    An unnamed government official

    told RFE/RL's Bishkek bureau on 7 September that China has

    offered help to Kyrgyzstan to resolve the hostage crisis. The

    official said Beijing is ready to block the state frontiers

    between China and Kyrgyzstan and between Kyrgyzstan and

    Tajikistan. An agreement on strengthening frontier security

    measures was signed by China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia,

    and Tajikistan in April 1996. LF

    [11] TAJIK RENEGADES SENTENCED

    Tajikistan's Supreme Court has

    handed down sentences ranging from three to 15 years in

    prison to 12 members of a gang headed by Rezvon Sodirov,

    ITAR-TASS reported on 7 September. The gang was charged with

    murder, gangsterism, and hostage-taking in 1997 (see "RFE/RL

    Newsline," 3 and 10 October 1997). LF


    [B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE

    [12] SERBIAN GENERAL THREATENS TO RETAKE KOSOVA BY FORCE

    General

    Vladimir Lazarevic told the independent weekly "Nedeljni

    Telegraf" of 8 September that "the refusal of the

    international community to fulfill its obligations according

    to the [Kosova peace] agreement [leads the Serbian

    authorities to conclude] that we will have to retake our

    territory by force." He added that NATO has turned Kosova

    into an "occupation zone," AP reported. "This state has a

    right to protect its own territory and people. We are ready,"

    the general stressed. Lazarevic noted that the army is

    "constantly deliberating its reengagement" in the province

    and is only "awaiting for the appropriate command" from the

    authorities. PM

    [13] EXPLOSIONS ROCK U.S. SECTOR IN KOSOVA

    A NATO spokesman said

    in Prishtina on 8 September that two persons were killed and

    four injured in a "series of explosions" in the Gjilan area

    the previous night. He did not specify the nationality of the

    victims, AP reported. PM

    [14] ATTACKERS TRY TO BLOW UP CHAPEL IN KOSOVA

    A Serbian Orthodox

    school chapel in Prizren was damaged by unidentified

    attackers who exploded five antitank mines on 6 September,

    Reuters reported. The attackers had placed a total of 20

    mines around the chapel but 15 did not explode. In Vushtrri,

    a French soldiers stopped a man from setting fire to a

    church. The arsonist then shot at the soldier, slightly

    injuring him before fleeing. The church was only slightly

    damaged. In eastern Kosova, Russian KFOR soldiers found a

    Serbian man who had been shot dead on his tractor. And near

    Peja, unidentified attackers threw a grenade at a Serbian

    house. No one was injured. FS

    [15] OSCE OPENS POLICE ACADEMY IN KOSOVA

    Sven Fredrikson, the

    Danish chief of the international police force in Kosova,

    inaugurated the Kosova police academy in Vushtrri on 7

    September. The academy will be directed by Steve Bennett, a

    former U.S. marine. The first 200 cadets are 166 Albanians,

    26 Serbs, and eight members of other ethnic communities.

    Forty of the students are women. Only one Serb attended the

    opening ceremony, "The New York Times" reported. There were

    19,000 applicants for positions at the academy. The academy

    will eventually train between 3,500 and 4,000 police

    officers. Fredrikson told the students: "You must understand

    that without justice for everyone there will not be justice

    for anyone. You are the future, you'll protect the weak and

    innocent." FS

    [16] DJINDJIC SEEKS PROTECTION FOR KOSOVA SERBS

    Serbian

    Democratic Party leader Zoran Djindjic said during a visit to

    Bucharest on 7 September that the international community

    must take steps to protect Serbs living in Kosova and to

    enable refugees to return. He added: "It is not safe to be in

    [Kosova] now as non-Albanian citizen. We expect the

    international community to take the initiative to bring back

    200,000 Serbs to [the province] to have a multi-ethnic, not

    an ethnically-cleansed [Kosova], this time done by the

    Albanian side," Reuters reported. Djindjic stressed that NATO

    does not need more troops but rather "a different kind of

    involvement." He did not elaborate. PM

    [17] AVDEEV MEETS MILOSEVIC...

    Russian Deputy Foreign Minister

    Aleksandr Avdeev met with Yugoslav President Slobodan

    Milosevic in Belgrade on 7 September, AP reported.

    Milosevic's office issued a statement after the meeting

    saying that "Russia supports Yugoslavia in its principled

    efforts and condemns violations of the UN Security Council

    resolution [on Kosova].... The greatest threat to a political

    solution...and the stabilization of relations in the region

    is the unhindered continuation of crimes by Albanian bandit

    groups." The statement also called on KFOR to combat

    "terrorism, lawlessness, and crime" and urged an end to the

    "ethnic cleansing" of Serbs in Kosova. Milosevic is wanted by

    the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia

    for masterminding war crimes in Kosova. Avdeev is the

    highest-ranking foreign official to meet with Milosevic since

    the end of the Kosova war. FS

    [18] ...AND SESELJ

    Avdeev also met with ultranationalist Serbian

    Deputy Prime Minister Vojislav Seselj in Belgrade on 7

    September. AP quoted Tanjug as saying that the two had a

    "lengthy and friendly discussion" and condemned "efforts by

    some Western countries to create an international

    protectorate" in Kosova. Avdeev told ITAR-TASS after the

    meetings that "we voiced the need to draw lessons from the

    [Kosova] tragedy. It would be a pity if politicians are the

    last to do that." FS

    [19] SERBIAN UNIONS CALL FOR GENERAL STRIKE

    A spokesman for the

    Association of Independent Trade Unions said in Belgrade on 7

    September that it will launch a general strike in conjunction

    with the mass protests slated for 21 September in Belgrade

    and 20 other cities and towns. The spokesman urged "artists,

    scholars, self-employed people, and unemployed persons" to

    support the strike, "Danas" reported. In Serbian usage, a

    general strike usually means a series of work stoppages

    rather than an attempt to shut down all businesses. PM

    [20] LEADING SERBIAN BANKER WARNS OF INFLATION

    Dragoslav

    Avramovic said in Belgrade on 7 September that the

    authorities' recent decision to raise the prices of 700

    consumer items by some 30 to 40 percent could lead to a

    renewal of the hyperinflation that he stopped when he headed

    the National Bank in 1994. Avramovic noted that the system he

    put in place "was based on low wages and low prices of

    staples and electricity. Now this has been disrupted,"

    "Danas" reported. PM

    [21] BOSNIAN SERB OFFICERS TO GO ABROAD ONLY WITH GUARANTEE

    Manojlo Milovanovic, who is the Republika Srpska's defense

    minister, said in Banja Luka that Bosnian Serb officers may

    travel abroad only if they have written guarantees from SFOR

    and the Hague-based war crimes tribunal that they will not be

    arrested for war crimes, RFE/RL's South Slavic Service

    reported on 7 September (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 7 September

    1999). He added that the court's policy of indicting persons

    in secret is against "international practice" and unduly

    makes innocent persons feel insecure, the Frankfurt-based

    Serbian daily "Vesti" reported. Milovanovic stressed that the

    recent arrest of General Momir Talic in Austria for war

    crimes will not affect "very much" the Bosnian Serb army's

    relations with SFOR. PM

    [22] CROATIAN NGO WANTS LEGAL MEASURES AGAINST RIGHTIST LEADER

    The Croatian Helsinki Committee for Human Rights has sent a

    letter to Prosecutor-General Berislav Zivkovic calling on him

    to take legal measures against right-wing politician Ante

    Djapic for allegedly urging the army to stage a coup if the

    government extradites any Croatian generals to The Hague,

    RFE/RL's South Slavic Service reported on 7 September.

    Opposition politician Vlado Gotovac has also called for legal

    measures against Djapic. In Vojnic, Djapic denied that he

    urged the army to stage a coup. He said that he only sought

    to protect "persons who helped create the Croatian state." He

    suggested his critics are unpatriotic, "Novi List" reported

    on 8 September. PM

    [23] BERISHA CHARGES INVESTIGATORS WITH DESTROYING EVIDENCE ON

    HAJDARI KILLING

    Opposition Democratic Party leader Sali

    Berisha on 7 September accused unspecified investigators of

    destroying evidence about the killing of Democratic

    legislator Azem Hajdari on 14 September 1998, an RFE/RL South

    Slavic Service correspondent reported from Tirana. Berisha

    also said that several witnesses have left Albania to avoid

    giving testimony and that others involved in the murder have

    been killed recently. He intimated that the government is

    trying to eliminate possible witnesses, but he did not

    elaborate. Berisha has repeatedly turned down calls from

    investigators to testify in the Hajdari investigation. FS

    [24] SERBIAN OPPOSITION LEADER IN ROMANIA

    Serbian Democratic

    Party leader Djindjic and Petre Roman, leader of Romania's

    Democratic Party, have signed a cooperation agreement between

    their respective parties, RFE/RL's Bucharest bureau reported

    on 7 September. Djindjic agreed with President Emil

    Constantinescu to "establish permanent contacts" between the

    Serbian opposition and "Romanian authorities." Prime Minister

    Radu Vasile told Djindjic that Romania would "welcome a

    process of coagulation--not necessarily unification--to

    increase the efficiency" of the Serbian opposition and that

    the "first condition for solving Yugoslavia's problem is the

    change of the Milosevic regime." Vasile also said that

    Romania is "worried by certain [Hungarian] declarations about

    the situation of the Magyar minority in Vojvodina." He said

    Romania "can by no means agree to modifications of borders."

    MS

    [25] ROMANIAN PRESIDENT CONVENES MEETING OF PARLIAMENTARY PARTIES

    Constantinescu has called for a meeting of parliamentary

    parties to discuss ways of overcoming differences over the

    restitution laws being debated in the Chamber of Deputies and

    the Senate, RFE/RL's Bucharest bureau. The meeting is to take

    place on 9 September. Party of Social Democracy in Romania

    chairman Ion Iliescu has also called for such a meeting.

    Meanwhile, data released by the National Statistics

    Commission on 7 September shows Romania's GDP in the first

    six month of 1999 dropped by 3.9 percent compared with same

    period last year. Foreign investment since 1990 totals $5.77

    billion. The figure includes direct foreign investment,

    portfolio investments, investments in private companies, as

    well as privatization contracts not yet finalized. Holland is

    Romania's largest investor, with $658 million. MS

    [26] ROMANIAN OPPOSITION PARTY LOSES PARLIAMENTARY GROUP STATUS

    Party of Romanian National Unity (PUNR) Senator Iustin

    Tambozie announced on 6 September that he is leaving the PUNR

    and becoming an independent senator. That move deprives the

    PUNR of its parliamentary group status and consequently of

    representation in the chamber's Permanent Bureau. Tambozie is

    the third PUNR senator to leave the formation since the 1996

    elections (see also "End Note" below). MS

    [27] MOLDOVAN COMMUNISTS ATTACK PARLIAMENTARY CHAIRMAN OVER

    OFFICIAL LANGUAGE

    In a 7 September statement, the Party of

    Moldovan Communists (PCM) said parliamentary chairman Dumitru

    Diacov is "provoking a new explosion of passions" over the

    issue of changing the country's official language. The PCM

    also accused him of "destabilizing" the country. On 31

    August, Moldova's Language Day, Diacov called for amending

    the constitution to change the designation of the country's

    official language from "Moldovan" to Romanian. The PCM says

    Diacov's proposal is a "new harsh attack by the pseudo-

    democrats on the ethnic and linguistic singularity of the

    Moldovan people [aimed at] undermining its self-

    determination...and promoting Romanianization and [Moldovan-

    Romanian] unionism," Infotag reported. MS

    [28] BULGARIA RESPONDS TO BLOCKING OF ROMANIAN DANUBE

    Dimiter

    Stanchev, executive director of the Bulgarian River Shipping

    Corporation, said on 7 September in the River Danube port of

    Russe that Serbia's obstruction of traffic on the river must

    be punished by "sanctions that match their steps." Stanchev

    said the Romanian protests launched one day earlier are

    "logical" but "there are other ways to bring international

    pressure" on Serbia. He said that if Romanian claims that the

    Serbian authorities are letting only Russian and Ukrainian

    ships navigate a canal around Novi Sad are substantiated,

    Bulgarian ports should introduce "licensing requirements" for

    Serbian vessels, BTA reported. MS

    [29] ZHIVKOV GETS MEMORIAL PLAQUE IN BULGARIAN HOMETOWN

    Local

    officials in Pravets, some 50 kilometers north of Sofia,

    marked the birthday of former communist dictator Todor

    Zhivkov on 7 September by unveiling a memorial plaque and

    naming a central square after him. Members of Zhivkov's

    family attended the ceremony. Zhivkov died last year aged 87.

    MS


    [C] END NOTE

    [30] TRANSYLVANIA'S 'COSI FAN TUTTE'

    By Michael Shafir

    Parliamentary and presidential elections in Romania are

    not due until the fall of 2000, but the electoral campaign

    has already begun. Democratic Party Chairman Petre Roman

    announced his candidacy for the presidency in mid-August in

    the Transylvanian town of Targu Mures, and his party

    simultaneously launched its "Message to Transylvania."

    Introducing that manifesto, Roman called for

    cooperation between the region's ethnic minorities and the

    Romanian majority, which he said is now possible because "no

    one questions Romania's territorial integrity today." But

    visiting the headquarters of the Targu Mures garrison, Roman

    professed that the officer corps' concern about an alleged

    attempt to bring about "Transylvania's destabilization" had

    made a big impression on him. Those familiar with the

    Democratic Party chairman's double-talk were hardly

    surprised.

    The specter of the "destabilization attempt" was raised

    by Adrian Nastase, first deputy chairman of the opposition

    Party of Social Democracy in Romania (PDSR). In mid-July,

    Nastase told journalists in Cluj, Transylvania's capital,

    that an "explosive situation" might develop in Transylvania

    this fall against the background of the country's "increasing

    economic, political and social vulnerability." He claimed to

    have "information" on the plans of the "Magyar revisionists"

    to create such a situation. Later, he called on the Romanian

    Intelligence Service to investigate and make public the plots

    allegedly under way.

    But Roman and Nastase were not the only ones ready to

    play the Romanian nationalist card in Transylvania. In early

    June, President Emil Constantinescu--the likely presidential

    candidate of the ruling National Peasant Party Christian

    Democratic (PNTCD) and the Democratic Convention of Romania

    (CDR--rushed to respond to a document of unclear origin in

    which a handful of "Transylvanian intellectuals" demanded

    autonomy for the region. As "guarantor of the constitution",

    Constantinescu said, he would never agree to "separatist

    ideas." The fact that this statement was also made in Targu

    Mures is no coincidence. Transylvania has become the main

    testing ground for the arsenal likely to be used by political

    competitors in election year 2000.

    There are several reasons for this development. First,

    the PDSR is well aware that it lost the 1996 elections to a

    great extent owing to its unpopularity in Transylvania. The

    CDR won almost the entire western and central parts of

    Romania in 1996. Now leading in opinion polls, the main

    opposition party would strengthen its position overall if it

    were able to turn the tables on its main competitors--

    particularly the PNTCD--in what was their bastion.

    Second, the PNTCD has made it easier for the PDSR to do

    just that by showing signs of disintegration at the local

    level. Former Prime Minister Victor Ciorbea, himself a

    Transylvanian, split the party in April, when he set up the

    National Christian Democratic Alliance (ANCD). The Boila

    brothers, two pillars of the Transylvanian PNTCD, who for

    many years dominated the important Cluj branch of the party,

    joined Ciorbea in the ANCD, while Ciorbea recently announced

    he will run for president in 2000.

    Third, the PDSR is also trying to pick up where the

    Party of Romanian National Unity (PUNR) left off. Polls

    indicate that the PUNR, whose strength in the Romanian

    parliament fell from 7.7 percent in 1992 to 4.4 percent in

    1996, may fail to pass the electoral hurdle in 2000. Once the

    darling of Romanian nationalists in Transylvania, the PUNR is

    a regional party par excellence.

    Even more than the PNTCD, however, the PUNR has suffered

    from political schisms. Following his dismissal as PUNR

    leader in February 1997, Cluj extreme nationalist Mayor

    Gheorghe Funar in April 1998 set up a rival Party of Romanian

    Unity Alliance (PAUR), only to join the Greater Romania Party

    (PRM) as its secretary-general in November. Those members of

    the PAUR who did not follow Funar into the PRM recently

    joined the PDSR. More important, Vatra romaneasca (Romanian

    cradle) leaders also joined that party, securing for

    themselves a place on the PDSR lists for the 2000

    parliamentary elections. Vatra romaneasca, which, claims to

    be a "cultural organization," played a major role in

    provoking the inter-ethnic clashes in Targu Mures in March

    1990.

    Mihaila Cofariu, the Romanian "hero" of those clashes,

    who was badly beaten by ethnic Hungarians and was later

    recruited into the PRM, attended a recent PDSR meeting in

    Bucharest as guest of honor. PRM leader Corneliu Vadim Tudor

    immediately protested the PDSR's co-opting Cofariu, which he

    dubbed an "Abduction from the Seraglio." Threatening to

    retaliate, Tudor said that many PDSR sympathizers are

    knocking on his party's door.

    It is not an "abduction" that is being staged in

    Transylvania, however. Rather, with most Romanian parties

    trying to court nationalism, it is "Cosi fan tutte." The

    Romanian National Party (PNR), which took the name of a 19th

    century forerunner of the PNTCD in Transylvania, is obviously

    targeting the same nationalist-inclined Romanian electorate

    as are other parties. Former Romanian Intelligence Service

    chief Virgil Magureanu, the party's acting chairman and a

    Romanian Transylvanian, is believed to have masterminded the

    Targu Mures riots.

    Headed by former Foreign Minister Teodor Melescanu--

    whose diplomatic career often put him at the center of

    Romanian-Hungarian disputes both under communist leader

    Nicolae Ceausescu and his successor, Ion Iliescu--the

    Alliance for Romania is also attempting to score points using

    anti-Hungarian rhetoric taken from the nationalists' verbal

    arsenal. That this arsenal is old-fashioned speaks volumes

    about the paucity of political discourse in Romania 10 years

    after the country began its "transition."

    08-09-99


    Reprinted with permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
    URL: http://www.rferl.org


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