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RFE/RL Newsline, Vol. 4, No. 173, 00-09-07Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty: Newsline Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty <http://www.rferl.org>RFE/RL NEWSLINEVol. 4, No. 173, 7 September 2000Vol. 3, No. 30, 27 July 2000). LFCONTENTS[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA
[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[C] END NOTE
[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA[01] ELECTIONEERING GUIDELINES PUBLISHED IN AZERBAIJANThe Azerbaijani government press has published a list of tariffs for the publication of campaign materials in the runup to the 5 November parliamentary poll, Turan reported on 6 September. The election campaign formally begins 45 days before that date. A Central Electoral Commission official told Turan the same day that 17 political parties and one election bloc have so far been registered to contest the ballot. Registration ends on 11 September. LF[02] EU TO HELP UPGRADE SECURITY ON GEORGIAN-CHECHEN BORDERThe EU will provide Georgia with special equipment, vehicles, and fuel for its border checkpoints in the villages of Shatili, Omalo, and Girevi, ITAR-TASS reported on 6 September, quoting an unidentified Georgian Border Guard Department official. That technical support is intended to facilitate the work of the 42 OSCE observers currently deployed along the Georgian- Chechen border. LF[03] POLISH DEPUTY PREMIER VISITS GEORGIAPolish Deputy Premier and Economy Minister Janusz Steinhoff met in Tbilisi on 6 September with Georgian Minister of State Gia Arsenishvili and with parliamentary speaker Zurab Zhvania to discuss expanding bilateral economic cooperation and the prospects of exporting Caspian oil via the planned Odesa-Brody-Gdansk oil pipeline, Caucasus Press reported. LF[04] KAZAKHSTAN'S PRESIDENT CALLS FOR GLOBALIZATION GUIDELINESSpeaking on 6 September at the UN Millennium Summit in New York, Nursultan Nazarbaev called on the UN to work with member states on drafting guidelines for globalization, an RFE/RL correspondent at the UN reported. Nazarbaev said such guidelines are needed to help overcome existing economic divisions between rich and poor and between developed and developing countries. He urged the UN to work more closely with regional groupings to promote security and economic development. Nazarbaev also called for a greater effort by the UN to counter the threat of terrorism and drugs emanating from Afghanistan. LF[05] KAZAKHSTAN SEES NO SWIFT SOLUTION TO BORDER DISPUTESBighali Turarbekov, who is chairman of Kazakhstan's Commission on Border Delimitation, told a press conference in Almaty on 6 September that it is unlikely all disputes over Kazakhstan's borders will be resolved before 2007, Reuters reported. Turarbekov said that Kazakhstan has reached agreement with China on their common 1,700 kilometer border, but not on the use of waters from rivers that flow from China into Kazakhstan. He said the demarcation of the border with Russia, which began last year, will be "a long process," as only 700 kilometers of the total 7,200 kilometers have been agreed on. Turarbekov predicted difficulties in demarcating the border with Uzbekistan because of villages in Uzbek territory inhabited by Kazakhs (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 14 and 27 January 2000). LF[06] ONLY FIVE CANDIDATES TO CONTEST KYRGYZ PRESIDENTIAL POLL?It is likely that no more than five of the prospective 19 candidates will qualify to contest the 29 October Kyrgyz presidential poll, Omurbek Tikebaev, who is deputy speaker of the lower chamber of the Kyrgyz parliament, told ITAR-TASS on 6 September. He predicted that incumbent President Askar Akaev, businessman Almazbek Atambaev, and parliamentary deputy Dooronbek Sadyrbaev will be registered, in addition to the two candidates registered to date (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 5 September 2000). Tikebaev said he doubts that the remaining candidates, who include the immensely popular former Vice President and Bishkek mayor Feliks Kulov, will succeed in collecting the required 50,000 signatures needed to register. LF[07] KYRGYZ PICKETERS PROTEST OPPOSITION POLITICIAN'S SENTENCINGSome 20 people picketed the OSCE office in Bishkek on 6 September to protest the 16-year jail sentence handed down five days earlier to opposition Erkindik Party leader Topchubek Turgunaliev, RFE/RL's bureau in the Kyrgyz capital reported. Turgunaliev was found guilty of masterminding a plot to assassinate President Askar Akaev (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 1 and 4 September 2000). Several political parties have already protested the sentence, and others are collecting signatures to a petition calling for Turgunaliev's release. Turgunaliev's lawyer told RFE/RL on 6 September that he has not yet received written notification of his client's sentence. Such notification is necessary in order to appeal against the sentence, which must be done within 10 days. LF[08] KYRGYZ SUPREME COURT CHAIRMAN CONFIRMS HE WAS FORCED TO RESIGNAkynbek Tilebaliev said in an interview published in "Delo Nomer" on 6 September that he was forced to step down last month as Supreme Court chairman following the acquittal of former Vice President Kulov, RFE/RL's Bishkek bureau reported. Official media reported that Tilebaliev resigned "at his own request" because of failing health. Several days earlier, the government newspaper "Kyrgyz Tuursu" claimed that Tilebaliev had exerted pressure on Nurlan Ashymbekov, the judge presiding over the Kulov case, to acquit Kulov (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 21 August 2000). LF[09] KYRGYZ CURRENCY LOSES VALUEOn 6 September, the value of the Kyrgyz som fell for the first time to more than 50 soms to the U.S. dollar, trading at between 50.5 and 50.7, RFE/RL's bureau in the Kyrgyz capital reported. Last month, the som traded at 47 to the U.S. dollar. "Vremya-MN" on 6 September attributed the currency's fall to the approaching presidential poll. The newspaper added that the Kyrgyz National Bank's announcement of the introduction of new banknotes worth 200, 500 and 1,000 soms has compounded nervousness on the currency market and is likely to fuel inflation. The inflation rate for the first seven months of this year was 5.3 percent, Interfax reported on 23 August. LF[10] KYRGYZ MILITARY SAYS ISLAMISTS TRAPPEDAll highways and mountain paths linking Kyrgyzstan with Tajikistan are currently controlled by Kyrgyz government troops, according to a Defense Ministry statement issued on 6 September and quoted by ITAR-TASS. Also on 6 September, the Uzbek Defense Ministry estimated at 15-20 the number of fighters from the banned Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) who are still trapped in Uzbekistan's eastern Surkhandarya Oblast. Addressing a meeting of CIS interior ministers in the Kyrgyz resort of Issyk-kul on 6 September, Kyrgyz Prime Minister Amangeldi Muraliev called for concerted coordinated measures to counter extremism, linking the IMU incursions into Central Asia to the fighting in the North Caucasus, ITAR-TASS reported. LF[11] TURKMENISTAN JOINS ASIAN DEVELOPMENT BANKThe Asian Development Bank announced in a statement released by its Manila headquarters on 6 September that Turkmenistan became the bank's 59th member on 31 August, dpa reported. The statement said the bank will shortly send a mission to Turkmenistan that will focus on ways to reduce poverty and transform the Turkmen economy. It noted that 90 percent of economic enterprises in Turkmenistan remain state- owned. LF[12] UZBEKISTAN AGAIN DENIES EXISTENCE OF POLITICAL PRISONERS, PRISONERS OF CONSCIENCEThere are no prisoners of conscience or persons convicted for their religious beliefs in Uzbekistan's prisons, Minister of Justice Abdusamat Polvon-zade told ITAR-TASS on 6 September. He said Western human rights organizations' claims that there are more than 200 political prisoners in Uzbekistan constitute an attempt to blacken the country's reputation. Two weeks ago, the official newspaper "Pravda vostoka" similarly denied that there are any political prisoners in Uzbekistan's jails (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 25 August 2000). Also on 6 September, President Islam Karimov issued a decree saying that those "extremists" and convicted terrorists who are currently serving jail terms for minor offences will be pardoned if they repent of their crimes, Interfax and ITAR-TASS reported. LF[13] CUSTOMS OFFICIALS CONFISCATE BANNED DRUG FROM MEMBER OF UZBEK OLYMPIC TEAMAirport officials in Sydney on 7 September confiscated "a small quantity" of a prohibited drug from a trainer accompanying Uzbekistan's Olympic team, AP reported. LF[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE[14] GREEK FOREIGN MINISTER VISITS SKOPJE, BELGRADEGeorge Papandreou arrived in Skopje on 6 September for the first stop of a Balkan tour that includes Belgrade, Podgorica, and Prishtina, AP reported. Papandreou met with Macedonian Premier Ljubco Georgievski, whose party faces a strong challenge in local elections this weekend (see "End Note" below). Later the same day, Papandreou flew to Belgrade where he met with the head of the Serbian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Pavle. Papandreou said he is in Belgrade to "say some very clear and open things as a friend." He noted that the 24 September election is a "crucial moment" for the Serbian people. Papandreou will meet on 7 September with Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic, leading opposition presidential candidate Vojislav Kostunica, and Yugoslav Foreign Minister Zivadin Jovanovic. Papandreou's Belgrade trip is the first by a high-level official from the EU since the Greek minister was in Serbia after the end of the NATO bombing campaign last year. PB[15] MONTENEGRIN PREMIER SAYS MILOSEVIC WILL NOT ADMIT DEFEATFilip Vujanovic said on 6 September in the Montenegrin capital of Podgorica that Yugoslav President Milosevic has always been "undemocratic" and "would never acknowledge a defeat in the elections," AP reported. Vujanovic said it will be "up to the Serbian people and progressive forces within Serbia to struggle and achieve democracy--something I am convinced is entirely possible." Vujanovic, whose pro-Western government has called on voters in Montenegro to boycott the election, said Montenegrin officials are holding talks with Yugoslav officials on how to conduct the elections in Montenegro. Vujanovic said Montenegro is insisting upon a deal that would allow "our officials to monitor balloting." PB[16] EU WORRIED ABOUT AILING SERBIAN JOURNALISTThe EU said on 6 September that it is concerned about the condition of imprisoned journalist Miroslav Filipovic, who suffers from a serious heart condition, Reuters reported. Filipovic, 49, was sentenced on 28 July to seven years in prison for espionage. The EU has demanded that "appropriate measures be taken to address his poor health state until he recovers fully." Filipovic worked for the independent daily "Danas," the French press agency AFP, and the London-based Institute for War and Peace Reporting. PB[17] STUDENT OPPOSITION GROUP FOOLS SERBIAN POLICEThe Serbian student opposition group Otpor (Resistance) fooled the police in Belgrade on 6 September, two days after police raided the group's headquarters, AP reported. Otpor activists began unloading boxes in front of their headquarters, apparently to replace campaign materials and computers seized by police during the raid (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 5 September 2000). Police on the scene quickly came and confiscated the boxes, only to find out that they were empty. Bystanders laughed and jeered the police. Ivan Marovic, an Otpor leader, said he is "eager to hear how they will explain the seizure of boxes filled with air." PB[18] RADICAL SERBIAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE DETAINED IN KOSOVANATO peacekeepers detained Serbian ultranationalist presidential contender Tomislav Nikolic on 6 September as he campaigned in the Serbian province, AP reported. Nikolic, who is running as the candidate of the Serbian Radical Party, and his 30-person entourage were stopped by French peacekeepers for about an hour at a checkpoint near Zvecan, in northern Kosova. The group was headed back to Serbia proper after a day of campaigning in ethnic Serbian towns and villages in Kosova. In the divided town of Mitrovica, Nikolic promised a "speedy return" of Serbian sovereignty to Kosova. PB[19] PEACEKEEPERS CONFISCATE ARMS IN KOSOVANATO-led peacekeepers in Kosova said on 6 September that in a routine search in the town of Fusha-Kosova (Kosovo Polje), several people were detained for illegal possession of weapons and ammunition, Reuters reported. Major Tim Pearce said the find was "one of the most successful searches we've had." The weapons, which were displayed in 25 piles, were taken from houses belonging to ethnic Albanians and Serbs. PB[20] CROATIA CHARGES TWO PEOPLE WITH WAR CRIMESPolice in the Adriatic port of Zadar said on 6 September that they have arrested two Bosnian Croats in connection with a massacre of Muslims in 1993, Reuters reported. Police said Tomislav Vlajic and Ante Sliskovic were charged "on a well-found suspicion that they committed war crimes in Ahmici." Police said they are still looking for two other suspects. Premier Ivica Racan said the arrest "proves that criminals will no longer be able to live freely and peacefully here." More than 100 Muslim civilians were murdered on 16 April 1993 in Ahmici, in Bosnia's central Lasva Valley. The Croatian government and the war crimes tribunal at The Hague have an agreement whereby Croatia is allowed to prosecute lower-ranking Bosnian Croat officers who were involved in the massacre. PB[21] BOSNIAN FOREIGN MINISTER LEAVES NATIONALIST CROATIAN PARTYJadranko Prlic said on 6 September that he has quit the Croatian Democratic Community (HDZ) because of discord among the party's officials, Reuters reported. Prlic, who helped found the nationalist HDZ, said the sacking last week of Marko Tadic, a reformist head of the university in the Croatian part of Mostar, was the deciding factor in his quitting the party. He said the HDZ has "let down the man who was the carrier of political changes." Despite the disintegration of the HDZ in Croatia following the death of its partiarch, former President Franjo Tudjman, the HDZ is still dominant in the Bosnian-Croat community. PB[22] SLOVENIA WON'T ABOLISH WORLD WAR II EXPULSION DECREESSlovenia said on 5 September that the attempt by Austria to have the AVNOJ decrees abrograted is an attempt to change history, Reuters reported. Slovenian President Milan Kucan said in a letter to his Austrian counterpart, Thomas Klestil, that calls from Austria's right-wing Freedom Party for Slovenia to abolish the decrees before being allowed to join the EU "seriously worsen good neighborly relations." The AVNOJ decrees led to the expulsion from Yugoslavia of ethnic Germans and the seizure of their property. PB[23] ROMANIAN MINISTERS PAST AND PRESENT TO BE PROSECUTED?The Prosecutor-General's Office has requested the lifting of the parliamentary immunity of former Prime Minister Nicolae Vacaroiu and former Interior Minister Doru Ioan Taracila in connection with their alleged involvement in breaking the UN- imposed embargo on Yugoslavia (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 6 September 2000), Mediafax reported. The agency also said that former government secretary Viorel Hrebenciuc is to be prosecuted in connection with his involvement in the Adrian Costea money-laundering scandal and that the Prosecutor- General's Office has requested that Justice Minister Valeriu Stoica initiate the procedure for lifting his immunity. Hrebenciuc is now a deputy representing the PDSR. The prosecutor- general, moreover, is requesting the lifting of the parliamentary immunity of Agriculture Minister Ioan Muresan, suspected of "abuse of office," and that of Bucharest Mayor Traian Basescu, accused by one of his subordinates of having illegally dismissed him when Basescu was transportation minister. MS[24] ISARESCU TO RUN FOR PRESIDENT OF ROMANIASources "close to the premier" on 6 September said Prime Minister Mugur Isarescu has made up his mind to run for president in the elections scheduled for November-December, Mediafax reported. The sources said Isarescu's campaign will be headed by Adrian Vasilescu, who is a counselor to the premier. MS[25] ROMANIAN POLL SHOWS ILIESCU STILL AHEADA public opinion poll conducted by Metromedia Transilvania shows Party of Social Democracy in Romania (PDSR) leader Ion Iliescu is leading the field of presidential candidates with 41.6 percent backing, followed by Premier Mugur Isarescu (23.1 percent), National Liberal Party (PNL) candidate Theodor Stolojan (13.5 percent), Greater Romania Party (PRM) leader Corneliu Vadim Tudor (7 percent), Democratic Party chairman Petre Roman (4.6 percent) and Alliance for Romania (APR) leader Theodor Melescanu (4 percent). The PDSR has an absolute majority of 51.9 percent in the parliamentary poll scheduled for November, followed by the PNL (12.9 percent), the Democratic Convention of Romania 2000 (10.2 percent), the Democratic Party (7.9 percent), the PRM (6.1 percent), and the APR (4,9 percent), Mediafax reported. MS[26] ROMANIAN DISSIDENT LIBERALS TO JOIN DEMOCRATIC CONVENTIONThe National Peasant Party Christian Democratic (PNTCD) on 6 September announced it backs the request of the National Liberal Party--the Bratianus to join the Democratic Convention of Romania 2000, RFE/RL's Bucharest bureau reported. PNTCD leader Ion Diaconescu said the party, headed by PNL dissident Decebal Traian Remes, can join the CDR 2000 only after it has been officially registered. But PNL leader Mircea Ionescu- Quintus said his party will oppose that registration under the name of "the Bratianus." The acceptance of Remes's group into the CDR 2000 rules out the PNL's future collaboration with CDR 2000, he added. MS[27] PRIMAKOV'S DRAFT ACCORD ON TRANSDNIESTER SETTLEMENT PUBLISHED"Moldavskie Vedomosti" on 6 September published the draft agreement drawn up by Yevgenii Primakov, head of the Russian state commission on settling the Transdniester conflict, to Chisinau and Tiraspol. Infotag described the draft as "a combination of federative and confederative ideas." The document says the sides would create a "common state" in which the Transdniestrian Moldovan Republic would have its own constitution and legislative, executive, and judicial bodies as well as its own flag, coat of arms, and anthem. The "common state" would have jurisdiction over foreign policy and border guards. "Internal borders" would be "mutually transparent" and "not subject to customs." One side's army, security forces, and police would not be able to operate on the other's territory without its consent. The draft stipulates that peacekeeping units will include OSCE forces but the bulk of such troops will come from Russia and Ukraine. MS[28] BULGARIAN OFFICIAL SAYS KOZLODUY INCREASINGLY UNSAFEGeorgi Kaschiev, chairman of Bulgaria's State Committee for the Peaceful Use of Nuclear Power, said the safety of the Kozloduy nuclear power plant is "diminishing at an alarming rate." In an interview with "Demokratsiya," Kaschiev said that since the beginning of this year, 50 incidents have been registered at Kozloduy, compared with 62 for the whole of 1999. He added that information about those incidents is being concealed from the public, dpa reported. MS[C] END NOTE[29] DIFFERENT ISSUES, DIFFERENT PRIORITIES IN BALKAN FALL ELECTIONSby Patrick MooreNo fewer than six sets of elections will take place in the western Balkans between 10 September and 11 November. The stakes are potentially high in all of them. The first country to go to the polls is Macedonia, on 10 September. Voting is for local offices, and this is the first such poll since the national elections in the fall of 1998 and since the Kosova crisis and presidential election of 1999. Feuding within the governing coalition and its failure to significantly raise living standards are likely to mean votes for the opposition Social Democrats (the former communists who ran the country until late 1998). Prime Minister Ljubco Georgievski has said he might be willing to hold snap elections in October if his pro-business Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization loses more than 10 percent in the local vote. The next parliamentary elections are due in 2002. Most international attention has been focused on the 24 September Serbian local elections and the federal Yugoslav parliamentary and presidential vote. At stake is the political future of Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic and his machine. Serbian public opinion polls are often unreliable and show a large percentage of undecided voters. But there is general agreement in the surveys that the combined opposition could unseat the dictator. The problem is that the opposition is anything but united. The Montenegrin leadership regards the laws under which the ballot will be held as illegal and unconstitutional. The Podgorica leaders and their supporters consequently refuse to participate in the vote, as the Kosova Albanians have done for many years. For its part, the Serbian opposition is split between a joint slate of most of the parties, on the one hand, and Vuk Draskovic's backers, on the other. The four leading presidential candidates--including Milosevic--all offer a tweedledum- tweedledee mantra of nationalism and anti-Western rhetoric. They differ chiefly in the nature of the social and political forces behind them, as well as in their stated attitudes toward Serbia's leadership of the past 13 years. The third elections are local ones in Albania, slated for 1 October. This ballot is widely regarded as a mid-term plebiscite on the governing Socialists. The opposition Democrats' defeat in the last general elections in 1997 was so massive that they have virtually nowhere to go but up. But their pre-election objections to the formation of the Central Election Commission and over the role of the OSCE suggest they might try to deny the validity of the vote if it goes too strongly against them. Smaller parties both inside and outside the governing coalition will be jockeying for local support, but Albanian politics remain heavily polarized between the Democrats and the Socialists. Slovenia goes to the polls on 15 October to elect a parliament, which is the center of power in that country's political system. There is a general consensus throughout the country that its future lies in integration into Euro-Atlantic institutions. Moves toward EU and NATO membership are therefore likely to continue, regardless of who wins. The term "winning," however, may be relative. The next government is likely to be yet another shaky coalition with a narrow majority, reflecting the fragmented nature of the political spectrum. For more than a century, Slovenian politics have been divided into Liberal, Roman Catholic, and leftist currents, often with more than one party for each. In addition, a small nationalist Right is also present in post-independence Slovenia and could play a pivotal role in the formation of coalitions. Perhaps the biggest wild card of the upcoming elections is the Kosova local vote slated for 28 October. Few Serbs have registered, so the elections are likely to be an all-Albanian affair, with some involvement by Turks and other minorities. There are three central questions overshadowing the vote. First, will the recent political and ethnic violence continue and even lead to a disruption of the balloting? Second, will the outcome of the elections be more conducive to general political cohesion throughout the province or will it encourage trends toward rule by local warlords? And third, what will the balance be between the moderate, urban-based Democratic League of Kosova of Ibrahim Rugova and the more rural-based parties that grew out of the former Kosova Liberation Army? Last, but certainly not least important, are the parliamentary elections in both entities in Bosnia on 11 November. The international community is hoping that the voters will weaken the respective positions of the three nationalist parties that have held sway for most of the past decade. Municipal elections earlier this year indicated that such trends are most pronounced among the Muslims, who may be drifting in ever greater numbers toward the Social Democrats. In addition, the powerful nationalist leader, Alija Izetbegovic, is leaving the joint presidency, which could make for further fragmentation among the Muslim elite. The Croats, too, have no lack of parties from which to choose. The new government in Zagreb says it will not be helping the nationalists, but it is not clear if the changes in Zagreb earlier this year will translate into changes in Bosnia or especially in Herzegovina in the fall. The situation among the Serbs seems less promising. Nationalists of various hues seem well entrenched, Milosevic appears poised to cause any mischief he can, and the moderates and minorities rely on the support of and active intervention by the international community. 07-09-00 Reprinted with permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
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