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Friday, 14 February 2003 Volume 7 Number 30
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Eastern Europe
REGIONAL EDITORS COMPLAIN OF STATE PRESSURE IN BELARUSThe editors and publishers of several private, regional newspapers have appealed to the Belarusian public demanding the restoration of "law and justice" with regard to their periodicals and readers, Belapan reported on 13 February. According to the appeal, the authorities are currently clamping down on the regional press through lawsuits and administrative measures in order to "purge the information sector on the eve of the local elections" of independent regional publications. The appeal cites a recent court ban handed down against Ramuald Ulan, the publisher of "Novaya gazeta Smorgoni," on entrepreneurial activities as an example of such harassment. It also mentions administrative barriers erected by regional authorities to the distribution process. The appeal was signed by Anatol Hulyayeu, editor in chief of "Mestnoye vremya"; Yury Kamzolau, editor in chief of "Regionalnye vedomosti" (Horki); Ramuald Ulan; Andrey Shentarovich, editor in chief of "Mestnaya gazeta" (Vaukavysk); and Uladzimir Yanukevich, publisher of "Inteks-pres" (Baranavichy). JM UKRAINIAN, POLISH PRESIDENTS AGREE ON 'LIBERAL' VISA REGIME... Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski on 13 February offered Ukrainians visas at no fee under a new border regime that will be introduced on 1 July, in line with EU demands, Ukrainian and Polish media reported. "The Polish side announces that it will introduce the most liberal visa regime for Ukrainian citizens while meeting the demands of the European Union and the Schengen agreement. It will include free visas for Ukrainians," said a joint statement issued after Kwasniewski's talks with his Ukrainian counterpart Leonid Kuchma in Ivano-Frankivsk, western Ukraine, earlier the same day. Speaking to journalists after the talks, Kuchma said Polish citizens will not need visas to visit Ukraine after 1 July. "A joint decision on the visa regime between our countries -- free Polish visas for Ukrainian citizens and a visa-free regime for Polish citizens -- is the Polish president's personal achievement, I want to emphasize this," Kuchma noted. JM ...AND JOINT COMMEMORATION OF 1943 MASSACRE Kwasniewski and Kuchma also decided that both sides will organize -- in Volhynia, northwestern Ukraine, in July -- joint commemoration of the massacre of Poles by Ukrainian nationalists in 1943 (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 13 February 2003). Kuchma spoke in favor of clarifying all the circumstances of the tragedy. "Crimes against humanity cannot be justified. Let it be the last such 'celebration' in our relations," PAP quoted Kuchma as saying. The joint statement stresses that it is "extremely essential to make the commemoration of the anniversary [of the 1943 massacre] a significant step toward overcoming divergences in understanding mutual history." JM FATF WITHDRAWS CALL FOR SANCTIONS ON UKRAINE The Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering (FATF) has decided to withdraw the recommendation of countermeasures against Ukraine for that country's insufficient efforts to combat money laundering (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 12 February 2003), the FATF website (http://www1.oecd.org/fatf/) reported on 14 February. The FATF said its move was prompted by Ukraine's recent enactment of "comprehensive anti-money-laundering legislation" (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 7 February 2003). The FATF added, however, that Ukraine will remain on its list of "noncooperative countries and territories" until Kyiv has efficiently implemented this legislation. JM ESTONIAN PREMIER: EU BODIES MUST HAVE NO POWER OVER GOVERNMENTS Siim Kallas declared during a parliamentary discussion of EU enlargement on 13 February that no institution or body wielding even the slightest power over national governments may be created in the enlarged EU, BNS reported. He decried talk of the creation of a permanent president of the European Council and called for continuing the practice of "the presidency of the European Union rotating on a basis of equality." Kallas also said the EU should continue its current policy of granting each member country a European commissioner. He said he opposes plans to unify tax policy in the EU, adding that every state should retain the right to determine its direct taxes independently. SG PROTEST AGAINST WAR IN IRAQ STAGED AT U.S. EMBASSY IN LATVIA Three youth organizations -- the nationalist Visu Latvijai (All for Latvia) and Klubs 415, along with the leftist Social Democratic Youth Union -- organized a picket in front of the U.S. Embassy in Riga on 13 February to oppose Washington's seeming intention to use military force against Iraq, BNS reported. The protest was attended by more than 100 people, including about 20 members of the Environmental Protection Club and about a dozen members of the ultraright Latvian National Front. Fearing that there might be an attempt to provoke public disorder, the organizers asked police to remove a group from the radical-left Russian National Bolshevik Movement who had come carrying a flag with a swastika on it. All For Latvia leader Raivis Dzintars pledged that his organization will soon stage a protest against Russian military intervention in Chechnya by marching from the U.S. Embassy to the Russian Embassy in Riga with burning torches. SG LITHUANIA FRETS OVER RUSSIA'S ENVIRONMENTAL FOOT-DRAGGING... Foreign Minister Antanas Valionis and Environment Minister Arunas Kundrotas on 12 February threatened to turn to the UNESCO World Heritage Center in their ongoing effort to have an international environmental-impact study conducted on oil extraction at the D-6 deposit in the Baltic Sea, BNS reported the next day. Vilnius will request that UNESCO appoint international experts to conduct the research if Russia continues to ignore Lithuania's insistence on such a study, they said. Russia continues to rebuff requests that it conduct such a study along with Lithuanian experts, prompting Lithuania to issue a June deadline to Moscow. SG ...AHEAD OF PLANNED LUKOIL EXTRACTION Russia's LUKoil has declared plans to begin extracting oil this year from the D-6 deposit, which is located 22 kilometers off the Curonian Spit and 7 kilometers from the Lithuanian-Russian maritime border. The spit is a narrow strip of land in Lithuania and the Kaliningrad Oblast with unique dunes and other natural features that was placed on the UNESCO World Heritage Center's list of protected areas in 2001. Ministers Valionis and Kundrotas also decided on 12 February to ask the European Commission's Environment Directorate to acquire more information about the environmental situation of D-6 at the March meeting of the EU-Russian Energy, Environment, and Nuclear Energy Subcommittee and to raise the D-6 issue at the 3rd session of the Lithuanian-Russian intergovernmental commission at the end of March. SG LITHUANIA TO DOWNGRADE EU VOTE TO 'ADVISORY' REFERENDUM? The Coordination Council of the Information Campaign for Entry to the EU decided on 13 February to recommend to an extraordinary session of parliament on 24 February that the upcoming EU-accession referendum be downgraded to an "advisory" plebiscite rather than a "mandatory" one, ELTA reported. The council is headed by parliamentary Chairman Arturas Paulauskas. Lithuania's chief negotiator with the EU, Petras Austrevicius, said other EU aspirants will hold advisory referendums and there is no need for Lithuania to set higher standards. "An advisory referendum is equally significant and will provide a possibility for each Lithuanian citizen to express his opinion," Austrevicius said. Advisory referendums still require the participation of a majority of eligible voters, but there is no requirement that at least one-third of eligible voters (902,550 voters) must vote in favor to ensure passage. The council also suggested that the voting take place over the course of two days (10 and 11 May) and not one. SG POLISH FARMERS PELT DEPUTY PREMIER WITH EGGS Angry farmers bombarded Deputy Premier and Agriculture Minister Jaroslaw Kalinowski with eggs during a public meeting in Poznan on 13 September, Polish media reported. The incident came one day after police were accused of brutality in a clash in which one farmer lost an eye (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 13 February 2003). Kalinowski, who has publicly suggested the farmers' roadblock tactics are justified, said during the meeting that he does not approve of the use of force against protesting farmers. JM POLISH CATHOLIC-RADIO HEAD GRANTED TV LICENSE The National Radio and Television Broadcasting Council on 13 February granted a license to Father Tadeusz Rydzyk, head of the ultra-Catholic Radio Maryja, to operate a television channel called Trwam ("I abide" in Polish), Polish media reported. The new station's stated goal is to cover issues connected with religion and education, as well as to provide information. It will be available by satellite and cable, and will broadcast five hours a day at the outset with an eye to expanding to 15-16 hours. Radio Maryja broadcasts a strident anti-EU message to a regular listenership of several million Poles. JM POLAND'S EU REFERENDUM MIGHT LAST TWO DAYS The Sejm on 13 February voted by 297 to 97, with seven abstentions, to approve a bill on national referendums allowing such plebiscites to last two days, Polish media reported. Foreign Minister Wlodzimierz Cimoszewicz said a two-day referendum on Poland's EU entry would ensure a higher turnout, Reuters reported. Polls in recent months show support in Poland for EU entry to be stable around 70 percent, but the government is afraid many EU supporters will not turn up to vote. JM EC PRESIDENT, CZECH AMBASSADOR DISCUSS EUROPEAN RIFT OVER IRAQ European Commission President Romano Prodi told the new Czech ambassador to the EU, Pavel Telicka, in Brussels on 13 February that the EU is concerned over the lack of unity among EU candidate countries and some current members over the Iraq crisis, CTK reported. Telicka, who in his new position continues his previous duties as chief Czech negotiator with the EU, informed Prodi of the Czech government's position in the matter and said there is concern in Prague over the EU's inability to adopt a joint position. Prodi mentioned the so-called letter of the eight, to which former Czech President Vaclav Havel was a signatory, saying that document's timing was "unfortunate." Prodi told the Czech ambassador that the dispute over Iraq has left him "bitter," according to CTK, which quoted Telicka. Telicka told Prodi the Czech Republic wants the EU to be strong and capable of action, with a functioning joint foreign and security policy. MS U.S. AMBASSADOR CALLS CZECH REPUBLIC ONE OF 'MOST STALWART ALLIES'... U.S. Ambassador to the Czech Republic Craig Stapleton, addressing a forum on Czech-U.S. relations on 13 February, called the Czech Republic "among the most stalwart allies in the war against terrorism," according to an "RFE/RL Newsline" correspondent. He also welcomed the Czech government's announcement the previous day that it is ready to come to Turkey's defense if that country is threatened by any Iraqi counterstrike in the event of conflict (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 12 February 2003). Stapleton emphasized that a resolution approved by the Czech government at the end of last month (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 14 and 17 January 2003) specifies that the Czech nuclear, biological, and chemical (NBC) unit stationed in Kuwait may be deployed in Turkey or Israel, for instance, or "into battle if weapons of mass destruction are used" by Iraq. He stressed that "there are no quid pro quos in the U.S.-Czech relationship." AH ...BUT NOTES LINGERING CORRUPTION... Addressing the same forum, Stapleton said corruption in the Czech Republic creates problems for U.S. and other foreign companies operating in the country, according to an "RFE/RL Newsline" correspondent. "The Czech Republic continues to drop in Transparency International's Corruption Perception Index," he said, noting that its ranking is "below all other EU members and accession states." He added, "Prime Minister [Vladimir] Spidla's reputation and public statements are important, but what investors, friendly governments, and international institutions want to see are concrete actions." If the Czech Republic wants to see more investments coming from the U.S., he said, it should "correct" the environment in which "too many anticorruption campaigns or criminal investigations are launched with great fanfare, but their results are either ambiguous or nonexistent" and "high-powered individuals sometimes seem immune from prosecution." AH ...AND SIGNALS TOUGHER VISA POLICY Stapleton also said the visa requirement for Czechs visiting the United States is unlikely to be lifted in the near future, and "in fact [the U.S. visa regime] is going to be tightened," according to an "RFE/RL Newsline" correspondent. He cited terrorism and the current international situation as justifying the new tack. "The United States is one of the most porous countries in the world, and that's going to change," he warned. He told the audience that Czechs can expect longer delays, interview processes, and other administrative precautions in the future as a result of the more comprehensive security. AH CZECH CHRISTIAN DEMOCRATS READY TO SUPPORT SOKOL'S PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDACY Christian Democratic Union-People's Party (KDU-CSL) Chairman and Foreign Minister Cyril Svoboda said on 13 February that his party would support the presidential candidacy of former Education Minister Jan Sokol if its Social Democratic Party (CSSD) coalition partner officially proposes him, CTK reported. Sokol's name was recently floated as a possible CSSD candidate by Premier Spidla (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 10 February 2003). Sokol, an education minister under the Milos Zeman government who now teaches philosophy at Prague's Charles University, told Czech Radio that, before accepting, he wants "reasonable guarantees" that the fractured CSSD would rally behind his candidacy. He added that he would not expect "100 percent support" in the party, however, dpa reported on 13 February. Sokol also said he wants CSSD's coalition partners, KDU-CSL and the Freedom Union-Democratic Union, to support him. A dissident under the communist regime, Sokol said he is not ready to renounce his critical stance toward the expulsion from Czechoslovakia of ethnic Germans under the 1946 Benes Decrees. In 1995, he signed a petition calling for reconciliation with the expelled German minority, calling the expulsion "a shame" and adding that reconciliation should occur for the sake of Czechs, not of Germans. "We should not have any skeletons in our closet," CTK cited Sokol as saying. MS CZECH COURT CLEARS EXTRADITION TO GERMANY OF IRA SUSPECT A Prague court on 13 February ruled that suspected Irish Republican Army terrorist Michael Dickson should be extradited to Germany to face charges linked to a 1996 grenade attack on British Army barracks in Osnabruck, dpa and Reuters reported. Dickson, who was arrested on 6 December on an international warrant after arriving from Dublin, immediately appealed the decision. Dickson is also suspected of participating in a 1996 IRA bomb attack on military barracks in Lisburn, Northern Ireland, in which one officer was killed, and in the 1999 shooting of former IRA member Martin McGartland. MS SLOVAKIA CLEARS TRANSIT OF U.S. TROOPS IN THE EVENT OF WAR WITH IRAQ The center-right government on 13 February granted a request by the United States to use Slovak Railways and roads to transport military personnel and machinery in the event of war with Iraq, TASR and international news agencies reported. The request was received the same day via the U.S. Embassy in Bratislava. According to CTK, two of the three ministers representing the Christian Democratic Movement opposed the decision: Interior Minister Vladimir Palko and Education Minister Martin Fronc. Palko said the request was not one of a humanitarian nature. On 29 January, the cabinet approved overflights by U.S. military planes if war breaks out and dispatched a 75-strong NBC unit to the Persian Gulf, a move that was subsequently approved by the parliament (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 7 February 2003). MS REBEL DEPUTIES IGNORE SLOVAK OPPOSITION-PARTY CHAIRMAN'S WARNING The deadline set by Movement for a Democratic Slovakia Chairman (HZDS) and former Premier Vladimir Meciar to dissidents in the HZDS who formed a separate group in parliament passed on 13 February without their acting on it in any manner, TASR reported. Meciar on 10 February said the group, which includes 11 of the 36 HZDS deputies in the legislature, should either recant or quit the party (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 11 February 2003). Also on 13 February, HZDS Bratislava Chairman Ladislav Polka resigned his position, citing a lack of communication with the party's central leadership. Polka is one of the 11 dissenting HZDS deputies. TASR reported that just three of the eight HZDS regional-branch leaders continue to back Meciar. It said Kosice Chairman Gustav Krajci is expected to resign on 14 February, while Banska Bystrica Chairman Ivan Kino resigned in January. The new parliamentary group, led by Vojtech Tkac, has been joined by the leaders of the Presov and Trnava regional branches -- Peter Chudik and Igor Pinkava, respectively. MS SLOVAK GYNECOLOGISTS DENY REPORTS OF FORCED STERILIZATION Gynecologists from eastern Slovakia on 13 February rejected as an "expedient, unfounded, and unprovoked attack" on Slovak gynecology a report by the New York-based Center for Reproductive Rights and the Kosice-based Center for Civic and Human Rights alleging that Romany women underwent sterilization after being duped into signing consent papers, TASR and CTK reported (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 30 and 31 January 2003). Professor Stefan Lukacin, an expert in natal care representing the gynecologists, said they have filed charges against the authors of the report, adding that the gynecologists suspect "political pressure from abroad" is behind the allegations. MS HUNGARIAN PREMIER REFUSES LUNGO DROM REQUEST Prime Minister Peter Medgyessy on 13 February stated in a letter to Florian Farkas, president of the Romany Lungo Drom organization, that the government cannot fulfill his request to appoint a government commissioner to supervise repeat Romany-authority elections scheduled for 1 March, "Nepszabadsag" reported. Last month the Supreme Court established that the 12 January Romany assembly had no quorum, after Lungo Drom representatives walked out of the election hall in protest over voting procedures (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 14 and 17 January 2003). Medgyessy said the government must not influence the voting, either by appointing a commissioner or by instituting technical rules pertaining to the elections. However, he has asked the Interior Ministry to ensure that the National Elections Office examines other concerns and proposals by Lungo Drom. MSZ HUNGARY'S FIDESZ POLITICIAN SAYS EU CONSTITUTION SHOULD REFER TO GOD Opposition FIDESZ parliamentary member Jozsef Szajer on 13 February consulted Hungary's Roman Catholic Church leaders regarding the future EU constitution, Budapest dailies reported. Szajer said that together with more than 20 European parliamentary members, he will propose that the EU constitution incorporate Christian values and a reference to God. Bench of Catholic Bishops Chairman Archbishop Istvan Seregely pointed out that Christianity is the predominant religion in all European states. MSZ
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