OMRI DAILY DIGEST
Vol. 1, No. 125, 28 June 1995
YELTSIN MEETS WITH DEPUTY GROUPS.
President Boris Yeltsin met with representatives of all Duma factions except Yabloko on 27 June, Russian media reported. He told them that he will not make decisions on replacing ministers until 22 July, the last day of the parliament's summer session. He said that those decisions would be made on the basis of the Security Council meeting and State Duma confidence vote scheduled for this week. He later told a meeting of the leaders of Russia's regions and republics that the leaders of the Duma factions agreed to support the government in exchange for the sacking of the ministers who are mainly responsible for Chechnya. Yeltsin proposed the creation of a presidential commission on military reform that would include Duma members. He also proposed that in the future the Duma not take a confidence vote before consulting with him or discussing the matter in a conciliatory commission, Russian TV reported. * Robert Orttung
PROCEDURAL COMPROMISE FOUND TO EASE GOVERNMENT CRISIS.
Yegor Gaidar announced that President Yeltsin and the deputies had found a procedural compromise to make it easier for the Duma to support the government, Ekho Moskvy reported on 27 June. If the Duma fails to pass a second no-confidence motion on 1 July, then the government will withdraw its request that the Duma give it a positive vote of confidence. This procedural move will allow parties opposed to the policies of Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin's government merely to abstain during the no-confidence vote, rather than actually having to vote for the government to avoid being disbanded by Yeltsin. The Agrarian Party, which initially voted no confidence in the government, also supported this compromise, according to Reuters. Interfax reported that no more than 140 deputies will vote against the government, mostly from among the Communists, Yabloko, the Liberal Democratic Party, and the Democratic Party of Russia. * Robert Orttung
YELTSIN MEETS WITH DELEGATION FOR GROZNY TALKS.
President Yeltsin met with Russian negotiators on 27 June before their departure for a second round of talks aimed at ending the Chechen conflict, Russian and international agencies reported. At the meeting, Yeltsin gave the Russian delegation authority to enter into political agreements with the Chechens, according to Arkady Volsky, one of the negotiators. The delegation had lacked such sweeping powers before, he added. Volsky said the next round of talks would be "difficult," but expressed optimism. Izvestiya noted on 28 June that Yeltsin's meeting with the delegation showed he had "taken personal control" of the negotiations. * Scott Parrish
JUSTICE MINISTER PRAISES COSSACK UNITS.
In an interview published in Rossiiskaya gazeta on 27 June, Justice Minister Valentin Kovalev praised initiatives among Cossacks in the North Caucasus to create armed units, which he said could defend against terrorist attacks and enforce law and order in the region. Following the Budennovsk hostage crisis, Terek Cossacks in the Stavropol region began organizing militias, despite a 19 June statement from a presidential representative that enlisting armed volunteers in such militias was illegal. * Laura Belin
YEGOROV DEFENDS ASSAULT ON BUDENNOVSK HOSPITAL.
At a 27 June press conference, Deputy Interior Minister Mikhail Yegorov defended the controversial 17 June storming of the Budennovsk hospital by special forces, Russian television reported. "If I had to carry out such an operation again, I would have done it exactly as it was planned this time," he said. Yegorov added that Interior Minister Viktor Yerin and Prime Minister Chernomyrdin gave the order to storm the hospital. He said the operation had not been carried out poorly, and added that only 10 hostages had been killed by fire from Russian troops during the attack, not 30 as Chechen leader Shamil Basaev claimed. Yegorov criticized Chernomyrdin's subsequent decision to resolve the hostage crisis through negotiations, saying, "The terrorists should not have been allowed to leave the hospital." Instead, Yegorov argued, the operation to liberate the hostages by force should have been continued. * Scott Parrish
CRITICISM OF PARLIAMENTARY IMMUNITY LAWS.
An article in Argumenty i fakty (No. 25) criticized Russia's "absurd" laws on parliamentary immunity, which have allowed nearly 300 deputies nationwide to escape prosecution for serious crimes. The author cited cases of deputies from regional and district councils who committed crimes ranging from embezzlement to drunk driving and murder but could not be charged. He called on the Duma to support the efforts of deputy Vitaly Savitsky, who has twice proposed limits on immunity for elected officials. * Laura Belin
LAW ON JUDGES GOES INTO EFFECT.
A new law to improve the independence and qualifications of judges went into effect upon its publication in the official newspaper Rossiiskaya gazeta on 27 June. Grigory Ivliev of the Duma Committee on Legislation and Legal Reforms said judges will now be required to have at least five years of experience in the legal profession. In addition, the law raises judges' salaries and changes retirement rules in order to attract the best jurists to the profession. Ivliev said some regions and republics had demanded the right to appoint their own judges, which he said would place judges' independence in doubt. Instead, under the new law local officials will be able to express their opinions before judges are appointed by the president, as the constitution requires. The law also will allow judges to keep and carry firearms for their own protection. * Laura Belin
RUSSIA'S DEMOCRATIC CHOICE PARTY SHRINKING.
Many people have left Russia's Democratic Choice Party, Yegor Gaidar, the party's leader, told Vechernaya Moskva on 27 June. He said it is as if they have been "sucked out by a huge vacuum cleaner. However, those who left were precisely the people about whom I have often wondered, `How could I have been in the same party with them?'" He said that the party had become "better, although smaller." * Robert Orttung
POVERTY LEVEL INCREASES.
A serious increase in the amount of people living under the poverty line in Russia brought the number to 47 million in May, ITAR-TASS reported on 27 June. In a seminar devoted to the country's social problems in Moscow, Deputy Prime Minister Yury Yarov said the situation is especially critical for Russia's pensioners because inflation is outpacing their monthly indexed pension payments. The minister said the problem could get even worse after Russian bankruptcy laws are finalized, causing more unemployment as more businesses and factories close. Meanwhile, the Economics Ministry forecasts the number of unemployed to increase by another 1.5 million, bringing the level to 4 million people by the end of the year, Russian TV reported. * Thomas Sigel
DOUBLE METHANE EXPLOSION IN KEMEROVO KILLS SEVEN.
Two powerful methane explosions at the Krasnogorskaya mine in the Kemerovo Oblast killed four miners and three rescue workers on 25 June, Russian Public Radio and Segodnya reported on 27 June. Three miners were rescued and remain in critical condition in a local hospital. The mine has been closed and a special commission from the Russian Federation State Technical Committee is investigating the causes of the tragedy. This is the second double methane explosion in Russian mines this year. The previous accident was in Komi. * Thomas Sigel
FEDERATION COUNCIL SPEAKER CRITICIZES NATO.
Speaking before a press conference in Bucharest, Vladimir Shumeiko, speaker of the Federation Council, told journalists that NATO should be abolished, not expanded, Russian and international agencies reported. Underlining Russian objections to the eastward expansion of the alliance, which he characterized as "against our interests," Shumeiko expressed doubts about the "pacifist character" of NATO, and contended that "a military bloc cannot be a fighter for peace." He added, "it would be better to discuss liquidating NATO." Shumeiko's remarks came at the end of a two-day visit to Romania, which was the first former Warsaw Pact country to join the NATO Partnership for Peace program. * Scott Parrish
EUROPEAN UNION TO SIGN ACCORD WITH RUSSIA.
At a meeting in Cannes, European Union (EU) leaders decided to move forward with an interim trade accord with Russia, Western agencies reported on 27 June. The EU had frozen the trade accord in January, as a protest against Russian military intervention in Chechnya. The EU leaders released a statement that authorized the signing of the trade accord, noting that "progress had been made with regard to the situation in Chechnya." A date for the signing will be set at the next meeting of EU foreign ministers, scheduled for 17 July. A French government spokesman justified the decision by referring to the "new spirit" of recent negotiations between Moscow and Chechen separatists. * Scott Parrish
UNITED STATES RANKS AS LARGEST FOREIGN INVESTOR IN RUSSIA.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce announced that between January and May 1995, direct foreign investment in the Russian economy amounted to $500 million, Segodnya reported on 27 June. The chamber's estimates showed that overall foreign investment in Russia reached $2 billion at the end of last year. The largest investments were in Russia's energy and mining industries. Almost 15% of the 15,204 Russian enterprises that received foreign investments in 1994 were backed by American companies. Currently, the U.S. is the largest foreign investor in Russia, followed by Germany, Austria, and Finland, according to the report. * Thomas Sigel
OMRI DAILY DIGEST
Vol. 1, No. 125, 28 June 1995
GEORGIAN PRIVATIZATION EFFORT.
The first auction in Georgia's voucher privatization program opened on 26 June, AFP reported the next day. The government plans to sell stakes in 780 large firms by the end of the year; 20 went on the block initially. Popular reaction to the event has been lukewarm and only 700,000 people claimed their vouchers--each nominally valued at $30--as of 15 June. Official estimates suggest around half of the industries being auctioned are not functioning at present. However, Emir Djugel, the first deputy minister for state property, told AFP that the real figure may be as high as 80%. Vouchers have been selling on the street for between $5 and $6 recently. * Lowell Bezanis
BASAEV IN ABKHAZIA?
On 26 June, the news agency Iberia reported that Shamil Basaev was seen the same day in Abkhazia. Georgian Deputy Prime Minister Tamaz Nadareishvili said there are special commando training camps in that region, Izvestiya reported on 28 June. Men allegedly trained in the camps--including mercenaries from Turkey, Jordan, Syria, and other countries--are being sent from Abkhazia into Chechnya, he said. He claimed the camps are located in Novy Afon, Gudauta, and Byzb. * Lowell Bezanis
PROPHET SURFACES IN KAZAKHSTAN.
According to the former Mufti of Tashkent, Muhammed Sadik Muhammed Yusuf, a self-proclaimed prophet has surfaced in Almaty. In a telephone interview with RFE/RL's Uzbek Service on 27 June, Yusuf said that Akbeket Sufihan claims to be God's latest messenger. Sufihan's revelations are contained in a book entitled "Allah's New Greeting to the World." The 29 page work divided into 10 sections is written in Kazakh and Russian and claims to be the fruit of the holy Koran. Sufihan sent his work to the Saudi Arabian organization Rabita, which is currently translating the work into Arabic so that the legitimacy of its author's claims can be evaluated. The Mufti, who was removed from office in 1992, is a member of Rabita; he provided information on the unusual case from Istanbul where he is living in exile. * Lowell Bezanis
OMRI DAILY DIGEST
Vol. 1, No. 125, 28 June 1995
CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPE
CRIMEAN TATARS BURY VICTIMS OF WEEKEND CLASHES.
Some 3,000 Tatars gathered in the Crimean capital Simferopol on 27 June to bury two Tatars who were killed on 25 June, allegedly in clashes with riot police, international and Ukrainian agencies reported. The two died, and up to 10 others were injured, during a funeral procession. Tatar leaders said men in OMON riot police uniforms opened fire on the procession on the way to the town of Feodosia. The government has beefed up security on the peninsula after several days of violence between Crimean Tatar merchants and alleged criminal gangs, whom the Tatars say murdered two of their compatriots on 23 June when they refused to pay protection money. National guardsmen set up checkpoints around Simferopol and the OMON patrolled the streets of six towns after hundreds of Tatars rampaged through businesses they claim are owned and frequented by gang members. Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma has ordered a government inquiry into the violence. Tatar leaders have accused local authorities of corruption and ties to organized crime. * Chrystyna Lapychak
ESTONIA AMENDS LAW ON ALIENS.
In an extraordinary session on 27 June, the parliament amended the law on aliens giving the government four months from 12 July to establish rules for accepting residence and work permit applications from non-citizens, BNS reported. Opposition deputies who wanted specific dates for a deadline and a clear idea on how the government would handle future applications walked out of the session before the vote. Aliens who submit applications before 12 July will be given temporary residence permits for a maximum period of five years. Those not applying by 12 July will lose their right to vote in the fall local elections. * Saulius Girnius
NATO'S SACEUR VISITS LITHUANIA.
Supreme Allied Commander for Europe Gen. George Joulwan arrived in Lithuania on 26 June for a three-day visit. The following day he held talks with Lithuanian Defense Minister Linas Linkevicius and visited the training base at Rukla, BNS reported. He spoke favorably about Lithuania's participation in the Partnership for Peace program and thanked the country for sending peacekeeping troops to Croatia. On 28 June, Joulwan was scheduled to meet President Algirdas Brazauskas, Prime Minister Adolfas Slezevicius, and inspect the Lithuanian fleet at Klaipeda, from where he will travel to Latvia and then later to Estonia. * Saulius Girnius
BELARUSIANS ON REFERENDUM.
The Independent Institute of Social-Democratic and Political Research conducted an opinion poll among leading political and economic officials in Belarus on how they believe the 14 May referendum will effect the country by the end of the year, Russian television reported on 27 June. The majority, 80%, think that borders between Russia and Belarus will be liquidated, and 40% said that privatization will be stopped and commercial banks will be nationalized. Only seven percent felt there would be any political integration between the two countries. Answers to what the general effects of the referendum will be on Belarus included the polarization of society, further deterioration of the economy, and growing dictatorship. * Ustina Markus
US DEFENSE SECRETARY IN POLAND.
William Perry visited Poland on 27 and 28 June at the invitation of his Polish counterpart Zbigniew Okonski. Perry said that Washington backed Poland's full NATO membership and US President Bill Clinton would propose $100 million in the 1996 budget for the Partnership for Peace program, of which Poland would get $25 million. "Poland is a key to stability in CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPE. . . . NATO will expand its membership and Poland will be among the first nations to join this expanded membership," Perry said. * Jakub Karpinski
POLISH PREMIER IN CANNES.
Jozef Oleksy proposed at the EU summit in Cannes on 27 June that a special summit be devoted to the admission of East and Central European states, Polish and international media reported. Polish plenipotentiary at the EU talks Jacek Saryusz-Wolski said on 26 June that Poland hopes to join the EU by the year 2000 and Poland's efforts to scrap barriers to EU goods should be reciprocated by the EU countries. Treating Poland increasingly as a EU member should involve recognizing Polish diplomas and dropping anti-dumping procedures over Polish exports, according to Saryusz-Wolski. * Jakub Karpinski
CZECH PARLIAMENT CHAIRMAN ON REGIONAL REFORM.
According to parliament chairman Milan Uhde, the time is not ripe to reform the Czech Republic's regional administrative structure because there is no consensus in the country on the issue, Lidove noviny reported on 27 June. However, Uhde said, the problem should be discussed further. Uhde was reacting to the failure of the parliament to institute a new regional structure; his own ODS party was instrumental in blocking a draft law in parliament on 23 June, although deputies from the three other governing parties voted in favor. President Vaclav Havel strongly criticized the parliament's failure to create a new regional structure, which is stipulated in the Constitution. * Steve Kettle
KLAUS MIFFED AT MECIAR REBUFF.
Slovak Prime Minister Vladimir Meciar on 27 June refused a meeting with his Czech counterpart Vaclav Klaus to discuss problems in bilateral relations, Czech media report. The two premiers talked briefly in Cannes, where they attended the EU summit. Among topics Klaus wanted to discuss was the cancellation of the clearing system of trade payments between the two countries; the Czech parliament has already voted to abolish it. Instead of discussions at prime ministerial or ministerial level, Meciar proposed a meeting of ambassadors or government officials. Klaus termed Meciar's position "uncalled for and unfortunate" and said it would not help Czech-Slovak relations. * Steve Kettle
SLOVAKIA SUBMITS EU APPLICATION.
Premier Vladimir Meciar and Foreign Minister Juraj Schenk formally submitted Slovakia's memorandum and application for EU membership to French Foreign Minister Herve de Charette during the EU summit in Cannes on 27 June. According to TASR, the government's memorandum states that Slovakia aims to obtain full membership by the year 2000. It also stresses that the "existence of democratic institutions is guaranteed" by law and that the "constitutional system is stabilized." Meciar has often called for changes in the constitutional system and the resignation of President Michal Kovac, but he lacks the three-fifths parliamentary majority needed to change the constitution or remove the president. In May, the parliament passed a non-binding vote of no-confidence in Kovac, which opposition members claimed was unconstitutional. * Sharon Fisher
SLOVAKIA GEARS UP FOR POPE'S VISIT.
Pope John Paul II will arrive in Slovakia on 30 June for a four-day visit, which will include the canonization of three martyrs and meetings with political and church leaders. According to Cardinal Jan Chryzostom Korec, restitution of church property has been moving along smoothly since the law passed in fall 1993, AFP reports. Archbishop Nikolaj, who heads Slovakia's Orthodox church, will boycott a meeting between the pope and non-Catholic churches scheduled for 1 July, TASR and Reuters reported on 27 June. In a letter to Dominik Hrusovsky, secretary general of the Bishops' Conference, Nikolaj stressed that the Orthodox Church "is not a Catholic religious community" and that relations between the Catholic Church and his church are "not in order." A conflict between the Orthodox and Greek Catholic churches has continued since 1950, when the communists transferred Greek Catholic property to the Orthodox Church. Although the pope is not expected to mediate in the long-running dispute between Slovakia's premier and president, the bishops issued a statement of hope that the pope's message of tolerance would contribute "at least partially to reconciliation in a Slovak society polarized by the conflict." * Sharon Fisher
RAIL ACCIDENTS IN HUNGARY.
International media report that seven people died on 27 June in two separate rail accidents in Hungary. Six people died and five others were injured when a bus and a train collided near Nyul, west of Budapest. All the victims were bus passengers. Hungary's state railway officials are investigating the cause of the accident. A second collision, involving a train and a van, took place in Barcs near the Croatian border. MTI reports that the van driver was killed and one passenger seriously injured when the van failed to heed a warning signal. * Jiri Pehe
OMRI DAILY DIGEST
Vol. 1, No. 125, 28 June 1995
KARADZIC REJECTS TRUCE.
Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic, responding to European Union calls for a negotiated temporary four-month truce, rejected the idea outright on 27 June. Karadzic, speaking to the Bosnian Serb news agency SRNA, observed that "temporary ceasefires . . . have been misused by our enemies for regrouping and for the further obtaining of weapons." He said also that he wanted a permanent end to fighting, and hinted that a meeting with EU mediator Carl Bildt could be only days away. Meanwhile, on 27 June Reuters reported that Bosnian Serb military leader General Ratko Mladic has threatened that his Serb forces will continue to fight, and hinted that they are prepared for a protracted military involvement. * Stan Markotich
BOSNIAN CRISIS DEEPENS.
International media report on 27 and 28 June that there are few signs that fighting throughout Bosnia and Herzegovina will abate. On 27 June, the Croatian news agency Hina reported that Bosnian Serbs launched cannon attacks on civilian targets throughout northeastern Bosnia. Bosnian Serb forces also launched infantry attacks against several Bosnian army defense lines, but were reportedly repelled. Meanwhile, shelling and sniping continues in and around Sarajevo, where at least two were killed and 15 injured on 27 June. * Stan Markotich
SACIRBEY: BOSNIA PREPARED TO ACCEPT UN WITHDRAWAL.
Bosnian Foreign Minister Muhamed Sacirbey on 27 June said that the Bosnian government would be prepared to accept the departure of the UN mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina, although he stressed that his government was not seeking such an eventuality. Reuters reported that he also observed that Western hints of a withdrawal could be met or compensated for by ending the UN arms embargo against Bosnia and Herzegovina. * Stan Markotich
TUDJMAN'S WELLINGTON PRESS CONFERENCE.
Vecernji list on 28 June reports on Croatian President Franjo Tudjman's continuing overseas visit. Tudjman met with New Zealand's Premier James Bolger and other high-ranking officials on 27 June and later gave a press conference which dealt extensively with conditions in Croatia and throughout the former Yugoslavia. Tudjman said that Croatian military forces were not planning to launch offensives against rebel Serbs occupying parts of Croatia often referred to as Krajina unless provoked into action by Serbian extremists. Hina coverage of the press conference observed that Tudjman stressed that Croatia would not "agree to an extension of the UN peacekeeping mandate if it failed to produce any results in solving the problem of occupied territories and their reintegration into the constitutional and legal system of Croatia." * Stan Markotich
ILIESCU AT CANNES.
Romanian President Ion Iliescu on 27 June attended the European Union summit in Cannes, where he was to present Romania's recently completed "national strategy" for joining the EU. He told Radio Bucharest that the strategy is supported by all parliamentary parties. On the same day, Iliescu met with Hungarian Prime Minister Gyula Horn. In a statement after the meeting, he described the talks as "positive and constructive," and said relations between the two countries were better than they were occasionally perceived in the West. Iliescu stressed that the two sides were seeking a solution to the problems posed by the drafting of a new basic bilateral treaty. According to Radio Bucharest, the foreign ministers of the two countries will meet in the first half of July to discuss the treaty issue. *Dan Ionescu
SHUMEIKO ENDS ROMANIAN VISIT.
Chairman of the Russian Federation Council Vladimir Shumeiko on 27 June said that NATO should be abolished. Speaking at the end of a two-day visit to Romania, he expressed doubts about what he called NATO's pacifist character and said the treaty's expansion was contrary to Russia's interests. In earlier statements, Shumeiko tackled the issue of the basic treaty between Romania and Russia. He said negotiations were "practically finalized," the only problem remaining being Romania's insistence on having the Ribbentrop-Molotov pact denounced in a preamble to the treaty. He suggested that it was "unwise" to "dig up the past" rather than "live for the sake of today and tomorrow." On 26 June, Shumeiko also met President Ion Iliescu, Chairman of the Chamber of Deputies Adrian Nastase, and Foreign Minister Teodor Melescanu with whom he discussed the two countries' relations with Moldova and NATO expansion eastwards. * Michael Shafir and Dan Ionescu
GREEN LIGHT FOR MOLDOVA AT THE COUNCIL OF EUROPE.
The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe on 27 June unanimously approved Moldova's application for joining the council, Moldovan media reported. The Republic of Moldova will formally become the organization's 35th member only after the CE Council of Ministers ratifies the assembly's vote. This is expected to take place in mid-July. Moldova, which gained the status of a "special guest" in February 1993, would thus be the first state from the Commonwealth of Independent States to be admitted to the CE as a full member. * Dan Ionescu
MOLDOVA TURNS DOWN REQUEST FOR RUSSIAN MILITARY BASES.
Defense Minister Pavel Creanga on 27 June ruled out the possibility of having Russian military bases in Moldova, Reuters reported. Creanga's statement came in response to a request made by his Russian counterpart Pavel Grachev at the end of a two-day visit to Moldova. Grachev said he wanted some Russian troops to remain in the breakaway Dniester region to help keep peace there. But Creanga told him that Moldova's constitution does not allow any foreign troops to be stationed in the republic. On 26 June Grachev said in Tiraspol that Russia would like to have a military base with some 3,500 servicemen in that region. Moldova and Russia in October 1994 initialed an agreement on the withdrawal of the 14th Russian Army from eastern Moldova within a three-year period following the accord's ratification. * Dan Ionescu
DEMONSTRATORS CALL ON BULGARIAN GOVERNMENT TO RESIGN.
About 20,000 protesters gathered in Sofia on 27 June to demand the resignation of the Socialist-led government, international agencies reported the same day. They accused Prime Minister Zhan Videnov and his cabinet of failing to halt falling standards of living and of resorting to Communist-era methods of running the country. The demonstrators demanded that the government stop taxing social benefits, lift restrictions on wage increases in the public sector, freeze energy prices, and change its method of measuring inflation. It was the first rally uniting supporters of the two largest trade unions, Podkrepa and the Confederation of Independent Trade Unions in Bulgaria (KNSB). KNSB Chairman Krastyo Petkov said the rally "shows that people with different political views disapprove of government policy." Social Minister Mincho Koralski dismissed the unions' demands as hysteria. * Stefan Krause
AMOCO TO ENTER BULGARIAN MARKET.
Amoco corporation on 26 June announced plans to invest $50 million in Bulgaria over the next decade, international agencies reported the following day. Amoco plans to build 50 gasoline stations in the country as part of its expansion program for Eastern Europe. The managing director of the company's Bulgarian Branch, Norman Benson, said Bulgaria "is one of the key countries in the company's strategy in Eastern Europe," adding that Amoco will watch for possible investment opportunities if the country's state-owned petroleum refining and distributing industry is privatized. * Stefan Krause
CHIRAC CRITICIZES GREEK EMBARGO ON MACEDONIA.
French President Jacques Chirac on 27 June strongly criticized Greek policy towards Macedonia, calling it "a to-do over flags," Reuters reported the same day. Speaking at a concluding news conference of the EU summit in Cannes, Chirac said Greece stood alone against the other 14 EU members in refusing to lift its embargo on Macedonia. The French president said the Greek embargo threatened Macedonia's existence, deprived it of EU aid and kept it out of the OSCE security framework. * Stefan Krause
ETHNIC ALBANIAN JOURNALIST ARRESTED IN KOSOVO.
International agencies reported on 27 June that Ramadan Mucolli was arrested in Pristina by Serbian police. A statement by the Democratic League of Kosovo, an ethnic Albanian party, said that Mucolli's flat was searched and his tape recorder and passport were confiscated. According to the statement, Mucolli worked for Radio Pristina until he was fired five years ago, and since then has filed reports for Albanian media, including Tirana radio and television. There was no confirmation of the arrest from Serb police. * Stefan Krause
ALBANIAN AND AMERICAN MILITARY ENGINEERS TO EXERCISE.
A combined engineering exercise involving U.S. and Albanian forces will be held in Tirana from 1 July to 16 September, the Pentagon announced on 27 June. Named "Uje Kristal 95", the exercise will be the first of its kind in the area. Active duty and reserve American engineers will work with their Albanian counterparts at a trauma hospital to improve its sanitation and emergency operation infrastructure. * Doug Clarke
[As of 12:00 CET]
Compiled by Victor Gomez and Steve Kettle
Vol. 1, No. 125, 28 June 1995
YELTSIN MEETS WITH DEPUTY GROUPS.
President Boris Yeltsin met with representatives of all Duma factions except Yabloko on 27 June, Russian media reported. He told them that he will not make decisions on replacing ministers until 22 July, the last day of the parliament's summer session. He said that those decisions would be made on the basis of the Security Council meeting and State Duma confidence vote scheduled for this week. He later told a meeting of the leaders of Russia's regions and republics that the leaders of the Duma factions agreed to support the government in exchange for the sacking of the ministers who are mainly responsible for Chechnya. Yeltsin proposed the creation of a presidential commission on military reform that would include Duma members. He also proposed that in the future the Duma not take a confidence vote before consulting with him or discussing the matter in a conciliatory commission, Russian TV reported. * Robert Orttung
PROCEDURAL COMPROMISE FOUND TO EASE GOVERNMENT CRISIS.
Yegor Gaidar announced that President Yeltsin and the deputies had found a procedural compromise to make it easier for the Duma to support the government, Ekho Moskvy reported on 27 June. If the Duma fails to pass a second no-confidence motion on 1 July, then the government will withdraw its request that the Duma give it a positive vote of confidence. This procedural move will allow parties opposed to the policies of Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin's government merely to abstain during the no-confidence vote, rather than actually having to vote for the government to avoid being disbanded by Yeltsin. The Agrarian Party, which initially voted no confidence in the government, also supported this compromise, according to Reuters. Interfax reported that no more than 140 deputies will vote against the government, mostly from among the Communists, Yabloko, the Liberal Democratic Party, and the Democratic Party of Russia. * Robert Orttung
YELTSIN MEETS WITH DELEGATION FOR GROZNY TALKS.
President Yeltsin met with Russian negotiators on 27 June before their departure for a second round of talks aimed at ending the Chechen conflict, Russian and international agencies reported. At the meeting, Yeltsin gave the Russian delegation authority to enter into political agreements with the Chechens, according to Arkady Volsky, one of the negotiators. The delegation had lacked such sweeping powers before, he added. Volsky said the next round of talks would be "difficult," but expressed optimism. Izvestiya noted on 28 June that Yeltsin's meeting with the delegation showed he had "taken personal control" of the negotiations. * Scott Parrish
JUSTICE MINISTER PRAISES COSSACK UNITS.
In an interview published in Rossiiskaya gazeta on 27 June, Justice Minister Valentin Kovalev praised initiatives among Cossacks in the North Caucasus to create armed units, which he said could defend against terrorist attacks and enforce law and order in the region. Following the Budennovsk hostage crisis, Terek Cossacks in the Stavropol region began organizing militias, despite a 19 June statement from a presidential representative that enlisting armed volunteers in such militias was illegal. * Laura Belin
YEGOROV DEFENDS ASSAULT ON BUDENNOVSK HOSPITAL.
At a 27 June press conference, Deputy Interior Minister Mikhail Yegorov defended the controversial 17 June storming of the Budennovsk hospital by special forces, Russian television reported. "If I had to carry out such an operation again, I would have done it exactly as it was planned this time," he said. Yegorov added that Interior Minister Viktor Yerin and Prime Minister Chernomyrdin gave the order to storm the hospital. He said the operation had not been carried out poorly, and added that only 10 hostages had been killed by fire from Russian troops during the attack, not 30 as Chechen leader Shamil Basaev claimed. Yegorov criticized Chernomyrdin's subsequent decision to resolve the hostage crisis through negotiations, saying, "The terrorists should not have been allowed to leave the hospital." Instead, Yegorov argued, the operation to liberate the hostages by force should have been continued. * Scott Parrish
CRITICISM OF PARLIAMENTARY IMMUNITY LAWS.
An article in Argumenty i fakty (No. 25) criticized Russia's "absurd" laws on parliamentary immunity, which have allowed nearly 300 deputies nationwide to escape prosecution for serious crimes. The author cited cases of deputies from regional and district councils who committed crimes ranging from embezzlement to drunk driving and murder but could not be charged. He called on the Duma to support the efforts of deputy Vitaly Savitsky, who has twice proposed limits on immunity for elected officials. * Laura Belin
LAW ON JUDGES GOES INTO EFFECT.
A new law to improve the independence and qualifications of judges went into effect upon its publication in the official newspaper Rossiiskaya gazeta on 27 June. Grigory Ivliev of the Duma Committee on Legislation and Legal Reforms said judges will now be required to have at least five years of experience in the legal profession. In addition, the law raises judges' salaries and changes retirement rules in order to attract the best jurists to the profession. Ivliev said some regions and republics had demanded the right to appoint their own judges, which he said would place judges' independence in doubt. Instead, under the new law local officials will be able to express their opinions before judges are appointed by the president, as the constitution requires. The law also will allow judges to keep and carry firearms for their own protection. * Laura Belin
RUSSIA'S DEMOCRATIC CHOICE PARTY SHRINKING.
Many people have left Russia's Democratic Choice Party, Yegor Gaidar, the party's leader, told Vechernaya Moskva on 27 June. He said it is as if they have been "sucked out by a huge vacuum cleaner. However, those who left were precisely the people about whom I have often wondered, `How could I have been in the same party with them?'" He said that the party had become "better, although smaller." * Robert Orttung
POVERTY LEVEL INCREASES.
A serious increase in the amount of people living under the poverty line in Russia brought the number to 47 million in May, ITAR-TASS reported on 27 June. In a seminar devoted to the country's social problems in Moscow, Deputy Prime Minister Yury Yarov said the situation is especially critical for Russia's pensioners because inflation is outpacing their monthly indexed pension payments. The minister said the problem could get even worse after Russian bankruptcy laws are finalized, causing more unemployment as more businesses and factories close. Meanwhile, the Economics Ministry forecasts the number of unemployed to increase by another 1.5 million, bringing the level to 4 million people by the end of the year, Russian TV reported. * Thomas Sigel
DOUBLE METHANE EXPLOSION IN KEMEROVO KILLS SEVEN.
Two powerful methane explosions at the Krasnogorskaya mine in the Kemerovo Oblast killed four miners and three rescue workers on 25 June, Russian Public Radio and Segodnya reported on 27 June. Three miners were rescued and remain in critical condition in a local hospital. The mine has been closed and a special commission from the Russian Federation State Technical Committee is investigating the causes of the tragedy. This is the second double methane explosion in Russian mines this year. The previous accident was in Komi. * Thomas Sigel
FEDERATION COUNCIL SPEAKER CRITICIZES NATO.
Speaking before a press conference in Bucharest, Vladimir Shumeiko, speaker of the Federation Council, told journalists that NATO should be abolished, not expanded, Russian and international agencies reported. Underlining Russian objections to the eastward expansion of the alliance, which he characterized as "against our interests," Shumeiko expressed doubts about the "pacifist character" of NATO, and contended that "a military bloc cannot be a fighter for peace." He added, "it would be better to discuss liquidating NATO." Shumeiko's remarks came at the end of a two-day visit to Romania, which was the first former Warsaw Pact country to join the NATO Partnership for Peace program. * Scott Parrish
EUROPEAN UNION TO SIGN ACCORD WITH RUSSIA.
At a meeting in Cannes, European Union (EU) leaders decided to move forward with an interim trade accord with Russia, Western agencies reported on 27 June. The EU had frozen the trade accord in January, as a protest against Russian military intervention in Chechnya. The EU leaders released a statement that authorized the signing of the trade accord, noting that "progress had been made with regard to the situation in Chechnya." A date for the signing will be set at the next meeting of EU foreign ministers, scheduled for 17 July. A French government spokesman justified the decision by referring to the "new spirit" of recent negotiations between Moscow and Chechen separatists. * Scott Parrish
UNITED STATES RANKS AS LARGEST FOREIGN INVESTOR IN RUSSIA.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce announced that between January and May 1995, direct foreign investment in the Russian economy amounted to $500 million, Segodnya reported on 27 June. The chamber's estimates showed that overall foreign investment in Russia reached $2 billion at the end of last year. The largest investments were in Russia's energy and mining industries. Almost 15% of the 15,204 Russian enterprises that received foreign investments in 1994 were backed by American companies. Currently, the U.S. is the largest foreign investor in Russia, followed by Germany, Austria, and Finland, according to the report. * Thomas Sigel
OMRI DAILY DIGEST
Vol. 1, No. 125, 28 June 1995
GEORGIAN PRIVATIZATION EFFORT.
The first auction in Georgia's voucher privatization program opened on 26 June, AFP reported the next day. The government plans to sell stakes in 780 large firms by the end of the year; 20 went on the block initially. Popular reaction to the event has been lukewarm and only 700,000 people claimed their vouchers--each nominally valued at $30--as of 15 June. Official estimates suggest around half of the industries being auctioned are not functioning at present. However, Emir Djugel, the first deputy minister for state property, told AFP that the real figure may be as high as 80%. Vouchers have been selling on the street for between $5 and $6 recently. * Lowell Bezanis
BASAEV IN ABKHAZIA?
On 26 June, the news agency Iberia reported that Shamil Basaev was seen the same day in Abkhazia. Georgian Deputy Prime Minister Tamaz Nadareishvili said there are special commando training camps in that region, Izvestiya reported on 28 June. Men allegedly trained in the camps--including mercenaries from Turkey, Jordan, Syria, and other countries--are being sent from Abkhazia into Chechnya, he said. He claimed the camps are located in Novy Afon, Gudauta, and Byzb. * Lowell Bezanis
PROPHET SURFACES IN KAZAKHSTAN.
According to the former Mufti of Tashkent, Muhammed Sadik Muhammed Yusuf, a self-proclaimed prophet has surfaced in Almaty. In a telephone interview with RFE/RL's Uzbek Service on 27 June, Yusuf said that Akbeket Sufihan claims to be God's latest messenger. Sufihan's revelations are contained in a book entitled "Allah's New Greeting to the World." The 29 page work divided into 10 sections is written in Kazakh and Russian and claims to be the fruit of the holy Koran. Sufihan sent his work to the Saudi Arabian organization Rabita, which is currently translating the work into Arabic so that the legitimacy of its author's claims can be evaluated. The Mufti, who was removed from office in 1992, is a member of Rabita; he provided information on the unusual case from Istanbul where he is living in exile. * Lowell Bezanis
OMRI DAILY DIGEST
Vol. 1, No. 125, 28 June 1995
CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPE
CRIMEAN TATARS BURY VICTIMS OF WEEKEND CLASHES.
Some 3,000 Tatars gathered in the Crimean capital Simferopol on 27 June to bury two Tatars who were killed on 25 June, allegedly in clashes with riot police, international and Ukrainian agencies reported. The two died, and up to 10 others were injured, during a funeral procession. Tatar leaders said men in OMON riot police uniforms opened fire on the procession on the way to the town of Feodosia. The government has beefed up security on the peninsula after several days of violence between Crimean Tatar merchants and alleged criminal gangs, whom the Tatars say murdered two of their compatriots on 23 June when they refused to pay protection money. National guardsmen set up checkpoints around Simferopol and the OMON patrolled the streets of six towns after hundreds of Tatars rampaged through businesses they claim are owned and frequented by gang members. Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma has ordered a government inquiry into the violence. Tatar leaders have accused local authorities of corruption and ties to organized crime. * Chrystyna Lapychak
ESTONIA AMENDS LAW ON ALIENS.
In an extraordinary session on 27 June, the parliament amended the law on aliens giving the government four months from 12 July to establish rules for accepting residence and work permit applications from non-citizens, BNS reported. Opposition deputies who wanted specific dates for a deadline and a clear idea on how the government would handle future applications walked out of the session before the vote. Aliens who submit applications before 12 July will be given temporary residence permits for a maximum period of five years. Those not applying by 12 July will lose their right to vote in the fall local elections. * Saulius Girnius
NATO'S SACEUR VISITS LITHUANIA.
Supreme Allied Commander for Europe Gen. George Joulwan arrived in Lithuania on 26 June for a three-day visit. The following day he held talks with Lithuanian Defense Minister Linas Linkevicius and visited the training base at Rukla, BNS reported. He spoke favorably about Lithuania's participation in the Partnership for Peace program and thanked the country for sending peacekeeping troops to Croatia. On 28 June, Joulwan was scheduled to meet President Algirdas Brazauskas, Prime Minister Adolfas Slezevicius, and inspect the Lithuanian fleet at Klaipeda, from where he will travel to Latvia and then later to Estonia. * Saulius Girnius
BELARUSIANS ON REFERENDUM.
The Independent Institute of Social-Democratic and Political Research conducted an opinion poll among leading political and economic officials in Belarus on how they believe the 14 May referendum will effect the country by the end of the year, Russian television reported on 27 June. The majority, 80%, think that borders between Russia and Belarus will be liquidated, and 40% said that privatization will be stopped and commercial banks will be nationalized. Only seven percent felt there would be any political integration between the two countries. Answers to what the general effects of the referendum will be on Belarus included the polarization of society, further deterioration of the economy, and growing dictatorship. * Ustina Markus
US DEFENSE SECRETARY IN POLAND.
William Perry visited Poland on 27 and 28 June at the invitation of his Polish counterpart Zbigniew Okonski. Perry said that Washington backed Poland's full NATO membership and US President Bill Clinton would propose $100 million in the 1996 budget for the Partnership for Peace program, of which Poland would get $25 million. "Poland is a key to stability in CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPE. . . . NATO will expand its membership and Poland will be among the first nations to join this expanded membership," Perry said. * Jakub Karpinski
POLISH PREMIER IN CANNES.
Jozef Oleksy proposed at the EU summit in Cannes on 27 June that a special summit be devoted to the admission of East and Central European states, Polish and international media reported. Polish plenipotentiary at the EU talks Jacek Saryusz-Wolski said on 26 June that Poland hopes to join the EU by the year 2000 and Poland's efforts to scrap barriers to EU goods should be reciprocated by the EU countries. Treating Poland increasingly as a EU member should involve recognizing Polish diplomas and dropping anti-dumping procedures over Polish exports, according to Saryusz-Wolski. * Jakub Karpinski
CZECH PARLIAMENT CHAIRMAN ON REGIONAL REFORM.
According to parliament chairman Milan Uhde, the time is not ripe to reform the Czech Republic's regional administrative structure because there is no consensus in the country on the issue, Lidove noviny reported on 27 June. However, Uhde said, the problem should be discussed further. Uhde was reacting to the failure of the parliament to institute a new regional structure; his own ODS party was instrumental in blocking a draft law in parliament on 23 June, although deputies from the three other governing parties voted in favor. President Vaclav Havel strongly criticized the parliament's failure to create a new regional structure, which is stipulated in the Constitution. * Steve Kettle
KLAUS MIFFED AT MECIAR REBUFF.
Slovak Prime Minister Vladimir Meciar on 27 June refused a meeting with his Czech counterpart Vaclav Klaus to discuss problems in bilateral relations, Czech media report. The two premiers talked briefly in Cannes, where they attended the EU summit. Among topics Klaus wanted to discuss was the cancellation of the clearing system of trade payments between the two countries; the Czech parliament has already voted to abolish it. Instead of discussions at prime ministerial or ministerial level, Meciar proposed a meeting of ambassadors or government officials. Klaus termed Meciar's position "uncalled for and unfortunate" and said it would not help Czech-Slovak relations. * Steve Kettle
SLOVAKIA SUBMITS EU APPLICATION.
Premier Vladimir Meciar and Foreign Minister Juraj Schenk formally submitted Slovakia's memorandum and application for EU membership to French Foreign Minister Herve de Charette during the EU summit in Cannes on 27 June. According to TASR, the government's memorandum states that Slovakia aims to obtain full membership by the year 2000. It also stresses that the "existence of democratic institutions is guaranteed" by law and that the "constitutional system is stabilized." Meciar has often called for changes in the constitutional system and the resignation of President Michal Kovac, but he lacks the three-fifths parliamentary majority needed to change the constitution or remove the president. In May, the parliament passed a non-binding vote of no-confidence in Kovac, which opposition members claimed was unconstitutional. * Sharon Fisher
SLOVAKIA GEARS UP FOR POPE'S VISIT.
Pope John Paul II will arrive in Slovakia on 30 June for a four-day visit, which will include the canonization of three martyrs and meetings with political and church leaders. According to Cardinal Jan Chryzostom Korec, restitution of church property has been moving along smoothly since the law passed in fall 1993, AFP reports. Archbishop Nikolaj, who heads Slovakia's Orthodox church, will boycott a meeting between the pope and non-Catholic churches scheduled for 1 July, TASR and Reuters reported on 27 June. In a letter to Dominik Hrusovsky, secretary general of the Bishops' Conference, Nikolaj stressed that the Orthodox Church "is not a Catholic religious community" and that relations between the Catholic Church and his church are "not in order." A conflict between the Orthodox and Greek Catholic churches has continued since 1950, when the communists transferred Greek Catholic property to the Orthodox Church. Although the pope is not expected to mediate in the long-running dispute between Slovakia's premier and president, the bishops issued a statement of hope that the pope's message of tolerance would contribute "at least partially to reconciliation in a Slovak society polarized by the conflict." * Sharon Fisher
RAIL ACCIDENTS IN HUNGARY.
International media report that seven people died on 27 June in two separate rail accidents in Hungary. Six people died and five others were injured when a bus and a train collided near Nyul, west of Budapest. All the victims were bus passengers. Hungary's state railway officials are investigating the cause of the accident. A second collision, involving a train and a van, took place in Barcs near the Croatian border. MTI reports that the van driver was killed and one passenger seriously injured when the van failed to heed a warning signal. * Jiri Pehe
OMRI DAILY DIGEST
Vol. 1, No. 125, 28 June 1995
KARADZIC REJECTS TRUCE.
Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic, responding to European Union calls for a negotiated temporary four-month truce, rejected the idea outright on 27 June. Karadzic, speaking to the Bosnian Serb news agency SRNA, observed that "temporary ceasefires . . . have been misused by our enemies for regrouping and for the further obtaining of weapons." He said also that he wanted a permanent end to fighting, and hinted that a meeting with EU mediator Carl Bildt could be only days away. Meanwhile, on 27 June Reuters reported that Bosnian Serb military leader General Ratko Mladic has threatened that his Serb forces will continue to fight, and hinted that they are prepared for a protracted military involvement. * Stan Markotich
BOSNIAN CRISIS DEEPENS.
International media report on 27 and 28 June that there are few signs that fighting throughout Bosnia and Herzegovina will abate. On 27 June, the Croatian news agency Hina reported that Bosnian Serbs launched cannon attacks on civilian targets throughout northeastern Bosnia. Bosnian Serb forces also launched infantry attacks against several Bosnian army defense lines, but were reportedly repelled. Meanwhile, shelling and sniping continues in and around Sarajevo, where at least two were killed and 15 injured on 27 June. * Stan Markotich
SACIRBEY: BOSNIA PREPARED TO ACCEPT UN WITHDRAWAL.
Bosnian Foreign Minister Muhamed Sacirbey on 27 June said that the Bosnian government would be prepared to accept the departure of the UN mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina, although he stressed that his government was not seeking such an eventuality. Reuters reported that he also observed that Western hints of a withdrawal could be met or compensated for by ending the UN arms embargo against Bosnia and Herzegovina. * Stan Markotich
TUDJMAN'S WELLINGTON PRESS CONFERENCE.
Vecernji list on 28 June reports on Croatian President Franjo Tudjman's continuing overseas visit. Tudjman met with New Zealand's Premier James Bolger and other high-ranking officials on 27 June and later gave a press conference which dealt extensively with conditions in Croatia and throughout the former Yugoslavia. Tudjman said that Croatian military forces were not planning to launch offensives against rebel Serbs occupying parts of Croatia often referred to as Krajina unless provoked into action by Serbian extremists. Hina coverage of the press conference observed that Tudjman stressed that Croatia would not "agree to an extension of the UN peacekeeping mandate if it failed to produce any results in solving the problem of occupied territories and their reintegration into the constitutional and legal system of Croatia." * Stan Markotich
ILIESCU AT CANNES.
Romanian President Ion Iliescu on 27 June attended the European Union summit in Cannes, where he was to present Romania's recently completed "national strategy" for joining the EU. He told Radio Bucharest that the strategy is supported by all parliamentary parties. On the same day, Iliescu met with Hungarian Prime Minister Gyula Horn. In a statement after the meeting, he described the talks as "positive and constructive," and said relations between the two countries were better than they were occasionally perceived in the West. Iliescu stressed that the two sides were seeking a solution to the problems posed by the drafting of a new basic bilateral treaty. According to Radio Bucharest, the foreign ministers of the two countries will meet in the first half of July to discuss the treaty issue. *Dan Ionescu
SHUMEIKO ENDS ROMANIAN VISIT.
Chairman of the Russian Federation Council Vladimir Shumeiko on 27 June said that NATO should be abolished. Speaking at the end of a two-day visit to Romania, he expressed doubts about what he called NATO's pacifist character and said the treaty's expansion was contrary to Russia's interests. In earlier statements, Shumeiko tackled the issue of the basic treaty between Romania and Russia. He said negotiations were "practically finalized," the only problem remaining being Romania's insistence on having the Ribbentrop-Molotov pact denounced in a preamble to the treaty. He suggested that it was "unwise" to "dig up the past" rather than "live for the sake of today and tomorrow." On 26 June, Shumeiko also met President Ion Iliescu, Chairman of the Chamber of Deputies Adrian Nastase, and Foreign Minister Teodor Melescanu with whom he discussed the two countries' relations with Moldova and NATO expansion eastwards. * Michael Shafir and Dan Ionescu
GREEN LIGHT FOR MOLDOVA AT THE COUNCIL OF EUROPE.
The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe on 27 June unanimously approved Moldova's application for joining the council, Moldovan media reported. The Republic of Moldova will formally become the organization's 35th member only after the CE Council of Ministers ratifies the assembly's vote. This is expected to take place in mid-July. Moldova, which gained the status of a "special guest" in February 1993, would thus be the first state from the Commonwealth of Independent States to be admitted to the CE as a full member. * Dan Ionescu
MOLDOVA TURNS DOWN REQUEST FOR RUSSIAN MILITARY BASES.
Defense Minister Pavel Creanga on 27 June ruled out the possibility of having Russian military bases in Moldova, Reuters reported. Creanga's statement came in response to a request made by his Russian counterpart Pavel Grachev at the end of a two-day visit to Moldova. Grachev said he wanted some Russian troops to remain in the breakaway Dniester region to help keep peace there. But Creanga told him that Moldova's constitution does not allow any foreign troops to be stationed in the republic. On 26 June Grachev said in Tiraspol that Russia would like to have a military base with some 3,500 servicemen in that region. Moldova and Russia in October 1994 initialed an agreement on the withdrawal of the 14th Russian Army from eastern Moldova within a three-year period following the accord's ratification. * Dan Ionescu
DEMONSTRATORS CALL ON BULGARIAN GOVERNMENT TO RESIGN.
About 20,000 protesters gathered in Sofia on 27 June to demand the resignation of the Socialist-led government, international agencies reported the same day. They accused Prime Minister Zhan Videnov and his cabinet of failing to halt falling standards of living and of resorting to Communist-era methods of running the country. The demonstrators demanded that the government stop taxing social benefits, lift restrictions on wage increases in the public sector, freeze energy prices, and change its method of measuring inflation. It was the first rally uniting supporters of the two largest trade unions, Podkrepa and the Confederation of Independent Trade Unions in Bulgaria (KNSB). KNSB Chairman Krastyo Petkov said the rally "shows that people with different political views disapprove of government policy." Social Minister Mincho Koralski dismissed the unions' demands as hysteria. * Stefan Krause
AMOCO TO ENTER BULGARIAN MARKET.
Amoco corporation on 26 June announced plans to invest $50 million in Bulgaria over the next decade, international agencies reported the following day. Amoco plans to build 50 gasoline stations in the country as part of its expansion program for Eastern Europe. The managing director of the company's Bulgarian Branch, Norman Benson, said Bulgaria "is one of the key countries in the company's strategy in Eastern Europe," adding that Amoco will watch for possible investment opportunities if the country's state-owned petroleum refining and distributing industry is privatized. * Stefan Krause
CHIRAC CRITICIZES GREEK EMBARGO ON MACEDONIA.
French President Jacques Chirac on 27 June strongly criticized Greek policy towards Macedonia, calling it "a to-do over flags," Reuters reported the same day. Speaking at a concluding news conference of the EU summit in Cannes, Chirac said Greece stood alone against the other 14 EU members in refusing to lift its embargo on Macedonia. The French president said the Greek embargo threatened Macedonia's existence, deprived it of EU aid and kept it out of the OSCE security framework. * Stefan Krause
ETHNIC ALBANIAN JOURNALIST ARRESTED IN KOSOVO.
International agencies reported on 27 June that Ramadan Mucolli was arrested in Pristina by Serbian police. A statement by the Democratic League of Kosovo, an ethnic Albanian party, said that Mucolli's flat was searched and his tape recorder and passport were confiscated. According to the statement, Mucolli worked for Radio Pristina until he was fired five years ago, and since then has filed reports for Albanian media, including Tirana radio and television. There was no confirmation of the arrest from Serb police. * Stefan Krause
ALBANIAN AND AMERICAN MILITARY ENGINEERS TO EXERCISE.
A combined engineering exercise involving U.S. and Albanian forces will be held in Tirana from 1 July to 16 September, the Pentagon announced on 27 June. Named "Uje Kristal 95", the exercise will be the first of its kind in the area. Active duty and reserve American engineers will work with their Albanian counterparts at a trauma hospital to improve its sanitation and emergency operation infrastructure. * Doug Clarke
[As of 12:00 CET]
Compiled by Victor Gomez and Steve Kettle