OMRI DAILY DIGEST
No. 205, Part II, 22 October 1996
This is Part II of the Open Media Research Institute's Daily Digest.
Part II is a compilation of news concerning Central, Eastern, and
Southeastern Europe. Part I, covering Russia, Transcaucasia and Central
Asia, is distributed simultaneously as a second document. Back issues of
the Daily Digest, and other information about OMRI, are available
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CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPE
BELARUSIAN PARLIAMENT REFUSES TO RESCIND ITS REFERENDUM. Following a
call by President Alyaksandr Lukashenka and the All Belarusian Congress
for the parliament not to hold its referendum on an alternative
constitution, legislators met on 21 October to discuss the issue.
Russian Public TV reported that it was immediately apparent at the
meeting that legislators had no intention of withdrawing their draft
constitution, which would abolish the Presidency. Deputy parliamentary
speaker Vasil Novikau said 84 deputies initiated the move to hold a
referendum on the parliament's draft constitution and that 73 more
deputies later signed up in support of the initiative. Novikau said the
parliament was prepared to withdraw its draft constitution from a
referendum only if the president would withdraw his. He added that
Lukashenka's appeal was not a compromise but an ultimatum. -- Ustina
Markus
GUNMEN FIRE ON BELARUSIAN DEPUTY PARLIAMENTARY SPEAKER'S CAR. A car
intended to transport Genadz Karpenka was attacked on 21 October in
downtown Minsk, ITAR-TASS reported. Unidentified gunmen shot at the car,
which belonged to one of Karpenka's friends. Parliament will discuss the
incident. Meanwhile, Karpenka, an outspoken critic of President
Aleksandr Lukashenka, has asked for an investigation to be launched,
since he does not exclude political motives for the shooting. -- Sergei
Solodovnikov
NEW STATE-OWNED COMPANY TO CONTROL ALL NUCLEAR POWER IN UKRAINE . . .
The Ukrainian government has announced the establishment of Enerhoatom,
a state-owned company to oversee all five of the country's nuclear power
plants, Ukrainian and Western agencies reported on 21 October. The new
company allows the government to strengthen its monopoly on nuclear
power output, sales, and prices. Previously, the state-run stations were
financially separate. The firm will also manage all foreign aid for
shutting down Chornobyl. -- Chrystyna Lapychak
. . . WHILE CHORNOBYL REACTOR SHUT DOWN. Reactor Number 3 at the
Chernobyl nuclear power station has been closed because of a fault in
its cooling system, international media reported on 21 October. Nuclear
safety officials said that an incident the previous day at the reactor
has been classified at "zero level" on an international scale for
nuclear accidents. Repairs will last until 26 October. Reactor Number 3
is one of only two still functioning at Chornobyl. It is due to be
permanently closed in 1999. -- Oleg Varfolomeyev
UKRAINIAN FOREIGN MINISTER IN U.S. Hennadii Udovenko arrived in
Washington on 21 October for an official visit, Ukrainian Radio
reported. He met with his U.S. counterpart, Warren Christopher, to
discuss NATO expansion, issues related to the "NATO-Russia-Ukraine
triangle," European security, and U.S.-Ukrainian cooperation in Bosnia.
Udovenko also met with First Deputy State Secretary Strobe Talbott,
Defense Secretary William Perry, and National Security Advisor Anthony
Lake. He noted that Ukraine wanted to maintain a permanent and ongoing
dialogue with the U.S. -- Ustina Markus
UKRAINIAN ORTHODOX PATRIARCH RESIGNS. A synod of hierarchs of the
Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church announced that Patriarch
Dymytrii Yarema has resigned, Radio Ukraine reported on 21 October. No
reason was given for his resignation, but the hierarchs published a
statement quelling rumors that Dymytrii had issued an edict dissolving
the Church. The bishops elected Metropolitan Vasylii of Ternopil and
Volyn to run the Church until a sobor of Church hierarchy and laity,
scheduled to convene on 12 December, elects a new patriarch. The
hierarchs also voted to bar another hierarch, Bishop Ihor of Kharkiv and
Poltava, from the Church. -- Chrystyna Lapychak
LITHUANIAN PARLIAMENTARY ELECTION UPDATE. Counting votes in the 20
October elections is proceeding slowly. With results in from 1,726 of
the 2,037 voting districts, the Homeland Union (Conservatives of
Lithuania) (TS[LK]) has won 29.4% of the vote, the Christian Democratic
Party (KDP) 10.3%, the Democratic Labor Party 9.8%, the Center Union
(CS) 8.2%, and the Social Democratic Party 6.8%. Although it is likely
that the TS(LK) and the KDP will be able to gain a majority in the
second round of voting, TS(LK) Chairman Vytautas Landsbergis has said
that he will ask the CS to join if necessary, Radio Lithuania reported.
Candidates from at least 10 other parties will also compete in the
second round. -- Saulius Girnius
LATVIAN DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER RESIGNS. The chairman of the Democratic
Party Saimnieks (DPS), Ziedonis Cevers, has resigned as deputy prime
minister, charging that Prime Minister Andris Skele is trying to
establish authoritarian rule, BNS reported on 21 October. Cevers also
criticized the draft budget as disadvantaging "ordinary people." He said
he plans to return to the Saeima as a deputy. Reportedly, he will not
submit a report on drafting a national security concept that was due
today. Skele accepted the resignation and noted he was planning to
abolish the posts of the four other deputy prime ministers. -- Saulius
Girnius
SOLIDARITY TO CONSULT WITH GERMAN OFFICE OVER PARLIAMENTARY CANDIDATES.
Joachim Gauck, director of the German office in charge of the former
East German secret service (Stasi) files, met on 21 October in Poland
with Polish Solidarity trade union leaders and leaders of Solidarity
Electoral Action (AWS), Rzeczpospolita reported. The AWS is considering
consulting Gauck's institute on its candidates for the 1997
parliamentary elections and intends to take into consideration lists of
Stasi collaborators submitted to the Polish parliament in 1992 by Antoni
Macierewicz, at the time internal affairs minister. The AWS candidates
are to be asked to answer an "ethical questionnaire," which will include
questions about their collaboration with the secret police. According to
Stanislaw Alot, member of the AWS coordinating team, the answers to
those questionnaires will be verified after the AWS enters the
parliament. -- Jakub Karpinski
GREEK PRESIDENT IN POLAND. Kostis Stephanopoulos, on the first day of
his three-day visit to Warsaw, held talks with his Polish counterpart
Aleksander Kwasniewski, Polish dailies reported on 22 October.
Stephanopoulos expressed his country's support for Poland's membership
in the EU and NATO, adding that its admission should not depend on
resolving issues such as the restructuring of Polish agriculture. This
is the first time that a Greek president has visited Poland.
Stephanopoulos's visit is expected to improve relations between the two
countries, which have been strained over the 80,000 Polish illegal
immigrants in Greece. Earlier this year, the two countries signed a
friendship and cooperation treaty, which still has to be ratified. --
Beata Pasek
SLOVAK PARLIAMENTARY CHAIRMAN DEFENDS CONTROVERSIAL LEGISLATION. Ivan
Gasparovic, speaking on the eve of the new parliamentary session,
defended the controversial Penal Code amendment on the protection of the
republic, Slovak media reported on 22 October. He stressed that Slovakia
is "a small and young state and needs to have certain defense systems
that would prevent ... the implementation of certain measures against
Slovak statehood." The legislation, first approved in March but put
aside following international protests, provides for punishing
individuals who "spread false information" that could damage Slovakia's
interests or who organize public rallies "with the intention of
subverting the country's constitutional system, territorial integrity,
or defense capability." Gasparovic said the amendment has been included
on the parliamentary agenda at the ruling coalition's request. Reuters
quoted him as saying that although he abstained from the vote in March,
"if I had known what would happen later during the [July] Budapest
conference ..., I would have probably pushed the 'yes' button."
Participants at that conference called for autonomy for ethnic
Hungarians in neighboring countries. -- Sharon Fisher
HUNGARIAN PARTIES CLEAN UP THEIR ACT. Concern among Hungarian
politicians about possible conflicts of interest seem to have increased
markedly, Hungarian media reported on 22 October. Ivan Peto, president
of the co-governing Free Democratic Party, has said that his party's
deputies will make their 1994 and 1996 asset statements available to the
public. The senior coalition Socialist Party earlier ordered all
deputies to clarify their business interests but said they could decide
for themselves whether to make that information public. Meanwhile,
Gyorgy Schamschula was expelled from the opposition Smallholders' Party
on 21 October, following a government report that questioned
Schamschula's handling of a 1993 privatization tender when he was
transport minister. Smallholders' President Jozsef Torgyan said the
payment of any type of commission or mediation fee is irreconcilable
with the Smallholders' ideology. -- Ben Slay
HUNGARIAN ECONOMY, CENTRAL GOVERNMENT BUDGET STOP SHRINKING. The
Statistics Office on 21 October revised upward its estimate for GDP in
the first quarter of 1996, Hungarian dailies reported. Previous
estimates had suggested a decline for that period, but the revised
report shows GDP at the same level as for January-March 1995, suggesting
that the recession associated with the introduction last year of the
stabilization program is over. Meanwhile, Magyar Hirlap reported that
the government's 1997 budget, which has been submitted to the
parliament, calls for increased spending for the central ministries in
real terms. This would be the first such increase since 1989. The
ministries' budgets would increase by an average of 26% over 1996, while
inflation in 1997 is projected at 17-19%. -- Ben Slay
SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
BOSNIAN ELECTIONS TO BE PUT OFF. The local elections slated for 23-24
November will be postponed until spring, OMRI's correspondent reported.
An announcement to that effect is expected from the OSCE on 22 October.
The ballot was first put off from 14 September because of massive fraud,
particularly by the Serbs, in registering voters in strategically
important towns where they had never lived. The new rules require that
persons register only for places where they lived in 1991 or since the
end of 1995. The Serbs have threatened to boycott the vote in protest,
claiming that the new rules will disenfranchise 380,000 Serbian
refugees, Novosti noted. The November ballot was also endangered by
numerous technical problems. The decision to postpone the vote was
reached in Washington, Oslobodjenje wrote. The Clinton administration
had wanted the vote to go ahead in November so that it could claim that
"Dayton is on track," as a spokesman told the VOA. Meanwhile, U.S. envoy
John Kornblum brought the three members of the Bosnian Presidency
together for a meeting on 22 October, OMRI's correspondent said. --
Patrick Moore
SERBS MOVING INTO SEPARATION ZONE. The Bosnian Serb authorities have
resettled 32 refugees who were living in Zvornik into a village near
Jusici, where Muslims have begun returning to their homes, Oslobodjenje
reported on 22 October. Some 350 additional Muslim families from that
area want to go back, too, Onasa noted. In a related development,
Republika Srpska Interior Minister Dragan Kijac said that the UN police
have not been abiding by the agreement on the orderly resettlement and
policing of the border area, Nasa Borba reported. Meanwhile in Sarajevo,
the Centrotrans bus company said it may cancel its new Belgrade bus line
unless the federal Yugoslav authorities stop charging for visas and
insurance, Oslobodjenje wrote. -- Patrick Moore
CAN SERBIAN POLITICIANS AFFORD TO ADVERTISE? One second of television
advertising time for parties competing in the 3 November elections can
cost up to $113, Nasa Borba reported on 22 October. BK Television,
particularly during broadcasts of the popular "Left-Right" program, is
one of the most expensive channels. Morning prime-time and late
afternoon spots on TV Studio B sell for about $30, while evening rates
double. The most affordable spots are on TV Palma during weekdays, which
sell for $10 per second. Meanwhile, opposition parties also have to
contend with government influence over electronic media. Nasa Borba on
22 October carries a letter from the opposition Democratic Party to
Serbia's minister of information summing up his influence over political
reporting. The letter is published under the headline "If it Weren't So
Tragic, It Would Be Comic." -- Stan Markotich
MACEDONIA BEGINS COMPULSORY POLIO VACCINATION. The Macedonian Health
Ministry on 21 October announced that following the polio outbreak in
Albania, a mandatory vaccination program for children will be launched,
Reuters reported. Ministry officials also said that all Macedonian
citizens traveling to Albania must prove that they were immunized
against polio at least 15 days before their visit. At the same time,
they stressed that they do not fear an epidemic in the border region. No
cases of polio have been reported in Macedonia since 1987. -- Stefan
Krause
SLOVENIA'S FORMER COMMUNISTS SAY "NO" TO NATO. The United List of Social
Democrats (ZLSD), the successor to Slovenia's communist party, has said
a government run by it would most likely not back Slovenia's NATO
membership. Reuters on 21 October quoted ZLSD leader Janez Kocijancic as
saying that "NATO is not the only alternative. The other is neutrality
like in Austria, Sweden and Ireland." But he added his party would
support the aim of joining the EU, noting there was no alternative to
membership in the union. "Slovenians do not want to go back to the
Balkans," he said. The ZLSD currently holds 14 of the 90 legislative
seats. It was a member of the three-party governing coalition until its
split early this year. -- Stan Markotich
ROMANIAN GOVERNMENT DAILY SAYS U.S. FAVORS ROMANIA'S NATO INTEGRATION.
Vocea Romaniei, citing the Spanish news agency EFE on 22 October, claims
the U.S. has expressed support for Romania's and Slovenia's integration
into NATO structures during the "first wave" of new members. The daily
notes, however, that while President Bill Clinton is due to give an
"important speech" later today, he "is not expected" to name these
states as candidates for NATO. The report appears yet another attempt by
the ruling Party of Social Democracy in Romania to manipulate voter
opinion ahead of the upcoming elections. -- Michael Shafir
IS ROMANIAN NATIONALIST PARTY DISINTEGRATING? Emil Pop, chairman of the
Bucharest branch of the Party of Romanian National Unity (PUNR), has
resigned from his post and party membership, Radio Bucharest reported on
21 October. Since the Party of Social Democracy in Romania broke its
coalition alliance with the PUNR last month, several prominent members
have resigned, including former transport and justice ministers Aurel
Novac and Iosif Gavril Chiuzbaian as well as the party's general-
secretary, Valer Suian. The resignations indicate a growing conflict
between Chairman Gheorghe Funar and his deputy, Ioan Gavra, on the one
hand, and many party leaders, on the other. Meanwhile, Senator Ion Coja,
a well-known nationalist anti-Semite, has rejoined the party and is
running for the Senate on its ticket. Opinion polls suggest that the
PUNR will fare badly in the 3 November elections. -- Michael Shafir
IS IT KNOWN WHO KILLED FORMER BULGARIAN PREMIER? Novinar on 22 October
reported that the Bulgarian police knows the identity of the man who
killed former Prime Minister Andrey Lukanov earlier this month. Citing
an unnamed police source, the daily reported that the killer is a 36-
year-old man from Harmanli, in southern Bulgaria. and that the police
knows his whereabouts but has so far been unable to issue an arrest
warrant through Interpol. According to Novinar, the man left Sofia on a
plane to Moscow at 10:10 a.m. local time (50 minutes after the killing)
and then traveled to Western Europe. The paper claimed that the killing
cost $120,000 and that the gunman has so far received $20,000.
Meanwhile, Trud has published a police sketch of the suspect, which the
police have distributed to local police stations and border crossings.
-- Stefan Krause
BULGARIAN PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION UPDATE. Former Bulgarian Socialist Party
Chairman Alexander Lilov told the Duma on 22 October that Bulgaria's
president will be elected in the second round and that the opposition's
belief that it will win in the first round indicates its inability to
analyze the situation. At a widely advertised meeting between the BSP
presidential and vice presidential candidates -- Culture Minister Ivan
Marazov and Deputy Foreign Minister Irina Bokova -- and foreign
investors, there was a poor turnout, Demokratsiya reported. Meanwhile,
the company that has counted votes in elections since 1991 has refused
to sign a contract with the Central Electoral Committee for the
presidential ballot because, it says, the counting procedures are
extremely complicated. The state firm Information Services, which is
close to bankruptcy and already included in the mass privatization list,
will officially count the votes. -- Maria Koinova
ALBANIAN OPPOSITION CLAIMS ELECTIONS WERE NEITHER FREE NOR FAIR. The
Socialist Party on 21 October claimed numerous cases of irregularities
during local elections the previous day, AFP reported. The Socialists
alleged that voters in Fier, Vlora, Durres, Delvina, and Fushe-Kruja
were intimidated and that secret police manipulated the vote at some
polling stations. The Socialists however, pledged to participate in the
run-off ballot. Meanwhile, the Democratic Party has issued preliminary
results suggesting that it won 61% of city halls, including Tirana, and
58% of commune seats. Reuters reported that the Socialists won only 6%
of city halls and commune seats, down from more than 50% in 1992.
President Sali Berisha said the result underscored the Democratic
Party's triumph at the disputed parliamentary elections in May. In other
news, bombs went off in Fier, Kruja, and Fushe-Kruje, Gazeta Shqiptare
reported on 22 October. No one claimed responsibility. -- Fabian Schmidt
and Dukagjin Gorani
[As of 12:00 CET]
Compiled by Jan Cleave
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Copyright (c) 1996 Open Media Research Institute, Inc.
All rights reserved. ISSN 1211-1570
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