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From omripub@omri.czMon Dec 2 11:50:25 1996
Date: Wed, 27 Nov 1996 15:20:48 +0100
From: OMRI Publications
Reply to: Open Media Research Institute Daily Digest
To: OMRI-L@LISTSERV.ACSU.BUFFALO.EDU
Subject: OMRI Daily Digest II, No. 230, 27 November 1996
OMRI DAILY DIGEST
No. 230, Part II, 27 November 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 OMRI Daily Digest, and other information about OMRI, are
available through OMRI's WWW pages: http://www.omri.cz/Index.html
CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPE
BELARUSIAN PRESIDENT SETS UP NEW PARLIAMENT . . . Alyaksandr Lukashenka
on 26 November set up a new parliament, international agencies reported.
Between 102 and 112 deputies met with Lukashenka and declared themselves
the new lower house of the legislature. Under the new constitution, the
lower house must have 110 members from the current 199-strong
parliament. There will also be an upper house made up partly of the
president's appointees. Meanwhile, Constitutional Court spokesman Oleh
Maskalyou said that the court has ruled against the impeachment
procedures started against Lukashenka. Its reason was that 12 of the 73
deputies who initiated the procedure have since withdrawn their support.
Seventy signatures were required to launch the procedures. -- Ustina
Markus and Sergei Solodovnikov
. . . WHILE CURRENT PARLIAMENT CONDEMNS REFERENDUM RESULTS. Meanwhile,
parliamentary Speaker Syamyon Sharetsky met with 55 deputies in the
current parliament, who accused Lukashenka of hand-picking members for
the new legislature to replace the democratically elected ones. They
also strongly condemned the referendum results, which, they stressed,
are not due to come into force for 10 days. In a statement claiming the
results are invalid, they pointed out four procedural violations: the
inability to establish how many ballot papers were issued, because the
president's administration had printed them; early voting, which began
before the publication of the final drafts of the constitution; funding
for the referendum from unknown sources rather than the Central
Electoral Commission; and state control over the media, allowing a
propaganda campaign in favor of Lukashenka's referendum to begin several
months earlier. -- Ustina Markus
UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT MEETS ARAFAT. Leonid Kuchma met with Palestinian
leader Yassar Arafat in Bethlehem on 26 November, international agencies
reported. The two discussed the situation in the Palestinian territories
and Ukrainian-Palestinian cooperation. Kuchma said Ukraine supported
self-determination for the Palestinian people in their negotiations with
Israel. Arafat announced that agreement had been reached on opening a
Palestinian embassy in Kyiv. It was the first time Arafat has received a
foreign head of state in Bethlehem, which was transferred to Palestinian
rule as part of the Israeli-Palestinian autonomy agreements. -- Ustina
Markus
UKRAINIAN MINERS UNION REQUESTS VENUE CHANGE IN STRIKE TRIAL. Members of
the Donetsk Workers Committee have appealed to a judge in Zaporizhzhia
to change the venue of the trial of committee head Mykhaylo Krylov,
Ukrainian TV reported on 25 November. The trial began in Zaporizhzhia
earlier this week. But coal miners want it to take place in Donetsk,
where Krylov was charged with organizing illegal strikes in July
protesting government wage arrears, because they do not believe he will
get a fair trial in Zaporizhzhia. Krylov's public defenders from Donetsk
have refused to continue to represent him because of the costs involved
in traveling and staying in Zaporizhzhia. The miners told Judge Yurii
Svitlychny that many defense witnesses cannot afford to participate in
the trial because they have not been paid in months. -- Chrystyna
Lapychak
BALTIC PRESIDENTS MEET IN RIGA. Presidents Lennart Meri (Estonia),
Guntis Ulmanis (Latvia), and Algirdas Brazauskas (Lithuania) signed a
joint declaration at their traditional biannual meeting in Riga on 26
November, BNS reported. The three leaders call for Baltic cooperation to
be intensified and called on the EU to begin accession negotiations with
the Baltic states not later than six months after its intergovernment
conference. The presidents also reaffirmed their countries' wishes to
join NATO as soon as possible, noting that the alliance's expansion
would increase rather than decrease security in Europe. -- Saulius
Girnius
PROGRESS PARTY REJECTS OFFER TO JOIN ESTONIAN GOVERNMENT. The Progress
Party on 26 November rejected Prime Minister Tiit Vahi's offer to join
the government, BNS reported. Deputy Chairman Arvo Junti said that the
party stood by its refusal to work in the same government as the Center
Party, which its members had earlier left. Junti also added it was
unfair that his party (with seven deputies) was offered only one
minister's post, while the Center Party (with nine) was offered three.
Even if the Center Party agrees to join the ruling coalition, Vahi will
not have a majority in the parliament. -- Saulius Girnius
LITHUANIAN PARLIAMENT ELECTS DEPUTY CHAIRMEN, CHANCELLOR. The Seimas on
26 November elected Andrius Kubilius and Arvydas Vidziunas of the
Homeland Union, Feliksas Palubinskas of the Christian Democratic Party,
and Romualdas Ozolas of the Center Union as deputy chairmen, Radio
Lithuania reported. Jurgis Razma of the Homeland Union was elected as
chancellor. The Seimas also decided to increase the number of permanent
committees from 11 to 12 by creating a separate health affairs
committee. A fourth three-member caucus was created, raising the total
number of caucuses to nine. The Seimas will hold a special session today
at which President Algirdas Brazauskas is expected to nominate Gediminas
Vagnorius as prime minister. -- Saulius Girnius
REACTIONS TO ABORTION LIBERALIZATION IN POLAND. According to information
received by the Polish Health Ministry, some state clinics will refuse
to perform abortions when a woman is in a difficult social or financial
situation, Polish media reported on 27 November. Under a recently
amended law due to go into force next month, abortion is allowed in such
cases (see OMRI Daily Digest, 21 November 1996). Heads of
gynaecological-obstretics units at two public hospitals in Tarnow,
southeastern Poland, have already publicly declared their refusal to
perform abortions. Kazimierz Kapera, head of the Krakow province Health
Department, has resigned from his post, saying the new law contravenes
the doctors' code of ethics. Meanwhile, the Solidarity trade union has
announced it will appeal the legislation to the Constitutional Tribunal.
A recent poll conducted by the Public Opinion Research Center shows that
56% of respondents support the amendments to the abortion law while 33%
are against. -- Beata Pasek
CZECH PRESIDENT TO UNDERGO SURGERY. Vaclav Havel will undergo lung
surgery next week, Czech media reported on 26 November. Ten days ago, he
was diagnosed as having pneumonia but was allowed to stay at home. He
was hospitalized yesterday because, according to a presidential
spokesman, his condition was not improving. Havel's physician at
Prague's Third Surgical Clinic told reporters on 26 November that it is
necessary to operate on Havel in order to find out exactly what illness
the president is suffering from. -- Jiri Pehe
SLOVAK ROUNDUP. Slovak National Theater (SND) Director-General Miroslav
Fischer has fired the theater's ballet director, Emil Bartko, CTK
reported on 27 November. Fischer accused Bartko of lowering the ballet
company's professional standards, but observers believe Bartko's
dismissal is another step in the ruling coalition's efforts to control
the SND. Also on 26 November, opposition Christian Democratic Movement
Chairman Jan Carnogursky won a case against SALUS, the publisher of the
pro-government daily Slovenska Republika, TASR reported. The court has
ordered SALUS to publish an apology in Slovenska Republika, pay 100,000
crowns ($3,226) in damages, and to cover all legal costs. Carnogursky
filed the lawsuit after Slovenska Republika wrote in May that
Carnogursky had taken his children to an international seminar in
Slovakia and had not wanted to pay for their meals. Carnogursky won
another case against the daily on 18 November. -- Sharon Fisher
SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
SERBIAN COURT UPHOLDS NULLIFICATION OF ELECTION RETURNS. The Supreme
Court has upheld a lower court ruling nullifying the 17 November
election results, which showed victories for the opposition Zajedno
coalition, Reuters reported on 26 November. Zajedno, which had appealed
in the first instance, said it was "not surprised that the Supreme Court
is again in the service of the ruling party, but we are surprised that
Milosevic's regime is causing new conflicts in this way." In related
news, mass demonstrations continue in Belgrade, with opposition leaders
vowing to continue the protests. Finally, polls opened in Belgrade on 27
November for the third round of municipal balloting, but voter turnout
is reported low so far. Zajedno has called for the election to be
boycotted and has demanded that the returns of the 17 November vote be
"honored." -- Stan Markotich
SERBIAN STATE JOURNALISTS PROTEST CENSORSHIP OF MASS DEMONSTRATION
COVERAGE. A group of 45 reporters working for the pro-regime daily
Politika have signed a letter of protest saying their management is
deliberately censoring coverage of the mass demonstrations in Belgrade,
Beta reported on 26 November. The letter says, "We are very worried
about the unprofessional nature of the coverage of ongoing developments
on Serbia's political stage. We are in favor of respecting the facts
that are unfolding." So far, Politika has either avoided coverage of the
ongoing developments or has portrayed the demonstrations as a threat to
public safety--a line taken by all the state-controlled media. -- Stan
Markotich
CROATIAN SUPREME COURT CHIEF SACKED, ACCUSED OF PEDOPHILIA. Chief
Justice Krunoslav Olujic has been fired by disciplinary authorities on
the government's recommendation, Vecernji list wrote on 27 November. He
is accused of having had sex with minors and of using his position to
protect the financial activities of friends, AFP said, quoting Croatian
Television. Olujic, however, is an opponent of attempts by the governing
Croatian Democratic Community (HDZ) to thwart the independence of the
judiciary. His successor, Milan Vukovic, is a known HDZ hard-liner.
Commenting on the charges, Olujic told the independent weekly Globus:
"The police accuse me of having sexual relationships with minors, girls
what is more, which is astonishing," alluding to rumors that he is gay.
In other news, the opposition agreed to end its boycott of parliament
now that the question of the impasse in Zagreb city government will be
placed on the legislature's agenda, Novi List noted. -- Patrick Moore
REPUBLIKA SRPSKA CIVILIANS INCREASE PRESSURE ON MLADIC BACKERS.
President Biljana Plavsic and other leaders of the Serbian Democratic
Party have asked the Ministries of Justice and Defense to "examine...the
grounds for judicial action against the members of the army leadership,
[which has been] committing acts against the constitution and the rule
of the state in the Republika Srpska," AFP said on 26 November, quoting
SRNA. Plavsic fired indicted war criminal Gen. Ratko Mladic and 80 of
his backers on 9 November, but they refuse to go. She has spoken to
Mladic's representatives but is unwilling to let him retain a major role
in Bosnian Serb military affairs (see Pursuing Balkan Peace, 26 November
1996). -- Patrick Moore
BAN LIFTED ON BOSNIAN REFUGEES GOING HOME. IFOR, the UNHCR, and the UN
police announced the lifting of the two-week-old suspension of the right
of refugees to go home to a sensitive area in northeast Bosnia,
Oslobodjenje reported on 27 November. The international representatives
had charged the Muslims with deliberately provoking the Serbs and
breaking the rules for returning to homes that lie in territory held by
another ethnic group. The Muslims said the Serbs were using Muslims'
applications to go home in order to target empty Muslim homes for
dynamiting. The international representatives now say that the rules for
returning must be scrupulously observed. Also in Sarajevo, a group of
mainly women refugees from Srebrenica blocked and jostled the car of the
international community's Michael Steiner to protest the failure to
carry out key points of the Dayton agreement. Steiner said that he is
not to blame for the problems. -- Patrick Moore
ROMANIA'S OUTGOING PRESIDENT MAKES FAREWELL SPEECH . . . Ion Iliescu, in
a farewell press conference carried live by Radio Bucharest on 26
November, defended his Presidency's record, emphasizing that democratic
institutions had taken root and that Romania made significant progress
in foreign relations. He blamed the failures of the outgoing government
of Nicolae Vacaroiu on an uncooperative opposition, and he challenged
his successor, Emil Constantinescu, to make good on campaign pledges to
accelerate reform while increasing living standards, saying the two were
contradictory. Iliescu also said he regretted his poor relations with a
press that had been in general hostile to him. Asked whether he would
run again for president in the year 2000, Iliescu replied it was too
early to say. -- Michael Shafir
. . . WHILE HIS PARTY CRITICIZES HUNGARIAN PRESENCE IN NEW GOVERNMENT.
Adrian Nastase, executive chairman of the Party of Social Democracy in
Romania (PDSR), said the participation of the Hungarian Democratic
Federation of Romania (UDMR) in the new government coalition is likely
to mean that government debates will not remain confidential that
information will be leaked to the Hungarian government, Radio Bucharest
reported on 26 November. Meanwhile, media reports suggest that the UDMR
will have two ministers in Victor Ciorbea's government: one without
portfolio in charge of the Department for National Minorities, the other
head of the Ministry of Tourism. Negotiations on the line-up of the new
cabinet are almost over, but an announcement will not be made until
after President-elect Emil Constantinescu was been sworn in on 1
December, Premier-designate Victor Ciorbea said. -- Michael Shafir
TIRASPOL-OSCE RELATIONS WORSEN. Authorities in the breakaway
Transdniester region have said that since the appointment of Donald
Johnson as head of the OSCE mission, developments in the region have
been negative and may affect cooperation within the Joint Control
Commission, BASA-press reported on 26 November. The statement claims
that OSCE members helped citizens in the Vasilievca and Dubasari
districts to vote in the first Moldovan presidential run-off on 17
November by carrying ballot boxes to them. (The Tiraspol authorities had
prohibited balloting on the region's territory but allowed voting for
those willing to cross the Dniester.) The authorities said this was a
"political provocation." They also accused members of the OSCE mission
of "driving very fast" in the security zone and thus "endangering the
safety of people." The OSCE mission said the statement "was not worth an
answer." -- Michael Shafir
BULGARIAN TRANSPORT MINISTER ACCUSED OF CORRUPTION. Stamen Stamenov is
responsible for causing losses to Bulgaria worth several million
dollars, Bulgarian media reported, quoting Edvin Sugarev, deputy
chairman of the parliamentary commission against corruption. Sugarev
announced the data after briefing Prosecutor-General Ivan Tatarchev and
Interior Minister Nikolai Dobrev. He said that Stamenov signed
"unfavorable" contracts with the Yugoslav Railroad Company between July
1994 and January 1995, when Stamenov was director-general of the
Bulgarian State Railroad Company. Stamenov denied the allegations,
telling Trud that " one of Bulgaria's tragedies is that we always
suspect one other." -- Maria Koinova
BULGARIAN ECONOMIC UPDATE. Prime Minister Zhan Videnov has said the
Bulgarian National Bank and the government will assume strict currency
control over exchange offices, financial-broker houses, and the banking
system, Trud reported on 27 November. There will also be stricter
control over the import and export of hard currency as well as over bank
transfers to and from abroad. The move is aimed at stopping hard
currency smuggling and at strengthening the adherence to laws on buying
and selling hard currency. Videnov, however, added that there will be no
changes in the currency regime. Meanwhile, some 1.6 million of
Bulgaria's population of 8.5 million are currently entangled in debts,
according to the National Statistical Institute's latest survey. Some
80% of respondents now admit that their financial situation has
deteriorated considerably , compared with 32% in April. -- Maria Koinova
HIGH-RANKING KOSOVO OFFICIALS IN TIRANA. Shadow-state President Ibrahim
Rugova, Prime Minister Bujar Bukoshi, and several representatives of
Kosovo's Albanian political parties arrived in Tirana on 26 November to
discuss a joint policy, Deutsche Welle's Albanian-language service
reported on 26 November. The meeting coincides with increasing reports
of internal shadow-state conflicts over coordinating policy between the
president, government, and legislature (see Pursuing Balkan Peace, 26
November 1996). Rugova also met with Albanian President Sali Berisha,
ATSH reported. Both stressed the importance of Kosovo's democratic
institutions, such as the parliament. It remains unclear if the
Kosovars' demand for independence from federal Yugoslavia was addressed.
Albania's support for that demand has been half-hearted to date. Both
called on the EU to open an information office in Pristina. Earlier this
week, Berisha had met with the famous dissident and possible Kosovar
presidential candidate Adem Demaci. -- Fabian Schmidt
ALBANIAN PYRAMID SCHEME HEAD DISAPPEARS WITH $13 MILLION. Aleksander
Grunasi, head of the Grunasi investment company, has disappeared with
$13 million, Reuters reported on 26 November. Scores of people from
Shkoder have filed legal charges against him, while the authorities have
launched a criminal case. Grunasi had offered monthly interest rates of
up to 10% a month. Eight suspects have been arrested. Hundreds of
thousands of Albanians are estimated to have invested in pyramid schemes
in the country, some of which offer monthly interest rates of up to 50%.
Head of the local IMF mission Ranjid Teja warned that the growing number
of pyramid schemes could endanger Albania's fragile economic recovery.
The lek has increased in value against the dollar considerably since the
summer, owing to Albanians in exile buying lek and investing. -- Fabian
Schmidt
[As of 12:00 CET]
Compiled by Jan Cleave
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Copyright (c) 1996 Open Media Research Institute, Inc.
All rights reserved. ISSN 1211-1570
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