RFE/RL NEWSLINE Vol. 1, No. 69, Part II, 9 July1997

Note to readers: the RFE/RL Web Site is providing detailed coverage of NATO's
Madrid Summit from 8-9 July. News updates, analysis, and RealAudio are posted
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This is Part II of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty's Newsline.
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 RFE/RL NewsLine are
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Headlines, Part II

*NATO INVITES CZECH REPUBLIC, HUNGARY, POLAND TO JOIN


*OSCE SAYS ALBANIAN ELECTIONS VALID


*NATO WARNS AGAINST ATTEMPT TO OUST PLAVSIC


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EAST-CENTRAL EUROPE

NATO INVITES CZECH REPUBLIC, HUNGARY, POLAND TO JOIN. NATO leaders invited the
Czech Republic, Hungary, and Poland to join the Western alliance at a historic
summit in Madrid on 8 July. NATO leaders rejected a strong appeal from France,
Italy, and other states to also extend invitations to Romania and Slovenia.
But a communique said NATO will review the enlargement process in 1999 and
that the door remains open for former Communist states to join in the future.
The statement specifically mentioned Romania and Slovenia and also praised the
"progress achieved towards greater stability and cooperation" by the Baltic
States. U.S. President Bill Clinton hailed NATO's decision as the "dawn of a
new Europe" that is undivided, democratic, and peaceful. U.S. Defense
Secretary William Cohen said NATO will send officials to the three states to
devise plans for upgrading their infrastructures, communications, and other
systems to enable them to become full members of the alliance.

CZECH, HUNGARIAN, POLISH LEADERS WELCOME NATO DECISION. The Czech Republic,
Hungary, and Poland welcomed with "deepest satisfaction" the invitation to
become members of NATO. Czech President Vaclav Havel, flanked by Polish
President Aleksandr Kwasniewski and Hungarian Premier Guyla Horn, read a
statement to reporters in Madrid just minutes after NATO Secretary-General
Javier Solana announced the 16 NATO countries had decided to take in the three
new members. The Central European statement said the move is in recognition of
the "tremendous efforts" undertaken by their societies following the collapse
of communism in 1989. The leaders said they are very proud that the
transformations of their political and economic systems have made them
eligible for NATO membership. Havel also said the three hope that the
parliaments of the 16 NATO countries will ratify their accession in time for
them to become full members by April 1999, the 50th anniversary of the
founding of the alliance.

ROMANIA, SLOVENIA LOOK TO FUTURE MEMBERSHIP. Romanian President Emil
Constantinescu said the Madrid communique "acknowledges the exceptional
efforts" made by Romania over the last seven months. He added that Bucharest
must now "continue with the reforms and the democratization process." Romanian
Premier Victor Ciorbea noted that "everything humanely possible" was done to
join in the first wave but noted that the gap left by the previous government
between Romania and the other contenders was too large to bridge in seven
months. Prime Minister Janez Drnovsek said in Ljubljana that his country
"hopes the process of enlarging NATO will continue and that Slovenia as a
candidate will be treated independently, on its own merits, and not as part of
a group." He added that he fears that "a further enlargement will be delayed
if troubles with other countries arise."

BALTIC REACTION TO NATO DECISION. Estonian Ambassador to NATO Juri Luik
expressed satisfaction over the mention of the Baltic States in the
communique, according to ETA. "This is just what we needed," he commented.
RFE/RL's Latvian service reported that Janis Jurkans, the former Latvian
foreign minister and a current member of the parliamentary Foreign Affairs
Committee, said the decision to invite just three countries to join came as no
surprise to Latvia, which, he stressed, is still not prepared for such a step
either military or economically. BNS reported that Lithuanian diplomats
expressed cautious optimism, saying that "in theory, a stronger declaration
could have been expected, but even such a compromise is not bad." Presidents
Lennart Meri (Estonia), Guntis Ulmanis (Latvia), and Algirdas Brazauskas
(Lithuania) are due to meet with their Czech, Hungarian, and Polish
counterparts in Madrid on 9 July.

NEW NATO-SPONSORED SECURITY ORGANIZATION INAUGURATED. Leaders of NATO and its
28 partnership countries have inaugurated the Euro-Atlantic Partnership
Council, RFE/RL's correspondents in Madrid reported on 9 July. The new group
includes countries seeking alliance membership, several neutral countries, and
former Soviet republics. Russia is also a member but, as a protest against
NATO's expansion, decided to send only a deputy prime minister to head its
delegation at the inaugural ceremony. NATO Secretary-General Solana said the
new council "can open a new chapter in our relationship" and help guarantee
peace in the region. The council takes its place alongside an expanded NATO
and a new Russia-NATO partnership council. It will have a permanent
Secretariat at NATO's Brussels headquarters.

NATO, UKRAINE SIGN PARTNERSHIP ACCORD. Ukraine and NATO signed a partnership
agreement in Madrid on 9 July. Before the signing, Ukrainian President Leonid
Kuchma told a news conference he is satisfied with the agreement. He said
Ukraine "obtained what it wanted" and that he discussed the content of the
agreement with Russian President Boris Yeltsin and Prime Minister Viktor
Chernomyrdin. He also said the agreement was "modeled" on the Russia -NATO
Founding Act, signed in May. Kuchma said that he did not expect any
disagreement with Russia over the issue of relations between Ukraine and NATO.
In his view, the agreement corresponds to the national interests of both
Ukraine and Russia. Meanwhile, in Kyiv, a newly formed group of Ukrainian
parliamentary deputies have protested the country's impending partnership with
NATO. A total of 187 deputies from various political parties are reported to
have joined an anti-Nato movement over the past few weeks called "Ukraine
Outside of Nato."

SOME BELARUSIAN, UKRAINIAN, RUSSIAN DEPUTIES PROTEST NATO EXPANSION. Anti-NATO
parliamentary groups in Belarus, Ukraine, and Russia have issued a statement
urging the three countries to join efforts in the near future to counteract
the alliance's expansion, Interfax reported. The statement says that NATO
expansion means the U.S. and its allies "consider force or threat of force as
the main factor in international relations." NATO is "creating division lines
and barriers in Europe to return to the policy of spheres of influence,
expansion and dictatorship typical for the periods preceding World War I and
World War II," according to the statement. The Anti-NATO group will call on
the presidents and governments of Belarus, Ukraine, and Russia to hold
"consultations, urgently working out efficient joint programs to counteract"
NATO expansion.

SLOVAK PREMIER ACCUSES NATO OF DOUBLE STANDARDS. Vladimir Meciar said in
Madrid on 8 July that he prefers the "smaller" version of NATO expansion
rather than the option of inviting five countries other than Slovakia to join.
He noted that if Romania and Slovenia had acceded now, a second wave of
expansion would likely have been put off indefinitely. Meciar argued that the
NATO decision shows the alliance practices double standards--one set for
Slovakia and one for its neighbors. He added that the security of Slovakia
will not be weakened by NATO expansion, RFE/RL's Bratislava office reported.

UKRAINIAN JUSTICE MINISTER CRITICIZES ANTI-CORRUPTION CAMPAIGN. Ukrainian
Justice Minister Serhiy Holovaty on 8 July demanded a meeting with President
Leonid Kuchma, saying he wants confirmation that market reforms and the
campaign against corruption will continue. Holovaty told journalists he is
concerned that reforms in Ukraine are being stalled. He described the reform
process as "only show, but no concrete action." Holovaty also accused
officials responsible to Acting Prime Minister Vasyl Durdinets of blocking an
anti-corruption campaign. Durdinets has recently criticized Holovaty for
failing to fight corruption. There was no immediate comment from Kuchma, who
is in Madrid attending the NATO summit.

TWO MEN CHARGED WITH MANSLAUGHTER IN CONNECTION WITH LATVIAN TRAGEDY. The two
men who operated the crane at the Talsi firefighters' celebration, at which
eight children died and many others were injured, have been charged with
manslaughter caused by negligence, BNS reported on 8 July. The crane was used
to hoist a basket that was intended to carry only four people but was filled
with some 30 children (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 30 June 1997). Chief prosecutor
Olgerts Sabanskis said the charges were preliminary. If convicted on those
charges, the two men would face up to two years in prison or a fine equivalent
to 20 minimum monthly wages.

FLOODS IN CZECH REPUBLIC, POLAND WORSEN. A state of emergency was declared in
the Moravian city of Ostrava on 8 July, Czech media reported. More than half
of the city of 350,000 inhabitants is under water. Most of northern Moravia is
flooded, and the floods have begun to spread to southern Moravia. Parts of the
city of Olomouc have had to be evacuated. Ten people are reported to have been
killed, while many more are missing. Czech officials estimate damage totaling
10 billion crowns ($300 million). Meanwhile, Polish police say that the death
toll in floods in southern Poland rose to seven on 8 July. Deputy Interior
Minister Zbigniew Sobotka told journalists that the situation could get worse.
He said 10,000 homes have been flooded and 6,000 people evacuated.

HUNGARIAN PARLIAMENT APPROVES JUDICIAL REFORM. Lawmakers on 8 July approved a
bill on judicial reform and amendments to the penal code, Hungarian media
reported. A new court of appeal. and a National Judicial Council guaranteeing
the independence of courts from the government are to be set up. Under the
penal code amendments, eligibility for parole for those serving life sentences
is to be considerably more difficult; in some cases, a minimum of 30 years in
prison will have to be served. In addition, car theft will be more strictly
punished. Also on 8 July, the parliament approved a bill transforming the
state-owned MTI news agency into a share-holding company. The chairman of MTI
is to be appointed by the prime minister from among recommendations submitted
by the company's Owners' Advisory Council.

SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE

OSCE SAYS ALBANIAN ELECTIONS VALID... Officials of the Council of Europe and
the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe issued a report in
Warsaw on 8 July, in which they called the recent Albanian parliamentary vote
"acceptable." The study noted that some 73% of eligible voters turned out,
despite "irregularities" that included shoot-outs at polling places. Catherine
Lalumiere, the Council of Europe's representative for the elections, said the
election proved that Albanians "want to get out of chaos and put an end to
violence." She added that the politicians must now put their differences
behind them and work together if they want Albania to receive international
aid again.

...WHILE ALBANIAN POLITICIANS DISCUSS FUTURE. Election officials in Tirana
reported on 8 July that there are still no results from seven electoral
districts and that the final, nation-wide total may not be available for
weeks. Fatos Nano, the Socialists' prime minister-designate, nonetheless said
he wants to name his government by 20 July. But President Sali Berisha's
Democrats have not made clear what sort of policy they will conduct as the
leading opposition party. Nor has Berisha said when he will resign the
presidency, although news agencies reported on 8 July that he has already
begun to move his belongings out of the president's office. The previous day,
the Socialists nominated Rexhep Mejdani, a little-known professor of
mathematics, as their candidate to replace Berisha. The parliament elects the
president, whose position the Socialists have promised to make less powerful.

NATO WARNS AGAINST ATTEMPT TO OUST PLAVSIC. The Western alliance issued a
statement in Madrid on 8 July saying that NATO "will not tolerate any recourse
to force or violence" in Bosnia. Observers said this is a clear warning to
opponents of embattled Republika Srpska President Biljana Plavsic not to try
to oust her by force. The U.S. and its major allies had earlier expressed
support for Plavsic, and SFOR has increased patrols in and around her
stronghold of Banja Luka. The statement in Madrid also said there cannot be
any "lasting peace without justice" in the former Yugoslavia, and called on
Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, and Serbia to arrest the approximately 70
indicted war criminals still at large on their respective territories. The
text repeated the international community's warning that the former Yugoslavs'
implementation of the Dayton agreement will be a "prerequisite for continued
assistance" to the three republics.

BOSNIAN SERBS STEP UP SECURITY FOR KARADZIC, MLADIC. Aleksa Buha, the head of
the governing Serbian Democratic Party, told the Belgrade daily "Blic" on 8
July that protection has been increased for Radovan Karadzic and Gen. Ratko
Mladic, who are the two most prominent indicted war criminals in the former
Yugoslavia. Buha warned that those who guard the men "will not sit on their
hands" in the face of possible moves by the U.S. or NATO to capture the two
and take them to The Hague (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 7 July 1997). Karadzic
lives in Pale, while Mladic was last seen in public in Belgrade in June. AFP
reported on 8 July, however, that Mladic is vacationing in the Montenegrin
coastal village of Rezevici Rijeka, where he is allegedly accompanied by 15
bodyguards.

PLAVSIC REJECTS MEETING WITH MILOSEVIC. Biljana Plavsic has turned down
Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic's offer to host a meeting between her and
Momcilo Krajisnik, the Serbian member of the Bosnian joint presidency. Plavsic
said in Banja Luka on 8 July that "there is nothing to discuss" with
Milosevic, who "has already destroyed everything of value in Serbia." Earlier
that day, Plavsic met with Gen. Pero Colic, her army chief of staff, who
reaffirmed the military's support for Plavsic as commander-in-chief. He also
pledged to respect the decisions she makes as president. Pro-Milosevic media
in Belgrade had previously carried the text of a letter, allegedly written by
Colic, criticizing Plavsic's dissolution of the parliament. Colic told the
pro-Milosevic Belgrade daily "Vecernje novosti" on 8 July that foreigners must
not interfere in Bosnian Serb affairs.

OSCE URGES PUNISHMENT OF WAR RAPES. The OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, meeting
in Warsaw on 8 July, urged that rapes committed during the war in the former
Yugoslavia be prosecuted by the International Criminal Tribunal in The Hague,
Reuters reported. The assembly noted that charges of rape had been withdrawn
in a number of cases as victims dared not give evidence. In a statement issued
after its four-day session, the assembly requested the "OSCE and participating
states ensure that war crimes in the form of rape are referred to the
International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia and are given equal
treatment as other grave war crimes."

NEWS FROM FORMER YUGOSLAVIA. In Podgorica, Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic said
Serbia and Montenegro must be equal partners in the Yugoslav federation.
Djukanovic charged that Milosevic has been undermining Montenegro's position,
an RFE/RL correspondent reported from the Montenegrin capital on 8 July. In
Zagreb, Croatian Foreign Minister Mate Granic said his country now accepts
that UN civilian administrators will stay on in eastern Slavonia until 15
January 1998. In Belgrade, Jacques Klein, the UN's chief administrator in
eastern Slavonia, said that federal Yugoslav citizens will not need a visa to
go to that region once it returns to Croatian control on 15 July, the Belgrade
daily "Danas" reported.

ROMANIAN BANKER DETAINED. Razvan Temesan, the former president of Bacncorex,
was detained on 8 July by Bucharest police. He is suspected, among other
things, of having approved in 1992 the payment of $1.8 million to a private
company at a lower exchange rate than the official one. Temesan is known to be
close to former President Ion Iliescu. The Pro TV private channel reported
that Temesan says he is a "political prisoner" and has denied any wrong doing.
He is also reported to have begun a hunger strike.

MOLDOVAN LABOR DISPUTE SETTLED. Representatives of the government and the
trade unions on 8 July signed an agreement on settling the labor dispute that
began several days previously (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 7 July 1997), BASA-press
reported. Under the terms of the agreement, wage arrears will be paid by 27
July and compensation to cover cost-of-living increases will be paid to
policemen by October. The executive will also compensate those sectors of the
population hardest hit by increases in energy prices. Trade union leader Ion
Godonga said the protests will resume if the government fails to honor its
commitments.

MOLDOVAN PARLIAMENTARY DEPUTIES QUIT FACTION. Vladimir Slonari, Dimitrii Uzun,
and Ilya Trombitskii announced on 8 July that they have quit the Socialist
Unity-Edinstvo faction in the parliament, Infotag and BASA-press reported.
Trombitskii was expelled from the party shortly after the expulsion of Slonari
and Uzun (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 7 July 1997). They said their decision was
due to a "difference of principles," and they attacked the anti-reform stance
of Socialist Unity-Edinstvo. The three said they support the idea of early
elections if the parliament continues to block reforms. Slonari said that by
failing to support President Petru Lucinschi, Socialist Unity-Edinstvo is
"pushing the president to rightist postures." He also predicted that the
faction will lose more deputies. Twelve out of its 28 deputies elected in 1994
have already quit.

BULGARIAN PREMIER ON ORGANIZED CRIME. Ivan Kostov on 8 July said organized
crime in Bulgaria is threatening to destroy the authority of the state and has
already virtually replaced that authority in some regions, Reuters reported.
Interior Ministry secretary Bozidar Popov told the agency that Russian mafia
were also operating in the country with the help of local criminal groups,
sometimes "using Bulgarian frontmen to buy estates and hotels." He said
Russian criminal groups were involved in drug dealing and trafficking with
women, who are sent to work as prostitutes in neighboring Greece and Turkey.
Those groups, he said, also include citizens of former Soviet republics such
as Ukraine and Georgia as well as Chechnya.

EU APPROVES MEDICAL AID PACKAGE TO BULGARIA. The EU Executive Commission on 8
July approved a $770,000 emergency aid package for medical supplies to
Bulgaria, saying difficulties in delivering medical aid to Bulgaria have been
exacerbated by the "chaotic political climate" there since 1989. The
commission said medical supplies are among Bulgaria's most urgent needs--both
in hospitals and at government-run institutions for the elderly and children.
It added that although elections recently brought the anti-Communist
opposition to power, there is no prospect of a quick solution to current
problems, BTA reported.


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