RFE/RL NEWSLINE Vol 3, No. 10, Part II, 15 January 1999

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RFE/RL NEWSLINE Vol 3, No. 10, Part II, 15 January 1999

A daily report of developments in Eastern and
Southeastern Europe, Russia, the Caucasus and Central
Asia prepared by the staff of Radio Free Europe/Radio
Liberty.

This is Part II, a compilation of news concerning
Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe.  Part I
covers Russia, Transcaucasia and Central Asia and is
distributed simultaneously as a second document.  Back
issues of RFE/RL NewsLine and the OMRI Daily Digest are
online at RFE/RL's Web site:
http://www.rferl.org/newsline

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Headlines, Part II

* SLOVAK PARLIAMENT APPROVES DIRECT PRESIDENTIAL
ELECTIONS

* SHOOTING REPORTED ALONG PRISHTINA-PRIZREN ROAD

* ROMANIAN MINERS SUSPEND STRIKE

End Note: CROATIAN HARD-LINERS SEEK TO EXPLOIT HAGUE
TRIBUNAL AS POLITICAL ISSUE
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EAST-CENTRAL EUROPE

KUCHMA APPOINTS TWO DEPUTY PRIME MINISTERS. At a 14
January cabinet session, Ukrainian Prime Minister
Valeriy Pustovoytenko introduced Volodymyr Kuratchenko
as newly appointed first deputy prime minister.
Kuratchenko's main task is to "enforce order in the oil
and gas sector," Ukrainian News quoted Pustovoytenko as
saying. Kuratchenko, who was governor of the
Zaporizhzhya region prior to his appointment, replaces
Anatoliy Holubchenko. Pustovoytenko also said President
Leonid Kuchma has appointed Mykhaylo Hladiy, former
governor of Lviv Oblast, to the newly created post of
deputy prime minister for agricultural issues. The prime
minister added that the cabinet changes have not ended
and that upcoming ones will be "significant." Also on 14
January, Kuchma dismissed Education Minister Mykhaylo
Zhuravskyy and several deputy ministers. JM

UKRAINIAN PARLIAMENT TO BEGIN ABOLISHING PRESIDENCY...
In a third attempt, the Supreme Council has passed a
motion that provides for abolishing the Ukrainian
presidency (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 13 and 14 January
1999), Interfax reported on 14 January. By a vote of 237
to 26, the parliament decided to ask the Constitutional
Court to rule on whether the parliamentary motion on
abolishing the presidency conforms with the
constitution. In the event of a favorable ruling, the
parliament can vote on a constitutional amendment
abolishing the post of president. A two-thirds majority
(300 votes) is required for a constitutional amendment
to be passed. JM

...RESORTS TO FISTICUFFS OVER VOTE TO JOIN CIS BODY. The
same day, Communist and Rukh nationalist deputies came
to blows over a vote whether Ukraine should join the CIS
Interparliamentary Assembly, Reuters reported. The clash
occurred after an electronic display in the legislature
showed that the motion to join the CIS body had been
rejected. Only 174 left-wingers voted in support of the
motion. Speaker Oleksandr Tkachenko ordered a two-hour
recess following the incident. JM

BELARUSIAN OPPOSITION BRIEFS OSCE ON UPCOMING ELECTIONS.
Anatol Lyabedzka and Uladzimir Nistsyuk, deputies of the
Belarusian Supreme Soviet, which was abolished by
President Alyaksandr Lukashenka in 1996, took part in a
session of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly's Standing
Committee in Vienna on 14 January, RFE/RL's Belarusian
Service reported. In his opening speech, OSCE chairman
and Norwegian Foreign Minister Knut Vollebaek said
Belarus is not observing basic principles of the OSCE.
Lyabedzka and Nistsyuk informed the session about the
Supreme Soviet's decision to hold presidential elections
on 16 May. They also said that the 4 April local
elections in Belarus will take place under an
undemocratic election law (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 16
December 1998). According to Nistsyuk, some 300,000
Belarusians fined for minor offenses or detained for
participating in protest actions are prohibited from
running in the elections. JM

BELARUS TO PAY CASH FOR 20 PERCENT OF RUSSIAN GAS
SUPPLIES. The 14 January "Izvestiya" reported that
Belarusian Premier Syarhey Linh has agreed with his
Russian counterpart, Yevgenii Primakov, and Gazprom head
Rem Vyakhirev on Russian gas supplies to Belarus in 1999
as well as on supplies transiting that country. An
agreement is to be signed after experts resolve the
issue of Belarus's paying its $220 million gas debt.
According to the daily, Linh promised to pay cash for 20
percent of Russian gas supplies. "Izvestiya" recalls
that Belarus has already failed to fulfill its April
1998 obligation to pay for 26 percent of gas supplies in
cash as well as to pay off a $225 million gas debt
incurred before last April. "In actual fact, Belarus in
1997 paid in hard currency only for 8 percent of Russian
gas supplies, while in 1998 [it] by no means [paid for]
more" in cash, the daily concluded. JM

ESTONIA'S CENTER PARTY, RURALISTS SIGN COOPERATION
MEMORANDUM. The Center Party and the Country People's
Party (EME) on 14 January signed a cooperation
memorandum that may pave the way to those parties'
forming a government coalition after the March general
elections, ETA reported. Center Party leader Edgar
Savisaar said the memorandum is non-binding and keeps
open the possibility of cooperation with other political
forces. In the latest poll conducted by the Saar
institute, the Center Party led the field with 10.7
percent of the vote, while the EME came fifth with 9.5
percent backing. At the end of last year, four rightist
opposition parties concluded a post-election cooperation
agreement (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 4 January 1999). JC

LATVIAN FOREIGN MINISTRY WANTS RETRACTION OF FABRICATED
NATO INTERVIEW... Latvia's Russian-language newspaper
"Respublika" has said that the "interview" with NATO
Secretary-General Javier Solana that it published
earlier this week was, in fact, a "compilation" of
remarks allegedly made by Solana during his visit to
Latvia last summer (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 14 January
1999). On 14 January, the newspaper published an
explanation by Mikhail Mamilov, the author of the
"interview," along with a letter from Solana in which
the NATO chief denies either giving an interview to
"Respublika" or making the comments attributed to him as
well as Mamilov's apology to NATO's press office and
Solana's staff, BNS reported. The Latvian Foreign
Ministry, however, wants "Respublika" to fully retract
the interview, saying that the newspaper's explanation
is "not enough." JC

...WHILE AUTHOR DISMISSED AS LATVIA'S WAY SPOKESMAN.
Meanwhile, Mamilov has been dismissed from the post of
spokesman for Latvia's Way, the party of Prime Minister
Vilis Kristopans. Latvia's Way Chairman Andrejs
Pantelejevs was quoted by LETA as saying that even
though Mamilov wrote the article as a reporter for
"Respublika," the article is "perceived as written by
Latvia Way's press secretary." He added, however, that
Mamilov will most likely not be expelled from the party.
The party's board is due to discuss the issue on 18
January, "Diena" reported on 15 January. JC

LITHUANIAN PUBLISHES LISTS OF JOBS OFF-LIMITS FOR FORMER
KGB EMPLOYEES. The government on 14 January released a
list of jobs that former KGB employees are barred from
holding under the controversial lustration law passed
last year, BNS reported. The list includes Lithuanian
Railways, the Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant, electricity
and energy suppliers, communications companies, the
state-run Klaipeda seaport, air traffic control, and the
oil and gas industry. The cabinet has also approved
amending the criminal code to provide for fines on
employers who refuse to fire former KGB agents from such
companies. Meanwhile, a ruling by the Constitutional
Court on the constitutionality of the lustration law,
which President Valdas Adamkus has refused to sign, is
expected next month. JC

LITHUANIAN PARLIAMENT APPROVES DEFENSE BUDGET INCREASE.
Lawmakers on 14 January voted by 80 to 12 to pass
legislation that will incrementally increase defense
spending to 1.95-2.00 percent of GDP by 2001 (see
"RFE/RL Newsline," 11 January 1999), BNS reported.
Parliamentary chairman Vytautas Landsbergis, who
proposed the bill, said that Vilnius is "giving a
signal" to Western states about its "serious intentions
and preparedness for membership in Euro-Atlantic
structures." Lithuania is regarded as a leading
candidate for a potential second wave of NATO expansion.
JC

ISRAELI OFFICIAL PUTS PRESSURE ON VILNIUS OVER NAZI
TRIALS. Israeli parliamentary chairman Dan Tichon said
in Vilnius on 14 January that Lithuania must be "more
vigorous" in prosecuting alleged Nazi war criminals.
Tichon said that he had used meetings with President
Valdas Adamkus and parliamentary speaker Vytautas
Landsbergis to press the issue. His official visit comes
just one week after the trials of Aleksandras Lileikis
and Kazys Gimzauskas, both accused of handing over Jews
to Nazi execution squads during World War II, were
suspended pending medical tests to determine whether
they are well enough to appear in court (see "RFE/RL
Newsline," 7 and 8 January 1999). JC

BALCEROWICZ ACCUSES COALITION PARTNER OF 'DESTROYING
DEMOCRACY.' Deputy Premier and Finance Minister Leszek
Balcerowicz, who is also leader of the Freedom Union
(UW), told Polish Radio on 14 January that parliamentary
deputies of the coalition Solidarity Electoral Action
(AWS) are acting against the interests of the AWS-UW
cabinet. "This practice is quite simply the destruction
of democracy," he said. The UW has recently demanded
that the AWS dismiss two ministers who, in the UW's
opinion, opposed government policy by supporting a bill
that slows privatization (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 12
January 1999). AWS leader Marian Krzaklewski appealed
for an end to mutual accusations, saying on Polish Radio
the same day that the current "coalition storm" can be
overcome by discussing appropriate provisions of the
1997 coalition agreement. JM

POLISH MILITARY DELEGATION REVIEWS CZECH FIGHTER PLANES.
A Polish military delegation headed by First Deputy
Defense Minister Kazimierz Dziok visited the Aero
Vodochody aircraft company on 14 January to discuss the
possibility of producing the L-159 light attack jet and
its L-139 trainer in both countries, Reuters reported,
citing the company's president, Scott White. U.S.-based
Boeing took over the management of the loss-making Aero
Vodochody in 1998, acquiring more than 30 percent of the
company as part of a consortium. Aero Vodochody, which
has upgraded the Czech-producesd L-159 with Western
avionics, has been looking for new export markets after
winning a contract to deliver 72 of the upgraded planes
to the Czech airforce through 2002. MS

CZECH PARLIAMENT REJECTS ABOLITION OF LUSTRATION LAW. By
an overwhelming majority, the Chamber of Deputies on 14
January rejected a motion moved by the Communist Party
of Bohemia and Moravia to rescind the lustration law.
The law was passed in late 1991 for a five-year period
and was later extended to 31 December 2000. It bans
former Communist Party officials, communist secret
police members, and members of the People's Militia's
paramilitary units from holding senior state and
business posts. MS

SLOVAK PARLIAMENT APPROVES DIRECT PRESIDENTIAL
ELECTIONS. The parliament on 14 January amended the
constitution to provide for the election of the
country's president by direct popular vote. The bill was
supported by 93 out of the 108 deputies present,
exceeding the necessary two-thirds majority in the 150-
seat legislature by three votes. The bill stipulates
that if no presidential candidate is backed by a
majority of voters in the first round, a runoff between
the two best-placed candidates is to be held two weeks
later. Observers said presidential elections could take
place in late April, CTK reported. MS

SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE

SHOOTING REPORTED ALONG PRISHTINA-PRIZREN ROAD. Police
on 15 January prevented a Reuters reporter from leaving
Prishtina on the road south to Prizren. The police told
the journalist that the road is "unsafeŠbecause of the
shooting [by] terrorists," which is the Serbian term for
the Kosovar guerrillas. Later, Reuters quoted unnamed
"eyewitnesses" as reporting "heavy fighting" in the
Shtima area. An OSCE spokesman added that monitors are
trying to verify reports of shooting in the Suhareka and
Shtima areas along the Prishtina-Prizren road. In
Prizren the previous day, unidentified gunmen killed two
ethnic Albanians, who the state-run Tanjug news agency
said were loyal to Serbia. PM

UNEXPLAINED MILITARY MOVEMENT IN KOSOVA. OSCE monitors
told AFP on 14 January that Yugoslav security forces
carried out "significant" but unexplained troop
movements in the Podujeva area in northern Kosova. A
spokesman for the monitors said that tanks, armored
personnel carriers, trucks, and jeeps were involved. The
vehicles traveled northward from Podujeva early in the
day but later returned. The spokesman added that "it is
too early to tell" what the purpose of the movements is
but that he is "perplexed" by them. PM

NATO'S CLARK PESSIMISTIC ON KOSOVA. General Wesley
Clark, who is the Atlantic alliance's supreme commander
in Europe, said in Sarajevo on 15 January that "both
sides [in Kosova] are preparing for a conflict should
negotiations fail. There is a strong possibility, absent
diplomatic agreement or some implicit understanding in
the next six to eight weeks, that we will see resumption
of very wide-scale fighting," Reuters quoted him as
saying. PM

UCK THREATENS TO 'CLOSE DOOR.' Bardhyl Mahmuti, who is a
spokesman for the Kosova Liberation Army (UCK), told
reporters in Geneva on 14 January that the guerrillas
expect the Serbian authorities to free nine Kosovar
prisoners following the UCK's recent hand-over of eight
Serbian soldiers to the OSCE (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 14
January 1999). Mahmuti added that "if the Belgrade
authorities refuse to free them, it will be the last
time the international community or the people who come
from the international community knock on our door. Our
doors will be closed," AP reported. UCK officials
maintain that the guerrillas freed the eight soldiers as
part of a deal that the OSCE negotiated with the Serbs.
Serbian spokesmen insist that Belgrade will never deal
with the UCK, whom the Serbian authorities refer to as
"terrorists." PM

OSCE SAYS MILOSEVIC 'NOT COOPERATING.' Norwegian Foreign
Minister Knut Vollebaek, who holds the rotating OSCE
chair, said in Vienna on 14 January that Yugoslav
President Slobodan Milosevic and his government "do not
provide the [OSCE verification] mission with all the
information, access and support it needs" in Kosova.
Referring to the mission's problems, Vollebaek stressed
that "not only have the practical challenges been
tremendous, but the political obstacles are serious" as
well. The Norwegian minister added that he recently told
Yugoslav Foreign Minister Zivadin Jovanovic that
Belgrade faces "continued isolation" if it fails to
cooperate fully with the OSCE in Kosova. For several
years, Milosevic has been seeking membership for
Yugoslavia in the OSCE. That body has barred Belgrade
because of its role in the wars in Croatia and Bosnia.
PM

VOLLEBAEK INVITES KOSOVARS TO VIENNA. Vollebaek also
said in Vienna on 14 January that he wants
representatives of all the main Kosovar factions to come
to the Austrian capital for talks "very soon." He
stressed that "the first and crucial step [in obtaining
a political settlement in Kosova] is to bring the
[ethnic] Albanians together in one unified negotiating
approach." The Albanian government has invited the
Kosovar leaders to Tirana for the same purpose (see
"RFE/RL Newsline," 8 January 1999). PM

SIMITIS SAYS EUROPE HAS NO POLICY ON FORMER YUGOSLAVIA.
Greek Foreign Minister Kostas Simitis told the Madrid
daily "El Pais" of 14 January that the fact that the
U.S. has assumed the leading diplomatic role in the
former Yugoslavia is "proof that Europe has yet to
develop a common foreign policy," independent Belgrade
Radio B-92 reported. Simitis added that "conflicting
[national] interests" between individual EU member
states are responsible for the lack of a unified policy.
He pointed to the joint action of Greece and Italy in
helping Albania overcome its security and other problems
in 1997 and 1998 as an example of what EU countries are
able to achieve in the Balkans if they put their minds
to it. PM

'FERAL TRIBUNE' CLAIMS AUTHORITIES TRYING TO SHUT IT
DOWN. The editors of the independent Split-based weekly
"Feral Tribune" said in a statement on 14 January that
the authorities are seeking to force the newspaper out
of business by barring the state-run newspaper
distributor, Tisak, from paying its debts to the weekly.
The statement added that the debts for November and
December alone amount to nearly $200,000. It concluded
that "independent media in Croatia have been in an
extremely difficult situation in the past--exposed to
numerous lawsuits and police surveillance of
journalists. Now their destruction is being prepared
through the state's monopoly over newspaper
distribution." Reuters quoted a spokesman for Tisak as
saying that all the distributor's accounts "have been
blocked" and that it is not able to pay its debts to all
its clients, including some to whom it owes more than it
does "Feral." PM

ALBANIAN POLICE INCREASE SECURITY AROUND U.S. EMBASSY.
An Interior Ministry spokesman told Reuters on 14
January that the Albanian police have stepped up their
guard around the U.S. embassy in Tirana. The spokesman
said that "there have been security problems," but he
did not elaborate. "Shekulli" reported the previous day
that the U.S. embassy "suspended operations" temporarily
after receiving unspecified reports that it had been
under "threat of attack" over the past week or so.
According to "Albanian Daily News" of 14 January,
however, an embassy spokesman has denied that report.
The embassy has been closed to the public since shortly
after the August 1998 bombings of the U.S. embassies in
Kenya and Tanzania. Some observers have linked those
bombings to the prior arrest in Albania of agents of
suspected terrorist Osama Bin Laden (see "RFE/RL
Newsline," 30 November 1998). FS

UN DISARMAMENT PROGRAM READY TO START IN GRAMSH. Bashkim
Kozi, who is the chairman of the Gramsh district
council, told ATSH on 14 January that a UN-sponsored
disarmament program is ready to start in the second half
of January. In cooperation with the OSCE, the UN plans
to invest $500,000 in local infrastructure, employment,
and telephone lines. In exchange, the government "hopes"
that most local people will voluntarily surrender
illegally held weapons. Gramsh is one of the most
heavily armed towns in Albania because its citizens
plundered a large arms arsenal there in early 1997. FS

ROMANIAN MINERS SUSPEND STRIKE. Miners in the Jiu Valley
have announced that they are suspending their strike
until 18 January and that negotiations in Bucharest are
to be resumed later on 15 January, Romanian Radio
reported. The previous day, strikers dismantled two
barricades set up by police on the road between
Petrosani and Bucharest. Police left without opposing
the miners, who then returned to Petrosani. Interior
Minister Gavril Dejeu said the strikers are "testing"
the police and denied that he ordered opening fire on
the miners. The opposition Party of Social Democracy in
Romania (PDSR), who accused Dejeu of giving such an
order, is demanding that the minister's parliamentary
immunity be lifted. Strike leader Miron Cozma said that
more than 11,000 strikers have agreed in writing to
march on Bucharest and that Oltenia region miners have
pledged to travel to the valley in support of the
strikers. MS

LIBERAL PARTY SUSPENDS DEPUTY CHAIRMAN OVER STRIKE
NEGOTIATIONS. Liberal Party chairman Mircea Ionescu-
Quintus said on 14 January that the party's Central
Standing Bureau, meeting two days previously, announced
it is "suspending for one year" deputy chairman Viorel
Catarama for having conducted negotiations with the
striking miners in Petrosani last week. Ionescu-Quintus
said Catarama "had no mandate" to do so. The government,
too, has said that Catarama, who is chairman of the
Senate's Economic Committee, was not empowered to
negotiate (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 7 January 1999).
Observers say the move may have more to do with the
struggle in the Liberal leadership over Ionescu-Quintus'
succession than with the strike. According to party
statutes, the National Council must still approve the
bureau's decision, RFE/RL's Bucharest Bureau reported.
MS

MAVERICK ROMANIAN SENATOR TO JOIN NATIONALIST PARTY? The
anti-Hungarian Party of Romanian National Unity (PUNR)
has officially invited maverick Senator George Pruteanu
to join it, saying that Pruteanu may be nominated as its
candidate in the 2000 presidential elections. Elected to
the Senate on the list of the ruling National Peasant
Party Christian Democratic (PNTCD) in 1996, Pruteanu
spearheaded efforts to hinder the Hungarian Democratic
Federation of Romania's demands for amending the
education law in 1997. He was expelled from the PNTCD in
March 1998 for "lack of discipline." Pruteanu told
Mediafax he has also received offers to join the junior
coalition Democratic Party, the opposition PDSR, and the
Alliance for Romania, but he added that he has made no
decision so far. MS

MOLDOVAN PRESIDENT IN SWITZERLAND. Petru Lucinschi and
his Swiss counterpart, Ruth Dreifuss, met in Bern on 14
January and signed an accord on avoiding double
taxation. Lucinschi also met with Foreign Minister
Flavio Coti, Flux and ITAR-TASS reported. A Swiss
Foreign Ministry spokesman said Bern will encourage
investments in Moldova. Lucinschi then traveled to
Geneva to meet with World Trade Organization (WTO)
chairman Denis Belisle. Chisinau Radio said the purpose
of the meetings is to accelerate the process of
Moldova's European integration and its adherence to WTO
principles. In other news, AP reported that the Moldovan
government on 13 January decided to reform the debt-
ridden energy sector to attract foreign investment. To
this end, it froze the state electricity company's 1. 3
billion lei ($152 million) debt to the state budget in
order to make it more attractive to prospective
investors. MS

OIL SLICK BY-PASSES KOZLODUY. A spokesman for the
Kozloduy nuclear plant on 14 January said the oil slick
moving along the Danube river has passed Bulgaria's
nuclear plant at Kozloduy without affecting its safety,
Reuters reported. The Bulgarian authorities have
requested that Yugoslavia provide information on the
spill. They were told that its cause will be clarified
by 15 January. MS

END NOTE

CROATIAN HARD-LINERS SEEK TO EXPLOIT HAGUE TRIBUNAL AS
POLITICAL ISSUE

by Andrej Krickovic

	In recent weeks, relations between the Croatian
government and the Hague-based International Criminal
Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) have
dramatically worsened. Croatia's political leadership
has claimed that the ICTY discriminates against
Croatians and has called into question its further
cooperation with the tribunal. The ICTY has criticized
the Croatian media for its "aggressive rhetoric" and has
dismissed Croatian criticisms as baseless. Yet the
ICTY's inability to bringing certain suspects to justice
may be playing into the hands of hard-line forces in
Croatia that are looking to make the "anti-Croatian
bias" of the ICTY an issue in the upcoming parliamentary
elections.
	Tudjman triggered the anti-Hague debate during a
speech to Croatian generals at the opening of the
Croatian Military Academy in December. He claimed that
the Hague-based war crimes tribunal is preparing to
issue warrants for the arrest of "five or six" Croatian
generals who headed the 1995 offensive to retake
territory seized by Serbian forces in 1991 and whom many
Croats regard as heroes.
	Anti-ICTY feeling has also been bolstered by
various subsequent events, to which Croatian state-run
media have given an anti-Croatian spin. Bosnian Croat
Anto Furundzija received a 10-year sentence for his role
in the rape of a Muslim woman in 1993, and indictments
have been issued against other Bosnian Croats, Mladen
Naletilic "Tuta" and Vinko Martinovic "Stela", for
crimes committed against Muslims in Mostar. Meanwhile
Mile Mrksic, Veselin Sljivancanin, and Miroslav Radic,
the three Yugoslav generals indicted by the court on
charges of committing war crimes against Croatians
during the Serbian siege of the Croatian town of Vukovar
in 1991, were recently cleared of all criminal charges
by a Belgrade Military court and live freely in the
Serbian capital.
	In a recent interview in "Jutarnji List," Ivic
Pasalic, President Franjo Tudjman's hard-line adviser on
domestic politics and one of the ruling Croatian
Democratic Community's (HDZ) leading politicians, said
that an indictment of the Croatian generals would raise
questions about Croatia's cooperation with the Hague-
based tribunal. Pasalic pointed out that while 12 of the
26 suspects held in custody by the tribunal are Croats,
none of those 26 suspects are charged with crimes
against Croats. He went on to say that the tribunal is
trying to relativize Serbian crimes and present Croatia
as the worst aggressor in the war in order to force
Croatia into future political associations with its
Serbian and Bosnian neighbors. And he also announced
that the issue of Croatia's cooperation with the court
will soon be reviewed by the Croatian parliament.
	For her part, Louise Arbour, the chief prosecutor
of the ICTY, has been quick to defend the record of the
tribunal and has criticized the Croatian media for its
"aggressive rhetoric" and for publicizing "pathetic
inaccuracies about the court." She has said that it
would be highly cynical of the Croatian leadership to
cooperate with the court over indictments that do not
threaten those in power and to withhold such cooperation
over indictments of high-ranking Croatian officials. She
has pointed out that Croatia has not fulfilled its
obligations to provide the court with evidence and has
claimed that the ICTY has done everything within its
power to make Yugoslavia surrender suspects to the
court.
	Yet, the ICTY has not been successful in this
endeavor. Yugoslavia is an international pariah state
subject to a host of sanctions by the international
community The threat of further economic and diplomatic
sanctions seems to have little influence on a leadership
that is already isolated. It has been much easier for
the ICTY and the international community to exert
pressure on Croatia, which has much more to lose from
sanctions and worsening relations with the international
community.
	The ICTY has no police force of its own and depends
on the international community to bring suspects
indicted by the court to justice. In many cases, the
political will on the part of the international
community has been lacking, even when the tribunal has
been eager to go after certain suspects. So far, the
international community has been unwilling to turn up
the pressure on Yugoslavia in order to bring its war
criminals to justice.
	Tudjman has been looking to rattle his nationalist
saber as Croatia gears up for parliamentary elections.
In recent speeches, he has railed against internal
enemies, threatened to use force against SFOR during the
border dispute with neighboring Bosnia at Martin Brod,
and praised the balancing role Russia plays in
international politics. Croatian cooperation with the
ICTY has become a convenient issue for Tudjman and his
nationalist cronies to exploit for their own political
purposes.
	The Court's failure to arrest anyone for crimes
against Croatians has played into the hands of its pro-
Tudjman critics. As long as the international community
is unwilling to put pressure on Yugoslavia to extradite
suspects indicted for war crimes in Croatia, the ICTY
will be an attractive target for Tudjman's nationalist
outpourings.

The author is a freelance journalist based in Zagreb.

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