RFE/RL NEWSLINE Vol. 3, No. 117, Part II, 16 June 1999

________________________________________________________
RFE/RL NEWSLINE Vol. 3, No. 117, Part II, 16 June 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

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Headlines, Part II

* SCHUSTER SWORN IN AS SLOVAK PRESIDENT

* SERBIAN WITHDRAWAL PROCEDING ON SCHEDULE

* SERBIAN CHURCH WANTS MILOSEVIC TO GO
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPE

BELARUS, RUSSIA DISCUSS INTRODUCING SINGLE CUSTOMS
RATES. In Minsk on 15 June the State Customs Committees
of Belarus and Russia discussed the introduction of
single customs rates within the Belarus-Russia Customs
Union, Belarusian Television reported. "In 1997 the
difference between the two customs tariffs was minimal.
Today we have differences regarding hundreds of items in
the customs tariff [table]," Belarusian Television
quoted Russian State Customs Committee head Mikhail
Vanin as saying. Vanin added that Russia has lost $600
million in customs dues for motor vehicles crossing
Belarus. "One cannot say that Russia suffers, while
Belarus gains. Unfortunately, we [also] have a lot of
such decisions that place our Belarus and its partners
at a disadvantage," Belarusian State Customs Committee
head Vasil Makarevich commented. JM

NO PROGRESS IN UKRAINIAN-ROMANIAN BORDER DISPUTE.
Ukraine and Romania have failed to define their common
border in talks held in Kyiv, AP reported on 15 June.
"There is no concrete solution...The discussion at the
Kyiv talks is proceeding in a tense manner," Ukraine's
delegation head Yuriy Kostenko commented. Ukraine and
Romania disagree on how to demarcate the Black Sea
continental shelf near Zmiyinyy Island where oil and gas
deposits are believed to be located. Both countries
signed a political treaty in 1997 pledging to solve the
border dispute within two years or appeal to an
international court for arbitration. JM

UKRAINE TO SELL SHARES IN MAJOR OIL REFINERY TO RUSSIA.
Russian Fuel and Energy Minister Viktor Kalyuzhnii said
in Kyiv on 15 June that Ukraine will sell a controlling
stake in the LiNOS plant, a major oil refinery in
Lysychansk, eastern Ukraine, AP reported. The Ukrainian
government currently owns 67.41 percent of the shares in
LiNOS. Ukraine does not have enough money to keep the
refinery afloat, while Russia's ownership is expected to
guarantee a steady oil supply to LiNOS and to provide
revenues for the Ukrainian budget. JM

UKRAINIAN PARLIAMENT POSTPONES DEBATE ON CABINET OUSTER.
The Supreme Council has put off its 16 June debate on
the dismissal of Prime Minister Valeriy Pustovoytenko's
cabinet until next week. The debate was proposed by the
Supreme Council's communists who collected 153
signatures to initiate a vote of no confidence in the
government. The postponement decision was taken owing to
the need to look into several urgent economic bills and
because Pustovoytenko is currently attending a CIS
economic forum in St. Petersburg, AP reported on 15
June. JM

ESTONIAN GOVERNMENT TIES BUDGET TO CONFIDENCE MOTION.
The Estonian government on 15 June decided to attach a
confidence motion on itself to the hotly-debated 1
billion kroon ($67 million) negative supplementary
budget. The government, supported by a majority of the
parliament, is not at risk of losing the motion. Rather,
the procedure allows the bill to be voted on without
amendments. The government recently introduced
amendments to change parliamentary rules to allow the
linkage. The opposition launched over 500 amendments to
the budget in order to obstruct its passage and BNS
reported that they have already introduced 33 amendments
to the parliamentary rule change. The 15 June session of
parliament, which began to debate the budget and the
plethora of amendments, declared a halt in proceedings
for the government to plan the confidence motion. Prime
Minister Mart Laar told "Postimees" that the budget will
be passed by 1 July. MH

BALTIC AND NORDIC DEFENSE MINISTERS MEET IN RIGA.
Defense ministers from Baltic and Nordic countries met
in Riga on 14-15 June. The defense ministers of Denmark,
Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, and Sweden
also hosted other officials, including NATO Deputy
Secretary General Klaus-Peter Klaiber. The main issues
of discussion included the Kosova crisis, activities
connected with the Partnership for Peace program, and
developments following the NATO Washington summit. The
ministers signed a protocol on the Baltic Defense
College in Tartu which will define the legal status of
the institution and its personnel. The ministers also
announced that the joint air-space monitoring program
BALTNET will be completed this year and that the three
Baltic countries will submit their action plans to NATO
by the autumn. MH

BALTIC SEA FOREIGN MINISTERS MEET IN LITHUANIA. Foreign
ministers from the Council of Baltic Sea States (CBSS)
met in the Lithuanian resort town of Palanga on 14-15
June. Taking part in the two-day meeting were foreign
ministers from Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland,
Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Poland, Sweden, deputy
foreign ministers from Germany and Russia, as well as
high-ranking officials from the European Commission and
observer countries France, Great Britain, Ukraine, and
the U.S. The agenda included a review of the CBSS's
recent activities as well as discussions on EU
integration and regional cooperation, which was
reflected in the final communique. Lithuanian Foreign
Minister Algirdas Saudargas noted that during the
Lithuanian presidency of the CBSS, cooperation with the
Russian exclave Kaliningrad increased, stating that the
relationship "could serve as a model for the development
of the EU-Russia relationship on the whole and
ultimately open perspectives for a free trade agreement
between the EU and Russia," according to Reuters.
However, Estonian Foreign Minister Toomas Hendrik Ilves
commented on the discord between the CBSS and the EU
over policy and stated: "That is why I don't take this
organization very seriously," dpa reported. MH

LEGENDARY DIPLOMAT RETURNS TO REST IN LITHUANIA. Stasys
Lozoraitis Jr., a well-known diplomat dubbed the
"president of hope," was reburied in Kaunas on 15 June
in a solemn ceremony with thousands in attendance. Most
of Lithuania's political elite attended the service,
including President Valdas Adamkus, who served as
Lozoraitis's presidential campaign manager in 1993.
Despite losing that race, the diplomat of nearly five
decades earned his nickname for his hopeful message and
tireless work during the decades of Soviet occupation.
Lozoraitis served mostly in Washington where he fought
for Lithuanian independence and played a large role in
the country being recognized by the U.S. Lozoraitis died
in the U.S. in 1994. MH

POLISH CABINET APPROVES AGRICULTURAL SUBSIDY TARGETS...
The government has approved agricultural intervention
plans for the Agricultural Market Agency (ARR) to render
support to producers of grain, milk, butter, pork,
honey, and potatoes, PAP reported on 15 June. The ARR
will provide direct subsidies for 2.5 million tons of
wheat and 500,000 tons of rye as well as to 60,000 tons
of powdered milk. These subsidies will cost the
government 105 million zlotys ($26.5 million). JM

...LIFTS BAN ON INVESTMENTS IN SPECIAL ECONOMIC ZONES.
Economy Minister Janusz Steinhoff said on 15 June that
the May ban on admitting new investors to Poland's
special economic zones will be lifted on 16 June. The
ban was introduced following pressure from the EU, which
claims that Poland offers too liberal tax breaks in
those zones. According to Steinhoff, investors will be
admitted to the zones on the unchanged conditions until
the end of 2000. In 2001 new investment permits will be
granted only by those zones where unemployment exceeds
the national rate by 50 percent. Poland has 17 economic
zones in which 40 companies have created 6,000 new jobs
and pledged to invest a total of $2 billion. JM

CZECH PARLIAMENT VOTES TO RAISE KFOR PARTICIPATION. The
Chamber of Deputies on 15 June approved with a vote of
122 to 25 to send an 800-member military unit to join
the peacekeeping force in Kosova, AP and CTK reported.
The government planned to provide only 150 soldiers for
KFOR, complaining about the legislature's unwillingness
to raise the planned budget deficit to finance a bigger
unit. But the chamber's Foreign Affairs Committee voted
to increase the number of men and the plenum approved
that proposal. The Senate is to vote on the plan on 16
June. Prime Minister Milos Zeman said he was "not
against" sending 800 soldiers, but "deputies should know
that we are talking about an operation that will cost
2.5 billion crowns (about $69.4 million)," instead of
243 million in 1999 and 456 million next year. MS

CZECH ROMA APPEAL TO CONSTITUTIONAL COURT.
Representatives of 12 Romany schoolchildren from
Ostrava, northern Moravia, appealed to the
Constitutional Court on 15 June about the violation of
human rights by the Education Ministry, the Ostrava
School Office, and the directors of five so-called
"special schools" in Ostrava. They say that children
placed in those schools are being deprived of the chance
of further studies and this represents an infringement
of the basic rights of children as defined by the Human
Rights Charter and other international agreements. The
European Center for the Rights of Roma, which helped the
plaintiffs, says that there are 27 Romany pupils to one
non-Romany in those establishments. James Goldston, the
center's lawyer, was cited by CTK as saying "We want to
give the Czech courts a chance to say that no racial
segregation will be tolerated in the educational
system." MS

SCHUSTER SWORN IN AS SLOVAK PRESIDENT. Rudolf Schuster,
Slovakia's first president elected by popular vote, was
sworn in on 15 June at a ceremony attended by the
presidents of neighboring Austria, Czech Republic,
Hungary, Poland, and Ukraine, an RFE/RL correspondent in
Bratislava reported. Schuster called on the guests to
help Slovakia in its efforts to be included in the "fast
track" group of countries joining the EU, and said that
in view of Bratislava's interest in joining both the EU
and NATO, it would be "unrealistic" to expect Slovak
neutrality. He vowed to be a president of "all Slovaks"
regardless of political or ethnic affiliation and said
he would listen to "comments" from the opposition if
their goal was the "prosperity and well-being of
Slovakia." Czech President Vaclav Havel met with
Schuster briefly before the inauguration and accepted
his invitation to pay an official visit to Bratislava,
CTK reported. MS

SLOVAK MINISTER SAYS EUROPEAN ORGANIZATIONS BACK
MINORITY-LANGUAGE BILL. Culture Minister Milan Knazko on
15 June said the OSCE, the European Commission, and the
Council of Europe accept the minority-language bill
recently approved by the ruling four-party Coalition
Council. The bill is not backed by the Hungarian
Coalition Party (SMK), which submitted its own version
to the parliament. Knazko criticized the SMK for not
discussing the bill with the coalition partners and for
threatening to vote against it. He said the move had
"met abroad with embarrassment, rather than
understanding." The coalition-approved bill enables
citizens in localities with a minority population of 20
percent or more to use their mother tongue in official
contacts with the authorities, but the SMK wants its
provisions to be extended to cover education and
culture, CTK reported. MS

HUNGARIAN PARLIAMENT APPROVES KFOR CONTINGENT. The
parliament on 15 June approved a resolution on sending a
350-member guard battalion to join the peacekeeping
forces in Kosova, Hungarian media reported. It also
approved the passage of foreign peacekeeping troops
through Hungary or their stationing in the country in
support of humanitarian aid missions. Government
officials said the Hungarian battalion will guard the
KFOR headquarters in Prishtina. MSZ

SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE

SERBIAN WITHDRAWAL PROCEDING ON SCHEDULE. NATO officials
said in a statement in Brussels on 16 June that KFOR
deployment in Kosova is going according to plan. The
text added that withdrawal of Serbian troops and
paramilitary police is also on schedule except for some
minor delays due to "traffic congestion." Earlier that
day, the Atlantic alliance extended by 24 hours its
deadline for Serbian forces to leave "Zone I" of
southern Kosova on the grounds that the Serbs were
making "genuine efforts" to stick to the agreed schedule
for their retreat, Reuters reported. The Serbian
withdrawal from all of Kosova is slated to end on 20
June. PM

SUPPLY CONVOY REACHES RUSSIAN TROOPS IN KOSOVA. A
Russian supply convoy from Bosnia reached the 200
Russian troops at the Prishtina airport on 15 June and
another convoy left for Prishtina the following day,
Reuters reported. Russian officials received NATO
approval for sending the two convoys, a Russian Defense
Ministry spokesman said in Moscow. Meanwhile, Russian
commanders in Prishtina asked British KFOR troops to
resupply them with water on 15 June, but continued to
deny them and French troops access to the airport (see
"RFE/RL Newsline" 15 June 1999). FS

SERBIAN CHURCH WANTS MILOSEVIC TO GO. The Holy Synod of
the Serbian Orthodox Church issued a statement in
Belgrade on 15 June in which it called for Yugoslav
President Slobodan Milosevic and his government to
resign and be replaced by a "government of national
salvation," RFE/RL's South Slavic Service reported. The
statement added: "It should be evident to every thinking
person that [our] numerous internal problems and the
international isolation of [our] state cannot be
overcome with such a government and under the present
conditions." The bishops urged Kosova's Serbs not to
leave the province. Observers note that the Church has
never trusted Milosevic because of his communist
background. This is the first time, however, that the
Church has openly called for his ouster. A Serbian
political analyst told RFE/RL's South Slavic Service
that the bishops' "call may mobilize resistance against
Milosevic's political power." PM

NATO NEGOTIATES DISARMAMENT WITH UCK. U.S. Army General
John Craddock told dpa from Skopje on 16 June that NATO
officials are negotiating with the Kosova Liberation
Army (UCK) about its demilitarization. Craddock did not
release details about the content or location of the
talks. He added that the UCK's possible disarmament is
up to the "discretion" of the respective peacekeeping
troops. Craddock said that "we approach it in a fair and
even-handed manner...Our soldiers are not instructed to
routinely disarm [the guerrillas]. However, we have got
to make sure we defuse explosive situations. We don't
want armed [UCK] in proximity with withdrawing Serbs."
Pentagon officials said in Washington that both the
Serbs and the UCK have initiated confrontations
resulting in as many as "two dozen" deaths. They added,
however, that "we are generally satisfied with the
amount of compliance" with NATO's ban on armed violence.
FS

KFOR TROOPS PULL BACK FROM CONFRONTATION WITH UCK. About
200 UCK fighters refused to turn in their weapons to
French forces near Gjilan on 15 June and withdrew to the
mountains, a French army spokesman told Reuters. British
paratroopers pulled back from a confrontation with about
50 UCK fighters who set up a headquarters in a building
in northeast Prishtina. The fighters threatened to
resist any attempt to disarm them. In Prizren, UCK
forces moved into vacant Yugoslav army headquarters and
held victory parades in the city. The "Berliner Zeitung"
quoted the local UCK leader Rexha Ekrem as saying that
his forces took "control of the city together with
German KFOR soldiers." German army spokesman Lieutenant
Colonel Dietmar Jeserich, however, stressed that "the
Germans control this city...The UCK is walking the
streets with its weapons, but the authority lies with
KFOR and not with the UCK." The BBC quoted an unnamed
German KFOR official as saying that disarming the UCK
would be futile because the guerrillas have more arms
hidden away. FS

MORE REFUGEES RETURNING TO KOSOVA DESPITE UNHCR
WARNINGS. A UNHCR spokeswoman in Geneva told AP that
about 8,000 Kosovars returned from Macedonia and Albania
into Kosova on 15 June. She added that many more are
expected the following day. Long lines of cars backed up
at border crossings, according to unnamed UN officials
in Macedonia and Albania. Meanwhile, aid agencies
stepped up their efforts to warn the refugees of the
danger of landmines. Two people were killed and one
injured on 15 June by a mine as they crossed a field
between Macedonia and Kosova. UNHCR officials registered
returnees and set up two supply stations on the road
between Kukes and Prizren to provide people with food
and water during their return. FS

SERBIAN CIVILIANS CONTINUE EXODUS... A spokeswoman for
the UNHCR said in Geneva on 15 June that some 23,000
Serbs left Kosova for Serbia and Montenegro during the
previous four days. Most appeared to be heading for Nis,
she added. Officials of the International Committee of
the Red Cross reported that some 33,000 Serbian
civilians left the province in less than a week, of whom
24,000 went to Serbia and the rest to Montenegro. In
Prishtina, Zoran Andjelkovic, who is Milosevic's
governor of the province, said: "Yes, it is a panic, and
it is growing into a stampede," the "Financial Times"
reported on 16 June. He accused KFOR of not doing enough
to provide security for Kosova's Serbs. PM

...BUT PROBLEMS AWAIT MANY. The Red Cross officials in
Geneva noted on 15 June that most of the departing Serbs
plan to stay with relatives. But many Serbs arriving in
Belgrade complained that the authorities have done
nothing to help them, AP reported. A representative of
the Belgrade city government said: "The best thing would
have been if they had not come here at all--not because
we don't want them, but because there are guarantees for
their safety in [Kosova]. Unfortunately, they don't
believe us." PM

ARTEMIJE TO LEAVE PRIZREN. Bishop Artemije, who is the
leading Serbian Orthodox cleric in Kosova, said in
Prizren on 16 June that he will leave that city because
it is no longer safe for him there amid UCK patrols on
the streets, Reuters reported. He added that he will
leave for Prishtina with nine priests and 200 Serbian
civilians later in the day. It is not clear why KFOR has
not been able to ensure their security. Earlier, some 60
Serbian families took refuge with Artemije in the
Monastery of the Holy Archangels, "Danas" reported.
Artemije is a critic of Milosevic and advocates
reconciliation of Serbs and Albanians. PM

SERB TOSSES GRENADE AT ALBANIANS. A Serbian paramilitary
man leaving Gjilan on 15 June threw a grenade from his
car at a group of Kosovar civilians nearby, wounding 13,
including several children, AFP reported. The Kosovars
were celebrating the departure of Yugoslav forces. It is
not clear what action, if any, French peacekeepers took
against the paramilitary. PM

MORE INDICATIONS OF ATROCITIES. Italian peacekeepers
found two mass graves near Peja on 15 June. One of the
two sites appears to contain at least 120 bodies.
Britain's Sky Television reported that its journalists
saw 82 mounds of freshly dug graves, some with limbs
sticking out, north of Prishtina near a base of Serbian
paramilitaries. On 16 June, Reuters reported from the
Drenica region that villagers found bodies in four wells
in an area where local people said that Serbian forces
had killed up to 100 Kosovars. The villagers also found
"dozens" of bodies in "freshly dug pits" nearby. PM

SURROI REAPPEARS. Leading Kosovar journalist,
Rambouillet negotiator, and political figure Veton
Surroi has emerged "safe and sound" in Prishtina, where
he has been in hiding for the past 11 weeks, Human
Rights Watch said in a statement in New York on 15 June.
Surroi is now "under the protection of British NATO
forces," the statement continued. PM

MILOSEVIC OUT ON CAMPAIGN TRAIL... Milosevic spoke in
Aleksinac on 15 June in what appears to be an effort to
identify himself with resistance to NATO and with
national reconstruction in a runup to possible new
elections (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 15 June 1999). He
said: "By rebuilding our country we will renew ties with
the whole world, first of all by correcting an image
which for the whole decade had been created by those who
were dissatisfied with our resistance to [their]
colonization of the Balkans." PM

...AND WITH THE ARMY. Milosevic told guests at a
reception to mark Army Day at Belgrade's Sava Center on
15 June that "after 11 weeks of [NATO] aggression, we
can say that we have seen peace arrive with [our] combat
potentials no less [intact] than at the beginning of
this war imposed on us." General Dragoljub Ojdanic, who
is a political ally of Milosevic and chief of the
General Staff, said that the army will "obtain new,
modern weapons that can strike at aggressor countries
wherever they may be." Ojdanic praised the country's
political leadership for "preventing the total
occupation of our country as well as a total
capitulation and loss" of Kosova. Milosevic promoted or
decorated some 3,000 officers, including Ojdanic. The
Hague-based war crimes tribunal recently indicted
Milosevic and Ojdanic for atrocities in Kosova. PM

HERZEGOVINIAN TAKES OVER JOINT PRESIDENCY. Ante Jelavic,
who belongs to the Croatian Democratic Community (HDZ)
of Croatian President Franjo Tudjman, replaced moderate
Serbian leader Zivko Radisic as rotating head of the
Bosnian joint presidency on 15 June in Sarajevo.
Jelavic, who represents the hard-line Herzegovinian
faction of the HDZ, said that his "three priorities" are
to promote Bosnia's membership in the EU, the Council of
Europe, and the World Trade Organization. He also
pledged to develop joint institutions within Bosnia and
promote political and economic reconstruction aimed at
strengthening the country as a "multiethnic,
multiconfessional, and decentralized state," RFE/RL's
South Slavic Service reported. PM

MUSLIMS EXHUME MASS GRAVE. Jasmin Odobasic of the
Committee for Missing Persons said in Mostar on 16 June
that representatives of that organization have exhumed
the remains of some 55 persons, presumably Muslim
civilians, near Zijemlje. Odobasic added that Serbian
forces reportedly killed the civilians in 1992. During
the Bosnian war, some 200,000 people--mostly civilians--
were killed on all sides and more than 24,000 persons
are still missing. The remains of some 2,500 people have
been exhumed since 1995, AP reported. PM

CONSTANTINESCU EXPLAINS REFUSAL OF RUSSIAN AIRSPACE USE.
In an interview on Romanian television on 15 June,
President Emil Constantinescu said Russia had requested
a response to its request to use Romanian air space for
transiting troops to Kosova within five hours.
Constantinescu said that the use of air space granted to
NATO had followed a long legal procedure, including
approval by the parliament, and this could not apply to
such a short-timed demand (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 15
June 1999). MS

ROMANIAN PARLIAMENT APPROVES COMPROMISE ON EDUCATION
LAW. The Chamber of Deputies on 16 June approved a
compromise on the article of the amended education law
dealing with instruction at university level in the
languages of national minorities, Romanian radio
reported. The deputies voted to accept the formulation
proposed by a commission that mediated between the
chamber's stricter text of the law and the more liberal
text approved by the Senate. The law now allows teaching
in the mother tongue in existing universities and the
setting up of so-called "multicultural universities."
The amended law stipulates that in schools of national
minorities Romanian history and geography are taught in
the mother tongue at the primary school level and in
Romanian at the secondary level, examinations being
conducted in the language of the minorities. The Senate
has yet to examine the compromise. MS

ROMANIAN PARTIES' MERGER FINALIZED. Twenty-five local
branches of the Party of Romanian Unity Alliance on 15
June approved the leadership's decision to merge into
the main opposition Party of Social Democracy in
Romania, Mediafax reported (see "RFE/RL Newsline, 31 May
1999). In other news, the striking teachers said they
will continue the labor sanctions till 17 June, awaiting
the government's approval on that day of a protocol
agreed on by their representatives after meetings with
Premier Radu Vasile and Finance Minister Decebal Train
Remes. MS

MOLDOVAN CONSTITUTIONAL COURT APPROVES REFERENDUM
VALIDITY. With a vote of five to one, the Constitutional
Court on 15 June approved the validity of the non-
binding 23 May referendum called by President Petru
Lucinschi on changing the system to a presidential one,
RFE/RL's Chisinau bureau reported. The court said the
referendum has no "judicial effect," since it was not a
binding plebiscite. It also said that the Central
Electoral Commission's decision of 5 June to recognize
the validity of the referendum was legal, because the
electoral law allows the commission to annul a
referendum if participation was below 60 percent, but
does not oblige it to do so. Presidential counselor
Mihail Petrache said Lucinschi now intends to set up a
"constitutional commission" to work on a draft law on
changing the constitution. MS

MOLDOVAN PREMIER VISITS TRANSDNIESTER. Ion Sturza on 15
June met with Viktor Sinev, deputy leader of the
breakaway Transdniester region, and discussed economic
cooperation, Infotag reported. Sturza and Sinev visited
the Moldavskaya power plant in Kuchurgan, which supplies
electricity to Moldova, and said they were interested in
attracting foreign investors to improve the plant's
output, to modernize it, and make the exporting of
electricity a possibility. The estimated costs are $150-
200 million. At present, only two out of the plant's 12
power generating blocks are working. Sturza and Sinev
also visited a truck repair plant in Bedery-Tighina,
which assembles Russian-made trucks. MS

BULGARIA PROTESTS AGAINST TRIAL OF ETHNIC LEADER IN
YUGOSLAVIA. Foreign Ministry spokesman Radko Vlaikov on
15 June warned Yugoslavia that if it goes ahead with
plans to put ethnic Bulgarian leader Marko Shukarev on
trial for desertion from his army unit, Sofia will seek
"intervention" by the international community, dpa
reported. The trial is to begin on 16 June. Vlaikov
called on Yugoslavia to show "leniency" (see "RFE/RL
Newsline," 7 and 10 June 1999).

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
               Copyright (c) 1999 RFE/RL, Inc.
                     All rights reserved.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

HOW TO SUBSCRIBE
Send an email to newsline-request@list.rferl.org with
the word subscribe as the subject of the message.

HOW TO UNSUBSCRIBE
Send an email to newsline-request@list.rferl.org with
the word unsubscribe as the subject of the message.

For subscription problems or inquiries, please email
allenm@rferl.org
________________________________________________
CURRENT AND BACK ISSUES ON THE WEB
Back issues of RFE/RL Newsline and the OMRI Daily Digest
are online at: http://www.rferl.org/newsline/search/
_________________________________________________
LISTEN TO NEWS FOR 25 COUNTRIES
RFE/RL programs are online daily at RFE/RL's 24-Hour
LIVE Broadcast Studio.
http://www.rferl.org/realaudio/index.html
_________________________________________________
REPRINT POLICY
To receive reprint permission, please contact Paul Goble
via email at GobleP@rferl.org or fax at 202-457-6992
_________________________________________________
RFE/RL NEWSLINE STAFF
* Paul Goble, Publisher, GobleP@rferl.org
* Liz Fuller, Editor-in-Chief, CarlsonE@rferl.org
* Patrick Moore, Team Leader, MooreP@rferl.org
* Jan Cleave, CleaveJ@rferl.org
* Julie A. Corwin, CorwinJ@rferl.org
* Jan Maksymiuk, MaksymiukJ@rferl.org
* Fabian Schmidt, SchmidtF@rferl.org
* Michael Shafir, ShafirM@rferl.org

FREE-LANCE AND OCCASIONAL CONTRIBUTORS
* Pete Baumgartner, Jeremy Branston, Victor Gomez, Mel
Huang, Dan Ionescu, Zsolt-Istvan Mato, Jolyon Naegele,
Matyas Szabo, Anthony Wesolowsky

RFE/RL Newsline Fax: (420-2) 2112-3630
_________________________________________________
RADIO FREE EUROPE/RADIO LIBERTY, PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC