RFE/RL NEWSLINE Vol. 3, No. 179, Part II, 14 September 1999

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RFE/RL NEWSLINE Vol. 3, No. 179, Part II, 14 September 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

* SLOVAKIA'S MECIAR CALLS FOR CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE

* ARE SERBIAN POLICE ACTIVE IN KOSOVA?

* HUNGARIAN CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY INAUGURATED IN ROMANIA

End Note: BETWEEN THE BIBLE AND THE TRADEMARK
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EAST-CENTRAL EUROPE

BELARUS TIGHTENS SECURITY AFTER MOSCOW BLAST... The Interior
Ministry on 13 September said it has taken special measures
to protect Belarusian citizens in connection with the growing
number of terrorist attacks in Russia. According to
Belarusian Television, the police and Interior Ministry
troops are concentrating on maintaining order and
guaranteeing security at recreation areas and enterprises as
well as on public transportation. JM

...AS DOES UKRAINE. President Leonid Kuchma on 13 September
signed a directive providing for measures to strengthen
"public security and guard technically dangerous facilities."
Kuchma appealed to citizens to take in their stride any
inconveniences they may experience in crossing the state
border or participating in public events. JM

UKRAINIAN CABINET APPROVES 2000 DRAFT BUDGET. The government
has approved a 2000 draft state budget that provides for
revenues totaling 37.4 billion hryvni (some $8 billion). The
government expects to gain 2.5 billion hryvni from the
privatization of state property. A list of enterprises
designated for sale in 2000 was submitted earlier to the
parliament. JM

MINIMUM WAGE TO BE RAISED IN ESTONIA. The government and
representatives of trade unions and employers signed an
agreement on 13 September raising the minimum monthly wage
from the current 1,250 kroons ($83) to 1,400 kroons as of
January 2000. The agreement also establishes the minimum
annual tax-free income at 9,600 kroons as of 200, compared
with the current 6,000 kroons, and foresees that figure
rising to 12,000 kroons in 2001. MH

LATVIAN-LITHUANIAN MARITIME BORDER PACT BACK ON TRACK? While
the Latvian parliament's Economics Committee rejected the
Latvian-Lithuanian maritime border treaty last week (see
"RFE/RL Newsline," 8 September 1999), its Foreign Affairs
Committee approved the treaty on 13 September. The vote was
six to two with two abstentions and one member failing to
vote, BNS reported. Most experts predict that the debate over
the impact of the treaty will continue in the Latvian
parliament itself. Latvian fishermen, meanwhile, have said
they will block ports if the treaty is ratified. MH

LARGE MILITARY EXERCISE BEGINS IN LITHUANIA. The "Amber Hope
'99" peacekeeping exercises began on 13 September on the
Rukla training site. The exercises bring together more than
1,000 servicemen from Lithuania, Poland, Denmark, Germany,
and Romania. The Lithuanian-Polish peacekeeping battalion
(LITPOLBAT) is also participating in the maneuvers. MH

POLISH LEFTIST LEADER WARNS AGAINST 'SOCIAL EXPLOSION.'
Leszek Miller, leader of the opposition Democratic Left
Alliance (SLD), said on 13 September that the "feeling of
helplessness and frustration" among Poles may result in a
"large-scale conflict and social explosion," PAP reported.
Miller criticized Jerzy Buzek's cabinet, saying its biggest
fault was the "violent slowdown of economic growth." Miller
stressed the need to hold early parliamentary elections (see
"RFE/RL Newsline," 13 September 1999). He also noted that the
SLD, which was formally registered as a political party in
April, has more than 34,000 members, one-third of whom are
under 30. JM

EU COMMISSIONER'S INTERVIEW ON CZECH REPUBLIC DISTORTED. CTK
on 13 September said a summary of EU commissioner Guenter
Verheugen's interview with "Der Spiegel" that was distributed
by the magazine the previous day distorted the commissioner's
statement (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 13 September 1999). In the
interview, Verheugen says that "no one knows whether
admission [to the EU] will be implemented in groups" and that
"at the moment, all [countries seeking membership] still have
an equal chance." He also said that Vaclav Klaus's cabinet
"did not take the talks with the EU very seriously" and
behaved "as if the EU were approaching the Czech Republic and
not vice-versa." That cabinet "did not want fully-fledged
membership" but "a free-trade zone" At the same time,
Verheugen noted that the minority government of Milos Zeman
"really wants full-fledged integration." MS

SLOVAKIA'S MECIAR CALLS FOR CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE. Former
Prime Minister Vladimir Meciar, in an interview with the
private VTV television on 12 September, called on Slovaks
to start staging "protests, strikes, and rallies" to bring
about a change of the political situation in the country,
CTK and SITA reported. He said the ultimate goal of these
protests should be early elections by June. Meciar added
that his Movement for a Democratic Slovakia will play a
"leading role" in organizing these protests and will
transform itself by June into "a people's party" that he
"will lead in the elections, if chosen to do so by it." MS

SLOVAK HUNGARIAN LEADER WANTS BENES DECREES ABOLISHED.
Hungarian Coalition Party (SMK) honorary chairman Miklos
Duray, in an interview with SITA on 13 September, said that
as a member of the ruling coalition, the SMK strives to
"remove all undemocratic elements" from Slovak politics,
including the Benes decrees. Duray was responding to Czech
Premier Milos Zeman's statement that the Benes decrees have
"faded away." He said the SMK will not raise the issue in
the cabinet because the coalition agreement does not
mention it. However, if a petition garnered enough support,
the cabinet would have to deal with it, he noted. MS

SLOVAK DEPUTY PREMIER AGAIN ATTACKS DZURINDA ALLY. Ivan
Miklos, deputy premier in charge of the economy, has again
criticized Economy Minister Ludovit Cernak, a close ally of
the premier, for the way his ministry handled the tender in
which the SE utility company chose Devin Banka to clear
part of Russia's debt to Slovakia (see "RFE/RL Newsline,"
10 September 1999). Miklos told journalists that the
cabinet agreed that responsibility for the irregularities
rests with the economy minister. He added that Cernak told
the cabinet he will accept whatever decision Miklos takes
with regard to the affair, SITA reported on 13 September.
MS

SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE

ARE SERBIAN POLICE ACTIVE IN KOSOVA? NATO'S Supreme Commander
Europe General Wesley Clark told an RFE/RL South Slavic
Service correspondent in Prishtina on 13 September that "one
of the Serbian assailants...who was killed by the Russian
forces [near Gjilan on 6 September] was carrying a [Serbian
Interior Ministry] ID card" (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 7
September 1999). Clark added that another of the dead was
wearing a "paramilitary uniform." He said that "we cannot
permit this" and that he is "increasingly concerned by the
evidence that we see of organized Serbian efforts to cause a
little bit of disruption here and there and to bring
increasing pressure on this fragile community.... There is an
obligation [on Belgrade's part] that these Serbian forces are
out [and] are going to stay out." He indicated that at a
later date, KFOR will discuss the possible return of some
unspecified Serbian "personnel" to clear minefields, protect
monuments, or monitor border crossings. FS

CLARK: KOSOVA CORPS NOT A MILITARY ORGANIZATION. General
Clark told an RFE/RL South Slavic Service correspondent in
Prishtina on 13 September that the planned Kosova Corps will
be an exclusively civilian body that will undertake
humanitarian and emergency tasks and reconstruction efforts.
Clark stressed that the Kosova Liberation Army (UCK) has
accepted that arrangement (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 13
September 1999). Following a visit to the UCK's general
staff, Clark said he expects the UCK to meet its
demilitarization deadline on 19 September. The NATO commander
visited Russian troops in Malisheva and praised their role in
KFOR. Clark met briefly with Britain's Prince Charles, who
visited British troops and spoke with UN Special
Representative Bernard Kouchner. FS

EU FOREIGN MINISTERS CALL FOR END OF VIOLENCE IN KOSOVA...
The EU foreign ministers, meeting in Brussels on 13
September, denounced any form of violence in Kosova and
expressed concern that many Serbs and other minorities have
recently left the region, an RFE/RL South Slavic Service
correspondent reported from the Belgian capital. The
ministers stressed that all refugees must be able to return
to their homes, regardless of their ethnic or religious
origin. They said that the UN civilian administration must
develop a complete institutional framework as soon as
possible, and they pledged to assist in the reconstruction of
the region through the European Bank for Reconstruction and
Development. The ministers also said they expect the
demilitarization of the UCK to be completed by 19 September.
And they expressed their concern about several thousand
people who disappeared during the war and whose fate remains
unknown. FS

...PLEDGE TO PROMOTE DEMOCRACY IN SERBIA. The same day, the
EU foreign ministers expressed their willingness to support
democratic forces in Serbia, particularly in cities governed
by parties that oppose the regime of Yugoslav President
Slobodan Milosevic, an RFE/RL South Slavic Service
correspondent reported. The ministers issued a statement
saying that "the time has come to establish formal contacts
with the representatives of democratic forces in Serbia and
Montenegro." They agreed to invite opposition representatives
to Brussels to discuss how to provide energy to towns with
anti-Milosevic mayors and pledged to "make sure that the
regime will not benefit from EU action in favor of the
population," Reuters reported. Meanwhile, Bodo Hombach, who
is coordinator of the EU's stability pact for Southeastern
Europe, submitted his first report to the foreign ministers.
FS

SERBIAN ECONOMISTS: GOVERNMENT CAUSING MONETARY INSTABILITY.
Mladjan Dinkic, who is the spokesman for the G-17 group of
independent economists, said in Belgrade on 13 September that
the recent drop in the value of the dinar was caused by the
government's printing money without adequate hard-currency
reserves to back it up (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 13 September
1999). Dinkic added that he expects the inflation rate for
1999 to reach 70 percent by the end of December, RFE/RL's
South Slavic Service reported. PM

UN ENVIRONMENT TEAM WARNS OF 'HOT SPOTS' IN SERBIA. Finland's
Pekka Haavisto, who heads the UN Environment Team's Balkan
Task Force, said in Belgrade on 13 September that NATO
bombing of Serbian targets in the spring did not in itself
cause "any ecological catastrophe," AP reported. He noted
that there are nonetheless two "hot spots" in industrial
areas that should be cleaned up soon lest pollution spread.
He cited unspecified "toxic waste" at the Kragujevac
automobile plant and mercury and other pollutants in a canal
near the Pancevo petrochemical works. It is unclear whether
the environmental damage was caused or exacerbated by the
bombings or if it occurred before the air attacks began. PM

CROATIA GOES TO THE HAGUE. Justice Minister Zvonimir
Separovic presented Croatia's case against Yugoslavia to the
Hague-based war crimes tribunal on 13 September. Zagreb has
accused Belgrade of genocide against Croats in the course of
the 1991-1995 war. An RFE/RL correspondent quoted a Yugoslav
lawyer at the tribunal as saying that Belgrade will file
similar charges against Zagreb. PM

TUDJMAN PLEDGES FIGHT AGAINST CORRUPTION. Croatian President
Franjo Tudjman said at the opening of the Zagreb Trade Fair
on 13 September that Croatia is coming out of a recession. He
added that the economic situation remains "complex but not
dramatic," RFE/RL's South Slavic Service reported. The
president lambasted crime and corruption, pledging a
"merciless" struggle against those who break the law. PM

NGOS SEEK BAN ON CROATIAN RIGHTIST PARTY. The Croatian
Helsinki Committee and the Croatian Movement for Democracy
and Social Justice called on the parliament and the state
Prosecutor's Office to launch proceedings to ban the right-
wing Croatian Party of Historical Rights (HSP), an RFE/RL
correspondent reported from Zagreb on 13 September.
Representatives of the two human rights groups wrote that the
HSP's leader Ante Djapic recently urged the army to stage a
coup if the government extradites any Croatian generals to
The Hague (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 8 September 1999). The
rights groups listed additional charges against Djapic, whom
they accused of glorifying the pro-Axis World War II regime
of Ante Pavelic and of openly opposing rights for ethnic
minorities. PM

ALBANIAN POLICE ARREST WAR LORD. Police arrested Nehat "The
General" Kulla in Elbasan on 12 September, AP reported.
During a raid on his bunker-like home, police discovered a
large arms cache, including explosives, machine guns, and
mortars. While serving a prison sentence for murder in March
1997, Kulla escaped from prison during the anarchy that swept
the country. He went on to become a folk hero in a northern
Tirana suburb, where he maintained a relatively high degree
of public order. The Supreme Court subsequently overturned
his original conviction. At one time, Kulla drove an army
vehicle with government number plates, which suggests he had
powerful friends. He enjoys popularity among many poor
residents of Tirana because of his reputation of helping them
when asked. FS

ALBANIAN GOVERNMENT DENIES EXISTENCE OF 'DEATH SQUADS.' A
spokesman for the Public Order Ministry on 10 September
denied recent allegations by the opposition daily "Albania"
that the government has eliminated suspected criminals
recently by using "death squads," dpa reported. The spokesman
said that "such squads do not exist. The police fight crime
only by legal means." "Albania" quoted unnamed police
officials as saying the squads are composed of experienced
policemen who have executed several well-known gang leaders.
The daily alleged that the government set up the squads after
courts repeatedly released gang leaders for "lack of
evidence." FS

ALBANIAN PREMIER ORDERS TOP OFFICIALS TO DECLARE WEALTH.
Pandeli Majko issued an order in Tirana on 10 September
obliging all high-ranking government officials, including the
heads of ministerial departments, to declare their personal
wealth. Those officials must also declare their families'
assets and the sources of this wealth. The measure is
designed to curb rampant corruption, dpa reported. FS

ROMANIAN RULING PARTY LEADER CRITICIZES PREMIER. Responding
to Prime Minister Radu Vasile's threat to leave the
National Peasant Party Christian Democratic (PNTCD) if
criticism against him in the party does not end (see
"RFE/RL Newsline," 13 September 1999), PNTCD leader Ion
Diaconescu said that "criticism is common in a democracy,"
RFE/RL's Bucharest bureau reported on 13 September. He
added that the threat "demonstrates that [Vasile's]
allegiance to the party's political ideas is circumstantial
and interest-serving." MS

HUNGARIAN CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY INAUGURATED IN ROMANIA.
Reformed Church Bishop Laszlo Toekes inaugurated the
Partium Christian University for ethnic Hungarians in
Oradea on 11 September, Romanian Radio reported. The
university will comprise both religious and non-religious
faculties and will have some 700 students. It is to be
funded by private donations and the Hungarian government.
Asked by Romanian Television to respond to the opening of
the new university, Education Minister Andrei Marga said he
"knows nothing" about it. MS

JEWISH CEMETERY DESECRATED IN ROMANIA. Unknown perpetrators
recently desecrated two tombstones in the Galati Jewish
cemetery, Romanian Television reported on 13 September. The
same day, "Cotidianul" reported that a cross was erected by
followers of Iron Guard leader Corneliu Zelea Codreanu at
Tancabesti, where the Romanian fascist leader was
assassinated in 1938 on the order of King Carol II. MS

KOSOVA MERCENARIES RECRUITED IN MOLDOVA? Stefan Uratu,
chairman of the Moldovan Helsinki Committee on Human
Rights, told journalists on 13 September that Moldovan
mercenaries were recruited during the Kosova crisis and
sent to fight on the side of the Yugoslav army. He said he
has information on at least 20 cases of veterans of the
Afghanistan war fighting with Yugoslav troops. The
mercenaries, he noted, were paid $2,000 a month, Flux
reported. Uratu also said that mercenaries from the
Transdniester are being recruited to fight in "military
conflicts in Russia" and that, according to unidentified
sources, "some Transdniestrians" were involved in the
recent terrorist acts in Moscow. MS

MACEDONIAN DEFENSE MINISTER IN BULGARIA. Nikola Kljusev told
journalists in Plodviv on 12 September that "there are many
positive results" in relations between Bulgaria and Macedonia
and "there is no reason why these relations should not
continue developing in this direction," BTA reported. Kljusev
was attending the inauguration of the Multinational Peace
Force Southeastern Europe. He said that by the end of this
month, Macedonia will receive from Bulgaria a second shipment
of decommissioned military equipment. A final shipment is
expected within a month or two. Visiting the military academy
in Veliko Turnovo, northern Bulgaria, on 13 September,
Macedonian Chief of Staff General Trajce Krstevski said the
common aim of both armies was NATO membership and that the
Macedonian military wished to "learn from the Bulgarian
experience on military reform." MS

END NOTE

BETWEEN THE BIBLE AND THE TRADEMARK

By Michael Shafir

	Slovak Prime Minister Mikulas Dzurinda's announcement
early last week that he is returning to the ranks of the
Christian Democratic Movement (KDH) surprised many observers.
Interpretations of that move ranged from the "biblical" to
the "post-modern." According to "Pravda," society was
witnessing the "Return of the Prodigal Son," whereas the more
skeptical "Sme" predicted that the premier was about to
launch a "Fight for KDH Trademark". Both head-lines appeared
on 8 September and both were right, each in its own way.
Which is another way of saying that both were equally wrong.
	The "biblical" interpretation is "past-oriented," as
political scientists might be inclined to say. It refers to
Dzurinda's repeated declarations that it is "out of question"
that the Slovak Democratic Coalition (SDK) be dismembered
into its five "mother parties"--the KDH, the Social
Democratic Party, the Democratic Union, the Democratic Party,
and the Green Party. Dzurinda, in fact, appears to have been
defeated by KDH leader Jan Carnogursky, whose advocacy of the
SDK as a loose alliance of the five "mother parties" seems to
have been accepted by a humiliated premier.
	On learning of Dzurinda's move, Carnogursky said it
shows that "in Slovakia it is not possible to make politics
without the KDH and that all attempts to liquidate the KDH,
under whatever pretext, are bound to fail." Carnogursky's
deputy, Vladimir Palko, appeared to add insult to injury,
commenting that Dzurinda and the other SDK officials who
followed him back into the ranks of the KDH, "had to make a
choice between sacrificing their vision or their political
future, and they decided to sacrifice the vision."
	But did they really? The "future-oriented" or
"trademark" interpretation begs to disagree. Its proponents
are likely to admit that Dzurinda has been unable to defeat
his adversary but are no less likely to remind those willing
to listen of the old adage "if you can't beat them, join
them." Or rather, "re-join them," in Dzurinda's particular
case. The premier, according to this interpretation, is bound
to launch a struggle to unseat Carnogursky. Unable to change
the KDH "from without," Dzurinda will question his old-new
party's policies "from within." And what he has in mind is no
less than the transformation of the KDH from a "traditional"
Christian-Democratic party with limited voter appeal into a
modern formation able to appeal to much larger segments of
the electorate.
	There are several factors supporting this
interpretation. On making his "return announcement," Dzurinda
said on 6 September that his decision was prompted, among
other things, by his desire to "halt the decreasing
popularity" of the KDH. He added that the party "needs a new
political agenda." What that agenda will be Dzurinda failed
to specify. But it is noteworthy that when Carnogursky voted
against a coalition agreement on education because he wanted
religious teaching to be backed by state support, Dzurinda
was unable to remove him as justice minister. Should he be
able to undermine Carnogursky's position from within the KDH,
things might look different next time.
	No less important, Dzurinda retains his position as SDK
chairman. At first glance, this may appear a disadvantage,
since the KDH statutes prevent SDK officials from seeking
leadership positions in the party. Dzurinda told journalists
at his 6 September press conference that it is "too early" to
say whether this provision will be changed. The timing is
interesting. As in Hamlet's soliloquy deploring the fact that
"The time is out of joint; O cursed spite/That ever I was
born to set it right," Dzurinda's "too early" does not rule
out "setting right" the course of the KDH in the not too
distant future. His return to the party, he said, is aimed at
changing the party's "orientation" to ensure that "it would
not attempt to disengage from the SDK too much." As for
challenging Carnogursky himself, it was, of course, "too
early" to decide. Which is another way of saying that the
decision has, in fact, been taken.
	A "post-modern" scenario in Shakespearean costume, then?
This is how Carnogursky read it. Following Dzurinda's return,
he said, the party was likely to witness " a noble struggle"
between two opinions on the movement's future. The struggle
(or is it a battle?) seemed to have been over by 12
September, when the KDH's Executive Council decided that in
the 2002 parliamentary elections the party will run either
independently or in an election coalition. All observers
agreed that this will be the death blow for the SDK and for
Dzurinda personally. "Pravda" summed it up under the caption
"Return to your grave, SDK." If one is to believe these
observers, Dzurinda has turned into a Yorick searching for
his own skull. Yet the premier vowed to "take arms" and
pursue the struggle.
	 One thing is certain: no Shakespearean play is known to
end with two kings ruling over the same kingdom. The question
is which of the two, Dzurinda or Carnogursky, will prove
willing to "trade his KDH kingdom" for a horse. For now,
Carnogursky has kept the KDH's coat of arms all to himself.
Or is it a trademark?

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