[ALBSA-Info] RFE-RL

[Agron Alibali]

RFE/RL Newsline, Vol. 5, No. 81, 01-04-26Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty: Newsline Directory - Previous ArticleFrom: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty <http://www.rferl.org>RFE/RL NEWSLINEVol. 5, No. 81, 26 April 2001
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CONTENTS[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA
[01] ARMENIAN DEFENSE MINISTER SAYS RUSSIA THE GUARANTOR OF ARMENIA'S SECURITY 
[02] ARMENIANS ANGRY AT U.S. PRESIDENT BUSH'S STATEMENT 
[03] ARMENIA RAISES GENOCIDE ISSUE AT COUNCIL OF EUROPE SESSION 
[04] AZERBAIJAN TELLS COUNCIL ABOUT TERRORISM, DRUGS IN KARABAKH 
[05] EXXONMOBIL SUBSIDIARY BEGINS DRILLING IN CASPIAN 
[06] DESTRUCTION OF BAKU MOSQUE SPARKS PROTEST 
[07] SHEVARDNADZE SAYS TRANSITION TO CABINET GOVERNMENT WILL BE SMOOTH 
[08] 'TERRITORIAL INTEGRITY' MOVEMENT ESTABLISHED 
[09] GEORGIANS TOP LIST OF FOREIGNERS SEEKING PERMANENT STATUS IN MOSCOW 
[10] TBILISI WANTS BAN ON METAL EXPORTS TO STOP POWER LINE THEFTS 
[11] UN SECURITY COUNCIL CRITICIZES LACK OF PROGRESS IN GEORGIA-ABKHAZIA TALKS 
[12] TURKIC SUMMIT ATTRACTS ALL POST-SOVIET TURKIC PRESIDENTS EXCEPT UZBEKISTAN'S 
[13] KAZAKHSTAN TO SET UP DEVELOPMENT BANK 
[14] MORE THAN 2,000 RELIGIOUS COMMUNITIES REGISTERED IN KAZAKHSTAN 
[15] KYRGYZSTAN WILL TALK WITH TALIBAN 
[16] TAJIKISTAN ISLAMISTS SUPPORT COMMUNISTS 
[17] TURKMENISTAN FACING SEVERE WATER SHORTAGE 
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[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[18] DJUKANOVIC PLEDGES INDEPENDENCE IN 'PRUDENT' WAY 
[19] ...THROUGH TALKS WITH SERBIA'S DJINDJIC 
[20] COOK CONFIDENT THAT MONTENEGRO WILL TAKE 'EUROPEAN ROUTE' 
[21] COUNCIL OF EUROPE TO PRESSURE KOSOVA INTO NEW YUGOSLAVIA? 
[22] WIFE OF SERBIAN EX-PRESIDENT BLAMES MILOSEVIC FOR HIS DEATH 
[23] NATO: NO CONSENSUS ON LETTING SERBIAN TROOPS INTO KEY BORDER ZONE 
[24] MACEDONIAN CENSUS POSTPONED 
[25] MACEDONIAN PRESIDENT EXPECTS BROAD COALITION SOON 
[26] CROATIAN PRIME MINISTER TO INVESTIGATE HERZEGOVINIAN PAYMENTS 
[27] HERZEGOVINIANS SEEK ASSURANCES 
[28] CROATIAN MASS GRAVE EXHUMATION YIELDS SURPRISE 
[29] VERHEUGEN ADDRESSES ROMANIAN PARLIAMENT 
[30] EU FORECASTS FOR ROMANIA NOT ROSY 
[31] EGYPTIAN PRESIDENT IN ROMANIA 
[32] ROMANIAN CONSTITUTIONAL COURT REJECTS ANTI-BUDGET APPEAL 
[33] ROMANIAN PRESIDENT PROMULGATES PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION LAW 
[34] ROMANIAN INTELLIGENCE SERVICE DIRECTOR GETS FURTHER BACKING 
[35] RARE UNANIMITY IN MOLDOVAN PARLIAMENT 
[36] BULGARIAN PREMIER CONFERS WITH POWELL 
---------------------------------
[C] END NOTE
[37] RUSSIA'S JUDICIARY: REFORM AND ITS RESISTORS (PART I) 
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[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA[01] ARMENIAN DEFENSE MINISTER SAYS RUSSIA THE GUARANTOR OF ARMENIA'S SECURITYIn an interview published in "Ayots Ashkhar" on 25 April, Armenian Defense Minister Serzh Sarkisyan said that Russia is the chief guarantor of Armenia's national security, the Snark news agency reported. In other comments, he said that he does not believe that Azerbaijan will shift its current course and seek to impose a military solution to the Karabakh dispute. In any case, he said, if Baku should try to do so, Armenian defense forces are capable of repulsing any such effort. PG [02] ARMENIANS ANGRY AT U.S. PRESIDENT BUSH'S STATEMENTArmenian politicians and public figures on 25 April deplored a statement by U.S. President George W. Bush on the 86th anniversary of the 1915 mass murder of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire, RFE/RL's Armenian Service reported. Bush stopped short of labelling those event a genocide in contrast to what he had promised to do while running for office. Tigran Torosian, the deputy speaker of the Armenian parliament, said that "the United States is not the only country where, as we have just seen, pre- election promises and real life turn out to be different things." PG [03] ARMENIA RAISES GENOCIDE ISSUE AT COUNCIL OF EUROPE SESSIONThe Armenian delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) on 24 April called on that body to denounce the events of 1915 as a genocide, Armenian television reported the same day. The delegation said that it had collected the signatures of 60 other representatives, although delegation leaders noted that members of the Georgian delegation were among those who had refused to sign. PG [04] AZERBAIJAN TELLS COUNCIL ABOUT TERRORISM, DRUGS IN KARABAKHIlham Aliev, the head of Azerbaijan's delegation to PACE, told that body on 24 April that Nagorno-Karabakh is now a source of terrorism and of drug trafficking, Baku's ANS television reported the same day. Aliev pointed out that Armenia has occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan's territory and forced one million Azerbaijanis to become refugees. PG [05] EXXONMOBIL SUBSIDIARY BEGINS DRILLING IN CASPIANThe Oguz Operating Company, a subsidiary of the ExxonMobil Corporation, on 24 April announced that it has begun drilling an exploratory well 60 kilometers east of Baku in the Caspian Sea, "Bilik Dunyasi" reported the same day. PG [06] DESTRUCTION OF BAKU MOSQUE SPARKS PROTESTResidents of a Baku region on 24 April staged a protest about the destruction of the Mirtagi Aga mosque on the orders of Baku Mayor Gadzhibaly Abutalybov, "Kommersant-Daily" reported the next day. The paper noted that the destruction of this mosque had introduced complications in Baku's relationship with Turkey, but prior to his departure for the Turkic summit there, President Heidar Aliev expressed his full confidence in the mayor, Turan reported on 25 April. PG [07] SHEVARDNADZE SAYS TRANSITION TO CABINET GOVERNMENT WILL BE SMOOTHPresident Eduard Shevardnadze told a government session on 25 April that "the introduction of a cabinet of ministers [in Georgia] will not cause a revolution," Caucasus Press reported. He said that polls showed that 70 percent of Georgians favor the establishment of such political arrangements. PG [08] 'TERRITORIAL INTEGRITY' MOVEMENT ESTABLISHEDA movement for the territorial integrity of Georgia was set up in Tbilisis on 25 April, Caucasus Press reproted. One of its founders, Sukhum Mayor Gia Chikovani, said that "we will do our utmost for the most rapid restoration of the territorial integrity" of the country. PG [09] GEORGIANS TOP LIST OF FOREIGNERS SEEKING PERMANENT STATUS IN MOSCOWGeorgians lead all other national groups in seeking to obtain permanent resident status in the Russian capital, Caucasus Press reported on 25 April. But the news agency reported that the Russian embassy in Tbilisi now requests that Georgians applying for a visia provide a certificate attesting that they do not carry the HIV virus. PG [10] TBILISI WANTS BAN ON METAL EXPORTS TO STOP POWER LINE THEFTSThe Georgian Fuel and Energy Ministry on 25 April called on the parliament to ban the export of non-ferrous metals in order to stem the wholesale theft of power lines, Prime-News reported. Since 1998, thieves have stripped 1,887 kilometers of high-voltage power lines and sold the metal to foreigners for profit, the agency said. PG [11] UN SECURITY COUNCIL CRITICIZES LACK OF PROGRESS IN GEORGIA-ABKHAZIA TALKSThe UN Security Council issued a statement on 24 April describing the lack of progress toward a political settlement between Georgia and Abkhazia as "unacceptable," AP reported the next day. Dieter Boden, the representative of the UN secretary general, said that "with the support of the security council that I definitely got today, we may be able to speed up the process." PG [12] TURKIC SUMMIT ATTRACTS ALL POST-SOVIET TURKIC PRESIDENTS EXCEPT UZBEKISTAN'SThe presidents of Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Turkmenistan will attend the Turkic States summit in Turkey on 26-27 April, though Uzbekistan will be represented by its parliamentary speaker, Erkim Khalilov, ITAR-TASS reported on 25 April. PG [13] KAZAKHSTAN TO SET UP DEVELOPMENT BANKPresident Nursultan Nazarbaev on 25 April signed a law creating a State Development Bank, Interfax-Central Asia reported. Seventy-five percent of the shares of the new bank will be owned by the government, with the remainder divided among the local organs of state power. PG [14] MORE THAN 2,000 RELIGIOUS COMMUNITIES REGISTERED IN KAZAKHSTANAccording to "Nezavisimaya gazeta-Religii," No. 8, 2,299 religious communities are registered in Kazakhstan. Of these, 1,150 are Muslim and 220 are Russian Orthodox. PG [15] KYRGYZSTAN WILL TALK WITH TALIBANForeign Minister Muratbek Imanaliev said on 25 April that Bishkek is prepared for talks with the Taliban authorities in Afghanistan, Interfax- Kazakhstan reported. The chief goal of such talks, Imanaliev said, would be to secure Taliban agreement to non-interference in the internal affairs of other Central Asian countries. PG [16] TAJIKISTAN ISLAMISTS SUPPORT COMMUNISTSAccording to "Vechernyi Dushanbe" on 16 and 20 April, Islamists in Tajikistan often back communists and work together with them. PG [17] TURKMENISTAN FACING SEVERE WATER SHORTAGEAllmyrat Ataev, a specialist in water issues, said on Turkmen television on 24 April that Turkmenistan is rapidly approaching the point where the demand for water will be greater than the supply. Because of this danger, Ataev said, he supports a proposal by President Saparmurat Niyazov to create a giant artificial lake in the center of the country. PG 
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[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE[18] DJUKANOVIC PLEDGES INDEPENDENCE IN 'PRUDENT' WAYMontenegrin President Milo Djukanovic told a press conference in Podgorica on 25 April that the recent parliamentary election "demonstrated that Montenegro has a [growing] front of those forces that advocate restoration of Montenegrin statehood and a redefinition of our relationship with Serbia, " the "Financial Times" reported (see "RFE/RL Newsline," "End Note," 23 April 2001). He told visiting British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook that "there can be no hesitation in the basic national strategic road for Montenegro," which leads to independence via a referendum. Djukanovic made it clear, however, that he is prepared to negotiate with Serbia and not to rush matters. "What lies ahead of us are weeks and months of initiatives. Of course I recognize it is of strategic importance that we seek common ground with Serbia." He also noted that "the election demonstrated that Montenegrin society remains politically divided, which imposes a particular obligation on the government to continue pursuing a cautious and prudent policy." PM [19] ...THROUGH TALKS WITH SERBIA'S DJINDJICDjukanovic said in Podgorica on 25 April that he will negotiate with Serbian Premier Zoran Djindjic, whom he called "the man who really represents the future of Serbia," "Vesti" reported. Djukanovic added that Yugoslav President Vojislav Kostunica is a "man of the past" and not an acceptable negotiating partner. For his part, Djindjic told RFE/RL's South Slavic Service that he is sure that he and Djukanovic "can find the necessary formulas" to define a new relationship between the two republics. Djindjic added that he expects to meet with the Montenegrin leader "soon." Djindjic took shelter from the Milosevic regime's police in Montenegro in 1999 and is well acquainted with political conditions there. PM [20] COOK CONFIDENT THAT MONTENEGRO WILL TAKE 'EUROPEAN ROUTE'Cook said in Podgorica on 25 April: "I leave confident that the approach to constitutional change will follow the European route of dialogue to reach agreement and support through democratic consent," Reuters reported. An unnamed "British official" told reporters that the Montenegrins have backed away from their plans to hold a referendum in July. The official added that he hopes that the referendum will not take place until after serious negotiations with Serbia. PM [21] COUNCIL OF EUROPE TO PRESSURE KOSOVA INTO NEW YUGOSLAVIA?Yugoslav parliament speaker Dragoljub Micunovic told "Danas" of 26 April that his recent visit to the Council of Europe in Strasbourg has convinced him that Europe now has a positive image of Yugoslavia and an increasingly negative one of the Kosova Albanians. Micunovic added that politicians in Strasbourg do not have a clear idea of what they want the region's political shape to be. He said, however, that thinking seems to be in support of a weak Yugoslav federation that will include Kosova as a third republic. Observers note that Kosova's ethnic Albanian majority has made it clear that it wants independence and nothing more to do with Belgrade. PM RFE/RL Newsline, Vol. 5, No. 81, 01-04-26Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty: Newsline Directory - Previous ArticleFrom: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty <http://www.rferl.org>RFE/RL NEWSLINEVol. 5, No. 81, 26 April 2001
---------------------------------
CONTENTS[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA
[01] ARMENIAN DEFENSE MINISTER SAYS RUSSIA THE GUARANTOR OF ARMENIA'S SECURITY 
[02] ARMENIANS ANGRY AT U.S. PRESIDENT BUSH'S STATEMENT 
[03] ARMENIA RAISES GENOCIDE ISSUE AT COUNCIL OF EUROPE SESSION 
[04] AZERBAIJAN TELLS COUNCIL ABOUT TERRORISM, DRUGS IN KARABAKH 
[05] EXXONMOBIL SUBSIDIARY BEGINS DRILLING IN CASPIAN 
[06] DESTRUCTION OF BAKU MOSQUE SPARKS PROTEST 
[07] SHEVARDNADZE SAYS TRANSITION TO CABINET GOVERNMENT WILL BE SMOOTH 
[08] 'TERRITORIAL INTEGRITY' MOVEMENT ESTABLISHED 
[09] GEORGIANS TOP LIST OF FOREIGNERS SEEKING PERMANENT STATUS IN MOSCOW 
[10] TBILISI WANTS BAN ON METAL EXPORTS TO STOP POWER LINE THEFTS 
[11] UN SECURITY COUNCIL CRITICIZES LACK OF PROGRESS IN GEORGIA-ABKHAZIA TALKS 
[12] TURKIC SUMMIT ATTRACTS ALL POST-SOVIET TURKIC PRESIDENTS EXCEPT UZBEKISTAN'S 
[13] KAZAKHSTAN TO SET UP DEVELOPMENT BANK 
[14] MORE THAN 2,000 RELIGIOUS COMMUNITIES REGISTERED IN KAZAKHSTAN 
[15] KYRGYZSTAN WILL TALK WITH TALIBAN 
[16] TAJIKISTAN ISLAMISTS SUPPORT COMMUNISTS 
[17] TURKMENISTAN FACING SEVERE WATER SHORTAGE 
---------------------------------
[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[18] DJUKANOVIC PLEDGES INDEPENDENCE IN 'PRUDENT' WAY 
[19] ...THROUGH TALKS WITH SERBIA'S DJINDJIC 
[20] COOK CONFIDENT THAT MONTENEGRO WILL TAKE 'EUROPEAN ROUTE' 
[21] COUNCIL OF EUROPE TO PRESSURE KOSOVA INTO NEW YUGOSLAVIA? 
[22] WIFE OF SERBIAN EX-PRESIDENT BLAMES MILOSEVIC FOR HIS DEATH 
[23] NATO: NO CONSENSUS ON LETTING SERBIAN TROOPS INTO KEY BORDER ZONE 
[24] MACEDONIAN CENSUS POSTPONED 
[25] MACEDONIAN PRESIDENT EXPECTS BROAD COALITION SOON 
[26] CROATIAN PRIME MINISTER TO INVESTIGATE HERZEGOVINIAN PAYMENTS 
[27] HERZEGOVINIANS SEEK ASSURANCES 
[28] CROATIAN MASS GRAVE EXHUMATION YIELDS SURPRISE 
[29] VERHEUGEN ADDRESSES ROMANIAN PARLIAMENT 
[30] EU FORECASTS FOR ROMANIA NOT ROSY 
[31] EGYPTIAN PRESIDENT IN ROMANIA 
[32] ROMANIAN CONSTITUTIONAL COURT REJECTS ANTI-BUDGET APPEAL 
[33] ROMANIAN PRESIDENT PROMULGATES PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION LAW 
[34] ROMANIAN INTELLIGENCE SERVICE DIRECTOR GETS FURTHER BACKING 
[35] RARE UNANIMITY IN MOLDOVAN PARLIAMENT 
[36] BULGARIAN PREMIER CONFERS WITH POWELL 
---------------------------------
[C] END NOTE
[37] RUSSIA'S JUDICIARY: REFORM AND ITS RESISTORS (PART I) 
---------------------------------
[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA[01] ARMENIAN DEFENSE MINISTER SAYS RUSSIA THE GUARANTOR OF ARMENIA'S SECURITYIn an interview published in "Ayots Ashkhar" on 25 April, Armenian Defense Minister Serzh Sarkisyan said that Russia is the chief guarantor of Armenia's national security, the Snark news agency reported. In other comments, he said that he does not believe that Azerbaijan will shift its current course and seek to impose a military solution to the Karabakh dispute. In any case, he said, if Baku should try to do so, Armenian defense forces are capable of repulsing any such effort. PG [02] ARMENIANS ANGRY AT U.S. PRESIDENT BUSH'S STATEMENTArmenian politicians and public figures on 25 April deplored a statement by U.S. President George W. Bush on the 86th anniversary of the 1915 mass murder of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire, RFE/RL's Armenian Service reported. Bush stopped short of labelling those event a genocide in contrast to what he had promised to do while running for office. Tigran Torosian, the deputy speaker of the Armenian parliament, said that "the United States is not the only country where, as we have just seen, pre- election promises and real life turn out to be different things." PG [03] ARMENIA RAISES GENOCIDE ISSUE AT COUNCIL OF EUROPE SESSIONThe Armenian delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) on 24 April called on that body to denounce the events of 1915 as a genocide, Armenian television reported the same day. The delegation said that it had collected the signatures of 60 other representatives, although delegation leaders noted that members of the Georgian delegation were among those who had refused to sign. PG [04] AZERBAIJAN TELLS COUNCIL ABOUT TERRORISM, DRUGS IN KARABAKHIlham Aliev, the head of Azerbaijan's delegation to PACE, told that body on 24 April that Nagorno-Karabakh is now a source of terrorism and of drug trafficking, Baku's ANS television reported the same day. Aliev pointed out that Armenia has occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan's territory and forced one million Azerbaijanis to become refugees. PG [05] EXXONMOBIL SUBSIDIARY BEGINS DRILLING IN CASPIANThe Oguz Operating Company, a subsidiary of the ExxonMobil Corporation, on 24 April announced that it has begun drilling an exploratory well 60 kilometers east of Baku in the Caspian Sea, "Bilik Dunyasi" reported the same day. PG [06] DESTRUCTION OF BAKU MOSQUE SPARKS PROTESTResidents of a Baku region on 24 April staged a protest about the destruction of the Mirtagi Aga mosque on the orders of Baku Mayor Gadzhibaly Abutalybov, "Kommersant-Daily" reported the next day. The paper noted that the destruction of this mosque had introduced complications in Baku's relationship with Turkey, but prior to his departure for the Turkic summit there, President Heidar Aliev expressed his full confidence in the mayor, Turan reported on 25 April. PG [07] SHEVARDNADZE SAYS TRANSITION TO CABINET GOVERNMENT WILL BE SMOOTHPresident Eduard Shevardnadze told a government session on 25 April that "the introduction of a cabinet of ministers [in Georgia] will not cause a revolution," Caucasus Press reported. He said that polls showed that 70 percent of Georgians favor the establishment of such political arrangements. PG [08] 'TERRITORIAL INTEGRITY' MOVEMENT ESTABLISHEDA movement for the territorial integrity of Georgia was set up in Tbilisis on 25 April, Caucasus Press reproted. One of its founders, Sukhum Mayor Gia Chikovani, said that "we will do our utmost for the most rapid restoration of the territorial integrity" of the country. PG [09] GEORGIANS TOP LIST OF FOREIGNERS SEEKING PERMANENT STATUS IN MOSCOWGeorgians lead all other national groups in seeking to obtain permanent resident status in the Russian capital, Caucasus Press reported on 25 April. But the news agency reported that the Russian embassy in Tbilisi now requests that Georgians applying for a visia provide a certificate attesting that they do not carry the HIV virus. PG [10] TBILISI WANTS BAN ON METAL EXPORTS TO STOP POWER LINE THEFTSThe Georgian Fuel and Energy Ministry on 25 April called on the parliament to ban the export of non-ferrous metals in order to stem the wholesale theft of power lines, Prime-News reported. Since 1998, thieves have stripped 1,887 kilometers of high-voltage power lines and sold the metal to foreigners for profit, the agency said. PG [11] UN SECURITY COUNCIL CRITICIZES LACK OF PROGRESS IN GEORGIA-ABKHAZIA TALKSThe UN Security Council issued a statement on 24 April describing the lack of progress toward a political settlement between Georgia and Abkhazia as "unacceptable," AP reported the next day. Dieter Boden, the representative of the UN secretary general, said that "with the support of the security council that I definitely got today, we may be able to speed up the process." PG [12] TURKIC SUMMIT ATTRACTS ALL POST-SOVIET TURKIC PRESIDENTS EXCEPT UZBEKISTAN'SThe presidents of Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Turkmenistan will attend the Turkic States summit in Turkey on 26-27 April, though Uzbekistan will be represented by its parliamentary speaker, Erkim Khalilov, ITAR-TASS reported on 25 April. PG [13] KAZAKHSTAN TO SET UP DEVELOPMENT BANKPresident Nursultan Nazarbaev on 25 April signed a law creating a State Development Bank, Interfax-Central Asia reported. Seventy-five percent of the shares of the new bank will be owned by the government, with the remainder divided among the local organs of state power. PG [14] MORE THAN 2,000 RELIGIOUS COMMUNITIES REGISTERED IN KAZAKHSTANAccording to "Nezavisimaya gazeta-Religii," No. 8, 2,299 religious communities are registered in Kazakhstan. Of these, 1,150 are Muslim and 220 are Russian Orthodox. PG [15] KYRGYZSTAN WILL TALK WITH TALIBANForeign Minister Muratbek Imanaliev said on 25 April that Bishkek is prepared for talks with the Taliban authorities in Afghanistan, Interfax- Kazakhstan reported. The chief goal of such talks, Imanaliev said, would be to secure Taliban agreement to non-interference in the internal affairs of other Central Asian countries. PG [16] TAJIKISTAN ISLAMISTS SUPPORT COMMUNISTSAccording to "Vechernyi Dushanbe" on 16 and 20 April, Islamists in Tajikistan often back communists and work together with them. PG [17] TURKMENISTAN FACING SEVERE WATER SHORTAGEAllmyrat Ataev, a specialist in water issues, said on Turkmen television on 24 April that Turkmenistan is rapidly approaching the point where the demand for water will be greater than the supply. Because of this danger, Ataev said, he supports a proposal by President Saparmurat Niyazov to create a giant artificial lake in the center of the country. PG 
---------------------------------
[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE[18] DJUKANOVIC PLEDGES INDEPENDENCE IN 'PRUDENT' WAYMontenegrin President Milo Djukanovic told a press conference in Podgorica on 25 April that the recent parliamentary election "demonstrated that Montenegro has a [growing] front of those forces that advocate restoration of Montenegrin statehood and a redefinition of our relationship with Serbia, " the "Financial Times" reported (see "RFE/RL Newsline," "End Note," 23 April 2001). He told visiting British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook that "there can be no hesitation in the basic national strategic road for Montenegro," which leads to independence via a referendum. Djukanovic made it clear, however, that he is prepared to negotiate with Serbia and not to rush matters. "What lies ahead of us are weeks and months of initiatives. Of course I recognize it is of strategic importance that we seek common ground with Serbia." He also noted that "the election demonstrated that Montenegrin society remains politically divided, which imposes a particular obligation on the government to continue pursuing a cautious and prudent policy." PM [19] ...THROUGH TALKS WITH SERBIA'S DJINDJICDjukanovic said in Podgorica on 25 April that he will negotiate with Serbian Premier Zoran Djindjic, whom he called "the man who really represents the future of Serbia," "Vesti" reported. Djukanovic added that Yugoslav President Vojislav Kostunica is a "man of the past" and not an acceptable negotiating partner. For his part, Djindjic told RFE/RL's South Slavic Service that he is sure that he and Djukanovic "can find the necessary formulas" to define a new relationship between the two republics. Djindjic added that he expects to meet with the Montenegrin leader "soon." Djindjic took shelter from the Milosevic regime's police in Montenegro in 1999 and is well acquainted with political conditions there. PM [20] COOK CONFIDENT THAT MONTENEGRO WILL TAKE 'EUROPEAN ROUTE'Cook said in Podgorica on 25 April: "I leave confident that the approach to constitutional change will follow the European route of dialogue to reach agreement and support through democratic consent," Reuters reported. An unnamed "British official" told reporters that the Montenegrins have backed away from their plans to hold a referendum in July. The official added that he hopes that the referendum will not take place until after serious negotiations with Serbia. PM [21] COUNCIL OF EUROPE TO PRESSURE KOSOVA INTO NEW YUGOSLAVIA?Yugoslav parliament speaker Dragoljub Micunovic told "Danas" of 26 April that his recent visit to the Council of Europe in Strasbourg has convinced him that Europe now has a positive image of Yugoslavia and an increasingly negative one of the Kosova Albanians. Micunovic added that politicians in Strasbourg do not have a clear idea of what they want the region's political shape to be. He said, however, that thinking seems to be in support of a weak Yugoslav federation that will include Kosova as a third republic. Observers note that Kosova's ethnic Albanian majority has made it clear that it wants independence and nothing more to do with Belgrade. PM 


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