Organization: University of Maine System
Date: Wednesday, 18 Nov 1992 15:55:10 EST
From: <IO20905@MAINE.MAINE.EDU>
Newsgroups: soc.culture.bulgaria
Subject:    RFE/RL reports for 13, 16, 17 Nov (copyrighted)

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The RFE/RL Daily Report is a digest of the latest developments
in the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. It is published
Monday through Friday (except German holidays) by the RFE/RL
Research Institute (a division of Radio Free Europe/Radio
Liberty, Inc.). Copyright 1992 RFE/RL, Inc.

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                      RFE/RL Daily Report

                                          No. 220, 13 November 1992

<pages of deletions here, between articles, and near the end>

IS SOFIA LOOKING THE OTHER WAY? In an article in Die Zeit of 12
November, a correspondent claims the UN embargo against Serbia is
being systematically violated along Bulgaria's western borders and
that the government in Sofia has done nothing to stop it.  The
correspondent says corrupt customs officials in the southern town
of Petrich regularly let through fuel deliveries destined for
Serbia.  Members of an CSCE observer team told the German daily
that the situation is similar along the entire border, and the head
of the team in Bulgaria was quoted as saying that the embargo is
"an empty gesture." Earlier Bulgarian media carried reports of
individual motorists driving across the Bulgarian-Serbian border
with filled fuel tanks.  (Kjell Engelbrekt, RFE/RL, Inc.)

BULGARIA PROTESTS DANUBE TOLLS.  On 12 November Bulgaria joined
Hungary in protesting Belgrade's decision to introduce tolls on
Danube shipping. Bobi Mirchev of the Bulgarian Transport Ministry
told Reuters that, according to the Danube River Convention, every
state should maintain the waterway at its own expense.  For this
reason the Bulgarian official rejected Belgrade's claim that
imposition of tolls is necessitated by the $10-12 million it costs
to keep its part of the Danube in good repair. (Kjell Engelbrekt,
RFE/RL, Inc.)

MACEDONIA'S NEIGHBORS READY TO SECURE BORDERS.  Serbia, Albania,
and Bulgaria have expressed support for a Greek initiative to
guarantee the current borders of the ex-Yugoslav Republic of
Macedonia, Reuters reports. On 12 November Greek Foreign Minister
Mihalis Papaconstantinou said the agreement shows that none of the
Balkan states has any designs on the former Yugoslav republic. So
far only Bulgaria and Turkey have recognized Macedonia as an
independent state, while Greece has blocked the EC from following
suit.  Athens' initiative comes after outbreaks of violence in
Macedonia and growing speculation that the EC may soon move ahead
without Greece and end the republic's diplomatic isolation.
Meanwhile, Macedonian President Kiro Gligorov has asked UN
Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali to send peacekeeping troops
to his country, saying the situation has worsened since last week's
clashes in Skopje between Macedonian police and ethnic Albanians.
(Kjell Engelbrekt & Milan Andrejevich, RFE/RL, Inc.)

GERMANY TO HELP BULGARIA REPATRIATE MIGRANTS.  Under an agreement
signed in Bonn on 12 November, Germany will pay the Bulgarian
government 28 million marks over five years to repatriate Bulgarian
nationals who have been refused political asylum, Reuters reports.
German Interior Minister Rudolf Seiters said the money is earmarked
for the regions from which most migrants originate--Karlovo,
Pleven, and Pazardzhik--and will be used to establish education
centers for metal technology, electronics and woodwork.  Some
25,000 Bulgarians, mostly unskilled workers, have sought asylum in
Germany this year but have practically no chance to stay. Although
politically controversial, similar agreements have previously been
signed with Poland and Romania. (Kjell Engelbrekt, RFE/RL, Inc.)

             RFE/RL Daily Report

                                 No. 221, 16 November 1992

MRF DEMANDS POSTS IN NEW BULGARIAN CABINET.  On 15 November the
chairman of the mainly Turkish Movement for Rights and Freedoms
(MRF), Ahmed Dogan, announced that his party will select several
ministers in the new government presently being negotiated with
the UDF. Dogan told BTA that the MRF is claiming one deputy prime
ministership, three ministerial portfolios, four deputy minister
posts and two chairmanships of parliamentary committees.  In a TV
interview on the previous day UDF leader Filip Dimitrov had
renewed a warning that his coalition would not betray its basic
principles to strike a compromise with the MRF.  Dimitrov has
until Thursday to form a new cabinet. (Kjell Engelbrekt, RFE/RL,
Inc.)

SOFIA TO INTRODUCE TRANSIT VISAS FOR TURKS.  Beginning in February
1993 all Turkish citizens will need visas to enter Bulgaria,
regardless of their length of stay.  A government decision adopted
on 13 November may affect as many as three million Turks
transiting the country each year, mostly on their way to and from
Western Europe. In a statement distributed by BTA, the Bulgarian
government said the move is necessary because of the sharp rise in
transit travelers in the last few years.  A government spokesman
told Reuters that the revenue from the visas will go to the
Turkish-populated areas in the southeast, a region which has
suffered heavily from economic deterioration.  By introducing a
general visa requirement, Bulgaria will in effect cancel the 1979
bilateral agreement permitting Turks to cross the country within
24 hours without visas.  In an effort to limit the influx in the
other direction, Turkey imposed travel restrictions on Bulgarian
citizens in late September.  (Kjell Engelbrekt, RFE/RL, Inc.)

BULGARIAN CURRENCY RESERVE EXCEEDS $1 BILLION.  According to the
semiannual report of the Bulgarian National Bank released on 13
November, by the end of September the country had accumulated a
$1.095 billion foreign exchange reserve. Representing a net
increase of $316.6 million since the beginning of 1992, the
reserve was bolstered through an inflow of IMF and EC credits
($420 million) as well as an active BNB policy on the foreign
exchange market ($310 million). The assets are invested in foreign
securities, current accounts, and fixed-term deposits with Western
banks.  (Kjell Engelbrekt, RFE/RL, Inc.)

                    RFE/RL Daily Report

                                       No. 222, 18 November 1992

MORE ON LEAKY BULGARIAN CONTROLS. Leading up to the Security
Council decision, several reports confirm Bulgaria's losing battle
to enforce sanctions. On 15 and 16 November Bulgarian officials
and CSCE monitors told Western agencies about the tireless efforts
of sanction-busters to circumvent the oil embargo by listing
destinations other than Serbia and Montenegro as final recipients
in transport documents.  Bulgarian customs officials in Kalotina
northwest of Sofia estimate that since the embargo went into force
some 100,000 tons of fuel have been sent into Serbian-controlled
areas by rail alone.  Officials in Petrich said tanker trucks
brought 1,000 tons of Greek oil across the Bulgarian-Macedonian
border daily, a large portion of which is likely to have reached
rump Yugoslavia. CSCE monitors supported the Bulgarian view that
the only way of making sure that sanctions work would be to follow
each transport to its final destination. (Kjell Engelbrekt,
RFE/RL, Inc.)

TOP EC OFFICIALS IN SOFIA. On 16 November a delegation of the
European Community held talks with leading Bulgarian politicians,
including President Zhelyu Zhelev and Prime Minister Filip
Dimitrov. The officials--Pablo Benavides, director of the Foreign
Affairs Directorate of the EC Commission, Daniel Gugenbuel, head
of the Directorate's East European department, and foreign
relations adviser Michael Lee--told reporters they are in Sofia to
discuss issues related to the ongoing negotiations on Bulgaria's
association with the EC. The daily Standart quoted Gugenbuel as
saying that the EC is considering the possibility of offering
Bulgaria an agreement similar to that of the Visegrad
Three--Poland, Hungary, and Czechoslovakia.  Benavides said at
least two rounds of negotiations are needed before an agreement
can be signed.  (Kjell Engelbrekt, RFE/RL, Inc.)

NOTICE: The RFE/RL Daily Report will not appear 18 November,
which is a public holiday.

[As of 1200 CET]
Compiled by Hal Kosiba & Charles Trumbull
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