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RFE/RL NEWSLINE Vol. 7, No. 229, Part II, 8 December 2003

HUNGARY, SLOVAKIA AGREE ON STATUS LAW. A Hungarian-Slovak joint
commission of experts on minority issues on 7 December finalized the
text of an intergovernmental agreement on implementing Hungary's Status
Law in Slovakia, Hungarian and Slovak media reported. The Slovak
delegation agreed that Hungarian educational subsidies may be
transferred to ethnic Hungarians through the Pazmany Peter Foundation,
which was founded in Slovakia by ethnic Hungarian teachers and parents,
"Nepszabadsag" reported. Bratislava had insisted that a public
foundation registered in Slovakia -- in which Slovak government
officials work -- handle the distribution of education subsidies.
According to the new agreement, ethnic Slovaks in Hungary would also
receive subsidies for education in their mother tongue through a
foundation set up by the Slovak minority authority in Hungary. The
agreement must still be endorsed by both governments and then signed by
the two countries' foreign ministers. MSZ

MACEDONIAN PARLIAMENT ADOPTS NEW CITIZENSHIP LAW. Following what media
called a "bitter and polemical debate," the Macedonian parliament
adopted a new citizenship law on 5 December, "Utrinski vesnik" reported.
Under the new law, foreign nationals qualify for Macedonian citizenship
after eight years of legal residence, thus considerably reducing the
former 15-year period of legal residence. The governing coalition of the
Social Democratic Union (SDSM) and the ethnic Albanian Union for
Democratic Integration (BDI) voted down a proposal by the opposition
Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (VMRO-DPMNE) seeking to
give preferential treatment to ethnic Macedonians living abroad (see
"RFE/RL Balkan Report," 17 October 2003). Many individuals awaiting
Macedonian citizenship are immigrants from Kosova, southern Serbia, or
Albania who are relatives of ethnic Albanian Macedonian citizens. UB


RFE/RL NEWSLINE Vol. 7, No. 230, Part I, 9 December 2003 
 
GEORGIA'S ARMENIAN COMMUNITY PROPOSES TALKS ON STATUS. David Rstakian,
head of the unregistered political party Virk that represents the
interests of the predominantly Armenian population of Georgia's southern
region of Djavakheti, wants talks with the new Georgian leadership on
granting the region formal status, whether autonomy or as part of a
federation or confederation, Caucasus Press reported on 9 December.
Rstakian said that while autonomy "is the way to preserve everything
that helps us feel Armenian: our language, culture, and traditions,"
autonomy "may not be enough" to satisfy the local Armenian population.
Rstakian also said the Russian military base in Akhalkalaki, the swift
closure of which the new Georgian leadership is demanding, serves "as
the guarantor of the physical security" of Djavakheti's Armenian
population. The base also employs some 2,000 local Armenians. LF


RFE/RL NEWSLINE Vol. 7, No. 231, Part II, 10 December 2003 

MACEDONIAN STUDENTS PROTEST ALBANIAN-LANGUAGE UNIVERSITY. Up to 4,000
students gathered outside the parliament in Skopje on 9 December to
protest the Macedonian government's plans to legalize the Tetovo-based
Albanian-language university, "Utrinski vesnik" reported. The parliament
was scheduled to pass the draft amendments to a law on higher education
necessary to legalize the private university on their second reading.
Supported by the opposition Internal Macedonian Revolutionary
Organization (VMRO-DPMNE), the students demanded the resignation of
Education Minister Azis Pollozhani (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 18 July 2003
and "RFE/RL Balkan Report," 11 and 18 July 2003). UB


RFE/RL NEWSLINE Vol. 7, No. 231, Part I, 10 December 2003

PRESIDENTIAL ENVOY HAILS REFERENDUMS ON MERGER OF TWO REGIONS...
Presidential envoy to the Volga Federal District Sergei Kirienko hailed
the results of 7 December referendums on a proposal to merge Perm Oblast
with neighboring Komi-Permyak Autonomous Okrug, ITAR-TASS reported on 8
December. More than 80 percent of those who voted were in favor of the
proposed merger. The positive referendums were of "great importance for
Russia, the Volga Federal District, and the two regions," Kirienko said.
"The first attempt in the history of modern Russia to merge two regions
has been made in the most multiethnic part of the country." Deputy Prime
Minister Vladimir Yakovlev said the overwhelming support for the merger
was prompted by "the very serious social and economic situation" in the
Komi-Permyak Autonomous Okrug, ITAR-TASS reported on 9 December. JB

....WHILE DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER SAYS MORE REGIONAL CONSOLIDATION IS
POSSIBLE. Deputy Prime Minister Yakovlev said about 18 Russian regions
could end up merging, ITAR-TASS reported on 9 December. He mention the
Koryak Autonomous Okrug and Kamchatka Oblast, the Republic of Altai and
Altai Krai, and several northern regions, all of which he described as
"relatively not self-sufficient." Yakovlev also said mergers of Moscow
and Moscow Oblast and St. Petersburg and Leningrad Oblast are possible,
but complex because they involved "very large areas." Yakovlev said
mergers are aimed at creating "economic stability so that people could
live and work rather than wait for subsidies from the center" and should
be decided in referendums, not "administratively." Unified Russia
strongly backs the idea of consolidating Russia's regions. Last month,
party co-leader and Emergency Situations Minister Sergei Shoigu said the
merger of Perm Oblast and Komi-Permyak Autonomous Okrug fully
corresponded to Unified Russia's ideology (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 1
December 2003). JB


RFE/RL NEWSLINE Vol. 7, No. 232, Part I, 11 December 2003 

TAJIKS MOVE INTO KYRGYZSTAN'S SOUTHERNMOST OBLAST. Tajik citizens are
illegally moving into and buying land in Kyrgyzstan's Batken Oblast, the
poorest in the country, and local authorities fear that frictions may
develop between local Kyrgyz and the Tajik newcomers, KyrgyzInfo
reported on 10 December. The Batken authorities quoted in the article
said Tajik immigration began some 10 years ago, fueled by population
pressures and a shortage of land on the Tajik side of the common border.
Batken NGOs reported that more than 100 Tajiks have settled in one
village and bought land, and other Tajiks have built 26 houses in two
other villages. Meanwhile, 1,200 Kyrgyz families are waiting for
permission to build homes in the same area, and local officials have
banned the sale of land to foreigners and pressured the Tajik immigrants
to obtain Kyrgyz citizenship. BB


RFE/RL NEWSLINE Vol. 7, No. 232, Part II, 11 December 2003

CZECH UPPER HOUSE APPROVES FOREIGNERS' ACCESS TO JOB MARKET. The Senate
approved legislation on 10 December allowing foreign citizens to work in
the Czech Republic in the professions for which they are qualified, CTK
reported. The legislation is part of the free movement of labor chapter
of the EU's acquis communautaire but will not be restricted to EU
citizens. Under the approved bill, other foreign nationals with
permanent residency in the Czech Republic, as well as those granted
political asylum, would benefit from its provisions. The bill must still
be signed by President Vaclav Klaus before becoming law. MS

UN PRESENTS 'ROAD MAP' FOR KOSOVA. Harri Holkeri, who heads the UN
civilian administration in Kosova (UNMIK), made public the long-awaited
program called "Standards for Kosovo" in Prishtina on 10 December,
Reuters reported. Representatives of Kosova's more than 90 percent
ethnic Albanian majority hailed the document, but representatives of the
Serbian minority boycotted the meeting and rejected the plan, saying it
does not go far enough to enable Serbs who fled the province with
Serbian forces in 1999 to return. The document lists targets that must
be met in key areas such as democracy, the rule of law, the economy, and
the Serbs' return before talks can begin on the final status of Kosova,
perhaps in mid-2005. All Kosovar political parties agree that
independence is the only option and that they want no political links to
Belgrade. Kosova's President Ibrahim Rugova told Holkeri's meeting that
"we give our support to these standards and we shall work and be
committed to implementing them." Kosovar leaders have long asked for a
clear roadmap for status talks, arguing that delays promote insecurity
and impede progress (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 5 and 13 November 2003, and
"RFE/RL Balkan Report," 1 August and 17 October 2003). PM