20 January 1995
Volume 2, Issue 15
REGIONAL NEWS
-------------
**War Criminal Sentenced**
For the first time in the war in the former Yugoslavia a
court there has convicted one of its own citizens of war
crimes. 48 year old Serb Dusan Boljevic was convicted
yesterday in a court in the Serb-held Krajina region of
Croatia of killing six people of Croatian and Hungarian
nationality. He's been sentenced to 20 years in jail.
Boljevic is a former member of the rebel Serb territorial
defense force. The killings occurred between October and
December of 1991.
BUSINESS NEWS
-------------
**Croation Oil May Return to Central Europe After 3 Years**
Oil could start flowing again on the Adria pipeline by next
week. The line links Hungary with Croatia's coast. It also
supplies the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Hungarian oil
importer Mineralimpex says the line is technically sound. The
line was shut off nearly three years ago because of the war in
the former Yugoslavia. Its reopening is the result of
UN-sponsored talks between Zagreb and Serbs who occupy the
Krajina region of Croatia. The pipeline passes through the
region. But the Hungarian daily newspaper Nepszabadsag says
the Krajina Serbs have made new demands that put the
pipeline's reopening into question. No details on the new
demands were released.
SURVEY
------
**Head For the Hills**
by Christina Crowder
Hungary's highest point is just a short trip from Budapest,
lying about 50 miles northeast of the capital. While they're
not exactly the Alps, the forested hills of the Matra
mountains rise 3,000 feet over the great Hungarian plain.
Now that the snow is falling, the Matras are a great winter
getaway. Among their attractions, peaceful walks in the
forest, winter sports, and award winning wines.
Morning sun casting long shadows through the trees and unmarked
snow blanketing the forested hills make it hard to belive that
the bustle of Hungary's capital is less than an hour away. A
quick trip by car or bus will put you in the heart of
Hungary's highest mountains. Covered by about 90 thousand
acres of forest, the Matras are one of Hungary's best winter
destinations. Tibor Kiss couldn't agree more. A student
from Budapest Kiss came with friends to relax after university
exams. He says the mountain air is much better than the
congestion and stress of the city.
"We've just popped up to the Matras for a day. We're
practicing skiing and things like that. I'ts cool here
in the mountains. We're doing a little skiing today and
then tomorrow we're going back to Budapest"
Skiing is one attraction here in the Matras, though, the season
is limited because the highest point, Kekesteto, is just over
3,000 feet. The slope here is gentle but long, one trail goes
for about a mile and a half, all the way down to the closest
town, Matrahaza.
Of course if you choose that route, you have to get yourself
back up the mountain. Fortunately, there is a public bus you
can take; it runs several times an hour. For those who
don't leave the mountain, there's a T-bar type lift.
While the snow lasts, the slopes are busy with skiers of all
ages. There is a ski school on the hill, but you have to go
down to Matrahaza to rent equipment. Sleds can also be
rented in many places around the Matras. You can also ice
skate on the natural pond at Sas To, near Matrafured, but in
this case, bring your own skates. For a break, don't miss the
chance for a warm cup of coffee and a great view from seven
stories up in the radio tower at the top of Kekesteto. On
sunny days you can see as far as the High Tatras in Slovakia
and far out into the Hungarian plain. But some people visit
the Matras for more than the view. Lazlo Dala has been a
forester for many years in the Matras and works with the
Mayor's office in the nearby town of Gyongyos. He says the
Matras have a long history as a healthy retreat from the city.
The clean air is said to be a cure for asthmatics and the
quiet hills were a favored spot for the Udullu, or worker
guest houses that were built during the communist era. Dala
says the protected forests of the Matras are also a refuge
for wildlife. On a quiet walk through the woods, you may
run across a small herd of red deer, or see a white clad
ermine scamper across your path. Not all of the wildlife
here is native, however. Dala says the moufflon sheep has
a curious history.
"The moufflon were brought here to the Matra in the 1920's by
the Karolyi counts, it is a kind of Corsican sheep. They put
them into the northern part so that they could be hunted.
But since the moufflon is a southern species, coming from the
south, they came over to the southern side of the Matras where
the ground is stony and warm."
After you've finished enjoying the Matra's wildlife and fresh
air, you might consider sampling the wines produced in the
Matra region. As you descend from the hills, the forests
turn into grape and fruit orchards. Almost every family here
makes its own wine and private cellars are everywhere in the
small villages around Gyongyos. Magdi Beres-Deak runs guest
house and wine cellar in Gyongyospata. She says the climate
and the soil in the region are ideal for wine making, and
villagers are happy to show off their home grown vintages.
"Every family, here in the village, has a cellar. I don't
know exactly how many public wine cellars there are, but if
the door of the cellar is open, you can knock and you're sure
to be welcome. The villagers here are very hospitable and
like having guests"
Another alternative is a hearty Hungarian dinner. Game dishes
are the region's specialty, and many restaurants feature the
best of the local vintages. Whether you come to taste some
fine wine, sled or ski, the Matras are well worth a day
trip. Just minutes away from the smog and winter gloom of
Budapest, the Matra's are Hungary's winter wonderland.
ABOUT CET ON-LINE
-----------------
* CET On-Line - copyright 1994 Word Up! Inc. All rights reserved.
This publication may be freely forwarded, archived, or
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A tovabbterjesztest a New York-i szekhelyu Magyar Emberi Jogok
Alapitvany tamogatja.
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Reposting is supported by Hungarian Human Rights Foundation News
and Information Service.
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|
date=1/5/95
type=focus
number=4-08056
title=NATO: What The Future Holds
byline=Maxim Kniazkov
telephone=619-3615
dateline=Washington
editor=Phil Haynes
content= // actualities available in audio services //
anncr: The Voice of America presents focus!
Music: focus theme (establish and lose under)
Intro: At their meeting in Brussels last month, NATO foreign
ministers made what could be seen as the first practical
step toward expanding the Atlantic Allience. They
agreed to set up a working group charged with studying
the specifics of bringing in former communist countries
that have gone the farthest in establishing democracy
and free markets. But even though the group is not
expected to present its findings for another year, the
move drew angry reaction from Moscow, with Russian
president Boris Yeltsin accusing the west of attempting
to replace the cold war with an equally "cold peace".
The ensuing international debate has revealed a mixture
of views both for and against a speedy NATO enlargement.
In this focus report, V-o-A's Maxim Kniazkov presents
the arguments set forth by leading U-S security experts,
struggling with the painstaking quandary of where NATO's
future lies. Our narrator is_____________.
Text: To questions whether NATO will expand in the future, the
Clinton administration -- as well as its Western
European allies -- answer a resounding "yes".
Tape: cut#1 Burns [00:22]
"NATO leaders last January made a unanimous decision
that in the future NATO should expand. I don't believe
there is any disagreement among NATO leaders on that
issue. And on December 1st, NATO foreign ministers
reconfirmed that decision that NATO will expand. I
think the alliance, the NATO alliance, is unified on
this issue."
Text: Nick Burns is senior director for Russian, Ukrainian and
Eurasian affairs at the National Security Council and
special adviser to president Clinton. He says while all
NATO members generally agree a course of future
expansion for the alliance, there are many important
specifics to be worked out.
Tape: cut#2 Burns [00:15]
"I would like to specify that the NATO leaders have not
set a timetable for that expansion. They have not
decided which of the countries to the east of NATO would
be among the new countries to join."
Text: Observers suggest these unanswered, but crucial,
questions betray a notion of unanimity among NATO
members about the proposed expansion. Should the
45-year-old alliance grant the wish of Poland, Hungary,
the Czech Republic and Slovakia to become NATO's newest
members? If so, how would their presence affect the
already faltering cohesion within the alliance? And
what kind of historical baggage will the newcomers bring
with them -- like the maze of centuries-old grudges and
unresolved disputes that linger between some Central
European states.
These questions lie at the center of an increasingly
intense debate on both sides of the Atlantic -- with
proponents of expansion suggesting moving NATO's area of
responsibility to the very borders of the former Soviet
Union, while some opponents would do away with the
western alliance entirely.
Tape: cut #3 Perle [00:32]
"There is a strong desire on the part of a number of
countries of Eastern and Central Europe to join NATO.
That's certainly true of Poland, the Czech Republic,
Hungary, and Slovakia, and others. And as long as as
they wish to join and believe their security would be
enhanced by membership and as long as we think a sense
of confidence on their part is an essential element of
their progress toward democracy and stability, we should
be prepared to enlarge NATO to accommodate them."
Text: Richard Perle, who served in the Reagan administration
as assistant secretary of defense, is among those who
strongly favor bringing former Soviet bloc states into
the alliance. But a sharply opposing argument is
presented by Ted Galen Carpenter, director of foreign
policy studies at the CATO Institute, a Washington
research foundation.
Tape: cut #4 Carpenter [00:19]
"I would say first of all that preserving NATO in its
current form is a bad idea form the standpoint of
American interests. Expanding NATO into Central and
Eastern Europe is a dreadful idea with potentially
catastrophic consequences."
Text: These diametrically opposite views clearly demonstrate
the scope of the debate that appears to have evolved
into an overall review of the western alliance.
This coming April, the North Atlantic Treaty
Organization will celebrate its 46th anniversary.
Created in the dawning years of the cold war in response
to a massive Soviet military build-up in Eastern and
Central Europe, NATO for almost five decades has been
providing western democracies with a solid shield
against aggression. There is a consensus among its 16
members that over those years the alliance has become a
highly effective security structure, a strong guarantor
of freedom and prosperity for Western Europe and the
United States.
But the wave of democratic revolutions that swept
Eastern Europe in 1989, followed by the disintegration
of the Soviet Union and the Warsaw Pact, have
fundamentally changed the political and strategic
landscape of the region. Last year's pullout of Russian
troops from Germany and the Baltic states marked the end
of Russia's military presence beyond the borders of the
former Soviet Union. Moreover, most western security
experts agree that the Russian armed forces -- as
vividly demonstrated by their dispirited performance in
the breakaway republic Chechnya -- are in the throes of
a severe crisis, which is unlikely to be easily overcome
in the foreseeable future. That has led many experts,
including Paul Warnke, former director of the arms
control and disarmament agency, to conclude that the
Russian threat western politicians warned about just a
decade ago has become history.
Tape: cut #5 Warnke [00:44]
"I don't think there had been a serious threat from the
Soviet Union for the past ten years. I think they
realized that there was no way in the world that they
could survive a war. The collapse of the Soviet Union
would have taken place, even if there were a limited
war. That is they could not count on their satellite
states. Now of course, the Warsaw Pact has disappeared.
It cannot be reconstructed. In order to get to Western
Europe, they have to fight their way through Eastern
Europe. The second largest army in the Warsaw Pact is
now a member of NATO -- East Germany."
Text: And since NATO was conceived primarily as a deterrent
against Soviet and Warsaw Pact forces, Mr. Warnke goes
on to reason, the dramatic changes in Europe and the
former Soviet Union call into question a need for the
Atlantic Allience.
Tape: [opt] cut #6 Warnke [00:31]
"I think you have to recognize that the fundamental
purpose of NATO has now been served. NATO was formed in
order to keep the Russians out, the Americans in and, as
one British journalist said, to keep the Germans down.
So, the only purpose that NATO serves at the present
point is to make the Western Europeans more comfortable
with a bigger Germany and a Russia which is smaller than
the Soviet Union but is still the biggest country in
Europe." [End opt]
Text: The pains of NATO's search for a new post-cold war
mission have been evident in the past two years in the
inability of the major western allies to find a common
approach in dealing with the war in Bosnia-Herzegovina.
Since the break-up of the former Yugoslavia, the allies
have had difficulty in agreeing even on the nature of
the conflict, with the United States viewing it as
largely a Serb aggression and their European allies, as
a civil war. U-S appeals to lift the arms embargo
against the embattled Muslim-dominated Bosnian
government have fallen on deaf ears, particularly in
Britain and France, the countries that provide the bulk
of the U-N peacekeeping force in Bosnia. The lingering
discord reached a climax late last year when the allies
failed to agree on how to counter a Serb offensive that
threatened to overrun the strategic northwestern enclave
of Bihac.
The ensuing finger-pointing further contributed to a
perception that NATO was dangerously adrift and made
analysts wonder whether the proposed eastward expansion
would be a boon or bust for the alliance. But Robert
Ellsworth, who served as deputy secretary of defense and
U-S ambassador to NATO under two republican
administrations, cautions against writing NATO off just
because of its inability to agree on a single issue
like Bosnia.
Tape: cut #7 Ellsworth [00:49]
"It's a very complicated problem, and, in a nutshell,
the problem of NATO is that it has been put into the
position by the leaders of NATO and by the leaders of
the U-N of being under the political control of the
United Nations bureaucracy. And that simply hasn't
worked because the United Nations has one function -- a
perfectly legitimate function -- the function of
peacekeeping. And NATO has another function -- which is
also a perfectly legitimate function but inconsistent
with the U-N's function on the ground -- NATO's
function is military compellent. It always has been and
always will be. So, it has not worked out very
effectively in the former Yugoslavia to say the least.
And I think that's basically been the problem."
Text: In Mr. Ellsworth's view, the dissention over Bosnia was
essentially a by-product of a more important conceptual
dilemma facing NATO in the post-cold war world.
Tape: cut #8 Ellsworth [00:44]
"Now, the larger problem is that no one knows how to
fill the vacuum in Europe left by the end of the cold
war. And so the proposals to expand NATO, to increase
the legitimacy and the strength of the O-S-C-E
[Organization on Security and Cooperation in Europe],
formerly known as the C-S-C-E [Conference of Security
and Cooperation in Europe], are all aimed at solving the
problem of European security. But everyone is baffled,
all sides are baffled, because no one knows what the
problems of European security are."
Text: Still, Mr. Ellsworth is convinced that despite the
disappearance of the Soviet threat, the western alliance
still has significant value to all its members.
Tape: cut #9 Ellsworth [01:25]
"NATO, however, retains some very valuable residual
assets. I say residual because that's what they are in
the face of the reality that the Soviet threat is gone.
The residual assets that NATO has that are very valuable
to all of the member-states are a modern, efficient,
highly effective and powerful logistics undergirding for
all of the military structures of Europe, including the
military structures of the United States and Canada
insofar as they are based in Europe or envisage using
Europe as transits to other strategic areas. So that is
one of the very valuable assets, residual assets, that
NATO has. [Opt] And the other one is that the military
forces of Europe and of the United States have learned
over the years through exercises, through training,
through exchanges of doctrine, through
intercommunications facilities, to work together and to
operate together very effectively -- of course, the most
recent example of that was in the Gulf War of 1990-91.
But those two residual assets are extremely valuable.
[End opt] And I don't expect them to be quickly or
casually discarded. On the contrary, I can envisage
them remaining in place for a very long time to come."
Text: NATO leaders argue that expansion of the alliance, which
for about half-a-century served western democracies so
well, can only enhance stability on a continent that has
given birth to two world wars. But at the same time,
neither the United States nor its European allies want a
repeat of the post-World War Two scenario in which
former allies were drawn apart by mutual suspicions and
distrust. Nick Burns, the Clinton administration
adviser, says for the White House, avoiding new
divisions in Europe is a paramount foreign policy
objective.
Tape: cut #10 Burns [00:47]
"President Clinton believes very strongly that the most
important objective for the future is to find a way to
achieve unity in Europe, integration in Europe, so that
the countries of both the east and the west might agree
on a common form of economic cooperation, political
cooperation, military cooperation, and we might avoid
repeating the mistakes of the past by not creating new
divisions in Europe, by not creating armed camps in
Europe. And that is the most important objective that
the United States has. We believe that NATO expansion
can serve that goal. But this is a gradual process,
it's an open process."
Text: Nevertheless, NATO's proposed enlargement has emerged as
an issue on which Washington and Moscow do not quite see
eye-to-eye. After NATO foreign ministers reaffirmed
their determination to see the alliance move eastward
last December, Russian foreign minister Andrei Kozyrev
publicly refused to exchange documents on Russia's
participation in the "Parntnership for Peace" program --
a NATO initiative aimed at establishing closer security
cooperation with former Soviet bloc countries. A few
days later, president Yeltsin accused the west of trying
of isolate Russia and build a new divide in Europe.
Although the fiery rhetoric has subsided somewhat,
Russian affairs experts say the expansion plan continues
to agitate some government officials and politicians in
Moscow. Experts say their concern is two-fold -- first,
the prospect of NATO expanding to the very borders of
the former Soviet Union bothers them; second, they fear
the move could provoke a nationalist backlash in Moscow
that president Yeltsin's government might not be able to
survive.
Ted Galen Carpenter of the CATO Institute believes
losing Russia as a key player in Europe would be too
high a price to pay for whatever benefits the
enlargement of NATO may offer.
Tape: cut #11 Carpenter [00:35]
"First of all, it would undercut the position of the
democratic faction in Russia. I don't believe any
self-respecting Russian government could tolerate having
a U-S-dominated alliance move up right to the borders of
the Russian federation. Second, it would risk at some
point a confrontation with Russia, including possibly a
military confrontation, over a region in which Russia
has interests -- political, economic and security in
nature that go back generations and in some cases even
centuries."
Text: That, however, is a view that Richard Perle, the former
assistant secretary of defense, has trouble subscribing
to. Mr. Pearle, now a scholar at the American
Enterprise Institute, thinks catering to Russian
sensitivities at the expense of NATO's strategic
interests could be seen by the rest of the world as a
sign of alliance weakness.
Tape: cut #12 Perle [00:14]
"I don't think we'll have a crisis with Russia if we
enlarge NATO. And if we don't enlarge NATO because the
Russians prefer that we do not do so, what does that say
about the relative strength of the United States?"
Text: Russia's opposition, however, is certainly not the only
hurdle on the road toward NATO's expansion. Though the
alliance members have approved the decision in
principle, diplomats say support for further action
among America's Western European allies remains
lukewarm. Jacques Delors, chairman of the European
commission -- the European Union's executive arm --
recently publicly deplored the Atlantic Allience's
expansion plans, saying they might lead to renewed
tensions in Europe. And Paul Warnke's predicts that
Western European leaders will eventually shun extending
full security guarantees to Eastern European nations,
leaving them essentially to their own devices.
Tape: cut #13 Warnke [01:03]
"I'd say we can't expand NATO by ourselves. And in my
opinion, there would be strong resistance within the
Western European community to an expansion of NATO that
extended the full security guarantee. So even if we
were for it, we could not do it without getting the
consent of the other NATO countries. So, it's not going
to happen. NATO will continue to limp along, serving a
very limited purpose."
Text: Mr. Warnke suggests strongly that while NATO member
remain firmly committed to defending one another if they
are threatened, they would not be prepared to guarantee
the defense of a former Warsaw Pact member.
Tape: cut #13 Warnke
"What NATO says is that we'll go to war, if anybody
commits aggression against any NATO member. Well, we
are not going to extend that guarantee to Poland,
Hungary and Czechoslovakia. We would turn the other way
just as we have in what use to be Yugoslavia. I mean,
NATO has failed its one critical test. And it certainly
is not going to expose itself to more failures".
Text: This is a scenario Richard Perle takes issue with.
Tape: cut #14 Perle [00:40]
"Clearly, the process of integration will take some
time. My own view is that the decision could and should
be made now. And with proper American leadership, the
rest of NATO would agree -- now -- to enlarge NATO at
least to include Hungary, Poland the Czech Republic and
Slovakia, with the prospect that in the future others
might well be added to that list. And, while there are
different views among the members of NATO, I believe a
consensus could be reached to proceed in that way, if
the United States were determined to do so."
Text: However, if this determination exists in Washington, it
is unlikely to be displayed this year unless there is a
crisis in Europe. Administration officials point out
the issue of enlargement still requires much more study
and careful consideration of all possible implications
of the move. Nick Burns of the National Security
Council says an allied decision or plan for expansion is
at least one year away.
Tape: cut#14 Burns [00:19]
"NATO will not decide in 1995 to establish a timetable
for expansion. Nor will it enter into negotiations with
prospective members. 1995 Will be a year of study in
that respect, and so, I think we can give assurances on
that account."
Text: That leaves some key battles over the proposed NATO
expansion to the perhaps distant future. Analysts
suggest the wisest move is to put off a decision until
the present unsettled conditione in Europe have run
their course. With political tremors still shaking
Russia and the rest of the former Soviet Union, time
itself may give the answers as to when, where and how
NATO should take in some of the former communist states.
Cart: Focus theme (establish and lose under)
Anncr: You have been listening to focus on the Voice of
America. Our program, "NATO: What the Future Holds,"
was written by Maxim Kniazkov and narrated
by___________. Focus was produced by___________ and
directed by___________.
Neb/mk/pch
20-Jan-95 6:58 am est (1158 utc)
nnnn
source: Voice of America
*****************************************************************
Date=1/20/95
type=correspondent report
number=2-172668
title=East Europe Markets (l-only)
byline=Barry Wood
dateline=Prague
content=
voiced at:
Intro: The new stock exchanges in Eastern Europe have been hard-
hit these past two weeks with prices down in Budapest, Prague and
Warsaw. V-o-a's Barry Wood reports.
Text: Analysts say it is a combination of factors that has
driven prices down on the three biggest exchanges in Eastern
Europe.
One force has been the financial crisis in Mexico which has
soured institutional investors on all emerging stock markets. In
the Eastern European markets, which do not attract much local
money, the absence of institutional investors has reduced overall
share trading volume.
The biggest and steadiest declines have been in Budapest and
Prague. The Hungarian market this week was adversely affected by
the collapse of a major privatization deal. But the market has
been falling since November with the main market index down 20
percent in the past two and a half months.
In Prague, the market has declined for nine consecutive trading
sessions. The main market index, Prague Stock Exchange 50, ended
the week at 548. That index is down 30 percent since September.
In Warsaw, the market index ended the week at seven-thousand,
367. That is an 83-point drop in the past five days. The Warsaw
market had registered gains with prices up 13 percent in the
first two weeks of the year. Half those gains have now
disappeared. (Signed)
neb/bdw/skh/cf
20-Jan-95 11:26 am est (1626 utc)
nnnn
source: Voice of America
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A tovabbterjesztest a New York-i szekhelyu Magyar Emberi Jogok
Alapitvany tamogatja.
[*] [*] [*] [*] [*][*] [*][*][*]
[*] [*] [*] [*] [*] [*] [*]
[*][*][*] [*][*][*] [*][*] [*][*]
[*] [*] [*] [*] [*] [*] [*]
[*] [*] [*] [*] [*] [*] [*]
Reposting is supported by Hungarian Human Rights Foundation News
and Information Service.
*****************************************************************
|
