RADIO FREE EUROPE/RADIO LIBERTY, PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC
________________________________________________________
RFE/RL NEWSLINE 5 May 1999

NATO TRANSPORT PLANES ARRIVE IN BUDAPEST. Five NATO transport
planes carrying technical and small transport vehicles
arrived at Budapest airport on 4 May, Hungarian media
reported. U.S. Ambassador to Hungary Peter Tufo said it is
probable that NATO will officially ask the cabinet to allow
allied fighters to use Hungarian airports in launching
attacks against Yugoslavia. Meanwhile, the opposition Free
Democrats have withdrawn their support for a Socialist Party
motion demanding that no attack be launched on Serbia from
Hungarian territory. MSZ

HUNGARY ALLOWS TRANSIT OF POLISH TROOPS TO ALBANIA. The
Hungarian parliament on 4 May voted to allow 140 Polish
troops headed for Albania to transit Hungary by railway, MTI
reported. The Polish military contingent, intended to protect
NATO command posts and to assist in delivering humanitarian
aid, was ready to set off for Albania last week (see
"RFE/RL's Newsline," 30 April 1999). JM

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RADIO FREE EUROPE/RADIO LIBERTY, PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC
________________________________________________________
RFE/RL NEWSLINE 6 May 1999

NATO FIGHTERS TO ARRIVE IN HUNGARY. The Hungarian government
has complied with NATO's request that the alliance be allowed
to deploy 24 F-18 Hornet fighters and 500-800 service crew at
the Taszar military base in southwestern Hungary, Defense
Minister Janos Szabo announced on 5 May. He said the fighters
are capable of attacking targets in Yugoslavia, and will
defend Hungarian air space and engage in surveillance
flights. The planes will also provide protection to C-135
tankers due to arrive at the Budapest airport on 6 May. Szabo
stressed again that no armed Hungarian units will take part
in eventual peacekeeping operations. MSZ

CLINTON SEES 'INTEGRATED FUTURE' FOR BALKANS. The U.S.
president told the press conference in Frankfurt on 6 May
that there must be an "integrated vision" for the Balkans as
a whole once the Kosova conflict is over and planning for the
future of the entire region can begin. Clinton stressed that
Serbia's role in the region will "depend on how the Serbs
behave" toward their neighbors. He noted that Romania and
other, unnamed countries with a smaller industrial base than
Serbia's have made "great efforts" to promote democracy at
home and good relations with their neighbors. Clinton cited
Romania's efforts to improve its relations with Hungary as an
example for other Balkan countries to follow vis-a-vis their
respective neighbors. Clinton suggested that Serbia must make
similar efforts if it wants the international community to
accept it as a full-fledged partner. PM

EU, EAST EUROPEAN CANDIDATES REVIEW PROGRESS

By Breffni O'Rourke

	Last week, the EU held its annual Association Council
meetings in Brussels with Slovakia, Romania, and Estonia.
German State Secretary Guenter Verheugen, in his capacity as
council president, met separately with the foreign ministers
of those countries.
	Though grouped together for one day, the three countries
are in quite different situations with regard to their
membership prospects. Estonia belongs to the "fast-track"
group of candidates, along with Poland, Hungary, the Czech
Republic, and Slovenia, and has already opened membership
negotiations with the EU Executive Commission. Romania, its
reform effort stumbling, is widely seen as dropping even
further behind the leading group. Slovakia is confident that
the reforms and democratization pursued by the present
government of Prime Minister Mikulas Dzurinda are now
reversing years of stagnation that constituted a barrier
between it and the EU.
	The head of the EU Integration Section at the Slovak
Foreign Ministry, Jan Kuderjavy, told RFE/RL the association
meeting revealed the extent to which relations between
Slovakia and the EU have changed since the election of
Dzurinda's pro-reform government. He noted that Verheugen
showed "appreciation" of the changes that have occurred in
Slovakia and welcomed measures undertaken by the new Slovak
government, particularly in the political sphere.
	Kuderjavy said Slovakia expects that on the basis of the
EU's next country-by-country progress report, to be issued in
the fall, the EU Executive Commission will recommend to the
EU Helsinki summit in December that membership negotiations
be launched with Slovakia.
	Romanian Ambassador to the EU Constantin Ene told RFE/RL
that Romania considers the association meeting to have been
particularly successful. He said that in light of the
conflict in Yugoslavia, Romania stressed the positive role
the country plays in maintaining stability in the Balkans.
And he noted that just one day before the meeting, the EU
foreign ministers had issued a statement recognizing the
regional role played by both Romania and Bulgaria.
	Commenting that the EU member countries seemed receptive
to Romania's argument that the momentum toward accession
should be maintained among the 10 East European candidate
countries, Ene said his country hopes that the Helsinki
summit will also decide to start negotiations with Romania.
He said the EU side gave no immediate response to that
suggestion but appeared to take good note of it.
	Ene acknowledged that his country is not ready for
accession and does not expect it anytime soon. But he said
that starting negotiations would be a positive political
move, demonstrating to the country that it has not been "left
outside," particularly considering conditions in the region.
He said the same applies to neighboring Bulgaria.
	The ambassador also put in a plea for other fellow
Balkan countries. "Give them a clear perspective that they
belong to Europe, [don't] leave them somewhere in a corner of
the continent. Certainly Romania and Bulgaria are in a better
position because we are already associated [with the EU], but
others may have the feeling that they are somehow isolated.
Therefore one of the decisions to be implemented will be to
raise the status of the EU's existing agreements with
Macedonia and Albania and to conclude with them association
agreements."
	Estonia, for its part, discussed with the EU panel its
progress towards accession. The head of press relations at
the Estonian Diplomatic Mission to the EU, Ann Haermaste,
told RFE/RL that there was general satisfaction about the
overall level of progress. But she said the Estonian side
expressed concern at the problems Estonian ships are having
at Finnish ports. Finnish trade unions are blocking the
handling of Estonian vessels in protest at the much cheaper
wages paid to Estonian crews. They want Estonian sailors to
be paid more.
	The Finnish government has not intervened with this
industrial action on the grounds that the labor unions are
free of state control. But Haermaste says her country sees
this as a matter of competition policy and believes that
Finland is in breach of the EU's free competition rules. She
said her side has asked the EU commission for an assessment
on the situation, adding that the Association Council noted
Estonia's concern about the need to preserve free competition
in maritime transport in the Baltic Sea region and encouraged
continued discussions in order to resolve the dispute.

The author is an RFE/RL senior correspondent based in Prague.

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               Copyright (c) 1999 RFE/RL, Inc.
                     All rights reserved.
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