RADIO FREE EUROPE/RADIO LIBERTY, PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC
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RFE/RL NEWSLINE Vol. 2, No. 137, 20 July 1998

BULGARIA TO BECOME CEFTA MEMBER. Bulgaria on 17 July
announced it will join the Central European Free Trade
Agreement on 1 January 1999, AP reported. CEFTA includes the
Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, and
Slovenia. The organization plans to phase out tariffs
between member states by 2002 and is seen as a stepping
stone to membership in the EU. In other news, Deputy Foreign
Minister Antoaneta Pramatarova met with EU ambassadors in
Sofia and requested that visa requirements for Bulgarians
traveling to the EU be eased. Bulgaria and Romania are the
only associate EU members whose citizens need visas to enter
the EU. PB

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