RFERLexcerpts
George Frajkor
Europe/ Radio Liberty Daily Report, an electronic news service to
which you may subscribe individually. Only items of interest to this
list have been selected. All are unedited and are presented without
comment.
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No. 26, 8 February 1994
MECIAR'S REFERENDUM PLAN IS CRITICIZED. Given the
disintegration of the parliamentary majority once held by the
Movement for a Democratic Slovakia and its coalition partner,
the Slovak National Party, Premier Vladimir Meciar has
recently increased efforts to replace deputies who have left
the two parties since the June 1992 elections. On 6 February
the premier said on Slovak Television that the MDS will
organize a referendum to decide if deputies who have changed
parties should be expelled from the parliament. Christian
Democratic Movement chairman Jan Carnogursky told Reuters on
7 February that Meciar's plans are "senseless," and that it
would be better to hold early elections. Coexistence Chairman
Miklos Duray also called for early elections on 7 February,
while the biggest opposition party, the Party of the
Democratic Left, has been calling for a new ballot for
several months. Sharon Fisher, RFE/RL, Inc.
SLOVAK NATIONAL PARTY LEADER'S POSITION PRECARIOUS. On 7
February, during MDS-SNP coalition talks, Meciar asked SNP
Chairman Ludovit Cernak to resign from his post as deputy
chairman of the parliament, since Cernak has not followed the
coalition agreement, TASR reports. Cernak, who split his
party into two factions in December, lost a vote of
confidence from the SNP executive council on 15 January, but
refused to resign from his post as SNP chairman until after
the party congress scheduled for 19 February. On 6 February
most local conferences of the SNP rallied behind the MDS-SNP
coalition and called for Cernak's replacement as SNP chairman
and his ouster from the party. Sharon Fisher, RFE/RL, Inc.
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Inc.
George Frajkor
Europe/ Radio Liberty Daily Report, an electronic news service to
which you may subscribe individually. Only items of interest to this
list have been selected. All are unedited and are presented without
comment.
======================================================================
No. 27, 9 February 1994
HAVEL AWARDED INDIAN PEACE PRIZE. Indian President Shankar Dayal
Sharma presented his Czech counterpart Vaclav Havel with the 1993
Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament and Development,
international news services reported on 8 February. Sharma
praised Havel for his leadership and "creative spirit." The Czech
President replied the prize was a tribute to citizens of former
Czechoslovakia, who for years engaged in non-violent opposition to
communist authorities. At a later press conference in New Delhi,
Havel indicated that Czech authorities are willing to sell
military hardware to India. CTK quoted him as having said that he
sees no reason "why the Czech Republic should not export some
military items to countries with a democratic tradition." Also on
8 February, Havel met with Indian Prime Minister Narasimha Rao.
Jan Obrman, RFE/RL, Inc.
SLOVAK GOVERNMENT MEMBERS TRY TO SOLVE DEADLOCK. On 8 February two
deputy premiers from the Slovak National Party, Jozef Prokes and
Marian Andel, offered to give up their government posts to solve
the current parliamentary deadlock. Both were forced to give up
their positions as parliamentary deputies when they became members
of the coalition cabinet formed by the SNP and the Movement for a
Democratic Slovakia in November. Prokes said he "feels
responsible" for the current deadlock, in which only 75 of 150
parliamentarians support the government, because the SNP deputy
who replaced him "betrayed" the coalition and joined the
opposition. If Prokes and Andel give up their government posts,
the members who replaced them would be forced to leave the
parliament, and the coalition would thus be strengthened by two
votes, TASR reports. Sharon Fisher, RFE/RL, Inc.
GERMAN-SLOVAK MILITARY COOPERATION AGREEMENT. On 8 February German
Defense Minister Volker Ruhe arrived in Bratislava for a two-day
visit, which includes meetings with his Slovak counterpart Imrich
Andrejcak, as well as with President Michal Kovac, Premier
Vladimir Meciar and Foreign Minister Jozef Moravcik. Andrejcak and
Ruhe signed a military cooperation agreement providing for
information exchanges and joint training. Following talks with
Meciar concerning NATO's Partnership for Peace initiative, Ruhe
said that the program is not "an alternative to joining NATO," but
rather "a program of active participation of post-communist
countries in advancing to NATO structures," TASR reports. Meciar
will travel to Brussels on 9 February to sign the Partnership for
Peace agreement. Sharon Fisher, RFE/RL, Inc.
George Frajkor
Europe/ Radio Liberty Daily Report, an electronic news service to
which you may subscribe individually. Only items of interest to this
list have been selected. All are unedited and are presented without
comment.
======================================================================
No. 30, 14 February 1994
VOTE OF NO-CONFIDENCE IN MECIAR EXPECTED . . . Following the
recent defection of twelve deputies of the Movement for a
Democratic Slovakia (ten have joined a new faction called the
Alternative of Political Realism (APR), while two have established
the National Social-Democratic faction), Premier Vladimir Meciar's
grip on power seems to be loosening. Opposition deputies said that
a vote of no-confidence in the Meciar government could take place
as early as 16 February, Reuters reported on 11 February. On that
day, the parliament will reconvene following its closure on 4
February, when six Slovak National Party deputies switched to the
opposition, leaving Meciar with the support of only 75 out of 150
deputies and the parliament in a stalemate. Now opposition
parties could claim as many as 87 seats, making a no-confidence
vote likely. Sharon Fisher, RFE/RL, Inc.
. . . AS TOP SLOVAK OFFICIALS JOIN OPPOSITION. Foreign Minister
Jozef Moravcik and Deputy Premier Roman Kovac, both MDS members,
have come out in support of the APR, which calls for a broad
coalition of all parliamentary parties except those of the
Hungarian minority and a cabinet of politically non-aligned
experts. On 11 February Meciar said on Slovak Radio that Moravcik
and Kovac should resign for working to topple the government and
called the formation of a new government "thievery." Meeting on 12
February in Modra to discuss the crisis, the MDS leadership
rejected the statement of the APR deputies. Following a
no-confidence vote in Moravcik and Kovac, the MDS proposed that
they be expelled from the party. Meciar said that defections by
MDS members are part of a healing process, since "only what is ill
falls off." On 13 February, Moravcik and Kovac said they would not
resign and would instead wait for Meciar to ask the president to
dismiss them. That same day, Meciar said he supports early
elections, which could be held as early as this summer, to resolve
the present crisis. Sharon Fisher, RFE/RL, Inc.
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No. 29, 11 February 1994
BELARUS SIGNS TRADE AGREEMENT WITH CZECH REPUBLIC, SLOVAKIA.
Czech Minister of Industry and Trade Vladimir Dlouhy and Uladzimir
Radkevich, Chairman of the Belarus State Committee for Foreign
Economic Relations signed an agreement calling for liberalization
of trade, payments in convertible currency and direct contacts
between businesses, Czech Television reported on 8 February.
Radkevich was on a two day official visit to Prague. The agreement
provides a framework for future accords on issues such as
protection of investments and prevention of double taxation. On 10
February in Bratislava an agreement on trade and scientific and
technical cooperation was signed by Slovak Economy Minister Jan
Ducky and Radkevich. Radkevich said that bilateral trade totaled
30 million US dollars in 1993 and that both countries are trying
to increase mutual economic contacts, TASR reports. Jan Obrman
and Sharon Fisher, RFE/RL, Inc.
MECIAR'S PARTY SEEMS TO BE CRUMBLING. According to Sme of 10
February, the Movement for a Democratic Slovakia lost two more
parliamentary deputies, bringing the party's number down to 63 out
of 150 seats. Anna Korduliakova and Milan Mrenka said that 500 of
the party's 730 members in the district of Cadca will join their
new group called the National Social-Democratic Faction, whose
members "feel a need for democracy, not for stringent party
centralism." Meanwhile, during a 10 February meeting of government
members with deputies from the MDS and its coalition partner, the
Slovak National Party, Deputy Premier Roman Kovac spoke about his
"differences of opinion" with Premier Vladimir Meciar. Kovac said
he does not suffer from "basic ideological conflicts" with the
premier but rather from "differences of opinion on the
organization of the party and relations between deputies and the
government." Kovac and Foreign Minister Jozef Moravcik allegedly
have at least twelve supporters among MDS deputies, TASR reports.
Also on 10 February MDS deputy Peter Tomecek announced that he was
creating a new group within the MDS called the Alternative of
Political Realism, CTK reports. The ten-member group aims to
create a wide government coalition without Meciar. Finally,
Chairman of the MDS parliamentary caucus, Tibor Cabaj, confirmed
that two of his deputy chairmen, Vladimir Bajan and Marian
Kelemen, resigned from their posts on 10 February. Sharon Fisher,
RFE/RL, Inc.
SLOVAK DEMOCRATIC PARTY OFFICIALS KILLED IN CAR CRASH. On 6
February Democratic Party Chairman Ivan Duris and Deputy Chairman
Vladimir Cech died in a car accident in eastern Slovakia. The DS
is an extraparliamentary party which recently merged with the
Conservative Democratic Party. Sharon Fisher, RFE/RL, Inc.
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No. 28, 10 February 1994
SLOVAKIA SIGNS PARTNERSHIP FOR PEACE PLAN. On 9 February Slovak
Premier Vladimir Meciar, along with Deputy Premier Jozef Prokes
and Defense Minister Imrich Andrejcak, traveled to Brussels to
sign the Partnership for Peace agreement with NATO, making
Slovakia the seventh country to join the initiative. Before
leaving for Brussels Meciar told TASR that the signing of the
agreement is the first step in building Slovakia's Euro-Atlantic
security orientation. Foreign Minister Jozef Moravcik, who was
scheduled to accompany Meciar, was forced to stay in Slovakia
because of back problems. Sharon Fisher, RFE/RL, Inc.
IMF SAYS SLOVAK ECONOMY SHOWS POSITIVE SIGNS. Concluding a
four-day visit to Slovakia on 8 February, IMF Executive Director
Jacques de Groote said that Slovakia is likely to receive a
stand-by loan and that the IMF will decide on this issue in the
near future. Noting that the rate of inflation and unemployment
are lower than anticipated by the IMF, de Groote said Slovakia
should begin to see economic revival in 1995, TASR reports.
Sharon Fisher, RFE/RL, Inc.