SELECT BRIEFING EUROPE EAST CSIS East Europe Project Volume 2 ¦ Number 39 ¦ October 7, 2005 Central European Update Czech Republic USD 21.7 million in 2004. Tala- sany met with U.S. President Slovakia Finance Minister Bohuslav bani said he hopes to see more George Bush who thanked Hun- On 4 October Slovak President Sobotka announced on 3 October Czech companies in Iraq because gary for its contribution to the Ivan Gasparovic appointed Jirko that the Czech Republic recorded a their strong track record in the missions in Iraq in Afghanistan Malcharek to the post of econ- budget surplus of about USD 993 country since the 1970s is highly and pledged to take steps toward omy minister, replacing Pavol million in the first nine months of valued. facilitating the visa regime for Rusko dismissed due to unex- this year. Sobotka commented that Hungarian citizens. While in plained private business ties. In his Poland Washington, Gyurcsany also held this is the best budget performance Ahead of the 9 October presiden- speech Malcharek asserted that he since 1993 and attributed the result talks with U.S. Secretary of State planned in his one-year mandate tial election, polls show that there Condoleeza Rice and Congress- to careful government spending and will be a tight race between candi- to improve the business climate, increased tax revenues due to the man Tom Lantos. In addition, the support foreign investment, and dates from the Law and Justice Hungarian prime minister was crackdown on the grey economy. (PiS) party and the Civic Platform fight corruption. The 39 year-old, Miroslav Singer, vice governor of awarded the George Washington former Formula One racing car (PO), the two parties likely to University President’s Medal, the Czech Central Bank, warned on form a coalition government. The driver was nominated by Prime 4 October that despite positive mac- whose previous recipients include Minister Mikulas Dzurinda and latest poll by OBOP agency shows Mikhail Gorbachev and Vaclav roeconomic indicators, the biggest Donald Tusk of the PO leading approved by the president. obstacle to Prague’s adoption of the Havel. ¯ ¯ ¯ with 45 percent against Lech Kac- ¯ ¯ ¯ euro is the tight labor market, which zynski of PiS with 35 percent. On 5 October the Slovak govern- On 3 and 4 October Serbian Presi- ment coalition reached an agree- has deteriorated since 2003. The Nearly two weeks after parliamen- number of long-term unemployed dent Boris Tadic visited Budapest ment on the state budget for 2006 tary elections, PiS and PO, which and met with his Hungarian coun- after 10 days of heated debate. has increased significantly, the gathered the most votes, have yet flexibility of the workforce has terpart Laszlo Solyom, Prime The coalition parties agreed that it to agree on a coalition platform. Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany, declined, and disparities in employ- ¯ ¯ ¯ was the hardest compromise made House Speaker Katalin Szili and in the history of the coalition. The ment between regions have in- Dell Inc., one of the world’s larg- creased. The Czech Republic in- the heads of the biggest parliament originally set 2.9 percent target for est PC makers, announced on 5 parties, Istvan Hiller and Viktor tends to adopt the euro in 2010. October that it will invest 120 the budget deficit remained un- ¯ ¯ ¯ Orban. The leaders discussed the million euro to build a PC assem- changed. recent incidents in Vojvodina in ¯ ¯ ¯ On 4 October Czech officials an- bly factory in Lodz, central Po- nounced that the infrastructure northern Serbia, where about Ludovit Kanik, minister of labor land. The project is expected to 300,000 ethnic Hungarians reside. committee of NATO has agreed to create around 12,000 jobs. Lodz and social affairs announced on 5 President Tadic asserted that the October that he would resign after subsidize about USD 8.6 million for was designated as a special eco- the construction of a fuel storage Serbian government will do every- 12 October, the date of an interna- nomic zone, which in the recent thing possible to stop the violence facility at the military air base in past has attracted numerous for- tional conference on pension re- and punish the perpetrators. Nev- form in Bratislava. Kanik has been Caslav, central Bohemia. Three- eign investors, including Dutch quarters of the project’s cost would ertheless, he claimed that in 2004 under pressure by both the media Philips, Bosch-Siemens, Fuji and be covered by the NATO subsidy only 13 out of 80 confrontations and opposition parties over a con- Sirmax. between Hungarians and Serbs and the rest would come from the ¯ ¯ ¯ flict of interest scandal. His family had been found to be ethnically Czech defense ministry. Thus far According to Eurostat data, the business allegedly applied for motivated. 565,000 euros from EU structural the Czech Republic has received EU statistical office, the 17.5 per- NATO funds amounting to USD ¯ ¯ ¯ funds for hotel reconstruction. cent unemployment rate in Poland The Hungarian foreign ministry 130 million for its defense infra- for August was the highest among Prime Minister Mikulas sent a diplomatic note on 5 Octo- Dzurinda accepted his resigna- structure. EU member states, with an aver- ¯ ¯ ¯ ber to the ambassadors of Ukraine, age of 8.7 percent. Yet Eurostat tion, but said that he appreciated On 5 October, during a three-day Serbia-Montenegro, Romania, and Kanik’s hard work with respect to noted that the figure marked an Croatia announcing the introduc- official visit in the Czech Republic, improvement since the same pe- reforming the welfare and pension Iraqi President Jalal Talabani met tion of a special national visa. systems and the labor market. riod in 2004, when unemployment Citizens of the four neighboring with his Czech counterpart Vaclav in Poland reached 18.7 percent. Klaus. Talabani expressed hope countries who plan to visit Hun- that the Czech parliament would Hungary gary to study the Hungarian lan- approve extending the Czech mili- Hungarian Prime Minister Ferenc guage and cultural-national iden- tary police training mission in Iraq Gyurcsany was on four day offi- tity can apply for the new visa. by one year. Currently, there are cial visit to the United States. The visa will be issued free of 100 Czech policemen training Iraqi During a meeting with UN Secre- charge and will be available from forces. The two sides also noted tary General Kofi Annan in New 1 January 2006. After Hungary improvement in their economic York he discussed issues of UN joins the Schengen area, national relations as trade exchange jumped reform and the Balkan region. On visa holders will be allowed to Featured Photo: Heroes Square, Budapest, from USD 5.3 million in 2003 to 7 October in Washington Gyurc- travel throughout the EU. Hungary Eastern Europe Project · Center for Strategic and International Studies 1800 K Street, NW · Washington, DC 20006 · Tel: (202) 887-0200 · Fax: (202) 775-3199 · http://www.csis.org/ee Page 2 Select Briefing Europe East Baltic States Update Estonia space as part of a NATO rotation. The mission and that other technical and organizational On 30 September, Estonian Military Com- involves 100 U.S. Air Force troops, double the errors contributed to the incident. The final mander Vice Admiral Tarmo Kouts, along number that have served on the mission to date. conclusion of the investigation was that the with the commander of British forces in Af- Lithuanian Defense Minister Gediminas Kirki- plane crash was an accident and not a covert ghanistan, Lieutenant General John McColl, las stated that the troop increase is not related to surveillance mission. the recent crash of a Russian Su-27 in Lithua- and the chief of staff of U.S. forces in Europe, Latvia Lieutenant General Colby M. Broadwater, nia, although Vilnius is determined to discuss the incident at the Russia-NATO Council. On 30 September the Latvian government discussed Estonia’s participation in NATO announced it would lodge an appeal against a peacekeeping operations. LTG McColl and Kirkilas also stressed the need to finalize the establishment of a joint Baltic Command and ruling by the European Court of Human Rights LTG Broadwater both hailed the Estonian (ECHR). According to the verdict, Riga must contribution to the NATO mission in Afghani- Reporting Center, which would issue take-off and air control orders in place of the NATO pay 15,000 euros to a former Soviet military stan as indispensable. family that has been denied Latvian citizen- ¯ ¯ ¯ joint air operations center in Germany. ship. The ECHR ruled that the “Latvian state On 3 October the media reported that shuttle ¯ ¯ ¯ The final report on the 15 September crash of a violated the right to a private life of former traders are undermining Estonia’s gas market Soviet military officer Arkady Sisoyev and by importing large amounts of Russian lique- Russian fighter jet in the Sakiai district of his family by continually refusing to grant fied gas and profiting from the price differ- Lithuania was released on 4 October. Defense them permanent residency.” Sisoyev and his ence. Liquefied gas reportedly can cost as Minister Gediminas Kirkilas, Armed Forces wife have both lived in Latvia since the late much as four times more in Estonia than in Commander Valdas Tutkas and Brigadier Gen- 1960s, and both of their daughters were born Russia. eral Vitalijus Vaiksnoras presented President Valdas Adamkus with the conclusions of the in Latvia. Riga’s decision to deny citizenship Lithuania investigation. The report stated that the Russian to the family was due to the fact that family On 1 October six U.S. F-16 planes stationed at pilot, Valery Troyanov, had “made mistakes in members provided false information on their Zokniai airbase began patrolling Baltic air- application forms.