Saturday, 2 July Friday, 1 July Thursday, 30 June Wednesday, 29 June Tuesday, 28 June Monday, 27 June

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1 Slovak news compiled from wire services, U.S. press, RFE/RL, and other sources University of Pittsburgh, PA Slovak Studies Program, 1417 CL MARTIN VOTRUBA S L O V A K N E W S Monday Sunday, 27 June 3 July 1994 Saturday, 2 July Next Hungarian Premier on Slovak Hungarian Treaty 2 Friday, 1 July Slovakia s Troubled Democratic Party 2 Slovak Parliament Approves Pension Increase 2 Roma from Slovakia Lose Citizenship in Czech Republic 3 Thursday, 30 June New Slovak Defense Doctrine Eyes NATO Membership 4 Slovak Trade Surplus with Czechs 4 OECD: Ex-communist Central Europe to Grow in Wednesday, 29 June Opposition Slams President Kováč s Report on U.S. Visit 6 Slovakia Signs Agreement with FBI 8 Merrill Lynch: Slovakia Attractive for Investors 7 Bratislava Demands Shares in Former Czech-Slovak Bank 7 FBI and Slovakia to Fight Organized Crime Together 8 FBI Director Starts Global Strategy on Organized Crime in Bratislava 9 FBI Director on Unprecedented Trip to Slovakia, Central Europe 10 FBI Director Zips through Slovakia, Central Europe 11 Slovak Finance Minister: Insolvency, Smuggling Lowered Revenues 12 Local Elections Set for November Tuesday, 28 June HZDS MP Forced to Apologize for Nazi Salute 13 Bratislava to Stop Western Garbage 13 German Adidas to Join French Adidas to Make Sneaker Soles in Slovakia 14 Monday, 27 June

2 27 June - 3 July 1994, Slovak News 2 Slovak President Returns from U.S. Visit 14 OPIC Sees Investment Opportunities in Slovakia 15 Saturday, 2 July 1994 NEXT HUNGARIAN PREMIER ON SLOVAK HUNGARIAN TREATY Budapest Hungarian Prime Minister designate Gyula Horn said that his cabinet wants to approach the issue of the Gabčíkovo-Nagymaros power plant without any prejudices, Népszabadság reported on 2 July. Horn stressed that the environmental issues must remain decisive and a solution must be worked out at the expert level followed by a political solution. Horn said that once the power plant issue is settled, Hungary and Slovakia will be closer to agreement on the issue of the bilateral friendship treaty. Horn stressed that he will consult with the leaders of the Hungarian minority living in Slovakia before submitting the treaty for ratification to the Hungarian parliament. Friday, 1 July 1994 SLOVAKIA S TROUBLED DEMOCRATIC PARTY Bratislava Three months before the parliamentary elections, the extraparliamentary Democratic Party (DS) 1 is experiencing turmoil; on 1 July the party s executive council announced its lack of confidence in Chairman Pavol Hagyari and challenged him to resign, TASR reported on 3 July. Hagyari responded by saying that he is accountable only to the party congress and that he will resign if the congress does not uphold a motion for DS s joint candidacy with the Democratic Union of Slovakia (DEÚS). 2 Cooperation with DEÚS would guarantee that DS would be represented in the parliament and would thus ensure that the right-of-center vote would not be lost, Hagyari said. He stated that he preferred the DEÚS s offer to that of the Christian Democratic Movement (KDH) 3 and noted that an attempt by DS to go it alone in the elections would constitute an attempt at political suicide. SLOVAK PARLIAMENT APPROVES PENSION INCREASE Bratislava On 1 July Slovak Parliament voted to approve a law to raise pensions in 1994 and an amendment to increase pensions in The proposals, which were presented by Labor and Social Affairs Minister Július Brocka, reflect the 10% rise in 1 Demokratická strana. 2 Demokratická únia Slovenska. 3 Kresťanskodemokratické hnutie.

3 27 June - 3 July 1994, Slovak News 3 living costs and the 5% rise in average wages since the last pension increase. The 1994 state budget law earmarked 1.3 billion crowns for pension increases in case of a cost-ofliving increase. The overall increase in average monthly pensions in the remaining months of 1994 will be 355 crowns; pensions will be raised by 7%, and fixed monthly allowances by 54 to 180 crowns. The increase will be funded from the budget of the National Insurance Company. ROMA FROM SLOVAKIA LOSE CITIZENSHIP IN CZECH REPUBLIC Prague Thousands of Gypsies became aliens in the Czech republic on July first, as the deadline for the citizens of the former Czechoslovakia to opt for Czech citizenship expired. A Gypsy group says it will make a complaint to the constitutional court against the citizenship law. Estimates put the number of Slovak-born Gypsies who live in the Czech Republic but have not applied for Czech citizenship or have not qualified at 20 to 70 thousand. The issue is embarrassing for the government of the Czech Republic, which says it has no minority problem. When Czechoslovakia split on 1 January 1993, Slovak-born citizens were given one year to apply for Czech citizenship. Prague extended this deadline by another six months last December. But these citizens of Slovak ancestry were required to prove having at least a two-year residence in the Czech Republic and a five-year clean criminal record to qualify for Czech citizenship. The Roma Democratic Union (DSR) 1 says these conditions are discriminatory, whether they affect Gypsies or anybody else. The union says it will back its members who plan to lodge a complaint against the law with the constitutional court. The union s spokesman, Jan Rusenko, maintains that all citizens of the former Czechoslovakia should have been able to opt automatically for either Czech or Slovak citizenship, without qualifications. He says Gypsies are the group which is most affected by this legislation. Many of them fail to meet the conditions. Many are also not educated enough to cope with the required paperwork. The Czech Interior Ministry vehemently protests against charges that the law was made in this form to get rid of a problem-prone group. According to security officials known as Aliens Police, Slovak citizens can be granted permanent residence while applying for full Czech citizenship but 5-year residence will now be required, as for other foreigners. And Aliens Police chief in Prague, Zdeněk 1 Demokratický svaz Romů.

4 27 June - 3 July 1994, Slovak News 4 Sýkora, admits that people with a criminal record do not have a chance to be granted permanent residence permits. He also acknowledges that while local authorities were instructed to be helpful to applicants, there was not sufficient education to prepare Gypsies for the new situation. The number of Gypsies in the Czech Republic is officially estimated at about 150,000, or 1½ percent of the population. But only 33,000 registered for Gypsy or the more formal Romani ethnic classification in the 1991 census. Slovakia s estimated 250,000 Gypsies, or almost 5% of its population, is the highest percentage in the world. (VOA) Thursday, 30 June 1994 NEW SLOVAK DEFENSE DOCTRINE EYES NATO MEMBERSHIP Bratislava During its session on 30 June, Slovak Parliament approved the new defense doctrine proposed by Defense Minister Pavol Kanis. The doctrine deals with the country s national security requirements and introduces a security policy document on Slovakia s participation in the Partnership for Peace program. It stresses the importance of integration into European security structures, particularly NATO, and states that Slovakia has no reason to use its army other than to defend its independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity, and stability. The document also deals with the principles of building the armed forces and defense capabilities, stating that the country s defense needs must be in line with its economic, technological, and spiritual potential. Parliament also approved a proposal to send Slovak Army observers on monitoring missions to Nagorno-Karabakh, in agreement with the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe. A new law on the reorganization of the Defense Ministry provides for the creation of the Military Information Service, to be divided into sections on defense and offense. SLOVAK TRADE SURPLUS WITH CZECHS Bratislava On 30 June the National Bank of Slovakia (NBS) held a press conference to discuss recent economic developments. National Bank Governor Vladimír Masár announced that foreign currency reserves have shown long-term growth and totaled $713.7 million, excluding gold, on 30 June. This is a rise of $45 million since 28 June. The state budget deficit reached 7.7 billion crowns on 28 June, which corresponds with expectations.

5 27 June - 3 July 1994, Slovak News 5 Slovakia has registered a trade surplus with the Czech Republic, with a positive balance of 3.7 billion crowns. The NBS also announced that two new Slovak bank notes will be issued. The 200 crowns note will feature the 19 th -century writer Anton Bernolák, while the 5,000 crowns note will portray one of the founders of Czechoslovakia, Milan Rastislav Štefánik. The bank notes will be printed in Munich, Germany. OECD: EX-COMMUNIST CENTRAL EUROPE TO GROW IN 1995 Vienna Economic recovery took hold in much of Eastern Europe last year following the post-communist slump, and most of the region outside the former Soviet Union should grow in 1995, the OECD said on Thursday. In its half-year report the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development said burgeoning private-sector growth may well have been understated by official statistics. Most countries in transition to market economics outside the former Soviet Union have made visible progress towards output recovery, although this progress is still painfully slow according to official statistics, the OECD said. By 1995 recorded GDP is expected to be growing in most transition countries outside the (CIS). Recovery in Bulgaria and Romania is particularly uncertain, although in Bulgaria the substantial devaluation may give exports an added boost. Exports are expected to remain an important engine of growth, since penetration in most western markets continues to increase, although often at rates constrained by non-tariff barriers, the Paris-based think tank said. Poland led the region last year, growing by four percent, but the actual turning point may have also been reached in 1993 in the Czech Republic and Hungary, while output also grew in the Baltic countries of Estonia and Latvia. In Russia sustained efforts will be necessary to implement a stabilization plan and carry out structural reforms, the OECD said. Most other countries in the Commonwealth of Independent States face similar problems to Russia, compounded by worsening terms of trade and losses of subsidies following the breakup of the ruble zone. Inflation is generally declining but remains high by OECD standards, with the Czech Republic leading the way in the inflation stakes and enjoying the healthiest state finances, while budget deficits remain high elsewhere. In all the countries the balance of output has shifted from industry towards services, but Poland s recovery coincided with a pickup in industrial output, while rising output in Hungary in industry and services was only offset by a bad 1993 harvest.

6 27 June - 3 July 1994, Slovak News 6 Most countries outside the former Soviet Union have made good progress in improving banking systems and implementing bankruptcy legislation, while avoiding a chain of company failures or sharp increases in unemployment. (Reuters) Following are key elements of the OECD forecast, with figures expressed as percentage change (output) or percentage (unemployment). Output Bulgaria Czech Rep Hungary Poland Romania Slovakia Inflation Bulgaria Czech Rep Hungary Poland Romania Slovakia Unemployment Bulgaria Czech Rep Hungary Poland Romania Slovakia Wednesday, 29 June 1994 OPPOSITION SLAMS PRESIDENT KOVÁČ S REPORT ON U.S. VISIT Bratislava On 29 June the Movement for a Democratic Slovakia (HZDS) 1 released a statement criticizing President Michal Kováč s remarks during his press conference upon his return from the U.S. on 27 June. The statement said that Kováč had violated diplomatic protocol when he expressed himself in the name of another sovereign state. Kováč had said that the attitude of U.S. President Bill Clinton toward Slovakia had changed since the new government was installed in March and that certain U.S. representatives had expressed fear that HZDS leader and former Premier Vladimír Mečiar might return to power following the fall elections. The statement said that under the Mečiar government, U.S. and Slovak officials had declared unambiguous bilateral cooperation and understanding, which can be proven by a range of documents and that Mečiar had addressed U.S. Ambassador to Slovakia Theodore Russell in an official letter. 1 Hnutie za demokratické Slovensko.

7 27 June - 3 July 1994, Slovak News 7 Also on 29 June, the opposition Movement for a Democratic Slovakia and the Slovak National Party (SNS) 1 put forward proposals to dismiss Privatization Minister Milan Janičina and Deputy Parliament Chairman Ľudovít Černák. Party of the Democratic Left (SDĽ) 2 member Milan Ftáčnik called the vote on Janičina a children s game of the opposition and said that the coalition cabinet had agreed to stand behind the minister. MERRILL LYNCH: SLOVAKIA ATTRACTIVE FOR INVESTORS Bratislava The recent stabilization of the Slovak economy makes the nation an attractive destination for foreign investment, said a report by U.S. investment bank Merrill Lynch. The report cited revived economic growth, low external debt and growing foreign exchange reserves as favorable conditions for foreign investment in Slovakia. The Slovak government has adopted solid measures to stabilize the macroeconomy. Benefits of these efforts are now evident in lower inflation, renewed growth and a stable balance of payments, the report said. Investment opportunities are developing in government securities, corporate issues and foreign currency bonds, the report concluded. In particular, Merrill Lynch said a soon-to-be-launched 23 billion Slovak crown ($811.3 million) government bond issue could be a good investment. Current yields on government bonds suggest that these new instruments may be quite attractive, depending on the coupon, tax treatments, and prospects for a future devaluation of the Slovak crown, the report said. Slovak gross domestic product rose 3.6% in the first quarter of this year over the fourth quarter in 1993, according to the Slovak Statistical Office. Slovak foreign debt, which was about $3.3 billion at the end of 1993, represents some 77% of the country s goods and services exports, considerably lower than that in Poland and Hungary the report noted. (Reuters) BRATISLAVA DEMANDS SHARES IN FORMER CZECH-SLOVAK BANK Bratislava Slovakia s state-run National Property Fund said on Wednesday it would petition a Czech court to force its Czech counterpart to turn over a 14.67% share in the largest Czech commercial bank, Komerční banka a.s. A top official of the Slovak state fund said its presidium had found no other way to compel the Czechs to release the Komerční shares under an agreement on the split of the former Czechoslovak federal state banks in It s very unpleasant to us that at the end of several years of discussions, we must resolve it by this method. Practically, we we re left with no 1 Slovenská národná strana. 2 Strana demokratickej ľavice.

8 27 June - 3 July 1994, Slovak News 8 alternative, ČTK news agency quoted Slovak fund vice president Viliam Vaškovič as saying. According to the 1991 agreement, the Slovak fund would take the 14.67% share in Komerční Banka, while the Czech fund would get a 30% share in Slovakia s Všeobecná úverová banka (VÚB). The shares have yet to be exchanged by the funds, which were set up in 1990 to facilitate each republic s privatization programs. The Czech and Slovak Federation was split into independent Czech and Slovak countries in January Both governments have been arguing over the legal validity of the 1991 banking agreements in light of split of the federation. Komerční Banka, the most heavily traded banking stock on the Czech secondary market, was the country s most profitable bank in 1993 holding 26% of the country s deposits and making 30% of its loans. VÚB is the second largest Slovak bank overall, after the huge savings bank Slovenská sporiteľňa. (Reuters) SLOVAKIA SIGNS AGREEMENT WITH FBI Bratislava On 29 June an FBI delegation led by Louis Freeh, arrived in Slovakia for a one-day working visit aimed at expanding cooperation in the fight against international organized crime, TASR reports. Slovak officials, including Interior Minister Ladislav Pittner, Justice Minister Milan Hanzel and Deputy Premier for Legislation Ivan Šimko, briefed the US delegation on legislative steps taken by the government in the fight against organized crime and the education of experts. A cooperation pact was signed between the FBI and the Slovak Interior Ministry to cooperate on a strategy to combat organized crime, which Freeh said is the FBI s top concern in Slovakia. The FBI delegation is traveling to various European countries to intensify cooperation in the fight against drugs and the spread of violence, as well as threats posed by stolen nuclear weapons. The delegation continued on to the Czech Republic in the afternoon. FBI AND SLOVAKIA TO FIGHT ORGANIZED CRIME TOGETHER A high-level delegation of U.S. law enforcement agencies agreed on first steps towards coordinated actions against organized crime with officials in Slovakia and the Czech Republic on Wednesday. Federal Bureau of Investigation director Louis Freeh signed separate agreements in Bratislava and Prague spelling out initial moves to work together to combat transnational crime.

9 27 June - 3 July 1994, Slovak News 9 Mr. Freeh is heading a delegation on, as he put it, an unprecedented ten-day nine-nation tour by a combined high-level team from the U.S. Justice and Treasury Departments to Central and Eastern Europe, including Russia. U.S. officials have recently expressed concern that the ever more powerful Russian gangs might steal and sell nuclear weapons. The U.S. and Czech delegations said in a communiqué that organized criminal gangs from Russia are competing with the Italian mafia for new territories in eastern Europe, including the Czech republic. The delegations emphasized that actions against growing international crime, the danger of nuclear blackmail, drug trafficking and white collar fraud require international cooperation. But Russian counter-intelligence chief Sergei Stepashin said in Moscow that he did not believe in the threat of nuclear terrorism. The U.S. and Czech delegations said they would seek to make Czech and U.S. regulations compatible to enable coordinated investigations of crimes reaching across the borders. Both Slovak and Czech delegations said that Slovakia and the Czech Republic are already working together with the U.S. law enforcement authorities on specific cases. But they refused to give details about the nature of the crimes. The U.S. delegation agreed to help train Slovak and Czech police and intelligence forces. The U.S. delegation began its tour in Germany and will end it with a 3-day visit to Russia. Its schedule includes talks with law enforcement authorities in Hungary, Poland, Ukraine, the three Baltic countries, and Austria. Mr. Freeh is to open an FBI office in Moscow on 4 July. Czech deputy Interior Minister Martin Fendrych told journalists the Czech Republic would also like to have an FBI liaison office in Prague. The FBI director was received by Slovak president Michal Kováč and in Prague by Czech president Václav Havel. (VOA) FBI DIRECTOR STARTS GLOBAL STRATEGY ON ORGANIZED CRIME IN BRATISLAVA Prague The Director of the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) signed agreements with the Czech and Slovak Interior Ministers Wednesday to cooperate on a global strategy to combat organized crime. FBI director Louis J. Freeh signed the agreements during his current European tour to meet law enforcement officials. We look forward to not only increased levels of cooperation but also to start exchanging the ability to train, both technically and otherwise, Freeh told journalists in Prague. The agreements would be effective against the common goals that we all have, which is trans-national criminality, he said.

10 27 June - 3 July 1994, Slovak News 10 In the Slovak capital Bratislava, Freeh told a news conference that the agreements marked the beginnings of a global strategy against organized crime. He said they would allow the FBI to provide training for Czech and Slovak police and their respective state intelligence services. The narcotics trade, terrorist groups and money laundering were potentially the most alarming forms of organized crime in Slovakia, Freeh said. The Czech Republic is known to be a staging post on the so-called Balkan route for heroin smuggled from Turkey and the central Asian states of the former Soviet Union to the lucrative markets of western and northern Europe. In Germany s largest heroin haul last December, police seized around 645 pounds of the drug on the Bavarian-Czech border from a truck arriving from the Czech Republic. Freeh, sworn in as FBI director last September, was the lead prosecutor in the Pizza Connection case, involving an extensive drug-trafficking operation in the U.S. by Sicilian gangs using pizza parlors as fronts. He heads a delegation including senior FBI officials and officials from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), including DEA administrator Thomas A. Constantine. After leaving Prague Wednesday, the U.S. delegation is due to travel to Budapest, Warsaw, Vilnius, Kiev, and Moscow. (Reuters) FBI DIRECTOR ON UNPRECEDENTED TRIP TO SLOVAKIA, CENTRAL EUROPE Bratislava FBI Director Louis J. Freeh praised new East-West cooperation in law enforcement during a tour of former communist states Wednesday. The world is getting smaller, and the need for police to work together is becoming more important, Freeh told reporters after meeting with Slovak leaders. This is an unprecedented trip for U.S. law enforcement. Freeh s Slovakia stop was part of a 10-day visit by top U.S. law enforcement officials to Central and Eastern Europe and Russia. He plans to open a two-man FBI office in Moscow. The focus of the tour is on hate groups, organized crime, drug trafficking and threats posed by stolen nuclear weapons or fuel. Traveling with Freeh are the chief of the Drug Enforcement Administration, Thomas Constantine, and Secret Service Director Eljay Bowron. Assistant Treasury Secretary Ronald Noble will join the group later. They also held meetings Wednesday in Prague, capital of the neighboring Czech Republic. Czech Deputy Interior Minister Martin Fendrych said the visit was an indication the United States would have an active policy in the region. Freeh has warned of the security threat posed by nuclear weapons or highly enriched plutonium being stolen by criminal gangs or terrorists in Russia and the former Soviet satellites.

11 27 June - 3 July 1994, Slovak News 11 Freeh and other officials said their top concern in Slovakia was organized crime. An increasing number of cases (in the U.S.) are coming from Eastern and Central Europe, he said, noting that the FBI is working on two cases that originated in Slovakia. Slovakia is confronted with crime problems similar to those in other former communist states. Newly opened borders have invited criminal activity that has overwhelmed Slovakia s tiny police force. Slovak officials also concede that police corruption, inadequate training and insufficient equipment remain problems. Interior Minister Ladislav Pittner said he hopes to benefit from American law enforcement expertise. Plans are in the works to send Slovak police through U.S. programs on controlling drug trafficking, racketeering, extortion and crisis management. In exchange, Slovakia will share its information on criminal activity. (AP) FBI DIRECTOR ZIPS THROUGH SLOVAKIA, CENTRAL EUROPE Budapest FBI Director Louis Freeh is rewriting the whirlwind traveler s joke: If it s Tuesday, this must be Paris. With Freeh: if it s 1 p.m., it must be Prague, because he finished Berlin and Bratislava in the morning and he ll get to Budapest by 8 p.m. Two days into a 10-day tour of Eastern Europe, the FBI s marathon man has visited four countries, met three presidents, held 14 meetings and four news conferences, given a speech and jogged once. A devoted runner, the 44-year-old former FBI street agent, prosecutor and federal judge is disappointed he didn t squeeze in a second run. But he s been elated with the response to his campaign to open cop-to-cop relations with the emerging democracies of Eastern Europe. The high point so far was a surprise request Wednesday by Czech Republic President Václav Havel for the FBI and the Drug Enforcement Administration to open offices in Prague. On 4 July, the first FBI director ever to set foot in Moscow will open the FBI s first office in Russia s capital. Freeh set out Monday afternoon with about 20 federal law enforcement officials from the Justice Department and the Treasury. DEA Administrator Thomas Constantine was along the first time an FBI director and DEA chief ever traveled together. An eight-hour red-eye flight from New York put him in Berlin at dawn Tuesday. After an hour to unpack, he plunged into a 13 1/2-hour day in which he released the first FBI report on hate crimes, one of his targets on the trip, in the former capital of Nazi Germany. I almost lost it during the mayor s speech, Freeh confessed later. I saw Tom (Constantine) nodding as Berlin Mayor Eberhard Diepgen told a crowd of reporters for the third time that drugs must never be legalized, Freeh explained. All I could think of was the news photo of (Secretary of State Warren) Christopher asleep (at a foreign conference) and that got me through. But three hours later he was jogging in Berlin s

12 27 June - 3 July 1994, Slovak News 12 Tiergarten park. And he s scheduled at least three more jogs all at 6 a.m. His jogging plans in Russia remain secret. The Russians are afraid we might be attacked by criminals. When I mentioned I liked to jog, they called back two days later and said, `it s OK; we ll clear Gorky Park, Freeh has said. But he quickly demurred on disrupting Moscow s equivalent of Central Park in New York. In a toast at Tuesday night s dinner, even Constantine likened the first day to the Bataan death march of American soldiers in the Philippines in World War II. But Wednesday topped Tuesday. Beginning at 5 a.m. and on about five hours sleep, Freeh plunged into an 18-hour day covering four countries. The death march became Freeh s flying wedge as police cars and motorcycles with screaming sirens led his motorcade through red lights out of Berlin. Slovakia, independent for just a year and a half and eager to impress its highest-ranking American visitor, outdid Germany. Not content with the standard sirens, flashing police car lights and high-speed motorcade, Freeh s Slovak hosts blocked rush-hour intersections, often drove on the wrong side of the road and kept a security helicopter hovering over the procession. All firsts for the small republic. Freeh s jammed, splitsecond schedule was reminiscent of the final day of a presidential election when candidates hurtle into a last-minute frenzy to be seen in as many locales as possible. Even his own staff doubted he could keep the schedule. He never fell more than 18 minutes behind and, just then, another high-speed motorcade would catch up by covering a 25- minute trip in 13 minutes. But his determination to stick to his schedule and his themes, including hate crimes, emerged during a driving thunderstorm Wednesday afternoon in Prague. With Freeh 18 minutes late and facing possible weather delays on his next flight, some of his staff thought he might cancel a 15-minute wreath-laying at a Jewish cemetery. The rain kept him from the wreath-laying, but he toured the cemetery s museum with two rabbis. When told that Nazi persecution had reduced the region s Jewish population from 350,000 to 1,100 today and that they were the only Jews who have received no reparations from Germany, Freeh replied, I ll take that back to the attorney general when I get home. (AP) SLOVAK FINANCE MINISTER: INSOLVENCY, SMUGGLING LOWERED REVENUES Bratislava The 34 th session of Slovak Parliament, held on 28 and 29 June, focused mainly on economic legislation. On 29 June Parliament endorsed a bill on the sale of 23 billion crowns in state bonds to be issued on domestic and foreign capital markets, necessitated by the large 1993 state budget deficit. Finance Minister Rudolf Filkus said that 12.8 billion crowns in taxes were not paid in 1993, mainly because of the insolvency of firms and illegal imports of cigarettes, spirits, and petroleum.

13 27 June - 3 July 1994, Slovak News 13 Serious problems in the education, health, and social spheres led to increases in planned expenses by 6.6 billion crowns, while debt payments, which had not been taken into consideration when planning the budget, reached 5.6 billion crowns in The state debt rose by 27 billion crowns in 1993, reaching a total of 123 billion crowns. Parliament also passed a law to raise consumer taxes on wine, beer, alcohol, tobacco products and fuels. An amendment to raise the VAT on certain items was also passed, which is expected to increase Slovakia s budget income by 3 billion crowns, TASR reports. LOCAL ELECTIONS SET FOR NOVEMBER 1994 Bratislava Parliament Chairman Ivan Gašparovič announced that local elections will take place on 18 and 19 November of this year. Tuesday, 28 June 1994 HZDS MP FORCED TO APOLOGIZE FOR NAZI SALUTE Bratislava During the session of the Slovak parliament on 28 June, Ivan Ľupták, a deputy from the Movement for a Democratic Slovakia (HZDS), 1 was forced to apologize for his actions during the 9 June session, when he raised his arm and addressed Deputy Parliament Chairman Ľudovít Černák with the words Heil Hitler. The parliamentary Committee on Mandates and Immunity had judged the action to be at variance with the position and honor of a Member of Parliament and suggested that he apologize, and the Parliament voted to approve the suggestion. Ľupták responded by saying that while the gesture was ill-considered, it was by no means a propagation of fascism, as he is against any totalitarian ideology. The Parliament voted to recall Ľupták from the parliamentary delegation that represents Slovakia in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, TASR reports. BRATISLAVA TO STOP WESTERN GARBAGE Bratislava Slovak authorities are battling to stem a tide of trash from flooding the country s borders in a lucrative black-market trade in waste products. Government officials say some Western countries are selling unwanted waste at high prices to Slovak smugglers, who then supply them to local processing plants. 1 Hnutie za demokratické Slovensko.

14 27 June - 3 July 1994, Slovak News 14 An estimated 40,000 tonnes of unwanted waste were imported into Slovakia in 1993, but authorities only detected 11 incidents of illegal waste imports, resulting in fines of 1.7 million crowns ($53 million), a government report said in May. We ll do our best to curb the illegal imports of waste, and want to create an atmosphere that will deter this from going on, Elemír Galovič, director of waste policy at the finance ministry, told Reuters in an interview. He added that German sellers, stuck with surplus supplies, paid Slovak waste bootleggers up to 600 marks ($380) for one tonne of used plastic. Last year, Slovakia restricted trucks carrying waste products to just six of its some 25 international border crossings. Before the move, the trucks could enter Slovakia via any checkpoint, Galovič said. (Reuters) GERMAN ADIDAS TO JOIN FRENCH ADIDAS TO MAKE SNEAKER SOLES IN SLOVAKIA Partizánske German shoe maker Adidas is negotiating a contract with Slovakia s ZDA Partizánske s.a. 1 to produce athletic shoe soles, a ZDA official said on Tuesday. The six million crown ($212,000) contract, the first ZDA has signed with Adidas s central operations, stipulates that the soles must be supplied by the end of 1994, Milan Oravec, ZDA marketing chief, told Reuters on Tuesday. Oravec said the contract should be signed within the next two weeks. From 1981 to early 1994, ZDA made between one million and two million pairs of shoes for Adidas s French division, he said, adding that ZDA hoped to eventually produce whole shoes for Adidas Germany. Oravec said he expects 1994 output at ZDA to increase to 8 million pairs of athletic, work and dress shoes, up from 7.5 million pairs in (Reuters) Monday, 27 June 1994 PRESIDENT KOVÁČ COMMENTS ON U.S. VISIT Bratislava On 27 June Michal Kováč returned from a visit to the U.S., where he and his Hungarian counterpart Árpád Göncz were awarded a joint prize from the Institute for East-West Studies. During his week-long visit, Kováč met with U.S. State Department officials, representatives of foreign policy institutes, businessmen, and Slovak Americans. In a press conference in Bratislava, Kováč said that no prejudice towards Slovakia exists, although there is a lack of information about the country. Since the cabinet of Premier Jozef Moravčík took office in March, he said, a positive change in the attitudes of U.S. President Bill Clinton and the EU can be perceived. Kováč said that 1 Formerly Závody 29. augusta/zda (Závody dvadsiatehodeviateho augusta) at Partizánske, later privatized as ZDA Holding Slovakia a.s. at Bošany Partizánske.

15 27 June - 3 July 1994, Slovak News 15 many U.S. representatives expressed concern that former Premier Vladimír Mečiar will return to power after the parliamentary elections this fall. Noting that another meeting with Göncz is being prepared for August, Kováč stated that the Gabčíkovo-Nagymaros Danube dam controversy needs to be depoliticized. He added that Slovakia and Hungary might consider solving the case in bilateral talks rather than in an international court, if a historical reconciliation is achieved between the two countries. OPIC SEES INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITIES IN SLOVAKIA Bratislava At a press conference on 27 June, Christopher Finn, Executive Vice President of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation, evaluated the recent OPIC mission to Slovakia and the Czech Republic. Finn said that the group of U.S. businessmen accompanying the mission were pleasantly surprised by their first contact with Slovakia, as most investors were more familiar with the Czech Republic. He noted the high skill level of Slovak workers, low wages, high quality of manufactured goods, and the government s investment incentives as positive aspects. The group expressed special interest in environmental and energy projects, particularly in the upgrading of the Vojany power plant located east of Košice. Another project of interest was the development of the transportation network in Košice, which could become a major intersection between Western and Eastern Europe.