HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK ---------------------------
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2002/09/20/wslov20.xml&sSheet=/news/2002/09/20/ixworld.html [Along with Yugoslavia's Slobodan Milosevic, Belarus' Alexander Lukashenko, Moldova's Vladimir Voronin and whomever - past, present and to come - refuses to completely capitulate to the economic, political and military demands of the Eurocrats and the US Trojan Horse that is NATO in Brussels. 'Newfound maturity': Abject surrender of national sovereignty, abandonment of any pretense of an independent foreign policy, privatization of state and cooperative assets preparatory to selling them off to foreign investors, permitting Lord Robertson to determine who citizens may and who they better not vote for.] Daily Telegraph September 20, 2002 Slovak strongman stares election defeat in the face By Askold Krushelnycky in Bratislava -The stakes are high for Slovakia. If it displays a new-found maturity, it is likely to be granted Nato and, ultimately, European Union membership. Mr Meciar's return would end any hopes of that. Central Europe's last Soviet-style leader is heading for defeat. It will be a humiliating process for Vladimir Meciar, the former Slovak prime minister who had hoped to resume his role as strongman-for-life. To the quiet delight of the West, Mr Meciar's HZDS party is expected to suffer its worst result at elections today and tomorrow, marking the end of an era among the former Soviet satellite states. But the country is still edgy, something underlined yesterday when Slovakia's president, Rudolf Schuster, said he would not necessarily call on the largest party to form a government. Mr Meciar, a former boxer, denies that he wants the top job and says his party could enter government while he remains on the backbenches. The stakes are high for Slovakia. If it displays a new-found maturity, it is likely to be granted Nato and, ultimately, European Union membership. Mr Meciar's return would end any hopes of that. For the past four years, the people of Slovakia and the nations of the West have waited anxiously for his return but now, with his HZDS languishing at 18 per cent in the polls, that seems unlikely. The pendulum period of Slovak politics, with Mr Meciar's departure always followed by his return at the next election, may finally be at an end. Allegations of fraud, corruption, kidnapping and murder seemed to trail him and his government during his time in power from 1990-91 and 1994-98. With 26 parties competing in the elections, no single party is likely to win an overall majority and another cumbersome coalition government is predicted. But the parties tipped to form the government all want to join the EU and Nato. After 1,000 years of living under foreign rule or in the shadow of the Czechs, Slovakia startled the world by emerging as an independent country in 1993. But Mr Meciar's government presided over a disastrous economic slide and mired the country in corruption and an ugly nationalism. By 1998, his behaviour had finally driven his enemies into a coalition which won the election. But the politically diverse grouping failed to deliver on most of its promised reforms. Mr Meciar seemed poised to return until Robert Fico, a lawyer with a past in the Communist Party, launched a new Leftist party called Smer (Direction) and soared in the polls. An admirer of Tony Blair, he wants market reforms, stronger social safety networks and improved health and education systems. Mr Meciar has been hit by allegations of personal enrichment and his children are said to own property in the country worth millions of pounds. __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Finance - Get real-time stock quotes http://finance.yahoo.com --------------------------- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST ==^================================================================ This email was sent to: [email protected] EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.bacIlu Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^================================================================
