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Government drops opposition to EU-Russia co-operation talks

Ministers from the 27 EU states, including Poland and Lithuania, agreed on 24 April to begin negotiations with Russia on a new EU-Russia co-operation agreement.

Poland dropped its opposition to the new agreement after Russia acceded to Poland’s demand to drop import embargoes on Polish foodstuffs. Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski said that it was “high time” for the EU to start negotiations on a new partnership agreement and added that Poland “would not impede” or set any further conditions on the talks. Russia also agreed to include the issue of energy security in the talks.

Towards the end of 2005 the Russian administration imposed a ban on Polish meat exports. In recent months talks between Poland and Russia, mediated by the EU, have led to a removal of most of those bans.

Government adopts 4-year privatisation plan

The Government adopted a four-year privatisation plan on 22 April. The plan provides for 740 state-owned companies are to be sold off, yielding some 30 billion zloty for the Treasury (equivalent to about £6.2 billion).

The Treasury will sell stakes in Poland’s second largest bank PKO BP, four consolidated power groups and companies in the chemical sector.

Children’s Advocate resigns ahead of no-confidence vote

On 22 April Ewa Sowinska, the country’s Advocate for Children’s Rights resigned two days before a debate scheduled in Parliament on her future. It was clear that a majority in Parliament – including some MPs from the opposition PiS party as well as the government coalition – would overwhelmingly pass a vote of no-confidence in Sowinska.

Ewa Sowinska was originally appointed by the previous PiS-Samoobrona-LPR coalition government. In 2007 she made international headlines for describing the BBC-tv series for little children Teletubbies as setting an example of homosexuality. She has been criticised for appearing nearly exclusively in media outlets supported by fundamentalist Roman Catholic priest Fr. Rydzyk, and has been accused by MPs of doing little to aid children and condemned for supporting the physical punishment of children.

New law makes it easier for EU workers to find jobs in Poland

On 22 April President Lech Kaczyński signed into law an agreement on the principles for recognising professional qualifications issued in other EU countries. This should considerably simplify the procedures for foreigners to gain work in Poland.

The new regulations aim to limit to a minimum the formalities connected with taking on temporary work by citizens from other EU countries. It will also eliminate the necessity of undergoing an apprenticeship, or the necessity to take further qualifying exams. The act also embraces new regulations on the recognition of cross-border qualifications of workers. The Minister for Science and Higher Education will be responsible for recognising qualifications in regulated professions such as architecture, medicine and pharmacy.

Queues to prove Polish descent

It was on 29 March that a law came into force which would allow foreign nationals to claim a document called the Karta Polaka (Polish Card). It entitles people of Polish descent living in the former Soviet Union to a number of rights and advantages. In mid April the queues were already forming

Lines of applicants aiming to prove their ties to Poland immediately began to form in front of Polish consulates in Ukraine, Belarus, Russia, Kazakhstan and Lithuania.

The Karta Polaka makes life easier for people of Polish descent living in countries of the former Soviet Union which disallow dual citizenship. The card enables the holder to be reimbursed for the cost of a Schengen visa, offers access to Polish schools and universities, makes it easier to obtain state scholarships, get a job and conduct business operations in Poland. Those applying for a Karta Polaka have to prove their ties to Poland, including at least a reading/listening knowledge of Polish; that one parent or grandparent or two great-grandparents were ethnic Poles; or provide a certificate from an expatriate Polish organisation that the applicant had been active in promoting Polish culture and language.

The Karta Polaka does not entitle its holder to settle in Poland. Neither does it guarantee a Schengen visa. Card holders may run businesses in Poland along the same rules as Polish citizens. They may also get a job without having to obtain a separate permit. They have the right to medical care in emergencies or for any serious health issues, which includes accidents, poisoning or childbirth. The card also entitles its holder to apply for exemption from the fee for a long-stay multiple-entry visa. However, such a person would not have the right to travel without a passport and Schengen visas in European Union countries.

The Karta Polaka will be issued by Polish consuls and will be valid for 10 years. Estimates say that in the first year the number of applicants for the Polish Card could reach several thousand, and ultimately over a million. In connection with the new law, the Polish government has appointed a five-person Council for Poles in the East. Citizens of the Commonwealth of Independent States who are refused a Karta Polaka will be able to file an appeal with this body.

The foreign ministry has prepared a confidential test to help ascertain whether someone declaring they have ties to Poland really does have them. Media reports say there are about 150 questions. Sealed envelopes containing the tests were sent in April to Polish consulates. Some reports say the questions are about traditions, customs, literature and geography. For example, the consul might ask where the Wawel Dragon "lives" (in Krakow), how elegant Polish men greet women (kiss them on the hand), and what Poles eat on "Fat Thursday" (doughnuts). The consuls will also check an applicant's spoken Polish, giving them a simple text to read and asking a few commonplace questions about their family, the weather and the time.

Just days after the new law came into force, the first international tensions appeared in connection with the Karta Polaka. The Belarussian foreign ministry criticised Polish consulates as they started accepting applications. The Belarussian authorities said the Karta Polaka could lead to ethnic tension. A substantial area in the western region of Belarus has previously been Polish territory. The Polish consulate in Grodno in western Belarus has already received several hundred applications.

Similarly it was being reported in Ukraine that Lviv residents were visiting local archives in large numbers trying to prove their Polish origins. The information was mainly being sought in church registers.

Heavy snow brings blackout to Szczecin area

Heavy overnight snow and sleet broke the main electrical lines leading to Szczecin and paralysed the city for virtually all of 8 April. Most city life came to a standstill and neighbouring towns were also affected.  The city-wide blackout forced hospitals to rely on generators and schools and businesses to close. Petrol stations were closed, many trains were not running.

The mayor of Szczecin, Piotr Krzystek, announced that power to most of the city would be restored by 10 in the evening., but work on restoring downed power lines would have to continue through the night.

Government spokesperson Agnieszka Liszka said the central government was ready to help, but stressed that the situation in Szczecin was under control.

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Alert level raised ahead of NATO summit

The NATO summit meeting begins in Bucharest on 2 April. As part of its security arrangements before the meeting Romania's Supreme Defence Council decided on 25 March to raise the national terror alert from "cautious" to "moderate". Raising the alert activates a series of special collaborative measures between national institutions. Prime Minister Calin Popescu Tariceanu noted that the summit would serve as a major test of Romania's public order and security services.

The summit brings a host of ancillary arrangements. 3,500 journalists are expected to arrive in Bucharest to cover the NATO summit. They will have 950 offices and 50 computers made available. Organisers said there was no need for more computers, since many of the 3,500 accreditations are for the technical crews and many journalists would use their own laptops.

Cash machines and large LCD screens have already been put in place in areas where the press will use their offices. 16 rooms were prepared for press conferences. The translation services are also available in three rooms where the most important briefings will take place. As for TV coverage, the Romanian public station TVR and the Eurovision Broadcasting Union have exclusive contracts and will provide other TV stations with live feeds.

The authorities have also set about clearing Bucharest streets of stray dogs. Strays found near hotels or on the main avenues to be used during the NATO Summit and around the two international airports have been hunted down by dog catchers. Dogs picked up in the last two weeks were taken to special kennels in Bucharest, though no final figure has been given on how many dogs have been taken off the streets.

Romanian government website

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OSCE calls on Albanians to vote in election

Hans Ola Urstad, the OSCE Mission Chief in Serbia, met with Albanian leaders in the Preševo Valley, calling on Albanians to participate in the 11 May elections.

The OSCE supported the participation of the Albanian coalition in the elections because it would be the best way to have “Belgrade hear the voice of Albanians.”

The Preševo Valley Albanian coalition is made up of the Party for Democratic Actions, the Movement for Democratic Progress, the Democratic Union of Albanians Citizens Group of Rehmi Zuljfiu (which separated from the Democratic Party of Albanians) and the Valley Democratic Union.

The leader of the coalition list is Riza Haljimi, who was the only Albanian representative in the last Serbian parliament.

Serbia may be offered a more liberal EU visa regime

Serbia may soon be offered a more liberal EU visa regime to provide its citizens with a new incentive to support the country's EU bid. The current holder of the EU presidency Slovenija said on 26 March that an agreement could be signed before the Serbian election. Commenting ahead of a weekend meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brdo pri Kranju, Slovenian Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel said “What we can offer is an agreement on a visa regime that would be significantly more favourable than the present one.”

The current ruling coalition in Serbia collapsed following Kosovo's declaration of independence. A new election has been called for 11 May. A new government will depend on the outcome of the election, and votes may pivot on whether the advantages of joining the EU could make up for the highly emotive loss of Kosovo.

Court opens trial in absentia of Miloševic's son

A court in Požarevac began on 26 March a trial in absentia of the son of former Jugoslav President Slobodan Milošević.

The allegations are criminal rather than political. Marko Milošević, and his mother Mirjana, are charged in Serbia with organising a cigarette smuggling ring in the early 1990s. Marko is also wanted for injuring members of a resistance movement during a fight in 2000. Mother and son have been living for years now in Moscow. Russia refuses to extradite them, having granted them refugee status.

Elections confirmed for 11 May

Following the collapse of the government coalition of Prime Minister Vojislav Koštunica, recently re-elected President Boris Tadić has called for new elections on 11 May. "The elections are a democratic way for citizens to say how Serbia should develop in years to come," Tadić explained.

The coalition had fallen apart on the issue of whether to suspend links with the European Union, as a protest at the recognition by some EU members of Kosovo’s unilateral declaration of independence.

President Tadić said Belgrade would only be able to defend its right to Kosovo if it joined the EU.

Serbia's EU Integration Office

News about Kosovo

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Slovakia should join euro zone in 2009

On 7 May the European Central Bank said that, just 4 years after joining the European Union, Slovakia had now met the necessary benchmarks to join the euro zone in January 2009, but the bank expressed concern about inflation. A final decision would be made in July.  Prime Minister Robert Fico said that joining the euro would be a great opportunity. "We consider the adoption of the euro to be the continuation of the success story that began with the entry into the European Union," he said.

Slovakia is the first accession country from central Europe to pass the criteria for the single currency. Poland, Hungary and the Baltic states are unlikely to join the euro until well after 2010.

In 2007, Slovakia's economy grew by more than 10%. Its economic success was credited to having a flat tax rate and clamping down on abuse of its welfare system. The European Central Bank said that strong economic growth would bring improved living standards but that would inevitably be accompanied by higher price levels.

Parliament approves EU Lisbon Treaty

On 10 April Parliament approved the Lisbon Reform Treaty. Slovakia thus became the ninth EU member to ratify the treaty. This came after a long series of delaying tactics by the opposition parties, which do not in fact oppose the Treaty, but felt approval could not go ahead while controversial amendments to the Press Code remained unresolved. That bill had been forced through the previous day.

In the end the SMK (Hungarian Coalition Party), one of three parties in opposition, backed the resolution. Most of the remaining opposition MPs boycotted the ratification vote in protest against the passing of the press code bill. To make it through, the treaty needed support from the constitutional majority of at least 90 MPs in the 150-seat parliament. It was finally supported by 103 MPs, five voted against and one abstained from the vote. Originally all the three opposition parties threatened to boycott the ratification vote unless the government modified the press bill. The SMK party led by Pál Csáky only announced on the day of the ratification debate that its 20 MPs would back the Lisbon treaty, a breaking of ranks which angered the remaining two opposition party leaders, Mikuláš Dzurinda (SDKU-DS) and Pavol Hrusovsky (KDH).

Pál Csáky stressed, however, that his party’s move did not mean that the SMK was establishing closer relations with the government coalition. The government coalition of Smer-SD, the LS-HZDS and SNS (Slovak Nationalist Party) could only gather 85 MPs. The required constitutional majority would be 90 MPs. To achieve this result, ratification depended on the 20 SMK votes, which were supposed to have been swayed by last-minute concessions on the Press Code bill the previous day. The vote of the ethnic Hungarian coalition possibly also an awareness that southern neighbour Hungary had in December 2007 been the first parliament to ratify the Lisbon Treaty.

Newspapers protest against proposed Press Code
Political deadlock over ratification of Lisbon Treaty

Sri Lankan arms shipment may be breaking EU code on weapons exports

The Economy Ministry has approved a shipment of 10,000 artillery rockets to the Sri Lankan government. It has been claimed this seems to be in violation of the EU Code of Conduct on Arms Exports. The government of Sri Lanka has been engaged in a civil war with Tamil Tiger rebels and both sides have been accused of serious human rights abuses.

A consignment of 3-metre rockets were due to be shipped from Slovakia to Croatia on 10 April. From there they would be shipped by boat to Colombo, the Sri Lankan capital,. The “end-user” of the weapons was listed as the Sri Lankan Armed Forces General Staff. The rockets can be launched in batteries of 18, firing volleys of up to 720 at a time. The weapons are known to be powerful, but not particularly accurate.

The Sri Lankan administration of President Mahinda Rajapaksa unilaterally abandoned a ceasefire with the Tamil Tiger rebels in January this year, and has been cited in recent US, UN and EU human rights reports for allegedly killing and kidnapping civilians in the country’s 25-year civil conflict. In March, Human Rights Watch labelled the Rajapaksa government as one of the “world’s worst perpetrators of enforced disappearances”, mainly of young Tamil men.

According to the EU Code of Conduct on Arms Exports, Sri Lanka is the kind of destination that arms exporters in EU member states should be banned from supplying. Paragraph 2 of the Code says that “Member States will not issue an export license [for military goods] if there is a clear risk that the proposed export might be used for internal repression”. Paragraph 3 requires that “Member States will not allow exports which would provoke or prolong armed conflicts or aggravate existing tensions in the country of final destination.”

However, the Slovak Economy Ministry, which is responsible for vetting and issuing licenses for arms exports, said the consignment did not violate the EU Code. Also “The UN Security Council’s evaluation of the situation in Sri Lanka has not led it to declare an embargo on arms shipments to the country.”

Ján Škoda for the Foreign Ministry commented that “Slovakia’s export control regime is compatible with those used in EU and NATO partner countries, and in general enjoys their natural respect and recognition.”

The 122mm rockets have a range of up to 30 kilometres, and can carry 20-kilogramme high explosive, incendiary or chemical warheads. They are fired by the Soviet-designed GRAD multiple rocket launcher, which is used in over 50 countries, making it one of the world’s most popular rocket artillery systems. The former Czechoslovakia developed a variation on the GRAD called the RM70, which the Slovak rockets in question have been designed to equip.

The weapons were bought from Ministry of Defence surplus stocks by the SMS arms trading company of Dubnica nad Váhom in November 2006. Ministry spokesman Vladimír Gemela said that the price had been 8.45 million korun. The rockets were later purchased by Way Industry of Krupina in central Slovakia and sold to Lanka Logistics of Colombo, a nationalised firm which handles arms procurement for the Sri Lankan armed forces.

A spokesperson for the European Commissioner for External Relations, said that there were no sanctions for countries that violated the EU arms export code. “How the Code is implemented is up to each member country,” she said.

In 2005 and 2006, the latest years for which EU reports data are available in, Slovakia exported €213,000 worth of ground vehicles and components to Sri Lanka. By comparison, the Czech Republic sent almost €4 million worth of goods in a range of military categories, and the United Kingdom dispatched over €8.5 million worth of weapons to Colombo.

Governing parties threaten opposition with referendum on Lisbon Treaty

On 8 April the daily newspaper Sme reported that the governing Smer and SNS parties were believed to have delivered an ultimatum to the opposition. The warning said that if the opposition failed to agree a vote for the Lisbon Treaty, the governing coalition parties will demand a referendum.

Despite its clear support for the EU reform, the opposition has refused to ratify the treaty as a long-running protest against proposed government amendments to the Press Code.

Miroslav Číž, head of the Smer parliamentary faction, commented that a referendum would require a turnout of more than 50% to be considered valid. Turnout at Slovak elections has been notoriously low, and only one referendum has been successfully passed since Slovakia became independent in 1993 – the question then was whether the country would join the European Union.

Ratification of Lisbon Treaty stuck in political deadlock

Small farmers struggle to be recognised

Increasing urbanisation and the spread of supermarkets has changed the way in which people obtain, cook and consume food. Until the last twenty years almost everyone living in cities had links to the country and rural life. Home grown fruit and vegetables and even meat had a long tradition. Farmer's markets were common. But despite the supermarkets old traditions have been struggling to make a comeback. Some farms have begun to sell more and more to local grocery shops and farm shops may start to open.

Eight years ago Elena Bukovská and her husband decided to develop a small farm to produce organic food. Almost 70% of the crop is sunflowers but carrots, beans, potatoes and onion are very much in demand. “There is so much talk around about how small farmers are on their way to extinction in Slovakia because they have almost no chance to get subsidies from the European Union. I don’t share such a view because our farm’s experience shows that people become more and more interested in healthy food and began searching for grocery shops that are customer friendly, even cosy.”

During the communist period home grown food used to be very popular with Slovaks. Industrialization compelled many people into moving from rural to urban areas, but almost everybody living in towns had relatives in villages. People coming back from weekend trips to their roots in the countryside always returned with bags full of vegetables and fruits picked up from the garden of their relatives. Open air markets could then be seen in most Slovak towns. Now they are a rarity.

Nobody knows how many home-grown food producers there are in the Slovak market. They have no trade association and the Agriculture Ministry has no accurate data concerning their number, since they are not registered as businesses. The Ministry estimates that their number may be in the range of 63,000.

Former Agriculture Minister Zsolt Simon says it is mainly a lack of organisation which puts small farmers at a disadvantage. “I know that people have sad memories from the time of forced collectivisation in the 50s. But nowadays their only chance to survive and make a buck is to unite and set up small co-operatives. Otherwise they will not have enough bargaining power with retail chains and they will end up growing crops for their own consumption only”.

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New road network debts require highway pricing

The Slovenian government has proposed the introduction of a new, but controversial, highway toll system.

When Slovenija gained independence in 1991, its highway network was patchy and underdeveloped. It took the average driver more than four or five hours to reach the coast from Maribor, near the Austrian border. To sustain its economy after independence a modern highway network was essential for sustaining industry and commerce, and to avoid risk of recession.

But there had been a price to pay. Since 1994, when the ambitious highway development programme started, the government-owned highway operator DARS built up debts of €3.4 billion. The government acts as the guarantor of the company’s debt. While this means DARS can access credit more cheaply, the taxpayer would have to pick up the bill if the company became insolvent.

Žan Oplotnik, vice-president of the highway operator’s board, recently revealed that as soon as 2009 DARS could be unable to service its debt. As the operator’s main source of revenues are the tolls it collects, some €200 million a year at the moment. Considerably more is needed. The government wants to introduce a new toll system, but plans have been stalled by technical difficulties in setting up a universal electronic system. Transport minister Radovan Žerjav now advocates “vignettes” as a temporary solution to the problem of highway financing.

A vignette is a sticker fixed on the windscreen of a vehicle showing that the road toll has been paid. It dispenses with the need for toll booths, and a one year-vignette would probably cost €140.

But doubts about the fairness of the scheme have been voiced. With toll booths and electronic tolling, drivers pay as they drive. With a one-year vignette system, however, those who use highways only every now and then will end up subsidising those who use the highways every day. The current proposal would apply only to passenger cars. Truck drivers would continue to pay at toll booths.

The proposals suggest that implementing this system would allow the DARS to service its debt until 2009. But in 2010, a sizeable proportion of the debt would have to be paid from the government’s budget.

Czech government proposes microchip motorway toll

Links:  
Information about Slovenija
Index to Slovenian government sites  (right hand column for versions in English)

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Bid to join NATO has mixed reception

Ukraine's bid to join NATO has been said to have strong backing from the US government, and President George W. Bush was expected to visit Kyiv on the eve of the NATO summit in Romania’s capital in a show of support. But key EU states, including Germany and France, have spoken out against Ukraine entering a Membership Action Plan (MAP) just yet. They fear upsetting already strained ties with Russia, bearing in mind its role as a major supplier of energy to Europe. MAP status is a precursor to the granting of full NATO membership, which usually takes several years to obtain.

Ukrainian leaders have been invited to the 2-4 April summit in Bucharest to discuss co-operation. They hope to use the opportunity to boost their case for eventual membership, but the prospects appear slim.

Russia sees NATO's eastward expansion as a direct threat. Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned that his country could aim missiles at Ukraine if it joins NATO and deploys anti-missile defences on its territory.
Ukraine's bid is complicated by the country's internal divisions. Opinion polls show that more than half of the population, particularly that in the Russian-speaking east and south, is deeply suspicious of the West and opposes membership.

The bid to apply for NATO membership, launched in January by the Ukrainian government, has led to weeks of embarrassing protests in Parliament by opposition MPs friendly to Russia – protests that led to fist-fights and to locking the Speaker in his office so that he could not start a session.

When George W Bush is in Bucharest to attend his final NATO summit he aims to convince sceptics that Ukraine should be welcomed as a member. He will then go on to hold a last summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin in the Black Sea resort of Sochi. The trip is being seen by some commentators as a last bid by President Bush to score some successes in foreign policy.

The struggle over Ukraine's bid to join NATO intensified on 28 March, with Poland voicing support for Kiev and Russia offering more help to the alliance for NATO operations in Afghanistan if it shuts both Ukraine and Georgia out. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, on a visit to Kiev, urged the alliance to embrace Ukraine's bid. "Poland has, is and will fully support giving Ukraine MAP at the Bucharest summit," he said.

On 27 March Romanian President Traian Băsescu urged NATO to embrace closer ties with Ukraine and Georgia. Băsescu also called for NATO to develop co-operation with Russia, which he said plays a crucial role in regional security and in the global fight against terrorism. "For us Russia is a partner that guarantees regional stability," he said.

The NATO summit in Bucharest is turning into a critical test for the alliance, which is split on the issue of Ukraine and Georgia. The United States, Canada and Eastern European members are backing them, but Germany is leading western European opposition, warning that granting the membership plan would torpedo hopes of improving relations with Russia.

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