Voice of America, 00-02-07

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From: The Voice of America <gopher://gopher.voa.gov>

CONTENTS

[01] CROATIA ELECTION (L) CQ BY RON PEMSTEIN (ZAGREB)

[02] YUGOSLAV DEFENSE MINISTER (L-ONLY) BY STEFAN BOS (BUDAPEST)

[03] NORTHERN IRELAND - SUSPENSION BY ANDRE DE NESNERA (WASHINGTON)

[04] U-S - AUSTRIA (L-ONLY) BY KYLE KING (STATE DEPARTMENT)

[05] NY ECON WRAP (S & L) BY ELAINE JOHANSON (NEW YORK)

[06] MONDAY'S EDITORIALS BY ANDREW GUTHRIE (WASHINGTON)

[01] CROATIA ELECTION (L) CQ BY RON PEMSTEIN (ZAGREB)

INTRO: Turnout is heavy in the second round of Croatia's presidential election to choose a successor to the late Franjo Tudjman. Correspondent Ron Pemstein in Zagreb reports voters are confident that no matter which candidate wins, their country is ready for change.

TEXT: The two candidates, Stipe Mesic and Drazen Budisa, hold similar views that Croatia should enter the European Union and NATO as soon as possible. They also agree that Croatia should stop interfering in neighboring Bosnia. And, both candidates have been trying to distance themselves from late President Franjo Tudjman's authoritarian leadership. That is why so many voters interviewed said it was difficult to choose between the two men. Pensioner Marija Arnaric says, through an interpreter, that she made her choice based on the personalities of the two men and which one presents a better contrast in the world to the late President Tudjman.

[02] YUGOSLAV DEFENSE MINISTER (L-ONLY) BY STEFAN BOS (BUDAPEST)

INTRO: Police officials and independent media say Yugoslavia's Defense Minister (Pavle Bulatovic) has been shot to death in Belgrade. As Stefan Bos reports, Monday night's attack occurred less than one month after the murder in Belgrade of Serbia's most notorious warlord, (Zeljko Raznatovic) known as Arkan.

TEXT: The independent television network Studio B and police officials in Belgrade say bullets ripped into Defense Minister Pavle Bulatovic and two other men. The three victims were sitting together Monday night in a restaurant operated by the Yugoslav soccer club Rad. Police say one or more attackers opened fire through a window. Mr. Bulatovic, restaurant owner Mirko Knezevic and Vuk Obradovic, a banker, were taken to a military hospital, where the 52-year-old defense minister was pronounced dead. Special military units and police rushed to the scene of the shooting, but there was no word whether anyone was detained. Yugoslav government ministers met in emergency session later Monday evening, as word of the assassination spread through the city.

[03] NORTHERN IRELAND - SUSPENSION BY ANDRE DE NESNERA (WASHINGTON)

INTRO: The British government has introduced legislation to suspend the government structures in Northern Ireland. In this report, former London Correspondent Andre de Nesnera looks at what suspension may mean for the British province's volatile political situation.

TEXT: Nine-weeks after a bit of self-rule was given to Northern Ireland, the British government has introduced legislation suspending governing institutions in the British province. Parliament's lower house - the House of Commons - is expected to debate the emergency legislation during the next few days - and at the end of the week, Northern Ireland could be once again ruled directly from London. Noel Doran is deputy-editor of Belfast's "Irish News" a newspaper reflecting the views of the Nationalist community which favors union with Ireland. He says suspending Northern Ireland's government - known as "the Executive" - would not be disastrous.

[04] U-S - AUSTRIA (L-ONLY) BY KYLE KING (STATE DEPARTMENT)

INTRO: Secretary of State Madeleine Albright has accused the leader of Austria's far right Freedom Party of unacceptable conduct. She says diplomatic steps taken to protest the new Austrian coalition government are the right thing to do. From the State Department, V-O-A's Kyle King reports.

TEXT: Secretary of State Albright says she spoke to several of her European colleagues in the last two days about the latest developments in Austria. The United States and many of its European allies have taken steps to diplomatically isolate Austria since the swearing in last Friday of a new coalition that includes Joerg Haider's anti-immigrant Freedom Party. Speaking in Washington, Ms. Albright took exception to Mr. Haider's numerous apologies for remarks that appear to diminish the crimes of the Nazis.

[05] NY ECON WRAP (S & L) BY ELAINE JOHANSON (NEW YORK)

INTRO: U-S stock prices were mixed today (Monday), with investors still leaning toward technology. Blue- chip stocks (major stocks) continued their slide. V- O-A correspondent Elaine Johanson reports from New York:

TEXT: The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 58 points, one-half of one percent, closing at 10- thousand-905. The Standard and Poor's 500 index dropped less than a point. But the Nasdaq composite gained one-point-eight percent, closing at another record high. Analysts say investors clearly like the high growth of technology stocks and that is where they are putting their money. However, smaller-capitalization companies made most of the gains in the Nasdaq market. Some of the large-caps (large-capitalization companies), such as software giant Microsoft, traded lower.

[06] MONDAY'S EDITORIALS BY ANDREW GUTHRIE (WASHINGTON)

INTRO: Editorial writers across the nation continue to view with alarm Austria's new government coalition, which includes members of a party suspected of Nazi sympathy. The favorite domestic topic, meanwhile, continues to be politics -- both the race for president and Hillary Clinton's formal announcement for a U-S Senate seat from New York. There is also concern about Northern Ireland's latest peace crisis; the U-S economic expansion; Mexico's economy; and the first cellphone- caused airplane crash. Now, here with a closer look and some excerpts is _______ and today's Editorial Digest.

TEXT: The admission of an apparently pro-Nazi political party to Austria's latest coalition government continues to draw comment in the U-S press. The [New York] Daily News laments:

VOICE: In bringing an extremist right-wing party into its governing coalition, Austria turned its back on a united Europe and the human rights for which that entity stands. The rest of Europe is right to turn its back on Austria. Israel is right in recalling its ambassador. The United States must take equally strong steps. // OPT // ... After all, "Never Again" is more than just words. // END OPT //

VOICE: In Florida, the Miami Herald calls the move "a worrisome right turn," adding:

VOICE: Whither Austria? The question defies easy answers, but the inclusion of Joerg Haider's neo-Fascist, anti-immigrant Freedom Party in Austria's new government is profoundly troubling. // OPT // ... U-S officials say they are "watching" events. For now, that's appropriate. But the United States mustn't hesitate to impose its own sanctions against Austria to defend democracy and to stanch racism and bigotry. // END OPT //

TEXT: Taking the opposite side is today's Providence [Rhode Island] Journal, which worries about an abuse of power by the European Union.

VOICE: // OPT // Many citizens in all European countries have worried that the European Union would end up running roughshod over their nations' traditions and institutions, and that the powers-that-be in Brussels would seek ways to undermine the members' sovereign rights and responsibilities. Well, these Euro-skeptics haven't had to wait long to see some of their most dire predictions come true. // END OPT // The E-U's current attempts to intimidate Austria are frightening. ... Austria's voters believed ... they would determine the makeup of the nation's cabinet after they ... voted by secret ballot in a free and fair election. But the E-U seems to have a different theory: It thinks it has the right to tell Austrians what parties they can and cannot have in their own cabinet. ... Another important issue arises here: What right does the E-U have to ostracize a politician before he and his party have actually done anything wrong?

TEXT: From Austrian to U-S politics now, and the red hot race for the Republican nomination between Texas Governor George Bush and Arizona Senator John McCain. The [Tacoma, Washington] News Tribune runs this assessment from Ronald Brownstein of the Los Angeles Times.

VOICE: Arizona Senator John McCain's historic rout of Texas Governor George W. Bush in the New Hampshire primary set up a pivotal Republican contest on February 19th in South Carolina, while Democrat Al Gore bolstered his position by fighting off challenger Bill Bradley. Though [Mr.] Bush's enormous advantages in money, endorsements and the national polls still make him a favorite for the nomination, a South Carolina win for [Mr.] McCain could give the senator a shot at swiping the prize, many G-O-P analysts say. // OPT // Over the past 20 years, South Carolina has played the decisive role in settling every contested G-O-P nomination. // END OPT // ... Meanwhile, although [former New Jersey Senator Bill] Bradley did better in New Hampshire than in Iowa, the New Hampshire result raised pointed questions. ... Though [Mr.] Bradley avoided a fatal blow and has the money to press on, he must overcome [Mr.] Gore's formidable lead in states such as California, Ohio and even New York, after losing the first two contests on the calendar.

TEXT: Hillary Clinton's formal announcement over the weekend of her candidacy for the U-S Senate from New York draws this response from The New York Times.

VOICE: Hillary ... Clinton ... started her candidacy ... with a polished speech designed to reintroduce her to New Yorkers as a capable campaigner. Her confident delivery struck a sharp contrast with the gaffes of last fall. ... Having endured months of questioning about her political skills, Mrs. Clinton will get good review for this political performance...

TEXT: To Northern Ireland now, and concern that the Irish Republican Army's reluctance to begin turning over its weapons will torpedo [ruin] the Irish peace process. From Baltimore [Maryland], The Sun says the I-R-A and its political wing, Sinn Fein, must act now to save the peace agreement.

VOICE: They can comply with the obligation Sinn Fein undertook in the Good Friday Accord of 1998, that its Irish Republican Army "decommission" its weapons by May 2000. Or they can forfeit Sinn Fein's standing as a political party fit to participate in governing Northern Ireland. ... Decommissioning is essential to Sinn Fein's place in responsible government.

TEXT: In this hemisphere, The Dallas Morning News looks at the rebounding Mexican economy and notes things are not entirely as they seem.

VOICE: Mexican officials trot out gaudy figures to show that their country has rebounded from the catastrophe of 1994 and 1995, when the economy contracted six-point-two percent and one-million jobs disappeared. Since 1996, the economy has grown at a ripping [excellent] average annual rate of approximately five-point- one percent. Inflation was 12-point-three percent last year, down from 52 percent in 1995. The central bank's foreign currency holdings are five times as big as they were in 1994. ... [However,] the surface rendering of the condition of Mexico's economy ... doesn't tell the whole story. Mexico's legions of poor are poorer than they were before ... the great collapse. Indeed, real wages remain below 1994 levels, and probably won't exceed them for several more years.

TEXT: And now to the U-S economy, and the seemingly endless economic boom. The New York Times suggests:

VOICE: Economic expansions do not die of old age. The current expansion, the longest in recorded history, will not end from exhaustion. A nine-year-old expansion is no more likely to end than a two-year-old expansion. Indeed, the term business cycle is a misnomer. Recoveries and recessions do not occur in regular cycles. There are ups and downs but no pattern. ... No one thinks the Fed [the U-S central bank, the Federal Reserve] can keep the economy growing forever. ... The real danger is something unseen and as yet unknown. ... The important point is that these good times have not been solely due to luck.

TEXT: Internationally, President Clinton's forthcoming trip to the Indian sub-continent draws approval from the Houston Chronicle.

VOICE: It is about time. The March 20th visit will be a fitting acknowledgment of the shared strategic interests that the United States has with the world's largest democracy. ... Given lingering Cold War resentments and differences between the United States and India over nuclear proliferation in recent months, the relationship, slow to warm, is in need of some warming recognition. ... It is interesting that Americans spend a lot of capital, both financial and political, in debating the merits and problems of opening up the huge and important market represented by the People's Republic of China, yet spend so little exploring the huge and equally promising market on the Indian sub- continent.

VOICE: [Ms.] Albright's warning to [Russia's acting president, Vladimir] Putin[,] makes sense only as a reminder that the war is unwinnable. ... Nevertheless, [Ms.] Albright's lament misses the mark if [it is] taken as an explanation of the war. It should be clearer than ever that the motives for the Russian assault on Chechnya are rooted in domestic politics. The war made possible the ascent of Putin as Boris Yeltsin's successor. // END OPT //

TEXT: And lastly, this slightly humorous or perhaps incredulous editorial from The Florida Times-Union in Jacksonville about the first plane crash caused by a cellphone.

VOICE: A security patrolman at Eglin Air Force Base was driving on a runway last November when he dropped a cellular telephone, reached for it, unwittingly turned his car's steering wheel, stepped on the gas [accelerator] and hit a parked jet fighter. The crash totaled [completely destroyed] the patrol car and caused 62-thousand dollars damage to an F-15 [fighter jet]. The driver ... suffered a concussion. ... Much has been said lately about car phones being a threat to traffic safety. ... But ... the real issue is paying attention to what you are doing. So if you drop your phone, leave it there until you stop, or you could run into a jet airplane.

TEXT: On that cautionary note, we conclude this sampling of editorial comment from Monday's U-S press.
NEB/ANG/WTW 07-Feb-2000 12:27 PM EDT (07-Feb-2000 1727 UTC)
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Source: Voice of America

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