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To: smolejv@gmx.net who wrote (22859)	8/19/2002 6:05:14 PM
From: elmatador	Respond to of 74559

Germany halts tax cuts for flood relief By Haig Simonian in Berlin Published: August 19 2002 20:15 \| Last Updated: August 19 2002 20:15 Gerhard Schröder, Germany's chancellor, made one of the biggest gambles of his political career on Monday by postponing next January's big personal tax cuts to release funds for emergency relief in eastern part of the country, devastated by flooding. In an appeal to Germans' sense of solidarity in time of crisis, Mr Schröder, who faces general elections in less than five weeks, said the one year postponement was the only sensible way to finance essential aid. Mr Schröder, who is trailing the conservative opposition badly in the opinion polls, is betting that his bold response to the floods crisis will help him rescue his election chances. news.ft.com Classic! As I wrote before: prepare the minds of the populace and them slam them! No one will blame Schroeder. The blame will fall on the burden of the Easterners.

To: smolejv@gmx.net who wrote (22859)	8/19/2002 6:09:48 PM
From: elmatador	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 74559

Floods force Prague to scrap jet order By Mark Andress in Prague Published: August 19 2002 18:58 \| Last Updated: August 19 2002 18:58 COMMENTS: The flood effect is better than the 911 demolition job. In Euroland the 'milicos' get less toys. In the US it happened the opposite. The 'milicos' got more toys! The Czech government has scrapped plans to purchase 24 supersonic Anglo-Swedish built Gripen fighter jets because of the financial blow caused by the country's worst floods since records began. The Kcs62bn (€2bn) order would have been one of the largest arms deals in central and eastern Europe. Defence minister Jaroslav Tvrdik said yesterday he would not propose the Gripen order to his government because of the impact the floods would have on the Czech economy. Preliminary estimates show flood damage at between Kcs60bn and Kcs90bn, according to Vladimir Spidla, the prime minister. More than 220,000 Czechs were evacuated from their homes as rivers burst their banks across the western half of the country, sweeping away villages and plunging the capital Prague under swathes of water. The defence ministry is working on cheaper options for the protection of its air space after 2004, when its fleet of ageing Soviet Mig-21s ends its service life. Possibilities include buying or leasing second-hand supersonic fighters, asking neighbouring Nato countries such as Germany or Poland to protect its airspace, or upgrading its current fleet of Migs. Another possibility is to buy fewer Gripens, following the Austrian government's lead. Last week Austria decided to buy 18 Eurofighter combat aircraft, instead of the original 24, because of widespread flood damage to the Alpine state. The Anglo-Swedish BAE Systems/Saab consortium came within a whisker of sealing the deal two months ago when the Czech government approved the purchase, but failed at the last legislative hurdle before mid-June general elections when the Senate rejected financing for the deal. The finance ministry aims to keep to the proposed Kcs157.3bn state budget deficit for 2003 and said flood damage would be paid for from off-budget funds, privatisation proceeds and cuts in other budgetary areas. A Gripen consortium spokesman said it understood the Czech Republic's situation and would "recommence discussions with the Czech government as and when it feels able to move forward with the modernisation of its airforce". A government spokesman said the issue would probably be discussed in early September.