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Pastimes : Kosovo -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Yaacov who wrote (4220)	4/17/1999 12:22:00 PM
From: iandiareii	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 17770

Yaacov -- Vedo che continuate a lavorare ad un' operazione ardua e necessaria qui. Ti desidero bene. In bocca al lupo! ian

To: Yaacov who wrote (4220)	4/17/1999 12:55:00 PM
From: George Papadopoulos	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 17770

RE: Greeks > If it wasn't becsue of NATO, the islands, and Thrace would have gone to Turks, Macedonia would have gone to Bulgarians, and Athen would have been presided by a Communist regime! ROFL! Thank you Nato for giving half of Cyprus to the Turks in 1974. There is a UN Resolution for that, it's just too bad there isn't much oil around there or the invader is not a US strategic ally to help this one out. About the 2,000 Cypriots still missing who gives a crap right? > Instead of helping NATO, are playing footsy with Milosovic. Footsy? Come on, Greeks support the Serb people because they BELIEVE that bombing them to pieces is WRONG and this is another blatant aggression by the US once AGAIN! > They have refused to help in any military missions and have condemned NATO action against Serbs and have offically sown sympathy for Serbs! YOu must realize that the Greek public opinion is overwhelmingly against Nato bombing Yugoslavia. The current Greek govt has to walk on a very fine line here but at the same time it will be suicidal for them to go along with the bombing. I am actually suprised they have not been more vocal against it. > With such friends, who needs an enemy! Again, the mentality of the Greek goes like this: "The govt must do what is RIGHT to help the Serbs resist naked aggression by the US...Remember Cyprus...We don't care about coming economic repercussions (which I am sure they are coming), this is all about DIGNITY! This was my father's explanation when I tried to explain to him that the current Greek govt must go along with nato so the future economic prosperity is not compromised...and this was BEFORE the bombing!

To: Yaacov who wrote (4220)	4/17/1999 8:45:00 PM
From: goldsnow	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 17770

EU Governments Urged to Cut Deficits as Economy Slows, Kosovo Costs Mount EU Urged to Cut Deficits as Economy Slows, Kosovo Costs Mount Dresden, Germany, April 17 (Bloomberg) -- European Union governments pledged to cut their budget deficits even as the economy slows and the war and refugee crisis in Yugoslavia saddles the 15-nation bloc with a potentially huge bill. EU finance ministers promised European Central Bank President Wim Duisenberg that fiscal belt-tightening is a priority again, while acknowledging that the war could push up spending and put a further drag on growth. ''War costs a lot of money -- make no mistake about that,'' German Finance Minister Hans Eichel said after chairing a two- day meeting of ministers and central bankers. ''And expulsion costs an incredible amount of money.'' The central bank made clear that after slashing interest rates for the 11 single-currency countries to record lows, it is now up to governments to give business a push by getting rid of regulations and bringing down taxes, especially on labor. Italian Treasury Minister Carlo Azeglio Ciampi expressed the strongest concern that the Kosovo war will dent growth in the euro area, which is already expected to slow to 2.2 percent in 1999 from 3.0 percent last year. Italy, across the Adriatic Sea from Yugoslavia, temporarily shut three airports because of the war, damaging regional economies. Greece has been forced to reroute cargo to and from northern Europe, adding to costs for business. ''This is a negative element,'' Ciampi said. ''European economic conditions, particularly those in Italy, are worse than expected. This introduces a further element of uncertainty and concern.'' Europe's Laggard Economy Hampered by budget cuts mandated by the euro project, the Italian economy is already posting the slowest growth of the 11 countries that adopted the euro on Jan. 1. It is likely to expand 1.6 percent this year, the European Commission forecasts. Flagging growth in Italy and Germany were behind the central bank's unexpectedly deep half-point cut in its main interest rate to 2.5 percent on April 8. Duisenberg today underscored the impression that no more cuts are in the pipeline. ''The ball is now maybe more clearly than before in the politicians' court,'' he said. The finance ministers confirmed that they will resume the pursuit of balanced budgets, an area where the EU lags far behind the U.S., Duisenberg added. At the same time, the ministers indicated there are no limits to the checks they are prepared to write to equip NATO forces, provide food and shelter for refugees and rebuild the Balkans after the war ends. The bloc has pledged 800 million euros ($856 million) for humanitarian aid in the first three weeks of the war. Today the ministers endorsed a two-year moratorium on debt-service payments for Albania and Macedonia, which are struggling with a flood of over a half-million refugees. The moratorium, if approved by the Paris Club of western creditor governments, would cost around 150 million euros. ''It goes without saying that we have to raise this money,'' said Jacques Santer, the outgoing president of the commission, the EU's executive agency. Santer continues to serve in a caretaker role after resigning along with the other 19 European commissioners last month amid allegations of financial mismanagement. He will be replaced by Romano Prodi, a former Italian prime minister, in August. Deficit Curbs Euro states must keep their deficits below 3 percent. In theory, the costs of the war in Yugoslavia could prompt them to invoke treaty language that allows deficits to go above the threshold in ''temporary and exceptional'' circumstances. While the combined euro-area shortfall will dip to 1.9 percent of gross domestic product this year from 2.1 percent last year, the bloc has long since jettisoned the informal goal of wiping out its deficits by 2002. Another unanswered question is whether Greece, one of four EU states not using the euro, will weather the economic fallout so it can meet its self-imposed deadline of 2001 for adopting the new currency. Still, Hans Tietmeyer, president of the German central bank, said it is too early to assess the impact of the war on the EU economy. The crisis ''has certainly raised volatility on the markets but the ultimate effects remain to be seen,'' he said. The ministers and central bankers said they are unconcerned about the euro's 8 percent drop against the U.S. dollar since its debut. The slide reflects a buoyant U.S. economy and isn't a sign of weakness in Europe, they said. The ministers also quietly dropped a German proposal for a new agency to manage EU efforts to promote employment, while agreeing to include the central bank and labor and management representatives in an occasional roundtable on economic policy. A French proposal to bolster the policy-making role of the smaller council of euro-11 finance ministers merits further study, Eichel said. ©1999 Bloomberg L.P. All rights reserved. Terms of Service, Privacy Policy and Trademarks.