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

To: Stormweaver who wrote (4384)	4/18/1999 4:34:00 PM
From: goldsnow	Respond to of 17770

More if we "win" Reconstruction of Yougoslavia

To: Stormweaver who wrote (4384)	4/18/1999 4:46:00 PM
From: goldsnow	Respond to of 17770

The Economy Kosovo cloud over EU summit Hans Tietmeyer, president of the German Bundesbank, signals a return to discussions The mounting cost of the war in the Balkans has overshadowed the meeting of European Union finance ministers who now have to face counting the escalating cost of the conflict and any eventual peace settlement. With thousands of ethnic Albanian refugees pouring out of Kosovo every day, the new German Finance Minister Hans Eichel, who chaired the talks, said now was not the time for penny-pinching. "We paid for German unity and now we will have to pay for peace in the Balkans," Mr Eichel said as the two-day summit in Dresden drew to a close on Saturday. The ministers also discussed a jobs pact they want to finalise at the June summit in Cologne aimed at putting the EU's 17 million unemployed back to work. Last week's 0.5% interest rate cut by the European Central Bank has helped their plans to put people back to work. Kosovo concern But there is growing concern that Nato's campaign aimed at stopping Serbia's offensive against the ethnic Albanians in the province of Kosovo could start to affect Europe's economy. Both the German and French share markets are believed to have been affected by the war which is creating political uncertainty and dampening investors' enthusiasm. Ministers said the conflict might undermine consumer confidence and take a heavy financial toll, burdening their budgets at the very moment that the ECB is demanding spending discipline as a quid pro quo for lower borrowing costs. "They are certainly serious, in particular for the countries on the front line which have enough difficulties already without this military conflict," Austrian Finance Minister Rudolf Edlinger said of the economic consequences of the conflict. Italian Treasury Minister Carlo Azeglio Ciampi said that, with the war still raging, now was not the time to count the cost. Greece is the EU member at greatest economic risk, mainly through its impact on trade and tourism, but Finance Minister Yannos Papandoniou still said his government would not change its forecast of 3.5% growth this year. ECB President Wim Duisenberg played down the economic impact of the Kosovo conflict, saying it had sparked increased volatility on financial markets but it was too early to discern any measurable impact on the EU's real economy. Millennium wariness Eurozone financial markets will shut on 31 December to avoid any computer-related problems with the changeover to the new millennium, European Commissioner Yves-Thibault de Silguy said. The decision was taken by finance ministers on Saturday. "This will provide legal security and the clarity needed by all the players involved and allow the markets to prepare calmly for the changover to the year 2000, with the issue of the 'millennium bug'", he said. news.bbc.co.uk