Voice of America, 00-06-19

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

CONTENTS

[01] MILOSEVIC / U-S REACT (L ONLY) BY PAMELA TAYLOR (WASHINGTON)

[02] U-S / MILOSEVIC (L-ONLY) BY NICK SIMEONE (WASHINGTON)

[03] ROMANIA / ELECTION-RESULTS (L-O) BY STEFAN BOS (BUDAPEST)

[04] E-U SUMMIT (L-O) BY RON PEMSTEIN (FEIRA, PORTUGAL)

[05] E-U SUMMIT (L-ONLY, UPDATE) BY RON PEMSTEIN (FEIRA, PORTUGAL)

[06] E-U-SAF (L ONLY) BY RON PEMSTEIN (FEIRA, PORTUGAL)

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

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

[01] MILOSEVIC / U-S REACT (L ONLY) BY PAMELA TAYLOR (WASHINGTON)

INTRO: A report in today/Monday's New York Times says the United States, its Western allies and Russia, might consider allowing Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic to leave office. The report has sparked both outrage and serious consideration from Washington policy-makers. VOA's Pamela Taylor has more:

TEXT: The article quotes unidentified U-S and NATO officials who say informal discussions have taken place on the subject, most recently during President Clinton's visit to Moscow. These sources caution that Washington is not preparing to offer any deal to Mr. Milosevic but might not oppose a decision by him to step down from power.

[02] U-S / MILOSEVIC (L-ONLY) BY NICK SIMEONE (WASHINGTON)

INTRO: The United States is strongly denying a report that it would agree to allow Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic to give up power in exchange for him not having to face war-crimes charges at the Hague. Correspondent Nick Simeone reports that one year after the end of the war over Kosovo, NATO countries seem no closer to bringing the indicted leader to justice.

TEXT: Suggestions in The New York Times that Washington is considering a deal with the Yugoslav leader drew strong denials from both sides of the Atlantic Monday. A spokesman for the War Crimes Tribunal in The Hague says the court would never go along with an arrangement for President Milosevic to give up power in exchange for a grant of immunity. In Washington, the reaction was just as categorical from State Department spokesman Richard Boucher.

[03] ROMANIA / ELECTION-RESULTS (L-O) BY STEFAN BOS (BUDAPEST)

INTRO: First official results from elections in Romania show indicate leftist and former Communist candidates continued their lead in the second and final round of Romania's municipal elections. Analysts describe the outcome of the vote as a serious challenge to the ruling centrist coalition, which is faces parliamentary and presidential elections later this year. As Stefan Bos reports from Budapest, a ruling party candidate surprised the pollsters and won the post of Mayor in Romania's Capital Bucharest.

TEXT: Romanian election officials announced late Monday that the ruling coalition candidate narrowly won the closely watched race for Mayor of Bucharest. Despite earlier predictions, the opposition Party of former President Ion Illiescu, the Party of Social Democracy or "PDSR", lost the very close contest for the influential post. The Governing Democratic Party's Traian Basescu, who is currently Transport Minister, beat his political rival Sorin Oprescu of the PDSR---by less than one percentage point. Mr. Basescu, a former ship captain, is seen as someone who will use his experience at sea to lead Bucharest through tough times. As a Minister, the 48-year old politician was already at the forefront of efforts to renovate the international airport in Bucharest. Mr. Basescu also lead massive highway projects to repair and modernize Romania's pothole filled roads. There were only a few other cities where the ruling party fared better than in the first round of voting on June 4. The ruling center-right Democratic Convention won in the Western city of Timisoara, where the bloody revolution against the regime of Stalinist Dictator Nicoleau Ceausescu began in late 1989. Its coalition partner, the Liberal Party, won in the town of Brasov. But centrist Governing parties are concerned about the situation elsewhere in the country as former Communists lead by ex-President Illiescu took most municipal seats, especially in rural area's and villages. In addition, ethnic Hungarian Ministers of the Government are concerned about the re-election of the ultra nationalist Mayor of the town Cluj, Gheorghe Funar. Mr. Funar's Greater Romania Party is known for its tough rhetoric and other actions against the country's estimated 2-million ethnic Hungarians, at a time of growing economic difficulties in this former Communist country of just over 22-million people. Analysts have describe the election results as a protest vote against the Government's perceived failure to improve living standards in Romania -- where people earn on average less than 100 dollars a month. Pollsters expect the swing to the left to continue during Parliamentary and Presidential elections, later this year. (SIGNED)
NEB/SB/KBK 19-Jun-2000 18:58 PM LOC (19-Jun-2000 2258 UTC)
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Source: Voice of America

[04] E-U SUMMIT (L-O) BY RON PEMSTEIN (FEIRA, PORTUGAL)

INTRO: European Union leaders have agreed that Greece will become the 12th member of the Union to tie its currency to the Euro. Ron Pemstein reports from the summit site in northern Portugal that there is no solution in sight to their disagreements about a withholding tax and whether they will end their political isolation of Austria.

TEXT: Portugal insists the 14 leaders will not discuss ending their political isolation of fellow member, Austria. Austrian officials say the atmosphere is much better at this summit than it was when the leaders last met in March. Austrian Finance Minister Karl-Heinz Grasser showed reporters an opinion poll that he says demonstrates that populations in all 15 E-U countries oppose the political measures against Austria. The measures were agreed to last February in an attempt to prevent Austria's right-wing Freedom Party from entering the government. Mr. Grasser, a Freedom Party member, says his colleagues are not boycotting him anymore, but are seeking his country's cooperation on a E-U wide tax plan. The latest draft plan makes a tax on non-residents' savings accounts contingent on agreements with third countries, such as the United States and Switzerland. The leaders could not agree on an exchange of information plan that does not violate Austria's requirement for bank secrecy or Britain's refusal to consider anything that damages investments in London's Euro-Bond market. The Austrian Finance Minister expresses confidence that European leaders will find a way to end the sanctions against his country, especially if they want Austria's cooperation later this year on reforming European institutions or in enlarging the Union. France takes over the six-month rotating presidency of the Union from Portugal on July first.

[05] E-U SUMMIT (L-ONLY, UPDATE) BY RON PEMSTEIN (FEIRA, PORTUGAL)

INTRO: European Union leaders have agreed that Greece will become the 12th member of the Union to tie its currency to the Euro. Ron Pemstein reports from the summit in northern Portugal that there is no solution in sight to their disagreements about a withholding tax or an end to their political isolation of Austria.

TEXT: Austrian Chancellor Wolfgang Schuessel confronted his 14 colleagues over lunch. He told them it is now time to end the four-and-one-half months of political sanctions they have declared against his government.

[06] E-U-SAF (L ONLY) BY RON PEMSTEIN (FEIRA, PORTUGAL)

INTRO: European leaders meeting in Northern Portugal have approved French plans for a Balkan summit that will include all the Balkan countries except Yugoslavia but include the Serbian opposition and Montenegro. Ron Pemstein reports from the summit site in Feira, the leaders also met with South African President Thabo Mbeki. Text: European leaders concluded their first day of meetings here in Portugal by hearing the views of South Africa's president. The meeting follows the first E-U-African summit meeting held in Cairo last April. Portuguese foreign minister Jaime Gama tells reporters through an interpreter, the Europeans wanted to show their respect for South Africa's democracy.

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

INTRO: As the date nears for President Clinton to decide whether to begin building a limited anti- nuclear missile defense system for this country, the editorial debate intensifies. The Korean summit also continues to draw comment, as does the plight of the people in sub-Saharan Africa. Other editorials deal with Mexico's upcoming election and the Cuban economic embargo. Now, here is _________ with a closer look and some excerpts in today's Editorial Digest.

TEXT: The United States, to defend itself against missile attacks from so-called rogue nations, is contemplating building a limited anti-missile defense system. But the issue has many critics in this country and abroad, where the Russians say it will violate the 1972 anti-ballistic missile treaty. Editorials continue to discuss the merits of the system, like this commentary in today's Cleveland, Ohio Plain Dealer.

VOICE: President Bill Clinton, a recent convert to the idea of a missile defense system, faces what might be the most significant decision of his presidency: ... Should he order the start of the early-detection radar installation, or should that decision be left to the next occupant of the Oval Office? Administration lawyers, paid to find the answer the president wants, read the ... Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty ... to say he can surely pour the concrete pad upon which the [giant, Shemya, Aleutian island] radar would sit without violating the agreement. ... but they admit they do not know the exact point at which the United States would violate the nearly 30-year-old landmark agreement. So [Mr.] Clinton sits at the arms-control table with what his vice president and would-be successor, Al Gore, might call a "risky" hand.

TEXT: The New York Times calls the White House lawyers' interpretation of the treaty "strained" and adds:

VOICE: The White House should reject their advice in favor of a more straightforward approach, postponing any construction decision until the serious technological and diplomatic questions surrounding the current missile defense program have been satisfactorily resolved. That approach ... would allow the United States to make sure it was using the most reliable defensive technology while doing minimal harm to arms control.

TEXT: Nebraska's Omaha World-Herald wants a system, but one that definitely works.

VOICE: ... a missile defense system in some form ought to be feasible and ought to exist. The seriousness of the threat of a missile attack by a rogue state can't be known ... but ... the devastation would be almost too horrible to contemplate. We are not, however in favor of a sham - a system that isn't up to the job and costs possibly 60-billion dollars...

TEXT: The other big domestic debate these days involves the death penalty. A new study by criminologists and lawyers at Columbia University Law School has determined that about two thirds of all death penalty cases are reversed on appeal. That means there were serious errors at the trial. Many papers say the study means the system needs serious review. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, citing the Columbia study, says:

VOICE: The case against the death penalty in America keeps getting stronger. ... The death penalty lends itself to gripping philosophical and moral debates. Should a people seek not only justice, but vengeance as well? Is a life sentence without parole more or less severe than the death penalty? ... The political climate is shifting away from an unconditional embrace of the death penalty, as more and more Americans learn of its arbitrariness.

TEXT: The [Trenton, New Jersey] Times is pleased that Congress is now considering a bill that would ensure that D-N-A tests, a new kind of scientific test that can identify people with certainty, will be available to prisoners in any case, including murder cases. But The New York Post defers, urging continuation of the death penalty. It cites the case of a New Jersey man, Thomas Trantino, who, with another man, killed two New Jersey police officers in 1963, but escaped death in the electric chair when the Supreme Court outlawed capital punishment in 1972. It has since been reinstated. Says the Post:

VOICE: It was generally accepted at the time that [Mr.] Trantino, his life having been spared, would never again see the light of day. But the New Jersey Supreme Court has ordered his release, saying ... he was singled out for special treatment and denied opportunities for parole. ... Soon, Thomas Trantino may indeed walk free. His victims are still dead. This is why so many still believe that -- though the system may have flaws - - that capital punishment must remain an option in a just society.

TEXT: Internationally, the historic Korean summit continues to draw comment, as in this Fresno [California] Bee editorial, which says the real value of the meeting will come from the North's actions.

VOICE: ... earlier, lower-level steps toward reconciliation have foundered; now, the acid test of the Stalinist regime's intentions will be whether the economic and technical aid North Korea so badly needs will induce changes in Pyongyang's behavior, not only away from its xenophobia but in reductions in its vastly oversized army... abandonment of its nuclear weapons ambitions ... and -- ultimately -- an easing of the deprivation and harsh repression of its own people. It's in that context that Kim Jong Il's beaming visage must be seen by a wary world.

TEXT: That caution is echoed in these editorial words from The Atlanta [Georgia] Journal, which calls last week's talks an "encouraging sign," adding:

VOICE: ... there is simply no way to know whether the friendliness emanating from the Communist dictator is real, or a tactical pretense aimed merely at keeping his country alive and his government in power. That said, however, we think there are grounds for careful, guarded optimism about the future of relations between the two Koreas and prospects for peace in the region.

TEXT: The situation in sub Saharan Africa comes in for attention from the Seattle [Washington] Times, which says the first priority of the friends of Africa should be the health of the continent's women:.

VOICE: The most cost-effective strategies for improving health care in Africa center around women and girls, for whom gaps in health and education often prove fatal. Though access to drug treatment is critical for Africans already infected with the H-I-V virus, basic health care for women - - especially maternal health - - is the key to stabilizing the continent's next generation.

TEXT: The Chicago Tribune bemoans the wars, disease, famine, and poverty that are plaguing Africa.

VOICE: With colonialism gone for decades ... the vast majority of Africa's wounds seem self-inflicted. ... It wasn't supposed to be this way. When many African nations ... achieved independence in the 1960s, things were supposed to get better. But the World Bank concluded in a recent study that they have, in fact, gotten substantially worse. /// OPT /// ... The ... report found some silver linings amid the gloom - - Nigeria is rebuilding its economy and democracy after years of military rule, and large infrastructure projects are under way, like the transport corridor between South Africa and Mozambique. But there are precious few [silver linings]. /// END OPT ///

TEXT: In this hemisphere, Mexico's first, truly democratic presidential election, set for July 2nd, is drawing more and more editorial attention. The San Francisco Chronicle highlights just one small incident as a hallmark of change.

VOICE: For a telling measure of democracy's evolution in Mexico, look no further than the pre-election prediction of Esteban Moctezuma, chief strategist for Francisco Labastida, the [presidential candidate] of the ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party (P-R-I). [Mr.] Moctezuma said the P-R-I is hoping - - h o p i n g- that [Mr.] Labastida can win by five percentage points. "I personally think that's going to be very difficult," he told the Chronicle's editorial board Friday. "The race is very tight." ... His words reflected P-R-I's genuine concern about losing a presidency it has held for more [than] 70 years. And his trip to the United States showed P-R-I's determination to show the rest of the world that the drama and potential turbulence surrounding this election are healthy signs of an open process.

TEXT: On that note, we conclude this sampling of editorial comment from Monday's U-S press.
NEB/ANG/KL 19-Jun-2000 12:06 PM EDT (19-Jun-2000 1606 UTC)
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Source: Voice of America

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

INTRO: U-S stock prices were higher today (Monday), as investors shifted their focus from interest rates to corporate news. Trading volume, however, remained below normal. V-O-A correspondent Elaine Johanson reports from New York:

TEXT: The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 108 points, one percent, to 10-thousand-557. The Standard and Poor's 500 index gained 21 points - one and one- half percent - and the technology-weighted NASDAQ composite index closed more than three percent higher Monday. The Dow Industrials rose despite a profit warning from Honeywell, a diversified manufacturing company. Honeywell traded over 18 percent lower. But banking and financial stocks, which took a beating last week on concern over interest rates and lower earnings, rebounded, giving welcome strength to the market. Some analysts had predicted a rally of sorts, with investors hoping the U-S central bank will decide not to raise interest rates again when it meets next week.

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