Insight Central Europe News

Central European leaders express condolences and solidarity with Britain

Central European leaders have sent letters of condolence and expressed their solidarity with Britain, following Thursday's series of co-ordinated bombings in London. Condemning the attacks, they said Thursday's events prove that the international fight against terrorism has been imperative and must continue. In a letter to the Queen, Czech President Vaclav Klaus called all such terrorist attacks 'cowardly practices'. Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski had this to say:

"Our friends and brothers can fully depend on Poland in these tragic times. Our country will provide any help necessary. Our hearts, the hearts of all Poles, now go out to London."

Hungary's Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany called the London explosions a 'heinous crime' and in a letter to his British counterpart, the Hungarian Foreign Minister Ferenc Somogyi said it was an especially absurd circumstance that the barbarian terrorist attack had been perpetrated at a time when the leaders of the economically most developed countries had gathered to discuss the alleviation of poverty in the world and the possibilities of joining forces against the environmental problems threatening our planet.

Security heightened at various locations in main Central European cities

In the wake of the attacks, security has been heightened around department stores, the public transport network, and all strategic buildings in all main Central European cities. Foreign ministries have stated they had not received any reports of a real threat of attack in their countries. It is as yet unknown how many, if any, Central Europeans were among the victims in London. Some ministries, including the Czech Foreign Ministry have opened special hotlines for Czechs unable to locate family in the British capital. Deputy Foreign Minister Jan Winkler:

"We are now in the process of collecting information from Czech families or Czech friends who have contacted our helpline where information about missing persons is collected and passed to our embassy in London, which is in contact with the casualty bureau in London."

Poland's government building fire and Hungary's mall bomb threats not linked to London attacks

Meanwhile, a fire that broke out in Poland's main government building on Thursday was an accident caused by renovation works and not linked to the attacks on London, Deputy Prime Minister Izabela Jaruga-Nowacka said. The building was evacuated when it caught fire just hours after blasts shook the British capital, raising concerns that the incidents might be connected. Alongside Britain, Poland is a key ally of the United States in Iraq, where it has about 1,700 soldiers.

Similarly in Budapest, three shopping centres that were evacuated on Thursday due to a bomb threat reopened after police found no explosives or any evidence that the threats were linked to the blasts in London.

Slovak Prime Minister survives no-confidence vote

Slovak Prime Minister Mikulas Dzurinda survived a no-confidence vote on Wednesday as parliament rejected a fresh opposition attack aimed mainly against the government's economic policies. The no-confidence vote was initiated by the leftist party Smer, the strongest opposition faction, which accused the government of taking measures that have impoverished most Slovaks. The no-confidence motion was supported by only 60 deputies, short of the 76-vote majority in the 150-seat parliament needed to bring down the government.

Smer leader Robert Fico, whose party leads in opinion polls with around 30 percent support, has also accused Dzurinda of dragging the country into the war in Iraq. Dzurinda strongly rejected all the accusations, saying his reforms had led to the fastest economic growth in central Europe, and attracted large foreign investors which helped create thousands of news jobs.

Slovenia can lose billions in EU aid if leaders fail to agree on bloc's long-term budget

The European Commission has warned that big regions in Slovenia, Spain and Italy will lose out on vast sums of EU aid if the bloc's leaders fail to agree on a long-term budget this year. Negotiations on the EU's 2007-2013 budget broke down at a summit in mid-June and politicians doubt whether Britain will be able to steer the EU towards a budget agreement during its six-month presidency, which started this month.

Failure to reach a deal this year will affect all new Central European member states but Slovenia, the richest, might lose billions of euros from what are called the EU's 'structural funds' if agreement is only reached at the end of Austria's presidency next June, as many diplomats expect. By that time, Slovenia will most likely exceed the eligibility threshold for the main structural fund, which is gross domestic product per head of less than 75 percent of the EU average.