ReliefWeb

Hungarian parliamentary speaker Janos Ader told a gathering of EU and NATO ambassadors in Budapest that he expects financial and diplomatic help in dealing with a new case of environmental damage affecting the Tisza River (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 13 March 2000) and in preventing similar cases in the future, Hungarian media reported. Hungarian Foreign Ministry spokesman Gabor Horvath said Budapest wants to work on upgrading bilateral environmental protection measures with Romania, and he called on Romania to provide as much information as possible on the recent environmental accidents. At a joint press conference with his Hungarian counterpart, Ibolya David, in Szeged, Romanian Justice Minister Valeriu Stoica expressed regret at the latest environmental accident, which took place along the Romanian sector of the river, MTI reported. The heavy metals contamination flowing down the river is expected to reach the lower Tisza by the weekend, "Nepszabadsag" reported on 14 March. VG
...AS EU TASK FORCE ARRIVES IN ROMANIA

An EU task force on 13 March began investigating the earlier cyanide spill in the Baia Mare area, which polluted the Tisza River. The same day, German Deputy Environment Minister Gila Altmann said her country will offer to help Romania improve factories and mines that pose environmental risks in the region. Altmann, who is scheduled to arrive in Romania later in the day, said Germany will evaluate the situation to see what help it can offer in conjunction with the EU. VG