Eastern Europe Foreign Relations

Recent accounts about Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega freeing U.S. funds for poll monitors for the upcoming elections on Feb. 25 was indeed good news. By allowing the Bush Administration, handpicked U.S. members of Congress and the anti-Sandinista coalition (UNO) to monitor all polling places, Ortega has assured that the elections will be certifiable by the entire world and in the best interest of all Nicaraguan people.

The fledgling democracies in Eastern Europe are imperiled. There seems to be no real sense of political purpose or coherent leadership in any of the ex-communist countries. Instability pervades the region. Of course, it has been only four years since the peaceful and orderly Polish transition to democracy triggered the collapse of communism in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union.

Piles of bricks, broken glass, bombed-out cars and mangled swing sets mark this city where 50,000 Yugoslavs previously savored the rare fruit of prosperity in Eastern Europe. Now a monument to ethnic hatred, the ruins of Vukovar beg the question, "Why?" Once a flourishing bedroom community for light-industry workers, Vukovar represented the rewards and comforts most of Eastern Europe's struggling workers could only dream of.

Piles of bricks, broken glass, bombed-out cars and mangled swing sets mark this city where 50,000 Yugoslavs previously savored the rare fruit of prosperity in Eastern Europe. Now a monument to ethnic hatred, the ruins of Vukovar beg the question, "Why?" Once a flourishing bedroom community for light-industry workers, Vukovar represented the rewards and comforts most of Eastern Europe's struggling workers could only dream of.

The fledgling democracies in Eastern Europe are imperiled. There seems to be no real sense of political purpose or coherent leadership in any of the ex-communist countries. Instability pervades the region. Of course, it has been only four years since the peaceful and orderly Polish transition to democracy triggered the collapse of communism in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union.

Saying that Californians should invest in peace, the powerful and colorful chairman of the Assembly's budget-writing committee proposed a novel package Tuesday under which the state would provide $150 million in foreign aid to Eastern Europe and open a trade office in Warsaw.

Recent accounts about Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega freeing U.S. funds for poll monitors for the upcoming elections on Feb. 25 was indeed good news. By allowing the Bush Administration, handpicked U.S. members of Congress and the anti-Sandinista coalition (UNO) to monitor all polling places, Ortega has assured that the elections will be certifiable by the entire world and in the best interest of all Nicaraguan people.

Saying that Californians should invest in peace, the powerful and colorful chairman of the Assembly's budget-writing committee proposed a novel package Tuesday under which the state would provide $150 million in foreign aid to Eastern Europe and open a trade office in Warsaw.