YUGOSLAVIA AND REC SIGN NEW AGREEMENT ON
COOPERATION
The government of Yugoslavia signed a memorandum of
understanding with the Regional Environmental Center for Central
and Eastern Europe (REC) on June 22, confirming the importance
of the Center's activities in Yugoslavia. The Yugoslav government
had already signed the REC's Charter in 1996, and the Center has
had a Country Office in Belgrade since1998 and worked in the
country before that. According to a press release from the Center's
country office, the new memorandum means: "The Ministry of
Foreign Affairs of Yugoslavia welcomes the activities of the REC in
Yugoslavia and gives privileges to the REC with expectations that
REC will make a contribution to the environmental reconstruction
efforts in Yugoslavia and facilitate the increase of international
assistance for the environment of Yugoslavia. The Ministry of
Foreign Affairs of Yugoslavia expressed readiness to support, in
every way possible, the functioning of the Country Office of the
REC in Belgrade." 
Contact:
Dr Radoje Lausevic, REC Country Office Yugoslavia, tel: (381-11) 620-633 e-mail: rlrecyu@EUnet.yu; web: http://www.recyu.org

FLOODING RAVAGES PARTS OF SERBIA AND BiH
Heavy rains brought June 20-22 flooding that forced thousands to
evacuate their residences and destroyed homes and crops in
Western Serbia and northern Bosnia and Herzegovina, according to
reports. In Serbia, inmates at a regional prison also had to be
evacuated, the Kolubara River and its tributaries reached record
levels and about 4,000 hectares of crops have been destroyed,
according to European Water Management News. 

In Bosnia and Herzegovina, officials declared a state of emergency in several
regions, and police in both the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Republika Srpska were out in force to handle traffic and other problems, according to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE). The Tuzla, Brcko, Banja Luka, Doboj, and Zenica areas were particularly hard hit, the RFE report said. Several thousand people have been forced to flee their homes, at least 10
of which were destroyed by the flood waters, the report said. Flooding has been an increasing problem in the region, and most experts blame climate change for the worsening severity of the floods. 
Contact:
Drago Trkulja, Ecological Engineering of Republika Serbska, 
tel: (387-58) 60-852
or
Marinko Kordic, Geophysical Institute, Mostar, tel: (387 88) 314-237, 328-327; or 
Dr. Dragan Veselinovic Deputy Minister, Ministry of Environment of Republic of  Serbia, tel: (381-11) 3616-368.

WETLANDS NEAR BRAILA NAMED AS ROMANIA'S 2ND
RAMSAR SITE
As of June 15, the wetlands near Braila, in the lower Danube River
in Romania, are Romania's second site to receive protection under
the international Ramsar Convention, according to a June 27 report
from European Water Management News. The 17,586 hectare area
is comprised of seven small islands, stretching over 61 kilometres
between two arms of the Danube just upstream of the city of Braila,
the report said. The site is said to be of major importance for at
least 34 internationally protected bird species, including the rare
pygmy cormorant. The site, which has locally been deemed a
natural reserve since 1994, is now added to the Ramsar List of
Wetlands of International Importance. It joins the Danube Delta,
which was put on the Ramsar list 10 years ago, as the only other
site in Romania to receive that level of protection. 
Contact:
Romanian Environment Ministry, tel: (40-1) 410-0246 or (40-1) 410-0215
e-mail: biodiv@mappm.ro
or 
the Ramsar web site: http://www.ramsar.org

WORK UNDERWAY TOWARD CLEARING DANUBE DEBRIS
Pollution from destroyed bridges will be removed from the Danube
River, and the region will once again have a more environmentally
friendly means of transportation, when barge traffic resumes on the
waterway, and according to a report from the Balkan Information
Exchange, this resumption should come soon. The report quoted
Kalin Borissov, who works in a special Danube Clearance Unit set
up on Jan. 1, as saying that he expects the river to be restored to
its pre-war condition by summer 2002. The key to re-starting river
traffic, which is an important part of the region's economy, is
rebuilding bridges in Novi Sad, which were destroyed by NATO
bombing during spring of 1999. Around 85 percent of the EUR 26
million set aside for clearing the river was provided by the European
Union, the Balkan Information Exchange report said. Contact:
Danube Programme Co-ordination Unit, tel: (43) 1-26060-5616.

CEE REPRESENTATIVES MEET IN BUCHAREST TO PLAN RIO
+10 COOPERATION
A series of recommendations for regional cooperation during a
worldwide environmental summit set for next year were produced at
the "Regional Rio+10 Assessment Conference for Central Eastern
European (CEE) Countries," held June 27-28 in Bucharest.
Representatives from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria,
Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Lithuania, FYR
Macedonia, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia and Yugoslavia
were invited to discuss a regional action plan for the Rio+10 Earth
Summit, to be held in Johannesburg next year. The result was a list of recommendations and an agreement to discuss cooperation further, according to Dana Romanescu of the Romanian office of the Regional Environmental Center for Central and Eastern Europe.

Recommendations included: the requirement of a regional framework for sustainable development; the requirement of a better understanding of sustainable development at the policy level and its relationship to good governance; the promotion of greater understanding of the participatory process; a coordinated exchange of good practice in education for sustainable development; the facilitation of better use of information; an improved use of technological developments; and coordinated donor-country discussion forums to promote better donor contributions within the region. 
Contact:
Romanescu, Romanian office of the Regional Environmental Center for Central and Eastern Europe, tel: (401) 314 0433
e-mail: danaro@fx.ro or rec@fx.ro.

MOVING PROTEST SHOWS CRUELTY OF LIVE ANIMAL
TRANSPORT
In the next leg of a literally moving demonstration, a truck carrying
activists through Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) to protest
inhumane shipping of farm animals was scheduled to leave
Budapest on June 28 and make its way toward Zagreb. As part of
the Campaign Against Live Transport of Farm Animals in CEE,
activists are stopping in capital cities around the region to show an
exhibition and a movie about the cruel treatment that farm animals
receive as they are transported around Europe. The project is
sponsored in part by the Regional Environmental Center for Central
and Eastern Europe (REC). The activists are travelling on a route
from Lithuania-Poland-Czech Republic-Slovakia-Hungary-Croatia-
Slovenia-Italy, collecting signatures on a petition to ban cruel
methods for transporting animals. The trip is to end July 1 in Assisi
Italy, where events are being held to mark the International Day
Against Live Export. The signatures collected during the trip are to
be turned over to relevant ministers on July 1 as well. 
Contact:
Angelika Foldesi, REC NGO support, e-mail: ahalasz@rec.org

PHARE ACCESS PROGRAMME TO AID SLOVAK NGOs
The Delegation of the European Commission in Slovakia has
launched a call for project proposals for macro-projects with
financial assistance from the 1999 Phare ACCESS Programme
according to a June 8 report from ChangeNet in Slovakia. Projects
considered for funding include those aimed at environmental
protection and socio-economic development, the announcement
said. Projects must be realised as part of a partnership, according
to the announcement. The grants awarded will range from EUR
50,000 to EUR 150,000 and will not fund more than 80 percent of a
project, the announcement said. 
Contact:
Andrej Mocko, Delegation of the European Commission in Slovakia,
e-mail: andrej.mocko@delsvk.cec.eu.int 
or
e-mail: eic@europa.sk.
For civil society news from Slovakia, visit ChangeNet:
web site: http://www.changenet.sk

HAIDER JOINS CRITICISM OF TEMELIN NUCLEAR PLANT
Austrian anti-nuclear activists got support from far-right politician
Joerg Haider in their opposition to the Temelin nuclear plant,
located in the Czech Republic, 50 kilometres from the Austrian
border. Haider said that the Czech Republic must not be allowed to
join the European Union unless it renounces the Temelin plant and
also annuls the Benes Decree, a post World War II decision to
expel millions of ethnic Germans from Czechoslovakia, according
to a June 27 report by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. Activists
continued to post blockades at Czech-Austrian border crossings in
opposition to the Temelin plant, which is based on an old Soviet
style but has been modernised, the report said. Activists have said
that they want all activities at Temelin suspended while a more
thorough environmental impact assessment is completed on the
plant. 
Contact:
Czech State Office for Nuclear Safety, tel: (420-2) 2422-3139
e-mail: karel.bohm@sujb.cz 
or
Greenpeace Austria, tel: (43-1) 545-4580.

PROPOSAL WOULD INCLUDE CEE IN EC PROGRAMME TO
FUND ENVIRONMENTAL NGOs
The European Commission on June 22 adopted a proposal to
continue its regular financial support to European environmental
non-governmental organisations and -- for the first time ever -- to
extend that support to NGOs in accession and non-accession
countries in Central and Eastern Europe, according to an EC press
release. 

The EC's proposed Action Programme would replace the
current, four-year NGO funding programme, which expires at the
end of this year, with one that last five years and has a budget
increased from EUR 10.6 million to EUR 32 million, the release
said. The budget increase would be necessary to expand funding
to NGOs in European Union accession countries and in South
Eastern Europe, the press release said. According to the press
release: "The proposal for an expanded geographical scope of the
Programme is in response to a Europe in change. 

It is necessary to include Candidate Countries' NGOs in light of their importance in gaining public acceptance for the environmental 'acquis', for
strengthening its implementation, and for furthering the democratisation process. The changes in the Balkans have also revealed a tremendous need for direct support towards citizens' organisations and initiatives in order to promote democracy and the building of an environmentally sustainable future." 
Contact:
European Commission Directorate General for Environment, 
tel: (32-2) 299-2300; fax (32-2) 299-0310.

NEW REPORT SUGGESTS EU FUNDS ARE NOT ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY
Friends of the Earth Europe and the CEE Bankwatch Network on
June 7 launched a second briefing paper questioning the
environmental effects of the European Union's funding instruments
for EU accession countries entitled "Billions for Sustainability? II,"
according to a press release from the groups. "In sectors such as
agriculture or transport, pre-accession funds are usually meant to
support intensified production or expansion of the Trans-European
Network (mainly highways). 

Clearly such priorities lead to practises generally recognised as unsustainable: respectively, intensive agriculture and car dependency. These go against the vision established in the new EU Sustainable Strategy," the press release said. "On the issue of public participation and access to information, the paper points to a very poor record particularly in
the key stage of project criteria and selection. Additionally,
participation receives no guarantee under pre-accession fund
regulations, it is simply left out. … 

The democratic deficit surely plays a role in the increasing unpopularity of the accession exercise among the populations of CEE countries. In Estonia a
recent study indicated that 54 percent are against and only 35 percent for joining the EU, whilst in Poland support fell from over 80 percent to 54 percent."
The paper is online at: http://www.foeeurope.org/publications/EU_update.pdf. 
Contact:
Magda Stoczkiewicz, FoEE/CEE Bankwatch, 
e-mail: magdas@foeeurope.org

LITHUANIA CLOSES ENVIRONMENTAL CHAPTER IN EU TALKS
Lithuania's chief negotiator with the EU, Petras Austrevicius,
announced on June 27 in Brussels that his country became the
fifth current EU candidate to complete the environment "chapter" on
accession negotiations, according to a report from Radio Free
Europe/Radio Libery. Lithuania was granted "transition periods" on
package-waste, management of urban sewage treatment and the
treatment of volatile organic compounds, the report said. 

This means that Lithuania would not have to comply with EU standards
in these three areas before joining, but would be allowed to catch
up after achieving membership. It is estimated that Lithuania's compliance with the EU's environmental standards will require about LIL 200 million (USD 50 million) every year until 2009, with the largest investments necessary for waste management and water-treatment systems, the report said.

AIR POLLUTANTS MAKE TRANSCONTINENTAL JOURNEY
Air pollution from neighbouring countries has long been an
environmental concern, but a new report indicates that Europeans
also have to worry about pollution drifting over from North America.
The report, by European and North American scientists working for
the United Nations, was announced in a June 26 press release
from the environment division of the UN Economic Commission for
Europe (UNECE).

"The new findings show that fine particles and
ozone travel not only across borders but also across oceans. This
implies that it may not be enough to take local measures, such as
clamping down on car use during pollution peaks to meet air-
quality standards, since some of the pollution is emitted overseas,"
according to the press release.

"Modelling intercontinental flows of fine particles or ground-level ozone will be much more difficult. Yet, this is one of the challenges that scientists will have to take up, because quantifying the impact of intercontinental air pollution is a prerequisite for effective cooperation to curb it." 
Contact:
Henning Wuester UNECE Environment and Human Settlements Division,
tel: (41 22) 917 23 63, e-mail: henning.wuester@unece.org

SEE CONFERENCE FOR JOURNALISTS PLANNED FOR NEXT
SPRING
The South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) has
announced it is planning a conference next spring to discuss
issues of importance to journalists in South Eastern Europe (SEE).
Events for the May 8-12 conference are to include a seminar on
investigative journalism in SEE and a workshop on media for
minorities in SEE. There are also plans to hold a meeting of
experts in media and broadcast law. The announcement
encouraged the attendance of editors, media managers and
journalists from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria,
Croatia, Greece, FYR Macedonia and Yugoslavia. 
Contact:
Oliver Vujovic, SEEMO Secretary General, tel: (43-1) 513-3940; 
e-mail: seemo@freemedia.at

WEB SITE OFFERS NEW ENVIRONMENT INFORMATION
PORTAL
"Earthtrends: The Environmental Information Portal" is a new
interactive site create by World Resources Institute and is
designed to be an ideal starting point for "timely and accurate
global environmental and sustainable development information,"
according to a widely distributed e-mail. "EarthTrends offers five
ways to explore the site: a searchable database, maps, country
profiles, text and graphics 'feature' pieces, and pre-formatted data-
tables." See the site at: http://earthtrends.wri.org