Insight Central Europe News

Thousands remember Holocaust in Auschwitz

Some 20 thousand people from about 50 countries gathered at Oswiecim, southern Poland, for a march of the living - held in memory of Holocaust victims at Auschwitz-Birkenau. Addressing the younger generation, Poland's Prime Minister Marek Belka called for a deeper dialogue between Poles and Jews. Israel's prime minister Ariel Sharon also focused on young people, saying that one day they will have to pass on the truth about those times when the last survivors have died.

Political uncertainty in Poland continues

Poland's Prime Minister, Marek Belka offered his resignation to the president on Friday after parliament refused to bring forward elections and end months of political stalemate. President Aleksander Kwasniewski rejected the offer, forcing Belka's minority cabinet to stay in office until elections due in the autumn. The stalemate in parliament has forced Mr Belka to abandon many planned reforms, including fiscal changes needed to prepare Poland for adoption of the euro.

Czech trade figures show a record surplus

The Czech foreign trade balance posted a 6 billion crown surplus in March, the equivalent of about 0 million dollars. It was the best result for the month since 1993, and the Trade and Industry Ministry said it confirmed a long-term favourable trend. Car and machinery exports accounted for the bulk of the surplus.

South Koreans to make tyres in Slovakia

The South Korean tyre makers Hankook Tire have announced plans to invest more than half a billion euros in Slovakia. The company is to create 1,600 jobs at its new plant in the southern Slovak town of Levice. Economy Minister Pavol Rusko estimates that an additional 1,000 to 1,500 jobs could follow. Slovakia beat Hungary and Poland as potential destinations for the plant, which should be launched in 2008.

Anniversary of Tito's death marked in former Yugoslavia

Several thousand people from all parts of the former Yugoslavia visited the tomb of its one-time leader Josip Broz Tito in Belgrade on the 25th anniversary of his death on Wednesday. During World War II, Tito led partisans against Nazi German occupying forces and their local allies. Afterwards he ruled the multi-ethnic federation, which gained relative independence as Tito stood up to Soviet leader Joseph Stalin. A decade after his death, the federation collapsed in a series of bloody wars that left several hundred thousand dead. Tito was born in 1892 to a mixed Croatian and Slovenian family, and in many parts of the former Yugoslavia he is remembered with increasing nostalgia.