Ex-communist nations offer what they can to needy Iraqis

[Judi Lynn]

Ex-communist nations offer what they can to needy Iraqis

WILLIAM J. KOLE, Associated Press Writer Friday, October 24, 2003

(10-24) 10:00 PDT VIENNA, Austria (AP) --


Poor yet sympathetic to Iraq's postwar plight, the ex-communist countries of the "New Europe" that deployed small contingents of peacekeeping troops are now sending food, medicine and other goods in lieu of cash.

Coalition nations such as Slovakia, which has 82 military engineers in Iraq, can't afford to commit the significant amounts of money being sought at a donors conference in Madrid, Spain.

Instead, they're helping in other ways.

Slovak officials decided this week to chip in $270,000 worth of medicines, blankets, food and other goods, and said they'll consider other forms of help after the conference.

"We're aware of our shared responsibility for freedom and security in the world, including in Iraq," government spokesman Martin Maruska said Friday. (snip/...)

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/news/archive/2003/10/24/international1300EDT0566.DTL

[Spazito]

1. Geez, it is a good thing that "old europe" is irrelevant, obviously no ..

need of their money, new europe is doing it all! LOL