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RFE/RL NEWSLINE 21 July 1998

SLOVAK OPPOSITION LEADER ON POSSIBLE ELECTION OUTCOME.
Mikulas Dzurinda, leader of the opposition Slovak Democratic
Coalition (SDK), on 20 July told the private Radio Twist
station that even if Vladimir Meciar's Movement for a
Democratic Slovakia (HZDS) emerges as the strongest party in
the parliament after the September elections, it will "not be
strong enough to avoid seeking the support of the opposition"
to form the next government. He added that "no opposition
party" will agree to cooperate with the HZDS. Dzurinda said
that "nobody in the world, and especially in Europe, wants to
be seen alongside the Slovak prime minister." And he
commented that the SDK, the Hungarian Coalition Party, the
Party of the Democratic Left, and the newly formed Civic
Understanding Party have already agreed to coordinate policy
in order to improve Slovakia's image abroad to allow the
country to join the EU in the first wave of enlargement,
Reuters reported. MS

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