CET ON-LINE*23-APR-96

Tuesday, 23 April 1996 Volume 1, Issue 334

The Czech parliament on Tuesday moved one step away from

redrawing its common border with former federation partner

Slovakia, sending the plan on for a final vote later this

week. Two villages would be moved from one country to

another. The village of U Sabotu is to become part of

Slovakia and Sidonie is to become a Czech community. The

accord, agreed upon in January by both countries' interior

ministers and already approved by the Slovak parliament,

would shorten the border by 33 km (21 miles) to a total of

252 km (156 miles), straightening out curves drawn after

the split of Czechoslovakia in 1993. The accord would

shift a total of 452 hectares (1,117 acres) of land to one

or the other side at different spots, allowing the border

to follow a more logical line. A plebiscite was approved

in February 1994 asking the residents of the two villages

in which country they would prefer to live. Compensation

will be paid to families electing to move elsewhere in

order to stay in their original country.

--- MMMR v4.50unr * Su' na'm oknom i dverami do sveta (J.Mistri'k)