The election campaign which preceded the recent general elections in Czechoslovakia (5 and 6 June) saw an unprecedented, cross-party European federalist initiative promoted by parliamentarians and candidates who are members of the transnational and transdivisional Radical Party: 25 candidates standing for election to the federal Parliament and the Czech and Slovakian national Parliaments signed the "Candidates' Declaration for Europe" (*). These candidates came from almost all the political forces, and included supporters of separate national states as well as those who favour the maintanance of a single Czechoslovakian state.

By their support for the "Declaration", the candidates underlined that one of the priorities of their parliamentary activity would be the rapid entry of Czechoslovakia into the European Community, and took on important and precise commitments:

- to set up a European Federalist parliamentary cross-party Group;

- to promote and convene an Assembly of representatives of the new European democracies by the end of 1992.

After the elections, the "Candidates' Declaration" became a "Declaration of Parliamentarians for Europe", now supported by nine politicians from a wide range of parties. The Declaration is open to the members of the three Czechoslovakian parliaments, and should soon be transformed into a cross-party parliamentary Group.

Two days before the elections, Mlada Fronta Dnes, one of the main daily papers, carried a leader comment which included the following statement:

(...) "Whether this initiative will go the same way as many others depends on its promoters. But we can already judge them to be politicians capable of looking beyond the elections, capable of finding areas of exchange and common initiative, despite the election campaign and its conflicts and debates."

The text of the "Pact" has already led to initiatives in Croatia and Romania, countries where elections will be held in the near future (3 August and 27 September respectively). However, these initiatives can only be carried forward if the politicians from the various parties who are also members of the Radical Party distribute the text of the Pact to as many candidates as possible. A considerable task.

(*) The text is available from Radical Party offices in all countries.