European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - August 3, 1993, Darmstadt, Hesse Tuesday August 3, 1993 the stars and stripes Page 3ec moves to foil Money speculators Brussels Belgium a the French franc tumbled to its lowest level against the German Mark monday after european Community finance ministers agreed to allow the currencies greater room to fluctuate. The portuguese escudo also hit record lows. But trading in most european currencies was reported to be relatively Calm hours after the ministers announced their agreement aimed at fighting off speculators who have been battering the trading bloc s monetary system. German finance minister Theo Wai gel said the decision Quot pulls the floor out Artim under the he said it would give Germany scentral Bank the Bundesbank More flexibility in its monetary policy and allow it to continue cautious interest rate cuts. But dutch and danish officials criticized the decision As a setback to the dec nations efforts to forge closer economic and monetary links. Quot its a huge step backward from what we wanted in the maastricht treaty a said dutch finance minister Wim Kok. The treaty on european Unity sets out a framework for a powerful monetary Union with a joint Central Bank and single currency by 1999. The recent currency turmoil has dashed Hopes of a Quick merger among the dozen dec nations. After 20 hours of negotiations the dec officials agreed Early monday to expand to 15 percent the Range within which the currencies in the european monetary system can fluctuate. The changes Are effective immediately. The dec currencies except for the Spanish peseta and the portuguese escudo had been Able to move Only 2.25 percent up or Down against a Central rate. Reacting to a falling franc a currency dealer shouts orders during monday trading at the Paris Stock Market. The peseta and the escudo had a 6 percent fluctuation Range. If a currency Breaks one of the fluctuation Barrier a country is forced to raise interest rates and buy Large amounts of its own currencies in order to stay within the allowable Range. The arrangement is meant to Aid Trade among Community nations by enabling companies in one country to know that the prices of goods in another will not european turmoil Couch mean Good news for ., experts say new York Zap Tourists Consumers and businesses May ultimately Benefit from the chaos roiling Europe a currencies economists and business executives say. While the Impact of the turmoil is far greater on europeans than on americans any move to reduce the value of european currencies against Germany a Mark could act. Indirectly to improve the climate for Businesses that sell goods in Europe. / it May also lower some prices for american Consumers at least temporarily analysts said sunday. They were interviewed in Advance of an agreement Early monday by european Community finance ministers that will allow their currencies to fluctuate More widely against each other in an Effort to preserve their Exchange rate system. Quot where americans would feel it most is in their european travel a said Marc Chandler a senior Market strategist at idea an analysis firm., Quot if they planning a summer Holiday see the Dollar Able to buy More than a year popular products such As French wine and belgian chocolate could also drop in Price. The currencies of France Belgium Denmark Spain and Portugal have come under fierce attack by speculators in the past two weeks putting downward pressure on the value of their currencies. The speculators were betting that the countries suffering from painful recessions would not be Able to keep Matching the High interest rates that Germany has maintained. Vary radically from one Day to the next. The new fluctuation margins arc meant to be temporary but no time limit was Given. Belgian finance minister Philippe Maystadt said the Caps would be gradually narrowed. In Wake of the changes prime minister John major of Britain said monday that the dec timetable for introducing a single currency by 1999 Quot looks totally unrealistic now.�?�. And currency traders were sceptical that the dec finance ministers move would end currency speculation. Trading was reported to be relatively Calm in Europe on monday but the French franc dropped to its lowest level against the Mark since the Start of the monetary system 14 years ago the Dollar climbed to 6.11 francs monday. The belgian danish and portuguese currencies also skidded. Uso enjoy roman by j. King Cruger Northern Italy Bureau Valano a Italy v an unexpected deployment Luck a Brief mention in a newspaper and a caring Uso director have made a dream come True. When staff sgt. Steve Ericson and his senior airman Bride the former Doreen Carter were married in Massachusetts on May 28, they had no time for a honeymoon. Steve a 26-year-old aircraft inspector had to return immediately to Span Dahlem a a Germany to prepare to deploy with his unit to Avi Ano a in support of operation deny flight. His Bride an f-16 aircraft Crew chief had orders to report in mid june to a Remote assignment in South Korea. But she put in for a change of assignment so that she could deploy to Aviano in Northern Italy with her husband and his outfit the 23rd fighter so of. The 52nd fighter Wing. Quot having a honeymoon in Italy was my dream but it was just a dream a the 31-year-old Bride said. Quot we thought that maybe a couple of years Down the Road we might be Able to take a trip to Italy. The try deployment to Aviano helped it come True. It was a stroke of when fhe 23rd was readying to deploy from Span Dahlem to Aviano in the last week of june a deployment Story in the stars and stripes mentioned the newlyweds and quoted Doreen Ericson As saying that the temporary duty would be her honeymoon even though she did not think she would Quot have a lot of time off to enjoy a honeymoon a Gail Caillouet director of the Rome Uso read the article and knew that her organization could help to make Doreen Ericson or dream a reality. Quot a few Calls to Aviano were made and we managed to track Down Doreen a Boss. When we told him that the Rome Uso wanted to offer a honeys amps j. King Cruger air Force staff sgt. Steve Ericson and his senior airman Bride Doreen finally got their honeymoon. Moon to the Ericson he was just As excited As i was a Caillouet recalled. The couple managed to get the weekend of july 24-25 off and took the overnight train to Rome after work that Friday. A we had been working hectic shifts but fortunately we had a couple of Down Days from flying operations at that time a Steve Ericson said. Although the Ericson had to pay for their own return train fares the Uso treated them to Tours of the eternal City hotel accommodation for saturday night and a romantic dinner. A a Rome a sights Are awesome. All of it was great a said Steve Ericson adding Quot what i liked Best was that someone noticed and cared enough to sponsor charges levelled against nato employees Berlin a a German Man and his British wife who work Cal for nato face charges of spying for East Germany and giving Western military secrets to the soviet bloc during he cold War. From 1979 to 1989, the Man ran a spy ring codenamed Quot Topaz that delivered 10,000 pages of nato secret documents to the communists the Federal prosecutors office in Karlsruhe said sunday in announcing the arrests. The couple who were identified Only As Rainer k., 47, and Christine Annc r., 45, were arrested Friday in Rheinland Pfalz state in southwestern Germany. They lived near Brussels the belgian capital where the North Atlantic treaty organization has its Headquarters. The Man was charged with treason and his wife whose code name was to Sirkis was charged with spying. German news reports said a High ranking Bonn official was one of six people arrested Friday on espionage charges. But the prosecutors office declined comment on the other arrests. The German government revealed in Early july that it had received secret files covering 2,000 cases of espionage by West germans including politicians and industrialists. On sunday Germany Sard television network said the files came from the Cia. The Intelligence Agency acquired the files after the Safe they were in was discarded Asi Unk from the former East Berlin office of the defunct soviet Kab spy Agency. Rainer r., whose co amp a name was also Topaz was recruited in 1968 to work for East German intelligence. In 1977, he began working for nato in the International staff of its economic department the prosecutors said. In 1979, he took Over for another spy and began sending reports every six to 10 weeks about Nail of planning they said. His wife was recruited in 1972 and passed nato documents a some with the a cosmic top secret classification a to the communists through her husband until 1984, the prosecutors said. After 1984, she supported her husbands work and also reported from her own knowledge but did not pass any More nato documents they said. A
