DATE=4/5/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=HUNGARY / F-B-I (L-ONLY)
NUMBER=2-260986
BYLINE=STEFAN BOS
DATELINE=BUDAPEST
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:


INTRO: A task force from the U-S Federal Bureau of 
Investigation, the F-B-I, has arrived in Hungary to 
help combat organized crime in Eastern Europe.  As 
Stefan Bos reports from Budapest, U-S officials hope 
the F-B-I mission will become an example for other 
former East-Bloc countries that have seen a dramatic 
increase of crime since the collapse of communism.


TEXT:  U-S Ambassador Peter Tufo confirmed Wednesday 
that four F-B-I agents have arrived in Hungary, 
following an agreement between Washington and 
Budapest.

Beginning next month, Mr. Tufo says, the F-B-I agents 
will work with Hungary's Anti-Organized Crime 
Directorate in an effort to combat mainly Russian-
speaking organized-crime groups.

The director of the Hungarian unit, General Istvan 
Miko, told reporters the F-B-I team includes Russian-
speaking agents.  All members of the anti-organized-
crime force will carry weapons, he says, for self-
defense.

U-S officials say they agreed to station F-B-I agents 
here because Hungary's transition away from communism 
has been complicated by organized-crime gangs 
operating across this country's borders with the 
former Soviet Union.

Hungarian police say Budapest is home to Russian 
businessman Semyon Mogilevich, who has been linked to 
the widely publicized, multibillion-dollar Bank of New 
York money-laundering scandal.

In addition, U-S officials say Russian mobsters are 
involved traditional criminal activities such as 
prostitution rings as well as the illicit shipment 
through Hungary of weapons and materials used to make 
weapons of mass destruction.

Ambassador Tufo says the United States agreed to send 
F-B-I agents to help Hungary after talks between 
President Clinton and Prime Minister Viktor Orban.

            /// TUFO ACT ///

      President Clinton has said that international 
      organized crime is one of our highest foreign-
      policy priorities.  Prime Minister Orban has 
      said that fighting organized crime is one of the 
      principal priorities of his government.  So we 
      are jointly aware that much crime is now trans-
      border.  It is global, it is well financed and 
      it is ruthless.

            /// END ACT ///

Mr. Tufo says he hopes other former communist 
countries will also cooperate with the F-B-I.

F-B-I agent Leslie Kaciban, who heads the 
International Law Enforcement Academy in Budapest, 
warns against too much optimism about his 
organization's involvement in combating organized 
crime.

Mr. Kaciban says Hungary will have to learn to live 
with crime for some time to come.

            /// KACIBAN ACT ///

      Organized crime has been [here] for a long time 
      now.  It's always going to be a constant 
      challenge to hold them back, and to try to 
      prevent other groups from rising.

            /// END ACT ///

Ordinary Hungarians say they hope the F-B-I will help 
make the streets of Budapest more secure.  Since 1991, 
Hungary has been rocked by more than 100 bombings and 
grenade explosions as criminal gangs fight for 
influence in Budapest and other cities.   (Signed)

NEB/SJB/WTW/TVM/JP




05-Apr-2000 16:57 PM EDT (05-Apr-2000 2057 UTC)
NNNN

Source: Voice of America
.