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
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