New Europe Democracies Say EU Not Much Help

PARIS Nearly five years after they rebelled against their Sovietmasters and brought down Communist regimes like dominoes, the newdemocracies in central and eastern Europe are complaining thatWestern European nations are leaving them stranded without a securepolitical or economic destiny - and next to a Russia wherenationalism is growing.

The Eastern Europeans say a $24 billion aid program by theEuropean Union and its member states has lapsed into cynical farce.The lion's share of the money has found its way to Western banks andenterprises in the form of loans at standard interest rates,rescheduled debts and payments to technical consultants. Only afraction of this …