EUROPEAN SOCIALIST LEADERS ADOPT MANIFESTO.

Socialist leaders from most of the Member States of the European Union, including more than a smattering of Prime Ministers, met in Vienna on January 28 and 29 to "give a dynamic boost to the campaign for the forthcoming elections to the European Parliament" in June. Alongside Pauline Green, President of the Socialist Group in the European Parliament, and John Hume, Socialist Member of the European Parliament and joint 1998 winner (with David Trimble) of the Nobel Peace Prize, were Prime Ministers Tony Blair (United Kingdom), Antonio Guterres (Portugal), G"ran Persson (Sweden), Wim Kok (Netherlands), Costas Simitis (Greece), Paavo Lipponen (Finland) and Viktor Klima (Austria).

The leaders put the final touches to the Socialist Manifesto which will be submitted to the Congress in Milan on March 1-2. The text, jointly drafted by Henri Nallet, in charge of EU questions within the French Socialist Party, and Robin Cook, UK Foreign Secretary, is attempting to provide what they describe as a new vision of Europe for...