OMRI DAILY DIGEST
No. 247, 21 December 1995
SLOVAK PARLIAMENT DELAYS RATIFICATION OF TREATY WITH HUNGARY. By a vote
of 80 to 46, the Slovak parliament on 20 December postponed ratifying
the Slovak-Hungarian treaty until its next session. It also asked
parliamentary Foreign Committee chairman Dusan Slobodnik to draft an
interpretation clause. Slobodnik said that through consultations with
Budapest a compromise might be reached on the interpretation of the
treaty. But Foreign Minister Juraj Schenk argued that it was unrealistic
that Hungary would agree to such consultations. Critics have pointed out
that, besides the sticking points over minority rights issues, the
treaty does not deal with the question of succession to former
Czechoslovakia and thus allows for challenging Trianon and the 1977
agreement on the Gabcikovo dam project. The parliament also voted to
abolish the embargo against rump Yugoslavia and to endorse a cabinet
proposal to send peacekeeping forces to eastern Slavonia, Slovak media
reported. -- Sharon Fisher
HUNGARY YIELDS CONTROL OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS GIANT. In a deal giving a
German-U.S. group a majority stake in the telecommunications company
Matav, Hungary has become the first country in Eastern Europe to yield
control of its telecommunications industry, Reuters reported on 20
December. MagyarCom, a consortium equally owned by Deutsche Telekom AG
and Ameritech Corp., will pay $852 million for an additional 37% of
Matav, giving it a majority holding of 67%. Matav is one of Hungary's
and Eastern Europe's largest firms and has a monopoly on national cable
telephone services. This latest deal is one of the largest foreign
investments in Eastern Europe to date. The MagyarCom consortium bought a
30% stake in Matav in 1993 for $875 million and received a 25-year
concession for long-distance and local calls and a monopoly on long-
distance calls for eight years. -- Jiri Pehe
SERBIAN RENEWAL MOVEMENT ANNOUNCES NEW COALITION. The Serbian Renewal
Movement is to form a new coalition of opposition parties, according to
Nasa Borba on 21 December. Party leader Draskovic has announced that a
joint "list without Communists" will be drawn up for future elections.
That list will include the Civic Union of Serbia, New Democracy, the
Vojvodina Reformists, the Union of Vojvodina Hungarians, and the Party
of Democratic Action of Sandzak. It may also include the political
movement Democratic Center, which is expected to form a party. -- Fabian
Schmidt
ROMANI FOREIGN-LANGUAGE COURSE OFFERED AT BUCHAREST UNIVERSITY.
Bucharest University is to offer instruction in Romani as a foreign
language as part of a three-year course that will include Sanskrit and
Hindi, Reuters reported, citing Evenimentul Zilei on 19 December. The
reports did not stipulate which Romani dialect will be taught and
whether the courses are meant for Roma or non-Roma. Romani is offered,
among others, at Charles University in Prague and at the Gandhi High
School in Pecs, Hungary, as part of courses about or for Roma. -- Alaina
Lemon
BULGARIA, ROMANIA SIGN MILITARY ACCORD. The chiefs of staff of the
Bulgarian and Romanian militaries signed an agreement on military
cooperation in Veliko Tarnovo, Bulgaria, Bulgarian media reported on 19
December. The two sides agreed to continue their cooperation along their
common border, to increase the exchange of military information, and
promote more military contracts. Romanian Chief of General Staff Lt.-
Gen. Dumitriu Cioflina was quoted as saying the Bulgaria was the first
country with which Romania had signed such an agreement. He added that
Romania intended to sign similar agreements with Ukraine and Hungary. --
Doug Clarke
[As of 12:00 CET]
Compiled by Jan Cleave
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