OMRI DAILY DIGEST
No. 52, 13 March 1996

ROMANIAN POLITICAL LEADER CALLS FOR TALKS WITH HUNGARY TO BE SUSPENDED.
Gheorghe Funar, leader of the Party of National Unity of Romanians
(PUNR), has called for the suspension of parleys with Hungary on the
pending basic treaty, Radio Bucharest reported on 12 March. His appeal
came after a meeting between the PUNR leadership and Virgil Magureanu,
director of the Romanian Intelligence Service (SRI). Magureanu told the
PUNR that the Hungarian Democratic Federation of Romania has made all
the necessary preparations for declaring autonomy. The meeting was
criticized by Senator Vasile Vacaru, chairman of the parliamentary
commission supervising SRI activities, who said Magureanu should report
only to the commission. -- Michael Shafir

[As of 12:00 CET]

Compiled by Jan Cleave



OMRI DAILY DIGEST
No. 53, 14 March 1996

SLOVAK OPPOSITION TO COOPERATE. Slovak opposition parties on 13 March
announced they will not call the extraordinary parliamentary session on
which they had agreed two days earlier. Instead, they will try to expand
the session beginning on 20 March by seven points, Slovak media
reported. Those points will deal mainly with the kidnapping of President
Michal Kovac's son, the role of the Slovak Information Service, and
privatization. Democratic Party chairman Jan Langos noted it is the
"first time ever" that opposition parties have agreed on a joint
strategy. The session promises to be a stormy one, since topics of
discussion proposed by the coalition include the territorial
administration bill, the law on the protection of the republic, and the
Slovak-Hungarian treaty. -- Sharon Fisher

SLOVAKS SUPPORT RATIFICATION OF TREATY WITH HUNGARY. A FOCUS poll
carried out in mid-February showed that 50.8% of Slovaks favor the
Slovak-Hungarian treaty, while 15.5% are opposed and 33.7% are uncertain
or uninterested, Narodna obroda reported on 14 March. Ethnic Hungarians
were most likely to favor the treaty, while supporters of the
Association of Workers of Slovakia and the Slovak National Party were
most likely to reject it. In other news, Hungarian Foreign Ministry
State Secretary Istvan Szent-Ivanyi has said the draft law on Slovakia's
new territorial arrangement conflicts with the treaty. Szent-Ivanyi's
Slovak counterpart, Jozef Sestak, denied those claims in an interview
with Pravda on 14 March. -- Sharon Fisher

HUNGARY APPROVES SOCIAL SECURITY BUDGET. The Hungarian parliament on 12
March approved Hungary's 1996 social security budget, Reuters and AFP
reported on 13 March. The budget aims to cut the social security deficit
for 1996 to 17.8 billion forints ($122 million) from 47.2 billion last
year. Officials said the budget complies fully with IMF conditions and
that the country's overall budget deficit should fall to below 4% of
GDP. The government plans to reduce the shortfall in the social security
budget by collecting unpaid contributions; but this could increase the
budget deficit, since state-owned firms reportedly owe most of the
arrears. -- Sharon Fisher

HUNGARIAN PARLIAMENT APPROVES LAW AGAINST RACIAL INCITEMENT. The
parliament on 13 March approved an amendment to the Penal Code allowing
courts to take more powerful action against extremists, AFP reported.
Under the new law, anyone who incites hatred against any national,
ethnic, racial, religious, or social group is subject to imprisonment of
up to three years. Ethnic violence is punishable by up to five years in
jail. The bill, which was approved by a margin of 212 to eight with 44
abstentions, follows the recent acquittal of two Hungarian neo-Nazi
leaders. -- Sharon Fisher

HUNGARIAN MINORITY PARTY IN ROMANIA TO APPEAL TO COUNCIL OF EUROPE.
Iuliu Vida, leader of the Hungarian Democratic Federation of Romania
(UDMR) caucus in the Chamber of Deputies, said the draft law on local
administration adopted by the chamber on 12 March will have a negative
impact on the right of minorities to safeguard their national identity.
Vida told a press conference that the UDMR will appeal the bill before
the Council of Europe. The legislation stipulates that the Romanian
language must be used at local council meetings even in regions where
the majority is not Romanian. He said there were no other legal venues
to appeal the bill, since it cannot be taken to the Constitutional
Court, Radio Bucharest reported on 13 March. -- Michael Shafir

[As of 12:00 CET]

Compiled by Jan Cleave