RFE/RL Daily Report
                   No. 225, 30 November 1994


SLOVAKIA'S REPLY TO EU DEMARCHE. Parliament chairman Ivan
Gasparovic on 29 November gave TASR a copy of Slovakia's response
to the European Union's recent demarche. The note states that
Slovakia appreciates the EU's interest in its reform process,
respects and follows all internationally established democratic
standards and conventions, aims to improve bilateral relations
with Hungary, strives to implement a market economy and cooperate
with all European countries, and remains committed to democratic
principles. German Foreign Minister Klaus Kinkel expressed
satisfaction with Slovakia's positive response. -- Sharon Fisher,
RFE/RL, Inc.

HUNGARY FORMALLY ABANDONS PLANS TO STAGE WORLD EXPO. Hungarian
Foreign Minister Laszlo Kovacs on 29 November informed President
of the Bureau of Exhibitions Ole Philippon that Hungary has
abandoned its plans to stage the 1996 World Fair. Kovacs stressed
the reasons for this decision were purely financial. The Hungarian
parliament voted earlier this month against hosting the World
Fair. Supporters of the Expo, who were mostly members of the
opposition parties, failed to collect enough valid signatures to
hold a referendum on hosting the fair. -- Edith Oltay, RFE/RL,
Inc.

HUNGARY'S CHURCHES APOLOGIZES OVER HOLOCAUST. Hungary's Roman
Catholic bishops and Ecumenical Church Council on 29 November
issued a joint statement asking for forgiveness and regretted the
"weaknesses" of Church members who "through fear or cowardice
allowed the mass deportation and assassination of their Jewish
compatriots" 50 years ago, MTI reports. The statement also honored
"those who at the cost of their own lives saved others during this
inhuman period." Some 600,000 Hungarian Jews perished during World
War II. -- Edith Oltay, RFE/RL, Inc.

[As of 1200 CET] 

(Compiled by Jan Cleave and Penny Morvant)
Copyright 1994, RFE/RL, Inc. All rights reserved.

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Reposting is supported by Hungarian Human Rights Foundation News
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date=11/29/94
type=correspondent report
number=2-170023
title=Slovenia Econ (l only)
byline=Barry Wood
dateline=Prague
content=
voiced at:

Intro:  Germany's biggest bank has issued a favorable economic
report on Slovenia, the smallest, western-most republic in the
former Yugoslavia.  V-o-A's Barry Wood reports that Slovenia is
registering economic growth of four-and-a-half percent this year.

Text:  Deutsche bank research says Slovenia has recovered more
quickly than anticipated and that economic growth next year will
rise to five percent.  The growth is built mainly on the
resurgence of exports, which have successfully been redirected
away from the rest of former Yugoslavia to the west.  Slovenia --
geographically about the size of the U-S state of New Jersey --
has borders with Austria and Italy, which are major trading
partners.

Deutsche bank thinks Slovenia has the potential to grow at a six
percent annual rate through the remainder of the 1990s.

With a population of fewer than two-million, Slovenia's economic
policy is directed by a small group of technocrats, several of
whom have returned to Ljubljana from careers at the world bank.
The budget is balanced, and the balance of payments is in
surplus.  The currency has held its value against the dollar this
year and Deutsche bank expects the currency to rise in value in
1995.

But the weak point in the Slovene transformation is
privatization.  Deutsche bank warns that without rapid progress
on enterprise restructuring and privatization Slovenia's growth
potential will  not  be realized.  Three years after independence
only 100 of up to 18-hundred state enterprises have been returned
to the private sector.  The authorities have repeatedly promised
to speed up privatization.

Slovenia was the richest of the centrally planned economies. Its
output per capita in 1993 was 64-hundred dollars, nearly twice
that of the number two ranking country, Hungary.  By contrast,
per capita output in Romania and Russia barely exceeded
one-thousand dollars.

Deutsche bank says several factors have restrained the flow of
private direct investment into Slovenia.  These include the war
in  Bosnia, higher wage rates than elsewhere in post-communist
Europe, and the lack of privatization.  In addition, Slovenia has
a dispute with Italy about property nationalized by the
communists after the Second World War.  Slovenia this year will
have attracted only 200-million dollars of foreign direct
investment.  (Signed)

neb/bdw/jwh/cf

29-Nov-94 12:18 pm est (1718 utc)
nnnn

source: Voice of America

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Alapitvany tamogatja.

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RFE/RL Daily Report
                   No. 226, 1 December 1994

HUNGARIAN OPPOSITION PARTY CRITICIZES PREMIER. The Presidium of
the Alliance of Young Democrats on 30 November criticized Prime
Minister Gyula Horn for his statement on NATO during his visit to
Warsaw in November, MTI reports. Horn had said that Hungary
supported an "intensive dialogue with Moscow in order to
dissipate misunderstandings and fears" among the Russian
leadership. The AYD Presidium argued that this statement
questioned Hungary's commitment to NATO--the only international
security organization capable of guaranteeing Hungary's security
and Western orientation. The Presidium called on Horn to make
clear at the upcoming CSCE summit in Budapest that Hungary is a
sovereign state and would like to be a full member of NATO as
soon as possible. -- Edith Oltay, RFE/RL, Inc.

NATO ACCEPTS LITHUANIA'S PFP PROGRAM. NATO Secretary-General
Willy Claes approved Lithuania's individual Partnership for Peace
program in Brussels on 30 November. Foreign Ministry Secretary
Albinas Januska told RFE/RL's Lithuanian Service that although 24
countries have signed up for the PFP program, Lithuania is only
the ninth to have its individual program approved. The other
eight are Sweden, Finland, Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic,
Slovakia, Romania, and Bulgaria. Januska suggested at a NATO
hearing that an "associate status" be given to candidate
countries not considered ready for full membership and a "special
strategic relationship" to countries that did not desire to
become full NATO members. -- Saulius Girnius, RFE/RL, Inc.

[As of 1200 CET] 

(Compiled by Jan Cleave and Penny Morvant)
Copyright 1994, RFE/RL, Inc. All rights reserved.

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Alapitvany tamogatja.

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Reposting is supported by Hungarian Human Rights Foundation News
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date=11/30/94
type=correspondent report
number=2-170086
title=East Euro / E-U (l only)
byline=Barry Wood
dateline=Prague
content=
voiced at:

Intro:  East European nations have welcomed an invitation to
attend part of the European Union's semi-annual summit meeting
next week in Germany.  V-o-A's Barry Wood reports from Prague the
East European countries have set a high priority on joining the
E-U.

Text:  The invitation comes as a pleasant surprise, particularly
since it was in doubt up to the last moment.

At a meeting last week of prime ministers from the four-nation
Central European Free Trade Agreement, the Poles, Hungarians and
Slovaks wanted to issue an appeal that they be invited to the
meeting in Essen on December 10th.  Czech prime minister Vaclav
Klaus vetoed that idea saying prospective guests should   not
beg to be included.

But all four Central European nations plus Bulgaria and Romania
have now been invited.  All six nations want to join the E-U, but
only Poland and Hungary have submitted formal applications.

The East European leaders will attend the final one-and-a-half
hour session of the day-long summit in Essen and be briefed on
the E-U's timetable for expanding its membership eastwards.

At a meeting in Prague last week, E-U commissioner Leon Brittan
said that while the East European applicants should cooperate on
fulfilling admission requirements, the more successful countries
should  not  be held back by their slower neighbors. Sir Leon
said the convoy for membership should  not  proceed at the pace
of the slowest applicant.

Up to now, the Czech Republic has wanted to move at its own fast
pace towards membership, regarding its successful economic
performance as giving it an inside track.  Mr. Klaus has
repeatedly said that the Czech Republic expected to be an E-U
member well before the year 2000.

Those views have been tempered since the E-U secretariat has made
clear that 1999 will be the earliest date at which Eastern
European applicants can expect to join.  The union will hold a
special conference on expansion in 1996.

To many it came as a surprise last month when the Germans began
to include the Romanians and Bulgarians along with the Central
Europeans as beneficiaries of the E-U's Eastern expansion.  Those
two Balkan countries are less advanced in building market
economies and will have a tougher time meeting membership
criteria.

The three Baltic states and Slovenia have also indicated their
intention to become European Union members.  (Signed)

neb/bdw/jwh/cf

30-Nov-94 11:11 am est (1611 utc)
nnnn

source: Voice of America

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A tovabbterjesztest a New York-i szekhelyu Magyar Emberi Jogok
Alapitvany tamogatja.

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           [*]   [*]  [*]   [*]  [*]  [*]  [*]
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           [*]   [*]  [*]   [*]  [*]  [*]  [*]    
           [*]   [*]  [*]   [*]  [*]   [*] [*]

Reposting is supported by Hungarian Human Rights Foundation News
and Information Service.
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