OMRI DAILY DIGEST
No. 55, Part II, 17 March 1995


SLOVAKIA, HUNGARY AGREE ON BILATERAL TREATY... Vladimir Meciar and Gyula
Horn, meeting on 16 March in Bratislava, agreed on the wording of the
Slovak-Hungarian basic treaty, Pravda reported. Meciar said progress had
been made toward the "strengthening of trust, cooperation, and friendship
between our states and nations." Horn seconded Meciar's statement, saying
that "to each question we found a responsible solution. What I consider
to be particularly important [is that] the basic agreement meets European
norms and requirements." The Hungarian premier also expressed
satisfaction that the treaty will be signed on 20 March in Paris, before
the EU Conference on the Pact of Stability opens in Paris on 20 March. He
said this will demonstrate that it is possible in Central Europe to reach
an agreement without the use of weapons and to create peaceful conditions
for relations between states. The text of the agreement is being reviewed
by experts on 17 March, and for that reason further details were not
revealed. -- Sharon Fisher, OMRI, Inc.

..WHILE HUNGARY, ROMANIA CONTINUE TO DISAGREE. Hungarian Foreign
Minister Laszlo Kovacs and his Romanian counterpart, Teodor Melescanu,
failed to bridge differences of opinion over the text of a bilateral
treaty when they met in Budapest on 16 March, MTI and Western news
agencies report. Hungarian minority rights were the chief stumbling block
to reaching an agreement. Hungary wants to incorporate in the treaty a
1993 Council of Europe recommendation foreseeing "local or autonomous
authorities or a special status" for minorities. Romania fears that such
autonomy could lead to unilateral secession. Kovacs also reported
differences of opinion over the use of minority languages; the
interpretation of the right of assembly, in particular the founding of
political parties; and compensation to Churches for injustices under
communism. Hungary and Romania have come under intense pressure from
European and U.S. diplomats to sign a basic treaty before the 20 March EU
conference. -- Edith Oltay, OMRI, Inc.



U.S., ROMANIAN PRESIDENTS EXCHANGE LETTERS. U.S. President Bill Clinton,
in a letter to his Romanian counterpart, Ion Iliescu, dated 13 March,
welcomed Romania's intention to join NATO, Radio Bucharest reported on 16
March He also praised efforts by the Romanian and Hungarian governments
to sign a bilateral treaty as soon as possible, saying that it is
particularly important to avert conflicts and tension in Central Europe
in order to maintain stability in the region. He stressed that the U.S.
was prepared to support Romania's democratization and economic reforms.
In his reply on 16 March, Iliescu hailed Clinton's message as signaling a
"friendly and benevolent stance toward Romania." He repeated his
invitation to Clinton, issued last September in Washington, to visit
Romania. -- Dan Ionescu, OMRI, Inc.

[As of 12:00 CET]

Compiled by  Jan Cleave

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date=3/16/95
type=correspondent report
number=2-175618
title=Slovakia-Hungary (l only)
byline=Barry Wood
dateline=Prague
content=
voiced at:

Intro:  the Slovak and Hungarian prime ministers met for over
four hours Thursday afternoon and evening (eds:the talks were
still going on at 20:00 gmt) in Bratislava. V-o-A's Barry Wood
reports the two governments are seeking agreement on a bi-lateral
friendship treaty.



Text:  The stakes are high for both Hungary and Slovakia. Both
governments want to present the bi-lateral accord to a conference
in Paris next week on stability in Central and Eastern Europe.
The French government will host the conference which was proposed
by prime minister Eduard Balladur in 1993.

The Slovak and Hungarian leaders have had difficulty agreeing on
such basic matters as recognition of common borders and human
rights guarantees for ethnic Hungarians in Slovakia. Earlier this
week the Hungarians and Romanians failed to resolve differences
blocking agreement on a similar friendship treaty. Negotiations
will continue but there will be no Romanian-Hungarian accord in
advance of the Paris conference.

The Slovaks and Hungarians are both currently on a fast track for
entry into the European Union. The French have repeatedly warned
that failure to agree on common borders and minority rights would
jeopardize E-U membership.

About a half million ethnic Hungarians reside in the southern
part of Slovakia. The newly installed government of prime
minister Vladimir Meciar has been critical of the Hungarian
minority and his coalition partner has raised questions about its
loyalty to Slovakia.  Hungarian prime minister Gyula Horn has
sought accomodation with Mr. Meciar and relations between the two
governments are cordial. There have been disputes over a
hydro-electric dam on the Danube that was begun under communism
but later opposed by the Hungarians and favored by the Slovaks.
(Signed)

neb/bdw/pt

16-Mar-95 3:26 pm est (2026 utc)
nnnn

source: Voice of America

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Editorial- Squaring the Circle in Central Europe

  STEPHEN S. ROSENFELD
  
  (C) 1995 THE WASHINGTON POST (LEGI-SLATE ARTICLE NO. 224689)

 Almost  without anyone saying so, the way is being opened to a brightly
beckoning goal of American diplomaN=7FZcy -- to make an undivided Europe safe f
or
democracy and to do so without leaving Russia angry and in the cold.

       Not only is the United States with its allies moving deliberately to
start bringing the former Soviet satellite nations into NATO, which remains
the premier global security organization and the lead lever of American
influence in Europe. At the same time Washington is easing Russia's real and
professed fears that alliance expansion would diminish its security.
     If all this works out over the next year or so, the Clinton
administration can fairly claim it is getting the best of both worlds on the
central global issue -- and central Clinton priority -- of the future of
Europe. Washington would be securing the gains democraN=7FZcy has made in Europ
e
since the Cold War ended five years ago and providing the security
underpinning of a stable, integrated Europe -- with Russia, but without an
extended and disturbing Russian sphere of influence.
     For a long time this looked to be a circle that couldn't be squared.
Poles, Hungarians, Czechs and others, fearing to be squeezed by Russia,
sought out the comforts of NATO membership. Moscow stiffened at what it
claimed was the relentless movement of a potentially hostile alliance toward
its borders. Washington seemed caught in the middle.
     American and Russian diplomacy, however, are showing some maturity. The
United States keeps up a level of principled consistency in supporting NATO's
expansion to other democratic states and in assuring Russia that expansion
poses it no peril. The Yeltsin government is finding it possible to consider
supports for Russian security other than by insisting that NATO take no new
members aboard.
     This could not have been easy for the Russian government, which faces
political and nationalistic resistance in the military and in the Duma.
Nonetheless, Boris Yeltsin has gone ahead to launch proposals that, he
apparently believes, could allow his country to countenance the Atlantic
Alliance's eastward expansion.
     The new proposals go beyond the idea that has been kicking around for
some sort of compensatory special relationship between NATO and Russia. The
Russian ambassador, Yuli Vorontsov, now speaks of a mutual nonaggression pact
or pledge between the currently 16-nation NATO alliance and Moscow.
     Moscow reportedly is also proposing restrictions on the deployment of
nuclear arms and Western troops in Central Europe. Further, Moscow wants
confirmation that Russia itself may eventually join. These matters are not
universally or warmly accepted in parts of NATO and will require, but surely
will receive, much further diplomatic massage.
     Some in Central Europe, and some of their friends among their American
kin, remain fearful that the American government will succumb to Russian
wiles and accept arrangements that compromise the independence of the Central
Europeans. As always since Russia and the United States cooked up a secret
deal on the region at the end of World War II, the word summoning up Central
Europe's alarm is "Yalta."
      It is not that American diplomats can automatically be trusted to be
principled, smart and tough enough not to abandon Central Europe to life in
Russia's strategic shadow. But I would argue that the powerful collective
recollection of Yalta and the openness or "transparency" of today's
diplomatic dealings build in a countervailing force on the side of
responsibility.
      The bargain now inching into view -- an expanding NATO, a reassured
Russia -- would transform several bedeviling issues. It could let the United
States escape the ambiguities of NATO's Partnership for Peace -- is it a step
on the road to full membership or a dead-end substitute for membership? A
Russia alert to the benefits of Central European stability would presumably
be readier to see NATO take in not just the relatively easy cases of Poland,
Hungary and the Czechs but also the hard cases -- including even Ukraine and
the Baltics. Otherwise, an invidious new line, between the secured and the
unsecured, might again be drawn in Europe.
      Three months ago, just about evN=7FZerybody was down on Russia -- for poo
r
performance on ChechnN=7FZya, reform etc. Now the Europe-NATO equation is
becoming clearer, the IMF finds Yeltsin's reforms worth taking a big new
chance on, and Moscow has accepted human rights monitors in Chechnya. Things
will go up and down in Russia for a long time. We should savor and exploit
the better times.

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