OMRI DAILY DIGEST
No. 191, 2 October 1995

HUNGARIAN PREMIER PUTS ECONOMY BEFORE LEFTIST IDEALS. Gyula Horn said in
an interview on 30 September that improving the economy will have to
take precedence over many leftist traditional values for some time,
Magyar Hirlap and international media reported. But Horn, who is facing
criticism from the left-wing of his party for introducing the toughest
austerity package of economic reforms in Hungary since 1989, said he was
not abandoning those values completely. He stressed that he had not
forgotten the concerns of the Left and that present measures were only
temporary. Horn, who was recently forced to abandon plans to appoint
trade union leader Sandor Nagy to the cabinet to avoid a coalition
split, said he was in favor of Nagy playing an important political role
in Hungary in the future. -- Zsofia Szilagyi


VOJVODINA HUNGARIANS TO WORK OUT AUTONOMY CONCEPT. The Federation of
Vojvodina Hungarians and the Democratic Community of Vojvodina
Hungarians--following a meeting with Hungarian Premier Gyula Horn,
President Arpad Goncz, and State Secretary Csaba Tabajdi on 29
September--have decided to work out a concept for autonomy, Magyar
Nemzet reported on 30 September. Horn said his government will raise
problems faced by the 300,000 ethnic Hungarians in Vojvodina at all
possible international forums to make sure their minority rights are not
neglected in the upcoming settlement of the conflict in the former
Yugoslavia. To date, disagreements between the two parties in Vojvodina
have blocked progress toward defending Hungarian minority rights in the
province. -- Zsofia Szilagyi

[As of 12:00 CET]

Compiled by Jan Cleave

Here follows Part II of the 3 October 1995 OMRI Daily Digest, which was not
transmitted by the listserv yesterday.

OMRI Publications Department


OMRI DAILY DIGEST
No. 192, 3 October 1995


GERMANY PLEDGES CREDIT GUARANTEES FOR HUNGARY. Germany on 2 October promised
Hungary new loan guarantees worth up to 1 billion German marks ($710
million) to help finance the country's reform process, Hungarian newspapers
reported the next day. The agreement was signed by Hungarian Prime Minister
Gyula Horn and German Chancellor Helmut Kohl in Bonn, where Kohl reaffirmed
his pledge to help Hungary gain membership in the EU and supported Hungary's
restructuring and modernization plans. The credit agreement, granted to
Hungary under very favorable conditions, is aimed at financing projects in
transportation, environmental protection, and energy distribution and
helping the Hungarian economy prepare for European integration. -- Zsofia
Szilagyi, OMRI, Inc.


[As of 12:00 CET]

Compiled by Jan Cleave

OMRI DAILY DIGEST
No. 193, 4 October 1995


GERMAN FOREIGN MINISTER IN HUNGARY. Klaus Kinkel marked the fifth
anniversary of German unification by visiting Hungary on 3 October,
Hungarian media reported the next day. He thanked Hungarian officials
for their role in bringing down the Berlin Wall, saying Germany has "not
forgotten and will never forget that Hungary made a decisive
contribution to German unification." Two days earlier, Hungarian Prime
Minister Gyula Horn was awarded a Prisma prize by the German city of
Kassel for his role in the 1989 events. -- Zsofia Szilagyi

HUNGARIAN, ROMANIAN DEFENSE MINISTERS MEET. Gyorgy Keleti and his
visiting Romanian counterpart, Gheorghe Tinca, have agreed to enhance
military cooperation and joint arms production, international media
reported on 4 October. They plan to issue a joint declaration stressing
the two countries' efforts to forge closer military ties and showing
their commitment to improving mutual relations. Western governments have
said the two countries need to resolve bilateral disputes if they want
to join NATO. Talks between Bucharest and Budapest on a bilateral treaty
broke off in July following disagreements over the treatment of the more
than 1.6 million ethnic Hungarians living in Transylvania. -- Zsofia
Szilagyi

ROMANIAN EDUCATION LAW DISCUSSED IN BUDAPEST. A delegation from the
Hungarian Ministry of Culture and Education presented the Hungarian
parliament with its conclusions on the new Romanian education law, Radio
Bucharest reported on 2 October. The delegation, which paid a fact-
finding visit to Romania to study the effects of the law, concluded that
it gravely affected Romania's Hungarian minority. The report said that
the law hindered ethnic Hungarians from receiving vocational education
and created difficulties for Hungarian students seeking admission to
institutes of higher education in Romania. It added that in the long
run, the law may discourage the Hungarian minority from opting for
mother-tongue tuition at lower levels. -- Matyas Szabo

[As of 12:00 CET]

Compiled by Jan Cleave

Wednesday, 04 October 1995
Volume 2, Issue 192



REGIONAL NEWS
-------------


**OSCE PLANS TO STRENGTHEN PEACE**
  The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, or
  OSCE, is preparing a four-point plan for OSCE involvement in
  the former Yugoslavia if a peace settlement is signed.
  Hungarian foreign ministry spokesman Gabor Szentivanyi said
  the plan would cover humanitarian aid, the establishment of
  democratic institutions, economic reconstruction and the
  drafting of a treaty on conventional force reductions in the
  former Yugoslavia.  Szentivanyi added most OSCE member
  countries have already agreed to the general principles of the
  plan.  Hungarian Foreign Minister Laszlo Kovacs currently
  holds the rotating chairmanship of the OSCE.  An OSCE
  delegation will travel to Croatia Friday to look into the
  possibility of setting up a permanent OSCE mission there.


**HUNGARIAN-ROMANIAN RELATIONS BRIGHTEN**
  Hungary said it'll start talking this month with the Romanian
  government on Romanian President Ion Iliescu's proposal last
  month for an historic reconciliation.  Hungarian Foreign
  Minister Laszlo Kovacs and his Romanian counterpart Teodor
  Melescanu have agreed to begin talking about how to include
  President Iliescu's initiative in the final stage of talks on
  a basic treaty.  The treaty is aimed at settling a
  long-standing dispute between the two countries over the
  rights of Romania's ethnic Hungarian minority.  The Iliescu
  proposal suggests a joint declaration to be endorsed by the
  Romanian and Hungarian presidents, a code of conduct on
  minority treatment and a mechanism to unblock basic treaty
  talks which broke off in July over disagreements on the status
  of Romania's more than 1.5 million ethnic Hungarians.


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