RFE/RL NEWSLINE 
Vol. 1, No. 116, 12 September1997

MINORITIES COMPLAIN ABOUT SLOVAK PREMIER'S SUGGESTION. The
Association of Nations Under Threat has filed an official complaint
with the Council of Europe over the "grotesque" proposal by Slovak
Premier Vladimir Meciar to resettle the Hungarian minority from
Slovakia to Hungary, the Austrian news agency APA reported on 11
September. Association president Tilman Zuelch described Meciar's
idea as "ethnic cleansing." The association has also urged European
governments to protest Meciar's controversial suggestion. Hungarian
Premier Gyula Horn revealed on 5 September that Meciar had
spoken about an exchange of ethnic populations between Slovakia
and Hungary during talks in Gyor in mid-August.
spoken about an exchange of ethnic populations between Slovakia
and Hungary during talks in Gyor in mid-August.

HUNGARIAN GOVERNMENT URGES SUPPORT FOR NATO REFERENDUM.
The government has called on the opposition parties to honor an
earlier agreement by supporting the 16 November referendum on
NATO membership, Hungarian media reported on 12 September.
Opposition representatives responded that they do not intend to
boycott or demand the postponement of the referendum but want
Opposition representatives responded that they do not intend to
boycott or demand the postponement of the referendum but want
the question on foreign ownership of land to be included in the
version formulated by the opposition. Meanwhile, a Hungarian
delegation led by state secretary Ferenc Somogyi, who is head of
integration affairs at the Foreign Ministry, began talks with NATO
officials in Brussels on 10 September on joining the alliance.

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