RADIO FREE EUROPE/RADIO LIBERTY, PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC
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RFE/RL NEWSLINE  4 January 2000

HUNGARIAN RULING PARTY WINS SUIT AGAINST OPPOSITION WEEKLY.
The governing FIDESZ on 3 January won a lawsuit against the
opposition "Elet es Irodalom" weekly, Hungarian media
reported. FIDESZ sued the weekly over a 20 August editorial
claiming that the party owns several companies that took
part in privatization deals and that some of these firms
were managed by members of Prime Minister Viktor Orban's
family. The Budapest metropolitan court ruled that the
editorial used inaccurate terminology and ordered the
weekly to publish a correction within eight days. Editor in
chief Zoltan Kovacs said the paper will respect the court's
ruling but added that his publication will continue to
carry out investigative journalism. An unidentified
assailant recently hurled a grenade at the office building
of "Elet es Irodalom," (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 30 December
1999). MS

MOST NATURALIZED HUNGARIANS COME FROM ROMANIA. More than
half of the people who received naturalized citizenship in
Hungary in 1999 are ethnic Hungarians from Romania,
Romanian radio reported on 3 January, citing MTI. Last
year, Hungary naturalized 6,066 people and rejected 617
applications for Hungarian citizenship. During the last
decade, most requests for naturalization came from ethnic
Hungarians born in Transylvania and Vojvodina. The largest
number of such requests came in 1991 and 1993. MS

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RADIO FREE EUROPE/RADIO LIBERTY, PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC
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RFE/RL NEWSLINE  5 January 2000

HUNGARIAN CURRENCY PEGGED TO EURO. Hungary on 4 January
dropped the U.S. dollar from its currency basket,
"Villaggazdasag" reported. The forint is now exclusively
based on the euro. Previously, the dollar had a 30 percent
share in the basket. Experts say the move could attract more
foreign investment and boost the country's exports. MSZ

EU URGES IMPROVED CONDITIONS FOR ROMA IN HUNGARY. The
European Commission is asking Hungary, among other candidates
for EU membership, to improve conditions for Roma minority in
the country, "Nepszabadsag" reported on 5 January. Florian
Farkas, the chairman of the National Romany Authority in
Hungary, said the situation could prevent Hungary's accession
to the EU. He said the cabinet has failed to guarantee the
implementation of a package of measures related to the Roma
that it approved last year. Doncsev Toso, head of the Office
for National and Ethnic Minorities, said it will take at
least 25 to 30 years for the economic, social, and
educational indicators of the Roma to get closer to those of
the majority population. MSz

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               Copyright (c) 1999 RFE/RL, Inc.
                     All rights reserved.
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