RFE/RL Daily Report
                   No. 131, 13 July 1994


MECIAR ON UPCOMING ELECTIONS, ROMANIES. In an interview with the
Austrian daily Die Presse, published on 12 July, former Slovak
Premier Vladimir Meciar said that his Movement for a Democratic
Slovakia is opposed to a recently adopted law allowing the use of
bilingual road signs because "it is concerned about the welfare of
ethnic minorities." According to Meciar, the law is restrictive
because it should pay more attention to the language of Romanies.
Although only 80,000 people declared themselves Romanies during
the last census, says Meciar, it is likely that at least 300,000
people who claim to be Hungarians in southern Slovakia are in fact
Romanies. Meciar, who last year triggered controversy with what
international media described as disparaging statements about
Romanies, told Die Presse that his party plans to fight for
Romanies. Meciar predicted that his party will win at least 25% of
the vote in the October parliamentary elections and that the
politicians, such as current Prime Minister Jozef Moravcik, who
had left his party to found their own groups will be swept away.
Meciar said he wants to create a centrist government, "something
that will be appreciated by Czech Premier Vaclav Klaus, who would
otherwise be squeezed between Germans and the pink-red belt to the
East of the Czech Republic." Jiri Pehe, RFE/RL Inc.

LATEST OPINION POLL IN SLOVAKIA. According to an opinion poll
released by the Focus agency on 12 July, the Movement for a
Democratic Slovakia of Vladimir Meciar commands 28% of popular
support, followed by the post-communist Party of the Democratic
Left with 15%. The Christian Democratic Movement of former Premier
Jan Carnogursky is supported by 9.4% of respondents, followed
closely by the ultranationalist Slovak National Party (9%). The
coalition of ethnic Hungarian parties is supported by 8%, the
right-of-center Democratic Party by 7.1%, and the communist
Association of Slovak Workers by 6.1% of respondents.  Jiri Pehe,
RFE/RL Inc.

BEKESI SAYS PENSION INCREASES TO BE SCALED BACK. Laszlo Bekesi,
the Minister of Finance designate, said during a parliamentary
hearing that pensions will be increased by a factor of only 5%,
and not 8% as suggested earlier. Budgetary constraints have
prompted this latest announcement, reported MTI. In June 1994 the
Pension Self-governing Board (PSB) had proposed an 8% increase,
retroactive to January 1994, in order to compensate Hungarian
pensioners for this year's inflation, which was 18% in May 1994.
The PSB, which is the regulating body for pensions which are still
paid out of the central budget, announced yesterday that it will
cling to its original proposal.  Karoly Okolicsanyi, RFE/RL Inc.

BUDAPEST'S HUNGARIAN MINORITY POLICY IN THE MAKING. MTI reported
that Prime Minister designate Gyula Horn sent a draft of a new
minority policy to various domestic political leaders as well as
to representatives of religious groups of the Hungarian minority
in neighboring countries. Laszlo Kovacs, the Foreign Minister
designate said during a committee hearing that "in a cultural
sense, minority groups living outside Hungary's border are part of
the nation." He also stressed that these groups should "pursue
happiness where they live" and that the new Hungarian government
will strive to secure and promote rights for them. Results may be
expected through bilateral government negotiations and in talks in
international forums, Kovacs said Karoly Okolicsanyi, RFE/RL Inc.

HUNGARIAN PUPILS TO BOYCOTT ROMANIAN SCHOOLS. The Hungarian
Democratic Federation of Romania announced on 12 July that ethnic
Hungarian students will boycott schools in September, an RFE/RL
correspondent reported from Bucharest on the same day. The HDFR
said the move will be part of a "strategy of protest" against the
Law on Education. It added that rallies will be organized before
the law is discussed in the Senate. The law has already been
approved by the Chamber of Deputies, which rejected amendments
proposed by the HDFR. The HDFR objects in particular to those
provisions of the law that makes teaching of history, geography
and civic courses in the Romanian language obligatory even in
schools for the minorities.  Michael Shafir, RFE/RL Inc.

  [As of 1200 CET]
  Compiled by Ustina Markus and Stan Markotich
Copyright 1994, RFE/RL, Inc. All rights reserved.