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RFE/RL NEWSLINE Vol 2, No. 41, 2 March 1998

HUNGARY, SLOVAKIA SIGN PRELIMINARY AGREEMENT ON DANUBE DAM. Hungarian and
Slovak negotiators signed a protocol on 27 February in Bratislava on
settling the Gabcikovo-Nagymaros dam dispute. The agreement stipulates the
principles for a framework treaty to be signed by the two countries' prime
ministers before the 25 March deadline set by the International Court of
Justice. Hungarian delegation head Janos Nemcsok said the protocol includes
a proposal that Hungary build a lower dam on the Danube. Opposition parties
in Hungary expressed shock at the news, while the national convention of
the junior coalition party, the Free Democrats, empowered the party's
cabinet members to veto the decision. On 28 February, an estimated crowd of
30,000 people protested in downtown Budapest against the construction of a
new dam on the Danube. MSZ

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