OMRI DAILY DIGEST
No. 179,  16 September 1996

SLOVAKIA HOSTS CEFTA MEETING. The prime ministers of the five countries
of the Central European Free Trade Agreement (Hungary, Poland, Slovakia,
Slovenia, and the Czech Republic) met in the mountain resort of Jasna,
Slovakia, on 13 and 14 September, Slovak media reported. Slovak Prime
Minister Vladimir Meciar said that the liberalization of trade among
CEFTA members has slowed down, noting that "not all member countries are
willing to move forward." The prime ministers agreed that CEFTA should
expand; Bulgaria, Romania, and Lithuania have officially applied for
admission. Russian Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin sent the summit a
letter proposing closer cooperation between the CEFTA states and Russia,
but Meciar said that the letter "was not a topic of our discussions." --
Jiri Pehe

HUNGARIAN REACTION TO BASIC TREATY WITH ROMANIA. Hungarian Prime
Minister Gyula Horn left for Timisoara on 16 September to sign the
Hungarian-Romanian basic treaty, Hungarian and international media
reported. In addition to Horn and Romanian Prime Minister Nicolae
Vacaroiu, Romanian President Ion Iliescu and other Hungarian and
Romanian politicians were scheduled to be present at the signing. The
Hungarian political opposition, particularly the Democratic Forum and
the Christian Democratic parties, continued to voice opposition to the
treaty and called on the Hungarian cabinet not to sign the document.
Opposition from the Hungarian minority in Romania was also registered,
as Protestant pastor Laszlo Tokes called on his congregation in
Timisoara to protest against the treaty. Still, the Democratic
Federation of Hungarians in Romania decided to send a representative to
the signing ceremony. -- Ben Slay

MORE CONTROVERSY IN ROMANIA OVER TREATY WITH HUNGARY. The signing of a
Romanian-Hungarian basic treaty, scheduled for 16 September, has
continued to stir controversy in Romania. The nationalistic Party of
Romanian National Unity (PUNR) called upon the participants in a
ceremony to honor Avram Iancu, a 19th-century hero of the anti-Hungarian
resistance in Transylvania, to give President Ion Iliescu and senior
government officials "the reception they deserve for having negotiated
the treaty." The ruling Party of Social Democracy in Romania accused the
PUNR of "inciting violence against the president, the prime minister,
and the foreign minister." In another development, Adrian Paunescu,
deputy chairman of the leftist Socialist Labor Party and a presidential
candidate, called Iliescu "Hungary's new foreign minister." -- Dan
Ionescu

[As of 12:00 CET]

Compiled by Susan Caskie