OMRI DAILY DIGEST
No. 245, 19 December 1995

HUNGARIAN PARLIAMENT REJECTS NATO REFERENDUM INITIATIVE. The
parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee has rejected a Workers' Party
initiative to call a referendum on Hungary's accession to NATO,
Hungarian media reported on 19 December (see OMRI Daily Digest, 14
December 1995). Committee Chairman Matyas Eorsi explained that deputies
believe it makes no sense to stage a referendum until Hungary's terms of
admission have been clarified. Meanwhile, the Socialist Party caucus
said it does not back a referendum on accession since the country is not
in a position to make a decision on the matter. However, it said that if
Hungary receives a request for admission, and negotiations on accession
conclude successfully, then the country should decide on NATO membership
by means of a referendum. -- Zsofia Szilagyi

NO FOUL PLAY IN HUNGARY'S OILGATE AFFAIR. A governmental commission has
concluded that no illegal acts were committed in the recent "oilgate"
affair (see OMRI Daily Digest, 8 December 1995), Hungarian media
reported on 19 December. But the commission called for clearing up
issues related to the settlement of the Hungarian-Russian debt, which
the cabinet is to debate this week. All parliamentary caucuses have
endorsed setting up a parliamentary commission to investigate the
affair, in which it is alleged that there were links between oil dealers
and Socialist Party figures in Russian oil shipments in partial payment
of Russia's debt to Hungary. -- Zsofia Szilagyi

[As of 12:00 CET]

Compiled by Jan Cleave