RADIO FREE EUROPE/RADIO LIBERTY, PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC
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RFE/RL NEWSLINE Vol 2, No. 201, 16 October 1998

HUNGARY, ROMANIA SET UP MORE JOINT COMMITTEES. A
Hungarian-Romanian governmental committee, chaired by
Hungarian Foreign Ministry state secretary Zsolt Nemeth
and his visiting Romanian counterpart, Mihnea
Constantinescu, have decided to set up another two
"expert" groups, Hungarian media reported on 15 October.
One of the committees will deal with Church and religious
affairs and the other with health and social affairs. A
protocol passed by the committee proposed seeking a
resolution to the financial problems of schools for ethnic
Romanians in Hungary, restoring Orthodox churches, and
ensuring parliamentary representation for minorities. The
protocol also urges Romania to ratify the language charter
of the Council of Europe, enact a minority law, approve a
government decree on language and education, and resolve
the issue of the restitution of Hungarian Church property.
MSZ

INDEPENDENT CANDIDATES ABOUND IN HUNGARIAN LOCAL
ELECTIONS. Of the 101,633 candidates running in the 18
October local elections, some 48,000 are independents.
Nearly 40 parties, some 600 public organizations, and 160
ethnic organizations are fielding candidates for 41,000
posts in municipal, county, and minority local
governments, Hungarian media reported on 16 October. The
opposition Socialists have some 5,700 candidates, followed
by the coalition Independent Smallholders with nearly
4,300. The major coalition party, the Federation of Young
Democrats-Hungarian Civic Party, has 2,600 candidates. The
campaign media blackout starts on 16 October. MSZ

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RADIO FREE EUROPE/RADIO LIBERTY, PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC
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RFE/RL NEWSLINE Vol 2, No. 202, 19 October 1998

FIRST RESULTS OF LOCAL ELECTIONS IN HUNGARY. According
to official preliminary results, Free Democrat Gabor
Demszky has been elected mayor of Budapest for the third
time. He won 58 percent of the votes, ahead of the
Federation of Young Democrats--Democratic
Forum/Independent Smallholders joint candidate, Janos
Latorcai, who tallied 39 percent. With some 91 percent
of the ballots counted, the alliance of the Young
Democrats and Smallholders won 39.8 percent of the vote
for local councils, while the Socialists and Free
Democrats took 34.6 percent, Hungarian media reported on
19 October. Turnout at the elections was the highest
since the fall of communism, exceeding 48 percent
(compared with 43.4 percent in 1994). MSZ

VOJVODINA CLAIMS AUTONOMY. Dragan Veselinov, who is
president of the "Vojvodina" coalition of opposition
parties, said that Serbia's northern province should
receive the same autonomy that Kosova will have as a
result of the recent Milosevic-Holbrooke pact, RFE/RL's
South Slavic Service reported from Belgrade on 17
October. Veselinov stressed that the agreement opens the
way for a complete restructuring of Serbia's political
system, beginning with the restoration of parliamentary
autonomy to Vojvodina. Milosevic forced the province's
leaders from office in October 1988 and subsequently
abolished its autonomy. Vojvodina has a large ethnic
Hungarian minority and smaller groups of Czechs,
Slovaks, Ruthenians, Romanians, and others. Vojvodina
Serbs long lived under Habsburg rule and generally
regard themselves as distinct from Serbs, who were
incorporated into the Ottoman Empire. PM

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RADIO FREE EUROPE/RADIO LIBERTY, PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC
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RFE/RL NEWSLINE Vol 2, No. 200, 15 October 1998

SLOW PROGRESS IN SLOVAK COALITION TALKS. Two of the four
parties involved in forming a new Slovak government are
unhappy with the negotiations to date, TASR and Reuters
reported on 14 October. Hungarian Coalition Party (SMK)
leader Bela Bugar said "the approach of the Party of the
Democratic Left (SDL) is unacceptable" and accused the
SDL of attempting to acquire ministerial posts at the
expense of the SMK and the Party of Civic Understanding
(SOP). SOP spokeswoman Helena Hulmanova said the talks
could be more "intensive." PB

HUNGARY OPENS ITS AIR SPACE TO NATO. The parliament on
14 October voted overwhelmingly to allow NATO to use
Hungarian airspace without restrictions, Hungarian media
reported. The vote was 260 to 11 with six abstentions.
Foreign Minister Janos Martonyi said before the vote
that NATO Secretary-General Javier Solana has sent a
letter to Prime Minister Viktor Orban assuring him of
NATO guarantees for Hungary in the event of threats from
Yugoslavia. Hungary is ready "in principle" to send
observers to the future OSCE mission in Kosova, Foreign
Ministry spokesman Gabor Horvath told journalists. MSZ

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RADIO FREE EUROPE/RADIO LIBERTY, PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC
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RFE/RL NEWSLINE Vol 2, No. 204, 21 October 1998


DISAGREEMENTS OVER POSTS MAR SLOVAK COALITION TALKS. Bela
Bugar, the chairman of Slovakia's Hungarian Coalition Party
(SMK), has complained about infighting over the distribution
of ministerial posts among the four parties involved in
coalition talks, TASR reported. Bugar, speaking after
negotiations among party leaders on 20 October, said "some
parties, such as the [Party of the Democratic Left] ... think
that they merit more than the proportional results from the
election." The Austrian daily "Der Standard" reported that
the SMK wants three ministerial posts but has so far been
offered only the agriculture portfolio. The daily said Eduard
Kukan of the Slovak Democratic Coalition is the favored
candidate for foreign minister, a post he held in the 1994
interim government. PB

HUNGARY RESPONDS TO ROMANIAN COMPLAINTS OVER SOCCER VIOLENCE.
The Hungarian Foreign Ministry said in a statement that the
uproar in the Romanian media and certain political circles in
Bucharest following last week's Hungary-Romania soccer match
is yet another manifestation of the anti-Hungarian campaign
conducted by extremist groups in Romania. The statement came
in response to allegations by the Romanian ambassador to
Hungary, Herman Podgoreanu, that the Hungarian police did not
take appropriate action against physical attacks on Romanian
supporters by chauvinist Hungarian fans. The ministry said
Hungary condemns all forms of violence both inside and
outside stadiums as well as attempts to over-politicize
sporting events. MSZ

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