RADIO FREE EUROPE/RADIO LIBERTY, PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC
________________________________________________________
RFE/RL NEWSLINE  26 May 1999

SLOVAKIA'S MECIAR CRITICIZES CONCESSIONS TO MINORITIES.
Former Slovak Prime Minister and current presidential
candidate Vladimir Meciar told the Czech daily
"Hospodarske noviny" of 26 May that Slovakia does not
have a "minority rights" problem at the moment, but
rather a problem with "concessions to nationalists and
separatists." He said certain representatives of the
ethnic Hungarian minority in Slovakia and certain
politicians in Budapest aim to create a "Greater
Hungary." Meciar said he rejects any suggestions that
minorities are being oppressed in Slovakia. He also
added that some "uninformed European institutions"
believe that "concessions should be made to the demands
of minorities." Meciar also described the NATO campaign
in Yugoslavia as illegal. He said the conflict in
Yugoslavia represents a challenge for Europe as to
whether it will be able to develop its own security
model or whether it will follow "U.S. doctrine" in
international relations. VG

LITHUANIAN PRESIDENT VISITS HUNGARY. Valdas Adamkus told
reporters in Budapest on 26 May that his country is
ready for NATO membership and would be "disappointed" if
its aspirations were not realized. He said Russia
continues to express displeasure at the Baltic States'
efforts to become NATO members. Adamkus met with
Hungarian President Arpad Goncz, Prime Minister Viktor
Orban, and Budapest Mayor Gabor Demszky. Representatives
of the two countries signed an agreement on mutual
capital investment guarantees. Lithuania is Hungary's
largest trading partner in the Baltics. More than $55
million worth of Hungarian goods were exported to
Lithuania last year. MSZ

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RADIO FREE EUROPE/RADIO LIBERTY, PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC
________________________________________________________
RFE/RL NEWSLINE  27 May 1999

NATO AIR TANKER MAKES FORCED LANDING IN HUNGARY. A NATO
air tanker on 26 May was forced to release 50,000 liters
of kerosene in mid-air in eastern Hungary before turning
back to make a forced landing at Budapest airport. The
office of the U.S. Air Force said this was the first
malfunctioning in Hungarian air space of a refueling
tanker taking part in NATO operations against
Yugoslavia. The tanker unit stationed in Budapest has
supplied more than 550 NATO planes since early May. In
other news, U.S. Ambassador Peter Tufo said on 26 May
that any attack by the Serbian army on the ethnic
Hungarian minority in Vojvodina would draw a rapid
response from NATO, Hungarian media reported. MSZ

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               Copyright (c) 1999 RFE/RL, Inc.
                     All rights reserved.
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