OMRI DAILY DIGEST
No. 163, 22 August 1996

HUNGARY READY TO SIGN TREATY WITH ROMANIA. Despite pressure from
opposition politicians and representatives of Hungarian minority
organizations abroad, the Hungarian government appears set to sign the
Hungarian-Romanian basic treaty, Hungarian dailies reported. Foreign
Minister Laszlo Kovacs said that he sees no reason to convene another
summit of Hungarians and ethnic Hungarians living beyond Hungary's
borders and that the treaty could be signed in September. Kovacs also
said the basic treaty is a matter for the two countries' governments to
handle. None of the questions, he said, should be discussed with
minority representatives. In a related development, the German Foreign
Ministry on 21 August welcomed the in-principle agreement on the treaty.
-- Zsofia Szilagyi

ROMANIAN COALITION THREATENED BY TREATY WITH HUNGARY. The chairman of
the Party of Romanian National Unity, Gheorghe Funar, said in an
interview with Radio Bucharest on 21 August that he does not believe his
party will continue to be a member of the coalition if the text of the
basic treaty with Hungary is signed in the form agreed upon in Bucharest
last week. Funar spoke after a meeting with Deputy Foreign Minister
Marcel Dinu. President Ion Iliescu will meet with representatives of
parliamentary political parties next week in order to consult them on
the treaty, a spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced in
Bucharest on the same day. -- Michael Shafir

[As of 12:00 CET]

Compiled by Tim Rostan