OMRI DAILY DIGEST
No. 70, 9 April 1996

BELARUS TO SELL TANKS TO HUNGARY. An agreement was signed in Minsk on 4
April providing for the sale of 100 Belarusian T-72 tanks to Hungary,
AFP reported the following day. The tanks would have had to be destroyed
by Belarus under the terms of the CFE treaty. Ironically, they will be
used instead to replace Hungarian T-55 tanks, which were dismantled
under the same treaty. The value of the deal was not made public at
Belarus's request. -- Ustina Markus

EUROPEAN COMMISSION PRESIDENT IN HUNGARY. Jacques Santer on 5 April said
that it is more likely that East European states will be admitted to the
EU one by one rather than in groups, as has been the practice, Hungarian
media reported. Santer, who was in Budapest for two-day talks on the
eastward expansion of the EU, commented that negotiations with the East
European associate countries could begin in early 1998. Prime Minister
Gyula Horn said Hungary expects the EU to make a selective approach on
the basis of candidates' individual performance. The European Commission
is soon to hand over a 100-page questionnaire to EU associates to assess
their preparations for membership. Santer urged Hungary to annul the 8%
customs surcharge on EU exports to Hungary by the end of June 1997 and
to decrease its subsidies for agricultural exports. -- Zsofia Szilagyi

[As of 12:00 CET]

Compiled by Jan Cleave