OMRI DAILY DIGEST
No. 167, 28 August 1995

HUMAN SMUGGLING AT HUNGARIAN BORDER CROSSING. AFP on 27 August reported
that Hungarian customs officials detained 16 illegal Turkish immigrants
in two separate incidents at a checkpoint on the Romanian border over
the weekend. Four of the immigrants were found hidden beneath personal
belongings and watermelons in the trailer of a sedan, while the other 12
were stowed away in a truck delivering ready-made clothes from Romania
to Britain. The British driver of the truck and the Turkish driver of
the sedan, together with his son and another person, were arrested. The
illegal immigrants apparently wanted to reach Germany or France. Hungary
has tightened up its border controls since 18 illegal immigrants from
Sri Lanka suffocated in a Romanian trailer truck last month. -- Jan
Cleave, OMRI, Inc.

ROMANIAN-HUNGARIAN RELATIONS. U.S. Ambassador to Romania Alfred Moses
told a Reuters correspondent in Bucharest on 25 August that it is
unlikely Hungary and Romania will sign a bilateral treaty soon. He said
there has been "much vitriol on both sides" and "the climate has been
spoiled." Romanian-Hungarian relations suffered various setbacks
recently. The Romanian daily Libertatea on 23 August reported that a
book published by the Romanian government's Information Department,
called Romanians Hunted Down in Their Own Country, has "poured oil on
the fire" of the Romanian-Hungarian interethnic conflict. The book deals
with atrocities allegedly committed by members of the Hungarian minority
after 1989 against ethnic Romanians. The Hungarian Democratic Federation
of Romania (UDMR) believes the book is aimed "at serving propaganda
purposes and at purposely distorting reality." The UDMR on 25 August
announced further protests against the controversial new education law.
-- Michael Shafir, OMRI, Inc.

[As of 12:00 CET]

Compiled by Jan Cleave

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Alapitvany tamogatja.

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Reposting is supported by Hungarian Human Rights Foundation News
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Monday, 28 August 1995
Volume 2, Issue 166


REGIONAL NEWS
-------------

**US RESUMES BOSNIAN PEACE EFFORTS**
  The US has resumed its peace initiative in the former
  Yugoslavia following the accident outside Sarajevo a week ago
  which killed three of its envoys. Assistant Secretary of State
  Richard Holbrooke warned Serbs yesterday that NATO would
  "intervene heavily unless progress was made towards a
  negotiated settlement within the next couple of weeks".
  Holbrooke, who arrived in Paris last night for talks with
  Bosnian President Alija Izetbegovic, suggested that NATO was
  set to use heavy air strikes to bring the Bosnian Serbs to the
  negotiating table.  Meanwhile Croatian president Franjo
  Tudjman called on Croats abroad to return to their homeland
  and settle in Krajina, much of which has been vacated by Serbs
  fleeing the Croatian assault to retake the region two weeks
  ago. Tudjman was speaking during a stop in the first train
  journey from Zagreb to Split following the reopening of the
  railway line which crosses Krajina. The Croatian president
  also reiterated his government's determination to retake by
  force of necessary, Eastern Slavonia, the last Serb-held piece
  of Croatian territory which borders Serbia and Hungary.

**CABINET POST ISSUE DIVIDES HUNGARIAN COALITION**
  Hungary's main liberal party, the Alliance of Free Democrats,
  is threatening to leave the coalition. The Free Democrats said
  they're against Prime Minister Gyula Horn's plan to create a
  deputy prime minister for coordinating ecenomic policy.  In a
  letter to Horn, the Free Democrats said they'll consider the
  coalition dead if he goes through with the plan.  They argue
  the deputy prime minister would dilute the power of Finance
  MInister Lajos Bokros.  Liberals are strong supporters of
  Bokros' austerity measures which are designed to cut Hungary's
  budget, current account and trade deficits.  But many in the
  left wing of the Socialist Party don't don't like the package
  and the party's popularity has fallen dramaticaly in recent
  weeks.  Analysts said Horn's support of trade union leader
  Sandor Nagy for the post is designed to soothe the left and
  lift support for the party among disgruntled union members.
  The Free Democrat's have strong objections to Nagy.  But  Horn
  said he won't give the Free Democrats a veto over the decsion
  which will probably be made this week.


**US AMBASSADOR FRUSTRATED NATIONALISM**
  The United States ambassador to Romania, Alfred Moses, has said
  that what he described as an atmosphere poisoned by
  nationalist rhetoric has made it unlikely that Romania and
  Hungary can sign a bilateral treaty soon.  Moses told Reuters
  that the climate has been spoiled by too much vitriol on both
  sides.  Only two months ago Moses said he was optimistic a
  treaty could be signed.  Agreement is crucial to both
  countries' accession to both NATO and the European Union.


BUSINESS NEWS
-------------

**WARSAW EXCHANGE MISSES ALL THE FUN**
  By Tom Hoover

  The three regional stock markets enjoyed at least slight gains
  last week, with Prague and Budapest especially breaking out of
  the summer doldrums.  Budapest hit new highs for the year and
  Prague's sitting on a big winning streak.  But things weren't
  so dramatic in Warsaw as the market can't find a direction. In
  this week's market analysis, CET found many variables account
  for uncertainty on the Polish bourse.

  The main Warsaw index inched up to 8503.1 on Friday after
  making small gains on Wednesday and Thursday.  Polish shares
  are mostly drifting sideways, though, because of a lack of
  fresh capital, and traders are searching for a trend.  But
  expectations of an interest rate cut in September are nursing
  a wait-and-see attitude and near-term growth seems to be out
  of the question.  Traders said the uncertainty is magnified by
  the upcoming presidential election and the mass privatization
  scheme due to begin in November.  Also pending is the creation
  of a new over-the-counter market, hopefully put into action
  this year.

  The Hungarian index closed at a new 1995 high of 1524.26
  Friday, a rise of almost 10 points, eclipsing the previous
  high set on Wednesday.  Despite the rise, though, traders said
  the consolidating trend in Budapest probably won't change as
  volumes remain moderate, with only a few shares making
  significant gains.  The market was bouyed for the week by the
  consistent blue chips, like Egis pharmaceuticals and plastics
  maker Pannonplast, which hit a 52-week high on Friday.
  Newcomers, OTP Bank and drug company Human, also closed
  higher, apparently recovering from drops in their prescription
  prices.  Traders said the strengthening of the dollar against
  the forint was a big reason for the active week, as foreign
  investors are getting good value for Hungarian shares.
  Meanwhile, the Budapest futures market remained steady with
  the only deal concluded for September.  Contracts for
  September futures closed at 1540.

  In the Czech Republic the financial pendulum has swung back,
  and the market posted it's twelfth straight winning session
  Friday.  The Prague Stock Exchange jumped more than 5 points
  to land at 426.1.  And, as usual, it was the
  heavily-capitalized issues, Komercni Banka, CEZ, SPT Telecom,
  and Chemopetrol, spurring the bourse higher.  Dealers said,
  although volumes are low, they'll pick up in September with
  the end of the summer holiday.  Investor confidence has been
  helped by more market transparency.  Last week, nine Prague
  brokerage firms began releasing details of their off-market
  trades.  Analysts called it a small step toward transparency,
  but investors are now getting a better look than ever at Czech
  shares.  The situation wasn't hurt by Nomura's positive
  assessment of Czech banks and the announcement of a $75
  million credit line to the Czechoslovak Trading Bank from an
  international consortium.

ABOUT CET ON-LINE
-----------------

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N E W S L E T T E R

from the Daily Bulletin of the Hungarian News Agency MTI
distributed by the Department for Press and International Information
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Republic of Hungary

H-1394, Budapest P.O.B. 423.
Telephone: 36 (1) 156-8000
Telefax: 36 (1) 156-3801
No. 159                                                         25 August 1995


Government Meets

        For the time being the Hungarian government will not introduce
visa requirements, but has decided on tightening passport and customs
checks, and more consistently apply regulations relating to
foreigners and to step up labour checks on foreigners staying in
Hungary, Elemer Kiss, state secretary at the Prime Minister's Office
told reporters today after the government  met.
        Kiss said the government had passed no decision on next year's
budget and the tax system.

        Preparatory work done in the past few works has not been
completed, and the Finance Ministry was unable to submit a final
version to the government.

        Thursday's meeting included consultations and Kiss said
differences in the positions were being narrowed.

        Parliament is expected to pass a decision on next year's budget
and changes in the tax system - at least on proposals to be submitted
to Parliament - on August 31.

* * *

Border Guards Beefed Up in Pecs

        The Hungarian Border Guards today reinforced the border guar
headquarters in Pecs, southwest Hungary.

        Border guard companies were regrouped from the headquarters of
Nagykanizsa, Kiskunhalas and Szombathely, Lieutenant Colonel Jozsef
Komuves, deputy spokesman for the Burder Guards, told MTI today.

        He said the measure is in line with the government"s intention
to ensure Hungary's territorial sovereignty and guarantee the
security of life and property of local residents along the country's
southern borders.

* * *

President Receives Letter from Mayor of Subotica

        Hungarian President Arpad Goncz has received a letter from the
Mayor of Subotica, Jozsef Kasza, describing the difficult situation
caused by the Krajina Serb refugees temporarily located in Vojvodina,
in excess of numbers determined by the Serb state, the Hungarian
president's spokesman, Andras Farago, told MTI on Thursday.

        "President Goncz has, and continues to follow the Yugoslav
crisis with attention, within this particularly the events on the
areas close to Hungary's borders, and the development of the  |
situation of Vojvodina Hungarians.

        "The president is anxious over the Vojvodina events, and is
seeking ways to settle the future of Vojvodina Hungarians in a manner
that follows European norms.

        "The president intends to reply to the letter from the Mayor of
Subotica," Farago said.

* * *

 Cabinet Session - Press Briefing

        The Hungarian government will not, for the time being,
introduce compulsory visas for Hungary's eastern and southern
neighbours, at the same time, passport control and customs
examinations will be much stricter, and alien police regulations will
be more consistently enforced, the state secretary of the Prime
Minister's Office, Elemer Kiss, told journalists at a press
conference after the cabinet session in Budapest on Thursday.

        He added that work permit controls will also be stepped up, to
screen out illegal foreign workers in Hungary.

        The state secretary said the cabinet discussed the report
compiled by the Ministry of the Interior and the Foreign Ministry in
this matter. This was why ministers decided to mainly make the rules
of entry stricter, rather than introduce compulsory visas.

        The cabinet has provided HUF 130 million to Hungarian Radio
from the central budget reserve for the Kossuth channel. Hungarian
Radio would have been forced to cut transmissions.

        The cabinet will also provide an additional HUF 20 million from
the budget reserve for the Rom Som Gypsy World Festival to be held in
Budapest from August 31 to September 3.

        The government also approved a pact on Hungarian-German road
transport, Hungarian-Ukrainian rail traffic, and Hungarian-Ukrainian
and Hungarian-Moldovan aviation agreements. It will submit to
Parliament for ratification the Hungarian-Turkish agreement on the
avoiding double taxation and preventing tax fraud, and the Hungarian-
Indonesian investment-protection agreement.

* * *

Vojvodina Hungarian Organisations - Press Conference

        Of the 160,000 Serbian refugees from Croatia, 90,000 are
staying in Vojvodina. The Hungarian Federation of Vojvodina (HFV) is
certain that it was the Krajina Serbian army that called on the Serbs
living in Croatia to leave their homes, and not the Croatian army,
HFV president Ferenc Csubela said in Budapest on Thursday, at a press
conference held jointly with the Democratic Community of Vojvodina
Hungary (DCVH), which was organised by the Office for Hungarians
Beyond the Border.

        Csubela claimed that refugees in certain Hungarian-inhabited
Vojvodina settlements, for instance Sombor, Apatin, and Svilojevo,
now amount to half the number of local residents, but large Serbian
towns with populations of several hundreds of thousands have received
only 500, or at most 1,000 refugees. This also indicates, he said,
that the aim of the Serbian state is resettlement.

        In his meeting with Hungarian Foreign Minister Laszlo Kovacs on
Wednesday, the HFV leader said that refugees should go to Vojvodina
only temporarily, and they cannot be treated as resettled. By way of
explanation Csubela added that disrupting ethnic composition offends
international norms, Vojvodina is the most densely populated area of
Serbia, and unemployment is highest there.

        Csubela later noted that the United Nations should acknowledge
that altering ethnic proportions within Serbia can cause problems not
only in Kosovo but also in Vojvodina.

        Bela Csorba, member of the DCVH presidium, was of the opinion
|  that the unified stand of all Hungarian society is necessary to
resolve the situation of Vojvodina Hungarians, as those living in
Vojvodina are not strong enough alone. He felt the status of the
Serbian Hungarian minority should be resolved through inter-state
agreements between Yugoslav, Serbian, and Hungarian republics.

*****************************************************************
A tovabbterjesztest a New York-i szekhelyu Magyar Emberi Jogok
Alapitvany tamogatja.

           [*]   [*]  [*]   [*]  [*][*]    [*][*][*]
           [*]   [*]  [*]   [*]  [*]  [*]  [*]
           [*][*][*]  [*][*][*]  [*][*]    [*][*] 
           [*]   [*]  [*]   [*]  [*]  [*]  [*]    
           [*]   [*]  [*]   [*]  [*]   [*] [*]

Reposting is supported by Hungarian Human Rights Foundation News
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*****************************************************************