OMRI DAILY DIGEST
No. 24, 2 February 1996

GREENPEACE PROTESTS NUCLEAR SHIPMENTS TO HUNGARY. Following protests in
Germany over the shipment of 235 used nuclear fuel elements to Hungary's
Paks nuclear plant, Greenpeace activists are now voicing concerns in
Hungary, international and Hungarian media reported on 1 February. The
nuclear elements are being shipped from the Greifswald/Lubmin power
station in former East Germany, which was shut down after reunification
as it did not meet West German safety standards. Greenpeace and
Hungarian environmentalists condemn the shipping of "nuclear trash" to
Eastern Europe and warn that Hungary's Paks station does not meet
Western safety standards either. The management of Paks , however,
rejected the protest saying it does not regard Greenpeace as qualified
to make a judgment in this matter and that "all four Paks reactors rank
among the best 25 of the more than 400 nuclear units in the world". --
Zsofia Szilagy

CONTINUED CONTROVERSY OVER SLOVAK LANGUAGE LAW. Slovakia's Hungarian
coalition on 1 February criticized statements made the previous day by
Milan Ferko, who heads the Culture Ministry's language department,
Narodna obroda reported. Ferko had claimed the mayors of certain
southern Slovak communities acted illegally by passing directives
allowing for the use of both Slovak and Hungarian in official contacts.
The Hungarian coalition pointed out that although the new language law
cancels the previous one, it fails to regulate the use of minority
languages. Because the use of one's mother tongue is a constitutional
right, the Hungarian coalition believes the directives are legal.
Meanwhile, although fines cannot be issued until 1997, four "language
consultants" began work on 1 February in three Slovak districts and in
Bratislava to supervise the observance of the language law. -- Sharon
Fisher

SERBIAN POLICE BLOCK "ALTERNATIVE ASSEMBLY." Nasa Borba on 2 February
reported that some 114 legislators from five leading opposition parties-
-the Serbian Renewal Movement, the Serbian Radical Party, the Democratic
Party, the Democratic Party of Serbia, and the Democratic Community of
Hungarians in Vojvodina-- were prevented from meeting as a "shadow"
government the day before because police would not allow them to gather
in the parliament building. The opposition parties met for the first
time as a "parallel legislature" on 26 December, following a boycott
protest of the governing Socialist Party of Serbia's heavy-handed
control tactics. Serbian Renewal Movement leader Vuk Draskovic said the
latest police action demonstrated Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic's
intolerance. "Milosevic thinks he can do whatever he wants after Dayton,
including halting democratization and privatization...violating human
rights...and tossing the opposition out of parliament," he said. * Stan
Markotich

[As of 12:00 CET]

Compiled by Ustina Markus