RADIO FREE EUROPE/RADIO LIBERTY, PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC
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RFE/RL NEWSLINE Vol. 2, No. 118, 22 June 1998

SLOVAKIA'S ETHNIC HUNGARIAN PARTIES MERGE. Slovakia's three
ethnic Hungarian parties formally merged on 21 June to form
the Hungarian Coalition Party. Bela Bugar of the Hungarian
Christian Democratic Movement was elected chairman of the new
party, and Miklos Duray of the Co-existence Party  honorary
chairman. The congress also decided that the former Hungarian
Civic Party will name an executive deputy chairman. That post
is likely to be filled by Laszlo Nagy, whose resignation last
week as chairman of the Hungarian Civic Party was rejected by
the formation's presidium, RFE/RL's Bratislava bureau
reported. MS

HUNGARY'S FREE DEMOCRATS ELECT NEW LEADER. The 20 June
extraordinary congress of the Alliance of Free Democrats
(SZDSZ) elected Balint Magyar as the party's new chairman,
Hungarian media reported. Magyar said the party's structure
and political style must be renewed in order to make the
SZDSZ a strong liberal party. He said entering a coalition
with the Socialist Party was the right decision but that the
SZDSZ's mistake was its inability to change  its political
strategy when it realized that it could not implement its own
principles. Commenting on the composition of the newly
elected executive body of the party, Ferenc Koszeg, a founder
of the party, said the SZDSZ  has rewarded those who are
responsible for unsuccessful policies. MSZ

ROMANIAN HEALTH MINISTER RESIGNS. The leadership of the
Hungarian Democratic Federation of Romania (UDMR) on 20 June
accepted the resignation of Minister of Health Francisc
Baranyi, who earlier admitted having been forced to sign a
pledge to work as an informer for the communist secret
police. Baranyi said he was "a victim" rather than a
collaborator of the Securitate but has decided to "put UDMR
interests above my personal interests." The same day, Prime
Minister Radu Vasile announced all government members must
submit a written declaration saying whether they worked for
the Securitate. The leaderships of the National Peasant Party
Christian Democratic, the National Liberal Party, and the
Romanian Alternative party are to demand  that their leaders
and parliamentary representatives submit a similar
declaration. MS

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