OMRI DAILY DIGEST
No. 225, Part II, 20 November 1996

HUNGARIAN PRIME MINISTER IN POLAND. Gyula Horn, during his two-day visit
to Poland from 19-20 November, told Polish President Aleksander
Kwasniewski that the two countries are "strategic partners,"
international agencies reported on 19 November. Horn also met with his
Polish counterpart Wlodzimierz Cimoszewicz. The two leaders called for
closer bilateral economic ties. Poland and Hungary plan to coordinate
their efforts at integration with the EU and NATO. -- Jakub Karpinski

HUNGARY'S YOUNG DEMOCRATS WOULD HAVE WAITED TO SIGN BASIC TREATY
WITH
ROMANIA. The opposition Young Democrats have said the signing of the
Hungarian-Romanian basic treaty in September was premature, Nepszava
reported on 20 November. They claim that the Hungarian leadership could
have concluded a treaty that guarantees more rights for ethnic
Hungarians if they had waited for Romania's new government to take
office. Meanwhile, Adrian Severin, who is expected to become Romania's
new foreign minister, said the Hungarian community in Romania should
play a bridge-building role in relations between the two countries,
Nepszabadsag reported. He claimed he would prefer to see the two
countries admitted to NATO simultaneously, but if Hungary precedes
Romania, he hopes that Budapest will support Romania's integration
efforts. Romania needs good neighborly relations with Hungary rather
than reconciliation, he added. -- Zsofia Szilagyi

HUNGARY TO PARTICIPATE IN DEVELOPMENT OF EASTERN SLAVONIA. Jacques
Klein, head of the UN transitional administration in Eastern Slavonia,
met in Budapest on 19 November with Hungarian Foreign Ministry State
Secretary Istvan Szent-Ivanyi in Budapest to discuss how Hungary can
participate in developing Eastern Slavonia, the former Yugoslav region
under Serbian control that is soon to return to Croatian administration,
Hungarian dailies reported. In other news, the Hungarian Foreign
Ministry said Hungary has not yet received an official request to
participate in operations of SFOR, the new international peacekeeping
force. But it noted that Hungary is prepared to keep its technical unit
in Bosnia and to allow SFOR to continue using the Taszar air and
logistics base. -- Zsofia Szilagyi

[As of 12:00 CET]

Compiled by Jan Cleave