RADIO FREE EUROPE/RADIO LIBERTY, PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC
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RFE/RL NEWSLINE  2 August 1999

HUNGARIAN PREMIER ON VOJVODINA. Viktor Orban, in a 30
July interview with Duna Television, said that although
the issue of Vojvodina's autonomy was not included in
the Balkan Stability Pact signed in Sarajevo the same
day, the participants had "at least become familiar"
with the province's demands. He added that the pact
"does not deal substantively with the most important
questions." Earlier, he told delegates to the summit
that Hungary will not accept any agreement on the future
of Yugoslavia that fails to provide legal and
institutional protection for minorities. But after the
summit he said that he considers it a major success of
Hungarian diplomacy that EU special coordinator Bodo
Hombach announced that an international conference will
be held jointly with Hungary. The conference is to serve
as a forum of opposition-led local governments in
Serbia. MS/MSZ

HUNGARIAN FOREIGN MINISTER IN ROMANIA. Janos Martonyi on
31 July and 1 August toured settlements in Transylvania
inhabited by ethnic Hungarians and met with leaders of
the Hungarian ethnic minority. On 30 July, he told
journalists that Hungary does not promote border
revision and that such fears on the Romanian side are
due to "incorrect information" or are "fueled by circles
with a vested interest." Martonyi said he and his
Romanian counterpart, Andrei Plesu, agreed that a
Hungarian consulate will be opened in Miercurea Ciuc in
2000. He said there are still "problems" in bilateral
relations stemming from the discrepancy between
declarations and their implementation. In this context,
he pointed to the restitution of Church property and the
setting up of a Hungarian-language state university.
Martonyi also said he and Plesu agreed that the planned
Budapest-Bucharest highway must pass through
Transylvania and "serve the interests" of its
population. MS

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