OMRI DAILY DIGEST
No. 54, 15 March 1996

SLOVAKS COMMEMORATE ANNIVERSARY OF FOUNDING OF WAR-TIME STATE. Between
100 and 250 skinheads and pensioners on 14 March gathered in Bratislava
to mark the 57th anniversary of the founding of Slovakia's Nazi-allied
war-time state and to honor its president, Jozef Tiso, Slovak media
reported. The rally was organized by the Slovak National Union (SNJ) and
the Society of Dr. Jozef Tiso. SNJ chairman Stanislav Panis praised both
Tiso and the war-time state and complained that the majority of current
parliamentary deputies are former communists. Speakers attacked Prime
Minister Vladimir Meciar for earlier statements that the Tiso regime was
"fascist," and they called for the Slovak-Hungarian treaty to be
rejected. The Slovak Anti-Fascist Union and the Human movement condemned
the attempts "to revive fascist ideas." -- Sharon Fisher

SLOVAK OPPOSITION CRITICIZES PENAL CODE. Representatives of the
Christian Democratic Movement (KDH) and Democratic Union on 14 March
rejected the cabinet's amendment to the penal code (also known as the
law on the protection of the republic), Slovak media reported. KDH
deputy Ivan Simko called the amendment "the most fundamental turning
point in Slovakia since 1989" and stressed that his party will turn to
the Constitutional Court if the bill is passed. The Slovak National
Party has said its approval of the Slovak-Hungarian treaty is
conditional on the draft law's passage. The opposition also criticized
the bill on Slovakia's territorial arrangement. -- Sharon Fisher

ANTI-GOVERNMENT DEMONSTRATION IN BUDAPEST. An estimated 30,000 people on
14 March attended a rally organized by the Independent Smallholders
Party (FKgP) outside Budapest's parliament, international media
reported. Populist FKgP Chairman Jozsef Torgyan, pointing to the
negative effects of the austerity measures implemented by Gyula Horn's
cabinet, demanded its resignation and called for new parliamentary
elections. The demonstration was held on the eve of Hungary's state
holiday marking the anniversary of the 1848 revolution. With 26 seats in
the parliament, the FKgP became the biggest opposition party after the
recent split of the Hungarian Democratic Forum. Opinion polls suggest
that the party is more popular than Horn's Socialist Party, which holds
209 seats. -- Sharon Fisher

[As of 12:00 CET]

Compiled by Jan Cleave