RADIO FREE EUROPE/RADIO LIBERTY, PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC
___________________________________________________________
RFE/RL NEWSLINE Vol 2, No. 84, 4 May 1998

RESPONSES TO SENATE RATIFICATION OF NATO EXPANSION TREATY.
Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski on 1 May hailed the
U.S. Senate's vote to ratify the NATO expansion treaty,
which admits Poland, the Czech Republic, and Hungary to the
alliance, as "great step on the historical way of overcoming
the tragic past of our continent." Czech President Vaclav
Havel, who is recovering in Austria from surgery (see
below), said in a 1 May statement that the Senate vote is
important in promoting close political and economic ties
with Central European countries and contributing to a basis
of new stability. (The previous day, the Czech Senate had
voted 64 to three in favor of joining NATO.) Hungarian Prime
Minister Gyula Horn said the Senate's passage of the NATO
expansion treaty was recognition of the progress Hungary has
made and of the country's stability. PB/JM

BOMB EXPLODES AT OPPOSITION LEADER'S HOME IN BUDAPEST. The
apartment of Jozsef Szajer, deputy chairman of the
opposition Federation of Young Democrats-Hungarian Civic
Party (FIDESZ-MPP), was badly damaged by a bomb blast on 2
May. Szajer and his family were away at the time of the
explosion. It was the third time a bomb has exploded or been
found near the home of an opposition politician since March.
No arrests have been made in connection with any of those
incidents. The 2 May attack has been condemned by all
parties. Prime Minister Horn said it is "dishonorable" to
infer that such an attack would serve the interests of any
of the political parties ahead of the 10 May elections. The
FIDESZ-MPP is running a close second behind Horn's Socialist
Party in all opinion polls. PB

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
               Copyright (c) 1998 RFE/RL, Inc.
                     All rights reserved.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx