RFE/RL NEWSLINE 
Vol. 1, No. 188, 5 January 1998

FRANCE TO SUPPLY MISSILES TO HUNGARY. Matra
BAe Dynamics, a French-British joint venture, is to deliver
the first 60 of some 200 Mistral missiles to Hungary by the
end of March, Hungarian Defense Ministry officials said on 3
January. The missiles will be stored in northern Hungary,
while the remaining weapons will be delivered before the
end of 1999. Hungary intends to integrate the missiles into
its defense system in 2000, the officials said. In other news,
a Hungarian army general said that NATO-led SFOR paid the
Hungarian army $60 million in 1997 to use its military
bases. Some 80 percent of the payments came from U.S.
troops based in Taszar. MSZ

EXTREMIST ROMANIAN LEADER ATTACKS
CONSTANTINESCU. Corneliu Vadim Tudor, the leader of
the extremist Greater Romania Party, has said that President
Constantinescu is "guilty of high treason," Radio Bucharest
reported on 4 January. He argued that Constantinescu is
guilty of bringing about the loss of Romanian territories" by
signing the basic treaty with Ukraine. He also held the
president responsible for the coming to power of the
"separatists' organization" representing ethnic Hungarians in
Romania and accused him of "undermining the national
economy." On 23 December, Prosecutor-General Sorin
Moisescu asked the parliament to lift Tudor's immunity for
insulting the president. The request followed Tudor's 19
December statement claiming that Constantinescu is a "secret
agent" whose policies seek to reward "those who brought
him to power." MS

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