OMRI DAILY DIGEST
No. 97, 19 May 1995
UKRAINIAN FOREIGN AFFAIRS UPDATE. Ukrainian Radio reported on 18 May that
Hungarian Prime Minister Gyula Horn arrived in Kiev on an official
visit, the premier's first to Ukraine since that country gained
independence. It was also reported that Ukrainian parliament speaker
Oleksandr Moroz met with Moldovan ambassador to Ukraine Ion Russu. Moroz
said that "procedural obstacles" should not prevent the ratification of
the Ukrainian-Moldovan treaty. Russu noted that there were no obstacles
on the Moldovan side to the document's ratification. -- Ustina Markus,
OMRI, Inc.
SLOVAK FOREIGN MINISTER ON TREATY WITH HUNGARY. Juraj Schenk said at a
press conference on 18 May that the bilateral state treaty signed by the
Slovak and Hungarian prime ministers in March will not be submitted to
the parliament in the near future, Narodna obroda reported. He noted
that the framework agreement on the protection of national minorities
will be discussed at the next parliament session, to be held in June.
Only after that agreement has been approved will the interstate treaty
be presented to the parliament, Schenk said. The framework agreement is
the main document on which the treaty is based and calls for individual
rights for minorities. Schenk suggested that if that agreement is
passed, the controversial Council of Europe Recommendation 1201, which
was included in the Slovak-Hungarian treaty, can be interpreted as also
guaranteeing individual rather than collective rights. -- Sharon Fisher,
OMRI, Inc.
ROMANIAN PRESIDENT ATTEMPTS TO SPLIT HUNGARIAN MINORITY. One week before the
Hungarian Democratic Federation of Romania (UDMR) is scheduled to hold
its congress, Iliescu has made an obvious attempt to exacerbate
differences between the UDMR's "radical" and "moderate" factions. At a
press conference carried by Radio Bucharest on 18 May, presidential
spokesman Chebeleu said Iliescu "appreciated" the "constructive
attitude" of Hungarian Prime Minister Gyula Horn toward the negotiations
on the Hungarian-Romanian basic treaty. Consequently, he continued, the
president was all the more concerned about the "extreme-nationalist
positions" adopted by some UDMR leaders. Iliescu called on the
"responsible leaders" of the UDMR not to follow the "extremist path,
which never brought anything positive anywhere." As a possible solution
to differences with Budapest over the treaty's provisions, Iliescu
suggested that the document embrace the priniciples of Council of Europe
Recommendation 1201 but not mention it by name. -- Michael Shafir, OMRI,
Inc.
SLOVAK DEFENSE MINISTER IN ROMANIA. Jan Sitek, visiting Romania from 17-18
May, met with Prime Minister Nicolae Vacaroiu, with whom he discussed
integration into Euro-Atlantic structures and cooperation within the
Partnership for Peace program, Radio Bucharest reported. The two leaders
also discussed Slovakia and Romania's relations with Hungary and the
problem of the Hungarian national minorities in their countries. Both
sides agreed that minorities should be granted individual, rather than
collective rights. Sitek also met with his Romanian counterpart,
Gheorghe Tinca, who said agreement was reached on "a number of concrete
measures" for joint military maneuvers within the Partnership for Peace
program and cooperation in the field of military technology. Finally,
Sitek held talks with Foreign Minister Teodor Melescanu, who said the
two countries had many common interests--above all, that of integration
into Euro-Atlantic structures. -- Michael Shafir, OMRI, Inc.
[As of 12:00 CET]
Compiled by Jan Cleave
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A tovabbterjesztest a New York-i szekhelyu Magyar Emberi Jogok
Alapitvany tamogatja.
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Reposting is supported by Hungarian Human Rights Foundation News
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Friday, 19 May 1995
Volume 2, Issue 97
REGIONAL NEWS
-------------
**ROMANIAN PRESIDENT ASKS HUNGARIANS TO BE SATISFIED**
Iliescu urged the country's Hungarian minority leaders on
Thursday to renounce claims for autonomy, calling such conduct
nationalist and extreme. Illiescu has appealed to the
Hungarian Democratic Union of Romania (UDMR) not to adopt a
nationalist stance. The UDMR, which represents Romania's 1.6
million ethnic Hungarians, seek a measure of autonomy for
regions where Hungarians form a majority. The government and
most opposition parties reject the concept, claiming the move
UDMR leaders want to prevent the signing of a long-delayed
treaty between Romania and Hungary. The planned political
treaty between Romania and Hungary is expected to end old
squabbles, especially over Transylvania, a key condition for
closer ties with the European Union.
BUSINESS NEWS
-------------
**HUNGARIAN DAIRIES GO DUTCH**
Dutch food company Nutricia said it's bought a 23 percent stake
in the Hungarian state-owned dairy firm Hajdutej Tepari.
Hajdutej will be completely privatized this summer, and
according to Nutricia representatives, the shares will be
quoted on the Budapest Stock Exchange. Nutricia, which
already has subsidiaries in Poland and the Czech Republic,
said Hajdutej will be managed by a consortium of investors,
including Nutricia, who together will hold the majority of the
dairy. Hajdutej's head office is in Debrecen and the company
has four production facilities in eastern Hungary.
**FINANCIAL TIMES WILL REPUBLISH IN HUNGARIAN**
Swiss publishing house Ringier and the Financial Times will
produce a weekly Hungarian language news supplement. It will
appear in the Hungarian financial weekly Kape and will be
called the Kape Financial Times. Ringier, which publishes
Kape and the Hungarian tabloid Blikk, said the supplement will
consist of translations of articles from the preceding week's
Financial Times. Ringier has been publishing Kape in Hungary
for two years and currently has a circulation of 40,000.
Blikk, which was launched last year, is Hungary's
second-largest newspaper by circulation and the largest by
newsstand sales.
Day Trip
--------
**HUNGARY'S KINGLY CITY**
By David Fink
Located about an hour and a half southwest of Budapest,
Szekesfehervar is one of the most interesting countryside
towns in Hungary. People have lived in the area for thousands
of years and much of what they left behind can still be seen
today. Szekesfehervar is home to many of the country's most
interesting historical sites and museums.
No visit to Hungary is complete without a trip to
Szekesfehervar, the hometown of the first Hungarian king-
Saint Istvan or Stephen. The town's name comes from the
Hungarian word for throne. And it was here for 500 years that
Hungarian kings were crowned. The coronation ceremonies took
place in Istvan's massive cathedral. Father Laszlo Kallo, a
pastor in today's Szekesfehervar cathedral, said that
religious activities weren't just for royalty.
"Research shows that the songs of shepherds in the area come
from the songs of the monks, the Gregorian chants."
The cathedral was one of the wonders of the Medieval World
seating 8,000 people. Unfortunately, there isn't much left
today. The site was used to store gun powder by the occupying
Turks and was blown up as they fled in 1688. Later, local
people took the stones to build houses. But archeologists are
still excavating the site, trying to salvage what they can.
Artifacts can be found in the Saint Istvan Museum of
Archeology. It houses the second largest collection in
Hungary 2 and half million pieces. Even though its just a
countryside museum, there are 30 professional employees,
including 14 archeologists. A thousand items dating from the
bronze age to the middle ages are currently on display with
explanations in Hungarian and English. This exhibit has given
the museum a reputation, it even won the European museum of
the year award in 1993. Tunde Illyes is head of the
restoration department.
"We made this new archeological exhibition and the European
committee given 5 museums in Europe this prize. Some
colleagues came from Brussels and they see exhibition. And
they believed our new exhibition was first class."
Another museum that attracts a lot of attention is the Black
Eagle Pharmacy. When former Prime Minister Jozsef Antall was
a medical history professor in the 1970s, he helped to restore
this 18th century pharmacy. Laszlone Jamborhazy is a curator
there.
"People from all over the world come to see it. The Danish
King, the Norwegian prime minister, half an hour ago a group
of high ranked soldiers came from another country with
guides."
But guides aren't really needed in Szekesfehervar with good
reason. The compact downtown is filled with marvelous
monuments and museums. So the next time you need a quick get
away, why not try St. Istvan's town?
SURVEY
------
**HOMELESS IN HUNGARY**
By Ella Veres
There are some 27,000 homeless
people in Hungary. The vast majority, some 75% have lost
their homes just in the last 2 to 3 years. Most now sleep in
railway stations, parks, abandoned building sites or even
caves. 84 percent of homeless people are men. Nearly half of them
are recently divorced leaving their wives with the home to
care for the children. Another sector of the homeless is the
unemployed who, unable to pay the rent, have lost their homes.
And there's the unskilled workers. Most of them gather metal,
cardboard boxes, or bottles for money to get by. Since they
have no permanent job many can't rent a home of their own, so
the vicious circle continues. One of the institutions dealing
with the homeless situation is the Hungarian Maltses Charity
Service. It helps people by giving them food and shelter and
it provides health insurance, documents and a pension for the
older people. With help from this service many homeless start
to put their lives together, but the vast majority get stuck.
Imre Kozma is president of the Malteses Charity Service.
"Our greatest problem is that Hungary doesn't have social laws.
We need financial resources and we don't get any substantial
support. What we receive is insignificant. We are luckier
than other organizations because we work mainly with
volunteers so that we can exist."
But Bela Docha, counselor at the Ministry of Welfare and Social
Programs Office said that the government is finally making
efforts to help the homeless:
"Before 1990 this problem existed but the government ignored it.
Today we help to establish and run institutions for homeless.
Twice a year we hold competitions for such subjects. Since
1990 we've spent more than $2 million."
Almost 2,000 low cost flats are built every year. They replace
the shelters which were closed down in 1980. Back then they
provided homes for 100,000 people, but today there are only
4,600 places available. Hungarian shelters are not covering
the demand. Csaba Nagy lost his job as a butcher after
working for 20 years. He's been homeless for a year, living
at the Lehel square metro station.
"It's good to have a place to take bath and have a good dinner,
but when we ask the workers in shelters for help, they talk to
us as if we were dogs, not as if it's their duty to help. If
we argue for our rights the next day they don't let us in.
Until you get a place in a shelter, you need to go to hundreds
of offices. It's better to sleep on carboard in the street.
But there the policemen kick us and spit on us. They know
that we are helpless."
And helpless they will remain until Hungary develops more
programs to fight it's homeless situation. But with talk of
social cuts it looks like people like Csaba will be left out
in the cold.
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A tovabbterjesztest a New York-i szekhelyu Magyar Emberi Jogok
Alapitvany tamogatja.
[*] [*] [*] [*] [*][*] [*][*][*]
[*] [*] [*] [*] [*] [*] [*]
[*][*][*] [*][*][*] [*][*] [*][*]
[*] [*] [*] [*] [*] [*] [*]
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Reposting is supported by Hungarian Human Rights Foundation News
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