OMRI DAILY DIGEST
No. 11, 16 January 1996

HUNGARY PLEASED BY SLOVAK PARTY'S CHANGE OF HEART ON TREATY. A statement
by Slovak National Party (SNS) Chairman Jan Slota indicating that his
party is no longer opposed to the Slovak-Hungarian treaty was called "an
unquestionably good sign" by a Hungarian Foreign Ministry spokesman, CTK
reported on 15 January. The spokesman noted that Hungary "has high
expectations in connection with the ratification of the treaty," not
only concerning relations with Slovakia, but also regarding regional
stability. Slota announced on 13 January that the SNS would support the
treaty if certain compromises are made, including the approval of laws
on the protection of the republic, the state of emergency, local
elections, and education, Narodna obroda reported on 15 January. The
SNS, a junior coalition member, had previously been strongly opposed to
ratifying the treaty, which was signed last March. -- Sharon Fisher

"EUROROMA" HOLDS ORGANIZATIONAL CONFERENCE IN BUDAPEST. An international
meeting of Roma was organized in Budapest on 12 and 13 January by the
Autonomy Foundation, ORS (Romani National News Service) reported on 15
January. Its goal was to establish a program called "Euroroma,"
supported by 350,000 ECU. Four countries -- Bulgaria, Slovakia, Hungary
and Romania -- will participate in Euroroma. Besides setting up
educational courses and Romani media in Romania and Slovakia, Euroroma
will establish legal offices for Roma, which already function in the
other two countries. -- Alaina Lemon

VAN DER STOEL CRITICIZES SLOVAK LANGUAGE LAW? OSCE High Commissioner on
National Minorities Max van der Stoel reportedly criticized the Slovak
language law in a document that has not been made public. In an item
citing "reliable sources," the Hungarian daily Magyar Hirlap reports on
16 January that van der Stoel's most serious objection to the law is
that it terminates the act which had regulated the use of minority
languages in offices in Slovakia. He also noted that less money was
spent on minority printing press products and institutions in 1995 than
in 1994 although the Slovak Ministry of Culture was granted more funds
from the budget. Van der Stoel recommended that the ministry give the
responsibility of allocating funds to the minorities. -- Zsofia Szilagyi

[As of 12:00 CET]

Compiled by Steve Kettle


OMRI SPECIAL REPORT: PURSUING BALKAN PEACE
VOL. 1, PT. 2, 16 January 1996

KAPOSVAR SEEKS STATE SUBSIDIES FOR REPAIRS. The town of Kaposvar in
southern Hungary wants a 300 million forint ($2.1 million) state subsidy
to implement urgent infrastructural projects related to the deployment
of NATO peacekeeping troops, Magyar Hirlap reported on 12 January. The
Kaposvar municipality set up a working group to coordinate plans with
U.S. peacekeepers. The subsidy is designed to be spent on road
maintenance, construction and the building of a truck terminal outside
Kaposvar. -- Zsofia Szilagyi

Jan Urban is OMRI's special correspondent, currently in Sarajevo

Compiled by Patrick Moore