OMRI DAILY DIGEST
No. 174,  September 1996


POPE ENCOURAGES HUNGARIANS. Pope John Paul II, appearing frail and
exhausted, visited Hungary on 6-7 September for the first time since
1991, Hungarian and international media reported. On the second day of
his visit, the pope celebrated mass in the western Hungarian city of
Gyor, drawing some 150,000 people despite bad weather. He asked
Hungarians not to be discouraged by economic and social difficulties,
including unemployment, impoverishment, and declining moral values. The
pope also held talks with Hungarian President Arpad Goncz and Prime
Minister Gyula Horn. Horn and the pope approved three agreements between
the Vatican and Hungary concerning state financing of churches,
restitution of church property, and the financing of church schools. It
was the pope's second visit to Hungary. -- Sharon Fisher and Petronella
Gaal

NEW HUNGARIAN INDUSTRY MINISTER APPOINTED. President Arpad Goncz on 6
September appointed Tamas Suchman as Industry and Trade Minister, AFP
reported. Suchman, 42, replaced Imre Dunai, a non-party technocrat who
resigned in mid-August (see OMRI Daily Digest, 16 August). In his new
post, Suchman -- a Socialist Party member who had overseen privatization
as minister without portfolio -- said he aims to promote exports and to
serve businesses rather than control them. Although the cabinet scrapped
the privatization portfolio, Suchman will continue to control
privatization. -- Sharon Fisher

VOJVODINA HUNGARIAN PARTY'S RESERVATIONS ABOUT COALITION POLITICS. The
Democratic Community of Hungarians in Voj-vodina (DZVM), during its
annual general meeting in Subotica on 7 September, resolved to stay out
of any coalitions heading into federal rump Yugoslav general elections
on 3 November. According to party leader Andras Agoston, joining a
coalition, which may include parties not advocating regional autonomy
for Vojvodina, may compromise the DZVM in its aim of promoting this
objective, Nasa Borba reported on 9 September. Agoston, however, did not
rule out coalition politics in local balloting to be held that same
date. In related news, Sandor Pal, in behind closed-door plenary
sessions that Nasa Borba reported went "late into the night," lost his
post as deputy head of the DZVM. -- Stan Markotich

ROMANIAN-HUNGARIAN MILITARY TREATY. Defense Minister Gheorghe Tinca and
his Hungarian counterpart Gyorgy Kelety on 6 September signed in Arad,
western Romania, a treaty providing for enhanced mutual trust and
security. The treaty, which expands on the measures provided for by the
1994 Vienna OSCE document, stipulates that the two states will notify
each other 42 days in advance on troop movements larger than one
battalion within a radius of 80 kilometers at their common border,
exchange information, and raise the frequency of mutual military
inspections while at the same time reducing early notification of
intended inspections. They are also to exchange observers at military
exercises and conduct two yearly joint maneuvers. The treaty is not
limited in time, and Radio Bucharest said it provides a proper
background for the signing of the basic treaty on 16 September. --
Michael Shafir


As of 1200 CET]

Compiled by Sharon Fisher