RADIO FREE EUROPE/RADIO LIBERTY, PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC
________________________________________________________
RFE/RL NEWSLINE Vol 2, No. 205, 22 October 1998

SLOVAK PARTY WANTS ETHNIC HUNGARIANS IN COALITION...
Robert Fico, the deputy chairman of the Party of the
Democratic Left (SDL), said on 21 October that the SDL
wants the Hungarian Coalition Party (SMK) in the
government, TASR reported. Fico said talks on forming a
government have been "complicated and difficult" but
that the SDL wants the ruling coalition to have 93 seats
in the parliament, meaning it wants all four parties
involved in the negotiations to be included in the
government. Ninety seats are required for the three-
fifths majority necessary to change the constitution.
Fico also announced that SDL chairman Jozef Migas will
be nominated as parliamentary chairman. PB

...BUT HUNGARIANS DON'T FEEL WANTED. Bela Bugar, the
chairman of the SMK, said on 21 October that the SDL
continues to hamper negotiations on forming a government
by insisting on a greater proportion of ministerial
posts, CTK reported. Bugar said the SDL "wants to have
more ministers than it is entitled to according to the
election results." He added that the ethnic Hungarian
party will "not sign the coalition agreement at any
cost." Bugar hinted that the SMK's inclusion in the
government is crucial to Slovakia catching up to its
neighbors in the integration process. "Everyone should
realize that our participation in the government ranks
among the conditions of the resumption of our EU entry
negotiations." Mikulas Dzurinda, the chairman of the
Slovak Democratic Coalition and likely prime minister in
the new government, agreed that the talks have been
protracted, adding that "the people expect more from
us." PB

PRIME MINISTERS REVIVE VISEGRAD GROUP IN BUDAPEST.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and his Czech and
Polish counterparts, Milos Zeman and Jerzy Buzek, agreed
on 21 October in Budapest to resume the Visegrad Group
to coordinate the three countries' bid to join the EU
and NATO. The premiers agreed to meet at least twice a
year and welcomed the possibility of Slovakia's return
to the group. Orban said cooperation will be extended to
the spheres of culture and telecommunications. The
Visegrad Group was formed in 1991 when the presidents of
Czechoslovakia, Hungary, and Poland met in Visegrad,
Hungary, and agreed to a framework of cooperation to
integrate with Western Europe. MSZ

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