RFE/RL NEWSLINE 
Vol. 1, No. 135, 9 October 1997

UKRAINE, HUNGARY OPEN NATO MISSIONS. Ukraine and Hungary on
8 October became the first non-NATO countries to establish missions
accredited to the Western alliance, ITAR-TASS reported. Ukrainian
Ambassador Boris Tarasiuk presented his credentials to NATO
Secretary-General Javier Solana during a meeting of the alliance
council on 8 October. In his presentation speech, Tarasiuk reaffirmed
Ukraine's desire for gradual integration into European and Euro-
Atlantic institutions.

NEW NATO MEMBERS TO CONTRIBUTE 4 PERCENT OF BUDGET? Citing
unnamed NATO sources, the Hungarian daily "Vilaggazdasag" on 9
October reported that an agreement has been reached among NATO
members that the alliance's three new member countries--Hungary,
Poland, and the Czech Republic--will together contribute 4 percent of
the alliance's budget. The daily said this would amount to $12 million
annually for Budapest.

HUNGARIAN FOREIGN MINISTER IN ROMANIA. Laszlo Kovacs and his
Romanian counterpart, Adrian Severin, headed the first meeting of
the joint commission supervising the implementation of the 1996
basic treaty, RFE/RL's Bucharest bureau reported. The meeting took
the joint commission supervising the implementation of the 1996
basic treaty, RFE/RL's Bucharest bureau reported. The meeting took
place in the Romanian capital on 8 October. The commission agreed
that representatives of the ethnic Hungarian and Romanian
minorities should participate in discussions of the sub-commission
supervising the implementation of the treaty's provisions on national
minority rights. The nine sub-commissions discussed the "strategic
partnership" between the two countries, integration into Euro-
Atlantic structures, and the fight against organized crime. Kovacs also
met with President Emil Constantinescu.

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