OMRI DAILY DIGEST
No. 81, 25 April 1995

POLAND, HUNGARY TO COORDINATE NATO MEMBERSHIP EFFORTS. Polish Prime
Minister Jozef Oleksy, speaking during his two-day official visit to
Hungary, has said that Hungary and Poland will cooperate in their
efforts to join NATO and the European Union. His Hungarian counterpart,
Prime Minister Guyla Horn, noted that both Hungary and Poland regard the
process of joining NATO as "irreversible." Meanwhile, Hungarian Defense
Minister Gyorgy Keleti, who on 24 April began a three-day official visit
to Germany, discussed the inclusion of East European countries in NATO
with German Defense Minister Volker Ruhe. Hungarian and German media
quoted Ruhe as saying that Hungary's membership in the EU and NATO are
in Germany's interest. Ruhe also noted that Bonn feels an obligation to
help clear the way for Hungary to join both organizations. -- Jiri Pehe,
OMRI, Inc.

FBI TRAINING ACADEMY OPENS IN BUDAPEST. FBI and other federal agents
will start training 33 Hungarian, Czech, and Polish police officers at
the International Law Enforcement Academy in Budapest. The academy was
opened on 24 April. Hungarian and international media report that
policemen from 23 former communist countries will attend the eight-week
courses. "As crime becomes international, so crime prevention must turn
international," Hungarian Internal Affairs Minister Gabor Kuncze said at
the opening ceremony. U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno and FBI Director
Louis Freeh were prevented from attending the ceremony by the Oklahoma
bombing. Referring to the bombing, U.S. Ambassador Donald Blinken said
the "reasons are self-evident for opening such a facility." The
academy's faculty will initially consist of six teachers from the FBI
and other federal and state agencies. As the courses evolve, the staff
will become more international. -- Jiri Pehe, OMRI, Inc.

CONTROVERSY OVER EDUCATION IN SLOVAKIA. Ethnic Hungarian teachers and
parents, meeting in the southern Slovak town of Komarno on 23 April,
have issued an open letter to Slovak officials and citizens criticizing
the government's preparations for "alternative" (bilingual) education.
They also raised objections to the recent law on educational
administration, which grants the Ministry of Education the authority to
appoint school directors, and called for educational autonomy and
collective rights. Democratic Union Deputy Chairman Roman Kovac, at a
press conference on 25 April, said his party does not support
educational autonomy for Hungarians living in southern Slovakia, since
the region is mixed, not "ethnically clean." Michal Kovacic, who heads
the Teachers' Forum of Slovakia and attended the meeting in Komarno,
told Sme that the problems of Slovak and Hungarian teachers "are
practically identical" and that both groups are opposed to the law on
educational administration. -- Sharon Fisher, OMRI, Inc.

STOLEN JEWISH ART RETURNED TO BUDAPEST MUSEUM. Gen. Ion Pitulescu, head
of the Romanian General Police Inspectorate, on 23 April handed over the
remainder of a collection of Jewish art treasures stolen from a Budapest
synagogue in December 1993, Radio Bucharest reported. Most of the
artifacts were found in Romania and returned in August 1994. According
to Hungarian National Police Chief Sandor Pinter, more than 30 gold and
silver artworks and religious objects from the 16th to 18th centuries
were returned on 23 April alone. Hungarian Jewish leader Gusztav Zoltai
said the treasures, worth hundreds of millions of dollars, have to be
restored before going on display in the Budapest Jewish Museum later
this year. Pitulescu, at a ceremony in Budapest marking the return of
the stolen artworks, seized the opportunity to praise cooperation
between the Romanian and Hungarian police in general. -- Dan Ionescu,
OMRI, Inc.

[As of 12:00 CET]

Compiled by Jan Cleave

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Tuesday, 25 April 1995
Volume 2, Issue 80

  
REGIONAL NEWS
-------------

**HUNGARIAN, POLISH PRIME MINISTERS MEET IN BUDAPEST**
  Hungarian Prime Minister Gyula Horn said Hungary and Poland
  hope the process of joining NATO will be irreversible.  Horn
  made that comment yesterday, at a joint news conference with
  Poland's new Prime Minister Jozef Oleksy, who was in Budapest
  on his first official trip as premier.  Oleksy said yesterday
  that Warsaw and Budapest have agreed that their future
  membership in NATO and links with the European Union are top
  priorities.  But Horn also said the two prime ministers are
  warning the leaders of NATO countries not to slam the door on
  future close cooperation between them and Russia.  Russia has
  repeatedly objected to NATO's expansion, but Russian Prime
  Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin told Hungarians in April of last
  year that it was up to them to decide whether they wanted
  membership in the alliance.  But Horn said Russian leaders
  have told him their country threatens neither Hungary's
  security nor that of any other central or east European
  country, so there's no reason for them to join NATO.  Horn
  said his reply is that Hungary is threatened by other "risk
  factors".


**WESTERN AGENCIES TRAIN CENTRAL EUROPEAN CRIMEFIGHTERS**
  The long arm of American law is reaching across the Atlantic.
  The FBI and three other federal law enforcement agencies
  joined forces yesterday to open an International Law
  Enforcement Academy in Budapest which will train police in
  central and east European countries to fight a rising tide of
  organized crime.  The center's first 33 students, from
  Hungary, Poland and the Czech Republic began an eight-week
  course after the opening ceremonies.  Most of them are middle
  managers who'll run their departments in five to 10 years.
  They'll learn about the financial aspects of organized crime,
  human rights, interaction with the community and how to use
  forensic science.  The next session won't start until this
  January, when a planned expansion of the school should be
  finished.  That'll cost about $3 million.  The U.S. will pick
  up two thirds of that and cover the expenses of the academy's
  instructors who will come from the FBI, Secret Service, Drug
  Enforcement Administration and Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and
  Firearms.  Organized crime has taken hold in central and
  eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union and now has
  considerable influence over the region's privatized economies
  and even the governments of some countries.  William Baugh is
  the assistant director of the FBI's information management
  division.

  "Wherever there's money and movement there's going to be
  different types of organized crime and we along with other
  police agencies are watching, concerned and addressing it."

  Hungarian Interior Minister Gabor Kuncze is also concerned, even
  though, he said crime in general hasn't gotten much worse
  since the fall of communism.

  "Statistics demonstrate that in the past two years, in 1993 and
  '94, the crime rate didn't increase in Hungary.  On the other
  hand, it's true that the composition of criminal acts has
  changed recently and the proportion of international crime has
  increased."

  In fact, there have even been shootouts between gangs on
  Budapest streets, something unheard of a few years ago,
  because organized crime was largely supressed under communism.
  The FBI decided to open the academy in Budapest because of its
  central location and because it offered the best facilities.


**RISING TREND ON BUDAPEST EXCHANGE**
  Prices advanced for the fifth session in a row on the Budapest
  bourse as investors acquired more Hungarian stocks.  The BUX
  index ended up 20.02, at 1,304.91 points, the highest level
  since late January.  Fotex made a major deal for 1.5 million
  units at almost $1.50 per share and Richter hit a new high of
  $16.31.  Despite these gains, traders doubt the trend will
  continue.


**HUNGARY'S NATIONAL BANK OPTIMISTIC ABOUT AUSTERITY**
  The National Bank of Hungary expects the current account
  deficit to be $1.5 billion this first quarter and close at
  $2.5 billion in the first half of 1995.  But according to
  Sandor Czirjak, one of the banks five vice-presidents, the
  deficit will be smaller in the second half of the year with
  even the possibility of a surplus.  Hungarian authorities have
  devalued the forint by 9 percent and have hiked custom duties
  to reduce imports and encourage exports.  Measures have also
  been taken to reduce domestic consumption.  The latest figure
  published shows January's current account deficit at $471
  million dollars.



ANALYSIS
--------

**AMBASSADOR RECALLS HUNGARY'S FINAL RED DAYS**
  By Duncan Shiels
  
  Sir John Birch, Britain's Ambassador to Hungary, is retiring
  next month, after serving in Budapest since the summer of
  1989.  The posting was something of a return to familiar
  pastures for the ambassador, who was number two at the UK
  Embassy in Hungary's capital from 1980 to '83, when east-west
  tension was at its height.  Six years later, he said, the city
  had a very different atmosphere.

  Sir John:  When I came back in the summer of '89, it was very
  clear that things were on the boil.  The Party was in very
  deep trouble.  People were no longer frightened to say more or
  less exactly what they thought, whereas in the past people
  were hesitant in coming and telling us things.  I found people
  knocking on our doors saying, "Hello, nice to see you're back.
  Let me tell you what's going on here".  And it was a very
  exciting and dramatic time.  I have to say that as someone
  who'd grown up to believe that a Communist Party would never
  willingly let go of power, I still had to pinch myself in '89
  to really believe that the one-party system was going to come
  to an end.

  CET:  Like many Hungarians at the time.

  Sir John:  Well, I think so.

  CET:  That does make Hungary different, doesn't it?  In that the
  people didn't have to take to the streets for it to happen?

  Sir John:  No, I think Hungary played an absolutely key role. It
  was a velvet revolution, there was no bloodshed.  It's really
  a very good commentary on the wisdom and maturity of the
  Hungarian people.

  CET:  And the Communist Party leadership?

  Sir John:  Well, I think it was, yes. I mean some may have
  regretted it, but they saw the whole thing slipping away and
  the Party split in October of '89.

  CET:  What stands out for you in that year of 1989?  What events
  will remain in your memory?

  Sir John:  Well, I think one of the big events was the re-burial
  of Imre Nagy, when Viktor Orban, now leader of FIDESZ, a young
  man, very bravely demanded that the Russian troops should
  leave Hungary.  And this was sort of blasphemy.  And I think
  that there were mothers there who were frightened that the
  police would come and grab him, or that the Russians would. 
  And that was, I think, a very brave and important statement.

  CET:  What was your job, as ambassador, during this period?

  Sir John:  Well, one thing it wasn't was to try to influence the
  course of events.  It was up to the Hungarian people to decide
  how things would come out.  What we did was try to ensure that
  the process should be a peaceful one.

  CET:  In practical terms what did that mean?

  Sir John:  Well, in practical terms, I talked of course to the
  Party and the government, but we talked to almost everyone
  that was involved in the coming new democracy.  Lots of them
  were very new faces.  There was a great splurge of new
  political organizations, having been prevented for 40 years.
  All kinds of funny parties grew up and we wanted to make sure
  that we were in touch with and talked with the key players and
  come out at the end on terms and knowing the people who'd been
  the main players in the process.

  CET:  And were you fairly successful in that?

  Sir John:  Yes, I think we were.  I think that when Antall
  finally announced his Cabinet, whatever it was, 15, I knew 10
  of them personally from before.
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date=4/25/95
type=correspondent report
number=2-177529
title= Hungary/Economy (l only)
byline= Barry Wood
dateline= Prague
content=
voiced at:

Intro:  The "World Economic Forum," a prestigious Swiss based
organization of business and academic leaders, is holding a two
day session on the Hungarian economy in Budapest.  V-o-A's Barry
Wood reports the foreign business community is looking for
assurances that free market reform in Hungary will be speeded up.

Text:  Prime minister Gyula Horn addressed the opening session of
the forum, attended by about 100 foreign and Hungarian business
representatives.  On Wednesday, the finance minister and Central
Bank chief will discuss economic policy, emphasizing what they
regard as the decisive measures unveiled on March 12th.  The
centerpiece of that package was a nine percent currency
devaluation and an eight percent import surcharge.

The business community is disappointed that the privatization and
reform momentum developed since 1989 was lost during the first
ten months of the new government of Mr. Horn, a former communist.

That drift culminated at the beginning of this year when the
finance minister, privatization commissioner and Central Bank
chief were either ousted or resigned in disputes over the pace of
reform.  Mr. Horn alienated much of the business community when
he overturned a previously approved privatization of Hungary's
leading hotel chain.

However, with the appointments in February of well known
reformers to the Central Bank and finance posts, the government
has argued that reform is back on track. Government officials
hope the world economic forum session will achieve the objective
of boosting investor confidence.  Hungary has attracted more
foreign direct investment than any other post-communist country.

The International Monetary Fund has made further loans
conditional on Hungary adopting tough measures to reduce the
budget deficit.  The cash shortfall is expected to equal eight
percent of economic output this year, an increase from the
already high level of 1994.  The I-M-F wants the budget deficit
reduced to five percent of output.

The Hungarian privatization program is apparently moving forward
again.  The government has called for bids on the famous Gerbeaud
Palace, the home of Budapest's legendary confectionary shop on
the city's main square.  Bidders have until June seventh to bid
over ten million dollars for the neo-classical building which has
been dispensing coffee and sweets since 1870.  (Signed)

neb/bdw/mh/mmk

25-Apr-95 12:38 pm edt (1638 utc)
nnnn

source: Voice of America

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A tovabbterjesztest a New York-i szekhelyu Magyar Emberi Jogok
Alapitvany tamogatja.

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           [*]   [*]  [*]   [*]  [*]  [*]  [*]    
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Reposting is supported by Hungarian Human Rights Foundation News
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*****************************************************************