OMRI DAILY DIGEST
No. 99, 23 May 1995

EU FINANCE MINISTERS MEET WITH EAST EUROPEAN COUNTERPARTS . . . European
Union finance ministers held the first formal talks with their Central
and East European counterparts on 22 May, international agencies
reported. Discussions focused on the EU Commission white paper outlining
how EU applicants can bring their legislation and institutions into line
with EU standards. French Finance Minister Alain Madelin, who holds the
EU's rotating Presidency, said Eastern Europe has made considerable
progress but some countries have a longer way to go than others. British
Chancellor of the Exchequer Kenneth Clarke commented there is still much
to be done by both the EU and the applicants. Ministers from Bulgaria,
the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland,
Romania, and Slovakia attended the session. The white paper is expected
to be approved at the EU summit in June. -- Michael Mihalka, OMRI, Inc.

[As of 12:00 CET]

Compiled by Jan Cleave

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A tovabbterjesztest a New York-i szekhelyu Magyar Emberi Jogok
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Tuesday, 23 May 1995
Volume 2, Issue 99

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

**RECORD HEROIN BUST IN SLOVAKIA**
  The Slovak Interior Ministry announced yesterday that Slovak
  customs officials seized 227 pounds of heroin at the
  Slovak-Hungarian border.  The Saturday night bust by drug
  inspection officers is the biggest ever in Slovakia.  The 102
  packages of heroin found in a secret compartment in the back
  of a German-registered truck have a street value of more
  than $16 million.  The driver of the truck, a 48-year-old
  Turkish man, has been taken into custody.  This is the second
  heroin bust at the Medvedov border crosing this year.  In
  February, two Bulgarians were arrested there with 45 pounds of
  heroin.  The pattern hasn't gone unnoticed, at least by crime
  fighters.  Interpol General Secretary Raymond Edward Kendall
  visited Slovakia at the end of March and announced that
  Bratislava was an ideal location for distributors of illegal
  drugs because of its strategic position between eastern and
  western Europe. --Caroline Smrstik


BUSINESS NEWS
-------------

**HUNGARY'S TELECOM PRIVATIZATION UNDERWAY**
  The U.S. investment bank CS First Boston was chosen yesterday
  as advisor to the Hungarian government on the privatization of
  its Matav telecommunications company.  CS First Boston is in
  favor of selling a small stake of shares this year followed by
  a much larger offering next year.  CS First Boston together
  with Germany's Deutsche Bank beat two other international
  consortia in a tender of bids submitted in April.  Some 40
  percent of Matav is due to be privatized. That would be the
  region's biggest privatization so far. The government will
  keep 25 percent plus one share.  Thirty percent was sold to a
  consortium of Deutsche Bundespost Telekom and Ameritech Corp
  of the U.S. in December of 1993. But Peter Kadas, director of
  CS First Boston in Budapest, is warning that the government
  will still have the final decision on whether it wants to
  follow CS First Boston's advice.  The Hungarian government has
  budgeted for $1.2 billion worth of privatization revenue this
  year.


**HUNGARY TO OPEN OIL FIELDS**
  Hungary's petrochemical company MOL said it will start building
  17 new gas wells in two fields in the southwestern part of the
  country on June 1.  MOL spokesman Denes Buda said that one
  group of wells will be operational in 1996 and finish
  producing in 2000 while another will start supplying gas in
  1997 and will be exhausted in 2002.  The wells will operate in
  a so-called closed system that reduces pollution.



SURVEY
------

**HUNGARIAN LAW REDUCES GOVERNMENT SECRECY**
  By David Fink

  Hungary's parliament will begin examining legislation this
  week on classifying government information.  The bill defines
  166 types of information as secret and determines who can
  declare a document secret.  CET spoke about the bill with Peter
  Hack, the chairman of parliament's Constitutional Committee.

  CET:  Under this legislation, several areas affecting business
  including proposals for new tariffs and taxes would be kept
  secret.  What is the rational for this?

  Hack:  Several times it's happened that the government had to
  choose between several options and it's not always in the
  interest of the government that all these options should be
  public.  It could decrease confusion among business community.
  The government's aim that the information that left the
  government would be clarified and supported by full government
  and not just officers or some clerks in a government office.

  CET:  So at what point then would tax and tariff proposals
  become public?

  Hack:  Taxes should be in public law.  So if there is a
  proposal to change taxes, then the government should consider
  the different options, and choose among different options and
  send to parliament, then immediately it becomes public.

  CET:  On the whole do you think this bill increases or
  decreases the amount of information that's classified as
  secret?

  Hack:  The present situation is that anybody can classify
  almost anything they want.  This law, will definitely reduce
  the number of cases that are classified.

  CET:  Now I understand that last year the Constitutional Court
  invalidated the existing law on secrecy.  Why is that?

  Hack:  Because of what I mentioned.  In the present situation
  there are not clear regulations on who and what can classify
  information and this situation gives too much power to the
  government to keep things, that should be public information,
  confidential.  I think this legislation is more or less in
  harmony with the Constitutional Court.  The Free Democrats
  will introduce amendments to make the law more closely follow
  the Constitutional Court's decision.

  CET:  Could you be a little more specific about what these
  amendments entail?

  Hack:  One of them we suggest to put into law is a special
  commission to oversee the classified information.  We need
  some some kind of control agency which can supervise the
  decision of the government and work as an appeal organization.
  So if you as a journalist think it's not right that
  information is kept secret you can appeal to the commission.

  CET:  What actually are the penalties for violating the law.
  If a journalist for instance were to print something that is
  classified?

  Hack:  I don't know it by heart, it's in the criminal code.  In
  the most serious case its imprisonment up to eight years.  For
  national security issues not minor issues.  It's a serious
  crime anywhere in the world.



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-----------------

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

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Reposting is supported by Hungarian Human Rights Foundation News
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Press Release (95)46                             22 may 1995

                1995 PARTNERSHIP FOR PEACE EXERCISES

     During 1995 NATO will conduct about 11 Partnership for
Peace military exercises, compared to the 3 conducted last
autumn in the first year of the partnership. Land exercises
are planned in several Partner and Allied countries, including
for the first time in North America.  A number of air and sea
exercises are also scheduled.  The training will continue to
emphasise peacekeeping, humanitarian operations and search and
rescue.

                Major SHAPE NATO-PfP Exercises 1995

Nickname                    Form/Type Dates     Area/Location


COOPERATIVE RESCUE            Sea       7 June       Bulgaria

COOPERATIVE MERMAID-CLASSICA  Sea       Nov.     Mediterranean
                                                           sea

COOPERATIVE PARTNER           Sea       10-15 Sept.   Bulgaria

COOPERATIVE DETERMINATION     Land      7-16 Sept.     Romania

COOPERATIVE JAGUAR            Land, Sea,  2-13 Oct.   Jutland/
                                                      Denmark/
                              Air             Baltic/Skagerrak

COOPERATIVE DRAGON-ESPERIA    Land      18-28 Oct.       Italy

COOPERATIVE LIGHT             Land      12-24 Oct.     Hungary

COOPERATIVE CHALLENGE         Land      26 Sept.-        Czech
                                        6 Oct.        Republic


               Major SACLANT NATO-PfP Exercises 1995

Nickname                    Form/Type Dates    Area/Location


COOPERATIVE NUGGET          Land      6-28 Aug.   Louisiana,
                                                        USA

COOPERATIVE VENTURE         Sea      4-18 Sept.     Norwegian/
                                                  Barents Sea

COOPERATIVE SUPPORT         Logistic  25-29 Sept.    Norfolk,
                                                         USA


     More details about each exercise will be announced by
separate press releases before the exercise starts.  For
further information please call SHAPE PIO (tel. int'l 32-
65-44 4119) or SACLANT PIO (tel. int'l 1-804-445-3227)

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

           [*]   [*]  [*]   [*]  [*][*]    [*][*][*]
           [*]   [*]  [*]   [*]  [*]  [*]  [*]
           [*][*][*]  [*][*][*]  [*][*]    [*][*] 
           [*]   [*]  [*]   [*]  [*]  [*]  [*]    
           [*]   [*]  [*]   [*]  [*]   [*] [*]

Reposting is supported by Hungarian Human Rights Foundation News
and Information Service.
*****************************************************************