OMRI DAILY DIGEST
No. 13, 18 January 1996

SLOVAK OPPOSITION EXPRESSES CONCERN ABOUT TREATY WITH HUNGARY. Party of
the Democratic Left (SDL) deputy chairman Milan Ftacnik on 17 January
said that the ruling Movement for a Democratic Slovakia (HZDS) has
confirmed it is "in the tow of the nationalists." Ftacnik's statement
comes in the wake of the HZDS's decision to meet the conditions set by
its coalition partner, the Slovak National Party (SNS), for the
ratification of the Slovak-Hungarian treaty. Ftacnik noted that those
conditions could "devalue" the aim of the treaty, which was meant to
calm and stabilize relations with Budapest. Hungarian Christian
Democratic Movement deputy chairman Pal Csaky said the SNS's demand for
a bill on the protection of the republic was a "dangerous step" that
would remove Slovakia from "the family of democratic countries," Slovak
Radio reported. -- Sharon Fisher

SLOVAK PARLIAMENT CHAIRMAN MOST POPULAR POLITICIAN. A FOCUS agency poll
conducted in December showed that Ivan Gasparovicis is the country's
most popular politician, with 24.7% support, TASR reported on 17
January. Opposition SDL deputy chairwoman Brigita Schmoegnerova received
(23.3%) and President Michal Kovac (22.6%). Ethnic Hungarian Coexistence
chairman Miklos Duray drew the most negative responses (64.0%), followed
by Slovak Information Service director Ivan Lexa (50.2%), and
Association of Workers of Slovakia chairman Jan Luptak (48.7%). --
Sharon Fisher

HUNGARY TO JOIN OECD BY APRIL? Istvan Major, head of the Hungarian team
negotiating with the OECD, said Hungary may join the organization in
April, Hungarian media reported on 18 January. Negotiations over the
next few weeks will focus on questions of taxation, foreign exchange
regulations, international tax agreements, and exchange of tax
information. According to OECD officials, the issue of withholding
banking information in Hungary has to be resolved. OECD countries expect
banks of member countries to exchange information on clients suspected
of fraud; access to such information in Hungary is prohibited. -- Zsofia
Szilagyi

HUNGARIAN CABINET DISCUSSES SURPLUS PRIVATIZATION REVENUES.
Privatization Minister Tamas Suchman is urging the government to
allocate some of the surplus privatization revenues to infrastructure
development. The parliament in late December approved spending all
surplus revenues--some 285 billion forints ($2 billion)--on repaying the
foreign debt. But Hungary's coalition parties have been split over the
issue since last November; Finance Minister Lajos Bokros and Alliance of
Free Democrats are in favor of using the money to pay off the debt,
while most socialist deputies, including Prime Minister Gyula Horn, are
opposed. -- Zsofia Szilagyi

[As of 12:00 CET]

Compiled by Jan Cleave