OMRI DAILY DIGEST
No. 129, 3 July 1996

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Note to readers:
Due to American and Czech holidays, the OMRI Daily Digest will not appear
on 4 and 5 July, 1996. OMRI Special Reports on the Russian presidential
election will, however, be published on both of these days.
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TWO LADIES IN POLAND. U.S. First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton
arrived in Poland on 2 July on the second leg of her East European
tour aimed at demonstrating U.S. support for new democracies in
the region, Polish media reported. She visited the former Nazi
death camp at Auschwitz to pay tribute to victims of the
Holocaust. On 3 July, she will meet with members of Polish
feminist organizations and visit a children's hospital before
traveling to the Czech Republic. Over the next few days, Ms.
Rodham Clinton is also to visit Slovakia, Hungary, Estonia, and
Finland. The same day, former British Prime Minister Lady Thatcher
also arrived in Poland for a three-day visit. She met with former
Prime Ministers Tadeusz Mazowiecki and Hanna Suchocka, both now in
opposition, and Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski. On 3
July, she is scheduled to receive an honorary degree from the
Economics University in Poznan, which receives funding from, among
others, the Know-How Fund established by Thatcher. -- Jakub
Karpinski

U.S. DEFENSE SECRETARY IN HUNGARY. William Perry, visiting
the Taszar air base on 2 July, said two IFOR armored battalions
will be withdrawn from Bosnia and replaced by U.S. military police
units, Hungarian and international media reported on 3 July. The
defense secretary said NATO has more than enough tanks and other
heavy armor in Bosnia to complete the peacekeeping mission.
According to other U.S. officials, the switch is designed to give
the NATO-led force more mobility and flexibility as it
increasingly focuses on overseeing the resettlement of refugees
and preparations for the September elections. Perry also said he
was confident the NATO-led military mission in Bosnia will end on
schedule in December. -- Zsofia Szilagyi

[As of 12:00 CET]

Compiled by Jan Cleave