RFE/RL DAILY REPORT
                   NO. 222, 23 NOVEMBER 1994


NOTICE TO READERS: The Daily Report will not appear on 24 and
25 November.


HUNGARIAN NATIONAL BANK CHIEF RESIGNS. President of the
Hungarian National Bank Akos Peter Bod has resigned as of 14
December because of political tensions between him and the
ruling Hungarian Socialist Party. Bod was appointed under the
previous administration for six years. Hungarian Prime
Minister Gyula Horn has accepted his resignation. Bod is to
become Hungary's executive president of the European Bank for
Reconstruction and Development effective 1 January 1995.
Judith Pataki, RFE/RL, Inc.

HUNGARY INTRODUCES NATIONWIDE CLEARING SYSTEM. A nationwide
clearing system connecting all Hungarian banks was installed
on 18 November, Magyar Hirlap reports. The system allows
money to be transferred immediately; such transfers have
until now taken up to ten days. The system--the largest in
Hungary and the first of its kind in Eastern Europe--was
installed after several delays. Judith Pataki, RFE/RL, Inc.

[As of 1200 CET]

(Compiled by Penny Morvant and Jan Cleave)
Copyright 1994, RFE/RL, Inc. All rights reserved.

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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
and Information Service.
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Vegul mara is harom resz maradt. Elnezest!

Buchwald Amy
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N E W S E T T E R 
 

Republic of Hungary                Budapest, 1394 . 423
Ministry of Foreign Affairs     Telephone:36(1)156-8000
Press Department                Telefax: 36(1) 156-3801
522/1994.                    Budapest, October 31, 1994

Hungarian Press Review

     Budapest, October 28 (MTI) - ACCORDING to the
Hungarian Ministry of Health, abortion is not an
effective means of birth control, Minister of Health Pal
Kovacs said in an interview with the daily "Kur!r", in
the Friday issue.

     Therefore, the health leadership plans to create a
welfare policy which will ease the financial burdens
brought on by raising children. This guideline does not,
however, exclude the procedures used to prevent
pregnancies.

     The Budapest World Expo planned for 1996 could be
the first public test of a democratic Hungary before the
international community, according to MP, and former
foreign minister, Geza Jeszenszky of the Hungarian
Democratic Forum in an interview with "Magyar
H!rlap". (The Hungarian government submitted a bill to
Parliament to cancel the Expo, based on the lack of
financial resources.)

     "Many people believe Hungarian conditions to be
worse than their reality," Jeszenszky said, adding that
the Expo would be geared not only to the West, but would
also serve as model and an attractive force for other
countries undergoing transformation.

     The daily "Nepszabadsag" has learned from American
sources that the White House is not satisfied with the
progress of the ongoing Conference on Security and
Cooperation in Europe (CSCE) Review Conference in
Budapest. On Thursday, a high-ranking American
official who wished to remain anonymous said in "The New
York Times" that U.S. President Bill Clinton would
probably not attend the pan-European summit in Budapest
in early December, as Washington does not believe that
the basis for the future of the CSCE can be clarified by
that time.

     Based on American sources, the daily writes that
the White House will begin another series of
consultations on the future of the CSCE, and NATO. The
word "conference" in the name of the organization should
be replaced with "community", which expresses a greater
institutional character. Washington does not agree with
the "dissolution" of NATO into a modernized pan-European
security system. Another goal of the White House talks
is to form the possibilities for the enlargement of
NATO, the daily writes.

Government Approves 1995 Budget Bill

     Budapest, October 28 (MTI-ECONEWS) - AT its meeting
on Thursday, the government approved the 1995 budget
bill which contains a GFS current budget deficit target
of HUF 282.7 billion, which excludes repayments of
principal debt, government spokeswoman Evelyn Forro told
the press late on Thursday.

     The central budget's principal debt repayment
obligations will be HUF 160bn next year.

     The deficit target is the equivalent of 5.5 per
cent of next year's estimated GDP of HUF 5,140bn.

     The cabinet is to submit the budget bill to
Parliament on Monday and it is scheduled to be debated
in December. Forro declined to disclose further details
of the contents of the budget on the grounds that the
Interest Coordination Council had not yet received the
document. However, she revealed that the general reserve
figure in next year's budget was HUF 17bn, as compared
to HUF 25bn this year.

     The government also adopted next year's tax changes
but Forro was not authorized to provide any detailed
information.

     The Finance Ministry earlier presented two options
on profit tax: an 18pc or 20pc tax on retained earnings
with a 22pc tax on dividends, or a 30pc tax on retained
earnings and 10pc tax on dividends with wide-ranging
allowances for investment. Forro would not reveal if
either of these two options were adopted at the meeting.
The current rate of profit tax is 36pc.

* * *

     Budapest, October 28 (MTI-ECONEWS) - THE government
has decided to abolish the full personal income tax
allowance on social security and unemployment fund
contributions. Next year, only 25pc of these
contributions will be tax deductible. The government
also plans to introduce a special tax on company cars
used for private purposes. Budget-run organizations
will, however, be exempt from this tax.

     From next year, the government proposes that VAT
refunds on building materials for home construction will
be scrapped and replaced by much-increased support based
on the number of children in the potential home
builder's family. This would be HUF 200,000 for a family
with one child, HUF 1.2m for a two-child family and HUF
2.2m for a three-child family. As these allowances have,
in principle, already been included in a government
decree, the levels of support do not have to be approved
by Parliament and can come into force five days after
their publication in "Magyar Kozlony", the official
gazette.


Hungarian MPs Visit NATO


     Budapest, October 28 (MTI) - HUNGARY seeks to
become integrated into Europe and a member of NATO
simultaneously, and neither effort is conceivable
without the other, Imre Mecs, Chairman of the Defence
Committee of Parliament, told a news conference in
Budapest today.

     This week Mecs headed a six-party parliamentary
delegation to Western Europe and NATO Headquarters in
Brussels. The visit was organized by the U.S.
Information Agency and the U.S. mission to NATO.

     The delegation held talks with senior
representatives of NATO's political and military
organizations.

     The Hungarian MPs visited Gelsenkirchen, where the
AWACS aircraft operating in Europe are based , and the
Aviano air base from where aircraft would have been
deployed against Hungary in case of a conflict during
the Cold War.

     "The Alliance supports Hungary in its attempt at
integration so we have a reasonable chance of joining
NATO in the foreseeable future," Mecs said.

     "Our delegation had to dispel the concerns that
emerged among our western partners after Hungary had
stayed away from a recent NATO military exercise in
Poland and maneuvers held in the Netherlands as part of
the peace partnership scheme," Mecs said.

     The Defence Committee will make a proposal to the
Cabinet and Parliament that in the future Hungary should
join all similar NATO military exercises , he said.

     Zsolt Lanyi (Independent Smallholders' Party)
pressed for the West to give a defence guarantee to
Hungary as soon as possible.

     Janos Molnar (Hungarian Socialist Party) said that
no delicate issues had been raised during the talks.
"Our negotiating partners were sincere and considered
Hungary as a future partner," he said.

* * * *

     Budapest, October 28 (MTI) - THE delegation was
accompanied during its tour by Philip T. Reeker, deputy
press attach of the U.S. Embassy in Budapest. Asked
about the recent New York Times article on accelerating
the admission of Eastern and Central European states to
NATO, he said, "while in Berlin, Vice-President Al Gore
asked the Allies to examine the possibility of enlarging
the Alliance. Talks on the idea are to start this
autumn. The article was obviously a reaction to this
initiative."

     Concerning the date of admission, Reeker cited
President Clinton as saying, "there is no doubt that
NATO will be enlarged. The only question is when and
how."

Hungarian Foreign State Secretary in Canada


     Washington, October 29 (MTI) - THE Canadian
government makes a favourable approach to the idea of
enlarging NATO. Its keen interest in Europe is duly
reflected by the recent announcement that Canadian Prime
Minister Jean Chretien will attend the Budapest
summit of the CSCE, Hungarian Administrative State
Secretary of Foreign Affairs Ferenc Somogyi told MTI
after his two-day visit to Canada.

     Whilst in Canada, Somogyi met the first deputies of
the foreign minister, senior defence and international
trade ministry officials, and an advisor to the prime
minister.

     Somogyi said his negotiating partners confirmed
Canada's interest in developing political and economic
ties with Hungary. The idea that the Canadian ministers
of international trade and defence would visit Hungary
was also raised, he said.

     The political talks focussed on issues related to
the CSCE and NATO, including cooperation under the peace
partnership scheme. Somogyi concluded that Canada would
see the enlargement of NATO as a positive development
and welcome Hungary among the members of the Alliance.

     Somogyi said Canada agreed that the CSCE should
play a major role in the European security structures,
in crisis prevention, and, returning to its original
functions, in humanitarian and economic affairs.

     The sides agreed that the CSCE's relationship with
other international organizations and institutions
should be exactly defined. "It would be a mistake to try
to proclaim the CSCE as an organization superior to all
others," the state secretary said.

     Somogyi is to leave Ottawa for New York and then
hold talks in Washington.


Hungarian FM on Instability in Eastern Europe


     Budapest, October 29 (MTI) - "INSTABILITY in
Eastern Europe poses an obstacle to the emergence of a
single Europe," Hungarian Foreign Minister Laszlo Kovacs
told the students of a diplomat-training institute in
Kaposvar today.

     The minister attributes instability to the absence
of fully developed party structures in the region, which
implies a relatively grave danger of party splits. "In a
situation when economic hardship generates serious
social tensions, there is a danger that an unknown
demagogue leader comes to power," Kovacs said.

     Nationalism and the ambition to create united
nation states may trigger clashes between nations. The
massive wave of refugees and terrorism may also increase
instability, the minister said.

     "The Central and Eastern European countries still
seem to be competing with one another for admission to
the European integration organizations. Hungary,
however, has an interest in NATO being joined by as many
East European countries as possible," Kovacs said.

     "If we wish to create a single Europe, ethnic
tensions should be eliminated in Central and Eastern
Europe, and inter-state relations improved. In a move to
promote modernization and stabilization, the West should
extend integration to the eastern part of the continent,
and the system of European security and cooperation
should be adjusted to the new challenge," the foreign
minister said.

* * *

     Budapest, October 29 (MTI) - THE foreign minister
analysed in detail Hungary's policy towards its
minorities. He emphasized Hungary's interest in
concluding basic treaties with its neighbours as soon as
possible. Kovacs announced that, in the next round of
talks on the European Stability Agreement to be held in
Vienna on November 2, Germany would mediate in the
elaboration of the Hungarian-Romanian basic treaty. The
mediation will take place under a German initiative,
Kovacs said.

     Kovacs said Hungary welcomes this mediation and
holds it important for the further treaties as well. On
November 2, however, it can only be outlined what role
the European Union may play in the drafting of the basic
treaties. The Hungarian delegation will give briefs on
what policy Hungary seeks to pursue towards its
minorities and how it wants to fix it in the bilateral
basic treaties, including the Hungarian-Romanian one,
the foreign minister said.

Havel Interview - Hungarian Television


     Budapest, October 30 (MTI) - CZECH President Vaclav
Havel, who will visit Hungary on November 1-2,
emphasized the two countries' common tasks and
objectives in an interview aired by Hungarian Television
on Sunday night.

     In his capacity as President of the Czech Republic,
Havel will pay his first visit to Budapest.

     "First and foremost we have the common desire of
becoming equal members of democratic Europe and joining
the European Union and NATO. We have identified
ourselves with the fundamental values of this world. We
are constructing a democratic political system and a
market economy. We are open to the world and wish to
make ourselves attractive to Western investors. We
promote trade and strive to be on good terms with our
neighbours because this is a fundamental interest of our
countries. It happened quite frequently in history
that the Central European countries were not on the best
terms with one another. Since these conflicts hit all of
them, they have a vested interest in developing the best
possible ties. These are fundamental requirements that
connect us, no matter whether a country is governed by a
left-wing, a right-wing or a centrist government," Havel
said.

N  E  W  S  L E  T  T  E  R

Republic of Hungary                 Budapest, 1394 . 423
Ministry of Foreign Affairs        Telephone:36(1)156-80

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N  E  W  S  L  E  T  T  E  R

Republic of Hungary                Budapest, 1394 . 423
Ministry of Foreign Affairs     Telephone:36(1)156-8000
Press Department                Telefax: 36(1) 156-3801
523/1994.                   Budapest, November 01, 1994



Hungarian Press: Nepszabadsag and Magyar H!rlap


     Budapest, October 31 (MTI) - IN the daily
NEPSZABADSAG, Foreign Minister Laszlo Kovacs said that an
important accomplishment of the Horn government in its
first 100 days of office had been that it had made
immediate efforts to allay distrust and tension in
Hungarian-Slovak and Hungarian-Romanian relations while
at the same time increasing the confidence of
Hungarian organizations beyond the border. In Kovacs's
view, the parliamentary opposition often criticizes the
Ministry groundlessly. (4. page)

     According to an opinion poll carried out by Szonda
Ipsos in October, the number of Hungarian Socialist Party
supporters has dropped by 2 per cent over the past month,
while the number of Alliance of Free Democrats adherents
has risen by two per cent. Still, the Socialists have
twice as many supporters as the Free Democrats. The ratio
of those backing the Hungarian Democratic Forum has
fallen by 3 per cent, but those with a negative view of
the party are also fewer, NEPSZABADSAG says. (page 7)

     Just as throughout the past four years, government
and opposition parties still cannot see each other as
well-intentioned, Speaker of Hungarian Parliament Zoltan
Gal, of the Hungarian Socialist Party (HSP), said in an
interview for NEPSZABADSAG. The Socialists are
still seen by many as not quite fit for good society. Gal
felt that problems within the HSP do not
threaten a split in the party, only its future. (page 15)

     Janos Latorcai - candidate for the post of Budapest
mayor backed jointly by opposition parties Hungarian
Democratic Forum, Christian Democratic People's Party,
and the Federation of Young Democrats - believes that
public security and morals should be improved in Budapest
first of all. He suggests that a long-term programme be
elaborated for Budapest, which should be financed from
more efficient promotion of firms, by wiser sales of
property, and by more efficient privatization, former
minister of industry Janos Latorcai told MAGYAR HVRLAP.
(page 3)



No further tax allowances for foreign investors


     Budapest, October 31, 1994 (MTI-ECONEWS) - At its
meeting last week, the government decided that from next
year foreign investors will no longer be granted any
special tax allowances, Tibor Draskovics, state secretary
at the Ministry of Finance told the press on Monday.

     The government is to propose cutting the current
36pc rate of corporate tax to 18pc on retained earnings
and 25pc on dividends. Agreements on the avoidance of
double taxation, however, mean that most foreign
investors are free to choose the country from which the
investment originated, Mr Draskovics pointed out. The
maximum rate of tax on dividends stipulated in these
agreements is between 5pc and 15pc, he added.

     Surveys have shown that the availability of tax
allowances has not been a primary consideration in
investment decisions.

     Until the end of 1993, certain joint ventures
registered in Hungary were granted 100pc or 60pc tax
allowances. The former group of companies will continue
to enjoy total tax exemption while those which currently
have a 60pc tax allowance will have a 20pc allowance on
the new rate for retained earnings, which is the same
effective rate as before.

     The Finance Ministry has estimated that the amount
of corporate tax saved by companies under tax allowances
already in force will be HUF 25-27bn in 1995. The 1995
budget bill contains a target revenue from corporate tax
of HUF 55bn.

Details of 1995 budget bill


     Budapest, October 31, 1994 (MTI-ECONEWS) - The
government's proposed 1995 budget contains a HUF 282.7bn
GFS deficit target, as a balance of revenue of HUF
1,409.74bn and expenditure of HUF 1,702.44bn, the budget
bill submitted to parliament on Monday shows.

     The budget bill contains a forecast of a further HUF
164.307bn as repayment of principal state debt.

     The bill is based on a forecast GDP next year of HUF
5,140bn at current prices, which represents no increase
in real terms. Industrial output is expected to grow by
3-4pc next year, the construction industry is expected to
grow by 5-6pc and agricultural and food industry output
will rise by 1-2pc. Capital investment is forecast to
grow by 5pc. Exports are forecast to rise by 6-8pc while
imports are expected to fall by 0-2pc.
     A current account deficit of USD 2bn is forecast for
the end of 1995. This is expected to be offset by a
similar amount of direct foreign cash investment next
year. Personal consumption is planned to be 2-4pc lower
next year than this year, while public consumption will
fall by 10pc.

     Total budget revenue from the corporate sector,
excluding financial institutions, is expected to grow by
only HUF 800m next year, despite a planned HUF 10.2bn
increase in revenue from customs duty and other import
related payments. The target revenue from corporate tax
is HUF 55bn, as against an expected HUF 58.4bn this year.
Revenue from financial institutions, at HUF 28bn, is
expected to be HUF 5bn higher next year than this.

     Revenue from consumption-related taxes is expected
to rise by HUF 125.7bn, with VAT accounting for HUF 97bn
of the increase. The revenue from personal taxation will
total HUF 310.8bn next year, HUF 42.3bn more than this
year.

     The central budget revenue related to domestic debt
servicing is expected to be HUF 190.5bn, as against HUF
96.5bn this year. Of next year's total, the income from
privatization is expected to be HUF 150bn with a further
HUF 10bn from dividends on company shares held by the
state.


Details of 1995 budget bill

     Central budget expenditure on agricultural subsidies
will grow from this year's HUF 52.6bn to HUF 56.5bn and
support to other sectors will rise from HUF 26.4bn to HUF
32.4bn. Expenditure on budget-funded organizations will
increase from this year's HUF 334.7bn to HUF 365.7bn,
which represents a reduction in real terms.

     The largest single expenditure item is the HUF 454bn
cost of debt servicing, which does not include the HUF
164.3bn cost of principal debt repayments. The huge
increase in interest payment obligations stems from the
fact that the Finance Ministry has changed the earlier
annual interest payment period on state bonds to six
months. This change will result in a HUF 190bn obligation
on bonds issued in the first half of next year. Next
year, the central budget will have to start paying
interest on bank consolidation bonds issued this year to
a total nominal HUF 50bn.

     Interest payments on central budget deficit
financing bonds will total HUF 123.1bn next year, while
interest payments on all consolidation bonds will be HUF
90bn and the interest due on treasury bills will be HUF
44.5bn.

     The central budget's principal debt repayment
obligations include HUF 141bn on maturing domestic state
debts and HUF 23.4bn on international debts.

EU Conference - Hungarian Foreign Minister


     Luxembourg, October 31 (MTI) - "WHAT was new this
time was not only that the foreign ministers of the
Twelve, the Four, who joined in January, and the
associated East European countries met for the first
time, but the aims expressed were also essentially new,"
Foreign Minister Laszlo Kovacs told Hungarian journalists
after Monday's 16+6 conference.

     While earlier the Eastern Europeans had been briefed
on the results achieved only after the session of the EU
Council of Ministers, now they had sat down jointly
before the meeting to hear the opinion of the Six, thus
giving them an opportunity to influence future EU
debates and decisions as well, the minister said.

     At the session, Kovacs noted that with Austria
joining the EU, Hungary will be a direct neighbour of the
Union.

     "We are ready to help defend EU borders by a more
effective control of our own state frontiers, but for
this we will need additional financial means and advice,"
Kovacs said.

     During a working lunch after the morning conference,
Kovacs reported on the work of the CSCE review conference
currently being held in Budapest, the preparations for
the December CSCE summit and Hungary's aims and ideas for
when it takes over the rotating presidency of the CSCE.

     Giving his assessment of the talks that lasted from
morning to early afternoon, Kovacs said none of the
member countries had questioned the justice of the
membership bids of Eastern European countries , but even
those who had been more reserved earlier, had expressed
their unambiguous support.

Budapest, 1394 . 423
Ministry of Foreign Affairs        Telephone:36(1)156-80

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N  E  W  S  L  E  T  T  E  R

Republic of Hungary                Budapest, 1394 . 423
Ministry of Foreign Affairs     Telephone:36(1)156-8000
Press Department                Telefax: 36(1) 156-3801
524/1994.                   Budapest, November 02, 1994

Hungarian Press Review


     Budapest, November 1 (MTI) - TODAY's dailies cover
the price increases of petrol and diesel oil. The price
of 91-octane petrol has risen from HUF 80.8 to HUF 87 per
litre and that of 95-octane lead-free petrol from HUF
82.8 to HUF 89. The price of 92-octane petrol containing
lead has gone go up from HUF 87 to HUF 91.2 and that of
98-octane petrol has risen from HUF 88.8 to HUF 93.
Diesel oil now costs HUF 5.3 more per litre, which means
a litre now costs HUF 74.3.

     Today's papers also mention that the customs tariffs
on several hundred agricultural and food imports will be
considerably higher starting from today, which will mean
the prices of certain consumer goods will rise.

     In an interview given to NEPSZABADSAG, Hungarian
Minister of Environment and Regional Policy Ferenc Baja
talks about the work of his ministry during the first 100
days of the new government. Among the successes, he
mentions the smooth and continuous operation of the
ministry, the presenting of the draft law on the
environment to Parliament, and that enviromental
protection has been included on the list of policy goals
for which local authorities may claim subsidies. However,
the minister considered it a failure that his ministry
had not been given priority in the budget. (page 6)

     Coalition talks on the draft media law have
progressed so far that the Hungarian Socialist Party
(HSP) believes that no further political coordination is
necessary, HSP Vice-Chairman Gyorgy Janosi told the
MAGYAR HVRLAP. In the same issue, Ivan Peto, Chairman
of the Alliance of Free Democrats, the HSP's coalition
partner, voiced his surprise over their unexpected
decision but said he was hopeful that the politicians
concerned would have the political will to reach an
agreement. (page 3)

* * *

     Budapest, November 1 (MTI) - ON the site of the
World Fair, only construction work is going on that is
needed even if the Expo is not held, Government
Commissioner Ferenc Derczy said in an interview to MAGYAR
HVRLAP. He added that the present state of affairs was
good for nobody, neither for the supporters of the Expo,
nor for its opponents.

     According to MAGYAR HVRLAP, government subsidies to
several organizations will be increased next year.
Hungarian Television will receive HUF 4 billion,
Hungarian Radio HUF 320 million, and the Hungarian News
Agency, (MTI), HUF 482 million. A total of HUF 3.7
billion will be allocated to organizations helping
national and ethnic minorities. (page 12)

     Karoly Attila Soos, state secretary at the Ministry
of Industry and Trade, talked to MAGYAR NEMZET about what
needs to be done to develop small and medium-size
enterprises. The government wants to stimulate businesses
rather by price allowances than by favourable loans, the
state secretary says. (page 10)

     According to Hungarian police registers, 140,000
guns are in private hands. Of these, 130,000 are
fire-arms, while the rest are gas and cap-pistols. Most
of the fire-arms are sporting guns, and the number of
revolvers is 17,000, Lieutenant-Colonel Ildiko Kincses
told MAGYAR NEMZET. (page 6)

New rates of import duty introduced on November 1


     Budapest, November 1, 1994 (MTI-ECONEWS) - The
following table contains the old and new rates (in pc) of
import duty on the main foodstuffs on which the rate was
raised on November 1.


Old import duty       New import duty

Duck liver, goose liver        35         61
Soft drinks                   40          80
Sheep's cheese                40         105
Broccoli                      12          50
Brussels sprouts, cauliflower,
lettuce                       12          72
Mushrooms                     20          62
Peppers                       40          80
Dried vegetables              30         139
Coconuts                      20          35
Pineapple                     20          55
Bananas                       20          55
Grapes                        40          60
Melons                        25          60
Apples, pears                 25          77
Wheat, rye, oats, maize        0          50
Barley                         0          41
Rice                           5          99
Poultry fat                   25         147
Lard and oil                   8          57
Glucose                       30          75
Live pigs                     15          59
Sheep and goats               15          50
Diabetic foods                50          80


Draft Treaties with Neighbours under Preparation -
Spokesman


     Budapest, November 1 (MTI) - RESPONDING to a
reporter's question at his Tuesday press conference,
foreign affairs spokesman Gabor Szentivanyi said that
talks between Hungarian and Romanian foreign ministry
experts , in part to deal with the basic treaty, may
well begin by mid-November.

     The Slovak draft for its treaty with Hungary is
currently being examined by Hungarian officials and
Hungary plans to submit its own version in the middle of
November, Szentivanyi said.

     In reply to another question, he said that Hungary
was not the only country which had applied for a loan to
finance the costs of its entry into the European Union
(EU).

     The spokesman stated that the ECU 2 billion loan
requested by Hungary would mainly be used for structural
aims, such as transforming Hungary's productive
apparatus, modernizing education and reducing
unemployment, and not to improve the balance of payments
on current account.

     Szentivanyi said EU officials had reacted positively
to Hungary's request, but it still has to go through the
different stages of EU bureaucracy.


Goncz and Havel Discuss Trade, EU Admittance and CSCE


     Budapest, November 1 (MTI) - AFTER their discussion,
lasting more than an hour, Czech President Vaclav Havel
and Hungarian President Arpad Goncz told journalists on
Tuesday that both countries wished to see greater
economic cooperation and closer cultural links, including
those of university education.

     Two presidential spokespersons provided further
details of the talks. Goncz's spokesman said that
bilateral links were progressing fairly well, but Hungary
believes two-way trade could be greater than at present.

     Concerning the bids of the two countries to join the
EU, Goncz said that Central European countries would, for
the most part, reach EU membership at nearly the same
time.

     With regard to the CSCE review conference currently
being held in Budapest, Goncz expressed Hungary's desire
to have a code of conduct drawn up which would be binding
to all participants.

     Havel confirmed European integration as a central
element of the policy of both countries. He felt Central
European problems would go before the EU from 1996,
regardless of whether the countries of the region are
admitted to the Union individually or en bloc.

     "Prague will be happy with whichever country joins
the EU first," Havel's spokesperson said.

     Regarding NATO, the Czech president noted that for
Central European countries, its membership criteria are
much easier to meet, allowing the chance of joining NATO
sooner than the EU.

     Following the discussion, Goncz hosted a working
lunch for Havel.

     In the afternoon, Havel laid a wreath at the
Monument for Hungarian Heroes, paid a visit to City Hall
and walked in the city centre.

     Goncz will host a gala dinner this evening for his
guest in the Parliament building.

*********************************************************

N  E  W  S  L  E  T  T  E  R

Republic of Hungary                Budapest, 1394 . 423
Ministry of Foreign Affairs     Telephone:36(1)156-8000
Press Department                Telefax: 36(1) 156-3801
525/1994.                   Budapest, November 03, 1994

Hungarian Press Review


     Budapest, November 2 (MTI) - HUNGARY's planned
participation as a subcontractor in Israel's
post-peace-treaty construction will be one of the themes
of Israeli Minister of Industry and Trade Michael
Harish's talks in Budapest early next year, the
invitation for which was presented to him by state
secretary for the Hungarian Ministry of Industry and
Trade Karoly Attila Soos at an international conference
in Casablanca, which ended on Tuesday. ("Magyar H!rlap"
page 11)

     By the end of 1995, some 900 kilometres of
secondary lines of the Hungarian State Railways (HSR)
should be examined in order to re-organize passenger
transport. With assistance from the HSR and the local
authorities concerned, railway services need to be
substituted at some locations by coach services.
Proposals include the transfer of some HSR lines to
local railway companies. According to "Nepszabadsag",
the trade unions have harshly criticized the
government's decision on redundancy at the HSR. (pp 1
and 6)

     The price of lead-free petrol increased on November
1 a further extent than that of types with lead content,
thus the earlier 5-6-forint difference has dropped to
two forints. Minister of Environment and Regional Policy
Ferenc Baja told "Nepszava" that the ministry had tried
to preserve the earlier difference, but deems it a
result that even any difference, however slight, exists
at all. (page 4)

     A 20 per cent inflation rate has been forecasted
for next year, and according to the government's present
concepts, civil servants will receive a 3-4pc pay rise,
which means a 16-17pc wage decrease in real terms. The
Cooperation Forum of Trade Unions (CFTU) cannot accept
this, Endre Szabo, current holder of the rotating
chairmanship in the forum, says in "Magyar Nemzet".
(page 4)

* * *

     Budapest, November 2 (MTI) - THE sale of
pharmaceuticals as free market products does not serve
the interests of citizens, and is contrary to the social
charter under which every citizen is entitled to
adequate health services, Jozsef Sipos, member of the
National Chamber of Pensioners, told "Magyar Nemzet".
The chamber aims at being consulted prior to price
rises, Sipos says. (page 20)

     "The outlines of a possible way out are forming
before our eyes, with a chance for cooperation between
civil central forces," newly elected deputy chairman of
the Hungarian Democratic Forum (HDF) Csaba Ferencz said
to "ij Magyarorszag", in assessing the current political
scene in Hungary. In Ferencz's view, the unity of the
HDF is not jeopardized by dissension, and the party's
programme offers better solutions to Hungarian society
than that of the governing left-wing bloc. (page 4)

     Cancerous tumours are said to be preventable, or
suppressible, by drinking water with decreased deuterium
(heavy hydrogen) content, Hungarian molecular biologist
Gabor Somlyai, 38, said at the recently-held third
international congress of natural healers during a
presentation of his related research. The scientist was
interviewed by "ij Magyarorszag". (page 5)

New OIH president plans to boost tourism


     Budapest, November 2, 1994 (MTI-ECONEWS) - Tourism
boosting developments should enjoy the same tax and
credit allowances as export promoting investments, since
tourism is 20pc more efficient in attracting foreign
currency income, Tamas Schagrin, recently appointed
president of the National Tourism Office (OIH) and
deputy state secretary at the Ministry of Trade and
Industry, told the press on Tuesday.

     Although the number of foreign tourists fell by
7-8pc in the first eight months compared to the same
period last year, convertible foreign currency income is
20pc up on last year's figure. By the end of the year,
22 million tourists are expected to have visited
Hungary, with the income from tourism estimated to total
USD 1.2bn, Mr Schagrin said.

     Last year, approximately 41 million tourists
visited Hungary, with tourist revenue totalling USD
1,181.4m and a tourism surplus of USD 440m, according to
National Bank of Hungary figures.

     On October 28, the Ministry for Trade and Industry
finalized its proposal regarding government measures to
boost tourism - the Tourism Promotion Fund, which has a
budget of HUF 1bn for this year, will receive a central
budget subsidy of HUF 200m next year and will support
small and medium sized tourist services, while central
support is needed to improve the national image abroad
and help Hungarian companies with international
marketing.

     According to these measures, a higher percentage of
tourism revenue should be ploughed back into the
industry.

Hungary, Czech Republic Sign Deportation Agreement


     Budapest, November 2 (MTI) - A DEPORTATION
agreement between Hungary and the Czech Republic was
signed today in Budapest by the interior ministers of
the two countries, Gabor Kuncze and Jan Ruml.

     Under the document, both countries will be obliged
to readmit their own citizens who have unlawfully
resided in the other country. This regulation also
applies to residence-seekers from third countries and
apatriates.

     Inasmuch as it is subsequently ascertained that the
person in question was not a citizen of the country he
stated, then he must be taken back by the side
initiating the search for his origins.

     Authorities of the two countries will also
transport the deportees to the partner country if so
requested.

Goncz and Havel Meet the Press, Havel Ends Visit to
Hungary


     Budapest, November 2 (MTI) - "RELATIONS between
Hungary and the Czech Republic are perfectly
satisfactory and cloudless," Hungarian President Arpad
Goncz said on Wednesday.

     At an international press conference he held
jointly in the Parliament with his Czech counterpart,
Vaclav Havel, Goncz called for closer informal contacts
between citizens of the two countries and more exchange
visits by artists and scientists.

     Regarding economic cooperation, he said the
economic structures of the two countries were
fortunately complementary to each other, with few
parallel patterns.

     On European integration efforts, the Hungarian
president stressed there was no contradiction between
Budapest and Prague in joining Europe in the political
sense. He believed all countries in the region may
become members of the European Union in the not too
distant future.

     Answering questions about the prospects of regional
links, Havel said it would not be desirable for Central
European countries to hammer at the door of the west for
entry in group. At the same time, Prague stands for
consultations between Central Europeans, but without
institutionalizing them.

     Goncz confirmed that the convoy effect, where pace
is set by the slowest ship, should be avoided because
the integration schedule of individual countries will
obviously be different.

     The press conference was the last event of Havel's
two-day state visit to Hungary. Previously, the Czech
president met Parliament Speaker Zoltan Gal and
representatives of the main political parties in
Parliament.

EBRD grants USD 100m stand-by credit facility to OTP


     Budapest, November 2, 1994 (MTI-ECONEWS) - On
Wednesday, EBRD president, Jacques de Larosiere, and
National Savings and Commercial Bank (OTP) president and
CEO, Dr Sandor Csanyi, signed an agreement on a USD 100m
stand-by loan facility in London.

     This is the first stand-by loan in the history of
the EBRD and it is granted to a Hungarian bank, Mr
Larosiere said. The stand-by loan makes it possible for
OTP, the largest commercial bank of Hungary, to grant
longer-term loans, mainly to the private sphere, thus
increasing profitability.

     The fact that OTP does not need a government
guarantee for a stand-by loan facility of shows the bank
is in good shape, Dr Csanyi said. The stand-by loan
facility is expected to further improve the bank's
credit status on the international capital markets, Dr.
Csanyi added.

     OTP Bank will be able to draw the amount of the
loan facility in two steps: USD 50m immediately after
the agreement is signed, and the remaining USD 50m two
years later. The loan agreement will expire after five
years. Although earlier OTP Bank took up a 3-year loan
facility on the international market, a 5-year loan
facility would have been too expensive.

     EBRD's loan agreement will allow the Hungarian bank
to use its own sources from mainly short-term deposits
to provide medium-term loans without directly drawing
amounts from the stand-by loan facility. The loan
facility is revolving.

Parliamentary Committees Discuss Foreign Policy


     Budapest, November 2 (MTI) - THE Hungarian
Parliament's committees on Foreign and European
Integration Affairs today held a closed session to hear
a report by Foreign Minister Laszlo Kovacs on the
Luxembourg session of the foreign ministers of the EU
member and associate member states last Monday, and
discuss the government's thoughts on the ongoing CSCE
review conference in Budapest.

     Following the session, Kovacs told reporters that
today's meeting had taken place about a month before the
CSCE summit, after which Hungary would occupy the post
of CSCE President for a year. The foreign minister
believes that Hungary's stance should be based on a
consensus of all the six parliamentary parties during
both the summit and the term of presidency. In the
minister's view, the discussion brought to light no
major differences between the position of the government
and that of the opposition.

     The foreign minister stressed that Hungary had a
vested interest in a stable Central Europe and in the
integration of the region into Europe as a whole. "The
CSCE, as the only genuinely pan-European security
structure, offers a good opportunity for achieving
both," he said.

     In reply to a question, Kovacs said the Hungarian
government would welcome it if Prime Minister Gyula
Horn, together with the premiers of other associate
members, were invited to the Essen summit of the EU in
December. "International public opinion almost considers
their participation as an established fact but no formal
invitation has arrived yet," Kovacs said.

     The session was attended by Istvan Gyarmati, head
of the Hungarian delegation to the CSCE review
conference, who replied to questions about the
conference.


Foreign State Secretary Holds Talks in Moscow

     Moscow, November 2 (MTI) - THE Russian Foreign
Ministry is optimistic about the ratification of the
Russian-Hungarian basic treaty that has been dragging on
for some years, Istvan Szent-Ivanyi, Hungarian
Parliamentary State Secretary of Foreign Affairs, told
Hungarian reporters after talks with Russian Deputy
Foreign Minister Sergey Krylov tonight.

     The state secretary today left Moscow for Chisinau
to open the Hungarian Embassy and meet President Mircea
Snegur and Foreign Minister Mihai Popov tomorrow.

     Szent-Ivanyi quoted his negotiating partner as
saying that the overwhelming majority of Russian
parliamentary parties seemed to be supporting
ratification of the treaty.

     The state secretary said Hungary could only accept
ratification of the original text. "Should the Russian
Parliament wish to modify the text, the whole treaty
would have to be renegotiated," he said.

     There were also discussions about ways of settling
Russian state debts to Hungary. Szent-Ivanyi confirmed
Hungary's desire to acquire assets in Russian companies
as payment for a considerable part of the debt. Krylov
said that, in principle, Russia raised no obstacles to
the conversion of state debts into assets but insisted
that the concrete details still had to be negotiated.

     The Russian deputy foreign minister asked Hungary
to fix the date when Prime Minister Gyula Horn and other
senior politicians would visit Moscow. Foreign Minister
Laszlo Kovacs has been invited to visit next year and
Gyula Horn is also scheduled to visit Moscow in the
first half of 1995, Szent-Ivanyi said.

     The Russian deputy foreign minister confirmed that
President Boris Yeltsin and Foreign Minister Andrey
Kozyrev would attend the Budapest summit of the CSCE in
December, Szent-Ivanyi said.

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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
and Information Service.
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N  E  W  S  L  E  T  T  E  R

Republic of Hungary                Budapest, 1394 . 423
Ministry of Foreign Affairs     Telephone:36(1)156-8000
Press Department                Telefax: 36(1) 156-3801
526/1994.                   Budapest, November 04, 1994

Hungarian Foreign State Secretary Holds Talks in New
York


     New York, November 3 (MTI) - THE international role
of the United Nations (UN) and peace-keeping were the
themes of the discussions Ferenc Somogyi, administrative
state secretary for the Hungarian Ministry of Foreign
Affairs, had in New York over the past few days. On
Thursday, talks will continue in Washington.

     At the UN headquarters, the Hungarian diplomat
conferred with Marrack Goulding, UN
Under-Secretary-General at the Department of Political
Affairs, and with Kofi Annan, Under-Secretary-General at
the Department of Peace-keeping Operations.

     Somogyi told Annan that training of the first
Hungarian group had been almost completed at Budapest's
peace-keeping training centre. Their talks focussed on
recently launched UN programmes that go beyond the
organization's traditional peace-keeping activity, e.g.
reconstruction works and monitoring of elections in
different countries.

     Somogyi exchanged views with Goulding on the
increased international role of the UN. Their talks also
touched on the Budapest Summit Meeting of the Conference
on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE), to be held
in December, with special regards to a Dutch-German
proposal initiating that the CSCE and the Security
Council should cooperate by sharing tasks related to
crisis prevention and the handling of conflicts.

Hungarian Press Review


     Budapest, November 3 (MTI) - ANIKO Balogh,
Hungary's permanent representative in the UNESCO, was
recalled recently. In an interview with "Nepszabadsag"
she voiced her suspicion that the decision was part of a
political purge and said she would fight to keep her
post. (page 83)

     A new cable TV broadcaster, "TV 3 Budapest", will
start broadcasting on Saturday, to an audience of nearly
3 million. At present, there is a frequency moratorium
in force in Hungary, which bans the use of terrestrial
broadcasting frequencies. The moratorium is expected to
be dissolved by the future Media Act, which it is hoped
will be put before Parliament this year.
     The draft 1995 budget makes it impossible for the
government to achieve its educational programme, Zoltan
Pokorni, deputy chairman of the opposition Federation of
Young Democrats said in an interview with "Magyar
H!rlap". The failure of coordination talks in the
Interest Coordinating Council - comprising
representatives of employees, employers and the
government - cannot be excluded, and thus neither can
the possibility of a strike by civil servants, Pokorni
said. (page 4)

     Hungary's admittance to the North Atlantic Treaty
Organization within the foreseeable future is not only
possible but also desirable, officials of the Alliance
say, according to "Magyar Nemzet's" interview with Imre
Mecs, chairman of the Hungarian Parliament's Defence
Committee, who paid visits to Brussels and several
Western European NATO bases last week, at the head of a
six-party delegation.

     If Janos Kadar had said he would resign if Imre
Nagy was executed then Nagy would not have been hanged.
But he did not make this threat as he was afraid his
resignation would allow Matyas Rakosi to return to
power, Janos Berecz, former secretary of the Central
Committee of the Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party said
in a full-page interview for "ij Magyarorszag".

     Next year Hungary will regroup its military forces,
"Nepszava" says on its front page. It also publishes a
map which shows that at the time of the one-party state
the Hungarian army, which was then known as the
Hungarian People's Army, in the case of conflict
expected attacks to come from the direction of Austria
and Italy. The redeployment will start with the
abolition of the Kaposvar Military District Region (SW
Hungary), but the details have yet to be elaborated.

Hungarian Foreign State Secretary Holds Talks in Moldova


     Chisinau, November 3 (MTI) - PREPARATORY work on
the basic treaty between Hungary and Moldova and
possibilities for boosting economic cooperation were the
subject of talks Istvan Szent-Ivanyi, parliamentary
secretary of state at the Hungarian Foreign Ministry,
held in Chisinau on Thursday. Previously, he formally
opened the Hungarian Embassy in the Moldovan capital.

     Hungary was one of the first countries to recognize
the Republic of Moldova in January 1992. The two
countries established relations at ambassadorial level
last autumn and the foreign mission, which has been
expanded and moved into a separate building, can now
begin its full-scale operation.

     Szent-Ivanyi first met President Mircea Snegur and
then Prime Minister Andrei Sangheli and discussed with
both the preparations for the basic treaty between the
two countries.

     They stated that the document was almost ready,
except the article on minorities, and could be signed in
the first half of next year. Hungary would like the
Moldovan government to accept the formulas contained in
European documents regarding the minorities, and the
chance for this exists.

     Snegur confirmed he would attend the December
Budapest summit of the Conference on Security and
Cooperation in Europe (CSCE) together with Foreign
Minister Mihai Popov, and meanwhile the two foreign
ministries would coordinate their positions on the
minority question, one of the main topics to be
discussed at the summit meeting.

Proposed amendments to corporate tax law


     Budapest, November 3, 1994 (MTI-ECONEWS) - The
amendment to the law on corporate tax now before
Parliament cuts the current 36pc rate of corporate tax
to an 18pc base tax on retained earnings and a 25pc
additional tax on the share dividend paid out.

     The tax allowance for certain joint ventures will
also be reduced.

     The 18pc base tax on retained profit will be
payable if the company allocates the amount for profit
reserves or the profit reserves are spent on an equity
raise. From next year the profit reserves taxed under
preferential taxes will have to be registered separately
and a 25pc additional tax will have to be paid on it
when the amount is used. Additional tax will also have
to be paid if the company raises the equity from the
separated profit reserves and then reduces its capital
within the next three years.

     The same regulation applies if a company is wound
up without a legal successor.

     Those JVs which earlier enjoyed tax concessions due
to re-investing their dividend in production and those
to which the government granted 100pc or 60pc tax
concessions in 1994, will be entitled to a maximum 70pc
tax break. Those businesses which enjoyed 60pc tax
allowances under earlier regulations revoked at the end
of last year will be allowed to retain 20pc. However,
JVs which were granted total tax exemption for bringing
in new technology, or those which were granted more than
70pc by the government, will continue to enjoy a 100pc
tax concession.

     Off-shore companies will continue to have 85pc tax
break.

     At present in the case of leasing of moveable
assets 36pc of the full leasing fee, and in the case of
leasing of real estate, 13pc of the full leasing fee can
be registered as costs. The amendment stipulates that in
the case of the leasing of moveable assets 3pc per month
of the full lease fee may be registered as costs. The
amount in the case of real estate leasing will be
1.1pc.

     The regulation which stipulates that 20pc of the
costs on import leasing have to be added to the tax
base, will remain unchanged.

Govt approves privatisation strategy


     Budapest, November 3, 1994 (MTI-ECONEWS) - At its
Thursday meeting, the government approved the bill on
the strategy and guidelines of privatization up to 1998.
The bill will be submitted to the parliament by the end
of next week, Finance Minister Laszlo Bekesi told the
press after the session.

     The bill aims at a reduction in the number of
companies in long-term state ownership from the current
261 to 161, of which only 46 will remain fully state
controlled. The bill will favour investors paying in
cash who are committed to an equity increase, Bekesi
added.

     The government itself will make decisions on the
privatization affairs concerning companies of strategic
importance, the Minister stressed.

PHARE Conference on European Integration


     Budapest, November 3 (MTI) - IT IS the goal of all
responsible Hungarian political forces to ensure that
Hungary is admitted a full member of the European Union,
said Zoltan Gal, speaker of the Hungarian Parliament,
when he addressed a conference staged in the framework
of the PHARE Democracy Programme in the Hungarian
parliament here today.

     Gal stressed that the conference, entitled
Democratic Decision Making Processes in the European
Union and its member states, and organized mainly for
members of parliament and their official staff that the
Hungarian parliament and government had taken the
necessary measures to establish the structural
frameworks for the process of full membership.

     In Gal's assessment Hungary has adjusted to Europe
regarding political relations and human rights, but
faces major tasks in economic restructuring and legal
harmonization.

     Gal expressed the hope that Budapest can stage a
conference of speakers of European parliaments in 1996.
This proposal was welcomed by Egon Klepsch, former
speaker of the European Parliament in his contribution.

     Ambassador Hans Beck, head of the Budapest office
of the European Union Commission, said in a lecture that
Hungary's European Union membership was no longer a
question, since the heads of state and government of the
EU member states in Copenhagen last year had supported
this and at the upcoming Esse meeting they would
determine the precise terms for admission.

     He expressed the conviction that the Hungarian
political leadership, both the opposition and
professionals not represented in Parliament advocated a
strong Europe, but in his view much remains to be done
to ensure that the European integration thought is
accepted by a large section of the Hungarian population.

     Jorg Monar, director of the Bonn based European
Political Institute, said MPs and public administration
experts should familiarize themselves better with the
operation of the European Union and the European
Parliament.


Government Spokesperson's Press Briefing


     Budapest, November 3 (MTI) - THE GOVERNMENT has
accepted and is to submit to Parliament late next week a
bill summarizing the strategy of privatization up to
1998 and specifying the basic principles of selling
state property, said Finance Minister Laszlo Bekesi at
the government spokesperson's press briefing after the
government held a regular meeting here today.

     Bekesi said that one of the main goals of
privatization - in line with the government programme -
is to essentially reduce assets left in steady state
ownership, and to speed up the sale of assets left in
provisional state ownership.

     The second basic principle of privatization
strategy is to ensure that the change of owners help
streamline and restructure the economy. Therefore - at
variance with the former practice - the government
intends to ensure priority to purchasers with cash and
those who pledge to carry out a capital increase.

     The bill lists the present assets in state
ownership in three major groups.

     Matters of privatization affecting companies of
strategic importance - banks, financial institutes,
major public utility companies and the largest companies
in the competitive sphere - will be determined by the
government in the future.

     Preparatory work is done by a new organization, the
State Privatization and Holding Joint Stock Company,
entrusted with handling state assets and preparing
privatization.

     Medium size companies in the competitive sphere
form the second major sphere of state property.

     Business privatization will be heavily emphasized
regarding these, and decisions will be taken by the
State Privatization and Holding Joint Stock Company.

     The third group comprises small companies over
which the new organization will pass decisions.

     Unless the small companies in question can be sold,
the respective management and employees are granted
preferences in the privatization of their workplaces.

* * *

     Budapest, November 3 (MTI) - Bekesi also said that
at present about HUF 1,600 billion forints worth of (One
USD is HUF 106.8) registered state assets, and nearly
900 companies await privatization.

     Of the current 252 companies left in steady state
ownership, the government proposes that 161 companies be
left in state ownership, but of them it would insist on
only 46 being left in 100 per cent state ownership.

     The latter would include the Hungarian State
Railways, the Hungarian Post Office, the State
Development Institute, the National Gazette and
Publishing Office, prison-run companies and certain
research institutes.

     Forestry farms and certain nature conservancy areas
would also remain in entire state ownership.

     Electric energy works, regional water works
associations, the Nuclear Power Plant of Paks, the
Hungarian Airline MALEV, the MATAV Telecommunications
Company, and VOLAN motor coach transport companies are
planned to be left in part state ownership.

     Government spokesperson Evelyn Forro said that
until the government drafts a media bill, and
subsequently until a tender as specified in the draft is
completed, it will facilitate the use of about 50 local
radio and television frequencies and will invite bids.

     The government is to submit a bill to Parliament on
this matter to reduce the number of judges in the
Constitutional Court from 15 to 11. Both the
constitutional judges and the opposition parties concur.

Prime Minister Horn Meets Journalists on TV


     Budapest, November 3 (MTI) - The nearly four month
activity of the Hungarian government, the relationship
between the government and the press, and prospects for
cooperation between Hungary and the International
Monetary Fund were the main topics of a conversation
between Prime Minister Gyula Horn and Hungarian
journalists on Hungarian Television Thursday evening.

     The journalists said that in recent times the
assessment of the new Hungarian government"s activity
was deteriorating in the domestic and the international
press. They said that according to some foreign press
reports the government wanted to exert pressure on the
press and that the Czech Republic had overtaken Hungary
in building a market economy.

     In reflecting to these questions, Prime Minister
Horn said he considered it something natural that
critical statements were made about the activity of the
government. "In my view the Czech Republic overtook
Hungary about one or one and a half years ago rather
than in the past three months. I do not think that the
new Hungarian government had given any indication
of wanting to exert pressure on the press or influence
it," he said.

     Answering a question on the relationship between
foreign companies and the new government, Prime Minister
Horn said he had taken part in a meeting of the society
of foreign entrepreneurs operating in Hungary about a
month ago.

     The representatives of the companies in question
had formulated their objections and requirements
regarding the Hungarian government in six points, and
all these points without an exception related to the
practice of the past years.- They asked us to take
measures, or change things and we are changing them.
Slowly the number of bills submitted to Parliament is
over 30, and 95 per cent of our decisions or
presentations are of an economic nature, he said.

* * *

     Budapest, November 3 (MTI) - ASKED about his recent
talks with IMF executives and about prospects on
cooperation between Hungary and the IMF, Prime Minister
Horn said the Hungarian government and IMF executives
shared a view in assessing the state of the Hungarian
economy.

     "We agreed with the IMF executives in that we need
to carry out rationalization, and a considerable one at
that in the sphere of budgetary expenditures, and we
practically agreed on the requirements that the
Hungarian government can fulfil.

     Talks are going on at expert level, soon another
executive from the IMF will arrive in Budapest. Experts
are now working on a standby credit agreement for 1995
which could lay the groundwork for a three year
cooperation programme with the International Monetary
Fund.

     This coincides with our endeavour that we want to
submit to Parliament in the spring of 1995, a three year
programme on economic modernization which we want to
coordinate with the European Union, the International
Monetary Fund and the World Bank. The year 1995 will
be a pivotal question in that respect.

     The question is not that the International Monetary
Fund is setting impossible requirements, it is in our
vested interest to fulfil the recommendations of
international banks including the IMF or other foreign
partners, because this is the only way we can manage the
crisis in the country and restore the economy, said
Prime Minister Horn on Hungarian Television Thursday
evening.
 
***********************************************************

N  E  W  S  L  E  T  T  E  R

Republic of Hungary                Budapest, 1394 . 423
Ministry of Foreign Affairs     Telephone:36(1)156-8000
Press Department                Telefax: 36(1) 156-3801
527/1994.                   Budapest, November 07, 1994

Yugoslavia and Bosnia Should Recognize Each Other, Says
Hungarian Delegate to UN General Assembly


     Washington, November 4 (TM-corresp.) - HUNGARY
welcomes the closing of the Bosnian-Serbian border by
the Belgrade government as a step in the right direction
and would find it logical continuation to this if
Yugoslavia and Bosnia recognized each other, Andre Erdos
said in an address to the United Nations (UN) General
Assembly on Thursday.

     Erdos, deputy state secretary at the Hungarian
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, contributed to a discussion
on Bosnia, at the end of which the Hungarian delegation
also voted for the resolution finally approved by the
assembly.

     Erdos stressed that the peace plan of the mediating
group is the only real answer to the war.

     He emphasized the international community's
responsibility for the failure of the UN's collective
security system and of the efforts made to settle the
conflict.

     In Hungary's view, it will be difficult to overcome
the harmful effect that the Bosnian crisis has on other
ethnically mixed populations, Erdos said.

     Hungary's interests call for the easing of the
sanctions against Yugoslavia, but only if the required
conditions are fulfilled both in the case of Croatia and
Bosnia, Erdos said.

     The Hungarian diplomat pointed to problems related
to minority and human rights in Yugoslavia, stressing
that the solution of these problems could help Belgrade
join the international "blood circulation".

     Erdos explained how some consequences of the crises
can directly affect Hungary and determine its individual
aspect.

     Hungary agrees to the general idea and intention of
the draft resolution presented to the assembly, even
though some of the paragraphs are not apt to accelerate
the settling of the conflict. Nevertheless, the
resolution is the interpretation of a clear-cut message,
Erdos said. Hungarian Press Review


     Budapest, November 4 (MTI) - THE proposed media law
insinuates that Hungary's population needs to be
protected from three things: sex, horror and religion,
Arch-Abbot of Pannonhalma Asztrik Varszegi says in an
interview with "Nepszabadsag". He also touches on
the relationship between Christians and Jews saying, "if
we keep recalling only the historical facts that divide
us, then we shall never reach full reconciliation".

     The discipline of the Hungarian Democratic Forum
does not give much ground to Csurkism (ideas professed
by Istvan Csurka) any more, HDF acting chairman Ivan
Szabo told "Nepszabadsag" in an interview. (Csurka used
to be HDF deputy chairman when the party was in
government, and after being expelled from the party, he
founded the Hungarian Justice and Life Party (HJLF),
which he presides over. The HJLF is generally regarded
as a nationalist right-wing party.) Szabo said the
renewal of the HDF should entail the expulsion of
several members, adding that this will not affect
masses. Szabo did not exclude the idea of the
unification of three opposition parties: the HDF, the
Christian Democratic People's Party, and the Federation
of Young Democrats.

     The government wants to preserve the state's
minimum majority, i.e. 50 per cent plus one vote, in the
Hungarian Electric Works Rt. and the National
Electricity Distributor, Karoly Attila Soos,
parliamentary state secretary at the Ministry of
Industry and Trade told "Magyar H!rlap". Current
suppliers and power plants can be privatized only on
condition of their preserving the minimum proportion of
shares needed to make strategic decisions.

* * *

     Budapest, November 4 (MTI) - ACCORDING to the daily
"Magyar H!rlap", Hungarian Chief Police Commissioner
Sandor Pinter invited members from Parliament's
Committee on Local Government and Police Affairs for an
outlaid session without previous coordination with
the Ministry of the Interior. This is said to be the
reason of Kuncze's absence from the meeting and his
warnings on consequences, says the paper (page 1).

     President Arpad Goncz's proposed amendments to the
Penal Code, initiated in a bid to more intensively
safeguard ethnic and racial minorities, has been
forwarded to Parliament. The cabinet is expected to take
a stand on it in January, Karoly Bard, deputy state
secretary for the Ministry of Justice told "Magyar
H!rlap".

     The opposition Christian Democratic People's Party
is in the midst of renewing its structure and political
image. To this end, it expects more activity from its
members, deputy chairman Attila Csenger-Zalan told "ij
Magyarorszag". He contradicted rumours according to
which the party is carrying out a revision of members
(page 5)

     "I support the government coalition formed by the
Hungarian Socialist Party and the Alliance of Free
Democrats because one of them was initially well-known
for its anti-Communist ideas (the Alliance - editor),
and the other is a successor of the former communist
party. If both can take off their dirty clothes and join
their efforts to reach positive goals, the society may
follow them, Janos Berecz, former secretary in the
Central Committee of the Hungarian Socialist Workers'
Party, said in an interview for "ij Magyarorszag".


Hungary Expects Admission Timetable from EU


     Budapest, November 4 (MTI) - HUNGARY would like to
see some kind of a timetable from the European Union
(EU) for the admission of Central Europe's aspiring
states. In Budapest's view, negotiations may start
between Hungary and the EU on full membership at
the end of 1996 or the beginning of 1997, and Hungary
hopes to become a member of European integration by the
turn of the century, Hungarian Minister of Foreign
Affairs Laszlo Kovacs said on Friday, in his opening
address at a conference on Hungarian prospects for
integration. The forum, which began in Budapest on
Friday, had been organized by the Friedrich Ebert and
the Euration (European Cooperation) foundations.

     Hungary would prefer if the date of admission were
decided solely on the grounds of the individual
accomplishments of each country, not on some
group-level, the minister explained. Budapest would also
welcome assistance from the EU to help the preparation
of the aspiring states.

Hungarian CSCE Delegation Head Meets the Press over
Summit


     Budapest, November 4 (MTI) - "THE CSCE review
conference is being held in Budapest according to
schedule," Hungarian CSCE delegation leader Istvan
Gyarmati told a news conference on Friday.

     He said Hungary believes that the early December
meeting of heads of state and government should not be
as formal as the previous summits. It would be a good
idea if not only speeches drawn up in advance were
given, but an open debate was also held, he added.

     In Hungary's view, the political declaration should
not be like a Christmas tree on which everybody sticks
on his wishes, but it should be brief and matter-of-fact.

     The Hungarian delegation proposes holding a foreign
ministerial conference on the European stabilization
treaty at the same time with the summit, as well as a
meeting for leaders of various international
organizations. A third simultaneous event would be for
non-member Mediterranean countries to discuss their
cooperation ideas with the CSCE.

     Another Hungarian proposal calls for setting up a
committee to prepare the closing documents. However,
Gyarmati declined to answer questions about what kind of
documents may be adopted at the summit alongside the
political declaration.

Proposed structure of privatization


     Budapest, November 4, 1994 (MTI-ECONEWS) - The bill
on privatization adopted by the government on Thursday
proposes that the government itself will decide on the
privatization of banks and other financial institutions,
public utility companies and the largest state-owned
companies, Finance Minister Laszlo Bekesi announced
after the government meeting.

     The state's assets will be managed and prepared for
privatization by the State Privatization and Asset
Management Rt (APV Rt), a new privatization body to be
formed on the basis of the State Holding Company (AV
Rt). APV Rt will take over the activities currently
carried out by the State Property Agency (SPA) and will
also manage some the assets presently held by the
Treasury Asset Management Organization (KVSZ). Decisions
on the privatization of smaller companies will be taken
by APV Rt.

     The state will retain total ownership of 46
companies, including MAV (Hungarian Railways), Magyar
Posta, the State Development Institute (AFI), forestry
companies and certain research institutes, Mr Bekesi
said.

     The companies in which the state will retain a
permanent stake include the electricity company MVM Rt,
regional water companies, the Paks nuclear power
station, MATAV (Hungarian Telecom), the national airline
MALEV and the VOLAN group of regional transport
companies.

     The SPA is currently in the process of privatizing
35 companies and is scheduled to sell off a further 100
companies by the end of the year. Almost 900 Hungarian
companies, with a combined book value of HUF 1,600bn,
have yet to be privatized.

     Mr Bekesi said that the bill contains sections on
preferential privatization techniques and added that the
government would honour commitments made by the previous
government on ensuring the supply of state assets in
exchange for compensation coupons and on the transfer of
state property to the social security organizations.

PHARE Support - Bekesi Meets Beck


     Budapest, November 4 (MTI) - THE EUROPEAN Union is
to extend aid totalling about HUF 1.6 billion (One USD
equals HUF 108) to Hungary as part of the PHARE
programme. Part of this sum will be used in two regional
transport projects and the national customs programme of
Hungary.

     An agreement to this effect was signed by Hans
Beck, the European Union's ambassador to Hungary, and
Finance Minister Laszlo Bekesi here today.

     Bekesi later told reporters that Hungary's
geographical position meant that it played a major role
in transit trade between Eastern and Western Europe.

     This aid package from the European Union forms a
major part of the HUD 6 billion investment plan through
which Hungary intends to develop its regional transport
system and carry out its national customs programme.

     Hans Beck said that one of the aims of the
Hungarian government, that of improving cooperation with
neigbouring countries, is starting to become reality
through the current investment programme.

     Projects supported by the European Union are
helping to develop one major and several minor border
crossing points.

     Next year Hungary will have to come to terms with
the fact that it will have a joint border with the
European Union.

     The budget of the European Union allocates special
funds to boost transit shipments between member states
and neighbouring countries.

     In the framework of the PHARE programme 1.6 million
ECU or about HUF 215 million is helping to finance the
expansion of the border crossing post of Nagylak on the
Hungarian-Romanian border.

     The costs of preparing the project have been
financed by the Hungarian Customs and Excise using funds
from their investment budget.

* * *
     Budapest, November 4 (MTI) - A FURTHER 2.8 million
ECU, that is about HUF 364 million have been earmarked
for continuing the development of Nagylak, and for
beginning the investment programme at the border
crossing point of Redics on the Hungarian-Slovenian
border.

     Under the agreement, 8 million ECU, that is HUF
1,040,000,000 will be used for the further development
of the national customs programme.

     These funds are meant to promote vital investments
in Nagylak, Gyula, Artand (all three on the
Hungarian-Romanian border), Zahony (on the
Hungarian-Ukranian border) and at Rajka (on the
Hungarian-Slovak border).

     Beck refused to answer a question on whether the
European Union would grant Hungary the two billion ECU
loan requested by Prime Minister Gyula Horn.

     However, Bekesi later said he would take part in a
meeting of the finance ministers of the European Union
and its associate countries in Brussels, on Monday,
where this major loan, needed for economic
restructuring, would probably be discussed.

Foreign Ministry State Secretary in Washington Talks


     Washington, November 4 (MTI) - FERENC Somogyi,
administrative state secretary at the Hungarian Foreign
Ministry, has met officials at the Pentagon, the
Department of State and the National Security Council
for talks on the foreign policy aims of the Hungarian
government and matters relating to NATO and the CSCE..

     Somogyi met among others Deputy Secretary of State
Peter Tarnoff, Assistant Secretary of State Richard
Holbrooke, Assistant Secretary of Defence Joe Rye and
Richard Schifter, Director of the National Security
Council.

     Somogyi later told Hungarian journalists that the
Americans are formulating a new approach to European
affairs and the expansion of NATO. The essence of this
new approach is that the candidates for admission to
NATO will be told in concrete terms what are the
requirements they are expected to fulfill before
joining. Somogyi had suggested to his negotiating
partners that NATO should evaluate the progress made in
meeting its requirements periodically.

     At the negotiations Somogyi received confirmation
that those applying for NATO membership will not need to
wait for others, but that admission depends solely on
the extent to which candidates have met their
commitments.
     According to Somogyi the important point for
joining NATO was "how the entry requirements had been
met." The negotiating parties said that the Peace for
Partnership programme provided an appropriate framework
for revealing and verifying the suitability and
competence of the candidates.

     With regard to the CSCE process American officials
confirmed the commitment of the United States to the
European security system.

     Somogyi hinted that a tangible sign of this
commitment would be President Clinton's personal
appearance at the Budapest summit conference of the CSCE
review conference. (No decision has been taken to date
on whether President Clinton will attend.)

     It was suggested that the CSCE should play a
greater role, for instance in security policy.

     A German-Dutch proposal relating to the expansion
of the CSCE's role , and Russia's position on this were
also discussed.

Foreign Affairs State Secretary Holds Talks in
Washington


     Washington, November 6 (MTI) - HUNGARIAN State
Secretary for Foreign Affairs Ferenc Somogyi said his
talks in Washington basically served two goals: on the
one hand, to confirm on behalf of the Hungarian
government Hungary's interest in the presence of the
United States in Europe and its commitment for
membership in NATO. On the other hand, he could
experience that the matter of enlarging NATO has
genuinely come to prominence in Washington.

     Somogyi said that as regards the latter, the
American side believes that Hungary will be one of the
states who can become a member in the organization.

     The State Secretary of the Foreign Ministry
concluded his series of talks in Washington on Saturday.

     Evaluating the talks, Somogyi told MTI the American
side stressed on several occasions that it conceives the
new European security structure to be created along
three, parallel lines. The approach will jointly imply
the enlargement of NATO, the opening of the European
Union, and the intensification of the CSCE process. The
American leadership believes the three factors should be
treated in close connection.

     As regards NATO, Somogyi said his information
indicates that the questions to be answered at present
focus on "how", in other words, how the enlargement
should take place, according to what sort of
expectations and criteria. Somogyi said his partners
emphasized this is a process, the content of which is
integration into NATO, by meeting various political,
economic and military expectations.

     "It became clear that membership in NATO will imply
not only the expansion of security guarantees for the
new members, but the active contribution of these
members to this security," Somogyi said.

     He added it follows from the nature of the process
that the fundamental decisions will be made only at a
later date, which has not been set so far. At the same
time, "we must take care that our current steps be
formulated in the correct direction, by handling
membership in NATO as a priority," Somogyi said.

     As regards the Conference on Security and
Cooperation in Europe, the American partners again
stressed the importance Washington attaches to
streamlining the organization and increasing its
efficiency.

********************************************************

N  E  W  S  L  E  T  T  E  R

Republic of Hungary                Budapest, 1394 . 423
Ministry of Foreign Affairs     Telephone:36(1)156-8000
Press Department                Telefax: 36(1) 156-3801
528/1994.                    Budapest, November 08, 1994

Press Review

     Budapest, November 7 (MTI) - UNDER a new
housing-subsidy scheme, effective from today, Hungarian
families with children will receive a new kind of
housebuilding allowance from the state, with designated
banks granting them preferential interest rates on
housebuilding loans over a 15-year period,reports "ij
Magyarorszag".

     Giving details about this scheme in "Magyar Nemzet",
Gyorgy Telekes, head of the main housing policy
department at the Finance Ministry, said that the
allowance for families with one child had been raised
from HUF 50,000 to 200,000, to 1.2 million for families
with two children and to 2.2 million for families with
three children, with a grant of HUF 200,000 to be
given after each further child. The ministry estimates
that next year construction will begin on 25,000-28,000
homes (last year slightly more than 20,000 homes were
built).

     "Nepszabadsag" reports that the Ministry of Industry
has proposed that uranium mining should be phased out,
with the mines being closed down sometime after the year
2000. According to "Nepszabadsag", the Government will
have to take some sort of action because the uranium
mines are making losses.

     In an article carried in "Nepszabadsag", Laszlo
Andics, head of the Budapest Ambulance Service, proposes
setting up a network to help survivors of suicide
attempts with counselling in their own homes. Experts say
the number of suicides has recently fallen slightly,
but it is feared that, paradoxically , an economic
upswing would push the number up again.

     The modest drop in unemployment continued in
September, the Central Statistical Office's survey of the
labour force shows. The positive trend began in autumn
1993. The unemployment rate in the third quarter of this
year was 9.8 per cent, nearly the same as that in
Italy, Britain, Canada and France, and somewhat better
than that in the other ex-socialist countries of Eastern
Europe, with the exception of the Czech Republic. Twelve
per cent of the jobless were aged under 20, and 18 per
cent were between the ages of 20 and 24, reports
"Nepszabadsag".

* * *
     Budapest, November 7 (MTI) - THE health of Hungary's
population has been deteriorating at an alarming rate for
the last 30 years, sociologist Dr Zsuzsa Benko says in
"Nepszabadsag". Dr Benko, the director of a postgraduate
course on mental health, launched in the town of Szeged,
in southern Hungary, in September 1992, believes that the
best way to improve the situation would be to create an
income structure allowing people to live a decent life
outside the factory and the office, and a price system in
which a healthy lifestyle is not more expensive than an
unhealthy one. Hungary should follow the example of the
United States and other developed countries, and consider
good health to be a material benefit, so that eventually
employers will not have to employ people who are
incapable of working by the time they reach the age of
40.

     The counting of signatures on the petition
requesting a referendum to decide the question of the
1996 Budapest World Expo should be accelerated so that
the referendum can be held on December 11, at the same
time as the local government elections, says Robert
Kassay, chairman of the World Expo, in "Magyar Nemzet".
Should Parliament still vote on the question before the
referendum is held, the statute that they pass should
contain a supplementary clause stating that its validity
depends on the outcome of the referendum. The World Expo
Forum proposes that the pace of preparations for the expo
should not slacken before the referendum is held.

Border Guards Spokesman Denies Border Violation

     Budapest, November 7 (MTI) - COLONEL Attila Krisan,
spokesman for the Hungarian Border Guards, today denied a
report by the Slovak news agency TA SR which quoted
police as saying that 11 people had entered Slovak
territory illegally, crossing the border from "somewhere
in Nograd county", early Sunday morning.

     Colonel Krisan told MTI that Hungarian border guards
only had information that 11 citizens of the former
Yugoslavia had attempted to cross illegally into Slovakia
in the vicinity of Bercenebarati, but that they had not
crossed the border - the river Ipoly.

     Krisan said that if the border had been violated,
the competent Slovak authorities, in keeping with the
normal practice in such cases, would have notified their
Hungarian counterparts.

     However, the Hungarian border guards had not
received any such notification as of Monday afternoon,
Krisan stressed.

EU-East European Finance Ministers Meeting - Bekesi

     Brussels, November 7 (MTI) - FINANCE and Economy
ministers from the European Union and the six associate
East European countries held their second joint
conference, in Brussels today.

     Representatives of the Baltic countries were also
present for the first time .

     Hungarian Finance Minister Laszlo Bekesi told MTI
prior to the meeting, which was virtually a working
dinner, that he intended to use it to outline the
government's economic policy objectives, especially their
plans for modernizing and restructuring the Hungarian
economy.

     Connected with this was Hungary's request for credit
from the EU to finance its long- term economic
objectives, which the EU was still discussing.

     Bekesi said the other purpose of his trip to
Brussels was to sound out the EU members on how much
support Hungary might expect for their request for
credit, and what were the chances of obtaining it in the
near future.

N  E  W  S  L  E  T  T  E  R

Republic of Hungary                 Budapest, 1394 . 423
Ministry of Foreign Affairs        Telephone:36(1)156-80

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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
and Information Service.
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N  E  W  S  L  E  T  T  E  R

Republic of Hungary                Budapest, 1394 . 423
Ministry of Foreign Affairs     Telephone:36(1)156-8000
Press Department                Telefax: 36(1) 156-3801
529/1994.                   Budapest, November 09, 1994

Hungarian Finance Minister Meets Associated EU
Counterparts


     Brussels, November 8 (MTI) - BEFORE joining the
European Union (EU), Eastern European countries, which
hold an associate member status in the organization,
should first put their economies in order on their own -
if necessary at the cost of painful decisions - and
only after that can they expect any further assistance.

     The following was the main conclusion Hungarian
Finance Minister Laszlo Bekesi had drawn from an
unofficial discussion between EU finance ministers and
their Eastern European counterparts, held on Monday
evening.

     Bekesi, along with colleagues from the other
associate Eastern European countries and the three
Baltic states, attended the "informal" working lunch
given for them by the EU council of finance ministers.

     "It was rather disenchanting," Bekesi later said
wrapping up his impressions to MTI. Even though there
were no "big surprises", as he put it, "it became clear
it is unnecessary to cherish illusions", or expect any
considerable financial support.

     EU members essentially proposed three main things
to their eastern partners: cutting national debt,
improving their central budgets and trying to make their
economies competitive.

     The EU is ready to help them in attaining these
goals through already-existing schemes, such as
target-oriented loans from the European Investment Bank
and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development
as well as support for private investment and certain
infrastructure projects, but they are apparently
reluctant to set up new constructions.

     "The new credit deal designed to finance economic
restructuring, which we are also pressing for, will in
all probability fail," Bekesi said. The final decision
will of course be made at the EU summit in Essen, but
the member countries" finance ministers will not back
the initiative, he added.

     "We have to cope by ourselves, that is the EU helps
those who help themselves," the minister concluded.

Foreign Minister Kovacs to Attend Meeting of Committee
of Ministers in Council of Europe



     Budapest, November 8 (MTI) - HUNGARIAN Foreign
Minister Laszlo Kovacs is to attend the forthcoming
meeting of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of
Europe on November 15 in Strasbourg, foreign affairs
spokesman Gabor Szentivanyi announced at his regular
weekly press briefing here today.

     "The work done at the Council of Europe is not
unknown to the foreign minister, since as a deputy he
took part in the work of the Parliamentary General
Assembly of the Council of Europe for four years," the
spokesman added.

     This will be the first time that Kovacs will
represent Hungary in the Committee of Ministers, the
decision-making forum of the Council of Europe.

     In Strasbourg the ministers will discuss the
experiences gained in expanding the Council of Europe
and related tasks.

     In the past five years this organization admitted
ten new states, and next year more countries are
expected to be admitted as members.

     Supervising the fulfilment of commitments
undertaken by the member states, one of the most
controversial problems, will be discussed.

     A draft for a supervisory system has been worked
out by experts with active Hungarian cooperation.
According to plan, all member states will regularly
examine the implementation of the principles regulating
a state of law and a democratic state, and the
observance of human rights.

     Kovacs, accompanied by Defence Minister Gyorgy
Keleti, is to take part in a session of the ministers of
the Council of Western European Union in Noordwijk, the
Netherlands on November 14.

     The following day the two Hungarian ministers are
to visit NATO's headquarters in Brussels and meet NATO
Secretary General Willy Claes.

     During that visit they are expected to sign the
Hungarian programme for the Partnership for Peace
project before the North Atlantic Council, notably as to
how Hungary intends to link up with cooperation offered
by NATO.




Minister Bekesi on Next Year's Budget


     Budapest, November 8 (MTI) - FINANCING the public
sector will pose no problem, if next year's budget is
not passed by Parliament until January. However, a delay
would send a signal to countries abroad that the
government and Parliament are weakening in their
resolution to continue the transformation of the economy
and the building of a market economy, said Finance
Minister Laszlo Bekesi at a press briefing here today.

     Bekesi explained that the cash flow for public
sector institutions could be maintained in January on
the basis of this year's budget, even if the 1995 budget
had still not been approved, and the institutions
concerned could count on one twelfth of this year's
subsidies.

     Major problems could arise primarily at
negotiations with international institutions.

     It would be especially disagreeable to have to
negotiate with the International Monetary Fund without
having had next year "s budget accepted.

     This would definitely hinder negotiations, and in
the worst case it could even prevent agreement being
reached.

     European Union finance ministers do not support a
Hungarian proposal that the Community should provide
further resources for restructuring in Central and East
European countries. Thus Hungary is not likely to be
granted the 2 billion ECUs it has applied for, said
Finance Minister Laszlo Bekesi after he returned home
from Brussels where he attended a meeting of the finance
ministers of the European Union.


Bekesi disappointed by meeting with EU finance ministers


     Budapest, November 8, 1994 (MTI-ECONEWS) - Finance
Minister Laszlo Bekesi expressed his undisguised
disappointment over Monday's meeting attended by the
twelve EU finance ministers and the six finance
ministers of countries which have EU association
agreements.

     The EU ministers were unwilling to agree to a
request from East European finance ministers for
additional support to assist the preparation of their
countries for full EU membership, Mr Bekesi told the
press on his return from Brussels.

     Hungary earlier proposed the creation of a special
assistance programme to support economic restructuring
prior to full membership. Hungary also requested an ECU
2bn credit facility from the proposed programme. This
programme would come in addition to PHARE funding, the
ECU 3bn credit line for infrastructural development
available through the European Investment Bank (EIB),
and some further credit facilities for the easing of
current account imbalances.

     Since the majority of EU countries failed to
support the launch of the new programme, Hungary's
credit application was not discussed at the meeting in
Brussels, Mr Bekesi said.

     Polish and Czech delegates joined Hungary in urging
a clear-cut timetable and conditions for their
countries' entry into the EU. The EU ministers, however,
refused to discuss the timing of talks towards full
membership and referred to the Rome and Maastricht
treaties in which the conditions for membership are
stipulated. The requirements contained in the Maastricht
Treaty, however, will almost certainly not be met by
most existing EU members, Mr Bekesi pointed out.

Torino: Preparations for Central European Initiative
Foreign Ministers' Meeting


     Rome (MTI) - THE Central European Initiative's
document on the protection of ethnic minorities has been
completed and is expected to be endorsed by foreign
ministers of the CEI in Torino, Ambassador Andras Szabo,
Hungarian national coordinator of the Central European
Initiative, told reporters in Rome today.

     The foreign ministers' meeting of this regional
cooperation organization, grouping ten Central and East
European countries will be held in Torino, northern
Italy on November 18 and 19.

     Szabo who is also chairman of the working group
dealing with the protection of ethnic minorities in the
CEI, told MTI that it had taken 18 months of work to
complete the document.

     Experts from the Council of Europe had also
examined the draft to see if it was compatible with the
Council of Europe's framework agreement on the
protection of ethnic minorities.

     The national coordinators of the CEI prepared the
Torino foreign ministers' meeting in the first half of
the week.

     Szabo said at this meeting they would be discussing
how the CEI can promote the integration of its member
countries into the European Union. (Of the ten states
making up the CEI, Italy and Austria are also members of
the European Union.)

     It will also provide a good opportunity for those
states intending to join the European Union to formulate
their expectations about the Essen summit meeting, in
December, the Hungarian ambassador said.

     Cooperation on infrastructural developments and
establishing duty-free zones and special industrial
zones are also important points on the agenda of the
Torino meeting.

     It is also hoped to extend cooperation within the
framework of the CEI to the areas of education and
professional re-training.


Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Addresses WEU Seminar


     Bucharest, November 8 (MTI) - ADDRESSING a Western
European Union (WEU) seminar on security in Bucharest
today, Matyas Eorsi, Chairman of the Foreign Affairs
Committee of the Hungarian Parliament, called upon the
European states to work out and approve a European
"minimum of minority rights".

     The charter containing this minimum would be
modelled on the "liberal minimum" approved some decades
ago, Eorsi told MTI.

     It would include all the internationally accepted
norms governing the European countries' policies towards
their minorities. If approved, this minimum would compel
all countries to observe these norms, Eorsi said.

     Besides the WEU, the CSCE and the Council of Europe
could deal with this question,
he said.

     Security in Europe could only be created by all the
countries concerned working together and if none of them
tried to strengthen their position to the detriment of
that of the others. The security of the continent is
indivisible; it can be divided neither into West and
Central European security, nor into the national
security of individual countries, he said.

     In the company of Zoltan Rockenbauer,a member of
the Foreign Affairs committee, Eorsi arrived in Romania
to attend the inauguration of a WEU information and
documentation centre, the first one in Central Europe,
and to participate in the seminar entitled "Central
Europe in a system of European Security". The seminar
was attended by representatives of all full and
associate members of the WEU.

Parliament Cancels World Expo


     Budapest, November 8 (MTI) - THE Hungarian
Parliament voted today to renounce the country's right
to organize the 1996 World Expo.

     The government's proposal for scrapping the project
was approved by 232 votes to 94, with six abstentions.
Almost all MPs from the governing parties backed the
proposal, and nearly all opposition MPs rejected it.
Exceptions to this were Matyas Szuros of the Hungarian
Socialist Party (HSP), who voted against the decision,
and Etele Barath (HSP), former Expo commissioner, who
abstained. Other abstainers were Terezia Szilagyi of the
opposition Christian Democratic People's Party and
Nandor Rott of the Independent Smallholders' Party.

     Before the vote, State Secretary of Industry and
Trade Karoly Attila Soos gave the government's reply to
the objections raised during the second reading of the
bill on scrapping the Expo.

     The state secretary described the idea of the Expo
as a grand vision. The advocates of the Expo, he said,
expected the project to mobilize private capital both in
Hungary and abroad. From this perspective, however, the
story of the Expo had so far been a chronicle of
fiascos, since not a single penny had been invested in
Hungary for this purpose, he said.

     The legend of an Expo financed by entrepreneurs had
not stirred the imaginations of Hungarian investors
either, the state secretary said.

     The idea that the World Expo would attract a wave
of well-to-do tourists to Hungary was another daydream,
he said, quoting the example of Seville, which was
visited by fewer rich German tourists in the year of the
Expo than in previous years.

     "Those who vote in favour of the Expo vote for tax
rises," the state secretary said.

     Before today's vote petitions had been collected
for a referendum on the question. Referring to this, the
state secretary said that the referendum could take
place next February at the earliest. He added that,
according to his information, signatures were being
collected for a petition requesting that a referendum be
held to prevent holding a referendum on the Expo.


N  E  W  S L  E  T  T  E  R

Republic of Hungary                 Budapest, 1394 . 423
Ministry of Foreign Affairs        Telephone:36(1)156-80

***********************************************************

N  E  W  S  L  E  T  T  E  R

Republic of Hungary                Budapest, 1394 . 423
Ministry of Foreign Affairs     Telephone:36(1)156-8000
Press Department                Telefax: 36(1) 156-3801
530/1994.                   Budapest, November 10, 1994

Press Review

     Budapest, November 9 (MTI) - INTERNATIONAL Monetary
Fund (IMF) officials are expected in Hungary on December
5 for two weeks of negotiations about a new loan
agreement between Hungary and the IMF, reports "Magyar
H!rlap".

     Quoting foreign diplomatic sources, "Nepszabadsag"
says that Russian Defence Minister Pavel Grachov has
postponed his trip to Budapest scheduled for November.
According to the paper, the visit was put off because of
a failure to agree on dates.

     Hungary continues to top the East-Central European
list of countries targeted for investment, shows a
survey in "Invest in Hungary", an English-language
magazine published in Budapest. Its findings are also
carried by "Nepszabadsag".

     Gyorgy Szabad, a member of parliament for the
Hungarian Democratic Forum, asserts that his party's
parliamentary group is as united as ever. An interview
with Szabad, headlined "Now the Opposition Has to
Safeguard the Law", is published in "Nepszabadsag".

     According to "Nepszava", Hungary will model its
property tax on that introduced by the French Socialists
12 years ago.

     In Hungary income derived from the black economy
amounts to a third of the gross national product. The
tax authorities and the Police College are about to sign
an agreement to increase the efficiency of controls,
"Nepszava" reports.

     An elite team of Hungarian police attended a
two-week course at the FBI academy in Quantico, Virginia
, at the end of October. FBI Director Louis Freeh has
been impressed by the Hungarian police force. The FBI is
considering setting up a training centre in East-Central
Europe, with Hungary as the likely location for it.

Hungarian-American Military Talks

     Budapest, November 9 (MTI) - "HUNGARY is firmly
committed to joining NATO," Defence Minister Gyorgy
Keleti said on Wednesday, opening the Budapest session
of the Hungarian-American working party dealing with
questions of military defence.

     Keleti stressed that Hungary had so far been the
only country in the region to equip its air defences
with the friend-or-foe identification system that is in
line with NATO standards. Modernization of the air force
is continuing, with the radar system being upgraded to
suit NATO requirements, he added.

     The minister expressed his thanks for U.S.
assistance in training Hungarian officers, especially
the language teaching.

     He said the aim of the meeting was to prepare a
cooperation agreement which would cover a longer period
than the present one-year accord.

     The new agreement would be signed in Budapest in
the first quarter of next year and approved during a
visit to Hungary by U.S. Defence Secretary William
Perry.

     Keleti also reported that work had begun on an
agreement between the two governments on protecting
confidential information, designed to help the Hungarian
army obtain modern American military equipment.

     He assured his American partners that modernization
of the Hungary army would continue even in the face of
grave economic difficulties.

     Donald Blinken, U.S. Ambassador to Hungary,
stressed that Hungary's integration into Europe was
important for America. He added that Budapest was well
on the way to NATO membership, and the U.S. was ready to
help with the modernization of the Hungarian army.

Hungary to Prepare Information Policy on EU Accession

     Budapest, November 9 (MTI) - THE Hungarian Foreign
Ministry is to draft its information policy strategy by
late November, Istvan Szent-Ivanyi, Parliamentary State
Secretary of Foreign Affairs, told the Wednesday session
of the Committee on European Integration Affairs, in
Budapest.

     The session was attended by Ambassador Hans Beck,
head of the Budapest mission of the European Union (EU),
Janos Sziranyi, president of Hungarian Radio, and Laszlo
Kasza, editor-in-chief of the political programmes of
Hungarian Television.

     Information policy has a twofold task: it should
provide comprehensive information on the EU institutions
and endeavours and the direct social and economic
effects of accession, and help develop a national
consensus that enables Hungary to become a full member,
the state secretary said.

     According to the ministry, Hungarians are
well-disposed towards the EU but know relatively little
about it, Szent-Ivanyi said. For this reason, the
ministry attaches prime importance to the dissemination
of information.

     Ambassador Beck expressed concern that the common
Hungarian citizen is not sufficiently open to the idea
of joining the EU. In the worst scenario, he added,
Hungarians may vote against full membership in a
referendum, to take place around 1999, even if the EU is
prepared to admit the country.

     Viktor Orban (Federation of Young Democrats),
chairman of the committee, said, "it is not a uniquely
Hungarian phenomenon that enthusiasm wanes when
practical issues are discussed with the EU." The
politician deemed it possible that 80 per cent of
Hungarians would vote for accession in an eventual
referendum.

     Sziranyi said Hungarian Radio intended to dispel
the worries voiced by Beck. He said that the public
should receive information in a continuous, accurate and
comprehensive manner rather than be informed through
campaigns about the political, economic, cultural and
legal aspects of accession. "We will pay keen attention
to the Austrian experience in this field," he said.

     Kasza said Hungarian Television would provide
information on the pros and cons of accession rather
than disseminate propaganda in favour of the EU.

BIE on Cancellation of World Expo

     Paris, November 9 (MTI) - THE Paris-based
International Exhibition Bureau (BIE) has been informed
of Hungarian Parliament's November 8 resolution to
cancel the 1996 World Expo, BIE General Secretary
Vincent Gonzalez Loscertales told MTI today.

     "The Bureau also learned that for the resolution to
become a law, it must be signed by President Arpad Goncz
within 15 days. The Hungarian government will then
formally announce to us whether the project has been
scrapped," he said.

     "To decide on the matter is a sovereign right of
the Hungarian leaders and we can do nothing about it,"
Loscertales said.

     The secretary said that during its general assembly
on December 7 the BIE would not hold a vote on the
issue. "If the resolution is signed by then, we will
take note of it and remove the issue from the agenda,"
he said.

     Loscertales qualified the Hungarian referendum on
the Expo as an internal affair which he did not wish to
comment on. To clarify the situation, however, he said,
"a number of countries had made preparations for the
Budapest World Expo but stopped them after the Hungarian
government resolution in July.

     The general secretary excluded the possibility of
any other state "jumping in" to host the 1996 World
Expo.

N  E  W  S  L E  T  T  E  R

Republic of Hungary                 Budapest, 1394 . 423
Ministry of Foreign Affairs        Telephone:36(1)156-80

*********************************************************

N  E  W  S  L  E  T  T  E  R

Republic of Hungary                Budapest, 1394 . 423
Ministry of Foreign Affairs     Telephone:36(1)156-8000
Press Department                Telefax: 36(1) 156-3801
531/1994.                   Budapest, November 11, 1994

State Funds to be Merged Next Year


     Budapest, November 10 (MTI) - NEXT year the Expo
Fund will be wound up and the various agricultural and
economic development state funds merged, the government
proposal on amending the law on separate state funds
stipulates.

     There are six different agricultural state funds -
forestry, land protection, fishing, hunting, animal
husbandry and agricultural development funds, all of
which will be merged next year. In addition to the
minister of agriculture, who manages the funds now, the
Hungarian Chamber of Agricultural Producers will also
play an important role in establishing subsidies and
carry out preliminary evaluations for subsidy
applications.

     The Economic Development Fund will be established
with a budget of more than HUF 6 billion by joining the
existing trade development and investment promotion
funds. The minister of trade and industry will continue
as manager and will be authorized to re-group the
fund's assets according to current economic policy.
Returnable and non-returnable subsidies will be available
only to businesses with headquarters in Hungary.

     Priorities include infrastructural development for
the use of modern technology - investment and
infrastructure costs will be subsidized by up to 20 per
cent, or to a maximum of HUF 100 million. The fund will
also acquire stakes in investments of strategic
importance, although they will have to be sold within
three years. (Econews)

European Youth Centre to Open in Budapest


     Budapest, November 10 (MTI) - THE Council of Europe
and the Hungarian government are to establish a European
Youth Centre in Budapest, Ministerial Commissioner
Zsuzsa Szelenyi told reporters at the Ministry of Culture
and Education today.

     The sister institution to a similar centre based in
Strasbourg, the Budapest European Youth Centre (BEYC)
will provide a framework within which young people can
organize their own activities imaginatively, and will
help them to participate in the decision-making that
affects
them.
     The government has designated Hotel Ifj#sag in Buda
to be the future home of the centre but the building has
first to be renovated. The centre is expected to open in
late 1995, Szelenyi said.

     The Ministerial Commissioner also announced that
Hungary would get involved in the Council of Europe's
campaign against racism, anti-Semitism and xenophobia
next year. The campaign will enable Hungarian youth
organizations to get to know their European
counterparts and to establish closer ties with them.

Hungary Offers Individual Partnership for Peace to NATO


     Budapest, November 10 (MTI) - THE Hungarian
government is making an offer for an individual
partnership for peace project between Hungary and NATO.

     A document to this effect will be given by a
representative of Hungary to NATO officials in Brussels
next Tuesday, government spokesperson Evelyn Forro
announced before reporters here today.

     The government also decided to submit a bill to
Parliament on promulgating the second facultative
protocol of the International Agreement on Civil and
Political Rights to Parliament. The protocol declares the
abolition of the death penalty.

Speaker of Parliament Meets Nato Deputy Secretary General


     Budapest, November 10 (MTI) - HUNGARY wants to join
NATO as soon as possible, Zoltan Gal, Speaker of
Hungarian Parliament, told NATO Deputy Secretary General
Sergio Balanzino today.

     Hungary will adapt to the terms that the alliance
will determine as necessary for accession, but Hungary,
Gal said, must first familiarize itself with this system
of terms.

     Hungary is taking an active share in all those
operations that can lead to integration, particularly the
Partnership for Peace.

     "We are aware," Gal stressed, "that a settlement of
relations with all our neighbours is vital for
accession."

     Balanzino said that Partnership did not replace full
membership, but it allowed the partner countries to get
to know the conflict managing methods of the Atlantic
community, and offered an opportunity to the military
institutions to coordinate their respective structure and
strategy.
     NATO, he emphasized, is just starting to design a
position on expansion with a system of terms for
admission.

     Hungary, he added, is proceeding along the right
track, and has good chances of being admitted.

"Governments for Minorities" - Goncz Addresses Conference


     Budapest, November 10 (MTI) - "I would be pleased to
see representatives of foreign government offices
attending this conference to be present at the December
11 municipal elections in Hungary, in which minority
local authorities will be elected for the first time in
the history of Hungary," said President Arpad Goncz to a
gala dinner after an international conference staged here
entitled "Governments for Minorities" tonight.

     President Goncz said it was important for the
representatives of ethnic minorities to play an active
role in various international forums and to be able to
expound their views in the debate.

     He also said that Central Europe was a mosaic of
nationalities, and the fate of the peoples living here
has for centuries been interlinked, each partaking of one
another's history.

     Nationalism, he felt was dangerous if politically
inspired, and if it is turned either against ethnic
minorities or the majority.

     Finally the president called on all attending the
conference to accept the charter of human rights, the
recommendations of the Council of Europe and the
Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe
pertaining to ethnic minorities.

N  E  W  S  L  E  T  T  E  R

Republic of Hungary                 Budapest, 1394 . 423
Ministry of Foreign Affairs        Telephone:36(1)156-80

*********************************************************

N  E  W  S  L  E  T  T  E  R

Republic of Hungary                Budapest, 1394 . 423
Ministry of Foreign Affairs     Telephone:36(1)156-8000
Press Department                Telefax: 36(1) 156-3801
532/1994.                   Budapest, November 14, 1994

Hungarian Press Review


     Budapest, November 11 (MTI) - THE national daily
"Nepszabadsag" carries a lengthy interview with
Hungarian Prime Minister Gyula Horn, in its Friday
issue.

     Horn said he wishes to make the coalition
coordination mechanism more effective, but is otherwise
confident that the coalition between the Hungarian
Socialist Party and the Alliance of Free Democrats will
serve its full term.

     However, the prime minister said that inasmuch as
the Christian-social values intensify within the
Christian Democratic People's Party, he would be ready
to cooperate with them as well, but this is not on the
agenda at present.

     Horn views his own party with a critical approach.
He said: "If I see that tendencies completely
contradictory to our programme and concept are emerging,
then I shall take a firm stand against these." He also
firmly opposes that the peaks of power be merged, and
said no single governmental representative, minister,
secretary of state or senior state official can have
commitments in any private or state companies.

     Horn said he had received promising replies from
the prime ministers of the 12 European Union member
states about a possible ECU 2 billion restructuring
loan. Commenting on the pessimistic remarks made by
Minister of Finance Laszlo Bekesi after his talks in
Brussels earlier in the week about the loan with EU
finance ministers, Horn said the backdrop for the
remarks is that neither the international financial
institutions, nor the European Union have decided to
support the Central and Eastern European region.

* * *

     Budapest, November 11 (MTI) - THE International
Exhibition Bureau (BIE) will most probably revoke
organizing rights for the 1996 World Expo from Budapest,
at its December general assembly, claims the daily
"Magyar H!rlap". The step will be taken as Hungarian
Parliament this week decided to cancel the Expo.

     According to the daily, several countries which
earlier said they would be in the Expo have withdrawn:
for instance Austria, Japan, and Switzerland. If a
referendum supports an Expo, then an exposition can be
held, but it will not be an official World Expo.


     "The Ministry of Defence is expected to get less
than HUF 64 billion budget support in 1995, which is
barely sufficient to cover operating costs," said
Colonel Nandor Gruber, head of the ministry's management
department, in an interview carried in "Magyar H!rlap"".


     "The government's budget bill does not serve
economic growth as it increases average tax burdens and
cuts most large state investments, which sends a bad
message also for entrepreneurs and investors," MP Mihaly
Varga of the Federation of Young Democrats told the
daily "ij Magyarorszag".


     "NATO bears no ill will against Hungary for not
taking part in this year's common military exercise held
under the Partnership for Peace programme. We understand
that Hungary is struggling with budget difficulties,"
NATO Deputy Secretary General Sergio Balanzino said, in
an interview with the daily "Nepszabadsag".

     He adds that NATO counts on Hungary participating
in the next exercise. If not, that would imply Hungary
does not take the programme seriously, he added.

Hungarian Foreign Minister Meets NATO Deputy General
Secretary


     Budapest, November 11 (MTI) - HUNGARIAN Foreign
Minister Laszlo Kovacs met Sergio Balanzino, NATO Deputy
Secretary General, today to survey Hungary-NATO links
and the Partnership for Peace.

     Kovacs said that Hungary was getting closer to the
European Union and NATO simultaneously. He added,
however, that it would be decided in Brussels,
Washington and the capitals of other member states which
gate opens earlier.

     Hungary seeks close cooperation with both
organizations and pursues the ultimate goal of full
membership, the minister said.
     After the meeting, Kovacs told MTI that the NATO
Council would launch a consultation next week on how to
start expanding the organization. The minister said the
Hungarian government based its policy on reality, not on
dreams and illusions, so it must be satisfied with the
progress made so far.

     Kovacs added that next week he would meet Balanzino
again in Brussels when, together with Defence Minister
Gyorgy Keleti, he would give Hungary's presentation
document to NATO leaders.

     Later on, Balanzino met members of the foreign
affairs and defence committees of Parliament.

Forum on CSCE and NGOs


     Budapest, November 11 (MTI) - HUNGARY, which will
soon take over the Presidency of the Conference on
Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE), will always
be on the side of those trying to give more openings for
non-governmental organizations, Ferenc Somogyi,
Hungarian Administrative State Secretary of Foreign
Affairs, told a forum called "The CSCE and NGOs" in
Budapest today.

     Somogyi recalled that the operation of NGOs already
featured on the agenda of the CSCE Cultural Forum held
in Budapest nine years ago. These organizations, he
said, contribute to an increase in the degree of social
freedom.

     All participants pressed for the CSCE review
conference to reach agreements that enable the more
active involvement of NGOs in the work of the CSCE. They
stressed that the global challenges of our age can only
be met with comprehensive, responsible action, which
again underlines the importance of NGOs.

Economic Growth May Start in 1997, Bekesi Says


     Budapest, November 11 (MTI) - SHOULD Hungary be
consistent in implementing its stabilization programme,
it may repeat its 1994 economic performance next year,
Hungarian Finance Minister Laszlo Bekesi told an
economic forum at the Hungarian Chamber of Commerce
today.

     If the government insists on tough fiscal and
monetary policies in 1996, it might be able to initiate
a 3-5 per cent growth by 1997, he said.

     The Hungarian economy is characterized by some
favourable trends, including an upswing in investment
and export, the minister said. Next year export may
increase by 6-8 per cent without the need for the
government to subsidize loss-making production and thus
increase the national debt, he said.

     The end of recession in Western Europe provides
Hungary with the opportunity of increasing its export,
Bekesi said.

     Furthermore, it is crucial that Hungary regain its
eastern markets in a way that allows it to sell its
products within the framework of barter deals or other
forms of payment rather than on credit.



NATO Deputy Secretary General Holds Press Briefing


     Budapest, November 11 (MTI) - HUNGARY will surely
be given a place in the first group of countries that
will be admitted to NATO, Sergio Balanzino, NATO deputy
secretary-general, told a press briefing here today
winding up two days of talks in Budapest.

     Balanzino mainly discussed the possible expansion
of the military alliance, and compared notes with his
Hungarian negotiating partners on the peace-partnership
project.

     He noted that Hungary would submit its individual
partnership programme in Brussels next week.

     This document lists three future joint military
exercises, which has been greeted by a positive
reception in Brussels.

     Further plans promoting Hungary's rapprochement to
NATO were also received favourably.

     Balanzino pointed out that NATO leadership was
aware that the ongoing war in the one-time Yugoslavia
put a burden on the Hungarian economy, and that Hungary
was suffering great damage due to the observance of the
embargo imposed on rump Yugoslavia.

     Istvan Szent-Ivanyi, political state secretary at
the Foreign Ministry, confirmed at the press briefing
that Hungary would like to become a member of NATO
within the foreseeable future, but that it does not
regard admission to the military alliance as an
alternative to membership of the European Union.

     Budapest is making parallel efforts to achieve both
memberships, he added.

     Szent-Ivanyi noted that the view of the Hungarian
administration sees the broadening of NATO as bringing
about a more secure Europe.




Delegation to Attend North Atlantic General Meeting


     Budapest, November 13 (MTI) - A delegation of the
Hungarian Parliament headed by Jeno Racskay representing
the Alliance of Free Democrats flew to Washington on
Sunday to take part in the 40th session of the North
Atlantic General Meeting.

     The members of the delegation include Gyorgy Csoti
(Hungarian Democratic Forum), Tamas Wachsler (Federation
of Young Democrats, Pal Papp (Hungarian Socialist
Party), Nandor Rott (Independent Smallholders' Party)
and Gabor Leitner (Christian Democratic People's Party).

     Questions on the agenda will include expansion of
NATO, issues connected with the security of some
geographical regions (Central and Eastern Europe and the
Mediterranean) and the activity of the Conference on
Security and Cooperation.

     The defence committee of the general meting is
expected to discuss a report by Tamas Wachsler regarding
Hungarian views on the expansion of NATO.

Budapest, 1394 . 423
Ministry of Foreign Affairs        Telephone:36(1)156-80

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