RADIO FREE EUROPE/RADIO LIBERTY, PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC
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RFE/RL NEWSLINE Vol. 2, No. 101, 28 May 1998

SPOKESMAN SAYS ORBAN DENIES GIVING CONTROVERSIAL INTERVIEW.
Andras Klein, a spokesman for the Federation of Young
Democrats- Hungarian Civic Party (FIDESZ- MPP), told an
RFE/RL correspondent in Budapest on 27 May that party
chairman Victor Orban did not give an interview to the
Austrian daily "Standart.". Klein said the daily published
remarks that Orban made "long ago, even before the electoral
campaign had started" and that even those remarks had been
"misunderstood.". ""Standart" the previous day had cited
Orban as saying that Hungary's bilateral treaties with
neighboring countries are "inadequate" in their provisions
on national minorities' rights" and must be revised. He was
also quoted as saying that a new education law must be
passed in Romania to safeguard Hungarian cultural identity.
Also on 27 May, Romanian Prime Minister Radu Vasile said he
will ask for explanations from the Hungarian ambassador to
Bucharest, while Romania's opposition parties have launched
a strong protest against the alleged remarks. MS

HUNGARIAN SMALLHOLDERS DEMAND CABINET POSTS. Independent
Smallholders' Party (FKGP) chairman Jozsef Torgyan, who has
been re-elected as the party's caucus leader, told Hungarian
media on 27 May that the FKGP insists on running a "super-
ministry" for developing the countryside and considers the
Interior Ministry to be "close to its own area of
operation." The caucus has authorized Torgyan to conduct
coalition talks with FIDESZ-MPP. Meanwhile, Bertalan
Osztroha, leader of the FKGP's Borsod County branch, said "a
cult of personality prevails over democracy" in the party.
He called for Torgyan's removal. MSZ

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RADIO FREE EUROPE/RADIO LIBERTY, PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC
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RFE/RL NEWSLINE Vol. 2, No. 100, 27 May 1998

NEW HUNGARIAN GOVERNMENT TO OPPOSE SLOVAK NUCLEAR PLANT.
Zoltan Illes, the vice president of the Young Democrats-
Hungarian Civic Party (FIDESZ-MPP), said on 26 May that the
new Hungarian government will join Austria in opposing the
opening of the controversial Mochovce nuclear power plant,
Reuters reported. Illes, a leading candidate to become
environment minister in the new government, said FIDESZ-MPP
believes the plant, located just 60 kilometers from
Budapest, is unsafe. Illes also said the Young Democrats
oppose the construction of the controversial dam on the
River Danube. He said the decision by the International
Court of Justice calling for the Hungarians to complete the
unfinished project is "guiding" but not binding. PB

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RADIO FREE EUROPE/RADIO LIBERTY, PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC
___________________________________________________________
RFE/RL NEWSLINE Vol. 2, No. 102, 29 May 1998

ORBAN ON HUNGARY'S FOREIGN POLICY PRIORITIES. Viktor Orban,
the leader of the Federation of Young Democrats-Hungarian
Civic Party (FIDESZ-MPP), said in Bonn on 28 May that
Hungary is committed to continuing its Euro-Atlantic
integration and maintaining good relations with its
neighbors. The new cabinet will not seek to renegotiate
existing basic treaties with neighboring countries but wants
to supplement those accords, he said. He added that the use
of the Hungarian language in educational institutions and
the restitution of Church property are issues to be
negotiated with Romania. At the same time, he noted that the
Slovak government is "simply not implementing provisions of
the basic treaty with Hungary." Meanwhile, FIDESZ-MPP
foreign policy expert Zsolt Nemeth said the new cabinet
wants to ensure that neighboring countries and Hungarian
minorities beyond the borders benefit from the advantages of
Hungary's EU and NATO integration because, he said, the
integration process itself draws a dividing line between
Hungary and its neighbors. MSZ

VASILE SATISFIED WITH HUNGARIAN EXPLANATION OF ORBAN
COMMENTS. Following his meeting with visiting Hungarian
Chief of Staff General Ferenc Vegh and Hungarian Ambassador
to Bucharest Ferenc Fekete in Bucharest on 28 May, Romanian
Prime Minister Radu Vasil said he is "satisfied" with
Fekete's explanation of statements attributed to Viktor
Orban by an Austrian daily (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 28 May
1998). Vasile said Orban was misquoted due to the fact that
his comments had been translated from Hungarian into German
and from German into French by AFP. Vegh said he is
confident that the change in the Hungarian government will
not mean any change in Hungarian-Romanian relations. He and
his Romanian counterpart, General Constantin Degeratu,
agreed that the Hungarian-Romanian peace-keeping force will
start operating in the fall, after the two countries'
parliaments approve its creation. MS


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