RADIO FREE EUROPE/RADIO LIBERTY, PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC
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RFE/RL NEWSLINE  18 June 1999

UKRAINIAN, HUNGARIAN DEFENSE MINISTERS DISCUSS KOSOVA.
Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksandr Kuzmuk and his
Hungarian counterpart, Janos Szabo, discussed the Kosova
crisis in Kyiv on 17 June, MTI reported. Szabo and
Kuzmuk agreed that Russia has played a major role in
securing the Kosova peace agreement. They stressed,
however, that the process of stabilization and
democratization of Kosova and the rest of Yugoslavia
will take a long time. The ministers agreed that
Ukrainian and Hungarian military experts will continue
talks on setting up a joint battalion. In other news,
British Defense Secretary George Robertson said in Kyiv
the next day that NATO will welcome Ukrainian troops as
part of the Kosova peacekeeping force. JM

UKRAINE TO SELL 50 PERCENT OF SHARES IN LVIV BUS PLANT.
The State Property Fund on 17 June announced a tender
for the purchase of a 50 percent stake in the Lviv Bus
Plant (LAZ), the country's monopoly bus-manufacturer.
According to Interfax, the sale is one of the World
Bank's conditions for granting Ukraine a $100 million
loan to develop its enterprises. The fund set the
starting price at 11.54 million hryvni ($2.92 million).
In addition, prospective investors must promise to
provide LAZ with $5.3 million in cash within a year and
to invest $15 million within four years. JM

ESTONIAN PM IN AUSTRIA. Prime Minister Mart Laar on 17
June met in Vienna with Austrian Chancellor Viktor Klima
and Foreign Minister Wolfgang Schussel to discuss
bilateral relations and EU enlargement. Laar stressed
Estonia's desire to see Latvia and Lithuania included in
EU accession negotiations, but he also expressed
concerns over Latvia's import duties on pork, according
to BNS. MH

SERBIAN OPPOSITION POLITICIAN MEETS HUNGARIAN TOP
OFFICIALS. Hungarian Foreign Ministry state secretary
Zsolt Nemeth on 17 June told visiting Yugoslav
opposition politician Zoran Djindjic that President
Slobodan Milosevic "must go in order for Serbia to have
democracy." He said the Hungarian government supports
Serbia's rapprochement with Europe, but he added that
this is conditional on restoring democracy, including
freedom of the press, human and minority rights, and
autonomy for Vojvodina's Hungarians. Djindjic said the
opposition in Belgrade is urging the population to
engage in civil disobedience, as "Milosevic can only be
forced to leave through massive street demonstrations."
MSZ

HUNGARIAN PRIME MINISTER PROMISES ACTION PLAN FOR ROMA.
"A concrete action plan will be drafted every year to
implement a medium-term package of measures aimed at
improving the situation of Roma," Viktor Orban said on
17 June, after meeting with Florian Farkas, chairman of
the National Gypsy Authority. The first plan will be
drafted at the end of the year by Donchev Toso, chairman
of the Office for National and Ethnic Minorities, in
cooperation with the Gypsy Authority. Farkas said the
meeting proved that "the government does not want a
Hungary without Roma." MSZ

MILITARY PERSONNEL CHANGES EXPECTED IN HUNGARY. Defense
Minister Janos Szabo will initiate the dismissal of
armed forces chief of staff Ferenc Vegh and one of his
deputies, Nandor Hollosi, before September, "Magyar
Hirlap" reported on 18 June. A government official
speaking on condition of anonymity said that "the
general staff must merge into the ministry and not the
other way around," adding that "we shall run over anyone
who opposes the government's plans." Szabo has
reportedly put off major personnel changes until the
fall because of the Kosova crisis. MSZ

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