RFE/RL Daily Report
                   No. 223, 28 November 1994


CIVILIAN APPOINTED TO HEAD ARMS AGENCY. Interfax on reported 25
November that it had been informed by "reliable sources" that
Yeltsin had appointed Aleksandr Kotelkin to head the
Rosvooruzhenye state-owned weapons import-export company.
Previously, Kotelkin managed the Board on Foreign Cooperation in
Military Technology at the Ministry of Foreign Economic Relations
and supervised arms sales to Hungary, Angola, and Kuwait totaling
nearly $2 billion. Kotelkin would replace General Viktor Samoilov.
-- Doug Clarke, RFE/RL, Inc.

CEFTA PREMIERS MEET IN POLAND. The prime ministers of the four
Central European Free Trade Agreement countries (the Czech
Republic, Hungary, Slovakia, and Poland) on 25 November agreed to
speed up trade liberalization in the region and to admit new
members. They also approved a declaration calling for
"consultations" on joining the European Union. Pleas for close
coordination of those efforts, made repeatedly by Hungarian
Premier Gyula Horn, went unheeded by Czech Prime Minister Vaclav
Klaus, who is in favor of each country entering the union
separately. The prime ministers also agreed to abolish all
barriers between their countries by 1 January 2000. The meeting
was attended by Slovenian Premier Janez Drnovsek, who said his
country expected to join CEFTA in 1995. -- Jan de Weydenthal,
RFE/RL, Inc.

SLOVAK COALITION TALKS AGAIN FALTER. Negotiations between the
Movement for a Democratic Slovakia and the Christian Democratic
Movement were cut short on 23 November after party leaders failed
to reach agreement. CDM requirements for supporting an MDS
government include reversing certain steps taken during the first
two parliament sessions, ceasing attacks on President Michal
Kovac, and continuing with privatization. MDS Chairman Vladimir
Meciar was unable to confirm whether his party would accept such
demands. Following the talks, Meciar continued to insist that his
party will not form a minority cabinet. The next day he told CTK
on 24 November that he had ruled out a coalition with the CDM and
the Hungarians, while cooperation with the Democratic Union was
not feasible because he expects the party to split. But on 26
November, MDS member Katerina Tothova said the MDS is willing to
work with any party expect the Hungarian coalition. -- Sharon
Fisher, RFE/RL, Inc.

HUNGARIAN NEGOTIATIONS ON 1995 BUDGET. Following three days of
talks, the Interest Coordinating Council (a group composed of
government, employer, and worker representatives) on 27 November
came closer to reaching an agreement on the draft 1995 budget's
provisions on wages, social benefits, and taxes, MTI reports. The
spokesman for the workers' delegation said an agreement might
avert strikes by trade unions. Several teachers' unions on 24
November announced they would stage a strike on 17 December to
protest cuts in subsidies to the education sector. -- Edith Oltay,
RFE/RL, Inc.

[As of 1200 CET] 

(Compiled by Jan Cleave and Penny Morvant)
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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