OMRI DAILY DIGEST
No. 143, 25 July 1996

SLOVAKIA COMPLAINS TO EU ABOUT HUNGARY. Slovak Foreign Ministry State
Secretary Jozef Sestak on 24 July handed a diplomatic note to EU
ambassadors, responding to calls from Budapest for autonomy for ethnic
Hungarians living in neighboring states, Reuters reported. Sestak
delivered an "aide memoire" to the ambassadors of Germany, Italy,
Britain, France, and the European Commission's representative to
Slovakia, informing them about the current relationship between Slovakia
and Hungary following the communique issued earlier this month by the
Budapest summit on ethnic Hungarian minorities. -- Sharon Fisher

SLOVAKS RESPOND TO NATO EXPANSION BILL. Slovak officials on 24 July
responded to the U.S. House of Representatives' bill offering financial
assistance to Poland, the Czech Republic, and Hungary to help them gain
NATO membership, Slovak media reported. During a special meeting of the
parliamentary Foreign Affairs Committee, members called for "additional
lobbying" in the U.S. Congress and appeals to the parliaments of EU
member countries. Roman Kovac of the opposition Democratic Union said he
considers Slovakia's omission from the list "one of the last warning
signals." -- Sharon Fisher

HUNGARIAN GOVERNMENT DOMINATES STATE-RUN MEDIA. A survey of state TV and
radio newscasts from April-June showed an overall ratio of 66.1%
coverage for the governing parties versus 33.9% for the opposition,
Hungarian media reported on 25 July. Coverage of the ruling parties on
Duna TV and Hungarian Radio slightly surpassed their parliamentary
representation, while Hungarian TV (MTV) gave somewhat more exposure to
the opposition. The ruling Socialists received the most media coverage,
with 45.6%, while the Free Democrats--the junior coalition partner--
captured 20.5%. Next came the opposition Hungarian Democratic Forum
(8.4%), the Smallholders (7.6%), the Christian Democrats (6.8%), the
Young Democrats (6.3%), and the People's Party (4.8%). -- Sharon Fisher

[As of 12:00 CET]

Compiled by Maura Griffin Solovar