RADIO FREE EUROPE/RADIO LIBERTY, PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC
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RFE/RL NEWSLINE 16 March 2000
HUNGARY, ROMANIA, UKRAINE SIGN ENVIRONMENT PACT.
Representatives from Hungary, Romania, and Ukraine gathered
in the eastern Hungarian city of Debrecen to sign an
agreement to prevent environmental pollution. Under the
protocol, each country will list potential sources of risk
to the environment. The three countries are also to
cooperate with the International Danube Commission and a
special EU task force set up after a cyanide spill from a
Romanian gold mine in January spread through several
European rivers. The representatives also discussed a
second spill in Romania, which released heavy metals
pollution into the Tisza River last weekend. The Romanian
representative said that a new wave of heavy metals
pollution reported by Ukraine on 14 March (see "RFE/RL
Newsline," 15 March 2000) did not result from yet another
spill but rather from the leak reported earlier. VG
HUNGARIAN PREMIER REJECTS ACCUSATIONS ABOUT MEDIA. Viktor
Orban on 15 March shrugged off recent criticism about the
level of media independence in the country, Hungarian Radio
reported. He noted that "half" of the respondents to a
recent poll in Hungary believe press freedom is not in
danger in the country, while 41 percent believe it is. He
added that "party affiliation" has a lot to do with the way
people assess the media, noting that 77 percent of the
supporters of his party, FIDESZ, do not believe press
freedom is in danger. Orban also dismissed the concerns of
U.S. Ambassador Peter Tufo and other observers that the
parliament failed to elect any opposition members to
supervisory boards for the broadcast media (see "RFE/RL
Newsline," 15 March 2000). He added that the British prime
minister appoints the BBC board of governors and that the
government in Portugal appoints the supervisory board
overseeing the public broadcasting in that country. This
would be "inconceivable" in Hungary, Orban said. VG
ETHNIC HUNGARIAN PARTY CRITICIZES ROMANIAN MINORITY
POLICIES. Representatives of the Hungarian Democratic
Federation of Romania (UDMR) on 15 March criticized the EU
and the U.S. for praising Romania's minority policies,
Hungarian TV2 reported. At celebrations in Tirgu Mures
marking the anniversary of the 1848 revolutions, UDMR
chairman Bela Marko criticized European commissioners for
trying to "convince" ethnic Hungarians in Romania "how good
life is for us." While Marko acknowledged that conditions
have improved for Hungarians in Romania, he said more needs
to be done. "We need the free use of language, the right to
independent decision-making and autonomy here, in our
homeland," said Marko. UDMR honorary chairman Bishop Lazslo
Toekes accused U.S. President Bill Clinton and OSCE
minorities commissioner Max van der Stoel of ignoring the
problems of the Hungarian minority. VG
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RADIO FREE EUROPE/RADIO LIBERTY, PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC
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RFE/RL NEWSLINE 17 March 2000
HUNGARIAN GOVERNMENT ADVISOR UNDER FIRE FOR ROMANY COMMENTS.
Three Hungarian civic organizations on 16 March called on
Prime Minister Viktor Orban to dismiss Peter Szegvari, a top
Prime Minister's Office official, for comments on the
country's Romany minority, Hungarian Radio reported. Szegvari
recently commented that the birthrate among Romany families
is too high in view of their living conditions and concluded
that they should be offered free contraceptives. The three
groups--the Habeas Corpus working group, the Romany Women,
and the Women for Women Association--said the government
should be working to improve the living conditions of Roma
rather than turning individual Romany families into
scapegoats. VG
CRIMINAL PROCEEDING LAUNCHED AGAINST HUNGARY'S KFOR
COMMANDER. Authorities in Hungary have launched criminal
proceedings against the commander of the country's unit in
the KFOR peacekeeping force in Kosova, Hungarian Radio
reported. Commander Gyula Papp, who was recalled from Kosova
on 15 March, is suspected of criminal negligence in failing
to take action against the illegal activities of some of his
troops. Three other soldiers in the unit also face criminal
charges in connection with the forging of documents, damaging
the reputation of the Hungarian military, and disobedience.
VG
ROMANIAN FOREIGN MINISTRY REBUKES HUNGARIAN FAR-RIGHT LEADER.
The Foreign Ministry on 16 March said in a statement that it
has "taken note" of the declaration made one day earlier by
far-right Hungarian Justice and Life Party leader Istvan
Csurka and that it "regretfully must conclude that these
declarations are in evident contrast with the positive
evolution [marked] in Romanian-Hungarian relations." Csurka
told a gathering marking the 15 March Hungarian national
holiday that a repeat of "the tragedy" of the Tisza (Tisa)
River pollution can only be avoided if Transylvania becomes
an independent state. The Romanian ministry says the purpose
of the statement is to "create artificial tension" in
Romanian-Hungarian relations and that the two countries must
continue their effort to achieve integration into "a united
Europe that is unburdened by prejudice and reminiscences of
the past," Romanian state radio reported. MS
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