OMRI DAILY DIGEST
No. 56, 20 May 1995

PARLIAMENT CONVENTION ON TIBET IN VILNIUS. Eighty parliamentarians from
21 countries attended a convention in Vilnius on 26-28 May to discuss
the status of Tibet from the point of view of international law,
demographic policy in Tibet, and its relations with China, BNS reported
the next day. The convention agreed to send an international delegation
to Tibet and Beijing to investigate the situation there and to press for
talks on a peaceful settlement of the conflict between China and Tibet.
Lawmakers from 13 countries--the three Baltic States, Russia, Poland,
Hungary, Bulgaria, Albania, Iceland, Canada, New Zealand, India, and
Japan--also decided to set up an international group that will seek
solutions to the Chechnya conflict. -- Saulius Girnius, OMRI, Inc.

CZECHS AND POLES DISAGREE AGAIN OVER VISEGRAD GROUP. Czech Prime
Minister Vaclav Klaus on 29 May again rejected Polish desires for closer
ties among the four Visegrad countries of Central Europe, Mlada fronta
dnes reported the following day. Polish Foreign Minister Wladyslaw
Bartoszewski, at a meeting with Klaus, called for greater cooperation
among Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary. But Klaus
repeated his long-held view that the Visegrad group should not become
institutionalized. The two however agreed on their countries' strategies
for joining NATO and European institutions and on relations with
Germany. On the first day of his two-day official visit to Prague,
Bartoszewski also had talks with his Czech counterpart Josef Zieleniec.
-- Steve Kettle, OMRI, Inc.

HUNGARY'S SCUD MISSILES DETONATED. A U.S. demolition expert detonated on
29 May Hungary's remaining Soviet-made Scud missiles, international and
Hungarian media reported. U.S. Ambassador to Hungary Donald Blinken told
journalists that the action was a joint effort by the U.S. and Hungary
to prevent the spread of dangerous weapons. He said the destruction of
the missiles demonstrated Hungary's determination to join Western
security structures. Hungarian Defense Minister Gyorgy Keleti said
Hungary's remaining seven Scud missiles were never targeted and were put
in storage in 1989. -- Jiri Pehe, OMRI, Inc.

NORTH ATLANTIC ASSEMBLY MEETING IN BUDAPEST. The North Atlantic Assembly
ended a four-day meeting in Budapest on 29 May, Western agencies
reported the same day. It was the first time the assembly had convened
in a former communist country. NAA President Karl Voigt and Hungarian
military expert Tamas Wachsler submitted a report calling for new
members of NATO to be "fully integrated into the NATO structure" and
stating that in peace time, no foreign troops and nuclear weapons need
be deployed in these countries. Russian delegates argued that any
expansion of NATO would threaten the division of Europe. The assembly
passed a resolution condemning the "barbaric" actions of the Bosnian
Serbs in taking UN peacekeepers as hostages and called for the UN
mandate in Bosnia to be strengthened. -- Michael Mihalka, OMRI, Inc.

ROMANIAN SENATORS DENOUNCE HUNGARIAN MINORITY PARTY. Several senators on
29 May, responding to the Hungarian Democratic Federation of Romania's
(UDMR) program adopted at its recent congress (see OMRI Daily Digest, 29
May 1995), attacked the party's demand for territorial autonomy.
Socialist Labor Party First Deputy Chairman Adrian Paunescu and Greater
Romania Party leader Corneliu Vadim Tudor (both former Ceausescu "court
poets") called on the prosecutor-general to take legal action against
the UDMR for violating the constitution. The UDMR was also denounced by
Vasile Dumitru, a member of the ruling Party of Social Democracy in
Romania, and by Senator Vasile Vetisianu, a member of the opposition
National Peasant Party-Christian Democratic, Radio Bucharest and
Romanian Television reported. -- Michael Shafir, OMRI, Inc.

[As of 12:00 CET]

Compiled by Jan Cleave

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Tuesday, 30 May 1995
Volume 2, Issue 104


REGIONAL NEWS
-------------

**WALESA FINDS TIME FOR HIS PRIME MINISTER**
  Polish Prime Minister Jozef Oleksy has invited trade union
  leaders and employer groups to meet with him Friday in an
  effort to stop a wave of strikes and protests.  During a visit
  to Hungary on Saturday Polish President Lech Walesa said
  Oleksy should resign if he proves unable to cope with the
  labor unrest sweeping Poland's arms factories, mines and other
  industries.  A government spokeswoman has said Oleksy wants to
  meet with Walesa to tell him what the government is doing to
  stop the strikes.  Walesa's spokesman said yesterday the
  president will be available at 10 this morning for a meeting
  with Oleksy.



BUSINESS NEWS
-------------

**HUNGARY WILL SPLIT HOTEL PRIVATIZATION**
  Hungary's State Property Agency said yesterday it will sell the
  Forum Hotel as one package and the remaining 15 units of
  HungarHotels as another, however, no privatization plan for
  the much publicized chain has been drafted.  The Forum Hotel
  generated 40 percent of HungarHotel profits last year.  The
  State Property Agency currently owns 63 percent of the hotel
  chain.  Local Hungarian governments own a 17 percent stake and
  20 percent belongs to HungarHotels itself.


**BUDAPEST TRADERS BACK OFF**
  Hungarian share prices moved sideways with volumes declining on
  the Budapest bourse (BSE) Monday as investors play a
  wait-and-see game after strong gains in recent weeks, traders
  said.  The BUX index closed at 1,460.94 points, down 13.04.
  The market's calmness was reflected by that the usually very
  liquid Fotex remained untraded in the first session following
  its annual general meeting on Friday where shareholders agreed
  not to pay a dividend on the 1994 results.  Egis firmed to end
  at $25, up 60 cents as foreign investors bought the
  pharmaceutical paper.  On the BSE futures market prices for
  the BUX index remained mostly stagnant.  The only contract for
  the BUX index, concluded for September, was steady at 1,520.00
  points.  Settlement prices remained unchanged for June at
  1,425 points and for March 1996 at 1,790 points, and eased to
  1,660 points, down 10.


ANALYSIS
--------

**THE CHESS GAME OF NATO EXPANSION**
  By Nancy Marshall

  About three months ago the US House passed the National
  Security Revitalization Act.  Right now the Senate is
  considering similar amendments to its NATO Participation Act.
  Both pieces of legislation contain a provision that greatly
  concerns the Clinton administration: a passage that states the
  Visegrad countries, Poland, Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech
  Republic are the most worthy of early consideration for full
  NATO membership.  The White House is worried that prioritizing
  new NATO members creates "winners and losers", discouraging
  reforms in states not listed and leading to prejudice against
  potential members before they've proved they're qualified for
  full membership.  Senator William Roth, a republican from
  Delaware, was the head of the US delegation to the
  just-concluded Budapest spring session of NATO's North
  Atlantic Assembly.  He doesn't see a problem with prioritizing
  NATO applicants.

  Roth: I can say that in my discussions here at the NAA I have't
  gotten the impression that the fact that certain countries may
  be admitted early is discouraging to other countries from
  seeking membership and taking those steps that they feel are
  basic to that enlargment.  I think the senate will work its
  will.  I think the important thing is adoption of legislation
  that supports enlargement.  I personally can go along with
  mentioning them by name, but if there are others that have
  reservations, I think the general statement is the critical
  one.

  CET: You're not worried about the Clinton administration's
  reservations on this issue?

  Roth: I want to hear more why they think it won't work in the
  present form.  I have a great deal of respect for Senator
  Brown, who's the author of legislation.

  CET: The legislation also names six other east European nations
  which could eventually be admitted into NATO.  Russia isn't
  one of them.  Will the Senate include Russia?

  Roth: I have no reason to think it will.  Most people feel that
  the approach to Russia should be through some kind of
  agreement directly between NATO and Russia.

  CET: One of the amendments to the NATO Particiapation Act says
  any threat to the security of the newly emerging democracies
  in central Europe would pose a security threat to the US and
  its European allies.  How do you respond to fears that that
  would be stretching the NATO security blanket too thin?

  Roth: The basic charter of NATO provides security to all
  countries which are NATO members.  One couldn't extend it
  beyond that without rewriting the charter which would then
  have to go back to the various states, countries,
  parliamentary bodies and, if adopted, would be accepted
  according to constitutional procedures.

  CET: There are concerns that if NATO admits new members without
  changing those constitutional procedures it could become
  overly bureaucratic with too many people having too much of a
  say.  Do you think that NATO's decision making structure would
  have to be changed before new countries can be allowed in?

  Roth: I'm not persuaded at this stage that it has to be
  changed.  There's always been that concern when we've
  enlargerd in past.  Yes the larger you get, to have consensus
  becomes difficult, but there's a number of ways this can be
  dealt with.



ABOUT CET ON-LINE
-----------------

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date=5/29/95
type=correspondent report
number=2-179560
title=NATO Assembly Wrap (l only)
byline=Barry Wood
dateline=Budapest
content=
voiced at:

Intro:  Lawmakers from the 16 NATO countries and 15 countries in
the former east bloc have ended a meeting in Budapest.  V-o-A's
Barry Wood reports that the North Atlantic Assembly devoted most
of its discussion to the escalating conflict in Bosnia and to the
possibility of NATO's eastward expansion.

Text:  The North Atlantic Assembly called for the immediate
unconditional release of the United Nations peacekeepers held by
the Bosnian Serbs.

A resolution, adopted with only two dissenting votes from more
than 200 cast, calls for an immediate end to the aggression
towards the civilian population in Bosnia.  The seizure of the
U-N peacekeepers is called barbaric and their use as human
shields contrary to all international conventions.

The delegates endorsed the efforts of the contact group to
achieve a negotiated settlement.  And they suggested that the U-N
security council amend the mandate of the U-N protection force to
enable it to respond to future aggression.

Seven members of the Russian Duma and federation council agreed
to the resolution.  There was unanimous bipartisan support from
the nearly 20 members of the U-S congress attending the meeting,
as well as from the major parties in Britain, France, and
Germany.

In the gilded and towering chamber of the Hungarian Parliament,
the delegates heard German defense minister Volker Ruehe say that
extending NATO membership to the east will promote stability in
Europe.  Mr. Ruehe went so far as to say that NATO expansion is
helpful to Russia.  He said just as  no  country has a veto over
NATO expansion, so too, there will be  no  surprises.

                       ///  Ruehe act  ///

         It is obvious that the first group of candidates will be
         (NATO) members by the year 2000.  And, as it is an open
         process, others will have the possibility of joining
         later.  In this context the conceptual link between NATO
         and European Union enlargement is so tremendously
         important, because the countries who are  not  prime
         candidates know from the outset:  we are on track.

                        ///  End act  ///

This assertive, confident German presentation was well received
by the Central European nations who have made NATO membership
their principal foreign policy goal.  The Hungarians, Poles, and
Czechs expect to be the first to join NATO.

But other listeners were skeptical.  Both democrats and
republicans in the U-S congressional delegation privately voiced
doubts about a quick expansion of NATO.  Others expressed
surprise at just how quickly the Germans expect to proceed.
(Signed)

neb/bdw/skh/jwh

29-May-95 1:49 pm edt (1749 utc)
nnnn

source: Voice of America

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