OMRI DAILY DIGEST
No. 54, Part II, 16 March 1995



SLOVAK FOREIGN MINISTER ON RELATIONS WITH HUNGARY. Juraj Schenk, on
returning from Budapest on 15 March, told reporters that six questions
have to be resolved before the Slovak-Hungarian basic treaty can be
signed, Pravda reported. Those issues, he said, related mainly to the
Danube River and Gabcikovo dam project, the drawing of the common
border, and the question of minorities, particularly the interpretation
of European standards. Emphasizing that territorial autonomy for
minorities is "unacceptable," Schenk stressed that "the Slovak side
wants to sign a pact of stability, not a pact of instability." Premiers
Vladimir Meciar and Gyula Horn, scheduled to meet in Komarno on 16
March, hope to sign the treaty before the Conference on the Pact of
Stability opens in Paris on 21 March. In related news, Hungarian
Christian Democratic Movement Chairman Bela Bugar told Sme on 15 March
that contrary to allegations made by Meciar on Slovak Television the
previous day, "the Hungarian proposal does not discuss territorial
autonomy." Bugar added that his party does not support territorial
autonomy but rather educational and cultural autonomy. -- Sharon Fisher,
OMRI, Inc.


ROMANIA'S MAGYARS MARK HUNGARIAN NATIONAL DAY. Ceremonies marking the
147th anniversary of Hungary's 1848 revolution took place on 15 March in
many towns in Transylvania and the Banat with large ethnic Hungarian
populations, Radio Bucharest reported. More than 10,000 people
participated in a rally in Sfantu Gheorghe, while some 5,000 people
gathered in Targu Secuiesc. Bela Marko, leader of the Hungarian
Democratic Federation of Romania, and Erno Rudas, the Hungarian
ambassador to Bucharest, attended the meetings in Targu Secuiesc and
Targu Mures. In Cluj, some 300 people, ignoring a ban by the town's
extreme nationalist mayor Gheorghe Funar, laid wreaths at monuments
honoring 1848 revolutionaries. No incidents were reported, but Radio
Bucharest quoted Funar as protesting the presence of diplomats from the
Hungarian, U.S., and Swedish embassies in Bucharest at the Cluj
ceremonies. Funar noted that those embassies did not send
representatives to celebrations of Romania's national holiday on 1
December. -- Dan Ionescu, OMRI, Inc.

[As of 1200 CET]

Compiled by Jan Cleave


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A tovabbterjesztest a New York-i szekhelyu Magyar Emberi Jogok
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Friday, 17 March 1995
Volume 2, Issue 55


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

**HUNGARY, ROMANIA AGREE THAT MORE TIME IS NEEDED**
  Hungary and Romania say they won't meet the European Union's
  March 21 deadline for a basic treaty which would recognize
  existing borders while guaranteeing the rights of the
  Hungarian minority in Transylvannia.  After a meeting
  yesterday in Budapest, Hungarian Foreign Minister Laszlo
  Kovacs and his Romanian counterpart Teodor Melescanu admitted
  they couldn't even agree on what European minority standards
  apply to the basic treaty.  Issues holding up the agreement
  include questions about the right to use one's language when
  dealing with the government, and the right of minority groups
  to form political parties.  But Melescanu says the meeting
  wasn't a waste of time.

  "We agreed with Minister Kovacs that we don't consider this a
  failure.  We've made a lot of progress and this is a very real
  success in our relationship.  The fact that we didn't arrive
  at an agreement on a specific date could be interpreted as a
  failure, but we both agreed we are not willing to negotiate
  under pressure."

  The two sides originally wanted to complete the treaty in time
  for it to be signed at the March 21 European Union Stability
  Conference in Paris.  Kovacs and Melescanu say they'll meet
  again soon to talk about the treaty at one of three border
  crossings they agreed upon at yesterday's meeting.


**HUNGARY, SLOVAKIA SIGN HISTORIC TREATY**
  Slovak Prime Minister Vladimir Meciar and Hungarian Prime
  Minister Gyula Horn reached an agreement late yesterday on a
  basic treaty.  Their seven-hour meeting in Bratislava
  culminated in an announcement that a final agreement will be
  signed on Monday at the European Union Stability Pact
  Conference in Paris.  The two prime ministers had been
  pressing to complete the full agreement by next week.  A
  smiling Prime Minister Horn told journalists late last night
  that every article in the basic treaty meets European and
  international requirements.  An equally relieved Prime
  Minister Meciar stressed that the conclusion of the treaty
  wouldn't end cooperation between the two nations.  The text of
  the agreement must still be approved by both the Hungarian and
  Slovak governments today, though neither side expects this to
  be a problem.  After the last round of negotiations between
  Slovak Foreign Minister Juraj Schenck and his Hungarian
  counterpart Laszlo Kovacs in Budapest on Tuesday, six points
  remained unresolved.  Five sticking points were ironed out
  fairly quickly yesterday.  But the question of ethnic minority
  rights took more time.  Slovakia had previously insisted on
  defining minority rights according to the Framework on
  National Minorities passed by the Council of Europe in
  mid-1994.  But Hungary wanted a definition based on a Council
  recommendation, which includes the idea of local autonomy for
  national minorities.  The exact nature of the solution won't
  be revealed until the signing in Paris on Monday, but advisors
  working on the project say a surprisingly simple compromise
  was found. --Caroline Smrstik


**BANKS GREASE HUNGARIAN OIL CO.**
  The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development has joined
  five commercial banks in loaning $55 million to the Hungarian
  oil firm MOL.  The EBRD says more financing for MOL is in the
  pipeline.  $25 million of the loan is coming from the EBRD.
  BHF Bank, Creditanstalt, ING Bank, Sumitomo Bank and WestLB
  Bank are contributing the rest.  The loan will finance an
  underground natural gas facility in southeast Hungary.


BUSINESS FEATURE
----------------

**POLISH ENGLISH-LANGUAGE BUSINESS PAPERS SLUG IT OUT**
  By Charles Poe

  English speakers in Warsaw had waited a long time for someone
  to set up a business newspaper in the city.  Now, thanks to a
  partnership gone sour, they have not one but two.

  At first they must have seemed a perfect match: from Hungary,
  the owners of the Budapest Business Journal, from Poland, the
  publisher of Media Polska, a successful trade magazine.  But
  when the two got together about five months ago to start up
  the Warsaw Business Journal, neither could have predicted it
  would fall apart at the beginning of last month after they'd
  published just their first few issues.  Now the former
  partners are each publishing their own papers.  There's the
  Business Journal and its new competition, Capital.  Both hit
  the newstands in mid-February.  Except for their nameplates,
  the papers look almost identical.  While neither side will
  elaborate on why the partnership failed, both say ownership
  control and management style were key issues.  Steve O'Connor
  is co-publisher of the Warsaw Business Journal.  He says
  despite the similarities between the two papers, Capital has
  had little impact on the Journal's operation or circulation.

  "I think there might be some confusion with Capital, but that's
  about it.  I think imitation is the best form of flattery, and
  my strategy is to have my staff journalists do what they know
  how to do."

  If the competition does come down to the quality of journalism,
  it's going to be a close fight.  Capital's editorial staff is
  headed by Christopher Wellisz and David McQuaid, who also
  write about Central Europe for the Economist Intelligence
  Unit.  The Journal too has experienced experts on Poland in
  managing editor Steven Kirkland, who's spent several years in
  the region.

  The main battle now, though, is over advertising.  The Journal
  appears to be winning so far, thanks to contracts it already
  had through its sister paper in Budapest.  But Capital
  publisher Kehrt Rehyer covers the advertising industry in his
  trade magazine, Media Polska.  He says many companies are
  waiting to see which paper will emerge as the leader.  He's
  prepared to wait them out.

  "If it takes six months, if it takes longer, we are prepared.
  We're hunkered down.  We're improving our product every week.
  And we're going to be aggressively going after those
  advertisers to convince them that we are in fact the premium
  product in the market."

  Premium product or not, the main question is whether the Polish
  market is big enough to absorb two English-language business
  weeklies.  O'Connor says the native Hungarians make up 50
  percent of Journal subscribers in Budapest, but it's clear
  that the new Warsaw business papers are initially counting on
  sales to expatriate readers.  For now, they're both giving
  away free trial subscriptions.  But Poland's expat community
  is estimated at only 10,000, versus about 30,000 in Budapest.

  And Warsaw already has a general interest newspaper, The
  Warsaw Voice, which also has a business section.  Voice
  managing editor Dorota Bartyzel says the two new papers may
  steal a few readers from the Voice, but she's not too worried.

  "We as the general magazine are a little bit different to the
  just business-oriented papers, and I think the first battle
  will take place between those two titles."

  The ultimate winners in Warsaw's newspaper war are the readers,
  who now have more choice than ever before.


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A tovabbterjesztest a New York-i szekhelyu Magyar Emberi Jogok
Alapitvany tamogatja.

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Reposting is supported by Hungarian Human Rights Foundation News
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