RADIO FREE EUROPE/RADIO LIBERTY, PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC
________________________________________________________
RFE/RL NEWSLINE  24 May 1999

FIRST U.S. F-18 FIGHTERS ARRIVE IN HUNGARY. Twenty-four
U.S. Marine F-18 air fighters arrived in Hungary on 22
May to take part in the NATO bombing campaign in
Yugoslavia The aircraft will be based at the Tarasz
military airport, which is also a staging base for 500
U.S. troops of the UN's SFOR in Bosnia-Herzegovina.
Meanwhile, the non-parliamentary Workers' Party has
asked the Hungarian Constitutional Court to determine
whether Budapest's decision to allow NATO to use its
airspace and airfields is unconstitutional, according to
a 22 May MTI report cited by the BBC. VG

HUNGARIAN OFFICIALS DEFEND U.S. AMBASSADOR. Hungarian
Foreign Minister Janos Martonyi said U.S. Ambassador to
Hungary Peter Tufo has provided "invaluable assistance"
to his government, MTI reported on 21 May. Agriculture
Minister Jozsef Torgyan noted that Tufo has done a lot
to promote Hungary's economic prosperity. The comments
came after Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban
accepted the resignations of two deputy ministers who
had lobbied for the appointment of a new U.S. ambassador
to Hungary (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 21 May 1999).
Torgyan, who leads the Independent Smallholders Party,
the junior coalition partner, added that it is
"inadmissible" that Tufo was "exposed to attacks in
Hungary." VG

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
               Copyright (c) 1999 RFE/RL, Inc.
                     All rights reserved.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

RADIO FREE EUROPE/RADIO LIBERTY, PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC
________________________________________________________
RFE/RL NEWSLINE  25 May 1999

HUNGARIAN STATE SECRETARY INVOLVED IN LETTER SCANDAL
DIES. FIDESZ parliamentary deputy Bela Gyuricza, one of
the three state secretaries who had signed a letter
lobbying for the appointment of the next U.S. ambassador
to Hungary (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 20 May 1999), died in
hospital on 24 May after weeks of treatment. Gyuricza,
aged 60, headed the security and defense secretariat of
the Prime Minister's Office. Several FIDESZ members
confirmed that they had signed the letter at Gyuricza's
request. In other news, Spanish Foreign Minister Abel
Matutes told his visiting Hungarian counterpart, Janos
Martonyi, that Hungary's aspirations to join the EU are
"all the more justified as Hungary has made the best
progress of all countries seeking admission," Hungarian
media reported on 24 May. MSZ

END NOTE

NEW ARMS AGREEMENT AIMS TO EASE RUSSIAN FEARS

By Roland Eggleston

	The U.S., Russia, and 28 other countries are
putting the finishing touches on a new European security
agreement intended to limit the possibility of a
surprise military attack with conventional weapons.
	The basic agreement, reached in Vienna on 30 March
after years of negotiations, places restrictions on the
deployment of battle tanks, artillery, and armored
vehicles in individual European countries from the
Atlantic to the Urals. The final text is expected to be
signed in Istanbul in November by heads of government
attending an OSCE summit meeting.
	A senior U.S. negotiator, who spoke on condition of
anonymity, told RFE/RL that one of the main goals of the
new agreement is to defuse Russian concerns about a
possible concentration of Western tanks, artillery, and
armored vehicles in the three new NATO member states:
Poland, Hungary, and the Czech Republic. "NATO has made
several concessions to ease Russian fears", he said,
adding that "there are special restrictions on the
number of both national and foreign forces which can be
deployed in these countries on a permanent basis."
	On the other hand, the new agreement also prevents
Russia from increasing its permanent forces in
Kaliningrad Oblast, which borders Poland and Lithuania,
or in Pskov Oblast, which borders Estonia. Belarus also
accepted restrictions on the military forces that may be
deployed on its territory.
	Another part of the agreement allows Kazakhstan to
station a limited number of tanks, artillery, and
armored vehicles at the northern end of the Caspian Sea
to protect its oil installations. Kazakhstan is the only
Central Asian country that is a signatory to the treaty,
and the area around the north of the Caspian is the only
part of the country covered by the document.
	In legal terms, the new agreement is an update of
the 1990 Paris Treaty on Conventional Forces in Europe,
which cut the number of battle tanks, artillery, and
armored vehicles held by NATO and the former Warsaw
Pact.
	Much of the 1990 treaty remains unchanged in the
new agreement. But amendments were necessary because it
sought to balance NATO and the now defunct Warsaw Pact.
The new agreement focuses on individual countries and
the number of tanks, artillery. and armored vehicles
that may be deployed in them by either national or
foreign forces.
	The agreements allow each country both a national
ceiling and a so-called "regional" ceiling. The former
is the total number of its own forces. The latter is the
maximum number of foreign forces that may be deployed on
a permanent basis. The same system applies to artillery
pieces and armored vehicles.
	Part of the special arrangements made to reassure
Russia about the new NATO members is that the "regional"
total in these countries will be the same as the
"national" total. This restricts the possibilities for
deploying foreign NATO forces on their territory.
Belarus has accepted a similar restriction, which NATO
negotiators believe will prevent a build-up of Russian
forces there.
	In addition, the three new NATO members have agreed
to reduce the size of their national forces in the next
few years.. Poland, Hungary, and the Czech Republic were
in any case planning such reductions. A European
negotiator told RFE/RL: "The structure of the armed
forces in these countries was based on their being units
of the Warsaw Pact. As members of NATO, the call is for
smaller, more mobile forces."
	NATO, however, insisted on flexibility in these
arrangements to allow for rapid assistance in times of
crisis. This part of the agreement allows reinforcements
to be sent to another country under threat. In most
cases, the initial reinforcement would be limited to a
single brigade, which, in NATO terms, means about 150
tanks, 100 artillery pieces, and 250 armored vehicles.
If the situation worsens, two brigades may be sent.
	The ceiling on the deployment of foreign forces may
also be temporarily increased in certain other
situations, including joint military exercises under the
Partnership for Peace program. In these cases some
equipment may be moved from one country to another.
	Restrictions on the number of foreign forces
deployed in a single country may also be lifted
temporarily for military exercises that are not part of
the Partnership for Peace program. But this exception is
surrounded by restrictions to ensure that the exercises
cannot be turned into a threat against another country.
	The negotiators have also agreed that the normal
limits can be exceeded when military forces are
supporting peacekeeping operations with a mandate from
the UN or the OSCE. In such cases, the size of the
forces deployed is determined by the mandate.
Finally, the negotiators in Vienna agreed on the thorny
issue of the size of the forces that can be deployed in
the so-called "flank" areas: St. Petersburg Military
District and the Caucasus. Ten countries are affected by
the agreement on the flanks.
	Initially, Russia wanted all restrictions lifted on
its deployment of forces in these flank regions,
particularly the Caucasus. Under the final agreement, in
certain circumstances the "territorial" limit of
national and foreign forces in these regions can be
exceeded by the temporary deployment of one brigade in
the region.
	The agreement also allows for temporary
arrangements allowing countries in the flank region to
amend the limits in favor of another country.
Negotiators say that in certain circumstances, this
would allow Russia to increase the size of its forces in
the flank region but only if other countries reduced
their own numbers.

The author is a senior RFE/RL correspondent based in
Munich.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
               Copyright (c) 1999 RFE/RL, Inc.
                     All rights reserved.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx