Danger Is Seen in Rapid NATO Expansion Ukrainian President Warns Process Could
Provoke Russia to Create Another 'Berlin Wall'

  R. JEFFREY SMITH (WASHINGTON POST STAFF WRITER)
  
  (C) 1994 THE WASHINGTON POST (LEGI-SLATE ARTICLE NO. 217271)


     Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma said yesterday that unless the Clinton
administration moves slowly in expanding the North Atlantic Treaty
Organization, it will risk provoking an angry Russian response and creating
another "Berlin Wall" dividing Western Europe from a newly hostile East.

    Kuchma's warning distances Ukraine from other Eastern European countries
 such as Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia - that have been
putting substantial pressure on Washington to support rapid NATO expansion.
Some Republican lawmakers also have been pressing for speedier action, and
the House Republican conference is preparing a national security bill that
would set a rough target date of 1999.
    U.S. officials say Clinton, who discussed the issue with Kuchma at the
White House yesterday, favors some acceleration of efforts to prepare some of
Ukraine's neighbors for eventual NATO membership. Clinton is going ahead with
plans to raise the idea at a Budapest summit of European leaders in two
weeks.
       But Washington, also wary of alienating Moscow, has carefully refused
to set a date for expanding NATO. Many U.S. allies in Western Europe also are
skeptical of a quick expansion of the Western alliance.
   "To my mind, the speeding up of the process would not enhance the security
of Europe," Kuchma said in an interview with reporters and editors at The
Washington Post. "This process (of NATO expansion) is needed, but it should
only be prolonged in time."
    Kuchma explained his concern that Russia "would not just stand by" while
a military alliance originally formed to defeat Warsaw Pact aggression
extended its security umbrella over countries that once lay within the Soviet
Union's sphere of influence.
    He said he expected Russia to apply substantial political pressure to
interrupt expansion if the process moved too rapidly, and noted Ukraine and
some Western European countries are dependent on Russia for some energy
supplies. If NATO was expanded despite Russian hostility, he said, it would
transform Ukraine into a "sanitary border" state between opposing camps.
    "What I don't want is to go back to the Cold War ... to construct a new
Berlin Wall," Kuchma said. Ukraine should not be a border, but a bridge
between Russia and the rest of Europe, he added. Asked when NATO expansion
might be feasible, Kuchma said that first Ukraine should become a "strong,
independent country" - a goal he suggested would not come before the end of
the decade.
     At a joint news conference with Kuchma, Clinton said his discussions in
Budapest would concern "how we might go about expanding NATO but not ... when
and which particular countries would be let in. I think that is premature."
He also said, "I would not say or do anything that would exclude the
possibility of Ukrainian membership."
    But Clinton declined to address directly what he was asked by a Ukrainian
journalist: Could he imagine Ukraine becoming a NATO member while Russia
remains outside the alliance? That scenario would likely provoke further
Russian ire, since Germany and other U.S. allies have said they cannot
imagine Russia ever being invited to join.
    Besides assuring Kuchma that Washington would consult closely with
Ukraine as it considers NATO's expansion, Clinton offered Kuchma another $100
million in U.S. financial aid and also signed agreements laying the
foundation for closer political relations and cooperation in space research.
    Clinton also applauded Kuchma's leadership and that of the Ukrainian
parliament in finally giving approval last week for adherence to the nuclear
Non-Proliferation Treaty, which bars development or possession of nuclear
arms.
    The overwhelming vote was considered a major political triumph for
Kuchma, who only last year as prime minister had told the parliament that
Ukraine should seek to retain and gain operational control for a time over
some of the strategic nuclear arms left on Ukrainian soil after the breakup
of the Soviet Union.
    Kuchma said that as president, he was able to see that gaining control
over the weapons was a costly and politically untenable undertaking that
would place Ukraine in a club of pariah states such as Cuba, North Korea and,
perhaps, Iraq.

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

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RFE/RL Daily Report
	No. 224, 29 November 1994


FURTHER TENSION IN HUNGARIAN COALITION GOVERNMENT. At a meeting of
coalition partners on 27 November, serious tension arose when
Prime Minister Gyula Horn decided to set up a council to
coordinate the cabinet's youth policy, Hungarian media reported
the next day. The council is to coordinate the activities of
several ministries, including the Culture and Education Ministry,
which is headed by Alliance of Free Democrats member Gabor Fodor
and which until now was responsible for youth issues. The Free
Democrats were against delegating responsibility for youth issues
to another institution. AFD Chairman Ivan Peto asked the prime
minister to coordinate his actions with the AFD in the future. --
Judith Pataki, RFE/RL, Inc.

SECRET SERVICE CHIEF REPORTS TO ROMANIAN PARLIAMENT. Virgil
Magureanu, head of the Romanian Intelligence Service, on 23
November delivered his agency's annual report to a joint session
of the parliament. Magureanu, who stressed that Romania's ailing
economy posed a major risk for national security, warned against
illegal business and organized crime. He also cautioned against
extremism among Romania's large Hungarian minority and against
both left- and right-wing extremism in general. The intelligence
chief singled out the legionnaire movement, a prewar fascist
organization, which, he said, was being revived with help from
abroad and was targeting Romanian youth. Both opposition deputies
and independent media criticized Magureanu's report for its
"generalized" remarks. -- Dan Ionescu, RFE/RL, Inc.

[As of 1200 CET] 

(Compiled by Jan Cleave and Penny Morvant)
Copyright 1994, RFE/RL, Inc. All rights reserved.

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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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#   A Magyar Nemzeti Bank hivatalos deviza- es valutaarfolyamai
#   Official exchange rates of the Hungarian National Bank
#     Az adatok tajekoztato jelleguek, felelosseget nem vallalok.
#     Az esetleges hibakert elnezest kerek. Velemenyeket es javitasokat
#     szivesen fogadok.
#     FYI, no responsibility. Opinions, corrections are welcome.
#
#     !!!!
#     A Magyar Nemzeti Bank sajat hataskoreben 1994-NOV-29-i hatallyal
#     1%-os mertekben leertekelte a forintot a nemzetkozi valutakosarhoz
#     kepest.
#
#     The Hungarian Forint (HUF) has been devaluated by 1% by the Hungarian
#     National Bank. The devaluation is effective by 29-NOV-1994.