OMRI DAILY DIGEST
No. 5, 8 January 1996

SLOVAK COALITION PARTY REVEALS PRIORITIES FOR 1996. Slovak National
Party (SNS) deputy Vitazoslav Moric told a press conference on 5 January
that the party will continue to block Slovakia's entry into NATO, TASR
and Slovak Radio reported. Responding to recent statements by
representatives of the ethnic Hungarian Coexistence movement on
establishing territorial autonomy in Slovakia, Moric said he would not
be opposed "if that territory included Jager, Miskovec, half of
Budapest, and Balaton [all located in Hungary], as Slovak territories."
SNS deputy chairperson Anna Malikova, noting that the SNS wants to
intensify contacts with parties abroad with a similar orientation, said
a meeting will be prepared between SNS chairman Jan Slota and Austrian
Freedom Party chairman Jorg Haider. -- Sharon Fisher

HUNGARY CONCERNED ABOUT PROTECTION OF BOSNIAN TECHNICAL CONTINGENT.
Following a five-hour debate, the parliament's Defense Committee on 7
January approved reports by Defense Minister Gyorgy Keleti and Foreign
Minister Laszlo Kovacs on preparations for the 400-strong Hungarian
technical contingent's deployment and on IFOR's guarantees for the
contingent's protection, Hungarian media reported. Some opposition
deputies claimed that Keleti misled the parliament when he said NATO
guarantees were accomplished facts; they pointed out that he had no
written agreement to that effect. Kovacs said the British Embassy last
week confirmed on behalf of its government that British armed forces
will provide protection for the Hungarian contingent in the British
zone. He added that the Hungarian unit will undertake its mission in
Bosnia only if IFOR signs an agreement guaranteeing its protection. The
opposition want a special parliamentary session to be convened to debate
the issue further. -- Zsofia Szilagyi

LEFTISTS DEMAND DISMISSAL OF HUNGARIAN FINANCE MINISTER. The leftist
caucus of the Hungarian Socialist Party (MSZP) on 6 January demanded
that Finance Minister Lajos Bokros and MSZP Vice President Laszlo Mate
be dismissed from both the party and the government, Hungarian media
reported. Some leftists argued that unless significant personnel changes
are made at the MSZP's March congress, the party will lose the 1998
general elections. Csaba Hamori, a former secretary-general of the
Communist Youth League, was elected to the leadership of the caucus.
Divisions within the senior coalition party have been growing since the
announcement of radical austerity measures last March. -- Zsofia
Szilagyi

[As of 12:00 CET]

Compiled by Jan Cleave