RADIO FREE EUROPE/RADIO LIBERTY, PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC
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RFE/RL NEWSLINE  12 October 1999

FOREIGN MINISTERS OF EU 'FAST-TRACK' CANDIDATES MEET IN
TALLINN. Estonian Foreign Minister Toomas Hendrik Ilves on 11
October hosted his counterparts from Slovenia, Poland, the
Czech Republic, and Hungary along with the chief EU
negotiator for Cyprus. This was the first meeting at
ministerial level of the countries that are included in the
fast-track negotiations for EU membership. Among the issues
discussed was an agreement calling on the EU to establish a
timetable for concluding the accession negotiations. Ilves
said those talks should end "in 2000 and no later than 2001."
The Czech Republic's Jan Kavan said that the "group of six"
supports beginning accession negotiations with all other
aspiring countries, but he stressed that ongoing negotiations
with the six should be accelerated. MH

HUNGARIAN SOCIALISTS AMEND PARTY STATUTES. The Socialist
Party's congress on 8 October abolished the party's executive
deputy chairmanship and created the posts of first deputy
chairman and party director. Analysts say the creation of the
post of first deputy chairman could pave the way for the
return of former Prime Minister Miklos Nemeth. The congress
also voted to introduce a quota system whereby one-fifth of
the members of the party's elected bodies must be under 35
and/or women. MSZ

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