OMRI DAILY DIGEST
No. 251, 29 December 1995

Note to readers: The OMRI Daily Digest will not appear on 1 January
1996.

WEATHER PROVES TO BE IFOR'S BIG ENEMY. NATO troops have been having to
deal with threats not from the locals but from the elements (See OMRI
Daily Digest, 28 December 1995). International media reported on 29
December that U.S. efforts to build a 310-meter pontoon bridge over the
Sava River for U.S. troops have been held up by the floods. The waters
also hit their camp at Zupanja after destroying a protective barrier.
Senior U.S. and Croatian army officers have agreed to work together on
the construction of the bridge. Meanwhile, the Czech daily Mlada fronta
Dnes said that American soldiers are preparing for a longer stay than
planned at their bases in Hungary. -- Patrick Moore and Daria Sito Sucic

HUNGARIAN RESPONSE TO ROMANIAN RECONCILIATION INITIATIVE. The Bucharest
daily Evenimentul zilei reports on 29 December that the Romanian
ambassador to Budapest, Ioan Donca, has received the Hungarian response
to President Ion Iliescu's initiative for a "historic reconciliation"
between the two countries. No details were provided. The daily also
wrote that Foreign Minister Teodor Melescanu sent a letter to his
Hungarian counterpart, Laszlo Kovacs, including Bucharest's response to
the latest proposals made by Hungary on the basic treaty between the two
countries. -- Michael Shafir

[As of 12:00 CET]

Compiled by Pete Baumgartner