OMRI DAILY DIGEST
No. 243, 15 December 1995

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SNOW IN HUNGARY DELAYS PREPARATION FOR BOSNIAN PEACEKEEPING. Heavy snow
has seriously delayed the U.S. Army's setting up of a logistics base in
southern Hungary that will support forces in Bosnia, Hungarian and
international media reported on 15 December. Most of the 20,000 American
soldiers taking part in the NATO-led Bosnian peacekeeping force will
pass through the Taszar air base, near the Croatian border, before
entering the former Yugoslavia. Heavy snow falls canceled all flights of
mainly C-130 transport planes earlier this week. A military official
said the current delays will not affect the IFOR mission because most of
the equipment is for use in Hungary. But he added that if flights do not
resume soon, more equipment will have to come overland. Meanwhile, the
mayor of Taszar commented that the NATO operation is a godsend since it
has solved the town's serious unemployment problem. -- Zsofia Szilagyi

HUNGARIAN PREMIER CONCLUDES SOUTH KOREAN VISIT. Gyula Horn, at the end
of his three-day visit to South Korea, held talks on 14 December with
President Kim Young Sam, Hungarian media reported. The two leaders
agreed to promote cooperation in the fields of trade and investment.
Horn asked Kim Young Sam to encourage South Korean investors to become
more active in Hungary and to take part in the privatization of state
assets. An agreement was signed whereby South Korea will extend a $25
million loan to Hungary for the modernization of the Dunaferr Iron and
Steel company. Hungary is to repay the loan within 15 years following a
five-year grace period. -- Zsofia Szilagyi

HUNGARIAN MINORITY REPRESENTATIVES WALK OUT OF ROMANIAN SENATE. Senators
representing the Hungarian Democratic Federation of Romania (UDMR)
walked out of a debate on amending the law on local government, Romanian
media reported on 14-15 December. The UDMR senators objected to a
provision in the new law obligating members of national minorities to
submit a notarized translation in the Romanian language when they write
to local government authorities. The stipulation applies even in
localities where there is a majority of non-Romanian ethnics and where
local councils have no Romanian ethnic members. Two senators
representing the Party of Social Democracy in Romania claimed the UDMR
wished to bring about chaos in the country. When UDMR chairman Bela
Marko called the allegation a "chauvinist-nationalist instigation," he
was asked by the session's chairman to withdraw the remarks. In protest,
the UDMR walked out. -- Michael Shafir

[As of 12:00 CET]

Compiled by Jan Cleave