RFE/RL NEWSLINE 
Vol. 1, No. 81, 25 July 1997

HUNGARY TO OPEN AIR CONTROL CENTER. Armed forces chief of staff
Ferenc Vegh announced on 24 July that the country's center for air
space control will be opened in Veszprem, Hungarian media reported.
He said the center, to be completed by mid-1998, will rank as "fairly
advanced" in comparison with similar facilities in NATO member
countries. The project is estimated to cost several million dollars and
will be financed with U.S. aid. Vegh also announced that the air force
will become an independent branch of the military. Following NATO's
decision to invite Hungary to accession negotiations, the armed forces
view the development of the country's air force as a top priority.

BILINGUAL SIGNS IN TARGU MURES PAINTED OVER AGAIN. The
Romanian-Hungarian bilingual signs in the Transylvanian town of
Targu Mures have once again been painted over in the colors of the
Romanian national flag, Mediafax reported on 24 July. Mayor Imre
Fodor ordered the signs dismantled and cleaned, after which, he said,
they will be put back up. He urged that the signs be permanently
guarded in the future. Also on 24 July, Gheorghe Funar, the extreme
nationalist mayor of Cluj, announced that the town's Hungarian
consulate, which was opened the previous day, is to be fined 20
million lei (some $280,000) for hoisting the Hungarian national flag,
which, according to Funar, is a violation of the Romanian Constitution.
Funar added that the consulate would be fined another 10 million lei
for decorating the entrance to the building where the consulate is
temporarily located.

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