RFE/RL NEWSLINE
Vol. 1, No. 47, 6 June1997

GRENADE ATTACKS ON FOUR CAR DEALERSHIPS IN BUDAPEST. Four Yugoslav-made
hand
grenades exploded early on 5 June at the premises of four second-hand car
dealers in Budapest, Hungarian media reported. Police believe the explosions,
which caused no injuries but damaged several cars, could be the work of a
single gang demanding protection money. Just two hours before the explosions,
gunfire hit the rear window of a Budapest bus. The four passengers and the
driver were not injured. The police do not exclude the possibility of a
connection between that incident and the explosions.

SLOVENIA HOSTS CENTRAL EUROPEAN PRESIDENTS. A conference of eight presidents
opens in Portoroz and Piran on the Slovenian Adriatic coast on 6 June.
President Milan Kucan is hosting his counterparts from Germany, Poland, the
Czech Republic, Slovakia, Austria, Italy, and Hungary. The gathering is
especially important to Slovenia because it is counting on support from
Germany and Italy, in particular, in its drive to join NATO and the EU. The
main problem is that Rome could continue to block Ljubljana's EU candidacy
unless Slovenia changes its laws to allow foreigners to own property. Many
Slovenes are worried that Italians with family roots in Slovenia could buy up
land and houses. Kucan told the Prague daily Pravo on 5 June that his country
sees its future in Central Europe, not in the Balkans.

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