RFE/RL NEWSLINE 
Vol. 1, No. 179, 15 December 1997

EU LEADERS AGREE ON ENLARGEMENT. The leaders of the
EU agreed in Luxembourg on 13 December that entry
negotiations with the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Poland,
Slovenia, and Cyprus will begin in spring 1998. They also
agreed that Bulgaria, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, and Slovakia,
though not invited to start formal negotiations, will be included
in the overall enlargement process. The union has promised
that they can move to the "fast track" for prospective new
members if they make sufficient progress in economic and
political reform. MS

RESPONSES FROM SOME OF THOSE INCLUDED. Polish Premier
Jerzy Buzek stressed Poland will be cooperating with those
countries negotiating EU membership at a slower pace. Czech
President Vaclav Havel said Europe has a unique opportunity
to organize itself on the basis of "equal justice" and change the
previous practice of the powerful states dictating to the less
influential ones. Hungarian Premier Gyula Horn argued there is
a "qualitative difference" in the way the two groups were
handled and predicted that Hungary may join the EU between
2000 and 2002. MS

HUNGARIAN PARTIES PREPARE FOR 1998 ELECTIONS.
The National Board of the Hungarian Democratic Forum (MDF)
on 13 December approved an election cooperation agreement
with the Young Democrats (FIDESZ), The same day, FIDESZ
on 13 December approved an election cooperation agreement
with the Young Democrats (FIDESZ), The same day, FIDESZ
named its candidates for ministerial posts in case of an
electoral victory. Ivan Szabo, the chairman of the Hungarian
Democratic People's Party (MDNP), told the media on 13
December that his party hopes to have a "stable and strong"
parliamentary faction of 20-25 members following the spring
1998 elections. MSZ

HUNGARIAN ALLIANCE TO REMAIN IN ROMANIAN
GOVERNMENT. The Council of Representatives of the
Hungarian Democratic Federation of Romania (UDMR) on 14
December decided against leaving the cabinet, an RFE/RL
correspondent in Cluj reported. UDMR chairman Bela Marko
said the decision is conditional on the implementation of
agreements reached by the Hungarian formation and the other
coalition partners. The UDMR has also said that the continuation
of its participation in the governing coalition is conditional on a
"firm decision" by its members to "put an end to the nationalist
anti-Hungarian campaign that has been on going as of late." The
UDMR "cannot be a member of a coalition that tolerates
exacerbating nationalism and shrinking the rights of national
minorities." Finally, the UDMR has demanded that George
Pruteanu, the chairman of the Senate's Education Commission,
be replaced. MS

TIRASPOL SAYS ROMANIA WANTS ANNEXATION OF
MOLDOVA.  Separatist Foreign Minister Valerii Litskay says
the "danger" of a Romanian annexation of Moldova is still not
over. In an interview with Tiraspol television on 12 December,
Litskay said it is "alarming" that Romania, which he claimed
"will join NATO in the next five years," has not yet signed a
basic treaty with Moldova but has signed such treaties with
Hungary and Ukraine, BASA-press reported. Tiraspol Supreme
Soviet chairman Grigorii Marakutsa told journalists in Tiraspol
the next day that the separatists oppose the State Duma's
ratification of the Moldovan-Russian treaty because the
document makes no mention of its "political and economic
prerogatives." He said a new treaty must be worked out and
that Transdniester will demand Moldova accept full integration
into CIS political and military structures, join the Russia-
Belarus union,. and renounce "unification" with Georgia,
Ukraine, and Azerbaijan. MS

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