RADIO FREE EUROPE/RADIO LIBERTY, PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC
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RFE/RL NEWSLINE  24 March 1999

ORBAN SAYS HUNGARY'S SECURITY NOT THREATENED BY KOSOVA
CRISIS. Prime Minister Viktor Orban said he does not
fear any threat to Hungary's security from expected NATO
air strikes against neighboring Yugoslavia, Hungarian
media reported on 24 March. Orban said that in line with
a decision by the parliament, Hungarian soldiers "will
not leave the country." Defense Ministry spokesman
Colonel Lajos Erdelyi told state television that Hungary
would not be directly involved in the air attacks but
would make its air space available to NATO. The daily
"Nepszabadsag" wrote, however, that the Taszar military
base in southwestern Hungary might become a target
because it is within striking range of Yugoslav missiles
and artillery. MSZ

SLOVAK PRIME MINISTER IN BUDAPEST. Mikulas Dzurinda,
paying a "private" visit to Hungary on 23 March at the
invitation of Premier Viktor Orban, discussed with his
host Slovakia's bid for Euro-Atlantic integration, the
status of the Hungarian minority in Slovakia and
Bratislava's pending minority language bill, Hungarian
media reported. In other news, Reformed Bishop Laszlo
Tokes, honorary chairman of the Hungarian Democratic
Federation of Romania, said dual citizenship for all
Hungarians, which various Hungarian minority groups
living close to Hungary are demanding, could "in
principle " be replaced by "a special status." He also
remarked that Hungary's NATO membership could "provide
indirect protection for Hungarian ethnic minorities."
Tokes was speaking in Budapest at a 23 March meeting
between Hungarian Foreign Minister Janos Martonyi and
leaders of ethnic Hungarian parties abroad. MSZ

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