OMRY DAYLY DIGEST
No. 47, 6 March 1996

SLOVAK CABINET APPROVES TERRITORIAL ADMINISTRATION PLAN. Interior
Ministry State Secretary Pavol Kacic on 5 March announced the
government's approval of Slovakia's new territorial division, Slovak
media reported. The draft, which awaits parliamentary approval, divides
Slovakia into eight regions (Bratislava, Trnava, Nitra, Trencin, Zilina,
Banska Bystrica, Presov, and Kosice) and 74 districts. The cabinet's
bill cancels the independent statute of Bratislava as Slovakia's
capital, which Coexistence chairman Miklos Duray called "political
revenge" for the results of the last elections. Kacic said the election
law, which is currently based on four electoral regions, will have to be
amended, a move which ethnic Hungarian leaders fear could lead to a
decline in their parliamentary representation. The cabinet did not
discuss a territorial administration proposal put forward by the
Hungarian coalition. -- Sharon Fisher

HUNGARIAN JEWS PROTEST AGAINST NEO-NAZIS' ACQUITTAL. The Federation of
the Jewish Communities in Hungary continued to protest the acquittal of
two neo-Nazi leaders charged with using fascist symbols and inciting
hatred, Hungarian media reported on 6 March. The protest came in the
wake of a Budapest municipal court ruling, which said the submitted
evidence was insufficient to support the charges filed by the
prosecution (see OMRI Daily Digest, 5 March 1996). The president of the
federation, Peter Feldmajer, said that "in the 1947 Paris Treaty, the
Hungarian government undertook the obligation to prosecute any anti-
Semitic propaganda," and that "the acquittal of those who regard
themselves as followers of (Hungarian fascist leader) Ferenc Szalasi
allows the propagation of fascist ideology to continue." The Jewish
Communities expressed the hope that  the Supreme Court will decide on
appeal  in line with the European legal system and will prevent the
propaganda of racist, fascist ideology. -- Zsofia Szilagyi

[As of 12:00 CET]

Compiled by Steve Kettle