RFE/RL NEWSLINE
Vol. 1, No. 43, 2 June 1997

HUNGARIAN SOCIALIST LEADER WARNS OF RIGHT-WING THREAT. Socialist Party
parliamentary faction leader Imre Szekeres says the Left has the
responsibility to prevent a surge in popularity of the right-wing Hungarian
Justice and Life Party, Independent Smallholders' Party, and Christian
Democratic People's Party, Hungarian media reported. At a meeting of the
Socialist Party's Left-Wing Group on 31 May, Szekeres said that since they
came to power in 1994, the Socialists have been unable to pursue a traditional
left-wing policy. He stressed that a left-wing party must represent the values
of democratic socialism rather than build capitalism. He also noted that the
three right-wing parties represent a threat to democracy and expressed the
hope that Socialist leaders would recognize that threat and present a united
front ahead of the 1998 elections.

ROMANIAN FOREIGN MINISTER MEETS WITH ALBRIGHT. Foreign Minister Adrian Nastase
told U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright in Sintra, Portugal, on 30 May
that his country meets all the criteria for joining NATO. He asked Albright to
send a special envoy to Romania to examine the situation at first hand. After
the meeting, he told reporters he could see "no rigid attitude" on Albright's
part. He quoted the secretary of state as saying the media had "exaggerated"
in reporting her position, adding that Albright was only trying to emphasize
that enlargement should strengthen, rather than weaken, the alliance. Severin
said he told Albright that limiting expansion to only a few states may lead to
weakening the alliance, Radio Bucharest reported. Severin also said the
Romanian-Hungarian-Austrian "trilateral group" has "officially been launched"
following meetings in Sintra with his Hungarian and Austrian counterparts.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
               Copyright (c) 1997 RFE/RL, Inc.
                     All rights reserved.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx