RFE/RL NEWSLINE 
Vol. 1, No. 144, 22 October 1997

HUNGARIAN PARLIAMENT TO DEBATE AMENDED NATO
REFERENDUM. The parliament on 21 October voted to hold an urgent
debate on the government's proposal to amend the resolution
approving separate referenda on NATO accession and on land
ownership by foreigners. One week earlier, the Constitutional Court
ruled that the opposition's formulation of the two questions on
foreign land ownership, which has been endorsed by 200,000
signatures, takes precedence over the government version. Gyula
Horn's cabinet now wants to hold a referendum on NATO accession
and a separate plebiscite on land ownership at a later date. The
debate in the parliament will be held on 4 November. Only the
Smallholders' Party voted against such a debate, Hungarian media
reported.

HUNGARIAN UNIVERSITY TO BE OPENED IN ROMANIA. Visiting Prime
Minister Gyula Horn and his Romanian counterpart, Victor Ciorbea,
have agreed to finance a Hungarian-language university in
Transylvania. The plan to set up separate Hungarian- and Romanian-
language sections at Cluj University will be dropped, RFE/RL's
Bucharest bureau reported on 21 October. Addressing journalists,
Horn said ethnic Hungarians told him the previous day that their
situation has "greatly improved" in the last months. He added that
they are "better qualified" to judge that situation than any one in
Budapest. The two premiers agreed that experts will start working
on plans for a Budapest-Bucharest highway. New border-crossing
points and Hungarian-Romanian bank are also to be set up.

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