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EVENT: Foreign ministers' talks last week made no breakthrough on the issue of minority rights.
SIGNIFICANCE: The minorities issue is the chief obstacle to concluding a basic treaty between the two states, which is a requirement for NATO/EU accession. More generally, Romania's treatment of its Hungarian minority is complicating its relations with the West.
ANALYSIS: During a two-day visit to Bucharest last week, Hungarian Foreign Minister Laszlo Kovacs met Romanian President Ion Iliescu, Prime Minister Nicolae Vacaroiu, Foreign Minister Teodor Melescanu and the speakers of both houses of parliament. Kovacs and his hosts discussed bilateral cooperation on environmental protection and transport, the opening of new border crossings, and the Bosnian crisis.
However, the key issue at the talks was the treatment of Romania's Hungarian minority, concentrated in Transylvania and numbering at least 1.6 million. An impasse over minority rights has held up for the last year the signing of a so- called 'basic treaty' between the two countries, which would include mutual confirmation of existing borders and guarantees concerning the treatment of minority populations. Western powers have in effect made the conclusion of such an accord a pre-requisite for both countries' membership of the EU and NATO.
Both sides said that some progress had been made at the talks on the minority rights issue, and tried to play down remaining differences. However, agreement is still some way off. Three issues remain to be resolved:
whether the treaty should mention explicitly existing international instruments on minority rights: the Council of Europe's Framework Convention on Minorities and Recommendation 1201, the OSCE's Copenhagen document and the UN's 1992 declaration on the issue;
whether these instruments, if they are mentioned, should be regarded as legally binding or included only as guidelines; and
the interpretation of these international documents, particularly the word 'autonomy' used in Recommendation 1201 with reference to minority rights.
Hungary is pushing for the inclusion of legally binding references in the treaty, while trying to reassure Bucharest about the meaning of 'autonomy'.
The meeting...