From: eva@puhep1.princeton.edu (Eva Zeisky)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.czecho-slovak
Subject: Recent info  on the Czech/Slovak split
Date: 2 Sep 92 18:12:37 GMT
Organization: Physics Dept., Princeton University





RFE/RL report

SLOVAK PARLIAMENT ADOPTS CONSTITUTION.  On 1 September, the
Slovak parliament approved the constitution of the Slovak
Republic.  CSTK reports that in the 150-member parliament 114
deputies voted for the constitution, 16 voted against, 4
abstained, and 16 were not present. A three-fifths majority
was needed to approve the constitution. Shortly before the
vote, ethnic Hungarian deputies walked out. The parliament
approved an amendment to the preamble to the Slovak
Constitution whereby the original wording "We, the citizens
of the Slovak Republic..." was replaced by "We, the Slovak
nation..." Another amendment approved by the deputies
stipulates that the Slovak language should be considered the
"state" language of the republic, rather than the "official"
language.  Parliamentary chairman Gasparovic said that "by
the adoption of this constitution, the Slovak Republic has
become a sovereign state." Czechoslovakia is to split into
two states on 1 January 1993. (Jiri Pehe, RFE/RL Inc.)

SLOVAK PREMIER CLASHES WITH HUNGARIAN DEPUTIES. Speaking at
the end of the Slovak National Council's discussion of a
draft Slovak constitution on 1 September, Slovak Prime
Minister Vladimir Meciar accused ethnic Hungarian deputies of
trying to create political instability in Slovakia. CSTK
reports Meciar as saying that amendments to the constitution
proposed by Hungarian deputies were rejected not because they
were proposed by ethnic Hungarians but because they were bad.
Meciar also argued that there was no comparison between the
treatment of ethnic Hungarians in Slovakia and ethnic Slovaks
in Hungary. In Slovakia, "we do not want ethnic Hungarians to
meet the same fate that ethnic Slovaks have met in Hungary,"
said Meciar.  Hungarian deputy Erno Rozsa rejected Meciar's
speech as dictatorial and arrogant. (Jiri Pehe, RFE/RL Inc.)

DUBCEK UPDATE.  A physician at the Prague clinic where
Alexander Dubcek, former chairman of the Czechoslovak Federal
Assembly and leader of the 1968 Prague Spring, was
transported following a car crash, confirmed that his
condition is critical.  Dubcek's spine, pelvis, and several
ribs are broken. In early morning hours of 2 September Dubcek
underwent three hours of surgery on his spine. Describing the
accident, CSTK reports that Dubcek and his driver were
catapulted from the doors of their BMW auto after it broke
through a steel roadside barrier on the highway connecting
Prague and Bratislava and plunged into a ravine. (Jiri Pehe,
RFE/RL Inc.)
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-- 

========================       
Eva S. Zeisky                
Dept. of Physics          
Princeton University      
Princeton, N.J. 08544     
                          
esz@pupgg.princeton.edu    
========================     
Newsgroups: soc.culture.czecho-slovak