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BUDAPEST, Nov 2, 1999 -- (Agence France Presse) Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban received a sharp reaction from opposition parties Monday for reported comments he made while in Canada that Hungary may be ready to have NATO nuclear arms based on its territory.
Opposition parties called Orban's statement "shocking," "unasked for" and "irresponsible."
Reports said that Orban told the Globe and Mail newspaper in Canada: "Although Hungarians would hardly be glad to hear this, the government -- in case of an emergency -- would be ready to consider the stationing of NATO nuclear arms in Hungary."
Orban, who made the comment while in Canada on an official visit there that wrapped up Monday, defiantly repeated the suggestion at Budapest airport on his return.
"The Hungarian government will consider any request from the international community," he said, although he added that no such request had been made.
Hungary, the Czech Republic and Poland became the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's newest members when they were admitted in March this year.
Under a deal with Russia designed to appease Moscow's anger at seeing the former Warsaw Pact countries go over to the West's most potent military structure, NATO promised not to move nuclear weapons into the new members' territory.
Laszlo Kovacs, the head of the biggest opposition party, the Socialist Party, said that "if all the premier wanted to do was to provoke Russia or frighten the population, he has reached his goal."
The opposition Alliance of Free Democrats issued a statement saying it flat out "rejects the idea."
"Nobody asked the prime minister to make such a statement and nothing justifies unnecessarily alarming the population," it said.
It also said that for any arms system to be stationed in Hungary, a two-thirds majority approval is required from parliament.
The communist Labor Party went further, calling on Orban to resign for modifications to the constitution to exclude the presence of nuclear arms in Hungary.