New Hungarian Prime Minister Peter Boross said Wednesday he wants closer ties with NATO and that his goal is full membership for Hungary in the organization.
"It does no one any good to have a (security) vacuum in Central Europe," Boross said at his first news conference since being approved by Parliament Tuesday to replace the late Jozsef Antall.Boross said he would take the same message to Prague Jan. 11-12 for a meeting of the Visegrad countries - Hungary, Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Poland - with U.S. President Clinton.
Boross stressed that Hungary's commitment to NATO is not meant as an anti-Russian gesture.
Speaking of Hungary's foreign policy goals, Boross stressed that he would continue along the road designated by his predecessor, who died Jan. 12 of complications from lymphatic cancer.
His immediate goals were described as "continuity, stability and progress," Boross said.