The World - News from Nov. 20, 1988

Romania ordered the expulsion of a Hungarian diplomat in an escalation of a public row between the neighboring Warsaw Pact allies. The Foreign Ministry said it had given Karoly Gyoerfi, arrested by Romanian police last week, three days to leave Romania because Hungary had refused to recall him. It accused him of “anti-Romanian, anti-socialist and provocative actions.” The expulsion marks a worsening of relations between the two countries, already at odds over allegations by Budapest that Romania is mistreating its Hungarian minority. In recent months, there has been a series of public accusations over the minority issue, which Western diplomats have called highly unusual for East Bloc allies.