Around the Bloc

EAST GERMANY

With his ruling coalition threatening to implode, Prime Minister Hans Modrow invited twelve opposition groups to join the government. They agreed on condition that Modrow suspend his Communist Party membership and the new Cabinet include no other Communists. Egon Krenz, Modrow's predecessor for only six weeks, was summarily expelled from the Communist Party he once led.

HUNGARY

Prime Minister Miklos Nemeth said the Soviet Union agreed to withdraw all its 55,000 troops stationed in Hungary "at the earliest possible time."

YUGOSLAVIA

An ill-tempered session of the Communist Party ended abruptly when the delegates from the northern republic of Slovenia walked out, complaining that the other republics were reluctant to embrace more ambitious political reforms.

DEALS

A new U.S.-Canadian consortium formed to invest in Eastern Europe purchased half the General Banking & Trust Co. of Budapest, the city's oldest bank, for $10 million. American cosmetics heir Ronald S. Lauder is the chairman of the group, the Central Europe Development Corp.