Magyar Hírek, 1985 (38. évfolyam, 2-26. szám)

1985-04-06 / 7-8. szám

ABOUT THIS ISSUE An anniversary and an important event of the Hungarian political life account for the retro­spective nature of the principal articles in the Hungarian section of this issue. They review the past four decades, the course the nation covered since 1945, but also take a close look at the fu­ture, outlining the tasks ahead, the difficulties that have to be overcome, and the objectives that must be achieved if Hungary wants to con­tinue successfully along the charted course, if the country wants to keep apace with the progress of nations. The anniversary is that of the 4th April 1945, and the major political event of the present is the 13th Congress of the Hungarian Socialist Workers’ Party. “Forty years ago a new dawn rose in Hungary” —said István Sarlós, the Chairman of Parlia­ment, in a statement published in the Hungarian section of our paper. „Independence at last ar­rived and became final. The new social system— developing continuously—has been carrying on some of the practices and customs of the past. The past cannot be wiped clean, a thousand years matter indeed. Language, customs, the conditioned reflexes of behaviour, tried and proved social relations continue, bridging over the changes ... The high-faluting view that— everything began with us—is unacceptable. The social change was desired and achieved by us. We always knew however that some past events in­fluenced the nation’s present and that our deeds will influence the future.” István Sarlós then explained that there was no experience to fall back on, no minutely worked out plan at first. “... The methods had to be improvised most of the time”—he said. „Pe­ople, inexperienced in the handling of poli­tical power undertook the responsibility of gov­ernment and they did so honourably. It is not these people, who did their best during the first years, who must be held responsible for the deeds of others, for whose antihuman practices for which there is no excuse. These were in sharp conflict with the principles and the mo­rality of socialism. The political practice of the past almost three decades has recognised the errors committed earlier as well as the sins of the leadership of that period, this is the reasons why a new political practice could be developed which serves the interests of the nation. Resolu­tions of Party Congresses reflect the recognition that we must be ready for change, when life de­mands this. The essence of national unity is the policy of alliances among the various classes and sections of society, between members of the Party and those who did not join, between people whose ideologies differ. Their co-operation is based on taking into ac­count mutual and specific interests and not on hierarchy. The steps to be taken by us will have important results in the immediate future, but we have no illusions. There are going to be difficulties as well in putting into practice some of the new methods, since conditions are rapidly changing.” István Sarlós emphasized that the 13th Con­gress confirmed the policy, which is to be the firm foundation for the reform moves of the coming years. “Unity is possible and necessary on the most important questions”—he said.— “Let the country be independent, strong and prosperous. We want peaceful lives for our families. Let multilateral relations prevail among the nations of the world, and let all who are able work at home, with learning, culture, and civic liberties accessible to all. Ideas may differ on modes of realization. Healthy discussion is needed so that the majority can assert its will. Hungarians abroad may differ in their judge­ment of 1945 or the past four decades, but I am convinced that a peaceful, and happy Hungary is dear to every true Hungarian. We argue over many things, but I believe we all have the com­mon desire that the nation living here on the banks of the Danube should prosper in its culture and economy.” István Sarlós referred to the 13th Congress of the HSWP and its resolutions. Extensive discus­sion preceded the Congress, in the course of which the guiding principles were discussed. The general report presented by János Kádár, First Secretary of the CC of the HSWP, and the debate developed in its wake, dealt with and analysed, the conditions at home and abroad for construc­tive work, its achievements and shortcomings. Attention was paid first of all to the situation of the Hungarian economy, which was not favoured by the international situation in recent years. Nevertheless, notable achievements were attained, and—precisely in the interest of pro­tecting and further developing these achieve­ments, and since the reserves of the extensive development have been exhausted—it is now important to work out the conditions for the in­tensive phase of development, the increase of productivity and efficiency and the simultaneous maintenance of full employment. Working out the concepts serving these objectives was one of the important parts of the Congress. Close atten­tion was paid also to the development of social and political relations, the broadening of democ­racy, and continuing the strengthening of na­tional unity. Time was also devoted to discussing the national minorities in Hungary, which play an important part in the growth of friendship between Hungarians and neighbouring nations. Just as we consider as natural their close rela­tions with nations speaking their native tongue, assisting them, we also regard as natural that Hungarian minorities in neighbouring countries should also be free to cherish their native tongue and nurse their own culture—was one of the important conclusions reached by the Congress. The spirit of the fortieth anniversary also marks János Nagy’s article wich the well known Hungarian expert explained how the achieve­ments of domestic constructive work and the changes in international power relations gradually provided increasingly favourable con­ditions for Hungarian foreign policy activity. The figures also indicate this: Hungary main­tained diplomatic relations with 29 countries in 1950, and 51 in 1960. The number of these coun­tries has now increased to 129. „The Hungarian People’s Republic has taken the position due to it in international affairs.”—János Nagy pointed out, adding that the socialist countries were the first with which Hungary developed extensive co-operation. These relations are of fundamental importance. At the same time Hungary is also open to other parts of the world, thus it devel­oped mutually advantageous relations with most of the developing countries. Relations between Hungary and the capitalist countries began to noticeably improve in the second half of the sixties. We intend to maintain honest and fair links with Western European and overseas capi­talist countries that serve the interests of both parties on the basis of peaceful coexistence, mutual advantage, and equal rights. “We can really appreciate what the fact means that we enjoyed peace in Europe during the past forty years only when we recall the devastation of the war, and think about our achievements.” —János Nagy said.—“During the stormy cen­turies of the history of the Hungarian nation there was practically no equally long period without wars. The defence of peace, peaceful co­existence, strengthening of security permanently enjoy priority among the objectives of our for­eign policy. The recommendations of the Helsinki Final Act are fully asserted in our international activities and in our domestic practice, and we are determined to do our utmost for their asser­tion also in the future. We believe that the hon­our of hosting the European Cultural Forum in Budapest next autumn can, to a certain extent, be interpreted also as an appreciation of the contribution made by Hungary.” Continuing, János Nagy said of the Hungarian diaspore: “...Our connections with five million Hungarians living beyond the borders have be­come cioser and this concerns also those whose fathers and garndfathers emigrated, or were swept by destiny to areas of settlement distant from their homeland. The nature of this relationship changed in the course of the years. As in everything we respect the realities pro­duced by life in this field as well. What we stress is that Hungarians abroad will lead a really full life first of all if they are true citizens of the state in which they live, if they observe the laws and customs of their new country. But whatever country they may be the citizens of we regard their achievements also as our own. At the same time, we should like them to respect their old country, Hungary, to preserve their language, care for our culture, and bring up their children in the same spirit. We are doing our best to promote the visits to the old country of Hungarian emigrants, to assist them in main­taining normal relations with their native land ... and to make them feel that they are sharing our successes and problems with us to a certain extent, and that they can also assist the progress of our country, the development of in­ternational relations in their own way. We are glad to see that the policy of the past thirty years has had a beneficial effect on the develop­ment of the relations between the home country and Hungarians abroad. More and more people come home on visits in fact over 200,000 annual­ly, these days.” * Imre Miklós, Secretary of State, the president of the State Office for Church Affairs reviews the relation between the state and the churches, also from the perspective of the fortieth anniversary. He emphasized that the agreements reached with the Calvinist, and Lutheran churches, and the Jewish, and the Unitarian communities in 1948, and with the Catholic Church in 1950, opened the way to negotiations, s provided an opportunity for the gradual settlement of the most important issues. Laws and agreements came into being, which determined the renewing relations of the state and the churches, and the conditions of co­operation in line with requirements of social prog­ress. Imre Miklós also emphasized that those who wish to practice their faith in Hungary can do so without hindrance. “Our state acknowledges the denominations as entities with full rights”— he said— ... The denominations enjoy complete equality before the law in the Hun­garian People’s Republic... all of them enjoy equal rights and standing, and also have similar obligations ... The partial agreement negotiated in 1964 between Hungary and the Vatican was an important event in the development of rela­tions between the state and the church. It settled the procedures for the appointment of bishops and other ecclesiastic dignitaries, and clarified the uniform and correct interpretation of the oath of alliance taken by priests. The Hungarian Papal Church Institute in Rome was transfered to the authority of the Hungarian episcopate un­der the terms of the same agreement.” Imre Miklós concluded by emphasising that the co-operation of the state and the churches was a sound feature of Hungarian national unity. We fully share the opinion of Cardinal László Lé­kai, the Chairman of the Hungarian Bishops’ Con­ference”—he said— that the faithful are loyal to their Hungarian homeland, take part in the consctructive work of socialism, and organically fit into national unity in their own interest and that of their families: At the same time they arc also loyal to their religious community. 60

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