1988. március (32-68. szám) / HU_BFL_XIV_47_2

1ÜL WALL ÖTiíMi JUUJtíML. i f|

EUROPE [i

tRixK. mi Knaaumi FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 1988 C 1988 Dow Jón*, t C

l I * . li \A1 r\ tr I ri \A/!ro . I T 1

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL. FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 21. 1»8» I

Bmirnnm fl ■■■ — — ■ — «« — ■ — — - • (

l Trick or Treat: Hungary’s Porous Passport Reform

By Ferenc Kőszeg Hungary1 s freer travel rules were pút of open debate and obscure wordlng of the

BUDAPEST - Communlst reforms are Intő effect the same üme a personal lncome artlcies lndicates tough wrangling over the

trlcky. They give and take at the same üme. tax and a value-added tax were lntroduced final version'* wordlng. Thls is understand' The system creates reforms in lts own aione wlth 25%, 50% and even 100% price able. A law had to be lnvented that prövides

1 image. Take passport law reform, bllled as ríSfs °n somé consumer products. Perhaps signlficant improvements bút that at the

■ an outstandlng example of radlcál llberaJ- 1116 idea is to compensate fór the 1 áttér wlth same tlme preserves an unrestrícted pollce

Hátion in a number of East European the former, as the Inflaüonary effects power to prevent anyone írom travellng.

, countnes, most notably Hungary. largely hit médium and higber incomes. The The signlficant improvement is the

• Slnce Jan. 1, Hungárián* have passport* people aífected are constdered to determine lifting of the érit vtsa. The passport once , almost like those of Western Europeans or pollüca! morálé. issued is valld ad lib. Main beneflclarles are

American*. The former passport* were The govemment had nőt submltted the small entrepreneurs who need to go abroad ) limited tor travel to somé Warsaw Pact passport measure to Parliament. It was several tlmes a year in the interest of thelr

countnes. Fór travel elsewhere. an exlt ma issued by the Presldentlal Council as a business and who had been willing to pay

^ was needed and indlvlduals could apply fór so-called law decree. Although the búik of nny prtce to get the requlred specta!

it once in three years. More frequent travel statutes in Hungary have been Issued permlsslons. From now on they no longer

> to the West was allowed wlth a service wlthout the consent of Parliament. recently need to get indlvldual approvals.

! passport, or, once a year, by speclal the govemment has been dispensing beavy The measure lists 23 lustlflcaüons fór nőt- invitation. doses of propaganda of increased popular ^ 0rwlthdrawing a passport. Atleast

5 Bulgária earlier this week announced representaüon. Bút a long parllamentary üve o{ described below, require

proposals tor passport changes slmllar to procedure. accordlng to the régimé, wouid nelLber evidence of law vlolaüons nor any

. what the Hungárián* enacted. Bulgárián* have made it impossible to pút the statute furt^er explanaüon by pollce.

wouid be allowed to retaln thelr passport* hito force on Jan. 1. , Thre.ai to stmr This artteie

5 fór flve years. rather than handlng them Although Parliament1* composlüon and does nm refer w K presumably m

l hack to the authorlUes upon retum from a pnson- or 10 r*°Ple topowmon of staL or

e mp abroad; bank*, rather than ministries. s «lraft naKriutlrasAl can neverthel«is mUltary ^ covered ^

wouid ailocate hard currency fór traveiers; launch a debate on them. No doubt, there ggnarate Daran-aohs Pollce susnieion is 3 and amnesty wouid be offered to those who wouid have been several delegates willing to enoueb

a lett the country legaily and failed to retum. criücize somé Sharp contradlcüons in the . jw™, m uu.nm™

i The change wouid make it easler fór certaln artlcies of the law. The Minlstry of the ^ _

, Bulgáriád to travel to the West. bút it mutrior apparenüy feared that former *"**«•"toe

' remains to be seen how many ordlnary arbltrary decisions of lts Passport Office doD ‘ h°me “* 0 b^°,ndU'e

Bulganans, and under what condlüons, be criücized during a debate. In fact, ^P oí H“eFlaE. auül0Idu*s- But

woid^reoelve passport*. there were objecüons raised in Parlia- *°“ ^

The Pollsh authonues have llberaiized ment's legal committee. which. as a com- íravel pnvueges.

thelr procedures somewhat, granüng visas promise. was allowed to glve an opinlon on • Persons who previously went abroad quicker and to more people and from üme the draft bili during a closed-door ses- withoui the prescribed finánctól means: ■. to üme taiking about passport reform. The . Such uncovered violaüons cu bnng a

; East Germans, slmUarly, loosened up on Despite the haste proclaimed, the law flve-year passport suspension. Reguiaüons permissions granted fór visíts to the West, decree was nőt Issued unül after Christmas, require traveiers to the West to have at

[* only to clamp down when the requests and lts appllcaüon began amid the greatest least Í60. Those who stayed longer than thls

poured in by the hundreds of thousands. possíble confuslon. The delay, the avoldance amount presumes and fali to explain how

. .■• caüon tor polltlcai asylum is denled in the

they sustained the msei vés lose thelr pass- West.

port*. .Slnce last fali the Interior Mimstry has

• En/orcemenl measures: Passport* i been trying to damp enthusiasm caused

can be denled to anyone under pollce , hy the advent of the passport reform. In

surveiflance. local banlshment or intem- - November, it declared that passports could

ment. Such retaliaüon is unlawful per se. as í contlnue to be denied without elaboraüon.

•It doesn't punlsh tor a crtme but tor a » Last month a colonel in the bordér guard

conduct wlthout due procesa. ? stated that staying abroad without the

• Violatiam of Hungary 's latos during ‘ required flnancial means will draw longprevious travel abroad; Conflscaüon oí - term travel suspension. In Budapest, the

passports on such ground may be the most head of the Passport Office announced that

dangerous pollücai restrlcüon. Slmllar in all conduct resulüng in a negaüve opinion of

approach to the State securlty arücie. it Hungary will be considered as a violaüon oí

doesn't lnvolve common crímes commltted the law. About 5,000 applicaüons are reabroad like shopliíüng that are covered jected each year, accordlng to mini*,

speclflcally by another. relaüvely lenlent. try data. This Is less than 1% oí totál

arücie. Thls category is tor those who, tor requests. The less well-to-do are adequately

example. gave lnterviews to the Hungárián- frightened by the arbltrary appllcaüon oí

language broadcasts oí. say, the Volce oí passport raies. Fór better people. such

America. BBC or Rádió Free Europe, or drasüc measures are seldom necessary; lfs

. who publlshed matériái in the Western presa sufflcient to keep them in constant feár of

crlUcal of the régimé in Budapest. The losing their passports. The more useful a

arücie replaces a rule that speclfled the passport is. after all, the better it works as a

duration of punlshment wlth one that method oí inümidaüon.

retailates tor a slngle violaüon wlth perma-: _

__„

nent exciusion. i« - . ^0S2eSw a Jóember of the editornál

People who apply and don’t récéivé í* uno(ficlai tptarterly. Beszelő

pollücai asylum abroad fali under thls (Taücer). Durtng hts 1986 visit to the he

clause. They alsó face a two-year pnson publishedan article in The Wall Street

term. Austnan and West Germán authon- JoumaL On retummg to Hungary, he was

tles err m staung that no retaliaüon awalts ^aeynved of tus passport .

Hunganans who go home after their appli- ____________ " ,

p TUPTCMTT dTOPljm THTÍDVU