1988. szeptember (209-245. szám) / HU_BFL_XIV_47_2
©SÉM Editor: György Krassó * 24/D Little Russell Street * London, WC1A 2HN * Tel. 01-430 2126 (from abroad 441-430 2126) 243/1988 (E) 28th September, 1988 Confidentisl Eocuments About the Bos-Nagymaros Dam Protest against the construction of the Bos-Nagymaros dam did nőt cease even after the 50,000 strong mass protest on September 12th which demanded a referendum. Three days later the Scientlfic Workers Democratic Union organised a meeting in Debrecen about the dam and anannouncement by the Young Democrats Alliance’s "Aliz Madzsar" women s group rallied over one thousana to a protest in Nagymaros on September 17th. Ffeanwbile in Austria the Deputy Chairperson of the partiaméntary Peoples Party, Marga Hubinek, and Dr Erhard Busek its Vice-Pfesident have stated that they vili propose withdrawing state guarantees of bank credit and releasing damages if the Hun- garians do nőt bring the plán to fruition. Tomorrow twenty-four independent organ- isations and movements váll hold a press conference in Budapest where their letter of protest to the Party*s Central Committee and to M.P.s will be made public. Budapest University students will stage a sit out between 10-12 am and the Young Demo- erats Alliance will hold a peaceful waming protest at 11 am, on October 3rd environ- mentalists will make a humán chain in Budapest in protest at the dam. The political leadership’s answer is unequivocal. Parliamentary debate is permitted bút a referendum is nőt. According to the dailies the parliamentary groups have one after another decided to accept the govemment’s proposal to build the dam. However confidential doeuments conceming the wording of the ministerial report about the dam have come intő the possession of the Hungárián October Information Centre. The docu- ments reveal that Dr Miklós Varga the Ministry of the Environment and Water Supply’s Secretary of State sent the report to a number of other ministries, state manage- ment institutes and scientific institutes at the end of July asking them to retum it complete with comments and observations in a surprisingly short time, by August 5th. This time limit is unjustified because the Hungárián Academy of Sciences issued two statements one five and another two years ago which both emphasised the necessity of a scientific analysis bút they were repressed. It is almost impossible to give a bal- anced, thoughtful view in a few days, yet 25-30 answers were returned to the Ministry by the beginning of August. The máj őrity of the answers from the various institutes contained extremely critical observations or straightforward rejections of the plán. To quote a few: the City Council cites that if there was dam burst the water level in Budapest would be higher than that maintained by the report and says "Those who drew up the report should get their facts right". The Hungárián Treasury states that this "text reveals a tendency to repress important data and therefore it is impossible to verify the facts." The Hungárián National Bank writes that Austrian Bank Credits mean an increase in the national debt despite repayment in energy and that the report does nőt deal with the 35 millión credit accrued by the Yugoslav dredging work. The Hungárián Academy of Sciences believes the opinion of a body of experts is necessary and states that "the draining of the present section at Nagymaros must nőt commence before the final eval- uation of the statements by the expert body". As is well known draining commeneced on August 11th a week after the publication of the Academy’s statement. Finally the Minister of Foreign Affairs wrote that in order to follow the Trianon and Paris Treaty to the letter the "old Danube" must remain a shipping boundary river. In regard to the territory exchange involving 10 hectares fór each side in the Hungarian-Czech Treaty the Ministry emphatically states that "All state bordér modifications necessi- ate the passing of a new law in Parliament".Subscribers can use or quote the Hungárián October newsletters in totál or in detail as long as the source is acknowledged.
