|
 |
 |
Budapest — One can't help being awed by Budapest's charms — the Danube flows through the city center parting the gentle hills of Buda and the hectic commercial center of Pest — the Hungarian capital stands as a vibrant, if somewhat still slightly tarnished, architectural gem. But the seven bridges which bind together Budapest also serve to unite a historic nation celebrating its Millennium and also the tenth anniversary of the final pullout of Soviet troops from Hungarian soil.
A stately city with grandiose and often pretentious neo-baroque buildings, Budapest exudes the confidence and standing of a larger country. Actually during the Hapsburg rule, historic Hungary was much bigger geographically, something stripped in the aftermath of WWI, and codified by the tragic Treaty of Trianon.
The extraordinary political changes twelve years ago opened democratic vistas for the ten million Hungarians. Naturally being a member of the NATO military alliance, and on the short list to join the European Union in a few years brings an appreciable feeling not only of political security unknown in Hungary's tempestuous history, but a sense of long overdue acceptance within the democratic West.
"We have been at home in Europe for a thousand years, not only, geographically but based on our culture, traditions and basic values," stated Prime Minister Viktor Orban at the time of NATO accession.
During a recent visit to Washington in which he met with President George W. Bush, Vice-President Richard Cheney, and top Administration officials, Prime Minister Orban stressed close political and economic ties with the U.S.
The 1956 Hungarian Revolution, a brilliant flash amid the gloom which had pervaded the Eastern Europe, failed to break the Soviet bear's grip, but forever shattered the legitimacy of the regime it installed.
Just after the final departure of Soviet troops from Hungary in 1991, I recall asking then Hungarian President Arpad Goncz, a prize winning author and parliamentarian who was visiting the United Nations, what the role of the free market would now be in the wake of Marxism. He responded, "I have to say that Central Europe will be the best possible business deal of the century...our potential is great indeed."
He added that after the moribund Marxist period, economic changes will proceed beyond privatization to stress "new management techniques and modernization." His words have been borne out. Commercial confidence has attracted foreign investors as Hungary has moved into high gear as a business center, unfortunately just as the global economic downturn seems to be shadowing the horizon.
According to the Economist 's respected Intelligence Unit, a barometer of global business conditions, Hungary ranks just behind Japan and South Korea as a place to conduct business during the next five years. It boasts the highest ranking in the former East Bloc, not bad for a country which prior to 1989, was still at least officially following the socialist political line despite a parallel economy being pursued by an energetic business class.
Having evolved from the old command economy to a more prosperous market-oriented one, the Hungarian GNP growth will likely reach 5 percent this year, spurred on by significant foreign investment. In the past decade over $22 billion has been invested in Hungary, about a third of that from the USA.
The Budapest-based American Chamber of Commerce boasts 560 members from twenty countries, representing $13 billion in investments. During 2000, two-way trade with the U.S. reached $2.7 billion.
Despite being better off than most of the other East Bloc states during the Soviet imperium, Hungary is still paying off the high foreign debt from the communist era. One way the Hungarians were mollified after the 1956 revolution was to subsidize an artificially higher standard of living — especially in the 1960's and 1970's under Janos Kadar's rule, in exchange for accepting political dictatorship.
Contradictions abound. A recent poll taken asking the leading Hungarians throughout history, placed King St. Stephan, founder of the nation 1,000 years ago first, along with three other royal figures and surprisingly Janos Kadar, the last communist leader between 1956 and 1988! Ironically, Kadar is fondly remembered by many.
The specter of the past hangs like an albatross; Premier Orban's governing center-right coalition has to bridge an essentially left/right political split in a land where democracy's roots remain fragile.
John J. Metzler is a U.N. correspondent covering diplomatic and defense issues. He writes weekly for World Tribune.com.
