From hungary-report-owner Mon Apr 24 12:00:48 1995 Received: from localhost (daemon@localhost) (fnord) by nando.yak.net (8.6.5/8.6.5) id MAA16797; Mon, 24 Apr 1995 12:00:48 -0700 Received: from localhost (daemon@localhost) (fnord) by nando.yak.net (8.6.5/8.6.5) id MAA16788; Mon, 24 Apr 1995 12:00:30 -0700 Received: from bruner@ind.eunet.hu () via =-=-=-=-=-= for hungary-report@hungary.yak.net (16786) Received: from ind.eunet.hu (root@ind.eunet.hu [192.84.225.42]) (fnord) by nando (8.6.5/8.6.5) with SMTP id LAA16774 for ; Mon, 24 Apr 1995 11:59:39 -0700 Received: from [192.84.226.92] (bruner.dial.eunet.hu) by ind.eunet.hu with SMTP id AA00369 (5.67a8/SZTAKI-4.01 for ); Mon, 24 Apr 1995 20:57:08 +0200 X-Sender: pop029@ind.eunet.hu (Unverified) Message-Id: Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Date: Mon, 24 Apr 1995 20:55:15 +0100 To: hungary-report@hungary.yak.net From: bruner@ind.eunet.hu (Rick Bruner) Subject: The Hungary Report No. 1.04 X-Charset: US X-Char-Esc: 0 Sender: owner-hungary-report@hungary.yak.net Precedence: bulk Reply-To: hungary-report@hungary.yak.net ================== The Hungary Report Direct from Budapest, every week No. 1.04 April 22, 1995 ================================ ====== BRIEFS Copyright (c) 1995, Sarah Roe ============ GENERAL NEWS Strike costs the nation dear Negotiations between MAV state railways workers and management this week proved useless as staff at Hungary's largest company began an open-ended nationwide strike at midnight on Wednesday. Inbound and outbound international train services have also been frozen. Disagreement is centered on the company's new collective agreement as MAV has refused to sign new collective contracts with employees. It is the seventh strike which has hit Hungary since 1990, but the first open-ended strike since 1904. On Friday there was little sign of progress, although MAV sources claim that as little as 25 per cent of employees are participating in the strike. Rail unions argue that this figure is inaccurate, stating that as many as 70 per cent were striking on Thursday. MAV officials estimate the strike will cost the Hungarian economy a daily Ft 700 million. Costs were already being racked up before Wednesday, when estimates put losses at Ft 15-20 million per day since last Sunday. In addition, the country is threatened with further labor action in 'sympathy' with the rail workers. Airplane technicians staged a 20 minute strike on Friday morning, whilst unions representing teachers, Paks nuclear power plant workers, ironworkers, postmen and miners all back the rail strike. Media Law shuffles closer to statute books A draft version of Hungary's much-awaited media law was signed by coalition party representatives last week. Pal Vastagh, justice minister of the Socialist Party and Gabor Fodor, the Alliance of Free Democrats' minister of culture and education, put pen to paper on an issue which has been in discussion since the late eighties. But at this stage the significance of the draft is unclear, merely signaling agreement on a list of 18 points of mainly administrative decisions by the six coalition partners. It is still not finalized, for example, whether MTV2, Hungarian TV's second channel will be privatized, according to an article in this week's Budapest Business Journal. In November it was decided that MTV2 would be sold if a third national TV channel was not created within a year. But apparently this deadline was not mentioned in the draft. It now seems possible that MTV2 could be privatized, as the issue is "whether the Hungarian government can afford to operate two television channels", Free Democrat Peter Molnar told the Business Journal. Molnar was instrumental in drafting the media law. -------------------- BUSINESS & ECONOMICS Privatization minister oversteps the mark A new privatization strategy will be announced shortly by Privatization Minister Tamas Suchman and Finance Minister Lajos Bokros. According to Hungary Around the Clock, he told Magyar Hirlap that the target figure of Ft 150 billion privatization revenue was "unrealizable" without the new strategy. Meanwhile an article in the Business Journal argued that unease is growing over the newly appointed Minister Suchman's role in privatization deals. Because of indecision within the State Holding Company, AV Rt, theoretically an autonomous agency, the Minister is the only one making decisions on privatization sales. Critics cite the sale of Hungary's largest advertising daily, Expressz, to a group of Canadian investors earlier this month. The deal was approved by Suchman alone, according to AV Rt board member Peter Mihalyi. He said that the minister had made political statements about the deal, and therefore it was thought better for him to have the final decision. Although privatization officials argue that the Expressz deal is not typical of future privatisations, it has put weight behind claims that a privatization minister will encourage political intervention in the privatization process. However, the creation of a new agency, which will consist of AV Rt and the State Property Agency will put an end to this, officials say. Austrian investors flock to Hungary A recent research survey by the Austrian Economic Research Institute states that Hungary is the favorite target for investors. Hungary Around the Clock cited national press which said that over 60 per cent of the ATS 24 billion invested in Eastern Europe has been poured into Hungary. The Czechs have received ATS 3.4 billion of Austrian investment, whilst Slovakia accumulated some ATS 2 billion. Austria is the third largest investor in Eastern Europe after Germany and the US. Joint venture factory opens Friday saw the opening of a new factory at Peremarton-based Nicolor Rt. The Japanese-Hungarian joint venture is owned by Dainichiseika (Japan) 55%, Nitrokemia (Hungary) 40%, and Kanematsu (Japan) 5%. Nitrokemia made an investment of $9 million to establish the new factory, which will produce pigment for sale to printing houses mainly in the US, Japan and Spain. In 1995, Nicolor expects to bring in $6 million in returns from prices. ----------- SHORT TAKES President Arpad Goncz appears to be the only candidate for the post of president of the republic, for presidential elections to be held in July. The gypsy community, Hungary's largest ethnic minority, last week elected the Roma National Council, but Budapest Week reports that the overwhelming victory of the largest party, Lungo Drom has brought allegations of election fraud. A basic treaty was signed between Moldova and Hungary by President Mircea Snegur, the Moldovan president and Arpad Goncz, Hungarian president. The two leaders also stressed the development of economic and administrative ties. Coca-Cola will cut back 60 out of 100 staff at the Nagykanizsa plant in western Hungary because they will be terminating manufacturing at the site. A more modern plant in Gyor and a greenfield site in Dunaharaszti, which is currently under construction, will shoulder the extra load, Gabor Varga, company regional head, told Napi Gazdasag. ---------------- NUMBERS CRUNCHED * February saw inflation grow by 4%, meaning that consumer goods cost around 27.5% more on average than in March. (Central Statistics Office, Hungary Around the Clock) * Proposed budget cuts will mean that expenditure will outweigh revenue by Ft 156 billion in 1995 rather than the original Ft 283 billion. (Finance Ministry, Hungary Around the Clock) * Industrial production increased from December to January by 14.5 per cent. (Central Statistics Office, Hungary Around the Clock). * The National Bank (MNB) will increase the amount of commercial banks' compulsory reserves in the MNB by 1% on May 1st, and a further 1% on June 1st. (MNB, Hungary Around the Clock) ------------- EXCHANGE RATE April 20, 1995 (National Bank of Hungary): US Dollar - 119.61 (buying), 121.7 (selling) Deutschemark - 87.28 (buying), 88.7 (selling) ============== WACKY AS USUAL Real action for Earth Day Earth Day, the internationally celebrated event to promote environmental awareness was acknowledged on Saturday through quizzes and games at the Budapest Zoo, a public awareness action on trash disposal problems, a bicycle parade and a 'Green Ball'. Meanwhile The Budapest Sun reported that air pollution has become worse in the capital, resulting in an education campaign by the city's authorities. A Ft 67 million advertising campaign, begun in March emphasizes the problem of traffic fumes in Budapest, urging people to use environmentally friendly public transport, in particular the electric-powered trams. ======= FEATURE China yields secrets to the 1,000 year mystery of Hungary's origins By John Nadler Copyright (c) 1995 Whether a blessing or a curse, Hungarians have always considered their 1,000-year-old nation of 10.5 million inhabitants an island and an enigma. Nearly every central European ethnicity - Poles, Czechs, Austrians - boasts either Slavic or Germanic roots. With their closest relatives thought to be the faraway Finns and Estonians, the lonesome Hungarians have occupied an ethnic oasis ever since 895 AD when marauding Magyar horseman settled on this patch of the Carpathian basin now known as Hungary. Almost from that moment, Hungarians - or Magyars as they still call themselves - have posed the question: Who are we, and where did we come from? Today, a millenium later, Hungarian anthropologists believe they have found the answer in the most faraway of places: the Xinjiang province of north-west China. Since 1986, excavations of ancient graveyards and anthropological studies have yielded proof that this area, traditionally known as the 'Uigur' region, is the origin of the Hungarian people. "Every journey to Xinjiang is a revelation to me," said Istvan Kiszely, the anthropologist who led the first expedition nine years ago, and returns annually. "The first time we went, we excavated a graveyard and found exactly the same anthropological objects as were found in Hungary. They had the same traditions [as 9th and 10th century Hungarians] for burying their dead. No other people had these customs. Not the Uralic people. Not the Slavic people." 1,200 graves were uncovered in Urumchi, the capital of Xinjiang. But according to Kiszely, the most persuasive proof of Hungary's kinship with the northern Chinese resides among the living. "In almost every sense these people are the same as Hungarians," explained Kiszely. "In the biological sense, in blood graphs, even in their folk art." According to Kiszely's investigations, the traditional clothing, motifs, and music of the Xinjiang people is remarkably similar to the unique folk styles of the Hungarian peasantry. Other regional eccentricities of the Hungarians, ranging from their penchant for spices in food and a sweet wine called Tokaji, also links them with the ancient Uigurs. Kiszely claims that "inscriptions" found in the Gobi desert dating back to 800 BC can be interpreted using ancient Hungarian script. But the most moving words Kiszely found in China came during his first expedition when listening to an ancient folk ballad telling of an Uigur tribe that embarked on a journey west a thousand years ago. History tells us that the ancient Uigurs were wanderers. But almost exclusively in the east. In the 7th Century they erected the city of Karakorum, and they founded an empire in Mongolia that reigned between 744 and 840 AD. But according to the ballad Kiszely heard nine years ago, only one Uigur tribe ventured west, and the song promised its people would one day return. The locals reciting the poem were told of Kiszely's quest. "They received us as friends and relatives," Kiszely said. "This was a great moment for me." Kiszely's enthusiasm is not shared by all scholars. The findings in Xinjiang contradict the popularly held contention that the common ancestors of the Hungarians and the Finns originated in the Ural mountains, or beyond the Urals near the Ob River. Both the Finns and Hungarians belong to the Finno-Ugric language group, and both tongues share a few common words. According to Kiszely, the ancestors of the Hungarians and the Finns traded these words - 42 in total today - when they encountered each other near the Urals sometime after the Magyar tribes left north-west China in the 7th century. (The two peoples lived together 150 years, said Kiszely. Ample time to pick up portions of each other's vernacular.) Critics argue that academic theory linking Hungary's origins to the Urals was politically motivated. In the 19th century, the conquering Hapsburgs used it to downplay Hungary's eastern Turkish ties. A century later, the Soviets found it expedient to link Hungary's past to lands found within the USSR. But before the mid-19th century, Hungarians gazed in the direction of Asia when pondering their past. Declared Erzsebet Toth, coordinator of the Hungarian Tibet Society: "All the ancient legends and stories connect Hungarians with the peoples of the east." In 1819, famed Hungarian ethnographer Sandor Korosi Csoma ventured as far as Tibet to find the origins of the Magyars. He failed. And his failure is considered proof that Asian soil holds no secrets of Hungary's ancient past. According some scholars, Hungary's Asian traditions arise from its location at the east-west crossroads, and the plethora of peoples that have passed through here over the centuries. "It is hard to define: What is Hungarianism, who is a Hungarian," said Toth. "Here in Hungary dozens of nationalities have been mixed together... I don't think [Hungary's past] is reconstructable." According to Kiszely, Korosi Csoma himself disagreed. Hungary's revered Orientalist found no Magyar skeletons in the Himalayas in the early 19th Century. But Kiszely contends he didn't go quite far enough. "Before Korosi Csoma died in 1842, his last words were...to find the roots of the Hungarian people, go to the district of the Uigurs. [He] knew very well where to search." But by 1915, politics again foiled this quest. A Chinese annexation kept Hungarian anthropologists out of the Xinjiang province for 79 years. Political thaw in Moscow and Beijing in the 1980s appears to have finally lifted the mist that had long hidden the 1,400-year-old horse tracks between Hungary and China. "It is amazing to me," Kiszely mused. "For 150 years [anthropology] served the government. Now I can allow myself to serve no one but the truth." ================ PARLIAMENT WATCH By Tibor Vidos Copyright (c), 1995 Hungarian President Arpad Goncz does not have to worry about a new job when his five year term expires this summer. Unless something really unexpected happens, his re-election for another and final five years seems just as certain as Mr. Torgyan (the leader of the Smallholders' Party (FKGP) making an unscheduled speech in Parliament before the agenda. President Goncz was elected to office by Parliament on August 3, 1990 following an agreement between the then biggest Parliamentary party, the Hungarian Democratic Forum (MDF) and the largest opposition party, the Alliance of Free Democrats (SZDSZ). The essence of the deal was that SZDSZ supported the amendment of the constitution to limit the number of laws requiring a two third majority to be passed in return for a consensus on other basic constitutional issues and the election of Mr. Goncz - an SZDSZ leader - to the post of President. In 1990 the governing conservative coalition did not command the two third majority required to modify the constitution or to pass other constitutional laws. Mr. Goncz was also the choice of Jozsef Antall - the leader of MDF and Prime Minister designate at the time of the MDF-SZDSZ agreement - as a result of their shared background in the Smallholders' Party. Both Mr. Antall and Mr. Goncz started their political careers in the Smallholders' Party in the mid forties and were among the leaders of the party's brief revival during the revolution in 1956. Relations between the two politicians became tense soon after the inauguration of Mr. Goncz and finally resulted in open confrontation when the President refused to sack the heads of public television and radio, who had been charged with political bias by the Prime Minister. The President also angered the Prime Minister by rapidly becoming the country's most popular politician. This time around both governing parties - the Hungarian Socialist Party (MSZP) and SZDSZ back Goncz's candidacy. Strangely, it is the Smallholders' Party that most vigorously objects to the re-election of the current President. FKGP activists collected over hundred and fifty thousand signatures in order to call a referendum on the direct or indirect election of the President. One might suspect that FKGP President Jozsef Torgyan only brought up the referendum to attract media attention onto himself. Mr. Torgyan - a skilled lawyer- must certainly know that the Constitutional Court has ruled that no referendum can be held on constitutional matters. Well done, Mr. Torgyan. * * * Tibor Vidos is a lobbyist and political consultant in charge of the Budapest office of GJW Government Relations. A version of this article appeared in the Budapest Business Journal. =========== FINAL BLURB The Hungary Report is free to readers. To subscribe, send an email message to the following Internet address: hungary-report-Request@hungary.yak.net containing (in the body of the message, not in the headers) the single word subscribe Conversely, to stop receiving Hungary Report, simply send to the same address (in the body of the message) the single word unsubscribe The entire contents of The Hungary Report is copyrighted by the authors. Permission is granted for not-for-profit, electronic redistribution and storage of the material. If readers redistribute any part of The Hungary Report by itself, PLEASE RESPECT AUTHORS' BY-LINES and copyright notices. Reprinting and resale of the material is strictly prohibited without explicit prior consent by the authors. Please contact the authors directy by email to enquire about resale rights. For information on becoming a corporate sponsor of The Hungary Report, contact Rick E. Bruner or John Nadler by email. Feedback is welcome. Rick E. Bruner John Nadler Tibor Vidos For its briefs, The Hungary Report regularly consults the news sources listed below -- for information about subsriptions, contact them by email: The Budapest Business Journal <100263.213@compuserve.com>; Budapest Sun <100275.456@compuserve.com>; Budapest Week and Hungary Around the Clock (same email address) <100324.141@compuserve.com>, and Central Europe Today (free online) . ================ END TRANSMISSION