Hungarian Problems

Extract

DURING ONE OF MY RECENT TALKS ABOUT THE MAIN problems in Hungary to foreign businessmen in the autumn of 1991, I was asked by a Japanese banker to enumerate the five most important issues that unite and divide Hungarians. It sounded like a simple assignment, and yet when I started to answer I came to realize that it was, in fact, a very difficult one. This was not because I was unable to list even ten issues; indeed, my problem was of a different sort. It was easy to talk about issues that were dividing the population, like Hungary's policies with respect to the market system, to privatization, to compensation for former property owners, and so forth. On the other hand, however, those issues which ostensibly unite the great majority of Hungarians — like democratization, freedom, national integrity, and human rights — are not necessarily understood by all to mean the same thing. There are stark differences of opinion on these issues; however, I added that this seemed quite normal and that it has not resulted in any sharp or violent confrontation.