Ferenc Gyurcsany (PM) Interview in 'The Times'

Gyurcsány, the Hungarian PM and now also the Chairman of the Socialist Party (MSZP) said in an interview last week that from Poland to the Balkans there is uncertainty as to whether these countries should follow a progressive modernisation policy, or the isolation of radical nationalism.

To the question whether Hungary has experienced a resurgence of Anti-Semitism since last Autumn Gyurcsány replied with a resounding yes. The waving of Árpád flags (Hungarian National Socialist flags) by the demonstrators at FIDESZ's (the largest opposition party) rallies and at every other demonstration indicates this, as do the Anti-Semitic pamphlets that are being handed out in places such as the University of Law in Budapest. According to Gyurcsány, the problem is that Fidesz and the party's leader, Viktor Orbán, doesn't want to distance himself away from this crowd. Last year at the Kossuth square 50 Jewish politician names were read out loud on stage by the demonstrators' leaders, and after the verbal bashing of these people, a Fidesz politician went on stage and bashed the government. Clearly, Fidesz wants the support of these few thousand people, the far right, commented Gyurcsány.

Later in the interview, the Hungarian PM went on to say that he accepted the chairmanship of his party (the Socialist Party) because the party has to be modernized, not because he wants to over-centralize power.

To the question why he became a hate figure for the nationalist right, the PM answered that in many ways he is the archetypal enemy of the right as before the political transition he was a member of the Communist youth movement, and after 1990 he became a successful businessman. The opposition (Fidesz) concluded that they lost the elections in 2002 and 2006 mainly because of him (Gyurcsány was campaign manager for the previous Socialist PM in 2002).

Concerning the reforms Gyurcsány and his cabinet have been carrying out for months now, Gyurcsány said that these must be carried through. The PM knows that it is painful at this stage for the Hungarians but he hopes that in the end the people will understand the importance of these reforms and the positive impact of them. 'If that is not the way they think at the next elections they can show us the door' Gyurcsány concluded.

The PM was critical about the opposition leaving the Parliament every time he opens his mouth there. The PM said that 'this does not only relate to me as prime minister but to the institutions of the republic itself. I pretend not to notice that they are absent and I do my job.'

You can read the full article at:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article1458