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PARTISAN REVIEW
ten minutes. For instance, this year we had many demonstrations.
There were demonstrations against the politics of the Rumanian
government that is oppressing the Hungarian minority in Transyl–
vania, the largest minority in Europe . Rumania has two million
Hungarians. There were around fifty thousand people in the streets ,
and there was no violence in this very well-organized demonstration
for the Hungarians against the Rumanian government. This is per–
haps a good indication of the contradictions in Hungary. There are
many demonstrations against the big hydropower station on the
Danube that was planned over ten years ago, in cooperation with in–
ternational corporations , and is now partly constructed . In these in–
ternational corporations are Austrians with money and with build–
ing personnel, and the Czechoslovakian government. For years the
Hungarian public wasn't openly informed about this. Now, many
people from Hungary , from the United States , and from interna–
tional organizations say that it is economically nonsensical and
environmentally dangerous . Hungarian scientists condemn the proj–
ect but they had already done so years ago . It is not economi–
cally useful for Hungary . Now, the people say that the government
didn't inform them, but the government says that the people and the
Hungarian academics are wrong; that it is already too late to
change things; and that it is
ajait accompli.
Thus there is a big strug–
gle . Now, however, people are allowed to demonstrate , and I think,
I pray , that the important aspect of this thing is that now we can
demonstrate , even if we do not yet have the hope that, just as in
Austria, our demonstration will stop such a project. We cannot yet
say no to things . The government still can say no even when we
are right: the people say, or some of the people and academics and
politicians say, that there's something wrong, but things nevertheless
go forward . And in parliament, yes, we do have a parliament , the
Party dominates . There are very strong Communist Party factions.
Twenty-five percent of the members are not in the Party. Yet the
wishes of the Party are followed. So they voted for this project. There
are other struggles as well , but at present the government says Hun–
gary should become an open society, that we should have pluralism,
that there should be a multi-party system, that there should be free–
dom of speech and of the press. But where are the borders between
the government and the Party? How far can we go? There is a basic
contradiction, and I think that this makes for an explosive situation
because everybody is wondering how far we can go in the struggle
between the people and the power of the establishment. I think there
