OMRI DAILY DIGEST
No. 124, 26 June 1996

HUNGARIAN PARLIAMENT COMMEMORATES EXECUTED PREMIER. Parliament on 25
June passed a bill "immortalizing the memory" of the martyred prime
minister Imre Nagy, leader of Hungary's 1956 uprising against Soviet
domination, Hungarian and international media reported. Most votes in
favor of the controversial bill came from the Socialist Party (MSZP),
while the junior coalition partner Alliance of Free Democrats (SZDSZ)
abstained and most opposition deputies voted against it. The bill, which
sparked emotional exchanges before approval, declares that "the
personality, behavior and morality of Imre Nagy is inseparable from the
1956 revolution, from the idea of democracy and national independence."
The MSZP has embraced Nagy as a means of distancing itself from its
predecessor, which collaborated with the Soviets in crushing the
revolution. Opponents of the bill said the MSZP had no business
celebrating a man their predecessors killed. -- Zsofia Szilagyi

[As of 12:00 CET]

Compiled by Tom Warner