TNAG-2021-FCO40-2883-Relations-between-Hong-Kong-and-Hungary-1990 — Page 66

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25 PR 1990

RECORD OF A CALL BY MR LASZLO KOVACS,

W414

HKD (11

The aud Miss Maschen

Step 4/4

MC

STATE SECRETARY

HUNGARIAN MFA ON MR TATT ON 28 MARCH 1990 AT 1500

Present:

Mr Tait

Itaqu.

ᄀ

3/4.

Mr Kovacs, State Secretary,

Hungarian MFA

Mr Brodi, Minister, Hungarian

Embassy

ру

Mr Noble, EED

For para 3 R

1.

After opening courtesies Mr Kovacs ran through the

options open to him now following the elections. He might

possibly stay in the Foreign Service as an Ambassador; he could become involved in party politics by being elected to

parliament from the HSP's national list; or he could go into

research or business. It was not surprising that the HSP

had faired badly in the elections. The party was tied to

the last 40 years of Hungarian history and was blamed for

all mistakes of that period. The opposition had exploited

this one off opportunity for all it was worth. The Social

Democratic Party and its leader Anna Petrasovits had conducted a poor electoral campaign. In an attempt to

distance themselves from the HSP and from Hungary's

socialist past, they had advocated liberal democratic and

not social democratic values, thus confusing themselves with

the Association of Free Democrats. There would be a natural

gap left in the political spectrum to be filled by a social democratic party and Kovac believed that the HSP would fill this gap on the moderate left. Mr Tait agreed that the HSP was probably heading for a wintry period, Socialism was unpopular now in Eastern Europe but the HSPS prospects would improve as Hungary settled down to multi-party democracy.

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