VZCZCXRO2200
RR RUEHAST
DE RUEHUP #1201/01 1591334
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 081334Z JUN 06
FM AMEMBASSY BUDAPEST
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 9392
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 BUDAPEST 001201 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EUR/NCE MICHELLE LABONTE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL SOCI HU
SUBJECT: GOH PRESENTS NEW PROGRAM:  GRAND VISION, FEW 
DETAILS 
 
 
BUDAPEST 00001201  001.2 OF 003 
 
 
--------- 
Summary 
------- 
 
¶1. (U) At Parliament,s May 30 plenary session, PM-elect 
Ferenc Gyurcsany presented MPs and media with the new 
coalition program, entitled &New Hungary ) Freedom and 
Solidarity.8  The 85-page document is the fruit of weeks of 
negotiations between coalition partners MSZP and SZDSZ, and 
lays the groundwork for a &successful, modern and just8 
Hungary, through a set of exhaustive and ambitious reforms of 
the public sector, finances, education and health care.  The 
key word of the program, in fact, is reform.  Gyurcsany, both 
in his foreword to the document as well as in his May 30 
speech in Parliament, promises four years of a &reform 
government.8  This cable examines some of the most essential 
points of the government agenda submitted to Parliament on 
May 30, 2006, as they pertain to foreign policy and the 
government,s focus on a just Hungary. 
 
---------------- 
A Secure Hungary 
---------------- 
 
¶2. (U) The program lays out the new government,s agenda for 
creating a Hungary that is secure both domestically and on 
the international stage.  Following an outline of steps 
needed to increase Hungary,s border security, public safety, 
and security of its citizens, data, as well as a discussion 
of improving first-response and natural disaster response 
services and systems, the program spells out that NATO is the 
guarantor of Hungary,s security internationally: 
&Hungary,s security is comprised of two pillars, our 
European and our transatlantic commitments.8  Hungary, says 
the document, is not faced with threats in the traditional 
sense; international terrorism, extreme nationalism, a 
proliferation of WMD, poverty, famine, disease and natural 
disasters are what endanger societies today. 
 
¶3. (U) Hungary must thus prepare for new security challenges. 
 The program signals that the GOH will commit itself to 
finishing the transformation of Hungary,s armed forces, to 
protect the country,s sovereignty and fulfill its 
commitments to international organizations.  The document 
spells out concrete steps the GOH will take in the next four 
years.  Hungary will &undertake8 to contribute some 1,000 
troops to NATO, EU and UN peacekeeping operations.  (Note: 
The previous MSZP-SZDSZ government committed itself to 
fielding 1,000 troops on international missions.)  A special 
focus will be on geographic areas with direct implications 
for Hungary,s security.  Hungary will increase its role in 
the exchange of information between allies.  NATO radar 
installations will be put in place; Gripen jets will enter 
into service; a modernization of transport and armored 
vehicle fleets will begin; better training will be offered to 
Hungary,s all-professional army personnel. 
 
------------------------- 
Foreign Policy Objectives 
------------------------- 
 
¶4. (U) One of the primary responsibilities of the government 
will be to increase the significance/weight of Hungary 
internationally; the business sector, civil society and 
individuals should all have a role to play in this endeavour, 
says the program.  As the primary directions of Hungarian 
foreign policy, the document names the countries of the 
European Union, the United States, NATO allies, Russia and 
&the swiftly developing nations of Asia.8 
 
¶5. (U) Hungary has a vested interest in a strongly 
integrated, democratic and transparent European Union, as 
well as in an effective transatlantic relationship.  The 
government will support the further expansion of the EU, the 
development of a common energy policy, as well as the 
implementation of the Lisbon Strategy.  The GOH also looks 
forward to closing the gaps between old and new EU member 
states, to adopting the euro, entering the Schengen border 
regime, and fostering the free movement of labor within the 
European Union.  The GOH will promptly begin preparing for 
Hungary,s 2011 EU presidency. 
 
¶6. (U) Hungary intends to play a proactive and cooperative 
role in the Central and Eastern European region; the Visegrad 
Partnership will be a key aspect of the country,s foreign 
policy.  Regional cooperation will also be important, and 
Hungary will pay &close attention8 to initiatives to bring 
Ukraine and the western Balkans closer to Europe.  Hungary,s 
foreign policy will also take into consideration the 
interests of ethnic Hungarians living in surrounding 
 
BUDAPEST 00001201  002.2 OF 003 
 
 
countries; the GOH will also work to protect minorities and 
human rights, both in the CEE region and the world over. 
 
-------------- 
A Just Hungary 
-------------- 
 
¶7. (U) According to the program, although Hungarians have 
reacquired their legal rights since the transition, they are 
still not free in a social sense, and various social groups 
still require added attention from the state.  In this 
regard, more attention must be paid to basing social 
advancement on individual capability and not on factors such 
as family environment and location of dwelling.  According to 
the section of the program entitled &A Just Hungary8, new 
forms of support must be found for the under-privileged, 
while those with greater means must take on added 
responsibility. 
 
------------- 
Child Poverty 
------------- 
 
¶8. (U) One aspect of realizing a just Hungary is the 
elimination of child poverty, which the program cites as 
afflicting 1 in 5 Hungarian children.  The government wants 
to tackle the issue through its National Program Against 
Child Poverty, which foresees a broad range of measures, from 
inclusive education to more fairly-distributed family 
allowances to employment for impoverished parents, as the 
solution to be implemented over a 25 year period.  To this 
end, more targeted measures will be introduced to assist job 
seekers, and employers will be offered incentives for hiring 
undereducated workers and creating jobs in disadvantaged 
regions. 
 
¶9. (U) In the same vein, schools and early education 
institutions will be tweaked to make them more accommodating 
of impoverished families. 
Program points here include the expansion of free school 
meals, an increase in kindergarten spaces and expansion of 
opening hours to assist working parents.  The integration of 
children from disadvantaged backgrounds will be strengthened, 
and incentives given to provide extra assistance to children 
who require it. 
 
¶10. (U) Other measures to fight poverty, and particularly 
child poverty, include new regulations governing debt 
management and eviction, which will give more protection to 
poor families.  Housing support will be calibrated to benefit 
those with less.  The program promises to redouble GOH 
efforts to reduce what are still high infant mortality rates, 
to equalize child care services country-wide, in an effort to 
expand the number of hospitals with specialized infant care 
sections. 
 
---- 
Roma 
---- 
 
¶11. (U) The program offers continued support for defending 
the rights of Roma, in part through the ombudsman system and 
the Equal Opportunity Authority.  More concretely, the 
program states that tolerance training will be made 
compulsory for all participants in the criminal justice 
process (i.e. police and prosecution) and that incentives 
will be provided for Roma to join these institutions in 
greater number. 
 
¶12. (U) The program recognizes the diversity within 
Hungary,s Roma community and suggests that 
anti-discrimination measures are sufficient to improve the 
condition of most Roma.  (Comment:  However, the program does 
propose specific, additional measures targeted to those Roma 
who live in isolated and/or dilapidated settlements.)  The 
program also emphasizes desegregation in adult education and 
incentives to increase and diversify Roma employment. 
 
----------------------- 
Other Vulnerable Groups 
----------------------- 
 
¶13. (U) The program also promises to do more to combat 
discrimination against women, both in hiring practices and in 
social attitudes, to enhance efforts to fight family violence 
and to provide comprehensive support for battered women. 
While the program offers little new to present pensioners, 
whom it considers to be more or less justly treated, in loose 
language it does note that the next phase of pension reform 
will be initiated in order to maintain the viability of the 
 
BUDAPEST 00001201  003.2 OF 003 
 
 
entire system for future generations.  Finally, the program 
offers to support a host of actions designed to enhance 
opportunities for those living with handicaps, as well as to 
tighten legislation related to consumer protection. 
 
------- 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶14. (SBU) While this agenda is an ambitious one, it consists 
largely of generalities and hortatory language.  Opposition 
parties FIDESZ and MDF have been sharply critical of the 
program,s lack of concrete measures and specific plans.  For 
example, the previous MSZP-SZDSZ government had already 
pledged to field 1,000 Hungarian troops on international 
missions at any given time, and has in practice maintained 
between 800 and 900 troops abroad over the last year.  Given 
deep cuts to the defense budget in 2005 and 2006, with 
additional cuts projected for 2007, it is difficult to see 
how Hungary can increase its troop presence abroad, let alone 
equip that presence with modern capabilities.  Financially, 
the only feasible opportunities for increasing foreign 
deployments may be in the Balkans. 
 
¶15. (SBU) On social policy, the program is broadly consistent 
with PM Gyurcsany,s tendency to eschew ethnically-based 
policy in favor of a &color-blind8 approach to education, 
healthcare and poverty.  Perhaps of note, in light of PM 
Gyurcsany,s nomination of former Minister of Youth, Family, 
Social Affairs and Equal Opportunity Kinga Goncz as the new 
Minister of Foreign Affairs, is the program,s contention 
that civil society and private citizens each have a role in 
foreign affairs.  As Gyurcsany mentioned, much of foreign 
policy in the context of the European Union revolves around 
&social and domestic8 affairs -- thus, Goncz,s appointment 
may serve to link these two sectors and foreign policy in the 
traditional sense, according to the prime minister. 
 
¶16. (SBU) In foreign policy, the document orders Hungary,s 
priorities as neighboring countries, EU members, the U.S., 
NATO allies, Russia and &the rapidly-developing countries of 
Asia.8  Among the latter, China is highlighted.  The only 
other two references to the U.S. in the paper are in the 
security-policy section, where the United States is 
identified as Hungary,s &strategic partner,8 particularly 
from the security-policy perspective.  Russia merits special 
mention as well:  &we ascribe a prominent role to the 
further strengthening of relations with the United States and 
Russia.8  While the document presents Visegrad as a useful 
forum, solidarity therein may be challenged, if only 
temporarily, by the wrangling over the U.S. visa-waiver 
amendment.  All in all, this is a European social-democratic 
document with a liberal, forward-leaning vision.  It is also 
based principally in domestic policy, where the twin tasks of 
downsizing the government and reining in the deficit are 
front and center. 
 
WALKER