Liberalism in Hungary
Dear Friends,
It is a great pleasure for me to be here today. The Alliance of Free Democrats has been a loyal partner of Liberal International for many years now. Together we have worked to strengthen Liberalism in Hungary and Hungarian politicians have played a role in strengthening Liberalism in other countries in Europe and in the European institutions.
Liberal International is the worldwide federation of Liberal political parties. We stand for freedom, economic freedom and political freedom. We stand for good governance, democracy, openness and transparency. You will therefore not be surprised that LI is not always happy with the actions of the Hungarian government.
About 3 months ago I was also here in Budapest with a much more difficult mission. In a series of meetings with leading politicians from Fidesz we spoke about the values of Liberalism and of Christian Democracy and how Fidesz would have to make a choice between those two sets of values. As you know, they chose to join the European People's Party, the Christian Democrats. Perhaps this is better for us and better for them. But I was a little bit surprised. In my own country, The Netherlands, the Christian Democrats have been losing support ever since 1963. Balint Magyar, in his excellent speech, just mentioned corruption and that made me think of the German Christian Democrats and their fundraising methods.
Dear Friends
Let us now return to Liberalism in Hungary. Hungary has a long liberal tradition. There are many liberal thinkers in this country and masses of liberal voters.
There is a challenge awaiting you. You are now the only liberal party in Hungary and it will be your task to bring those liberal voters that I mentioned under one roof, the roof of the Alliance of Free Democrats. It is your task to build a strong party in the political centre, with the MSzP to the left and Fidesz to the right, to build a party that is a credible alternative to the government.
Liberal International will be here to help you with that challenge!
Dear Friends,
As you perhaps already know, Liberal International has had its Congress on 26-28 October 2000 in Canada. We decided there that our next Congress should take place in Budapest in March 2002.
In March 2002 you will receive 350 leading liberals from around the world. We will have our meeting here to discuss about Liberalism and the issues that matter to us. We will also be here to learn about Hungary and Hungarian politics.
Mostly, dear friends, we will be here to help you fight the election campaign. In 2002 the Alliance of Free Democrats, the Liberal party of Hungary, will have a great election campaign and a great result.
Thank you for your attention.
This is the text of a speech made to the Congress of the Alliance of Free Democrats, Budapest, Hungary, 2 December 2000.
