Hungarian Socialist Workers Party
Which party was Gyula Horn a member of between Dec 1968 and Jul 1980?
Gyula Horn Gyula Horn ( 5 July 1932 – 19 June 2013 ) was a Hungarian politician who served as the third Prime Minister of the Republic of Hungary from 1994 to 1998 . Horn is remembered as the last Communist Foreign Minister of Hungary who played a major role in the demolishing of the Iron Curtain for East Germans in 1989 , contributing to the later unification of Germany , and for the Bokros package , the biggest fiscal austerity programme in post-communist Hungary , launched under his premiership , in 1995 . Early life and education . Horn was born in Budapest in 1932 as the third child of the transport worker Géza Horn who was of Jewish background and factory worker Anna Csörnyei . They lived in conditions of poverty at the so-called Barrack estate between Nagyicce and Sashalom . There were seven brothers in the family : filmmaker Géza ( 1925–1956 ) , Károly ( 1930–1946 ) , Tibor ( 1935 ) , Sándor ( 1939 ) , Tamás ( 1942 ) and Dénes ( 1944 ) . After the German occupation of Hungary , his father was kidnapped by the Gestapo due to communist activities in 1944 and never returned home . Gyula Horns niece is Szófia Havas ( b . Szófia Horn , 1955 ) , Member of Parliament between 2006 and 2010 , whose father Géza , Jr . was killed under unclear circumstances during the 1956 revolution . He first studied in a lower technicians school in Hungary . He graduated from the Rostov-on-Don College of Economics and Finance in 1954 . He finished the political academy of the Hungarian Socialist Workers Party ( MSZMP ) in 1970 . He received Candidate of Economic Sciences in 1977 . He married statistician Anna Király in February 1956 and had two children : Anna ( 1956 ) and Gyula , Jr . ( 1969 ) . Administration and party career . Communist Hungary . In 1954 Horn joined the Hungarian communist party , then called the Hungarian Working Peoples Party ( MDP ) . In November 1956 , he helped reorganize the MDP into the Hungarian Socialist Workers Party ( MSZMP ) , which under the leadership of János Kádár crushed the 1956 Hungarian revolution against Soviet occupation and communist rule . Horn worked in the Ministry of Finance from 1954 to 1959 . He got a job in the Foreign Ministry in 1959 , first as an official in the independent Soviet department . In the 1960s he was a diplomat in the Hungarian embassies in Bulgaria and Yugoslavia . In 1969 Horn became an official in the foreign affairs department of the MSZMP Central Committee . By 1983 he rose to the rank of department head . In 1985 he was appointed secretary of state ( deputy minister ) in the Foreign Ministry . In 1989 he stepped forward to become foreign minister in the countrys last communist government led by Miklós Németh . By this time , Horn had become a prominent member of the partys reformist wing , which wanted to jettison the goulash Communism of Kádár in favour of Western-style democracy and a market economy . As a minister he was in charge of foreign affairs when Hungary decided to open the western border ( the Iron Curtain ) to East Germans wishing to emigrate to West Germany . He is often credited with having a major part in the decision and , consequently , a role in German unification . He and his Austrian counterpart Alois Mock posed for cameras on 27 June 1989 to cut through a barbed wire frontier fence , in a largely symbolic act of rapprochement which had been planned months before . As foreign minister he ordered the border to be opened to allow East Germans gathered in Hungary by the thousands to cross into Austria , and from there to West Germany . With this act he greatly contributed to the later unification of Germany . Within weeks tens of thousands of East Germans , who travelled to Hungary with tourist visas , headed straight for the unfortified border and walked into the West . Horn outraged his East German counterparts when he told them that international treaties on refugees took precedence over a 1969 agreement between Budapest and East Berlin limiting freedom of movement . The fall of East German communism and the process of German unification had been launched . With dizzying speed , communist governments in the region succumbed to popular uprisings and sheer fatigue . Within a few years , the Soviet Union itself had evaporated . Horn helped lead the transformation of the MSZMP into the Hungarian Socialist Party later in 1989 . As foreign minister he prepared and signed the Hungarian-Soviet troop withdrawal agreement in March 1990 . Among the politicians of the transitional era , including representatives of civil opposition , he was the first in Hungary who raised and suggested the issue of possible membership in NATO and the European Union . After communism . He was elected to Parliament in 1990 and retained a seat until the 2010 parliamentary election . The Socialists were roundly defeated in that election , taking only 33 seats . He served as Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Foreign Affairs between 1990 and 1993 , until his resignation . Also in 1990 , he succeeded Rezső Nyers as chairman of the Socialist Party . Between 1990 and 1995 , he was a member of the Governing Board of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute ( SIPRI ) . He also functioned as one of the vice presidents of the Socialist International from 1996 to 2003 . Horn led the Socialists to a comprehensive victory in the 1994 parliamentary election . The MSZP leaped from a paltry 33 seats in 1990 to 209 , at the time the second-most that a Hungarian party has ever won in a free election . The size of the MSZP landslide took even Horn by surprise . Although the Socialists had more than enough seats to govern alone , Horn suspected hed have trouble getting needed reforms past his own partys left wing . He also wanted to allay concerns both inside and outside Hungary of a former Communist party winning an absolute majority . With this in mind , he went into coalition with the liberal Alliance of Free Democrats , giving him a two-thirds majority . A few days before election day , Horn and his convoy suffered a major car accident between Emőd and Nyékládháza on the way back from a campaign closing event from Miskolc ; Horn suffered a cervical fracture and was forced to wear a halo brace for months . In 1995 , Horns government enacted the Bokros package , a major austerity program . This was a difficult decision for a social democratic party , and Horn had to expend considerable effort to get most of his party to agree to it . Although Horn relinquished leadership of the party after the Socialists lost the 1998 election to Viktor Orbán and Fidesz , he was for a long time considered to have considerable influence in the party , partly because of his personal popularity among elderly voters . However , after 2002 he went into semi-retirement . The Medgyessy Cabinet appointed him Special Rapporteur for the European Union . He received second place in the election list of the MSZP during the 2004 European Parliament election in Hungary , however Horn stated before the election that would not become an MEP . Horn has received several awards for his achievements in foreign relations , among others the Charlemagne Award of the city of Aachen in 1990 . He did not , however , get the Civil Division of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Hungary in 2007 , suggested by Ferenc Gyurcsány , as it was refused by Hungarian President László Sólyom , who explicitly stated Horns views on the 1956 revolution as the reason . According to a survey in 2011 , Viktor Orbán was found to be Hungarys best prime minister since the transition to democracy , József Antall , the head of the first democratically elected government between 1990 and 1993 , came second while Horn and Gordon Bajnai ( 2009–10 ) tied for the third place . His role in 1956 . Although the fiscal austerity package under his rule eroded his popularity heavily , the most controversial part of his life is his role after the 1956 revolution , which started on 23 October and was crushed in the days following 4 November . At the end of October he joined the National Guard , the armed body of the revolution consisting soldiers , policemen , and civic freedom fighters . In December he joined the pufajkás brigades ( in German Steppjackenbrigade ) , a communist paramilitary body set up to help the invading Soviet troops restore the communist regime , and he served there until June 1957 . His alleged role is controversial in some circles because such squads were accused of involvement in torturing , harassing and even executing civilians during and after the uprising . According to him his elder brother was killed by the revolutionists during the uprising . However , his brothers death certificate states he died in a traffic accident in the countryside . His daughter was born on 30 October . The conditions were bad . The uprising released many criminals who endangered public safety . In the pufajkás squad I defended the legal order , he told German paper Die Welt 50 years later . First , I would like to make it clear that 1956 was not a fight against communism . Even the rebels did not want to wipe it out . This is incorrectly depicted today . Horns precise role in crushing the revolution is unclear as the reports of his brigade have gaps ; however , in 1957 he received the award For the Worker-Peasant Power , which was only granted to those whose services earned satisfaction . When decades later , already as a prime minister he was questioned and criticized over this part of his life , he only said : I was a pufajkás . So what ? Illness and death . In August 2007 , Horn was taken to hospital with severe disease . Reportedly he was treated at Honvéd Hospital of Budapest for a sleeping disorder , but other sources told he had a serious brain malformation . Later reported his condition worsened so much that he could not leave the hospital , and thus missed the World Political Forum which was held in Budapest , where former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev also participated . On 9 October 2007 , Hungarian daily newspaper Népszabadságs online version reported mistakenly that Gyula Horn died . As of 2008 , Gyula Horn was no longer able to recognise his family members and friends as he suffered from an illness similar to Alzheimers disease . There were also reports that Horn was in good physical condition despite the fact that he had lost significant weight . Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsány was one of the last senior party officials , who visited him then . On 5 July 2011 , the day of Horns 79th birthday Népszava reported his health condition had not deteriorated but also not improved , remained stable . During this time influential MSZP leaders gave a toast to Horn on the occasion of his birthday . Horn became 80 years old on 5 July 2012 , when Prime Minister Viktor Orbán greeted him in a letter . He wrote , first of all we are Hungarians and we work towards prosperity of the nation based on our faith and the best of our knowledge . Therefore there are more links than divisions between us . The Hungarian Socialist Party also celebrated his round birthday . After years of struggling with his illness , he died on 19 June 2013 . He was survived by his wife and daughter , Anna , and son , Gyula Jr . Germanys Foreign Minister , Guido Westerwelle , said Horns courageous work as Hungarian foreign minister will remain unforgettable to us Germans . Reuters called Horn , whose picture taking a wire-cutter to the fence separating Hungary and Austria was iconic , the man who tore the iron curtain . Domestic recognition was hampered by his communist history , and commendations voted on by the Hungarian parliament were defeated on the occasions of his 70th and 75th birthdays . Attila Mesterházy , chairman of the Hungarian Socialist Party , sent a statement to news agency Magyar Távirati Iroda ( MTI ) in which he wrote that Horn will be remembered as the most defining leaders of the modern Hungarian left , one of the most successful prime ministers of Hungary and had made one of the greatest impacts on Europe during its sweeping changes over two decades ago . Horn played a key role in reviving the left and the Socialist party . Former PM Gyurcsány called Horn the most contradictory and most talented of politicians , and added in his Facebook entry : a great man has passed away . The government party Fidesz expressed condolences to Horns family and leadership of the Hungarian Socialist party . Politics Can Be Differents co-chair András Schiffer told MTI that Horn was one of the most important personalities of the post-communist Hungary and is one of the few politicians whose names are likely to go down in Hungarian history . Schiffer said that he could not identify with Horns politics and political relations before the transition to democracy in Hungary , but it must be acknowledged that Horn had shown real humanity towards ordinary people . Gordon Bajnai , leader of the Together 2014 , said that Hungary and Europe lost a true statesman . He added that Horn was a symbol of a peaceful and successful regime change , and , as prime minister , he had done much to help Hungary find an exit from the post-communist economic and social crisis . President János Áder also sent his condolences to Horns widow and children . Funeral . Horn received a state funeral with military honors and was buried at Fiume Road National Graveyard on 8 July 2013 . Thousands of people attended the funeral , many of whom laid red carnations beside the grave . European Parliament President Martin Schulz , former German Foreign Minister Hans-Dietrich Genscher , Hungarian President János Áder , former head of states László Sólyom and Pál Schmitt , Archbishop Péter Erdő and former house speaker Katalin Szili were also among the attendance , as well as representatives of the main parliamentary parties . Prime Minister Viktor Orbán , former prime ministers Péter Boross , Péter Medgyessy , Ferenc Gyurcsány and Gordon Bajnai , as well as party chairman Attila Mesterházy paid tribute to the memory of Gyula Horn . When Orbán bowed his head , some in the crowd booed at the prime minister . Socialist lawmaker Ferenc Baja , a former minister in the Horn government , said in a Facebook entry that this was derogative to the event . Béla Katona , who served as Speaker of the National Assembly from 2009 to 2010 , said the life of Gyula Horn itself encompassed the history of the twentieth century and he shaped the fate of both Hungary and Europe as a whole . Katona told Horn as a prime minister and a statesman remained an ordinary man nevertheless . He was not perfect , he made some bad decisions , but the good decisions outnumbered the bad ones . He was a successful man and a true statesman . Selected publications . - Baranyi , Mária : Egy előszoba titkai – Horn Gyula közelről 1994–1998 . Athenaeum Könyvkiadó , Budapest , 2010 . - Horn , Gyula : Cölöpök . Zenit Könyvek , Budapest , 1991 . - Horn , Gyula : Azok a kilencvenes évek... . Kossuth Kiadó , Budapest , 1999 . - Kubinyi , Ferenc : Vaskorona . Edition Litfas , 1995 . - Pünkösti , Árpád : A Horn . Angyalföldtől a pártelnökségig 1932–1990 . Kossuth Kiadó , Budapest , 2013 . - Szerdahelyi , Szabolcs : Hiányzó cölöpök – Ami a Horn Gyula életrajzból kimaradt . Kairosz Kiadó , Budapest , 2002 .