|
Hungary Threat from Romania
During the 1980s, the Hungarian government broke its
silence
about Romania's oppression of its Hungarian minority,
numbering
about 2 million to 2.2 million people
(see Relations with Other Communist Neighbors
, ch. 4). Under Soviet pressure and for
the
sake of socialist solidarity, the Hungarian government had
refrained from criticizing Romania, but increasing
domestic
pressure forced it to act.
As the war of words between the two countries heated
up, so
did the potential for armed conflict. In July 1989, Der
Standard, published in Vienna, reported that a secret
meeting
of the Hungarian state and party leadership had taken
place in
November 1988 in which the military was asked to assess
the
strategic balance between Hungary and Romania. The
resulting
report, published in February 1989, revealed Hungary's
"striking
military inferiority." Hungary had no fortifications on
its
border with Romania, and in a private meeting Romanian
leader
Nicolae Ceausescu allegedly warned Karoly Grosz, Hungary's
party
leader, not to install such defenses. During the summer of
1989,
Hungarian diplomats hinted at fear of attack by Romania.
Der
Spiegel, published in Hamburg, reported in July 1989
that
Hungary felt threatened by the Condor intermediate-range
missiles
that Romania had acquired with "German and Argentine
help." At a
July 1989 Warsaw Pact meeting in Bucharest, Ceausescu was
said to
have threatened Hungary with war, although representatives
of
both countries agreed that steps had to be taken to stem
the
rising tension. Ironically, by this time the Hungarian
opposition
had stopped insisting that Soviet troops leave the country
because they were seen to be the country's main protection
against Romania.
Data as of September 1989
|
