MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION

23.10.2006

to wind up the debate on statements by the President of the European Parliament and the Chairmen of the Political Groups
pursuant to Rule 103(2) of the Rules of Procedure
by Francis Wurtz
on behalf of the GUE/NGL Group
on the 50th anniversary of the 1956 Hungarian Uprising and its historical significance for Europe

B6‑0549/2006

European Parliament resolution on the 50th anniversary of the 1956 Hungarian uprising and its historical significance for Europe

The European Parliament,

–  having regard to Rule 103(2) of its Rules of Procedure,

A.  whereas, as a result of the Second World War, Europe was divided and lived for 50 years under Cold War conditions marked by the confrontation between the superpowers – Russia and the United States – and their respective allies,

B.  whereas from 23 October 1956 onwards, hundreds of thousands of people in Budapest and other places in Hungary rallied and demanded free elections, the release of all political prisoners, the abolition of censorship, the withdrawal of Soviet troops, higher wages and pensions, a fair system of taxation and a more rapid programme of house-building by the State; deeply deploring that these political and social demands were not met,

C.   whereas the government of the reformist Communist Prime Minister Imre Nagy took sides with the protesters, decided that Hungary should withdraw from the Warsaw Pact and proclaimed Hungarian neutrality,

D.  whereas, as in 1953 in the GDR and in 1968 in Czechoslovakia, the Hungarian uprising was violently suppressed by Soviet military intervention,

1.  Deeply deplores the fact that the encouraging struggle of the Hungarian people in 1956 for independence, democracy and political, economic and social reforms was repressed by force; condemns the military intervention by the Soviet Union;

2.   Commemorates the victims of the uprising – people killed during the fighting and those executed between 1956 and 1961 or taken into custody and imprisoned between 1956 and 1958;

3.   Highlights the human and political courage of Imre Nagy, the reformist Communist Prime Minister of Hungary, who rightly understood the elementary expression of the will of the people, who agreed to be the political leader of the popular uprising for freedom and democracy and who was shamefully executed in 1958;

4.   Reaffirms its commitment to the values of respect for democracy, social rights and justice, the rule of law, respect for human rights, non-discrimination, tolerance, solidarity and equality between women and men; underlines the obligation of the European Union and its Member States to uphold these principles in all their complexity and to take a clear stand whenever even one of them is violated;

5.  Calls for the establishment of a European programme to strengthen cooperation between research and documentation centres in Member States over historical research into the Cold War;

6.  Calls also on all countries in Europe to do their utmost to put a definitive end to any thoughts of revenge and war so as to make the reunification of the whole of Europe possible in the future;

7.   Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission and the governments and parliaments of the Member States.