Hungarian Workers’ Party

Hungary: The Future Belongs to Us

2020 was a diffi cult year for the Hungarian Workers’ Party (HWP). Aft er 2019, when the HWP actively participated in the elections to the European Parliament and in the municipal elections in Hungary, the party needs to have some breathing space and update its political and human resources.

The 27th Congress of the HWP, held in 2018, adopted the party’s building program “For a strong Hungarian Workers’ Party!” Complex political processes in 2019 suspended the implementation of this program. In October 2019, the Central Committee of the HWP decided to resume work on the implementation of this program.

COVID-19 caused great diffi culties in the life of the HWP. We had to cancel many meetings and political events. There were also diffi culties in internal party communication. The HWP was isolated from workers due to restrictive measures imposed by the government.

Nevertheless, the HWP has survived the fi rst wave of the COVID-19 and continues its work during the second wave.

1. CorreCt assessment of the situation is neCessary for making right deCisions

In its work, the HWP paid great attention to the correct assessment of the current stage of development of capitalism in Hungary.

We consider that the epidemic clearly demonstrated - the values of capitalism, based on he pursuit of profi t and individualism, do not allow society to mobilize all resources to fi ght the virus.

Most capitalist countries responded to COVID-19 with a delay. The health systems of capitalist countries have come under the pressure of an emergency, and some of them have collapsed, unable to with-

stand this pressure, resulting in numerous human that possibility. Capitalist forces are fi ghting for new casualties. The diffi culties and collapse of the health markets. NATO and the EU are trying to go East, but system are related to the social security policies that here they face Russia’s ambitions. were subordinated to the interests of capital. The struggle within the EU continues. The ques-

The political system of a capitalist country, based tion of whether the EU will be transformed into a on a multi-party parliamenti system, did not allow supranational European state or the EU will become for timely decision-making. In many countries, the an organization of strong national states has not problem of the epidemic has become a matter of been decided yet. struggle between the government and the opposi- We do not know whether international capital can tion. mobilise enough fi nancial and other means to pre-

The moral crisis of Western capitalist societies hin- vent social confl icts. But social confl icts are on the dered the eff ective fi ght against the epidemic. agenda in any case.

The situation in Hungary has shown some specifi c We have recently witnessed an increase in strike elements. The Hungarian health system did not col- activity by postal workers, which is a new element. lapse. During the years of socialism, a comprehen- There is a growing gensive health care system eral discontent among was created, open to those employed in the all. And despite the fact tourism sector, guides, that the capitalist forces translators, and hotel have repeatedly tried to workers. People are destroy this system, they starting to see the neghave not been able to ative eff ects of capdo it completely. italism’s response to

The capitalist govern- COVID-19. ment took many mea- The 150th anniversures to help the popusures to help the popu- sary of Lenin’s birth lation. And this was done lation. And this was done prompted us to ananot out of humanism, but not out of humanism, but lyze the experience of in order to prevent any in order to prevent any our party. In particular, mass discontent, any acmass discontent, any ac- we concluded that the class struggle we concluded that the class struggle tions directed against the capitalist system. But peo- against capital is still at a low level in the countries ple accept any help and do not think about what of Central and Eastern Europe. But the situation is the real goals of the capitalist government are. changing.

Ideological manipulation is carried out with full The peoples of the region lived under socialism, force under slogans: “Every Hungarian is responsible they know how it was. More and more people are for every Hungarian! We will not leave a single Hun- realizing that while capitalism has brought a lot of garian in trouble!” These slogans aff ect people. new things to their lives, it has also destroyed a lot

And we should note one more point. Trade unions of things: security, predictability of the future, and were very passive during this period. social solidarity. Moreover, capitalism - and this is true not only for former socialist countries - destroys

We also concluded that inspite of the negative universal values. consequences of the COVID-19 and the economic crisis for the population there is not revolutionary It is no accident that it is in these countries that situation in any European countries now, including capitalist forces are making the greatest eff orts to Hungary. manipulate the masses. They protect the stability of the economies using state-capitalist methods and

But we stress that criticism of capitalism and accu- prevent the capitalist crisis from generating uncon-sations against the EU and NATO are growing every- trollable social confl icts. All this is combined with the where. There are many people who are disillusioned ideological tools of nationalism, religion, and an-with capitalism. ti-communism.

There are many uncertain points. We don’t know if there will be a war in Europe, but we can’t rule out

56 Socialist countries, mainly China, Cuba, Vietnam,

North Korea, Laos, were able to resist COVID-19 more eff ectively and successfully than capitalist countries. This is because socialism serves not the interests of capital, but the interests of the people. The HWP showed the achievements of socialist countries in the fi ght against COVID-19 and mobilized people to express solidarity with the working masses of these countries.

3. solidarity with healthCare workers, Campaign for solidarity tax

The HWP launched political campaign criticising the government’s profi t-oriented measures in connection with COVID-19. The HWP demanded that the government impose a solidarity tax on billionaires. The party expressed its solidarity with the struggle of medical workers.

The representatives of the HWP in local councils took active part in local eff orts to help the elderly. They served as volunteers to deliver supplies to schools and social service centers.

5. the hwp Continued its fight against nato and eu.

4. the reorganisation of normal party work

We decided that we should guarantee the normal work of the HWP at all costs. We had to cancel a lot of events, but we tried to maintain daily contact with all the party’s activists. We have introduced new forms of work, including teleconferences, video interviews etc. People had the opportunity to learn the party’s position on every day of the epidemic.

Aft er three months of isolation the HWP organised its fi rst political demonstration in Budapest on July 4, 2020 to pay tribute to Janos Kadar, the leader of socialist Hungary, and to

On August 19, the HWP organised an important political and cultural event dedicated to the anniversary of the Foundation of the Hungarian state. This event allowed the HWP to express its commitment to the national history of Hungary and confi rm that the HWP is a communist party, an opposition party, and a party fi ghting for the interests of the Hungarian people.

The HWP took active part in almost all early local elections. We demonstrated to the public opinion that the HWP is alive and continues to fi ght. The best result was achieved in Karcag, a city with a population of 20,000 people. The candidate of the HWP in the early elections for the post of mayor of the city won 10 percent.

The HWP started the preparation for the parliamentary elections of 2022. The HWP wants to have its own candidates in most of the single-member constituencies and to have its own national list for the single nationwide constituency.

The GRP condemned the Hungarian government’s decision to increase military spending and buy German Leopard tanks and US missiles.

The HWP rejected the intervention of US ambassador David Cornstein in Hungary’s aff airs, underling that he is an Ambassador to a sovereign country which is proud of its independence and not a Governor in a banana republic.

The HWP criticized EU decisions regarding the EU-countermeasures against COVID-19. They do not serve the interests of the working people. They are focused on relocation of enormous fi nancial resources in the interests of BigCapital.

6. solidarity with Communist parties

The HWP paid great attention to the strengthening of the communist and workers’ movement.

The HWP supported the initiative to hold the 22nd IMCWP in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea in 2021 taking into consideration the extraordinary situation caused by COVID-19. The HWP welcomed the 75th Anniversary of the Foundation of the Workers’ Party of Korea.

The HWP expressed its solidarity with the Communist Party of China in the fi ght against the political and ideological attacks of imperialist forces against the People’s Republic of China and espe-

cially the Communist Party of China. We underlined that China demonstrated to the world that it is possible to win the war against pandemic by mobilising all the internal resources of the society.

The HWP expressed its solidarity with the Communist Party of Belarus and condemned any foreign interference in the internal aff airs of Belarus. The HWP welcomed the re-election of Alexander Lukashenko as President of Belarus and expressed its fi rm conviction that Belarus has done much for the 57welfare of the working people and the sovereignty of Belarus over the past 24 years.

We supported the initiative of the CP of Greece to demonstrate to the workers of Europe that we are alive; we are working, and we are on the side of the working masses. We participated in the Initiative teleconference. The HWP expressed its solidarity with the fi ght of the CP of Turkey on the 100th Anniversary of the Foundation of the TKP.