Protests against a lying Hungarian socialist government

The cover photo is taken in Budapest in connection with the 50th anniversary of the Soviet invasion of Hungary and the crushing of the Hungarian people’s struggle for freedom. The anniversary turned into an odd event as the Norwegian king, a number of presidents and prime ministers from all over Europe took part in a reception not only by the venerable Hungarian president László Solyom, but also by the prime minister Ferenc Gyurcsány. Gyurcsány used to be leader of the young communists, before the fall of the Wall. After 1989 he made a fortune on privatization of government property and later made a political comeback as prime minister and leader of the ”reformed” communist party. The election this past spring was narrowly won by Mr Gyurcsány and his allied in the liberal party MSZD. The victory was gained after Mr Gyurcsány had deceived the Hungarian people on the economic performance during the past four years. “We lied in the morning, we lied at noon and we lied at night”, Mr Gyurcsány summed up at an internal party meating. The speech was taped and broadcast on Hungarian radio. The opposition asked why he didn’t confess that he lied in the afternoon too. Large groups demanded his resignation, but he has refused. Ha won a censure vote in Parliament. It was not surprising that his own Socialist party supported him, but so did MSZD. This could reaonably ony be explained by corruption. In local elections this autumn the Socialist Party made major losses but the parliament will not be reelected until 2010. The cover photo shows a line of policemen preventing victims and opponents of communism to participate in the celebration of the anti-communist revolution, where the successors of the Communists were arranging the event!

Anti-Communist protests at the ”Russel tribunal”
by Tommy Hansson

Forty years ago, November 16 1966, the British philospoher and author Bertrand Russel declared his intention to create ”an international tribunal” with the aim of stating that the United States committed so-called ”war crimes” in Vietnam. The spring 1967 the tribunal was convened in Stockholm. But it was not unopposed. Contra tells the story.

Sweden is not defendable
by Tommy Hansson

The Swedish parliament December 15 2004 decided that there will not be a single military unit between Enköping (close to Stockholm) and Boden 1000 km further north. Critics said that Sweden will be undefendable, especially in the north. But also the island of Gotland in the Baltic will be left undefended.

Populist anti-immigrant and feminist parties were the basis of success for the new centre-right government in Sweden
by C G Holm

When Contra studied the detailed figures of the September parliamentary election in Sweden, the conclusion was that the left had stayed in power if two minor parties hadn’t appeared. The populist anti-immigrant ”Sverigedemokraterna”, often falsely called ”right-wing”, won 2.9 per cent of the votes. These votes were, according to our study, three quarters gained from the Social Democrats, mainly in low-income groups. Another 0.6 per cent were taken by the new ”Feminist Initiative”. These votes were equally taken from the Communists and the Greens, both allies of the Social Democrats. Our conclusion is that the appearance of Sverigedemokraterna and Feminist Initiative turned a left-wing majority of 175-174 into a centre-right majority of 178-171, as the two parties got less than four per cent of the votes and thus were unrepresented in parliament.

Challenging labour law to help youth
by Fredrik Runebert

While the Moderates (Conservatives) more and more have turned to a traditional Social Democratic policy in labour law, the Centre Party is daring to challenge traditional dogmas!

Religions may move us closer together
by Allan C. Brownfeld

Many claim that religious borders are so deep that there will be a clash of civilizations and a peaceful agreement is not likely. Religion, they claim, make us move further apart.

An oppopsite view and a more positive view is that religions actually may move us closer to each other. This view is advocated by Bruce Feiler in his new important book ”Where God Was Born¡. The author claims that the Bible is a basis for such a hope.

Sixty years since the hanging of nazi criminals
by Tommy Hansson

Sixty years ago the verdicts at the Nuremberg trials were given. Nazi criminals were sentenced to hanging. It was the first time that war criminals were tried and sentenced. The leaders of the allied countries – Winston Churchill, Franklin D. Roosevelt och Josef Stalin – all at some time had the thought of summary executions instead of a trial, but finally the trial was held in Nuremberg.

What is happening with the terrorist Guzman?

September 12 1992 terrorist leader Abimael Guzmán, even called ”president Gonzalo”, leader of the marxist guerilla Sendero Luminoso (The Shining Path) in Peru, was captured after having caused death and destruction since 1980. The capture of Guzman was a big victory for the President at the time, Alberto Fujimori. What happened with Guzman?