Confronting the Stasi Past

Political expert Bohumil Dolezal, on the other hand, points out that Hungary is at a disadvantage compared to other East European nations when it comes to confronting its experiences under communist ditatorship. "Hungary has no lustration law. It doesn't even have a list of former secret agents." This leads to complications when even high-level politicians are accused of having collaborated with the old regime, Dolezal notes. "There has never been an intense confrontation with the past in Hungary. This is because the communist regime was already beginning to crumble in 1981, and the whole process of transition wasn't as painful as in places like the Czech Republic. Fidesz' political agenda confronts this problem. However the socialists are understandably reluctant to deal with the promlem because if they take the whole thing seriously they themselves could face considerable problems arising from their own past."

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