The Hungarian writer Peter Nadas describes the Uprising of 1956 as the final act in the history of European revolutions: "It was a shameful and brutal end to the romantic and idealistic history of revolution that spanned several centuries. The Hungarian Revolution is dead, no matter how many monuments the Hungarians build. The Revolution has lived on over the years of retribution. But not the false illusion of peaceful coexistence... To put it bluntly, by October 1956 the people and the legitimate governments of Europe and North America had decided that the days of revolution were over. They were right. This was an epoch which believed that social and political protests must be integrated into existing systems in order to avoid a third world war. With great sorrow, bleeding hearts and full awareness of their moral responsibility, they decided not to send soldiers or weapons to support this revolution of Hungarian democracy which came 150 years too late." (20/10/2006)

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According to the Hungarian-born US historian Charles Gati, the tragic end to the Uprising in Hungary 50 years ago destroyed four illusions: "The first illusion was that Hungary could become a completely independent, free country. This did not happen. The second illusion was that Imre Nagy was a good leader. He wasn't. The third illusion was that America would help, but all that came from America were empty words. And the fourth illusion, nurtured by Nikita Khrushchev and believed by Alexander Dubcek, was that communism could be reformed." In his interview with Ivan Drabek and Julius Lörincz, Gati stresses that it was not only the arrival of the Soviet tanks that ended the Uprising. "Many Hungarian historians have had to accept that the Hungarians themselves were responsible for the defeat of the Uprising. They committed a massacre on the Republic Square in Budapest, executing members of the secret police by hanging... One could hardly expect the Soviet ambassador and later director of the Kremlin Juri Andropov not to inform Moscow of such events." (23/10/2006)

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"In the short term, the uprising of Hungarian opposition was a nasty flop: the Soviet tanks choked the rebellion and the repression cost 2,800 lives. Three years after the jack-booted intervention of the Red Army in East Berlin, the Soviet Union's leaden weight was spread across all Central and Eastern Europe", explains the editorialist Laurent Moyse. "However, this insurrection addressed a double message. On one hand it signified that populations subjected to the Soviet diktat were disposed to manifest their disapproval when an opportunity presented itself (there was a repeat in Prague in 1968), and, on the other hand, that both of the regimes in power had no legitimacy in the eyes of their subjects. The 200,000 Hungarians who sought refuge in the West until the country was 'pacified' can be considered proof of this." (23/10/2006)

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"For the West, the Uprising was a brutal lesson in hypocrisy", comments the daily. "Nato leaders had trumpeted their commitment to fighting Soviet domination and broadcasts had urged on brave democrats beyond the Iron Curtain. But when the final, tearful plea for help came from Budapest in television appeals that were quickly cut short, the West did nothing. ... The greatest casualty of Hungary, however, was the global appeal of communism. Communist parties whose credibility and membership had thrived on the defeat of the Nazis and the postwar social revolution were thrown into turmoil. ... The idealistic Left denounced Moscow loyalists and cynical fellow-travellers, who tried to justify the brutality as the "necessary” response to counter-revolution. The small British Communist Party lost a quarter of its membership, and some of the great names of the Left were for ever tarnished because of their refusal to denounce the Soviet repression." (23/10/2006)

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The weekly has dug up from its archives an interview with Jean-Paul Sartre dating back to November 9th, 1956, in which he announces his decision to dissociate himself from the Communist Party because of the Budapest insurrection. "I completely condemn the Soviet aggression. ... All crimes in History are forgotten, we have forgotten our own and so too will other nations, little by little. A time may come when we forget that of the U.S.S.R, if its government is changed and if newcomers try to really apply principles of equality in relations between nations, be they Socialist or not. For the time being, there is nothing else to do but condemn. I am severing, with regret, but entirely, my relationships with Soviet writers, who do not denounce (or cannot denounce) the massacre in Hungary. We can no longer have any friendship with the ruling fraction of the Soviet bureaucracy: horror is predominant." (23/10/2006)

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In its leading article the newspaper pays its respect to the Hungarian Uprising 50 years ago: "Hungary is an inspiring example of a nation that takes to the streets saying 'enough is enough!' Hungary in 1956 embodied the European spirit in its purest form. The Western states defended the Hungarian cause with words – and took in over 200,000 refugees – but in the Hungarians' hour of need the democracies didn't lift a finger to help them. This experience taught Central Europeans that liberation must come from within. This process reached its joyful culmination in 1989. Today, communism is a thing of the past. Europe is freer and more prosperous than it has ever been in its long history. Hungarians made their contribution to this 50 years ago." (23/10/2006)

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"Separate demonstrations are taking place all over Hungary on today's anniversary," notes Peter Martos 50 years after the Hungarian Uprising. "Yet the celebrations offer a rare, and perhaps unique opportunity for a different kind of 'demonstration', namely that unlike in the four decades of communism, no one is shut out of society. Hungary's democracy is not used to accepting different opinions. In the 17 years that have passed since the fall of communism there has been a changeover of power with practically every election. Most of the governments have been unable to reconcile the different forces at work in the country... On top of this we have an electoral system that favours clear majorities and land-slide victories. As soon as a government gets 'on course' its protagonists are elected out of office... Budapest's political scene, like Hungarian society as a whole, is deeply divided." (23/10/2006)

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"The lifting-the-veil furore of the past fortnight should have been an opportunity to shine light on to fractures within the Muslim community, and to show Muslim women who want equality that we are on their side, willing them to win. Instead it seems to have become a political Pandora's box, letting any old anti-immigrant, anti-Musim sentiment spew out. It has made Muslim women feel not empowered, but besieged", laments Johann Hari who praises the French organisation 'Ni Putes, Ni Soumises' (Neither Whores Nor Doormats)"who provide Muslim women with a place to run to for education, contraception and safety. Their work was not enough to stop the banlieues from blowing up last year, but they were crucial in stopping it from happening over the ban of the Hijab in schools, by showing that the argument about the veil was not against Islam, but rather within Islam, between feminist Muslims and fundamentalist Muslims. We badly need a British equivalent." (23/10/2006)

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The Spanish journalist Andrés Ortega, analyses the way in which countries deal with their past. "Populations have to succeed in reconciling themselves with their History and learning about it. Hannah Arendt, whose hundredth anniversary is being commemorated today, made a distinction between forgiveness, necessary for divided societies, and the forgetting of harm that we want to get rid of. Without the memory of this harm, it will endure, but without forgiveness, it is impossible to resume normal politics. Forgiveness is thus a form of internal (as well as external) reconciliation that rids us of the past whilst preserving its memory. And the very strong interest being shown today by some regions and countries for their past seems in fact to be masking a fear of the future." (23/10/2006)

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According to the newspaper's leader writer, the crises of the political systems are different in Eastern and Western Europe: "Western Europe also has its political crises, but the crises of recent months are the expression of an alarming trend affecting only the new EU member states. The combination of populism and nationalism represents a threat to their stability in the long term... Democracy requires compromises and pragmatism. The states of Western Europe have learnt this through long and bitter experience – some better than others. Some of the Central and Eastern European states, on the other hand, have learned the opposite. They won their freedom through bitter and uncompromising resistance. This attitude is understandable in a dictatorship. But this sort of black-and-white thinking leads to constant conflict in a parliamentary system. Fifty years after the Hungarian Revolution the states of Eastern Europe are facing a new and heroic challenge: they must learn the art of living together in peace." (22/10/2006)

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The editorialist Andrea Bonanni considers the informal EU summit that was held on October 20th and 21st in Finland. He underlines Europe's weakness facing the 'Gas Tsar' Vladimir Putin. "Putin's attitude is linear. He acknowledges that he needs Europe, its products and its technology, at least as much as Europe needs Russian Gas and petrol. The Europeans' attitude is remarkably less clear ... . Europe needs Russian gas, but when speaking about energy, the old continent has a long and far from glorious tradition of ambiguity and double language. ... The EU was doing business with Libya while the country's leaders were killing opposition; it turned a blind eye to Algeria when it cancelled the elections won by Islamists; it traded with Sadam Hussein's Iraq and maintains fruitful relations with the monarchies of the Persian Golf. But with Putin, it cannot and does not wish to give in to the logic of Realpolitik." (23/10/2006)

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Björn Mansson comments on the meeting between EU representatives and Russian President Vladimir Putin in the Finnish town of Lahti. He avers that the EU adopted a joint stance this time, but doubts that this will change much. "The next opportunity for concrete negotiations about how to deal with Russia is in November when the EU and Russia hold their formal summit in Helsinki. In Lahti, the EU leaders, under Finnish Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen, already brought up issues unrelated to energy supplies, such as the murder of Anna Politkovskaya, the situation in Chechnya and the strained relations between Russia and Georgia. But the response was always the same: Putin was wearing his non-stick coating. He's impervious to criticism." (23/10/2006)

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Bulgaria's presidential elections held on October 22 have brought no results because at 40 percent, the voter turnout was insufficient. A run-off vote will be held on October 29 in which incumbent president Georgi Parvanov, who obtained 60 percent of the vote in the first round, will face the leader of the far-right Ataka party, Volon Siderov. Siderov won over 20 percent of the vote. The newspaper's Bulgaria correspondent Marek Suchoviejko analyses Siderov's popularity: "Siderov's success shows that there are a lot of frustrated people who are attracted by Ataka's talk about fighting the mafia. His nationalism, his ties with the Orthodox Church, his talk about the Turkish threat and his promises to solve the Roma problem have also won him votes. Sideorov combines this all with an historical conspiracy theory, gestures typical of past fascist leaders and Wagner music played at his election rallies. This is an attractive combination for people disappointed with the current government's performance." (23/10/2006)

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The daily bemoans Cypruses "brinkmanship" concerning Europe. "What do we have to gain by blocking Turkey's accession path? It would be a meaningless victory that may win the government kudos domestically, but turn Cyprus into a pariah state within the EU as well as cultivate regional instability. Bizarrely, both the president and Lillikas [Foreign Minister] have repeatedly said that it was in Cyprus' interests for Turkey's accession talks to continue. So why are they threatening to block the talks? There is no rational explanation because the government's policy has always been guided by negative motives, exclusively concerned with preventing things from happening, and leading nowhere. It is a sterile and superficial approach that leads to confrontation and impasse, which are proving the only objectives unfailingly realised by the government in two-and-half years of EU membership." (22/10/2006)

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The first Rome Film Fest ended on Saturday, October 21st, with the awarding by a popular jury of the prize for best feature film to 'Playing the Victim' by the Russian film maker Kirill Serebrennikov. For Thierry Jobin, this event "spruced up the image of the Italian capital rather than cinema itself. ... Because Rome leaves us somewhat dubious on the question of, 'What kind of a show-case is film and general culture in need of today?' The day after the closing of the event, only RAI television and a few Roman celebrity magazines were still around to cheer, delighted to watch stars having a good time on the Via Veneto. The others, the film buffs, are relieved: the Venice Mostra has nothing to fear for the time being. The oldest festival in the world, that took place last month, hade good reason to quake, with its costly Lido, its out-dated venues, and its stretched budget that is lower than Rome's. And yet it didn't tremble in the least." (23/10/2006)

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Manuela Honsig-Erlenburg makes fun of a press release published by the right-wing populist FPÖ party calling for Austrians to "promote Viennese cuisine and 'traditional gastronomy' to counter the 'regrettable proliferation of kebab shops'. She points out that "while many of the classic Viennese dishes stem 'at least' from former Austrian territories, i.e. Hungary, the traditional 'Wiener Schnitzel' has its roots not in Italy – that would be just about bearable – but Istanbul of all places. The more prosperous residents of what used to be Constantinople garnished their food with gold leaf. Those who couldn't afford this luxury used golden bread crumbs instead. This was the birth of the crumb-coated escalope; right in the middle of today's Istanbul." (23/10/2006)

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