HUNGARY: FORMER COMMUNIST STATE EXPECTED TO BE INVITED TO JOIN NATO

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• published: 21 Jul 2015
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Hung/English/Nat President Bill Clinton travels to Paris on Tuesday to sign an agreement with Russia which many believe will dictate Europe's political and military climate for the next half century. Two months after the signing ceremony, three former Communist states - Poland, the Czech Republic and Hungary - are expected to be invited to join NATO. The disappearance of the old Communist bloc heralded a time of rapid change for the people of these nations. In Hungary, that change has caused social division - and many are wary of joining the Western military alliance. After the Berlin Wall finally fell - allowing democracy and capitalism to flood Eastern Europe - the people of Hungary were amongst the first to embrace the free market. They had always looked to the West - Hungary was the first post-war Communist country to rebel against what amounted to Soviet occupation. But the 1956 attempt to regain independence was unsuccessful - and it wasn't until the collapse of the Soviet Union that freedom finally arrived in Hungary. The only reminder of the country's Communist past is found at this sculpture park. It is here that the symbols of Soviet political influence were brought at the end of the country's Communist era. The statues were kept, not destroyed - perhaps an indication that some Hungarians may have been reluctant to totally surrender their links with this part of history. The last Soviet troops finally left Hungary in 1991. Their bases now lie derelict - the only noise is wind blowing through broken windows. Portraits of Communist political heroes gaze down over empty rooms. If most Hungarians' wishes are fulfilled - and it seems they probably will be - the bases will be replaced by new military installations influenced by the former Western enemies. Although they'd still be largely autonomous, Hungarian soldiers would - in times of crisis - take their orders from the NATO council in Brussels. SOUNDBITE: (Hungarian) "Our efforts to join NATO meet the wishes of the NATO members, because, for example, if we just have a look at the map of this region we can easily see that NATO needs Hungary. For example, in the handling of a possible conflict in the Balkans, Hungary might play an important role because of its geopolitical situation." SUPER CAPTION: Gyorgy Keleti, Hungarian Defence Minister And for that very reason, some NATO troops are already in Hungary. These U-S soldiers are part of S-FOR - the military force sent to police the peace in Bosnia from their base in this Hungarian town. It's been a successful experiment. Everyone seems to agree that Hungarian forces can work well with their former enemies. Both sides appear to respect each other's methods. SOUNDBITE: (English) "I've worked with the Hungarian forces in Bosnia, I worked with a Hungarian engineering contingent there, and both there and here we found the Hungarian forces excellent soldiers - their N-C-O's were top quality, and we're ready to train with them at any time." SUPER CAPTION: Captain Carl Bertone, Commander, Special Forces Attachment The idea of working alongside the United States and other Western nations is one which appeals to at least two-thirds of Hungarian voters - according to recent surveys. VOXPOP: (Hungarian) "The joining will do a lot of good to this country. Finally we will lose the last fragments of chains which were put on by the "great" Soviet Union." But not everyone agrees. In recent months, protesters took to the streets. They argued that joining NATO would be too much of a burden on Hungary's struggling economy. VOXPOP: (Hungarian) And at this military hardware show - the cost was at the front of everybody's mind. You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/05e4a1ffd3bbf11adcd27dde4c8cb858 Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork