Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
1989
Communist monopoly on power is relinquished and the national borders are opened;
Imre Nagy is reburied in Budapest; the Republic of Hungary is reborn.
1990
The centrist MDF wins the first free elections in 43 years in April; Árpád Göncz is
chosen as the republic's first president in August.
1991
Last Soviet troops leave Hungary in June, two weeks ahead of schedule; Parliament
passes the first act dealing with the return of property seized under Communist rule
since 1949.
1994
Socialists win a decisive victory in the general election and form a government under
Gyula Horn for the first time since the changes of 1989.
1995
Árpád Göncz of the SZDSZ, arguably the most popular politician in Hungary, is elec-
ted for a second (and, by law, final) five-year term as president of the republic.
1999
Hungary becomes a fully fledged member of NATO, along with the Czech Republic
and Poland; NATO aircraft heading for Kosovo begin using Hungarian airfields.
2002
Budapest, specifically the banks of the Danube, the Castle District and Andrássy út, is
included in Unesco's list of World Heritage Sites.
2004
Hungary is admitted to the EU along with nine other new member nations, including
neighbouring states Slovakia and Slovenia.
2006
Socialist Ferenc Gyurcsány is re-elected as prime minister; antigovernment riots rock
Budapest during the 50th-anniversary celebrations of the 1956 Uprising.
