In 1985, the samizdat journal Beszelol 12, published the minutes of a secret meeting held in 1953, in which the Hungarian leaders of the time participated, including Ero Gerö and Imre Nagy. Most of the arguments used today against the project were raised in this meeting, but kept quiet by the Hungarian press.
International Viewpoint #149 • October 17, 1988 revolution," "all power to the soviets. They are nonetheless subversive ones if the people below take them at their word. * in Hungary
In 1984, a group of Hungarian environmentalists formed the Danube Circle. Its main objective was to combat the Gabcikovo-Nagymaros scheme. In January 1988, a petition was launched that listed 26 reasons to stop the project. It gathered 10,000 signatures, and the support of 191 emigré organizations.
### Links with other environmentalists
In May, Rezso Nyers, a member of the Political Bureau of the Hungarian Socialist Workers Party [the Communist Party], met with a delegation from the Danube Circle to discuss the Nagymaros scheme. On June 16, the petition's 26 points were published in the government's official journal, Magyar Hirlap, with an answer from the authorities.
Danube Circle figures wanted also to run in the first multi-candidate elections in Hungary, in eight Budapest districts. But they were blocked by the local party leaders, who packed the pre-election meetings with their own supporters.
The Danube Circle, moreover, established close ties with German and Austrian environmentalists. The Democratic Form likewise associated itself with the campaign against the Nagymaros scheme.
In Czechoslovakia, a certain opposition to the project has emerged. In 1986 and 1987, at the time of the discussions organized by the Union of Young Socialists, the Socialist Academy and the Czech Scientific and Technical Association, with the participation of engineers, environmental specialists and government representatives, disagreements over the project became manifest.
On September 10, the Democratic Forum organized a meeting in Esztergom, near the Nagymaros site. It brought together more than 600 persons. Representatives of a Czech independent group, Democratic Initiatives, took the floor to announce that a Czech environmentalist committee against the dam project would soon be formed.
The Hungarian government ordered the Academy of Science to draw up a report on the economic, financial and environmental ramifications of the Nagymaros scheme. The Hungarian head of government, Karoly Grosz, however, opposed the idea of a referendum on continuation of the work. In the meantime, a member of the Danube Circle has lost his job, and several of them have had their passports confiscated. *
SCANDINAVIA