Hungary’s President Says Baltic States’ Independence Drive Is Unstoppable

Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia’s bids for independence “cannot be stopped,” new Hungarian President Arpad Goncz said Tuesday.

At a press conference here after meeting U.S. Jewish leaders, Goncz also said that Hungary’s newly formed non-Communist government will want out of the Warsaw Pact, but it will have to find a way that will satisfy all parties, including the Soviet Union.

Asked about the move by the Baltic republics for independence from the Soviet Union, Goncz said: “It is my opinion that historic processes cannot be stopped, but they can be slowed. . . . This is something statesmen should be aware of. Solutions satisfying both sides can be found.”

Goncz, a writer and founder of the Free Democratic Party who spent six years in jail after the 1956 Hungarian Uprising, said of the Warsaw Pact, “It is the opinion of the new Hungarian government that Hungary will sooner or later leave it.”

Hungary’s non-Communist government takes office May 22, and Parliament on Tuesday voted to postpone a debate on the country’s future in the Soviet Bloc alliance for at least a month.