Warsaw Pact ‘Lost Its Function,’ Hungarian Prime Minister Asserts

Prime Minister Joszef Antall headed Wednesday for a Warsaw Pact summit in Moscow after declaring that the Kremlin-led defense alliance has “lost its function” and should be abolished by the end of next year.

Antall said the military structure of the alliance violates Hungarian sovereignty and that his government has compiled a list of grievances to air at the East Bloc gathering in the wake of Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev’s visit to the United States.

At a press conference, Antall also said Hungary will seek to renegotiate its economic agreements with Moscow to eliminate inequities imposed on it in the past. He did not give specifics.

His statements indicated that the Moscow gathering of erstwhile allies may set in motion the pact’s dismantling.

Other newly democratized nations of Eastern Europe have also called for an end to the alliance, which has traditionally identified the North Atlantic Treaty Organization as its adversary and deployed Soviet troops in East Germany, Czechoslovakia and Hungary. The restoration of democracy in Eastern Europe has encouraged better ties with Western Europe, putting into question the need for rival military organizations.

Hungary and Czechoslovakia have already agreed with the Kremlin on deadlines for withdrawal of the Soviet forces, and pressure for severing East German ties with the pact has mounted.

Antall made clear that he will press for Hungarian autonomy.

“We must urgently eliminate elements violating our sovereignty,” he said, giving as examples the presence of foreign troops in Hungary, exercises requiring Hungarian army activity outside its national borders and foreign officers directing Hungarian forces.

The Soviet Union has agreed to withdraw its remaining 50,000 soldiers by June, 1991, but some Hungarian officials have suggested that tempo may be stepped up.

“The Warsaw Treaty as a political organ of European confrontation is outdated. It has lost its function in the current Europe,” Antall told reporters. “Therefore, we believe its military organization is not needed in the future and should be abolished by the end of 1991.”