1988
1988
1 July Academician Brunó F. Straub is elected chairman of the Presidential Committee at the close of the summer session of Parliament.
5 July Károly Grósz and Michail Gorbachev meet in Moscow. The two agree that there are many similarities - even coincidences - between the Hungarian and Soviet concepts on reform.
27 July U.S. President Ronald Reagan welcomes Károly Grósz in Washington, D. C., who is the first Hungarian premier to officially visit the United States in 42 years.
6 August According to data from the Central Bureau of Statistics, the inflation rate has reached 80 per cent – the highest since 1980.
20 August At a mass held in the Budapest Basilica; Cardinal László Paskai announces that the Pope has been invited to Hungary by the Presidential Committee. (Pope John Paul II honoured the invitation in September 1991.)
24 Aug. A 24-hour strike is held in the István shaft of Mecsek Collieries.
28 Aug. Károly Grósz and Nicolae Ceaus¸escu negotiate for nearly eight hours in Oradea. According to the joint communiqué released, the two countries wish to enhance the amicable and goodneighbourly relationships between them.
3 Sept. The Hungarian Democratic Forum - formerly a loose-knit coalition of intellectuals established in September 1987 - is officially founded in Lakitelek.
17 According to Brunó F. Straub, Chairman of the Presidential Committee, the possibility of a multi-party system in Hungary should be given consideration in the long term.
30 Sept The Presidential Committee grants amnesty to those convicted for .acts committed between 23 October 1956 and 1 May 1957.
5 Oct. The new Act on Companies passed by Parliament allows private persons to form limited liability companies or companies limited by shares.
12 Oct The Hungarian Scout Association is formed its predecessor was dissolved 40 years earlier.
21 Oct All demonstrations planned for 23 October are banned by the Budapest Police Headquarters.
10 Nov. The Act on Assembly and Association allows the formation of political parties. Negotiating in Budapest, Alexander Yakovlev, member of the Political Committee of the Soviet Communist Party, surmises that a multi-party. system could exist in socialism as well.
13 Nov. The Alliance of Free Democrats is established.
19 Nov. The Allíance of Young Democrats (Fidesz) holds it inaugural convention.
24 Nov. Forty-year-old Miklós Németh is elected by Parliament to succeed Károly Grósz as Prime Minister.
29 Nov. The Smallholders Party, the National Farmer’s Party, the Hungarian Communist Party, and the Hungarian Social Democratic Party announce their formation.
