Chronology 1988-2000

1988-2000

1988 Founding member of the Network of Free Initiatives, the predecessor organization of the Alliance of Free Democrats (SZDSZ); later founding member of SZDSZ. Founder of the Committee for Historical Justice.

1989-1989 Managing director of SZDSZ, member of the SZDSZ National Council. Chairman of the Hungarian Writers’ Association; later Honorary President of the Association.

1990 Member of Parliament from 1990. Speaker of the House between May and August 1990. Provisional President of the Republic of Hungary until 3rd August 1990.

3rd August 1990 The Hungarian National Assembly (Parliament) elects Árpád Göncz President of the Republic of Hungary with an overwhelming majority (295 votes for, 13 votes against).

27-29 September 1990 Visit to Ukraine and the Subcarpathian region of Ukraine, meeting with Ukrainian leaders in Kyiv and ethnic Hungarians living in the Subcarpathian region. Göncz tightens bilateral ties with Ukraine.

25 October 1990 „The Taxi drivers’ blocade”. Taxi drivers protest against the drastic, 65 per cent fuel price increase, they block the main roads in Budapest and all over the country. Göncz issues a statement calling on the government to suspend the price increase, and asks the taxi drivers to restore and normalize the situation. As the commander-in-chief of the armed forces, he points out that the armed forces cannot be used against the demonstrators. On 28 October, a tri party agreement is reached between the drivers, the employers and the government stating that there will be no legal consequences for those participating in the demonstration. The Parliament adopts a resolution in February 1991 at the initiave of President Göncz to guarantee general amnesty for those having participated in the taxi drivers’ demonstration.

12 June 1991 Göncz refuses - on conscientious grounds - to sign the Prime Minister’s nomination for the positions of the Vice Presidents of the Hungarian Radio and the Hungarian Television. After a Constitutional Court resolution (48/1991), an agreement is reached finally; the Prime Minister nominates new candidates, whose appointments were endorsed by President Göncz.

16-20 August 1991 The Visit of Pope John Paul II. to Hungary, who meets with the President of the Republic, the Prime Minister and government ministers.

17-21 November 1991 Official state visit of Árpád Göncz to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland at the invitation of H.M. Queen Elizabeth II.

3-14 December 1991  Official round trip of Árpád Göncz in Latin-America.

8 May 1992 Prime Minister Antall proposes the dismissal of the President of the Hungarian Radio with immediate effect. Göncz turns down the request of the PM saying that it would be a violation of the freedom of the press. As a response to Göncz’s decision, on 1st December the government terminates the economic/financial independence of the  Hungarian Radio and Television. The budget of the two media is put under the control of the Office of the Prime Minister.  (In protest against the move, the two media presidents submit their resignations from their office on 6th january 1993.)

15 September 1992  Official state visit of President Göncz to Slovenia at the invitation of Slovenian President Milan Kučan. The two heads of state meet in Lendva (Lendava), in the Cultural Center of Hungarians living in the Mura River Region (Prekmurje) of Slovenia.

21-22 October 1992 Árpád Göncz meets President Yeltsin in Moscow. During their talks they discuss among other things the possibility of returning to Hungary the art treasures confiscated by the Soviet Red Army during the second World War.

23 October 1992 On the national day of Hungary, President Göncz was prevented  from delivering his festive speech in Kossuth tér (central square in Budapest in front of the Parliament Building) by skinheads and extreme right protesters.

11 November 1992 Boris Yeltsin visits Hungary. During his visit, the long lasting dispute between Hungary and Russia over the financial implications of the Russian troop withdrawal from Hungary is closed.

4-7 May 1993 The official state visit of H.M. Queen Elizabeth II and H.R.H. Prince Philip the Duke of Edinburgh to Hungary.

12 December 1993  Prime Minister József Antall of Hungary dies at the age of 61.

21 December 1993  Péter Boross is elected Prime Minister of Hungary. During Boross’s Prime Ministership, the relations between the two top dignitaries „get normalized”.

8th and 29th May 1994  Parliamentary elections are held in Hungary. Left wing Hungarian Socialist Party (MSZP) wins with 54 per cent of the mandates.

15 July 1994  Gyula Horn, President of the MSZP  forms a coalition govenrnent  with the liberal Alliance of Free Democrats (SZDSZ).

September 1994  President Göncz goes on an official trip to the Far East including Mongolia, China and Indonesia. As a result of his talks in Beijing, bilateral relations between Hungary and the Peoples Republic of China were elevated to a higher level.

September 1994 President Árpád Göncz pays an official state visit to France.

9 February 1995 An audience with Pope John Paul II in Vatican City.

9 May 1995 Árpád Göncz participates. in Moscow in the celebrations of Victory Day to mark the end of the second World War W.

19 June 1995.  The socialist-liberal coalition in Parliament re-elects Árpád Göncz for a second 5-year term as President of the Republic of Hungary with 295 MPs voting YES.  The candidate of the opposition, Ferenc Mádl received 76 supporting votes.

1996. január 13.  Blitz visit of President Bill Clinton to Taszár, a logistic military base during the Yugoslav war for IFOR and SFOR in Southern Hungary, where he meets with President Göncz, Prime Minister Horn and members of the Hungarian government.

March 1996  Official visit of Árpád Göncz to Egypt; the President pays a courtesy visit to the Hungarian peace keepers in the Sinai Peninsula.

2 May 1996  Official visit of Árpád Göncz to Estonia.

28-30 May 1996 Official visit of Árpád Göncz to Greece

6-7 September 1996  Pope John Paul II visits Hungary, and meets with President Göncz in Pannonhalma.

14-16 November 1996  The official state visit of President Göncz to Ukraine.

 January 1997 The official state visit of President Jacques Chirac of France to Hungary.

6-7 March 1997 Árpád Göncz, the first Hungarian head of state to visit Latvia meets with Latvian President Ulmanis, Prime Minister Skele, and the Speaker of the Latvian Parliament Mr Čepānis.

March 1997  Official visit of Árpád Göncz to Lithuania

April 1997 Official visit of Árpád Göncz to Mexico.

25-26 May 1997 Official visit of Árpád Göncz to Romania.

9 July 1997  On the fringes of the NATO Summit Meeting in Madrid, a six-party meeting is convened with the participation of the heads of state and government of Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. The foreign ministers of the six countries also attended.

 22-24 April 1998 Konstantinos Stephanopoulos, the President of Greece visits Hungary

10 and 24 May 1998 Parliamentary elections are held in Hungary. FIDESZ-MPP wins 147 mandates. Together with this, the right wing bloc has a 55 per cent majority in Parliament. Victor Orbán, the President of FIDESZ forms a coalition government.

November 1998  Árpád Göncz is the first Hungarian head of state to pay an official visit to Tunisia.

February 1999  Official state visit of Árpád Göncz to Australia and New Zealand (with a stop-over in Bangkok, Thailand, audience with the Thai King Bhumibol Aduljadedzs, King Rama IX, the 3rd longest serving monarch in the world.

3 May 1999 President Göncz welcomes in Budapest the President of South Africa, Nelson Mandela.

14-15 May 1999  President Göncz participates in the informal meeting of Central Europeran Presidents in Lemberg (Lviv, Ukraine). After the meeting, he goes to the Subcarpathian region of the country.

6-10 June 1999. President Árpád Göncz pays an official state visit to the United States of America. This is the first head-of-state level, official state visit to the USA by a Hungarian head of state.

22-25 June 1999  President Árpád Göncz pays an official state visit to the United  Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland at the invitation of H.M. Queen Elizabeth II.

10-11 September 1999 Árpád Göncz travels to Yalta to participate in the informal meeting of the heads of states of the Baltic and Black Sea countries.

6 September 1999 The first official visit of the Hungarian Head of State, Árpád Göncz to Slovakia since its independence.

28. September 1999 President Göncz visits Croatia. On the sencond day of his visit, he inaugurates the new building of the Hungarian Educational and CulturaL Center in Eszék (Osijek).

17-20 November 1999 Árpád Göncz’s official visit to Peru.

21-22 February 2000 During his two-day visit to Rome, Pope John Paul II meets President Árpád Göncz in an audience.

7-14 April 2000 Árpád Göncz’s official visit to Japan.

17 May 2000 Prince Charles visits Hungary. During his stay in Hungary, The Prince of Wales  meets with the President of the Republic, Árpád Göncz. The crown Prince and heir to the throne, together with Hungarian PM Viktor Orbán inaugurate the Csepel II Power Plant built out of  British financial resources.

3 August 2000 President Göncz’s term of office as head of state of Hungary expires. He is succeeded by Ferenc Mádl.