Dr. Olli Ilmari Rehn
Vice President of the European Commission for Economic Matters
1049 Brussels, Belgium
T: +32 (0)2 296 5745

Dear Dr. Rehn,

I like to inform you that on the streets of Budapest people say, “In 1956 the tanks, now the banks!” As you know in 1956, the Hungarians rose up, refusing to be slaves and mortally wounded the Soviet empire. Today, they are beginning to take the same attitude toward the EU and the IMF. This trend must be reversed and you can help to stop it.

Hungarians want to keep the independence of the Hungarian National Bank (MNB). They argue that the MNB does not belong to Dr. András Simor or Dr. Zsigmond Járay, that the bank’s money is their money and such decisions, as setting the interest rates or printing new money is the sovereign right of the Hungarians. They believe that the greedy lenders should share in the consequences of their past behavior and therefore forgiving some of the debt and taxing them is fair. They also refer to Greece where the banks forgave 50% of that nation’s debt and also refer to Iceland, which nation chose bankruptcy and that act resulted in a loss to the lenders, but protected the man of the street and now their economy is growing again.

Hungary does not want to follow that example, Hungary was a part of and the defender of Europe for 1,000 years, she wants to remain part of the EU, but I also know that the far-right politicians want to leave the EU, I know that the EU issued a 500 billion rescue package for others and Hungary received nothing from that and most importantly I know that for the EU, IMF and the other banks, the claim that they are worried about “democracy” is only an excuse, since the Hungarian Government is willing to live up to all EU rules and standards. I am afraid that the real reason is the precedent created by a small nation standing up to the mighty power of the banks, as she did to others in the past.

So, the question is not whether to sue Hungary or bail her out, but whether support the tentative agreement reached between Hungary and the IMF and quickly sign a 3-party agreement or to support the extreme left / socialist & right coalition in Hungary that want not only to bring down the government, but also to trigger the disintegration of the EU.

When you meet with Tamás Fellegi on Friday, please work for the 3-party agreement.

Respectfully yours,