President Kekkonen praised by Kadar for rejecting Hungarian refugees in 1956

Fresh book tells of conflicting reactions by Finns to Hungarian uprising 50 years ago

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By Kaija Virta
     
      Demonstrations in recent weeks in Hungary have raised memories of the 1956 uprising already before the anniversary of the event in late October and early November. A fresh book by two Finnish researchers details Finnish reactions to the events 50 years ago.
      Officially Finland was careful not to condemn the Soviet intervention, but there was criticism in parts of the press over the reticence of the leaders, and many ordinary people joined humanitarian aid efforts to the Hungarians, say Anssi Halmesvirta and Heimo Nyyssönen in their book Unkarin kansannousu 1956 ("The Hungarian Uprising 1956").
      After the anti-Stalinist rebellion was put down, more than 200,000 people fled Hungary to the West, but Finland did not officially take any refugees, the book reveals. Fearing that they might be sent back, the Hungarian refugees themselves did not want to come to Finland.
      Neighbouring Sweden received thousands of Hungarians, and Austria, which had been freed of its Soviet occupiers a short time before, allowed about 30,000 Hungarians to settle permanently in the country.
      Still in 1969 János Kádár, who was made Hungary’s Communist Party leader after the uprising, praised Finnish President Urho Kekkonen for his restrained attitude, according to Hungarian documents quoted in the book.
      For Kekkonen, who began his term as President in March 1956, Hungary was a precarious precedent for Finnish-Soviet relations.
      "--spheres of influence not to be changed to detriment of Soviet Union: Hungary", wrote Kekkonen in his diary at the beginning of the so-called night frost crisis in 1958, involving strained relations between Helsinki and Moscow.
      Finland, which was just starting out as a member of the United Nations, had to take a stand on the uprising in the General Assembly in early November, when the attack of the Soviet forces against the rebels was in full swing.
      The Finnish delegation did not dare support the US proposal for a resolution calling on the Soviet Union to stop its attack, and condemning the role of the Soviet military. The resolution passed by a vote of 50 to eight.
      Finland abstained in the vote along with Yugoslavia, and ten Asian and African countries.
      Journalist Kirsti Jaantila wrote in the weekly news magazine Viikkosanomat that she had felt "disappointment and melancholy" because of Finland’s action. Björn Alholm, the number-two man at the Finnish mission to the UN, said later that the vote gave the world the first visible sign of the policy of Finlandisation.
      In other votes, Finland came out in favour of expressions of the right of the people of Hungary to freedom and independence. The bloody suppression of the uprising raised protest demonstrations throughout Western Europe. According to Halmesvirta and Nyyssönen, things were fairly quiet in Helsinki.
      Finnish students demonstrated at least once on the corner of Mannerheimintie and Kaivokatu, but on Tehtaankatu, in front of the Soviet Embassy, all was quiet. The police prevented a demonstration in front of the National Museum planned by Christian students.
      Humanitarian aid for the Hungarians was less dangerous politically. President Kekkonen himself took part in a church event on November 3rd organised by the Red Cross.
      At a charity film evening organised by the Finland-Hungary Society, actors Ansa Ikonen, Tauno Palo, and Tarmo Manni took donations.
     
Helsingin Sanomat / First published in print 6.10.2006

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KAIJA VIRTA / Helsingin Sanomat
kaija.virta@hs.fi