A glimpse at Megawati's visit to Hungary

Gyvrgy Busztina, Ambassador of Hungary, Jakarta

In the course of her whirlwind tour following the Johannesburg Summit, President Megawati Soekarnoputri arrived to the Hungarian capital on Sept. 8. Her visit, at the invitation of President Ferenc Madl, finally materialized after it was postponed several times due to unforeseen events like sudden developments on the domestic scene or natural calamities befalling Indonesia.

No wonder it met with so high expectations. Many in Hungary still recall how Indonesia sent a leader -- the late president Sukarno -- to Budapest in 1960. He was one of the first statesmen of international standing to visit Hungary at a time of great agony, just four years after the revolution of 1956, Hungary's failed attempt to achieve liberty, ended in defeat and frustration.

No wonder many saw the advent of the outspoken, independence loving founder of Indonesia -- a preacher and world symbol of non-alliance -- as a concealed sign of solidarity and a glimmer of hope.

Times have changed indeed. Arriving in Budapest, President Megawati set foot in a country that by now is an established democracy and a market economy, a place very different from the one her father visited. As the representative of a major new democracy of Asia, she met much sympathy and high expectations.

All this transpired in her talks with her host, President Madl -- a former lecturer of international law, and as such, a statesman particularly sensitive to problems of democratic transition -- and with Prime Minister Medgyessy, both of whom expressed a keen willingness to be partners in realising Indonesia's development plans.

The areas of energy, transport, communication, information technology and agribusiness were defined as most promising for working together. President Megawati got a detailed briefing about what is believed to be Hungary's ultimate phase in her European Union accession process, to be achieved in roughly a year's time. Much was said about the experience of both country's transition from dictatorship to democracy, and the review of issues like decentralization, administrative and electoral reform were high on the agenda.

President Megawati later addressed an audience of business leaders at a lunch hosted in her honor, delivering a speech at the Hungarian Academy of Science. Flanked by ministers Hassan Wirayuda and Rini MS Soewandi, she called on the scientific and the business community to put wisdom and prudence in front of narrow commercial interests when shaping the future of our globe. The event generated high interest in Hungary's dynamic business community, as it got acquainted with the advantages of working in one of the world's biggest single markets.

In fact listening to Madame President, the Hungarian and international audience got the right message about a distant country whose realities are not infrequently rather distorted by a world media thriving on negative sensationalism. All this will, no doubt, be followed by more Hungarian business people deciding to take the long flight to Jakarta and to see for themselves.

A meaningful presidential visit is far more than empty formalities and travel for the sake of travel. In the case of President Megawati's visit to Hungary, a short and busy agenda yielded what is the most prised item in the relationship of both states and individuals -- mutual trust and understanding.

Hungary is a small country in Europe, but with much potential and a clear intention to be Indonesia's useful partner in business, her carefully listening partner in international politics, and her committed partner in seeking solutions to world problems like the issue of the environment. In all these areas of cooperation, President Megawati laid the foundations of a new understanding on the banks of the Blue Danube.