POLITICS: U.S. to Move its Base from Hungary

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Bela Ladanyi

BUDAPEST, May 28 2003 (IPS) - The future of Hungary’s largest military base is uncertain after the announcement of a U.S. pullout last week.

Some local leaders have suggested that the U.S. is pulling out because of divisions within Hungary over support to U.S. operations in Iraq.

Keith W. Mines, second secretary for defence with the U.S. embassy in Hungary issued a statement to say that U.S. forces will leave the air base in the near future. He mentioned no date and gave no reason.

The Hungarian government had granted use of the Taszár air base to U.S.. forces in 1995 for operations in Bosnia-Herzegovina. The air base that handled about 5,000 landings of military aircraft and moved about 55,000 personnel between 1995 and 1997, became one of the key U.S. bases in Europe.

Located close to the Croatian and Serbian borders, and with strong rail and road links to other cities in the region, it became a transportation and logistics hub.

Staff has been reduced steadily since the conflicts in former Yugoslavia eased. It has recently been put to other uses. Earlier this year about 150 to 300 Iraqi exiles were trained at the centre for assignments in Iraq after the end of the war.

István Gyenesei, head of the local Somogy County Municipal Council said in a statement following the U.S. announcement that its military units may be relocated in Romania and Bulgaria, both eager to support the U.S. military. The two countries offered the U.S. strong support during the war on Iraq.

In Hungary the position was not that clear. Continuing debates between the Socialist-led government and the conservatives who opposed government support to the U.S. action against Saddam Hussein’s regime could have influenced the U.S. decision to pull out, Gyenesei said.

The conservative parties Fidesz and the MDF (Hungarian Democratic Forum) sought to block Hungary’s involvement in any ground operations in the recent war.

Fidesz and the MDF have also opposed moves to send Hungarian military forces to Iraq now on the grounds that such a force would not have international authorisation. The senior ruling party MSZP (Hungarian Socialist Party) has been pushing for Hungarian participation in peacekeeping operations in Iraq.

Hungarian Defence Minister Ferenc Juhász told media representatives, however, that the domestic political debates were not the reason for U.S. withdrawal.

Juhász said the U.S. and Hungary will start detailed negotiations in September on future use of the air base. There are several potential uses for the site, he said.

According to Gyenesei, one proposal is to build a military hospital in the town and convert the base into a civilian airport.

Mines indicated that civilian U.S. employees could replace military personnel for new functions at the base. "The Taszár base is adequate for logistics operations, but it is totally unsuitable for military training purposes," he said.

But uncertainty is giving rise to apprehensions. The local newspaper Népszabadság quoted Hungarian military sources as saying that the Hungarian government would close down the military base if the U.S. has no use for it at all.

A complete U.S. departure will cause considerable unemployment in the area, Népszabadság reported. It is also uncertain what the local authorities would do with the infrastructure the U.S. forces leave behind.

The engineering and construction contractor Kellog Brown & Root which has been supplying equipment to the Taszar base employed about 800 staff and contracted work out to about 500 local businesses, Népszabadság reported.

The company has started to dismiss employees and is planning to move to the Balkans to serve some U.S. forces that may be repositioned there, the newspaper reported.

The local property market in the region, which saw a boom during the first years of U.S. presence at the base in the 1990s could also face a downturn, local reports say.