SOVIET LEADERS IN HUNGARY

Press, Volume XCV, Issue 28169, 7 January 1957, Page 7

SOVIET LEADERS IN HUNGARY

Surprise Visit Paid By Khrushchev (N.Z. Press Association—Copyright) (Rec. 8.20 p.m.) MOSCOW, January 6. The Soviet Communist Party First Secretary (Mr Khrushchev) and the former Prime Minister, Mr Georgi Malenkov, went to Budapest for joint talks with Hungarian, Czech, Bulgarian and Rumanian leaders on political, economic and party questions, from January 1 to 4. This was announced in an official communique published in the Soviet newspapers today, which commented that foreign affairs were also discussed. It condemned the “Eisenhower-Dulles doctrine” as “crude interference” by the United States in the Middle East which could lead to “a new and serious aggravation of the situation in this region.” The communique said that the whole responsibility for the deterioration of the situation in the Near and Middle East, with all the consequences arising out of this, therefore fell on the United States.

The communique said that the delegations of the other four Communist countries promised manifold support and assistance for the Hungarian Government and the Hungarian Socialist Workers’ (Communist) Party “in the case of strengthening the people’s democratic state and in guaranteeing its independence and security from encroachments by aggressive imoerialist forces.”

Mr Khrushchev told East German newspaper correspondents in Moscow today that Hungarian refugees who had gone to Austria and Italy would regret it. because workers’ conditions in these countries were not as good as in Hungary.

Mr Khrushchev’s surprise trip to Budapest explained his absence from several important diplomatic functions during the last few days.

His visit to Budapest was taken in Moscow as a sign of the extreme gravity with which Soviet leaders still regarded the Hungarian situation. There was no indication whether Mr Khrushchev might have formulated a new Soviet approach towards Hungary or whether any changes in top Hungarian Communist leadership would follow his visit. That Mr Khrushchev went to Budapest for what must have been a mission of the utmost importance was also seen as evidence of the security of his position in the top ranks of the Soviet leadership. U.N. Aid Discussed In Budapest today, a four-man United Nations team had explanatory talks to study the possibility of United Nations economic aid to Hungary. The United Nations team, which arrived in Budapest yesterday, is headed by Mr Phillippe de Seynes Under-Secretary in charge of Economic Affairs. It includes a representative of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation in Rome and of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe. Mr de Seynes said he planned no trips outside Budapest and he hoped to get all the statistics he sought from his talks in the capital.