World Notes Hungary

Hungary has carefully nurtured its reputation as the least repressive country in the Soviet bloc. That image probably contributed to the selection of Budapest as site of the 35-nation conference that opened last week to discuss cultural issues, one of the subjects of the 1975 Helsinki Accords. Even more impressive was Hungary's decision to grant visas to a handful of Western writers to stage a simultaneous but unofficial symposium across town with dissidents and human-rights activists from Eastern Europe.

The air of tolerance for such open dissent soon evaporated. The writers were told that the hall they had booked at the Duna Intercontinental Hotel was not available. Then authorities called off the unofficial meeting, warning that the visitors "must respect the rules of behavior of tourists" and not "disturb the atmosphere" of the official conference. The writers met anyway in private apartments.

Some Western diplomats believe that the Soviet Union ordered the about-face to show there are strict limits to Hungary's freedom. Said a writer at the unofficial conference, American Susan Sontag: "What is at stake is Hungary's reputation for human rights."