Sir, Many commentators appear to think that that the Hungarian Prime Minister’s main failing has been to hide from his electorate the pressing need for economic reform (Commentary, Sept 20).

But the clashes in Hungary are not about simply low growth rates or a spiralling trade deficit. Rather they arise out of a moral crisis which has its roots in the “velvet revolution” of the late 1980s, which was meant to have put an end to the Communist system.

Unlike most other Central and East European countries, Hungary experienced too much velvet and too little revolution. At the time, this ensured stability and with it the plaudits of Western observers and investors.

But the prosperity for ordinary Hungarians that was widely foreseen simply never materialised, mainly because the post-Communist business barons who eased themselves into running the economy proved inept, in many cases, at anything other than asset-stripping and insider trading.

Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsány is emblematic of this class. That by marriage he also linked himself to the home-grown Stalinists who crushed the 1956 Uprising, adds insult to injury.

Fifty years on from that historic event, many Hungarians clearly feel that the time has come to stand up for their country’s noble past and put an end to the gross mismanagement and, yes, lies that have compromised its progress over the past 15 years. Not long ago, when Serbian, Ukrainian and Georgian protesters told their rulers “Enough!”, Western commentators cheered them on.

The case of Hungarians currently on the streets of Budapest is no less strong.

JOHNATHAN SUNLEY
London W6

Sir, There is something deeply disturbing and paradoxical about advocating liberal, free-market based reforms in Central and Eastern Europe, and at the same time, willingly disregarding the lack of competence, lack of transparency and flagrant instances of breach of trust on the part of the politicians expected to carry out these reforms.

MARCIN POLKOWSKI
Warsaw

Sir, After the military coup in Thailand (report, Sept 20), the generals immediately jammed transmissions of BBC World, CNN and other international TV satellite news broadcasters. They also put a stop to coverage of the coup on Thailand’s domestic media.

What a pity therefore that the now-defunct BBC shortwave radio service in Thai was no longer available to give objective and accurate news of the coup and its aftermath.

It is yet another example of short-sightedness on the part of of the BBC and the Foreign Office, against which I and others cautioned at the time of the closure of the Thai service.

JACK THOMPSON
BBC South-East Asia Correspondent, 1979-83
London SE21

Sir, For the Defence Secretary to find heavy Afghan resistance to foreign invasion “a surprise” (report, Sept 19), he must be a very poor student of history. The Afghan people are famously resistant to outside control, as two superpowers have now found to their cost.

But, when it comes to war, do we ever really learn from our mistakes?

DR NICK GILL
Bristol

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