BUDAPEST
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The 50-year anniversary of the Treaties of Rome, which represent the start of today’s European Union, was celebrated in 2007. The recent, rapid extension of the union to a total of 27 member states is a challenge to every single citizen. 50 years after the successful beginning of the founding member states we know that reciprocal understanding is the basis for a peaceful coexistence. Keeping this goal in mind, the European Women’s Circle organised its politico-cultural trip this year to Budapest, capital of the new EU member state Hungary. Hungary joined the EU in 2004. The European Women’s Circle was cordially welcomed in the impressive Hungarian parliament by Katalyn Endrei, MP for the conservative party FIDEZ. She discussed in detail the great differences between the former and the current economic systems with the participants, as well as the necessary, although at times unpopular, measures resulting from this change of systems which the governing Conservatives have to enact. Topics in women’s policy like the role of women in politics and economy, and the compatibility of family and work were discussed with much interest against the backdrop of Hungary’s socialist past. Budapest presented itself to our group as a pulsating capital in which the sense of hope induced by the political change was still palpable, because the Hungarians, loving their freedom, played an important role for the European Union. The ever-changing history of the co-joined cities Buda and Pest can still be found in the cityscape today. Palace, coronation church, and the winding alleys of the castle hill as well as the famous parliamentary building, St. Stephen’s basilica, the opera, and other grand buildings in sophisticated Pest frame the Danube and bear witness to the high cultural value of this town. The thermal baths, known already to the Romans, are still places of relaxation and encounters. |
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