2 JUNE 1939, Page 2

Hungary's Elections It is difficult to regard the results of

the Hungarian elec- tions with much satisfaction. The electorate, which on Sunday for the first time voted by secret ballot, has returned the Government bloc with a considerably increased majority ; the Government Party won 182 seats as against 121 in the previous Parliament, chiefly at the expense of the Social Democrats. The Left Parties sank from 51 seats to 21. The Nazis, who put forward 18o candidates, increased their representation from 5 seats to 29 ; but these gains, which are smaller than were generally expected, do not truly represent the progress made by National Socialism, which five years ago did not exist as a Party. For the Government Party itself is divided between Moderates, who cling to Hungary's Parliamentary tradition, and Right Radicals, who sympathise with the Nazis, and certainly would not offer any strong resistance to the growth of their influence. Hungary has indeed already officially adopted the Nazis' anti-semitism and disenfranchised the Jews. This week's elections illustrate once again the law that subser- vience to Germany in foreign policy is always accompanied by the increase of Nazi influence in internal politics ; they are merely two aspects of a single process.

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