Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, May 1, 1990 TAG: 9005010512
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A/8 EDITION: EVENING
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: VIENNA, AUSTRIA LENGTH: Medium
With their Stalinist leaders overthrown, thanks in part to Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev's reforms, East Europeans rejoiced peacefully in their new freedom to mark May Day as they wish.
In Budapest, thousands of people turned out for a giant trade union picnic in the city's biggest park. In Prague, where the short-lived joy of the "Prague Spring" reforms produced a raucous May Day parade in 1968, crowds gathered to welcome back U.S. activist Allen Ginsberg, crowned unofficial king of the festivities 22 years ago but then expelled by the communists.
Ginsberg arrived in Prague a few days ago to return his 1968 crown and enjoy a rock fest that also will be addressed by President Vaclav Havel.
Romanians continued a 10-day protest in Bucharest calling for the resignation of interim President Ion Iliescu because of his communist past. They prepared for rallies in at least two other cities.
Despite its association with communist rule, the May Day holiday has deep popular roots across much of eastern Europe, where strong socialist traditions predate Stalinism.
"The meaning of May Day changed in step with history," Polish President Wojciech Jaruzelski noted in a statement. "But the tradition of a workers' celebration of this day has been deeply rooted in our With their Stalinist leaders overthrown, thanks in part to Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev's reforms, East Europeans rejoiced peacefully in their new freedom to mark May Day as they wish. Polish customs."
"Even Western countries such as France still celebrate May Day," Romanian government spokesman Cristian Unteanu said when asked why the holiday was not abandoned. "It's a perfectly normal holiday."
The common traditions of western and eastern Europe found symbolic expression in May Day celebrations in West Berlin, where a crowd of 60,000 outside City Hall included thousands of East Berliners who came through the Brandenburg Gate.
Communist parties were reduced to a minor role in the festivities.
In Czechoslovakia, where the Communist Party still claims more than 1 million members, leader Vasil Mohorita told a rally of some 20,000 people the party hoped for more than 10 percent of the votes in next month's democratic elections.
Hungary's Communists, roundly defeated at the polls last month, ran a single beer stand at the city picnic that marked the 100th anniversary of a demonstration for an eight-hour workday. That still eludes many Hungarians, who often work two or three jobs to make ends meet.
Tiny, isolated Albania was the only country to see more orthodox celebrations.
The state news agency ATA quoted Communist leader Ramiz Alia as reiterating his refusal to follow the reforms of the East Europeans.
"They are heading into a blind alley," he reportedly told a workers' rally. "[They are] jumping out of the frying pan into the fire."
In China, which unlike other communist countries never had a tradition of giant May Day parades, a holiday mood prevailed in Beijing.
But an armed police cordon around Tiananmen Square's monument to revolutionary heroes reflected official determination to avoid any repeat of the pro-democracy demonstrations that spread from there last spring to much of the country, before being brutally suppressed.
by CNB