Parliament adopted liberal laws Tuesday that guarantee free travel abroad and emigration, the first of a sweeping set of changes intended to transform Communist Hungary into a multi-party democracy.
The new laws lifted most restrictions on travel, meaning that Hungarians no longer require permission from authorities for foreign travel or emigration.Hungary's liberal policies in this respect were demonstrated by a government decision in May to begin removing barbed wire fencing and other obstacles on its border with Austria.
This Warsaw Pact country also allowed thousands of East Germans seeking to emigrate to the West to cross legally into Austria, angering its hard-line allies.
The session that opened Tuesday is to decide a series of key bills that are to pave the way for next year's elections in June, the first free and open multi-party balloting in more than 40 years of Communist rule.
The volume of legislation prompted lawmakers to vote for an extension of the session in October after a two-week break to allow lawmakers to study the draft laws. The current session was originally scheduled to end Friday.
Legislators will have to vote on six key bills, including one on the functioning of political parties, a new electoral law, the establishment of a constitutional court and changes in the penal code.
The legislators Tuesday approved membership of four opposition members who received a majority at recent by-elections, marking the first time members of the opposition took their seats in the Communist-dominated assembly.
Gabor Roszik, the first opposition member elected in July, was accompanied to the Parliament building by supporters waving flags.
"Democracy has returned to Parliament after a 40-year exile," Roszik told the house.
"This is one of the most significant steps of the revolution underway in Hungary, as we move from dictatorial socialism to democracy," Roszik said. "The millions of Hungarians have never paid such close attention to our work as they do now."
The bills before Parliament this week are designed to bring legislation in line with preparations for the multi-party elections, which would be the first since the Communists consolidated power in 1948.
More than 70 percent of the 387 members of Parliament are Communists. So-called independent candidates elected after 1985 when Hungary instituted multi-candidate elections had to be approved by a Communist-affiliated organization.