Skip to content
Placeholder image for when a portrait image is not available

Németh, Miklós 1948-

President of Hungary from 1988 to 1990.

Biography

Placeholder image for when a portrait image is not available

Miklós Németh, born in 1948 in Monok, Hungary, and served as prime minister of Hungary from 23 November 1988 to 23 May 1990.

He was one of the leaders of the Socialist Workers' Party, Hungary's former Communist party, in the tumultuous years that led to the collapse of communism in eastern and central Europe.

As Prime Minister, Németh took the controversial decision to allow East Germans, long held captive by their country's communist regime, to pass through Hungary en route to freedom in West Germany. This decision is widely credited with helping to bring about the fall of the Berlin Wall on 9 November 1989.

After leaving office in 1990, Németh served as Vice President of the London-based European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the financial institution established by the international community to assist the countries of eastern and central Europe and the former Soviet Union in their transition to democratic market economies. He left the EBRD in 2000 to return to Hungary. He attempted to become the PM-design of the opposition socialist party, but didn't succeed as Péter Medgyessy was appointed to this role. Medgyessy later became Prime Minister.

Popular Documents

April 28, 1989

National Intelligence Daily for Friday, 28 April 1989

The CIA's National Intelligence Daily for 28 April 1989 describes the latest developments in Lebanon, Iran, China, Vietnam, the Soviet Union, Paraguay, Nicaragua, Hungary, and New Zealand.

March 3, 1989

Record of Conversation between President M. S. Gorbachev and Miklós Németh 12 , Member of the HSWP CC Politburo, Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the People’s Republic of Hungary

Record of Conversation between President M. S. Gorbachev and Miklós Németh 12 , Member of the HSWP CC Politburo, Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the People’s Republic of Hungary regarding the establishment of a multiparty system in Hungary

March 3, 1989

Record of Conversation Between M.S. Gorbachev and Member of the Central Committee of the Hungarian Socialist Workers’ Part, Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the People’s Republic of Hungary M. Nemeth

Conversation between Gorbachev and Miklos Nemeth about protecting Hungarian borders, Hungary's decision to establish diplomatic relations with Israel, and the Soviet Union's potential normalization of relations with Israel.

March 3, 1989

Record of Conversation Between M.S. Gorbachev and Member of the Central Committee of the Hungarian Socialist Workers’ Party, Chairman of Council of Ministers of the People’s Republic of Hungary Miklos Nemeth

Conversation between Gorbachev and Nemeth regarding the priorities of the Central Committee of the Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party.

June 26, 1989

Hungary: Reformers Take Over Party Leadership

An analysis of the Hungarian government's leaders and their movement toward political pluralism.