HUNGARY ON THE ‘BRINK OF RUIN’

All of Eastern Europe is on the brink of financial disaster. Civil unrest across all of Europe is now likely to intensify. The political consequences of this type of economic collapse have historically been significant, and anti-democratic (or worse).-Lou

HUNGARY ON THE ‘BRINK OF RUIN’

BUDAPEST – If anyone wonders how bad the economic crisis is in Europe, consider this: While shooting a story in Budapest, last week we parked our vehicle on a street in a part of town that has fallen on hard times.

Our translator, Andras Krucsai, suggested we not stray too far from the car. But it was broad daylight. And we weren’t headed far enough away to lose sight of the vehicle.

Still, within no more than three minutes, vandals struck, seemingly out of nowhere. In a blur, two teenagers broke the glass and grabbed our GPS navigational device, which was sure to fetch good money on the black market. They'd disappeared by the time we ran the distance – around 300 yards – screaming all the way back.

''I saw them clearly,'' said Andras, who owned the car, brushing glass shards from the front seat. ''Just kids, 16 or 17, but you know it's gonna happen more and more often. It's gonna be worse and worse.''

Eastern Europe’s shining lightPal Serge, 38, would agree. We met him at a busy subway station on Moscow Square, in downtown Budapest, standing in near-freezing cold with a couple of dozen other unemployed men. They were looking for any kind of day labor.

Serge, a forklift driver, had recently returned from a bus trip to England. He couldn't find work there either. ''I think if it continues like this much longer, you'll see anger, even violence, in the streets,'' he said.

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