played a great role in the dissolution of the Warsaw Pact and the termination of the Comecon as well as in the withdrawal of the occupying Russian forces in 1991. In 1991, in Strasbourg, he was awarded with the Robert Schuman Prize for his activities aimed at uniting Europe as well as extending Hungary's European relations. As prime minister, Antall oversaw the establishment of a legal system to promote a market economy and attract foreign investment. The ruling coalition attempted to stabilize the economy while implementing privatization and other elements of a market economy, while the populist right wing of the MDF was vocal about the “national issue”—the question of the Hungarian minorities in neighbouring countries—and attempted to put it at the centre of the government's platform. However, the return to a capitalist system and all its accompanying reforms resulted in socioeconomic difficulties for the country during Antall's term. Unemployment jumped from nonexistence to 14 percent. Inflation increased at an annual rate of 23–35 percent (excluding indexing of wages and pensions). Older, retired people, more than one-fifth of the population, suffered the most, and the living standards of more than one-third of the populace declined to below subsistence level. In the meantime, income disparities increased, which irritated the people. Corruption became more widespread and visible than before. Together with the previously omnipotent police force, street security also collapsed in 1990. The crime rate, especially in Budapest, increased threefold in five years. In the summer of 1990, Antall and the MDF supported the introduction of a Catholic religious education into the national curriculum. This led to conflict with the other coalition parties, since only three-quarters of the Hungarian population were Catholics. Antall appointed Miklós Lukáts of the KDNP as his State Secretary for Church Affairs; from this position, Lukáts oversaw religious affairs, including the return of church properties seized by the communists. By 1991 Antall was receiving criticism for his authoritarian style, though this contrasted with his uncharismatic presence. Conflict over their powers erupted between him and Hungary's President, Árpád Göncz, who belonged to the opposing party, the Alliance of Free Democrats. In the realm of domestic politics, Antall had to face hardships during his career: the taxi-blockade in Budapest in 1990 and the withdrawal of the Independent Smallholders' Party from the coalition government forced him to restructure his cabinet in February 1992; that reorganisation ultimately saved his administration from being