Hungarian American Coalition News, 1994 (3. évfolyam, 1. szám)
1994 / 1. szám
-fc. Dr. Antall József 1932 1993 Őszinte sajnálattal és mély megrendüléssel vettük tudomásul a szomorú hírt, hogy Dr. Antall József, a Magyar Köztársaság miniszterelnöke elhunyt. Antall Józsefet méltán választották meg a független magyar kormány elnökének. Noha feladatát rendkívül megnehezítette az előző évtizedek folytán kialakult súlyos gazdasági és politikai helyzet, a miniszterelnök tiszteletreméltó józansággal és határozottsággal kormányozta az országot a demokrácia útjára. Magyarország stabilitásának megteremtése mellett, Antall Józsefnek sikerült az ország nemzetközi megbecsülését is helyreállítania, melynek fontos tényezője volt a külföldön élő magyarság összefogásának megvalósítása. Tizenöt millió magyar miniszterelnökének vallotta magát, hirdetve azt, hogy lélekben egyek vagyunk éljünk bárhol a világban. Az amerikai magyarok számára is jelentős erkölcsi támogatást nyújtott, amely a Magyar Amerikai Koalíciót arra ösztönözte, hogy tagjaink összetartó erejét képviselve segítsük hazánk további útját a demokrácia megszilárdításában. Antall József rendkívüli személyisége, töretlen ereje és nemes céljai példát teremtettek számunkra. Kötelességünknek érezzük, hogy szelleméhez méltó módon szolgáljuk mindkét hazánkat. In Memóriám On December 12,1993, Hungary’s first freely elected head of government in nearly half a century, Prime Minister József Antall, died at the age of 61. The Hungarian nation mourned: over 200,000 people paid their respect in the rotunda of the Hungarian Parliament where the Prime Minister lay in state, and hundreds of thousands attended the official burial ceremony in Kossuth Square and afterwards, at Kerepesi Cemetery. Dr. Antall, a historian, teacher and researcher, was a man of sound political judgement and high personal integrity. He was a founding member in 1988 of the moderate, centrist Hungarian Democratic Forum, became its President in 1989, and following the Forum’s victory in the 1990 election, the Parliament elected him to the post of Prime Minister of the Republic of Hungary. His accomplishments are many: he was able to forge a centrist coalition which assured political stability in Hungary; he was the first to promote the dissolution of the Warsaw Pact, the Comecon and the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Hungary; at his personal initiative the trilateral cooperation among Hungary, Poland and the then Czechoslovak Republic was made formal in February, 1991 at the Visegrad Summit; and, during his government’s four years in office, Hungary carried out a historic transformation and became a working parliamentary democracy and market economy. When he declared himself the Prime Minister of 15 million Hungarians, he made a historic commitment to the Hungarian minorities in the surrounding countries to help improve their future. He saw the importance of reintegrating Hungary into the West, and through a series of high level visits established a close relationship with all the major democratic governments. Hungary became the first Central European member of the Council of Europe, and an associate member of the European Community. He valued the role of American democratic tradition in Hungary and urged a growing American influence in NATO and Europe. U.S. President Bill Clinton sent the following message of condolence: “As Hungary’s first postcommunist prime minister, Mr. Antall will be rememberedfor his strong leadership and commitment to freedom during these historic times. He was a friend to the United States and an active partner in the international effort to deepen and secure democracy, stability and economic reform in Central and Eastern Europe. His loss will be greatly felt in Europe and here in the United States. ” The official U.S. delegation to Prime Minister Antall’s funeral was led by Vice President Gore, Ambassador to the U.N., Madeline Albright, and included Coalition Board Member, Peter Ujvagi, who represented the Hungarian American community-at-large. Spring 1994 • Hungarian American Coalition News • 3
