Hungarian American Coalition News, 1995 (4. évfolyam, 3. szám)

1995 / 3. szám

Hungarians also differ from the majority on account of their religious affiliation, predominantly Catholic or Protestant Today, in varying degrees, they are all victimized by official policies and practices which threaten to deprive them of their language, educational institutions, historical landmarks, religious traditions and one-thousand year-old history, in other words the critical elements of their identity.

1. Dr. László Józsa, representing the Hungarian Association of Voivodina, described Serbian government actions over the past weeks which represent an alarming and immediate threat to the continued physical survival of the 350,000-strong Hungarian community living in this once autonomous province inside Serbia. The outspokenly pacifist Hungarian community -- which took no side with any of the warring ethnic factions throughout the Balkan conflict - now finds itself at the receiving end of a conscious policy of "ethnic cleansing." The government, under the pretext of humanitarian assistance to refugees, is resettling thousands of Serbian refugees from Krajina (recently re-captured by Croatia) into Voivodina, into the homes of Hungarians and Croats.

2. As outlined by Bishop László Töltés, Honorary President of the Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Rumania, the Rumanian government just adopted an education law which bans the teaching of all vocational subjects and studies in the medical, legal and business professions in any language but Rumanian. The Diescu leadership, in official coalition with parties on the extreme right and left, discriminates against the more than 2 million Hungarians by refusing to return properties confiscated from their Churches under communism; by instituting a law which bans the singing of any "alien" national anthems and the public display of any "foreign" flags; and through the use of show trials to selectively prosecute and imprison ethnic Hungarians on bogus charges of nationalism.

3. Dr. Edith Bauer, a Deputy in the Slovak Parliament and Co-Founder of the Co- Existence Political Movement, stated that as in the case of Rumania, Slovakia's constitution enshrines ethnic exclusivism by defining the country as a unitary nation-state. The government, under Vladimir Meciar (a former communist-era functionary turned nationalist) has instituted numerous discriminatory measures against the 567,000 ethnic Hungarians (10.5% of the total population) in that country. The government has adopted the text of a law on the State Language, imposing Slovak as the cmly language allowed in all areas of public and private life. Here, the tyranny of the majority woiks by legislating general minority rights provisions, while refusing to create the necessary enforcement mechanisms.

4. The case of the 156,000 Hungarians living

Ukraine is a relative exception, according to Mr. Miklós Kovács, speaking on behalf of the Cultural Association of Hungarians in Subcarpathia With the lifting of Soviet communism, the Hungarian community has enjoyed a revival in its ability to establish Hungarian schools, erect Hungarian street signs, dispiay its national symbols and commemorate Hungarian national holidays. Though not facing a systematic anti-Hungarian government policy, these advances are nevertheless threatened by the chaotic state of central governance in Ukraine, and by the remaining vestiges of the communist apparatus.

A synthesis, in 6 points, of some common themes and conclusions emerging from the morning presentations and discussion is as follows:

1. The speakers from both East and West offered non-threatening, moderate, reasonable approaches (solutions), aiming to enhance stability through the fulfillment, not artificial suppression of legitimate minority aspirations.

2. Minority rights violations are associated with anti-democratic tendencies. In the postcommunist East, demagoguery built on xenophobia, scapegoating and manipulation of inter-ethnic hostilities serves as a legitimizing principle for totalitarian-minded leaders (replacing the reliance on raw force and internationalist communist rhetoric often fra the very same people who once mouthed that rhetoric).

3. Each presenter, on the other hand, views the fulfillment of minority aspirations not as divorced from, but part ana parcel of the process of democratization. Minority rights are not special privileges occurring above or outside the mainstream, but an integral part of restoring the rule of law, institutionalized respect for human rights and overall guarantees of liberal, democratic principles.

(a) It follows that if the transformation of Central and Eastern Europe meant enhanced respect for the right to assembly, free speech, religion, property and other human liberties, then the rights of minority groups should not be omitted.

(b) The preceding seems particularly warranted with regard to Hungarian minorities, since, in the years after 1989, it's not just lip service these groups have given to Westernstyle democratic values, but real action, sometimes at no small risk to themselves. In each of the four countries represented hoe, where the Hungarian minority acquired parliamentary representation, their representative organizations have visibly broadened their efforts beyond representing minority concerns, to embrace the broad scope of democratic principles. Nowhere is the personal danger to themselves of assuming this added responsibility more evident today than in Voivodina, inside Serbia. The Hungarian

minority's efforts to secure the broad range of human liberties makes them different, and places them in the opposition, on account of more than fust their ethnicity. This pattem of resistance to neo-communist impulses, and concrete efforts to institute Western democratic principles despite the wishes of the ruling hierarchy, repeats itself with remarkable uniformity in the case of the ethnic Hungarian communities in Ukraine, Slovakia, Rumania and Serbia If these speakers then, had one message of overarching importance to convey, it's this: Rather than serving a destabilizing role or threatening fie status quo, Hungarian minorities are a populous and strong regional force for stability. The United States and Western Europe should recognize this and support them as such.

4. Each Speaker (firm East, West and the Center) identified the right to minority language education as the issue of paramount significance. Other key areas where the right to self-administer and selfgovem the minority's form of expression are culture and media. It's important to hear the non-threatening substance and tone of their remarks. Even the most critical listener would be hard put to find any suggestion of territorial separation or threat to existing bonders in any of the remarks this morning.

5. In the Central and Eastern European context, the assault against collective identity warrants a strategy for collective protection.

Summary of Presentation by Undersecretary of State Pete- Tarnoff

During remarks at lunch, Under-Secretary of State for Political Affairs Peter Tarnoff expressed the U.S. position - confirmed in recent bills adopted by both House of Congress - that respect for human rights and the rights of national minorities will be an important criterion in deciding which countries to accept for NATO membership. (The degree of U.S. resolve to closely monitor and actually implement this verbal assertion - particularly as and if the Bosnia crisis winds down and attention turns elsewhere - will serve as the real test of American intentions.)

Summary of the Security Panel Presentations

The afternoon session was moderated by Dr. Daniel F. McDonald, Director of the Potomac Foundation. Ambassador Charles H. Thomas and Dr. Constantine C M enges raised the area of NATO expansion and security issues where Western and Eastern and Central Europe have to somehow crane to a resolution, among others, over the

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