Hungarian American Coalition News, 1999 (8. évfolyam, 1-3. szám)
1999 / 1. szám
Hungarian American Coalition HUNGARY FORMALLY JOINS NATO On March 12, 1999, Hungary, Poland and the Czech Republic will formally join NATO at a ceremony held at the Harry S. Truman Library in Independence, Missouri. This is where in 1949 President Truman announced the creation of NATO. The ceremony, which will be hosted by Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, will be attended by a small group of ethnic community representatives. Several Coalition members have been invited to attend this historic occasion. The weekend-long celebration of the fifth anniversary of NATO's founding as well as a NATO Summit will be held in Washington, DC on April 23-25, 1999. Forty-four heads of state - including the now nineteen NATO member countries - will participate in ceremonial and working sessions. The Coalition actively participated in the NATO enlargement process by playing an influential role in Washington, DC and promoting the expansion of the Alliances to include Hungary. The Coalition also coordinated its efforts with other influential groups by becoming a lead member of the Central and East European Coalition and the NATO Enlargement Working Group, an ad hoc group of ethnic, religious, veteran, business and union organizations. The Coalition also sponsored a series of conferences in Hungary of NATO memberships. These conferences preceded the national referendum on NATO membership and facilitated a full exchange of diverse views on Hungary’s potential role in the Alliance. CEEC TRIUMPHANT IN ADVOCACY FOR NATO ENLARGEMENT HUNGARIAN AMERICAN COALITION LEADING PARTICIPANT “Nineteen U.S. ethnic groups, under the banner of the Central and Eastern European Coalition (“CEEC”), bombarded the Senate with letters and phone calls on behalf of Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic in connection with the enlargement of NATO, declared U.S. News & World Report on May 11, 1998. The CEEC also repeatedly met with senior government and White House officials, including President Clinton, congressional leaders, members of the press and the leadership of the Democratic and Republican Parties. It engaged in other activities that highlighted the need to expand NATO, such as organizing a conference which was held in the Hart Senate Office Building in April 1997 and sponsoring a Capitol Hill reception in September 1996 to honor Senators and Members who had spoken out in favor of enlargement. The Hungarian American Coalition (the "Coalition") became a lead member of the CEEC with respect to NATO and was represented by Executive Board member Frank Koszorús, Jr. For example, the Coalition testified in favor of a NATO expansion bill on behalf of the CEEC before the Committee on International Relations of the U.S. House of Representatives in June 1996. Congressman James A. Leach (R-IA) characterized the Coalition’s testimony as “one of the most thoughtful statements the committee has received.” During the debate on the bill, Committee Chairman Benjamin Gilman (R-NY) expressed his gratitude to the CEEC for supporting the legislation: “the CEEC has provided invaluable insights to the Committee on the economic, political and security concerns of Central and Eastern Europe.” The Coalition was invited to be part of a joint Department of Defense/Department of State NATO fact finding mission to Europe in October 1997. Thereafter, in November 1997, the Coalition testified before the
