Hungarian American Coalition News, 1999 (8. évfolyam, 1-3. szám)
1999 / 2. szám
COALITION PROJECT UPDATE continued CSEMADOK and Hungarian Coalition Party Honor US Ambassador Ralph Johnson On May 24, 1999, CSEMADOK, the Hungarian Social and Cultural Association of Slovakia, invited several leaders of the Hungarian Coalition Party for a farewell luncheon for departing US Ambassador to Slovakia, Mr. Ralph Johnson. In addition to the current leadership of CSEMADOK, the event was attended by its former President, Dr. Viktor Bauer, President of the Hungarian Coalition Party Bela Bugar, Deputy Prime Minister Pal Csaky, Representative László Köteles, State Secretary Edit Bauer, Madach Posonium President, László Dobos, Izabella Jég, László Juhasz, and Edith Lauer, Chairperson of the Board of the Hungarian American Coalition. Dr. Bauer thanked Ambassador Johnson for his outspoken defense of democratic principles including the defense of minority rights in Slovakia. He presented the Ambassador with a certificate recognizing his special contribution to the democratization of Slovakia along with a medal issued on the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the founding of CSEMADOK. Ambassador Johnson expressed his appreciation to the group, recognizing the Hungarian parties' valuable contribution and cooperation in promoting democratic values, first in the opposition, and presently as a member of the government coalition. He also thanked Edith Lauer and the Hungarian American Coalition for fulfilling the role of a US-based NGO in providing valuable information and contacts for both the US Mission and for the ethnic Hungarian community in Slovakia. Ildikó Orosz Visits Six Hungarian-American Communities Ms. Ildikó Orosz, a Hungarian community leader from Subcarpathian Ukraine, was invited by the Hungarian American Coalition and the Hungarian Communion of Friends to tour Hungarian American communities in the U.S. Between April 5-22, 1999, Ms. Orosz visited New Brunswick, New Jersey, New York City, Cleveland, Ohio, Chicago, Illinois, Washington, DC, and Sarasota, Florida. In her lectures Ms. Orosz reported on the current situation of the 200,000 thousand-large ethnic Hungarian community of Subcarpathian Ukraine focusing on their efforts to promote native-language education, especially on the university level. She called attention and asked for support for the dramatic struggle of a community committed to keeping its identity through maintaining its language and culture through the establishment of educational institutions to meet the community’s needs. Ms. Orosz, who is President of the Teachers' Association of Subcarpathian Hungarians and is Director of the Teachers' College in Beregovo (Beregszász), asked for support from the Hungarian American communities she visited to enable Hungarians in Ukraine to attend native-language higher education institutions. Both Ms. Orosz and the Coalition are deeply grateful for the generosity of those who responded to Mr. Orosz's request. For your information, on average, a year of study at the Beregszász Teacher's College costs $300. When compared with the shocking figure of per capita annual income of $120-200, the dire need for help is immediately apparent. If you want to be one of those who sponsors or contributes to the education of a Subcarpathian student, please send your contribution to the Hungarian American Coalition - Friends of Beregszász Teacher's College. The Fight Against Corruption and Transnational Crime The Hungarian American Coalition is planning to hold a series of three conferences in three Hungarian cities on fighting corruption and transnational crime. This project is planned for this Fall, that is, in late September or early October of 1999, and will be a joint program with a U.S. non-governmental agency, the New York-based International Law Institute’s Center for the Study of Corruption and the Batthyányi Foundation, a Hungarian non-governmental agency, and with the cooperation of the Hungarian Ministry of Justice and the FBI Academy in Budapest. 5 • Hungarian American Coalition • June 1999
