Hungarian American Coalition News, 2000 (9. évfolyam, 1-3. szám)
2000 / 3. szám
Participants included representatives of the government coalition, of significant opposition parties, the numerically most important minorities of Romania, scholars and human rights activists from Western Europe and the United States, (U.S. Congressmen: Rep. Joe Pitts, R. from PA and Rep. Benjamin Cardin, D. from MD), Foreign Minister Petre Roman, as well as other important officials, including Teodor Melescanu, György Tokay, Hildegard Puwak, and Horia Rusu. The first panel, that focused on the international context of Romania's policies toward its minorities, was moderated by Carl Siebentritt, former Consul at the US Embassy-Cluj/Kolozsvár Office. The panel included presentations from representatives of the Helsinki Committee of Romania, Gabriel Andrescu, the Swiss Ambassador to Romania, Jean-Claude Joseph, and NGO representatives from the United States, Armand Scala (President of the Congress of Romanian Americans), and Andrew Ludanyi (Hungarian American Coalition). Andrew Ludanyi of the Hungarian American Coalition stressed that because Romania is home to two million co-nationals the Hungarian-American community has its own window of concern regarding Romania's treatment of its minorities. Ludanyi stated that: "The leading elements of Romanian society must become more committed to defending the rights and the interests of all. Politics must become a win-win proposition, and not just a winner-take-all process. It is the responsibility of the Romanian elite to communicate this to the rest of society, because Romania as a whole has everything to gain by becoming a positive model." The conference's sponsors were USAID, the Ethnocultural Diversity Resource Center, World Learning, and the U.S. Embassy in Bucharest. Hungarian American Coalition Approves $80,000 Grant for Flood Relief in Hungary Town of Vamosujfalu to Rebuild Public Administration Building The Hungarian American Coalition has voted to approve an $80,000 grant to aid reconstruction of the administration building of Vamosujfalu (pop. 900). This Eastern Hungarian town, devastated by massive flooding last spring, was chosen based on recommendations by Hungarian flood relief officials, USAID, and an on-site field visit by Zsolt Szekeres, Treasurer of the Coalition. The grant will be used to rebuild Vamosujfalu's public administration building, which was totally destroyed. It is expected that construction will be completed in Fall of 2000. In addition, the Coalition's grant has acted as a catalyst to release $800,000 in funds from the Hungarian government, which will be used to build a floodwall to protect the town against future flooding. The Coalition's grant stems from a major contribution by an anonymous donor to the Coalition's Tisza Flood Victims' Relief Fund, set up to help mitigate the damage and suffering caused by the Tisza River flooding earlier this year. HAC Continues its Annual Support of Madach Posonium in Slovakia The Madach Posonium (Hungarian-language publishing house in Slovakia), is a major force in publishing Hungarian books, four monthly periodicals and the weekly newspaper, "Szabad Ujsag". Madach Posonium also maintains 7 bookstores in towns with the highest number of Hungarian residents in Southern Slovakia. The Slovak government provides minimal financial assistance to Madach 4 • Hungarian American Coalition • October 2000
