Hungarian American Coalition News, 2003 (12. évfolyam, 1-2. szám)
2003 / 1. szám
Hungarian American Coalition May 2003 Vol. 12, No. 1 DARK SPOT CONTINUES TO BLOT ROMANIA’S RECORD ON RELIGIOUS FREEDOM As U.S. Senate Ratifies NATO Membership for Romania, Hungarian-Americans Help Keep Church Property Restitution Issue on the Agenda To date, only 13 of the 2,140 historically Hungarian church properties illegally confiscated by communist Romanian authorities between 1945 and 1989 have been returned to their rightful owners. In June of 2002, Romania adopted a law “on the Restitution of Certain Properties Formerly Belonging to Religious Denominations,” and set a deadline of March 2, 2003, to submit claims. The four historic Hungarian churches (Roman Catholic, Reformed, Lutheran and Unitarian) submitted 1,974 claims, enumerating a total of 2,140 properties. (Altogether, religious denominations in Romania submitted more than 7,500 claims). Yet the Special Committee set up to decide each claim individually has yet to hold even a single hearing. Status of 2,140 Properties Illegally Confiscated from Hungarian Churches in Romania (as of April 9, 2003) 2,127 Properties Not Returned to Rightful Owners 99.4% 13 Properties Returned to Rightful Owners 0 6% j Source: Hungarian Human Rights Foundation (HHRF) Issues Alert. From the Editor’s desk... Welcome to the Coalition News in its new format! Henceforth the Coalition News will be issued more frequently, in a briefer format, to keep our readers informed in a more timely manner. Until the Coalition’s Information Committee takes over editorial responsibilities for the Coalition News, I will be collecting and editing all the news that fits our new format. Space is limited; our news items will often refer you to related websites and other sources for more information and complete documentation. As always, your contributions, comments and observations are welcome. Please keep them coming! János Szekeres (continued on page 2) Congressman Tom Tancredo, visits Hungary Congressman Tom Tancredo, RColorado, a member of the House International Relations Committee, visited Hungary between April 16- 18, 2003. Rep. Tancredo met with U.S. Ambassador Nancy Brinker, Deputy Chief of Mission Janet Garvey and the staff of the Embassy; Zsolt Németh, Chairman of the Parliament's Foreign Relations Committee; Gábor Bródi, Deputy Secretary of State; Ambassador András Balogh, foreign policy advisor to the Prime Minister; Bishop László Tőkés of Romania, to discuss restitution of church properties in Romania; and former Foreign Minister János Martonyi. The discussions focused upon Hungary's transatlantic and European Union relationships. The Congressman also addressed a meeting of the Batthyány Foundation on the same topic. The meetings were successful and it will be helpful to have another positive voice familiar with Hungarian issues in the U.S. Congress. The fact-finding mission was initiated and in part organized by Jenő Megyesy, who accompanied the Congressman on the trip.
