Magyar News, 2000. szeptember-2001. augusztus (11. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
2001-05-01 / 9. szám
7%o are Romas __TO 3EAT OR NOT TO EAT... Almost daily on the TV or in the papers we see information on the foot and mouth disease. The cattle, mostly in England, are stricken with this devastating sickness. Horrible scenes are shown, and 300,000 cows are piled up with heavy machinery and set on fire to be burned away. This disease is decimating the cattle herds, also causing devastating agricultural and economic problems. It is noticed that this disease didn’t stop at the border, there are other countries like France trying to localize it. Hungary is on the look-out. Though the number of cattle declined in the recent past but it is still a sizable amount. Going far back as I could remember, there was always a big puddle at the gates where the cows entered the property. These were filled with disinfecting fluids that killed the germs that might be on the hoofs. The Hungarian government took proper steps to prevent spreading of the disease. Hungary's measures to block the spread of foot and mouth disease have caused no disruptions at border stations except to slow traffic at crossings with Austria. Hungarian health authorities ordered a disinfection of trucks and a full ban of imports of live British and Belgian pigs and other cloven-footed animals, as well as all products made from them. Customs officers turned back several shipments containing goods on the ban list. Baggage of arrivals from Great Britain and Belgium are subjected to a piecemeal search, and those who are reluctant to cooperate with the customs authorities are not allowed to enter Hungary. Vehicles arriving from Western Europe are also disinfected and a special disinfecting carpet has been laid at Budapest Ferihegy international airport too. Despite all the restrictions and care, the tourist population is reluctant to travel into European areas. Specially the Americans who demand their steak cooked rare. As a result some tours have been cancelled, mostly those with larger number of non- Hungarians. The tour organized by the Pearl of Budapest was moved to next year. The British defense and security magazine Jane's Intelligence Digest wrote that the Roma (Gypsy) had been encouraged to claim persecution and violations of human rights to European Union bodies in order to tarnish Hungary's reputation and create difficulties during its accession negotiations with the European Union. József Krasznai, spokesman of the Roma group from the Hungarian village of Zamoly, said that he plans to sue the British periodical for printing a report alleging that Russian secret services had encouraged the emigration of the group to France. Meanwhile, Alex Standish, editor of the British periodical, told Hungarian Television that his staff "assumes responsibility" for the report. National Security Committee Chairman said he had not received an answer to his question of whether the Hungarian secret services had been aware of any measures to influence the Roma to leave Hungary on the part of the Russian secret services. 15 Roma from Hungary received the refugee status necessary for them to be granted settlement and work permits in France. Two adult members of a Romany family were notified on Tuesday in Strasbourg that their request for refugee status had been rejected by the French refugee office. József Krasznai, spokesman of the Roma in Strasbourg stated that he would appeal the decision on behalf of the fivemember Romany family. The background to the case is that the buildings inhabited by the six Roma families were damaged during a storm at the end of October, 1997. The families asked the local authority to provide housing, and the mayor - lacking any other facility - provided temporary accommodations in the village's cultural centre, where the families spent nearly two years. From there they moved into wooden houses erected by the National Roma Authority. They then temporarily resettled in Budapest, then moved to Csor, and finally emigrated to Strasbourg last year. József Krasznai, spokesman for the Roma families who have since emigrated to Strasbourg, France, was called to testify as a witness in the trial. He said the then mayor of Zamoly had wanted to force the Roma out of the village, and that was why the buildings had been demolished. However, the court found that the former mayor had showed a readiness to help the Roma families. Victor Orbán, Premier of Hungary noted that Hungary has nothing to be ashamed of. The Roma have their own representation, far exceeding any other neighboring nations. Hungary is putting up many health centers just to serve the larger Roma settlement. In average these serve 6,000 each. Also it is in Hungary where an internet system has been set up only to serve the Roma. He remarked in a sarcastic way that the Hungarian government should open up possibilities for ethnic groups in France, like the Basks, who on request should receive political asylum. He also said that the prosperity of the Romas, as of others, depend on learning and working. Following are some information on the mentioned programs. 120 health centers are being set up in localities inhabited by large Gypsy communities. The centers will contain bathing facilities and a kitchen for cooking courses. The program envisions further training of district nurses, who will then be assisted by Roma medical assistants. The wardens of the health centers will be Roma men. The first facilities are in Borsod- Abauj-Zemplen and Szabolcs-Szatmar- Bereg counties. Hungary's ethnic Roma (Gypsy) population exceeds 700,000. An international labor information system, called Roma-Net, has been set up at Alsopahok, in the southwest Hungarian Zala County. A conference on the issue was attended by labor and social experts from six Central European countries (Germany, Austria, Slovakia, Slovenia, Czech Republic and Hungary) and representatives of their Roma organizations. The aim of the system is for the concerned countries to make public their Roma employment methods and programs on the Internet. The Hungarian coordinator of the scheme is the Zala County Labor Centre which cooperates with the local association of Gypsy Minority Self- Governments. We find it very interesting to see how the French jump on a frivolous incident with such force , disregarding the realistic circumstances, and making an international affair out of it. There must be something that they have against the Hungarians. They showed their bad side when in the Trianon Treaty they went out of their way with cunning left and right to massacre the Hungarian nation. One day the French should lay it in front of the world what their problem is. Maybe they are still ashamed that small groups of Hungarians between 900 and 950 on horseback freely roamed the whole territory and they had nothing to say about it. It makes sense. Doesn’t it? There are roumors that the Ukrainian Secret Service is behind giving the Hungarians a bad name. It’s not proven but it is imaginable that the Ukrain does not want to share the Carpathian Basin with a member of the European Union. An other thing to think about. J.F. Balogh Page 7
