William Penn Life, 2008 (43. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
2008-01-01 / 1. szám
Magyar Matters Treaty opens borders with some neighbors, others to follow from The Budapest Sun BUDAPEST — With Hungary joining the Schengen Union, its borders with other treaty member states Austria, Slovakia, and Slovenia disappeared Dec. 21. But other borders, for example with European Union member Romania, will remain until that country joins the Schengen treaty. Hungary's joining the Schengen Union is, certainly, not a relief for everyone. While borders between ethnic Hungarians living in Austria, Slovakia, or Slovenia and the mother country will virtually disappear, other Hungarians, living in Romania, Serbia, or Ukraine, will find it even more difficult to enter Hungary than previously. Ethnic Hungarians living in non- EU states (including Serbia and Ukraine) will now need visas to enter Hungary. The visa, which costs 35 Euros ($51), will allow them to stay in the Schengen zone for 90 days. "The government will set up a fund of 720 million forints ($4.15 million) in 2008 to subsidize certain ethnic Hungarians to help them buy their visas," said József Kozma, spokesman for the Parliamentary Foreign Affairs Committee. He added that no visas will be required for pensioners and students. Although Croatia is not yet a member of the EU, due to a bilateral agreement between it and Hungary, Croatian citizens, including Croatian Hungarians, will need only their ID cards to enter Hungary. Citizens of Romania will also be allowed to enter Hungary without visas. While borders within the Schengen zone have disappeared, passport control at Hungary's airports will remain until March 30, 2008. AHF to conduct Mega 50/50 Raffe NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ - The American Hungarian Foundation is once again conducting its "Mega 50/50 Raffle" featuring 100 prizes, including a potential top prize of $50,000. The drawing will take place on Saturday, May 17, during the AHF's 45th Annual Carousel Ball at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in New Brunswick. Tickets for the raffle are $100 each, and a maximum of 2,000 tickets will be sold, meaning the prize pool could reach as high as $100,000. The grand prize will be 50 percent of the prize pool, for a potential grand prize of $50,000. There will also be 99 other cash prizes awarded as follows:- one first prize equal to 12.5 percent of the prize pool (max. $12,500);- one second prize equal to five percent of the prize pool (max. $5,000);- two prizes equal to 2.5 percent of the prize pool (max. $2,500 each);-15 prizes equal to 0.5 percent of the prize pool (max. $500 each); and- 80 prizes equal to 0.25 percent of the prize pool (max. $250 each). In last year's inaugural Mega 50/ 50 Raffle, the top five prize winners were awarded more than $26,000. Tickets may be purchased by filling out a ticket application form and submitting it along with a check for $100. Ticket applications are available by calling the AHF at (732) 846- 5777. Only the first 2,000 applications will be honored; all other contributions will be returned. All proceeds will benefit the AHF and its efforts to preserve and promote the culture, history and contributions of Hungarians in America. In Brief Hungary opens labor market to Romanians BUDAPEST — Hungary was set to open its labor market Jan. I to Romanians, but officials on both sides see little danger of Romanian citizens flooding the Hungarian market as a result. Romanian Prime Minister Calin Popescu Tariceanu said unemployment in his country has fallen to 4.1 percent and, with wages increasing, the most important issue in the Romanian labor market is a lack of workers. Hungarian Prime Minister Ference Gyurcsány agreed with that assessment, noting that after Romania joined the European Union in January 2007, there was a drastic drop in the number of applications for work permits in Hungary by Romanian citizens. Opposition leader visits United States BUDAPEST — Opposition party leader Viktor Orbán spent a week in Washington in November. While in the U.S., Orbán met with several officials of the U.S. State Department and European Union. The talks focused on the EU’s relations with Russia and Hungary’s dependency on Russian energy. He also met with Tom Lantos, the Budapest-born chairman of the Senate’s Foreign Relations Committee, but declined to hold a joint press conference with Lantos afterwards. Lantos said he criticized the extreme rightwing Hungarian Guard and that Orbán showed no signs of disagreeing. Orbán later said that Washington sees Hungary as a country falling behind without specifying who had said so. 1 1 William Penn Life, January 2008
