Amerikai Magyar Hírlap, 2012 (24. évfolyam, 1-50. szám)

2012-07-20 / 29. szám

Hungarian Journal Speech of Benjamin Cardin, member of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives Senator Cardin has a long-standing interest in foreign affairs and human rights. He has been a Com­missioner on the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe (the U.S. Helsinki Commission) since 1993, serving as Chairman in the 111th Congress and Co-Chairman in the 112th Congress. He also serves as Vice President of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Parliamentary Assembly. In the 111th Congress, he also is a member of the National Security Working Group monitoring arms control issues. CONGRESSIONAL RECORD-SENATE S4944 July 12, 2012 Mr. President, a year ago, I shared with my colleagues concerns I had about the trajectory of democracy in Hungary. Unfortunately, since then Hungary has moved ever farther away from a broad range of norms relating to democracy and the rule of law. On June 6, David Kramer, the President of Freedom House who served as Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor for President George W. Bush, summed up the situation. Releas­ing Freedom House’s latest edition of Nations in Transit Kramer said: “Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych, under the pretext of so called reforms, have been sys­tematically breaking down critical checks and balances. They appear to be pursuing the ‘Putinization’ of their countries. ” The report further elaborates, “Hungary ’s precipitous descent is the most glaring example among the newer European Union (EU) members. Its deterioration over the past five years has affected institutions that form the bedrock of democratically accountable systems, including independent courts and media. Hungary’s negative trajectory predated the current government of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, but his drive to concentrate power over the past two years has forcefully propelled the trend. ” Perhaps the most authoritative voice regarding this phenomenon is the Prime Minister himself. In a Feb­ruary 2010 speech, Viktor Orba n criticized a system of governance based on pluralism and called instead for: “a large centralized political field of power ... designed for permanently governing.” In June of last year, he defended his plan to cement economic policy in so-called cardinal laws, which require a two-thirds vote in parliament to change, by saying, “It is no secret that in this respect I am tying the hands of the next government, and not only the next one but the following ten.” Checks and balances have been eroded and power has been concentrated in the hands of officials whose extended terms of office will allow them to long outlive this government and the next. These include the public prosecutor, head of the state audit office, head of the national judicial office, and head of the media board. Those who have expressed concerns about these developments have good reason to be alarmed. I am particularly concerned about the independence of the judiciary which, it was reported this week, will be the subject of infringement proceedings launched by the European Commission, and Hungary ’s. new media law. Although there have been some cosmetic tweaks to the media law, the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media has argued that it remains highly problematic. Indeed, one expert has predicted that the most likely outcome of the new law will be to squeeze out reporting on corruption. Hungary also adopted a new law on religion last year that had the stunning effect of stripping hundreds of religions of their legal recognition en masse. Of the 366faiths which previously had legal status in Hun­gary, only 14 were initially granted recognition under the new law. Remarkably, the power to decide what is or is not a religion is vested entirely and exclusively in the hands of the legislature, making it a singularly politicized and arbitrary process. Of 84 churches that subsequently attempted to regain legal recognition, 66 were rejected without any explanation or legal rationale at all. The notion that the new framework should be acceptable because the faiths of most Hungarian citizens are recognized is poor comfort for the minority who find themselves the victims of this discriminatory process. This law also stands as a negative example for many countries around the world just now beginning tenuous movement towards democracy and human rights. Finally, a year ago, I warned that “[i]f one side of the nationalism coin is an excessive fixation on Hungarian ethnic identity beyond the borders, the other side is intolerance toward minorities at home. ” I am especially concerned by an escalation of anti-Semitic acts which I believe have grown directly from the government’s own role in.seeking to revise Hungary’s past. Propaganda against the 1920 Treaty of Trianon, which defines the current borders of Hungary, has manifested itself in several ways. Most concretely, the Hungarian government extended citizen­ship on the basis of ethnic or blood identity—something the government of Viktor Orba 'n promised the Council of Europe in 2001 that it would not do and which failed to win popular support in a 2004 referendum. Second, the government extended voting rights to these new ethnic citizens in countries including Romania, Serbia, Slovakia and Ukraine. This has combined with a rhetorical and symbolic fixation on “lost”. Hungarian territories—apparently the rationale for displaying ah 1848 map of Greater Hungary during Hungary’s EU presidency last year. In this way, the government is effectively advancing central elements of the agenda of the extremist, anti-Semitic, anti-Roma Jobbik party. Moreover, implicitly—but unmistakably—it is sending the message that Hungary is no longer a civic state where political rights such as voting derive from citizenship, but where citizenship derives from one’s ethnic status or blood identity. The most recent manifestation of this revisionism includes efforts to rehabilitate convicted war criminal Albert Wass and the bizarre spectacle of the Hungarian government’s role in a ceremony in neighboring Romania — over the objections ofthat country — honoring fascist writer and ideologue JoszefNyiro. That event effectively saw the Speaker of the Hungarian Parliament, László Kover; the Hungarian State Secre­tary for Culture, Geza Szocs; and Gabor Vona, the leader of Hungary’s most notoriously extremist party, Jobbik, united in honoring Nyrio. Several municipalities have now seen fit to erect statues honoring Miklós Horthy, Hungary’s wartime leader, and the writings of Wass and Nyiro have been elevated onto the national curriculum. It is not surprising that this climate of intolerance and revisionism has gone hand-in-hand with an out­break of intolerance, such as the antiSemitic verbal assaults on a 90-year old Rabbi and on a journalist, an attack on a synagogue menorah in Nagykanizsa, the vandalism of a Jewish memorial in Budapest and monuments honoring Raoul Wallenberg, the Blood Libel screed by a Jobbik MP just before Passover, and the recent revelation that a Jobbik MP requested — and received — a certificate from a genetic diagnostic company attesting that the MP did not have Jewish or Romani ancestry. We are frequently told that Fidesz is the party best positioned in Hungary to guard against the extremism of Jobbik. At the moment, there seems to be little evidence to support that claim. The campaign to rehabili­tate fascist ideologues and leaders from World War II is dangerous and must stop. Ultimately, democracy and the rights of minorities will stand or fall together. Hungary is not just on the wrong track, it is heading down a dangerous road. The rehabilitation of disgraced World War II figures and the exaltation of blood and nation reek of a different era, which the community of democracies — especially Europe—had hoped was gone for good. Today ’s Hungary demonstrates that the battle against the worst human instincts is never fully won but must be fought in every generation, (gpo.gov) Július 20, 2012 ÍD Message From Ambassador György Szapáry at the Wallen­berg Congressional Gold Medal Luncheon July 11, 2012 Dear Special Guests, Honorees, Members of the Commission, Ladies and Gentlemen: Let me express my sincere regrets that I cannot be present at this event due to my previous engagements abroad. I greatly appreciate the undying commitment of the Friedlander Group and especially Ezra Friedlander in working relentlessly for the passage of the Wallenberg Centennial Act, which is so fitting as we celebrate the 100th anniver­sary of the birth of Raoul Wallenberg. We were glad to see the House version of the bill pass on the evening when Hungarian State Secretary Gergely Pröhle and myself along with the Lantos family and several members of Congress hosted a wreath-laying at the Capitol’s Wallenberg bust. We were on the bal­cony of the House Chamber when the final votes were cast and it was a very special moment. It was also a true testimony to Wallenberg’s deeds and the universal values he represented that the House of Repre­sentatives approved the bill unanimously. Now the time has come for the Senate to join this effort and do the same. And ever since the bill was introduced, I used every opportunity to call on Members of Congress to support the bill and recognize Wal­lenberg, a “knight of humanity” as we call him in Hungary and I will continue to do so until the finish line because it is a worthy endeavor that deserves every support. As most of you know, Hungary joined the government of Sweden last year to form the Wallenberg Commemorative Commission and we chose this symbolic year to highlight the importance and responsibil­ity of every single individual standing up for what is right no matter how hard the circumstances are. Through a series of conferences, exhibitions, secondary school competitions, academic panels, and commemorative concerts the government of Hungary uses this year as a window of opportunity for education and raising general awareness about the very real dangers of exclusion and discrimination and the values of cooperation based on the terrible lessons of the past. We must emphasize that in Hungary there were too many of those who consciously identified themselves with an ideology of hatred and exclusion or simply did nothing to prevent genocide. As our foreign minister János Martonyi said “during the Holocaust the Hungarian state was weighted in the balance and found wanting. It was not able to protect its citizens, and - although under foreign occupation - even assisted in their destruction.” But there were also those who made a real difference in this terrible battle of life and death. As Deputy For­eign Minister Zsolt Németh, Co-Chair of the Hungarian Wallenberg Commission said, those who “dared to say no in the darkness of the Nazi regime....had been glowing like stars in the night sky.” And indeed Wallenberg was not alone. He was joined by many Hungarians and internationals, agnostics and believers, civilians and military personnel. Sister Sára Salkaházi, who herself was shot into the Danube for her rescue efforts, harbored large numbers of Jews in downtown Budapest buildings. Or take Col. Ferenc Koszorús, of the Hungarian Army who displayed an immense amount of personal cour­age. As Holocaust survivor and late Congressman Tom Lantos said his “unparalleled action was the only case known in which an Axis power used military force for the purpose of preventing the deportation of the Jews. As a result of his extraordinarily brave efforts, taken at great risk in an extremely volatile situation, the eventual takeover of Buda­pest by the Nazis was delayed by 3 1/2 months.” But Wallenberg himself stood out among the rescuers. The Swedish protecting passes (or Schutzpassen) meant survival for our Jewish com­patriots. The so-called Swedish protected houses, across Budapest pro­vided safe-havens for 15,000 Jews while too many were already being forced into the ghetto. Wallenberg’s personal tragedy, his capture by the Soviets and unknown death is a painful example of our difficult past and more research regarding his capture and death remains to be done to do justice to his memory. As we commemorate these heroic examples, we must remember the personal sacrifice and the risk they took. We must remember that they were part of the few, not the many. It is our national tragedy and our shared responsibility to learn from our past and engage in an ongoing dialogue with our Jewish and non-Jewish friends in Hungary, America, and around the world to combat anti-Semitism, intolerance and hatred. As a representative of the Hungarian government, I am humbled by this effort of the United States Congress to grant the Congressional Gold Medal to someone who changed the course of history for thou­sands of Jews in Hungary. I salute and thank the bill’s original co-spon­sors, Rep. Meeks, Rep. Nan Hayworth and Senator Gillibrand who have shown tremendous personal leadership in this effort. I encourage the remaining 30 Senators who have not yet officially expressed their support for the bill to follow suit and I look forward to celebrating the passage of the bill together with you. Sincerely, György Szapáry, Ambassador of Hungary Our advertisers make it possible for the HÍRLAP to appear. Please support us by using their products and services! AMERIKAI Ufagyar Hírlap

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