Amerikai Magyar Hírlap, 2017 (29. évfolyam, 1-50. szám)
2017-09-15 / 35. szám
New York Times: Hungarian Government Spar Over EU Quota Lawsuit Last week the EU’s highest court, the European Court of Justice, dismissed a case launched by the governments of Hungary and Slovakia challenging the legality of the EU’s refugee resettlement quota plan. In its dismissal, the court ruled that the two countries’ arguments against the quota plan lacked legal merit, as the mechanism actually contributes to enabling Greece and Italy to deal with the impact of the-2015 migration crisis and is proportionate. That ruling, as well as the Hungarian government’s heated response to it, led the editorial board of the New York Times to publish an opinion piece entitled “Hungary is Making Europe’s Migrant Crisis Worse.” This, in turn, garnered a critical response from the Orbán government, which in a blog claimed that “The New York Times editors really still don’t get it.” New York Times Editorial In its editorial, the New York Times blasted Hungary’s “inhospitable attitude” towards those fleeing civil war and famine in the Middle East and Africa. In fact, the beginning of the piece unfavorably compares the Orbán government of today with the Hungary of 1989, when the country led the way in opening its borders to let the people of Communist-ruled Eastern Europe move freely between East and West. Effectively throwing its lot in with the West, Hungary declared then that it was guided by generally accepted international principles of human rights and humanitarian consideration. Today, by contrast, the Times claimed, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó’s comments that the Court of Justice’s ruling was a sign that “politics has raped European laws and values,” as well as his other comments railing against the decision, showed that the country has abandoned the human rights it once held dear. While acknowledging the failures of the quota system, the editorial board critiqued “Hungary’s callousness” in refusing to take in “a tiny fraction” of those to be resettled, 1294 in total. It argued that Europe must look “for humanitarian solutions,” and that the effort to do so must be a shared one, “based on international law and European values, which include tolerance, cultural diversity, protection of minorities and a rejection of xenophobia.” Reflecting on what it argued was Hungary’s earlier embrace of human rights, the Times ended by claiming that it is particularly sad to see countries that so poignantly celebrated the lifting of the Iron Curtain now argue, as Hungary does, that being asked to take in a small number of Muslim immigrants is somehow a violation of European laws and values...The court of Justice ruling should stand as a strong reminder to Hungary and its neighbors that the principles of human rights and humanitarian considerations they once so ardently embraced are not optional. Hungarian Government Response In a blog response on an official website, Hungarian government spokesman Zoltán Kovács attacked the editors of the New York Times for failing “to understand some basic facts” regarding the ongoing refugeemigrant crisis. After going after the editors for writing “from the comforts of Midtown Manhattan,” Kovács claimed that the Hungarian government’s strict migration policies, including maintaining the security and integrity of the borders of the Schengen zone, the borderless area that allows freedom of movement, is essential to the EU’s security and the workings of the internal market. That’s a key point here. Kovács went on to argue that the government’s policies are not making the crisis worse, claiming in particular that “weak, undefended borders” are aggravating the issue “by creating a ‘pull factor,’ encouraging migrants to set out on the dangerous journey.” He added that Orbán had long advocated providing direct aid “to the territories immediately affect by conflict.” The government spokesman claimed that Hungary’s construction of a border fence was, in fact, “a meaningful demonstration of our solidarity,” adding that plans like the refugee-migrant quota system “are making the migration crisis worse because they will continue to encourage illegal migration.” In a jab at both the Times and the European Court of Justice’s decision, Kovács ended by ‘clarifying’ what the NYT casually refers to as international law and European values, language that appeals to the ‘limousine liberal’ readership of the Times. While “Hungary acknowledges” the EU court’s decision, according to Kovács, the EU has no right to “decide on immigration.” He likewise quoted Orbán’s comments last week, in which the Prime Minister claimed that Hungary will fight EU policy “that wants to settle anyone in a Member State against the will of the nation states.” Zoltán’s arguments found a sympathetic ear at the Washington Times, where conservative political columnist Cal Thomas claimed that “the U.S. could learn from” Hungary’s immigration policy, which he went on to praise as “some of the toughest...in the European Union.” To clarify, the decided by the EU Court of Justice is completely separate from the infringement procedure the European Commission launched in June against Hungary, Poland, and the Czech Republic over the three countries’ refusal to implement the mandatory refugee resettlement quota scheme, hungarytoday.hu The English Page of the Hírlap can serve as a bridge between the non-Hungarian-speaking members of the family and the community. Use it to bring people together! Subscribe to the Hírlap! Advertise your business in the Hírlap! If you have any questions or suggestions, please call (323) 463-6376 Szeptember 15,2017 © “Flash ” Message From L.A. County Commissioner Dr. Frank De Balogh: “You Can Do A Good Deed For A Friend In Need, Now!” Whether you read it in the LA Times or as a reprint in this great journal, the story of a longtime member of our Hungarian community, Steve Hideg, a 1956 refugee, is compelling. I have known Steve since he and I, Ilona Reksz, Susan and Julius Jancso, Alex Stiglitz, and many others enthusiastically worked to elect Ronald Reagan as president in the 80s. Steve is clearly now in need and we have a chance to help. The LA Times article did not mention how we can donate to a fund that has been set up on behalf of Steve. It’s simple to do: go on the Internet and find GoFundMe.com and enter the name of Steve Hideg - help for an old drummer. When you do that you know you will be doing a good deed for a deserving member of our community. So far, several hundred people have chosen to do so, most of them not from our community. My fellow Hungarians! Let’s also do our part! In Memóriám Rev. Imre Bertalan Jr. 1949-2017 Rev. Imre Bertalan Jr. in Ligonier, PA. Photo by Todd Berkey/the Tribune-Democrat, Johnstown, PA. Members of the Hungáriám American Coalition (Coalition) are deeply saddened to learn that Coalition Board Member Rev. Imre Bertalan Jr., Executive Director of Bethlen Communities, passed away on Monday, August 29, 2017 surrounded by his family. He was 67 years old. His absence represents a major loss for the Hungarian-American community at large, where his measured voice carried far beyond his immediate surroundings in Pennsylvania. Rev. Imre Bertalan Jr. was born on October 4, 1949 in New Brunswick, NJ, as son of the late Imre and Margaret Kosa Bertalan. He graduated from Rutgers University in New Brunswick and from the Princeton Seminary, NJ. He was an ordained clergyman for both the Hungarian Reformed Church of America and the Calvin Synod of the United Church of Christ. Rev. Bertalan did not set out to be a minister when he graduated from seminary in 1977. Instead, he initially became a community organizer in Toledo, OH working for a neighborhood group in the late 1970s. His daughter, Julia Bertalan of Toledo, OH said, “He was very involved in the Hungarian community in Toledo, New York and New Jersey”. He was called to be a minister in a Toledo church and later served a church in Allen Park, MI. Rev. Bertalan came to the Ligonier area in 1999 to serve as the executive director of Bethlen Communities, which was founded by the Hungarian Reformed Federation of America. “He saw his work at the Bethlen Communities as going way beyond the Bethlen Home. He envisioned it as a cultural center and wanted it to be a meaningful gathering place for Hungarian-Americans ... that continues and passes on Hungarian traditions,” Julia Bertalan said. Rev. Bertalan was active in the Ligonier Valley, formerly serving as president of the Rotary Club of Ligonier. He was a member of the Ligonier Valley Association of Churches and the Ligonier Valley Ministerial Association. He was an advocate for Ligonier High School sports teams, where his son, Imre Bertalan, was a starting center on the 2006 Ligonier Valley football team. He and his wife, Magdalene Ujvagi, had dinners for the team. She immigrated to the United States in December 1956, a month after the end of the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 Rev. Bertalan was planning to retire in three years and return to Toledo, where he intended to be a community organizer, Julia Bertalan said. “His work was his passion, and he loved his Busch beer and watching sports,” she said. “His Hungarian heritage was really important to him, and passing it on was important,” said Julia Bertalan. “It’s definitely i. stilled in all of us. A little bit of him will live in all of us.” In addition to his wife of 37 years and his daughter, Julia, he is survived by daughters Sara Davis of Toledo, OH, Magda Bertalan of Madison, WI, and Margit Bertalan of Fayetteville, NC; con, Imre E. Bertalan of Toledo, OH; and five grandchildren. A celebration of life seryice will be held in Ligonier at a later date. The J. Paul McCracken Funeral Chapel Inc., Ligonier, is assisting the family. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests memorials in Rev. Bertalan’s memory be made to the Bethlen Communities, 125 Kalassay Drive, Ligonier, PA 15658. Sympathy notes can be sent to Mrs. Magdalena Bertalan to this address as well. The Hungarian-American community mourns the loss of this true Hungarian patriot, deeply committed to the Hungarian-American community, a long-time leader of the Bethlen Communities in Ligonier, PA, and a genuinely good man. hacusa.org SUBSCRIBE TO THE HÍRLAP! FARMERS AUTO * HOME * LIFE Gets You Back Where You Belong 21st Century insurance customers % CALL & SAVE UP TO 18 ON YOUR HOMEOWNERS DIRECT * NO BROKER FEE CALL FOR FREE QUOTE 818 981-8424 Sokol Insurance Agency * Lie # 772323 AMERICAN Hungarian Journal rsmrm AMERIKAI Magyar Hírlap
