Hungarian Heritage Review, 1991 (20. évfolyam, 1-11. szám)
1991-02-01 / 2. szám
A "WELFARE CURTAIN" IN PLACE OF THE "IRON CURTAIN"??? According to reliable sources of information supported by eyewitness accounts, political, economic, and social conditions in Hungary and in other countries of East Central Europe are so bad that they cannot be resolved fast enough to defuse rising discontent among the populace and to forestall the looming threat of a mass exodus of people from East to West. This threat has already been taken so seriously by the U.N. High Commission on Refugees, who predict a refugee-flood of about 25-million people, and the Council of Europe that, at the urging of Austria, a special congress was recently convened in Vienna to discuss ways and means to cope with it. This meeting was attended by representatives from all of the countries of Western Europe, Central and Eastern Europe, the Soviet Union, the United States, and Canada. What to do about the expected refugee-flood from East to West, is an ironical twist in history. First, there was an "Iron Curtain" keeping such a possibility under jackbooted control, a barrier deplored by the West. Now that it has been torn down, the West is not prepared for or even willing to absorb the flood of refugees from the East actually underway. This prompted Joseph Antall, the Prime Minister of the Republic of Hungary, to complain that "a "Welfare Curtain'"is going up to keep people out"! Among the hundreds of thousands of refugees from the East already in Austria, Germany, and elsewhere around Western Europe, it is not unreasonable to assume that among them are many Hungarians and that many more will follow. Most of them, of course, hope to emigrate to the U.S. But, with America at war in the Persian Gulf, and the Hungarian community in the U.S. not yet "glued together" strongly enough to wield the kind of political clout necessary to penetrate presidential, congressional, and senatorial minds, the possibility of influencing the organization of a government-sponsored "Hungarian Refugee Program" remains remote. Here, then, is another valid reason why the Hungarian community in America should rally together for the formation of OFFICIAL representation in Washington! Paul Pulitzer Executive Editor-Publisher USPS 046-310 HUNGARIAN HERITAGE REVIEW ISSN 0889-2695 The HUNGARIAN HERITAGE REVIEW is published monthly by, and as the official publication of, the RÁKÓCZI FOUNDATION-INTERNATIONAL, INC. (USA), a non-profit organization, whose address is P.O. Box 2203, Union, New Jersey 07083 (Tel: 201-964-8464). EXECUTIVE EDITOR-PUBLISHER: Paul Pulitzer. SECOND CLASS POSTAGE paid at Union, New Jersey. SUBSCRIPTION RATES: USA and Canada, $25.00 a year; ABROAD, $35.00 a year USD. Trademark registered. Copyright 1985. All rights reserved. POSTMASTER: Please forward address changes to P.O. Box 2203, Union, New Jersey 07083. FEBRUARY 1991 HUNGARIAN HERITAGE REVIEW 1
