Magyar News, 1998. szeptember-1999. augusztus (9. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
1999-06-01 / 10. szám
ABOUT AUTONOMY AND KOSOVO (CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1) a couple of weeks, and through a few military skirmishes to declare its own Republic. The Slovenians lived mostly under Austrian tutelage and were independent only briefly during their entire history, yet the idea of self-determination, national identity, and the desire to live in their own country was never fading. The Croatian national fight for independence demanded more bloodshed. During the fights not only Croation cities but two ancient Hungarian settlements, Korogy and Szentlaszlo, in Syrmia were also destroyed by Serb artillery. The Croatians, an ancient state-creating nation, while in personal union with the Royal Hungarian Kingdom for 8 centuries, have never lost their identity, their regional and spiritual liberty. These characteristics make it rather easy to rebuild their devastated economy, destroyed cities and independent state. The Bosnian nation never had their own state, and would live at the most in various forms of autonomy under Turkish, Austrian or Greater-Serb guardianship. The new state was brought about by the great powers, primarily by the political will and military might of the United States, which guaranteed its survival. The relationship of the great powers in regard to the small nations took a visible change, which could be seen above all in the attitude of the United States toward the "South-Slav" problem. While this attitude could be characterized as suspicious and non-trusting during the Slovenian liberation fight, it was transformed during the Bosnian crisis, when the United States itself forced the solution, and in Kosovo, where the Western World is ready to use military power in order to secure the autonomy of the Kosovars. What is the explanation for this great change? For the successors of Wilson the main issue was the preservation of peace and tranquility, even at the price of the total suspension of the autonomy and national liberty of the small nations and ethnic groups. Slowly, the Western Powers had to understand that the peace and tranquility of the region and of the West could not be maintained by "restraining" the minorities and small nations, but rather by accepting once again and following consequently the Wilsonian principles possibly through peaceful means. Let us now talk about the "Slovak time," that means the dissolution of Czechoslovakia. This was the most peaceful separation, without one single bullet.. The Czech humanists were surprised that the Slovaks would opt for the simple poverty of independence, rather than the rich federation. In the midst of these great transformations, Hungary, the greatest loser of the Trianon treaty, is simply excluded. The Hungarian nation - including the motherland - is now dismembered in eight separate independent countries. In spite of the fact that every Hungarian minority expressed its desire for its own autonomy, only the Hungarians in Voivodina (Délvidék) came before international attention. The Hungarian government declared its demand that, in parallel with the autonomy of Kosovo also, the autonomy of Voivodina, which was abolished by the Milosevich regime, be restored. Due to Serb oppression, there are more than 350,000 Hungarians living in that part of Yugoslavia in constant fear. Over 50,000 men, women and children were forced to leave their homes and flee to Hungaiy. Hungarian young men are conscripted in the Serbian army to fight in Kosovo. One of the curses of Trianon is also the fact that while our neighbors have to be content with one or two minority problems, we have to fight with different versions of our minority issues in seven countries. Who ever heard this in the Foreign Ministries of the great powers? Who took seriously the will and the voice of the largest minority group in Europe? Do they listen only to the places where the guns are thundering, like in Kosovo today? The minorities and small nations were never able in the past nor will they be able in the future to determine their faith by themselves. A new Wilson should come forward, who as the leader of the only super-power can empathize with the feelings and aspirations of the small nation, and who is willing to secure the peace of his own country and that of the world in such a way that it should be at the same time the freedom and the peace of all small nations and minorities. The peace that is so much desired in our undivided global world must also be undivided and global. One country or one half of the world can enjoy peace only, if the other half of the world also enjoys it. This is the sum and substance of the principle of self-determination. President Wilson would surely not give this up today! György Beke was born in Uzon, Transylvania, in 1927, and graduated from the Reformed Szekler Miko College of Sepsiszentgyorgy and the Bolyai University of Kolozsvár. He began his writing career as a fiction writer, depicting the life of the Hungarians in Transylvania. Later he visited every region where Hungarians lived, including the tragic homeland of the Csango-Hungarians in Moldavia, and reported in a series of books the problems of the largest minority in Europe. The Romanian Government forced him out of the country of his ancestors. Today he lives and works in Budapest as one of the most respected and most reliable interpreter of the Hungarian scene. Well deserved summer vacation The Magyar Studies under the direction of Gyula Egervári concluded a year of learning about the Hungarian language and culture. The classes were held at the Fairfield Woods Middle School throughout the school year. The teaching staff was made up of Katalin Aranyi, Zsuzsa Lengyel and Valerie Miklós. Also for the recently started embroidery class Monica Horlik, who otherwise was a student in the studies, began teaching. We congratulate all those who completed the year: Aranyi, Krisztina Batizfalvi, John J. Bianco, Carole Bosley, Sharon Arm Burke, Edward A. Deer, Dennis Deer, Susan Englander, Jesse Gazsi, William Heffeman, Cheryl Horlik, Monica Kaloczy, Catherine Besides those in the list there were others who for personal reasons could not participate every time. Still they had the opportunity to learn something about their heritage and the history of their ancesters. Everybody is looking forward to the new classes starting in the fall and to the continuation of further studies. Kaloczy, Madeline Lapis, Bertha Lynch, Christopher Mayo, Jason J. 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