Fraternity-Testvériség, 1995 (73. évfolyam, 1-4. szám)
1995-01-01 / 1. szám
Page 8 TESTVÉRISÉG HUNGARIAN AMERICAN COMMUNITY LEADERS MEET with PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON At the Conference, President Dózsa had the opportunity to speak with President Bill Clinton about the successful transformation of Hungary’s Government to democracy. To the left of President Dózsa is László Hamos, President of the Hungarian Human Rights Foundation. fI had the honor to be among the 29 Central and East European ethnic community leaders to meet \S>f with President Clinton in Cleveland, Ohio, at the white House Conference for Trade and Investment in Central and Eastern Europe on Friday, January 13, 1995. In his address, President Clinton thanked the Commerce Department and the Business Council for International Understanding for organizing this conference as follows: In his speech, President Clinton underscored America’s support for security, democracy and economic reform in Central and Eastern Europe. He pledged that the US would remain engaged in Central and Eastern Europe and would keep working toward the complete integration of the region’s emerging democracies with the TransAtlantic community. The President also stressed that trade and investment benefit the American and Central European economies alike by generating jobs and wealth for both partners. Out of the twenty-nine Central and East European ethnic community leaders, seven representatives were Hungarian Americans, namely: Edith Lauer, President, Hungarian American Coalition; László Hamos, President, Hungarian Human Rights Foundation; Frank Koszorús, Jr., President, American Hungarian Federation of Metropolitan Washington, D.C.; Dr. Andrew Ludanyi, Professor of History and Political Science, Ohio Northern University; George Pogan, President, Cleveland Hungarian Development Panel; Peter Ujvagi, Councilman, Toledo City, and leader of the Toledo Hungarian American community; and myself, representing the Hungarian Reformed Federation of America. We each had the opportunity to speak to the President and personally raise some of the issues that were discussed the previous day with White House, State Department and Commerce Department representatives. The meeting with the President was preceded by a two and one-half hour discussion with key Administration officials, Ron Brown, Secretary of Commerce; Ambassador Richard Holbrooke, Assistant Secretary of State for European and Canadian affairs; Daniel Fried, Director of Central and Eastern European Affairs, National Security Council; Nicholas Burns, Senior Director for Russia, Ukraine and Eurasian Affairs; Donald Blinken, U.S. Ambassador to Hungary; and Alfred Moses, U.S. Ambassador to Romania. To a question raised by László Hamos about the Administration’s policy regarding the plight of the 3.5 million Hungarians living as minorities in Romania, Slovakia, Serbia and Ukraine, Ambassador Holbrooke emphasized that “the minority issue was indeed of moral, political and strategic importance to the U.S. and is frequently raised in bilateral meetings. ” of memory, heritage and pride link them today to Europe's emerging democracies. So it’s fitting that we should be meeting here. ” “ You 've assembled an impressive and diverse group — delegations from Central and Eastern Europe; business leaders from the United States and Europe; American ethnic leaders from all around our country; and so many outstanding state and local officials. I thank you all for being here. I have to say, I ’m especially pleased we ’re meeting in Cleveland. Many of the men and women who made this great city a foundation of America’s industrial heartland came to our shores from Central Europe. With just a little money, but lots of determination and discipline and vision, they helped to build our great nation. And now their children and their grandchildren are leaders in Cleveland and in dozens of other American communities all across our country. Strong bonds George Dózsa, President
