Dear Colleagues,

Here is an opportunity to speak up for the autonomy of the Vojvodina
Hungarians.
Please do not copy the attached, but write your own letter.

Best regards: Bela Liptak
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The New York Times
229 West 43rd Street
New York, NY 10036-3959
)

To The Editor,

In your editorial today (7/25/97) you speak of the many victims of Mr.
Milosevic, but not of the Vojvodina Hungarians.

Vojvodina (similarly to Bosnia) has flourished for centuries as a
multicultural tapestry of Hungarian, Serb, Croatian, German, Slovak, Roma,
Romanian and Ruthenian cultures.
Vojvodina  consists of three distinct regions: The Srem, which was
Austria-Hungary's Croatia-Slavonia province until 1918, Backa, which was an
integral part of Hungary until 1920 and the western part of Banat, also part
of Hungary for a millennium.

 Under the Yugoslav constitution of 1974, Kosovo and Vojvodina were both
autonomous provinces.The autonomy of the Vojvodina Hungarians has been
guaranteed by the Great Powers in 1920, again in 1946 and once more it was
recommended by the European Parliament in 1993 (Article 11, Recommendation
1201.) Yet today, the Hungarians have no autonomy, their  ethnic cleansing
 is still in progress and even your great paper has forgotten them.

Béla Lipták, July 25, 1997
The writer is an adjunct professor at Yale University.
84 Old N. Stamford Rd., Stamford, CT 06905, Tel:203-357-7614, Fax:
203-325-3922, E- Mail: liptakbela@ aol.com

"Coming from the Soviet Union, I was not prepared
for the incredible variety of products available
in American grocery stores.  I saw powdered milk
-- you just add water and you get milk.  I saw
powdered orange juice -- you just add water and
you get orange juice.  Then I saw baby powder and
thought, 'What a country!'"
                             Y. Smirnoff

Joe Szalai

"Suppose the world were only one of God's jokes, would
you work any the less to make it a good joke instead of
a bad one?"
        -- George Bernard Shaw

While Hungarian-Romanian relations and treatment of  minorities in Romania
have visibly improved in about a years' time (still a ways to go) the
environment in Slovakia has taken a turn for the worse. This in spite of the
Slovakia-Hungary bilateral treaty (predates the Romania version), many
friendly (also pious) words, the admonishments of the Slovak President
(Kovac) and third party assistance. Along with other undemocratic measures,
the Slovak government's (prime minister plus cabinet) policies have cost it
invitations to NATO as well as the EU. The official "party line" is "they
don't understand us". Recently Ralph Johnson, the US ambassador courteously
explained the reasons why the US could not support Slovakia's NATO
ambitions, only to be castigated by their government spokesman, who compared
Johnson with the behavior of Soviet ambassador Chervonyenko during the 1968
"Prague spring" events. Several measures (such as the language law) have
clearly violated the Slovak constitution, the Slovakia- Hungary bilateral
agreement or both. When called to task, the Slovak attitude is to
"Stonewall", A July 22 meeting between the two foreign ministers (Kovacs and
Kramplova) could only agree on having another meeting. Some hope is being
attached to a meeting scheduled between the two prime ministers on Aug. 15
in Gyoer (Hungary- on the Danube). I would invite subscribers to the
Hungarian lobby (and other Hungary-oriented newsgroups) to join me in
appeals to various pressure points. This will not be easy, since Mr.Meciar
(Slovak prime minister) has not shown a willingness to accept any point of
view except his own. Recipients of this message are encouraged to give us
their ideas on where to appeal and what to say. 

As a first step, I am sending the following e-mail to the Hungarian Prime
minister (Gyula Horn). While it is in Hungarian, an English translation
follows. You can send him your own version of course, in either language.
His e-mail address: > May I urge you to help support
Mr.Horn in his efforts- regardless of your own party preferences ?

Tisztelt Miniszterelnok Ur ! Mint amerikai magyar,engedje meg, hogy
gratulaljak a magyar kulpolitika sikereihez. Mindnyajan halasak lehetunk
Kovacs Laszlo es munkatarsai eredmenyes munkajaert. Mig a magyar kisebbsegi
helyzet Romaniaban eszrevehetoen javult, sajnos Szlovakiabol ellenkezo
hireket kapunk. Kulonosen lesujto es erhetetlen az u.n. nyelvtorveny
alkalmazasa, mint pl. az iskolabizonyitvanyokkal kapcsolatban. Mivel
tudomasunk szerint On talalkozik Meciar  miniszterelnokkel aug. 15-en, sok
szerencset kivanunk a problemak megoldasa iranyaban. A szlovak rovidlato
intezkedesek ellentetben allnak Szlovakia minden szomszed orszagjanak
szokasaival, az EU rendelkezeseivel es talan a szlovak alkotmannyal is.

Dear Prime Minister Horn: as a Hungarian-American allow me to congratulate
you on the successes of Hungarian foreign policy. We can only be grateful
for the effective work of Foreign Minister Laszlo Kovacs and his staff.
While the fate of the Hungarian minority in Romania has visibly improved of
recent, regrettably we hear contrary news from Slovakia. Particularly
discouraging is the application of the "language law" and the resulting
policy of the school report cards. Since we understand you are to meet Prime
Minister Meciar on Aug. 15, we wish you much success in resolving these
problems. Slovakia's myopic practices are in contrast with all of its
neighbors', with EU policies and perhaps even the Slovak constitution.


"Stay tuned" for additional action items in this area.     Andy.

While Hungarian-Romanian relations and treatment of  minorities in Romania
have visibly improved in about a years' time (still a ways to go) the
environment in Slovakia has taken a turn for the worse. This in spite of the
Slovakia-Hungary bilateral treaty (predates the Romania version), many
friendly (also pious) words, the admonishments of the Slovak President
(Kovac) and third party assistance. Along with other undemocratic measures,
the Slovak government's (prime minister plus cabinet) policies have cost it
invitations to NATO as well as the EU. The official "party line" is "they
don't understand us". Recently Ralph Johnson, the US ambassador courteously
explained the reasons why the US could not support Slovakia's NATO
ambitions, only to be castigated by their government spokesman, who compared
Johnson with the behavior of Soviet ambassador Chervonyenko during the 1968
"Prague spring" events. Several measures (such as the language law) have
clearly violated the Slovak constitution, the Slovakia- Hungary bilateral
agreement or both. When called to task, the Slovak attitude is to
"Stonewall", A July 22 meeting between the two foreign ministers (Kovacs and
Kramplova) could only agree on having another meeting. Some hope is being
attached to a meeting scheduled between the two prime ministers on Aug. 15
in Gyoer (Hungary- on the Danube). I would invite subscribers to the
Hungarian lobby (and other Hungary-oriented newsgroups) to join me in
appeals to various pressure points. This will not be easy, since Mr.Meciar
(Slovak prime minister) has not shown a willingness to accept any point of
view except his own. Recipients of this message are encouraged to give us
their ideas on where to appeal and what to say.

As a first step, I am sending the following e-mail to the Hungarian Prime
minister (Gyula Horn). While it is in Hungarian, an English translation
follows. You can send him your own version of course, in either language.
His e-mail address: > May I urge you to help support
Mr.Horn in his efforts- regardless of your own party preferences ?

Tisztelt Miniszterelnok Ur ! Mint amerikai magyar,engedje meg, hogy
gratulaljak a magyar kulpolitika sikereihez. Mindnyajan halasak lehetunk
Kovacs Laszlo es munkatarsai eredmenyes munkajaert. Mig a magyar kisebbsegi
helyzet Romaniaban eszrevehetoen javult, sajnos Szlovakiabol ellenkezo
hireket kapunk. Kulonosen lesujto es erhetetlen az u.n. nyelvtorveny
alkalmazasa, mint pl. az iskolabizonyitvanyokkal kapcsolatban. Mivel
tudomasunk szerint On talalkozik Meciar  miniszterelnokkel aug. 15-en, sok
szerencset kivanunk a problemak megoldasa iranyaban. A szlovak rovidlato
intezkedesek ellentetben allnak Szlovakia minden szomszed orszagjanak
szokasaival, az EU rendelkezeseivel es talan a szlovak alkotmannyal is.

Dear Prime Minister Horn: as a Hungarian-American allow me to congratulate
you on the successes of Hungarian foreign policy. We can only be grateful
for the effective work of Foreign Minister Laszlo Kovacs and his staff.
While the fate of the Hungarian minority in Romania has visibly improved of
recent, regrettably we hear contrary news from Slovakia. Particularly
discouraging is the application of the "language law" and the resulting
policy of the school report cards. Since we understand you are to meet Prime
Minister Meciar on Aug. 15, we wish you much success in resolving these
problems. Slovakia's myopic practices are in contrast with all of its
neighbors', with EU policies and perhaps even the Slovak constitution.


"Stay tuned" for additional action items in this area.     Andy.

"Alive and well". New additions include
1. report on New York City statue renovation. Report from the Riverside
Fund: project advancing; City of New York making a major contribution.
2. Courtesy Istvan Devenyi, we have added pictures of the Pittsburgh PA
Kossuth plaque. It commemorates Kossuth's stay at the St.Charles Hotel in
1852. The hotel razed many years ago; the plaque is on the replacement
structure.

For details visit http://mineral.umd.edu/hungary/kossuth/

Andy.