 12/14/2011 - UPDATE: The Case of Ilonka Tamas. The latest outrage from Slovakia: a 99-year-old teacher loses her citizenship. Ilonka Tamás was born in 1912 when Rimaszombat was part of Hungary. She brought up generations of children and received the “Komenský” medal and the Gold Medal of the Slovak Republic for her pedagogical achievements. She merely wanted to regain her Hungarian citizenship but is now a "person without a registered address." AHF submits follow up letter to the U.S. Helsinki Commission. [read more]
 12/02/2011 - Slovakia strips citizenship to ethnic Hungarian minorties who assert their right to dual citizenship in violation of their own Constitution. AHF submits a statement to the US Congress Helsinki Commission: "Intolerance and discrimination targeting any group based on ethnicity, nationality or religion is not acceptable... The most recent anti-Hungarian incident involves Slovakia stripping Oliver Boldoghy of his Slovak citizenship after becoming a dual citizen. This decision is not only contrary to American and European practices, it violates the Slovak constitution, which provides that “no one must be deprived of the citizenship of the Slovak Republic against his will.” [read more]
 11/8/2011 - The Anti-Defamation League presented the Jan Karski Courage to Care Award to Count Janos Esterhazy. This comes just two months after the Slovak President shamefully calls this hero of the Holocaust a follower of Hitler.  AHF continues to express concern over Slovakia's anti-Hungarian measures."Those who defended and aided Jews and other victims of the Nazislaughter merit our recognition and our eternal thanks. They were individuals who followed the call to conscience, which is surely no simple matter... Count János Esterházy was such a person of conscience, one who had more than enough reason to remain silent." [read more]
 10/22/2011
- Music Lovers Worldwide Celebrate the 200th Birth Anniversary of Franz (Ferenc) Liszt... Ferenc Liszt, composer, virtuoso pianist, Hungarian patriot, citizen of the world, was born 200 years ago, on October 22, 1811, in Doborjan, Hungary. A child prodigy, at age 6 he took music lessons from his father, cellist Adam Liszt, who worked at the Court of Count Esterhazy. He revolutionize performance and became the "world's first rock star" and "King of the Piano." Communities all across the world have been organizing concerts in his honor. [read more]
  10/19/2011
- AHF Remembers the 55th Anniversary of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution... Congressman Andy Harris (R-MD) honors heroes of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution and refers to The American Hungarian Federation's commemorative statement in the Congressional Record. The statement also acknowledges some if the Revolutions consequences which linger today such as the solidly Stalinist Romanian government's virtual liquidation of the Hungarian-language Bolyai University in Romania [read more]
 9/29/2011 - Federation again raises minority rights. In a letter to Knut Vollebaek, OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities, the Federation again raises anti-Hungarian measures in Slovakia and Serbia and requests the High Commissioner's clarification of reports in the electronic media asserting that he had labeled Hungary's support for Slovakia's Hungarian minority "malicious and foolish." [read more]
MTI - Álláspontjának Tisztázására Szólította Fel az EBESZ Kisebbségügyi Főbiztosát az Amerikai Magyar Szövetség [tovább]
 9/13/2011 - Slovak President shamefully calls Janos Esterhazy, a hero of the Holocaust, a follower of Hitler. AHF continues call for rehabilitation of Janos Esterhazy, reacts to Slovak falsification of history... Esterhazy was the only member of the Slovak Parliament in 1942 who voted against expelling the Jews, setting an example which few dared to follow in the parts of Europe controlled by Adolf Hitler's Germany. He was detained by the Nazis and died in a communist prison. Officially he is still classified as a war criminal in Slovakia, as courts have rejected requests for his rehabilitation. [read more]
 8/26/2011 - Dr. Michael Haltzel shares insights on the Balkan Wars and NATO enlargement... The Democratic Staff Director of the Subcommittee on European Affairs of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee (from 1994 - 2005) and foreign policy aide to U.S. Vice President (then Senator) Joseph R. Biden spoke spoke at a recent CEEC policy forum on Capitol Hill that was hosted by the Central and East European Coalition (CEEC). The purpose of the forum, entitled "20 Years: Three Perspectives on the Evolution of U.S.
Strategic Engagement with Central and Eastern Europe," was to discuss Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) and American foreign policy toward that region. The forum brought together two panels consisting of leading authorities on issues of concern to the United States and CEE. AHF President, Frank Koszorus, served as moderator. [read more]
 8/24/2011 -- AHF Book Review by Csaba K. Zoltani: Hungary in World War II: Caught in the Cauldron (Deborah Cornelius, Fordham University Press, New York, 2011)
Deborah Cornelius’ Hungary in World War II: Caught in the Cauldron (Fordham University Press, New York 2011) gives an excellent overview of the events leading up to and the horrendous events of World War II in Hungary. The effect of the Treaty of Trianon, that without plebiscites, truncated Hungary and deprived it of its natural resources and forced a sizeable portion of its population to live under alien jurisdiction, set the political and sociological climate in Hungary from the 1920's on. Cornelius gives an excellent overview of the readjustment that expressed itself in the politics and led to the belief that revision of the treaty was only possible through German intervention. [read more] and buy it on AHF's Amazon Store.
8/5/2011 -- AHF submits statement to Congressional Committee on Foreign Affairs, Subcommittee On Europe And Eurasia. The statement focuses on three issues: (1) minority rights as the prerequisite to democracy in the multi-national states of Romania and Slovakia; (2) the intolerance of and discrimination against the Hungarian minorities living there; and (3) the need for balanced and informed judgments relating to Hungary. AHF also called on Slovakia to rehabilitate Janos Esterhazy. [read more]
 8/3/2011 -- The American Hungarian Federation and the Central and East European Coalition participate in a reception and Capitol Hill Policy Seminar entitled, "20 years: Three Perspectives on the Evolution of U.S. Strategic Engagement with Central and Eastern Europe." The purpose of the forum was to discuss Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) and American foreign policy toward that region. The forum brought together two panels consisting of leading authorities on issues of concern to the United States and CEE. Moderated by AHF President Frank Koszorus, Jr. [read more]
 7/13/2011 - AHF Reacts to Senator Benjamin L. Cardin (D-MD), Co-Chairman of the U.S. Helsinki Commission, who questioned democracy in Hungary and criticized expressions of concern for Hungarian minorities. AHF's letter expressed its steadfast conviction that judgments be "objective, fair, balanced and based on facts and not generalizations and speculation." It also urged the Helsinki Commission not to ignore the Hungarian minorities but to publicly and privately encourage Slovakia and Romania "to build tolerant societies by respecting the rights of their Hungarian and other minorities and the rule of law." [read more]
 Levelet írt az egyik szenátornak az Amerikai Magyar Szövetség [tovább]
Miért támadja Magyarországot az amerikai szenátor? [tovább]
 American-Hungarian federation strike back at US senator... [read more]
 6/28/2011 -- Romania considering redistricting to eliminate Hungarian majority counties and any hope for automony: The American Hungarian Federation Expresses Concern About Romania Ignoring Minority Rights... as Romania considers "redistricting." The statement expresses AHF's concern that more than two decades after the collapse of Communism, Romania has yet to fulfill its promises to its ethnic Hungarians. Although Romania was accepted into NATO and the EU based, in part, on these promises, the irrefutable record demonstrates that its laws and practices continue to fail to conform to European and Western standards relating to human and minority rights, but in effect aggravate inter-ethnic tension.
[read more]
 6/27/2011 - Ronald Reagan statue unveiled in Budapest’s Szabadság Tér on the 100th anniversary of the former American President’s birth. Ronald Reagan earned an immortal reputation for his role in the fall of communism. There is also a bust of the former President in City Park. Statues of other notable Americans include Gen. Harry Hill Bandholtz (who prevented Rumanian soldiers from removing Transylvanian treasures from the National Museum) and AHF's George Washington Statue. The Tom Lantos Institute will be also inaugurated. [read more]
 6/4/2011 - On the 91st Anniversary of the Treaty of Trianon, AHF remembers the ill-advised treaty and publishes essay by Sir Bryan Cartledge who calls the treaty "the greatest catastrophe to have befallen Hungary since the battle of Mohacs in 1526." Over the course of its more than 100-year history, the American Hungarian Federation has commemorated the Treaty of Trianon, highlighting the gross injustices wrought by that treaty (better described as a diktat) and the entire Versailles so-called peacemaking. For instance, in 1929 the Federation organized a national assembly and the United States government recognized the Federation as the official spokesman for Hungarian Americans. One of the Federation’s first purposes was to coordinate efforts to publicize the tragic consequences of Trianon. [read more]
 6/1/2011 - The AHF Cultural Committee sponsors night of Transylvanian Folk Music with Heveder! We are proud to announce that the genuine, virtuoso, EMKE Award-winning Heveder Folk Music Band from Transylvania has
finally come to America! The group, accompanied by two of Hungary’s most respected folkdance performers Irén Deffend and Flórián Hajdú, wowed the audience at the Cedar Lane Unitarian Church in Bethesda, MD on June 1st. [read more]
 5/14/2011 - The 6th Annual Hungarian Charity Ball raises funds for worthy causes... The American Hungarian Federation and the
Hungarian Scouts of Washington sponsor the annual Jótékonysági Est (Benefit Event). This year, recipients included the Hungarian Reformed Church Nursery School in Bácskossuthfalva (Bácskossuthfalvi Református Óvoda) in the formerly Hungarian region of Vajdasag. [read more]
 5/2/2011 - AHF and member organizations in Massachusetts raise money for Toxic Sludge victims in Hungary... At the event held on May 1st, 2011, the Boston community came together to help victims of a toxic waste reservoir rupture in Hungary. A legacy of its communist past, it is Hungary's worst ecological disaster. The AHF Disaster Relief Fund has now raised over $225,000.00. Speakers the event included Event Chair, James Buzgo; AHF Executive Chairman, Bryan Dawson; and New York Consul General, Ambassador Karoly Dan.
[read more]
 4/27/2010 - AHF remains concerned that authorities continue to raise barriers to divide residents of Szelmenc, the Village Cut in Two "A kettévágott falu." In 2004, AHF, working closely with member the Center for Hungarian American Congressional Relations (CHACR), worked to publicize the fate of villagers of Szelmenc, the "Village Cut in Two" / "A Kettévágott Falu." But the very same Schengen guidelines used to open the border seem to have raised new barriers. [read more]
 4/13/2011 - American Hungarian Federation Participates in Central and East European Coalition Advocacy Day on Capitol Hill... CEEC issues 2011 Policy Brief: The Advocacy Day involved meetings with key staffers in both the Senate and House of Representatives in the U.S. Congress where issues such as democracy development and human and minority rights; Russian influence; appropriations; and visa waivers were dicussed. [read more]
 3/25/2011 - The Hungarian American Coalition and the Common Sense Society co-sponsored a seminar entitled, "Hungary's New Constitution: Prospects for the Rule of Law & Liberty in New Europe." The Federation urges cooperation among Hungarian American organizations to facilitate an educated debate of the provisions of Hungary's draft constitution and the context of the proposed changes. AHF feels we must make every effort to correct the record and educate the public on the long history of Hungarian democracy. [read more]
 3/23/2011 - AHF honors Col. Ferenc Koszorus, Sr., and Hungarian Heroes of the Holocaust, reflects on Holocaust Memorial Month. AHF honors the millions of lives lost and the untold suffering caused by Nazism and Communism. But even during the horrors of WWII, stories of resistance to Nazi atrocities emerged. When Hitler's patience ran out with the conservative leaders in Budapest and their peace-feelers
and contacts with Western allies, Nazi Germany invaded Hungary in March 1944, drastically
changing the situation of Hungary and the Jews. [read more]
 3/20/2011 - AHF Supports Voting Rights for all Hungarian Citizens... In a Heti Válasz  article, AHF President Frank Koszorus, who, later this week, will be representing AHF at the Hungarian Permanent (Standing) Conference Diaspora Subcommittee (MÁERT) in Budapest, expressed AHF's support for a citizen's right to vote regardless of geographic location. "Enabling Hungarian citizens to vote [is a] democratic means of uniting a divided nation without
endangering anyone and a practice that is consistent with the
practices of other states in Central and Eastern Europe and elsewhere. [read more]
 3/15/2011 - The American Hungarian Federation of Metropolitan Washington, D.C., holds annual commemoration of the 1848 War of Liberation. Hungarian Ambassador George Szapary's Keynote Address was a welcome paradigm shift in Hungarian official policy toward Hungarians in the diaspora. AHF President Frank Koszorus reflected on what Kossuth's legacy means to us today: "Let us reach out and find all who want to participate [to] ensure democracy for all Hungarians and advance the foreign policy interests of our great American homeland." [read more]
 3/7/2011 - The 2011 Washington Hungarian Ball to raise funds for Hungarian nursery school in Bácskossuthfalva: Founded in 2005 and located in the formerly Hungarian region of Vojvodina, this is the only such school officially recognized by Serbian authorities. Despite the official recognition, Serbia has refused to extend any financial support. See the video and [Read more] about the 2011 Hungarian Ball!
 01/24/11 - Central and East European Coalition (CEEC) Submit Letter to Secretary Clinton expressing deep concern over "brutal post-election crackdown by Lukashenka's (Lukashenko) regime on peaceful demonstrators, democratic activists, journalists and civil society" in Belarus. Frank Koszorus, Jr., AHF President and representative to the CEEC, added, "One can see the ignorance, bias, political opportunism, absurdity or ill-will of those who compare democratic Hungary to the repressive regime of Lukashenka's Belarus, as we have sadly noted these past few weeks."
[read more]
 1/11/2011 - AHF Issues its First Statement on Hungarian Media Law: "A Rush to Judgment: The Reaction to the Hungarian Media Law." It is our "unassailable and firm conviction that freedom of the press is a cornerstone of democracy and liberty." But the unprecedented rush to judgment and vitriolic media coverage of the Hungarian media law seems to have been based on a partial understanding of the law itself and, in some cases, appears to be motivated by bias or political considerations. [Read more]
01/04/11 - Hungarian Media Law: In view of all the critical media play, moderate weekly Heti Válasz broadens discussion on Hungarian media law by adding another perspective. The Hungarian National Media and Infocommunications Authority releases English version of Media Law. It is available for download.
[read more].
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