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AHF in the News: Press Coverage

Wa 3/28/2008 - Washington Times publishes AHF Letter to the Editor: "America and its Eastern European allies

Helle Dale rightly asserts that waiving visa requirements for our allies in Central and Eastern Europe is indispensable ("Building strategic relationships," Op-Ed, Wednesday). The visa-waiver program is a building block in the security structure of the region.

The collapse of the Soviet Union and the restoration of sovereignty to the nations of Eastern Europe validated Western values. It soon became apparent, however, that Russia had not reconciled its loss of empire and would seek to influence the region, although less directly than by dispatching tanks as it had done during the Cold War.

Quickly reintegrating Central and Eastern Europe into Western institutions, and thereby strengthening democracy, was the best means to advance both the geostrategic interests of the United States and the aspirations of the nations of the region. The prescience of the United States in enlarging NATO to include the former Soviet satellites and the Baltic countries became apparent as Russia began to aggressively assert itself.

In order to prevent any backsliding, the United States must continue to exercise leadership by remaining fully engaged in the region. Relatively simple steps taken to further this engagement will pay handsome dividends. These include reaching out not only to governments and the former ruling nomenklatura, but also to the people of the region, especially those who at great sacrifice helped topple the Communist regimes.

Extending the visa-waiver program to the citizens of our new allies, including Hungarians, is a critical way of shoring up their friendship toward the United States and reversing a growing cynicism caused by a feeling that America is ignoring them after the initial euphoria following the fall of the Berlin Wall. The United States needs genuine and staunch friends. Visa waiver extends the hand of friendship to our new allies." - FRANK KOSZORUS JR.
Co-president, AHF [Link to Article]


AHF Calls for protection on minorities in Kosovo and Vojvodina. 2/29/2008 - As Kosovo gains independence, AHF calls attention to the largest minority in the region: The Hungarians in the former Yugoslavia and within the Carpathian Basin. New Kosovo FlagThe recent independence of Kosovo and resulting violence deeply concerns the Federation who calls international attention to the Hungarians of Vojvodina, who lost autonomy by the Serbian totalitarian regime of Milosevic, and thoseelsewhere in Central Europe. In a Letter to the Editor published in the Washington Times, AHF's Geza Cseri writes: "What is also bothersome and surprising is that there is no overall analysis of minority rights in Central Europe, which is crucial to the peace of the region as well as the whole of Europe. No mention of the rights of one of Europe's largest minorities, the indigenous Hungarian minorities living in Romania, Slovakia and Ukraine. They number more than 4 million." [Read the entire Letter to the Editor]


7/25/2007 - AHF Calls for protection on minorities in both Kosovo and Vojvodina. With independence of Kosovo inevitable, and the potential for violence, the Federation calls international attention to the other large minority in the former Yugoslavia: The Hungarians of Vojvodina who lost autonomy by Serbian totalitarian regime of Milosevic. AHF publishes Letter to the Editor regarding Kosovo Independence: "Because intolerance toward minorities characterizes the region, minority rights guarantees – a prerequisite to democracy and stability -- must not be entrusted exclusively to the local political elites." [read more]


9/5/2007 - Lukács Csaba: A nagykövet búcsúja...
Szent István ünnepén elsosorban magáról beszélt Simonyi András Washingtonban...
A sokakban megütközést kelto búcsúra közleményben reagált az Amerikai Magyar Szövetség is.... Lejárt tehát Gyurcsány Ferenc személyes jóbarátjának megbízatása. A „rocknagykövet” hazatér, és az amerikai magyarok abban bíznak, hogy a helyébe egy olyan diplomata megy, aki nem csak a most éppen hatalmon lévo szuk politikai elitet képviseli, hanem az egész nemzet nagykövete lesz. [leltöltés]


12/29/2006 - Az Amerikai Magyar Szövetség elítéli a Babes-Bolyai egyetem jogsértéseit ...Annak ellenére, hogy Románia NATO-tag és 2007. januárjától belép az EU-ba, megkérdojelezhetetlen adatok bizonyítják, hogy a törvényei és eljárásai továbbra sem felelnek meg az emberi és kisebbségi jogok európai és Nyugati normáinak. Elegendo néhány ilyen példára hivatkoznunk. [tovább magyarul]


12/2/2006 - Az Amerikai Magyar Szövetség (“Szövetség”) a legnagyobb magyar-amerikai ernyoszervezet az Egyesült Államokban. Az 1906-ban alapított Szövetség az egyik legrégebbi etnikai szervezet Amerikában. Az elmúlt években a Szövetség támogatta a demokrácia megerosödésével, a kisebbségi jogok kiszélesítésével és a jogbiztonság kiterjesztésével kapcsolatos politikát Közép- és Kelet-Európában. Szervezetünk hosszú ido óta büszkén vállalja a szószóló szerepét a Magyarországgal határos államokban élo történelmi magyar kisebbség helyzetével kapcsolatban. [tovább magyarul]


11/2/2006 - Aggódik az Amerikai Magyar Szövetség... A Szövetség elítél minden törvényellenes cselekedetet és intoleranciát. Sok hiteles jelentés szerint a tüntetok nagy része október 23-án békés, törvénytisztelo személy volt, akik a szólásszabadság, a gyülekezési szabadság és a kormányukhoz intezheto petíció jogát gyakorolták. Ezek olyan alapveto jogok, amelyeket minden demokráciában tiszteletben tartanak. A fényképekkel is illusztrált jelentések tanúsága szerint, az elozoleg hivatalosan bejelentett megemlékezo eseményen résztvevok egyik csoportja ellen a rendorség indokolatlan és túlzott erot alkalmazott. A rendorség nem tett különbséget békés gyülekezok és néhány rendbontó között. [tovább magyarul]


AHF Co-President, Imre L. Toth, featured in US News and World Report on 1956. "Revolution! The Hungarian uprising 50 years later; how it changed the Cold War" by Alex Kingsbury is the Special Report10/8/2006 - AHF Co-President, Imre L. Toth, featured in US News and World Report on 1956. "Revolution! The Hungarian uprising 50 years later; how it changed the Cold War" by Alex Kingsbury is the Special Report in the latest issue of U.S. News and World Report magazine. This story appears in the October 16, 2006 print edition of U.S. News & World Report. [see the article]


9/20/2006 - Gyurcsányt bírálják az amerikai magyarok. Az amerikai magyarok érdekképviseleti szervezete, az Amerikai Magyar Szövetség (AHF) szerint a Gyurcsány-kormány visszaélt azzal a bizalommal, amellyel a választók felruházták. Az amerikai magyarok 1906-ban Clevelandben alapított érdekképviseleti szervezet nyilatkozatot tett közzé helyi ido szerint kedden a magyarországi politikai válságra reagálva. [tovább]


9/22/2006 - Max Teleki: Gyurcsány bizalmi válságot idézett elo.. Maximilian Teleki, az Amerikai Magyar Koalíció (HAC) elnöke szerint Gyurcsány Ferenc májusi beszéde bizalmi válságot idézett elo Magyarországon; az emberek jogosan várják el minden politikai vezetotol, hogy pártállástól függetlenül igazat mondjanak.... A HAC elnöke elzárkózott attól, hogy értékelje Gyurcsány Ferenc szavait, viszont a másik nagy tengerentúli érdekképviseleti szervezet, az Amerikai Magyar Szövetség (AHF) néhány napja közleményben foglalt állást: a Gyurcsány-kormány bevallotta, hogy hazudott, és gazdaságilag is sokat rontott az ország helyzetén, ezért visszaélt a választók bizalmával. Maximilian Teleki elmondta: a HAC vezetoségén belül vita folyik arról, miképpen reagáljanak a magyarországi válságra. [tovább]


The American Hungarian Federation in the Washington Post
6/14/2006 - A Hungarian Slighted, by Zoltan Bagdy. The headline on the obituary for Gyorgy Ligeti ["Austrian Composer," June 13] was both insensitive and misleading. While he was an Austrian citizen and died in Vienna, Ligeti was a quintessentially Hungarian composer. He was born in the historically Hungarian region of Transylvania; his music teachers, both in Transylvania and in Budapest, were Hungarian; and the majority of his vocal and choral music is in Hungarian. He kept "Gyorgy" as his first name and didn't change it to George or Georg.

In future years, his name will appear next to other great 20th-century Hungarian composers -- Bartok, Kodaly, Dohnanyi, Weiner. Would the headline writer label William Walton "an Italian composer" just because he lived and died in Italy, or Lord Byron "a Greek poet" just because he died in Greece? [see the letter] or [See the original article] on the Washington Post.


he American Hungarian Federation in the Washington Times
Vojvodina Ethnic Map in 1996 showing more Hungarian population decline and Serbian refugee influx6/13/2006 - The Washington Times publishes two Letters to the Editor on Vojvodina...

Yugoslavia: Then and Now, by Frank Koszorus, Jr. "Jeffrey T. Kuhner observes that Yugoslavia is dead ("Yugoslavia, rest in peace," Commentary, Thursday). Actually, Yugoslavia was stillborn. Even as it was being cobbled together as part of post-World War I peacemaking, Croats (and other nationalities) resented Belgrade's domination..." [download the full article] or [read more about Vojvodina]


The good and bad of Yugoslavia, by Tibor Purger. "Jeffrey Kuhner himself is mistaken — not the Macedonian Prime Minister he quotes — about the Yugoslav idea and on several other counts (Yugoslavia, rest in peace, Commentary, Friday). First, Yugoslavia was dead not when Montenegro declared independence this month, but when Slovenia and Croatia did so 15 years ago after Slobodan Milosevic had started to recreate Serb domination by force. [download the article] or [read more about Vojvodina]


5/26/2006 - Mit tehetnek hazánkért az amerikai magyarok? – és mi oértük? Vajon ki számít magyarnak, az, aki beszéli az anyanyelvet, vagy aki annak vallja magát? És mit tudnak tenni az amerikai magyarok Magyarországért, és mi oértük? Többek között ezekrol a kérdésekrol beszélgettek amerikai magyarok a Deák Ferenc Közéleti Klub vitaestjén. [tovább magyarul]


4/18/2006 - Hungarians' fight with Russia...ON April 17, the Texas Legislature went into a special session to tackle the issue of school finance reform. This session also presents Texas with another unique opportunity: to recognize those Hungarians who died valiantly fighting against Soviet communism and those who lived on to greatly contribute to the American project. Read more about AHF's 1956 activitiesResolutions have been drafted in the Texas Senate and the House of Representatives to do this. Oct. 23 will mark the 50th anniversary of the Hungarian uprising against Soviet rule.

Determined to live in freedom and remove the yoke of communism, against impossible odds, the Hungarian people rose up against a tyrannical and oppressive government imposed on them by foreigners. Hungarians from all walks of life joined the fight for freedom. The revolution was successful for a brief five days before it was brutally crushed.

Despite this tragedy, those five days lived on in the collective memory of the Hungarian people, giving them hope for their future and tarnishing the image of the Soviet Union in the eyes of the civilized world. The revolution contributed to the disintegration of communist parties across the globe. Hungarians continued to resist and freedom finally came in 1989. During those fateful days in 1956, many sons and daughters of Hungary fled, leaving loved ones and all they ever knew to start a new life in the United States. These people and their descendants have become woven into the fabric of this country and have enriched our culture.

Through the passing of these resolutions, Texas will send a strong signal of solidarity to the people of Hungary, her cousins in Texas and beyond. Those Hungarians who fought for the cause of liberty were moved by the same spirit felt by those at the Alamo. This makes it fitting that Texas is taking the lead in recognizing the deep ties of friendship that exist between the United States and Hungary - ties forged by the desire for freedom.

It's time we pay tribute to the many who fought for freedom and were forced to flee oppression, and who now continue to make America a bastion of freedom and hope. - Phillip Aronoff, Honorary Consul General, Republic of Hungary, Houston; and Bryan Dawson-Szilagyi, Chairman, Executive Committee, American Hungarian Federation, Washington D.C. [see the article]


The American Hungarian Federation in the Washington Post
The "Butcher of Budapest" Nikita Khrushchev3/1/2006
- The "Butcher of Budapest" - The Washington Post publishes AHF article on the "Consequences of the Secret Speech." AHF Co-President Frank Koszorus, Jr., wrote the article in reaction to Anne Applebaum's "Happy Anniversary, Nikita Khrushchev." "One consequence of the "secret speech" that Ms. Applebaum didn't mention was the destabilizing impact it had on Soviet-dominated Central and Eastern Europe." [download the article]


he American Hungarian Federation in the Washington Times
5/11/2005 -
Washington Times publishes AHF Letter to the Editor
President Bush's acknowledgment on May 7 in Riga that the "captivity of millions in Central and Eastern Europe will be remembered as one of the greatest wrongs of history" was a bold and historically accurate statement ("Bush urges elections in Belarus," Page 1, Sunday). Mr. Bush, who did not mince words in Riga, should make another highly symbolic gesture to underscore his message that the freedom of small nations should not be expendable. He could do this by participating in the 50th-anniversary commemoration of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution, to be held in Budapest next year. The Hungarian Revolution was the first major challenge to Soviet imperialism in Central Europe after World War II. While the world watched, a small nation desperately sought to regain its freedom and succeeded in threatening the badly shaken Soviet leadership, unmasking the true nature of Soviet-imposed communism, turning former apologists of Stalinism worldwide and contributing to the collapse 34 years later of the Soviet system and Russian domination of Central and Eastern Europe. That collapse completed the liberation of all of Europe -- a liberation postponed by the division of the continent 60 years ago. Celebrating the Hungarian Revolution would commemorate the triumph of freedom and democracy over totalitarianism and constitute a fitting capstone to the Moscow celebrations this month. Mr. Bush's participation would be greeted with great enthusiasm by Central and Eastern Europeans who were deprived of freedom for decades as a result of "one of the greatest wrongs of history" and would strengthen America's ties with its new allies. - Frank Koszorus, Jr., President American Hungarian Federation of Metropolitan Washington, D.C. [download the letter] or [see the letter on the Washington Times]


Az Amerikai Magyar Szövetség a Magyar Szóban, ÚjvidékSupport, Interests, and Precedents: AHF's Tibor Purger participates in the Subotica Forum of Hungarians Beyond the Borders / Támogatás, érdekek, precedensek: Az Amerikai Magyar Szövetség képviseletében Purger Tibor vett részt a Határon Túli Magyar Szervezetek szabadkai fórumán - Magyar Szó, Újvidék, 2005. január 20

A Határon Túli Magyar Szervezetek szabadkai fórumának nyugatról érkezett részvevoi, így az Amerikai Magyar Szövetség képviseloje is, megfigyeloi státusban vettek részt a tanácskozáson. Lapunk washingtoni tudósítója, Purger Tibor az AMSZ délvidéki és balkáni ügyekkel foglalkozó tanácsadójaként szólalt fel, elmondta, hogy az 1906-ban alakult szervezetet miért foglalkoztatja a kettos állampolgárság ügye: :-- Saját érdekbol, a támogatás igényével és precedensek felmutatása végett. Az érdekek csoportjába két eltéro tényezo tartozik. Az amerikai magyarok egyrészt magukénak érzik az Egyesült Államok közép-európai érdekeit, köztük azt is, hogy a demokratizálódó társadalmakban ne csak megmaradjanak, hanem jól is érezzék magukat a kisebbségek, hiszen ennek többszörös stabilizáló hatása van. Ugyanakkor a magyar állampolgárság szelektív visszaadása meg is osztja az amerikai magyarokat, hiszen aki -- vagy akinek ose -- a mai Magyar Köztársaság területérol vándorolt ki, az könnyedén honosíthat vissza, akinek a felmenoje viszont egy utódállam területérol érkezett, annak sokkal nehezebb dolga van, noha osei ugyanabból az államból származnak, és ugyanahhoz a nemzethez tartozónak érzi magát -- nyilatkozta a Magyar Szónak Purger Tibor. [more on Újvidéki Magyar Szó]


1/8/2005 - Egy másik üzenet haza: Születésnapján Szentegyedi és Czegei gróf Wass Albert önéletírásával emlékezünk..."Az Erdélyi Világszövetség elso elnöke voltam. (Ez a szervezet a világ 134 erdélyi csoportosulását és társaságát foglalja magába.) Az Amerikai Magyar Szövetség alelnöke és a Lengyel-Magyar Világszövetség igazgatója vagyok, tagja az Árpád Akadémiának, a Templomosok és a Szent László lovagrendjének." [tovább]


Paprikás csirke a Capitoliumon
Népszabadság, Horváth Gábor, 2004. december 29

A 108. képviseloházat a magyar lobbi az Amerikai Magyar Szövetséggel közösen paprikás csirkével és hazai borokkal búcsúztatta. A fogadáson a képviseloi irodák mintegy hatvan munkatársa vett részt, akik magyar szakácskönyvet és elismero oklevelet kaptak. [more on Nepszabadsag]


The American Hungarian Federation in the Washington Post
More Than Kosovo

Saturday, January 1, 2005; Page A22

Morton Abramowitz and Heather Hurlburt are right to urge strong U.S. involvement to help resolve the festering problem of Kosovo ["Where to Start With Europe," op-ed, Dec. 23]. They, however, do not go far enough. Any settlement of the situation in Serbia must include the province of Vojvodina. In the past eight months, non-Serbs, including members of Vojvodina's 300,000-strong Hungarian minority, have been harassed and assaulted. Their cemeteries and churches have been desecrated in a wave of violence, vandalism and anti-Semitism. Serbian authorities have turned a blind eye to these hate crimes, refusing to curb, investigate or prosecute those Serbs who target ethnic Hungarians and other minorities. [read more on the Washington Post]


2004. július 5. (2. oldal) - Emlékezés Koszorús hosi cselekedetére Munkatársunktól

Koszorús Ferenc néhai vezérkari ezredes vészkorszakbeli szerepére emlékezett az Ezerkilencszáznegyvenöt Alapítvány tegnap Budapesten, a Dohány utcai zsinagógával szemközti emléktáblánál. Koszorús Ferenc páncélos hadosztálya hatvan évvel ezelott a náci eroket tervük, a Budapesten élo zsidók elhurcolásának feladására és csapataik visszavonására kényszeríttette - mondta Horváth János fideszes honatya, az alapítvány elnöke. "Egy megszállt kis ország egyik katonai egysége megakadályozta a náci birodalom konkrét terveinek megvalósítását" - tette hozzá. Kijelentette, a Koszorús-akció a magyar ellenállás legnagyobb fegyverténye volt.

"Tanulnunk kell a magyarországi holokausztból" - hangoztatta a megemlékezésen ifjabb Koszorús Ferenc, a néhai ezredes Egyesült Államokban élo fia. Fontosnak nevezte, hogy az áldozatok mellett azokról a hosi cselekedetekrol is megemlékezzünk, amelyek példaként szolgálhatnak. Megbízhatóság nélkül nincs katona, a katonai eskü betartása nélkül nincs megbízhatóság - idézett édesapja emlékirataiból.

Tegnap az országban több helyen - így a budapesti Wallenberg-emlékparkban, Sopronban Hiller István kultuszminiszter, Szombathelyen pedig Kiss Péter kancelláriaminiszter jelenlétében, valamint Pécsett és Bácsalmáson - emlékeztek a vészkorszak áldozataira. "Most ismét fordulóponthoz értünk. Hajoljunk meg a gesztus jelentosége elott: eloször hallhattuk [...], hogy a holokauszt a magyar nemzet személyes tragédiája volt" - mondta Zoltai Gusztáv, a Magyarországi Zsidó Hitközségek Szövetsége (Mazsihisz) ügyvezeto igazgatója, az eseményt szervezo Emanuel Alapítvány titkára a Wallenberg-emlékparkban. Hiller István levelet küldött az egybegyultekhez.


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  • The Hungarian Revolution - Uprising, Budapest 1956: A synoptic treatise of a major political event of the 20th Century, a historically tragic period in the life of a nation commemorating the 50th Anniversary of the Revolution and the fallen brave By: Attila J. Ürményházi (Hobart, Tasmania) and edited by Bryan Dawson-Szilágyi [download]
  • Hungarian Memorials and Markers in the USA: An ongoing project to collect and preserve the memory of sites in the United States named for Hungarian contributions. [download] Do you know of a site to add? Review the document and then [contact us]
  • "Hungary Voted / Csonkaország Szavazott" - an analysis of the dual-citizenship referendum by Dr. Sandor Havadtoy, a Vice President of the American Hungarian Federation and Editor of the Transylvania Committee's quarterly, "Szekely Nep." "The formerly Soviet satellite countries of Romania, Ukraine, Serbia and Slovakia granted dual citizenship to their compatriots living outside of their borders. However, the present post-communist government of Hungary hesitated to give dual citizenship to the three million Hungarians who live in the neighboring countries, pursuant to the Treaty of Trianon at the end of the First World War..." [download English / letoltes Magyarul]

    Sign up for the Quarterly by sending a tax-deductible donation to (include your name and address):

    Committee of Transylvania, Inc.
    432 Pope's Island Road
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  • "The Conflict in the Former Yugoslavia and Autonomous Region of Vojvodina, and the Need for a More Coherent U.S. Foreign Policy" by Bryan Dawson-Szilagyi, November 11, 1993, Updated July 29th 2004
    A briefing presented to the Stanton Group, Washington, D.C. [download]
  • "NATO Enlargement" by Frank Koszorus Jr. March 29, 2004
    Remarks on the Occasion of the Enlargement of NATO, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. [download]
  • "The Role of Congressional Caucuses in Policy Making: Don't Ignore Them" by Frank Koszorus, Jr., May 2003 [download]
  • "Nato Enlargement And Minority Rights: Prerequisites To Security" by Frank Koszorus, Jr., April 2003
    A memorandum that was submitted to Robert A. Bradtke, Deputy Assistant Secretary for European and Eurasian Affairs, and Heather A. Conley, Deputy Assistant Secretary for European and Eurasian Affairs during a roundtable discussion on "NATO Enlargement and the Current State of the Trans-Atlantic Alliance." This submission follows several other intiatives, including submissions to Lord Roberston, Secretary General of NATO. [download]
  • “Nato Enlargement: Promoting Western Values, Strengthening The Alliance” by Frank Koszorus, Jr., April 29, 2003
    A Statement Before The United States Senate Committee On Foreign Relations. [download]
  • Our own Tibor Purger writes for the Magyar Szo, a Hungarian opposition news agency in the Vajdasag / Vojvodina Province of Yugoslavia. In Hungarian.
  • See the International Crisis Group Report on Serbia from July 1994: Serbia's Changing Political Landscape, a Briefing. An excerpt regarding Serb violence: "Some Serbs in Vojvodina are demonstrating behaviour reminiscent of that which they so frequently and vociferouslt condemn the Kosovo Albanians."
  • "U.S. Senate Unanimously Ratifies Nato Treaty; Senators Raise Rights Of Minorities: Federation Supports Efforts Aimed At Encouraging Romania And Slovakia To Respect Rights Of Hungarian Minorities And Restore Communal Properties" - Press Release by Zoltan Bagdy, May 9, 2003 [download]
  • Final Communique of the American Hungarian Federation: HON. CONGRESSMAN EDWARD F. FEIGHAN (Extension of Remarks - in the House of Representatives, November 21, 1989). A statement on the future of American Hungarian relations after the fall of communism in Hungary. [download]
  • Gov. Louis Kossuth: HON. DON RITTER (Extension of Remarks - March 21, 1990 in the House of Representatives). "We must remember that unless we find a just solution to the problem of national minorities we can never establish a lasting peace in the region. Freedom and democracy mean tolerance and the respect for national self-determination." [download]


Andy GroveJoseph Pulitzer
"The very embodiment of American journalism":
A veteran of the Civil War and a member of the 1st New York Cavalry Regiment which he joined almost immediately upon his arrival in the US. He would quickly become the first publishing tycoon, promoting excellence in journalism and eventually founding the Pulitzer Prize. He was also responsible for building of the Statue of Liberty!
- See more Famous Hungarians on
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