3/11/2005 - AHF Meets Rumanian President Basescu and urges him to Support Restoration of Church Properties to Hungarian Minority - Rumanian President Traian Basescu kicked off a two-day visit to Washington Tuesday (8 March), at the invitation of his US counterpart George W. Bush. President Basescu’s visit included meetings with President Bush, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, IMF head Rodrigo Rato and World Bank president James Wolfensohn

The visit was aimed at strengthening the Strategic Partnership between Washington and Bucharest. It included talks on bilateral relations – political, military and economic -- and Black Sea regional issues.

President Basescu launched his term in office with a proposal to create a strategic "Bucharest-London-Washington axis", but while the media kept the flame of the idea burning, the Presidency cooled down about it in meetings with European leaders lately.

AHF 1st Vice President, Frank Koszorus, Jr. met President Basescu at a reception on March 10th at the Metropolitan Club in Washington, D.C. In his remarks to President Basescu, Mr. Koszorus.acknowledged the president’s articulated commitment to reforms. Mr. Koszorus expressed the need for the fair and expeditious return of church properties to the Hungarian community of Rumania -- an essential reform and an issue watched closely by American Hungarians and the US Congress, which is expected to adopt a resolution calling on Rumania to live up to its promises of returning properties confiscated by the communists from the Catholic, Protestant, Unitarian, and Jewish communities. Rumanian authorities have blocked or have failed to act on thousands of claims filed under Rumanian law. They also continue to move Rumanian Orthodox clergy into Hungarian communities in an effort to change their demographic composition. - Bryan Dawson-Szilagyi, AHF Information Office

. - Bryan Dawson-Szilagyi, AHF Information Office

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Articles and Essays

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• "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]
• "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]
• "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]

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