RFE/RL: More repercussions on Hungarian 'Status Law'

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Date: Sat, 7 Jul 2001 10:57:44 +0300 (EEST)
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Subject: RFE/RL: More repercussions on Hungarian 'Status Law'

From: MINELRES moderator <[email protected]>

Original sender: RFE/RL <[email protected]>

RFE/RL: More repercussions on Hungarian 'Status Law'


RADIO FREE EUROPE/RADIO LIBERTY, PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC
___________________________________________________________
RFE/RL NEWSLINE Vol. 5, No. 125, Part II, 2 July 2001

SLOVAK ROMANY SPOKESMAN WELCOMES HUNGARIAN STATUS LAW.
Alexander Patkolo, chairman of the Romany Intelligentsia of Slovakia
organization, on 29 June told the daily "Novy den" that most Slovak
Roma welcome the approval by the Hungarian parliament on 19 June of
the Status Law that grants ethnic Hungarians from neighboring
countries privileges in Hungary. He said that in anticipation that the
law would be passed, many Roma declared their nationality as Hungarian
in the May census, hoping the Status Bill will help them in face of
their extreme poverty, TASR reported. Patkolo accused Deputy Premier
Pal Csaky, who is in charge of ethnic minority problems, of
mismanaging EU funds aimed at improving the situation of the Roma, and
said the government has not presented any concrete projects for doing
so. He described the cabinet's "Strategy" to tackle that problem as
"ineffective and half-hearted." MS

EU OFFICIAL SAYS HUNGARY MUST REACH ACCORD WITH NEIGHBORS
ON STATUS LAW. Eneko Landaburu, European Commission director
general for expansion, said in Budapest on 29 June that Hungary must
reach compromise agreements with both Slovakia and Romania before the
Status Law is due to come into force on 1 January 2002, Hungarian
media and Reuters reported. He said that although the law "appeared
to be in line with EU regulations," it is "very important that
Hungary and its neighbors take normal diplomatic steps to solve their
problems at bilateral level." On Budapest's EU accession progress,
Landaburu said Hungary and Cyprus are ahead of the remaining
candidate countries, having both closed 22 out of the 31 chapters of
the aquis communautaire. But in an interview with the daily
"Vilaggazdasag," Landaburu said the European Commission is concerned
that Budapest has not yet closed the chapter on culture and
audiovisual policy. He stressed that the chapter cannot be closed
until Hungary passes a new media law. MS

PACE ASKS VENICE COMMISSION TO EXAMINE ROMANIAN COMPLAINT
AGAINST STATUS LAW. The Standing Bureau of the Parliamentary
Assembly of the Council of Europe on 29 June decided to send the
Romanian draft resolution condemning the Hungarian Status Law (see
"RFE/RL Newsline," 27 June 2001) to the examination of the European
Council's Venice Commission. The ruling of the commission's 43
experts on constitutional and international law is not expected
before late fall, Mediafax reported. On 1 July, the agency reported
from Lisbon that Prime Minister Adrian Nastase and Hungarian
Socialist Party Chairman Laszlo Kovacs agreed at a meeting of the
Socialist International that differences over the law must be solved
within the joint Hungarian-Romanian commission on national minorities
rather than internationalize the dispute. Returning from his visit to
Bucharest on 29 June, Istvan Szentivanyi, chairman of the Hungarian
parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee, said the sides have agreed to
solve the dispute without foreign interference and to end "mutual
harsh recriminations," MTI reported. MS

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