MINELRES: RFE/RL Newsline on minority issues

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RFE/RL NEWSLINE Vol. 8, No. 10, Part II, 16 January 2004

DEATH THREATS MADE AGAINST CROATIAN JOURNALISTS IN SERBIA. The
Vienna-based NGO South East Europe Media Organization (SEEMO) said in a
statement on 15 January that a Subotica-based magazine for Serbia's
Croatian minority, "Hrvatske rijeci," recently received several
threatening telephone calls, including death threats. The statement
described the calls as anti-Croatian in tone and part of an unspecified
campaign directed at the Croatian minority in Vojvodina that began after
the 28 December elections. SEEMO called on the appropriate authorities
to investigate the matter, regretting that no arrests have yet been
made. Later on 15 January, Vojvodina provincial administration head
Djordje Djukic condemned the intimidation of members of ethnic
minorities, including RFE/RL's Novi Sad correspondent Marini Fratucan,
RFE/RL's South Slavic and Albanian Languages Service reported. Vojvodina
Croatian leader Petar Kuntic called on local Croats not to let
themselves be provoked by the threats. PM


UDMR RIVALS IN ROMANIA PROPOSE PRIMARIES IN LOCAL ELECTIONS. The
Hungarian Civic Union (UCM) on 15 January proposed that primaries be
held between its representatives and those of the Hungarian Democratic
Federation of Romania (UDMR) ahead of the local elections in Covasna
County, Mediafax reported. UCM Deputy Chairman Attila Tulit said his
formation intends to run candidates of its own in Covasna County
settlements in which ethnic Hungarians make up more than 50 percent of
the population. Tulit said that in such localities splitting the
Hungarian vote poses no danger and that "it is the right of [ethnic]
Hungarians not only to vote, but also to choose." Covasna County UDMR
Chairman Albert Almos subsequently warned that anyone running against a
UDMR candidate will be expelled from the UDMR. Most UCM members,
including Tulit, are also members of the UDMR. Meanwhile, the National
Council of Transylvanian Hungarians (CNMT) on 15 January said it
supports the Szekler National Council's (CNS) stance that granting
autonomy to Romania's Hungarian minority should be a precondition for
Romania's accession to the EU, Mediafax reported (see "RFE/RL Newsline,"
13 January 2004). MS


RFE/RL NEWSLINE Vol. 8, No. 12, Part I, 21 January 2004

ARMENIAN COMMUNITY ASKS GEORGIAN PRESIDENT-ELECT FOR FORMAL AUTONOMY.
Representatives of the predominantly Armenian population of Georgia's
southern region of Djavakheti have written to President-elect
Saakashvili congratulating him on his victory in the 4 January
presidential election, according to Arminfo, as cited by Groong and
A-Info. They also asked Saakashvili to support amending the Georgian
Constitution to provide for granting the region autonomy within a
federative or confederative system. They argued that doing so would
contribute to the solution of the social and economic problems that have
plagued the region for decades. LF


RFE/RL NEWSLINE Vol. 8, No. 11, Part II, 20 January 2004

HUNGARIAN UNIVERSITY OFFICIALLY SET UP IN SLOVAKIA. The
Hungarian-language Janos Selye University was officially established in
the southwestern Slovak city of Komarno on 17 January, CTK and TASR
reported. The Slovak parliament approved the establishment of the
university last year. The first 300 students will be enrolled in the
fall, with plans for an enrollment of 2,000 students within five years.
The university is expected to house three departments: economics,
theology, and pedagogy for Hungarian schools. MS

CNS AUTONOMY PROPOSAL CREATES UPROAR IN ROMANIA. Meeting in
Sfantu-Gheorghe on 17 January, the Szekler National Council (SZNT in
Hungarian, CNS in Romanian) approved a draft-law proposal regarding the
autonomy of lands inhabited by the Szeklers, a group within the
Hungarian minority in Romania, Mediafax reported the next day. The draft
provides for the election of a president of the Szekler lands to serve a
four-year mandate, a local council serving as parliament, and a police
force serving under the local council. Prosecutors and judges are to be
bilingual in Romanian and Hungarian and to reflect the demographics of
the region. The draft is to be presented to the Romanian parliament in
early February. Interior Minister and Social Democratic Party (PSD)
Deputy Chairman Ioan Rus was quoted on 19 January by the daily
"Evenimentul zilei" as saying that only institutions mentioned in the
Romanian Constitution can function in that country. PSD Covasna County
Chairman Vlad Casunean said the CNS is entitled to have its own
government, parliament, "and even its own territory -- but in Hungary."
The opposition National Liberal Party-Democratic Party Alliance also
criticized the proposal. MS


RFE/RL NEWSLINE Vol. 8, No. 12, Part II, 21 January 2004

CZECH PROSECUTORS TO APPEAL SENTENCE FOR ATTACK ON ROMANY FAMILY.
Ostrava regional prosecutors will appeal the sentences handed down by a
northern Moravian court to three youths who attacked a Romany family in
June, CTK reported. A Jesenik court sentenced the attackers to probation
terms, sparking protests by the local Romany community, which argued
that that the sentences are too lenient (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 9
January 2004). The regional prosecutor thus overruled local prosecutors,
who decided against an appeal. MS

ROMANIAN PRESIDENT LASHES OUT AT SZEKLERS' COUNCIL. President Ion
Iliescu said on 20 January that "the idea of [local] administrative
autonomy based on ethnic criteria is antidemocratic and anti-European,"
Mediafax reported. Iliescu said the Supreme Council for National Defense
(CNSAS) planned to debate on 21 January a draft law proposal approved
last weekend by the Szekler National Council (CNS in Romanian, SZNT in
Hungarian) and the significance of this initiative (see "RFE/RL
Newsline," 20 January 2004). He said the CNSAS would discuss what
measures are necessary in reaction, adding that "brutal means" are not
an appropriate response. Ultranationalist Cluj Mayor Gheorghe Funar, who
is executive secretary of the Greater Romania Party, demanded in a
letter addressed to Iliescu on 20 January that the CNS and the National
Council of Transylvanian Hungarians both be outlawed. Meanwhile,
Mediafax reported on 20 January that 423,000 ethnic Hungarians in
Romania have thus far applied for benefits to which they are entitled
under the Hungarian Status Law. MS



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