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| 2013 Máj 18 (Szombat) |
Erik, Alexandra névnapja |
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The article suggests that all those who voted no today on the issue of
citizenship are traitors to Hungary.
The no campaigners are even racist and class discriminators, by allegedly
painting the Hungarians from occupied territories as badly-dressed and as
dark-complexioned ("swarthy"). And let the EU with its French, English,
Czechs, Italians and Belgians be haunted by the ghost of that country
which they murdered physically in 1919, but whose Magyar nation is both
physically and spiritually very much alive!
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/newspaper/0,,175-1387579,00.html December
04, 2004
Habsburg legacy haunts EU
>From Adam LeBor in Budapest
THE spirit of the Habsburg Empire will hover over central Europe as
Hungarians vote tomorrow on a proposal to offer citizenship to three
million of their ethnic brethren across the borders.
The plan has split the country down the middle, angered its neighbours and
raised the prospect of an influx of Magyars to the EU, which Hungary
joined just seven months ago.
NI_MPU('middle'); But to groups like Fidesz, the right-wing opposition
party, it is seen as a way to right the wrongs of the 1920 Treaty of
Trianon, which reduced Hungary^Ňs territory by almost two thirds as the old
Austro-Hungarian Empire was dismantled after the First World War.
The referendum was triggered under Hungarian law after a petition
demanding citizenship for the diaspora gathered 200,000 signatures.
Ferenc Gyurcsany, the Socialist Prime Minister, has called for a ^Óno^Ô
vote. He told The Times recently: ^ÓIt will reshape Hungarian social life,
but it will also reshape the situation of the Hungarian minorities abroad
who will be told by Romanians and Serbs: ^ŃYou are Hungarian citizens? What
do you want here? Don^Ňt you think you should go home?
A ^Óyes^Ô vote, if endorsed by Parliament, which has the final say, would
make all Magyars outside the borders eligible for a Hungarian passport,
and thus to the right of free travel throughout the EU. But they would not
automatically receive Hungarian identity cards and the right to vote.
Fidesz, led by Viktor Orban, the former Prime Minister, has been
campaigning hard for a ^Óyes^Ô vote. Fidesz has produced 3.5 million copies
of Igen Magazin (Yes Magazine), to be distributed to every household in
the country.
The debate between the two sides has been bitter. The Government has
raised fears of a mass influx of immigrants who would then have to be
housed and fed from the public purse.
Supporters of a ^Óyes^Ô vote yesterday called for white signs or bedsheets
to be hung in every window, with a large Igen (yes) painted on them.
Opponents circulated photographs over the internet of a group of swarthy,
badly dressed men raising their glasses in celebration with the phrase
Szilvesterkor egyutt leszunk (We will be together on New Year^Ňs Eve).
Even those who would be given citizenship are divided. Attila Cseh, 43, a
building contractor living in Targul Secuiesc, Transylvania, says: ^ÓI am
against this. I tell you frankly, those who wanted to move to Hungary have
already done so. Those who do not will stay in their homes. Dual
citizenship will be taken advantage of by people who won^Ňt want to work
and only line up for the dole.^Ô
But Istvan Kovacs, 25, a construction worker from Horgos, in Serbia
Montenegro, just south of the Hungarian border, said: ^ÓI am hoping people
will vote yes. I myself and a lot of people I know will not make the move
but it^Ňs good to know, especially if you have had problems from the Serbs,
that you can cross the border officially.^Ô
Despite the prospect of more than a million non-EU citizens being granted
EU passports, the European Union has stepped back from the fray. ^ÓThis is
not an issue at the political level, as few of the ethnic Hungarians are
actually likely to move to Hungary. The numbers are not significant,^Ô one
diplomatic source said. ^ÓThe sensitivities are more about presentation,
and the message it sends to those member states who are considering
lifting the restrictions on workers from the new member states. There are
also questions over the type of passport that will be issued, and how this
will work once Hungary joins the Schengen zone.^Ô
For those who plan to vote ^Óno^Ô, the referendum conjures unwelcome
memories of the far-Right irredentist campaigns of the inter-war era that
sought to reverse the Treaty of Trianon. Gabriella Kovacs, a teacher,
said: ^ÓI am very angry about this. I would vote ^Óno^Ô 15 times if I could.
The conservative press presents this as an issue of the Hungarian soul,
but they use the same language as they did in the 1930s. This is about the
borders that were decided at Trianon.^Ô
But ethnic Hungarians already living in Budapest reject such claims.
Ildiko Andras, 34, left Tirgu Mures in Romania in 1990 and now works as a
business consultant. She said: ^ÓThere is no danger of a flood and even if
they do come it will benefit Hungary, as they will be young and educated
people who want to work. It is important for the Hungarians abroad to feel
they belong to the mother nation.^Ô
But neighbouring countries do not share the hands-off attitude of the EU.
Adrian Nastase, the Prime Minister of Romania, views it as interference in
his country^Ňs internal affairs. ^ÓWe do not like Fidesz or other political
forces in Hungary playing on Romanian territory. If they want to play
elections in Hungary, it is all right, but they should do that without
getting Romanian citizens involved.^Ô
Slovakia has also threatened to protest to the EU if Hungary grants
citizenship to its ethnic Magyar minority.
Mr Gyurcsany said: ^ÓIt means you open the window and you don^Ňt know what
will come through.
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