Minority Rights Activists Meet with Hungarian-American Youth
(As received from HHRF) New York, NY – Ten ethnic Hungarians from minority communities in the Carpathian Basin met with Hungarian-American youth at an innovative workshop, held August 6-7 at the bucolic Bercel Castle conference venue in Bercel, Hungary. The goal: to encourage cooperation and advocacy on current human rights issues affecting Hungarian minorities.
The ethnic Hungarians, who came from Romania, Serbia, and Slovakia, included students and young professionals who are active in minority and community affairs. The Hungarian-Americans, who hail from New Jersey, California, and Michigan, are currently visiting as part of HHRF’s ReConnect Hungary cultural immersion program.
Earlier, HHRF co-organized similar workshops in various U.S. cities between 1989-2000. But this year’s program is an innovation: it targeted a mixed group consisting of Hungarians from the affected regions as well as Hungarian-Americans, most with little or no regional experience.
Human Rights Workshop Participants 2021 at Bercel Castle in Bercel, Hungary
The program began with a video presentation by Dr. András Ludányi, organizer of the original workshop series. Dr. Ludányi explained how community activism in U.S. Congressional districts can shape legislation affecting Hungarian minorities.
Next came introductions by three Budapest-based professional organizations: Amb. György Csóti of the Institute for the Protection of Miniority Rights; Dr. Zoltán Kántor of the Research Institute for Hungarian Communities Abroad; and Attila Z. Papp, director of the Minority Research Institute of the Academy of Sciences.
The afternoon was devoted to how HHRF works. President Zsolt Szekeres listed the organization’s three guiding principles, honed over 35 challenging years: credibility (based on accurate and timely information); political neutrality (critical for a non-governmental organization); and specific, goal-oriented activities.
Tamás Papp and Péter Józsa, who both started as HHRF interns in New York, then spent years running its Budapest office, recalled a few favorites. Some activities, like setting up web hosting for newspapers at the dawn of the internet age, required planning and meticulous work. Others, like finding a way to meet a U.S. Senator and convince him to sign a resolution affecting minority rights in Serbia, were „lucky breaks,” but as Tamás stressed: always be looking for a chance to make your case.
Next, Csilla Grauzer, Chairman of the Board of the Hungarian American Coalition, introduced her inspiring example of volunteer activism: the WeCare Project, which transfers brand-new yet unused medical supplies straight from a Minneapolis hospital to needy health care institutions in Hungary and the surrounding countries.
Coalition Chairman Csilla Grauzer talks to Human Rights Workshop participants
Though brief, the 2021 HHRF Human Rights Workshop was a great start. The East Central Europeans got a glimpse of U.S.-style direct political action and volunteer can-do. The Americans got a crash course in minority issues. Both groups got a sense of the past and present of HHRF. And they were eager to chat and network with each other.
As Zsolt Szekeres stressed: “To be active in Hungarian human rights, you don’t need a special degree and you don’t need professional experience. All you need to do is to get informed, find allies, look for opportunities, and contribute something – a letter to the editor, a school essay, a meeting with your Congressman, a joint project with a village in Transylvania. All this is human rights advocacy, anyone can do it, and it really counts.”
HHRF is looking for enthusiastic individuals who are willing to pursue the unique work that serves to protect the human rights of ethnic Hungarian minorities. Whether you are looking for a one-time project, weekly opportunities, an unpaid internship in any of our three locations, or can help out remotely: you are in the right place.
Founded in 1976 in New York as the Committee for Human Rights in Rumania, the Hungarian Human Rights Foundation advocates for and monitors the human rights of 2.5 million ethnic Hungarians who live as minorities in Croatia, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia, Slovakia and Ukraine, and who collectively comprise the largest national minority in Central Europe.