[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 130 (Thursday, September 19, 1996)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1653-E1654]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




      UNITED STATES AMBASSADORS TO HUNGARY AND ROMANIA ASSESS THE 
     SIGNIFICANCE OF THE RECENTLY SIGNED HUNGARIAN-ROMANIAN TREATY

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. TOM LANTOS

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, September 19, 1996

  Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, on Monday of this week, a Treaty of 
Understanding, Cooperation and Good Neighborliness was signed by 
representatives of the Governments

[[Page E1654]]

of Romania and Hungary in the Romanian city of Timisoara/Temesvar. The 
document was signed by leaders of both governments--Romanian President 
Ion Iliescu, Hungarian Prime Minister Gyula Horn, and Romanian Prime 
Minister Nicolae Vacaroiu. The treaty represents another milestone in 
the process of reconciliation and improved relations between these two 
important central European countries.
  The United States is particularly fortunate at this important time to 
have in Budapest and in Bucharest two outstanding ambassadors who have 
had an immense positive influence on U.S. relations with both countries 
and an equally positive influence as these two countries have made 
great strides in working to resolve the differences between them and to 
place their relationship on a higher level.
  Donald M. Blinken, the United States Ambassador to Hungary, has had a 
distinguished career as an investment banker with an international 
reputation. He has served as our envoy in Budapest since late 1993. 
Alfred H. Moses, the United States Ambassador to Romania, is a 
distinguished attorney from Washington, DC, who has been active in a 
number of national organizations.
  Today, the Washington Post has published a article written by these 
two prominent American diplomats which places in historical context the 
significance of the signing of the Treaty of Understanding, Cooperation 
and Good Neighborliness. I ask, Mr. Speaker, that this article be 
placed in the Record, and I urge my colleagues to give thoughtful 
consideration to the informed views of these outstanding 
representatives of the United States.

               [From the Washington Post, Sept. 19, 1996]

                         Looking Beyond Bosnia

               (By Donald M. Blinken and Alfred H. Moses)

       The attention devoted to events in Bosnia overlooks other 
     important and positive developments in the region which, in 
     history's ledger, could prove equally important. This week 
     Hungary and Romania signed a basic bilateral treaty marking 
     the end to centuries of contention. The treaty has the same 
     significance to Central Europe as the Franco-German 
     reconciliation had to Western Europe. Similar treaties have 
     been concluded between longtime rivals Slovakia and Hungary 
     and between the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and 
     Greece.
       Historic rivalry between Hungary and Romania dates back at 
     least a thousand years to the Magyar migrations from Central 
     Asia. This led to Hungarian domination of the Carpathian 
     basin, including modern day Transylvania, now in Romania, 
     which was part of Hungary until 1919, when the Treaty of 
     Trianon put an end to 300 years of Austro-Hungarian dominance 
     in the region. Unfortunately, Trianon did not end the 
     rivalry, and at the end of World War II, Budapest found 
     itself occupied by Romanian troops for the second time in 
     this century.
       The people of Romania and Hungary liberated themselves from 
     communism seven years ago. But their rivalry remained. Now, 
     together, they are engaged in one final act of liberation, 
     this time from the unresolved legacies of their own tragic 
     and angry past.
       The heart of the treaty also is the heart of post-Cold War 
     Europe's security challenges: how to reconcile the rights and 
     responsibilities of minorities with majorities in a part of 
     the world where peoples and borders do not match.
       Bosnia is a brutal reminder of the power of these ethnic 
     and nationalistic hatreds. It shows how dangerous this power 
     is to peace not just in the Balkans but to Europe as a whole, 
     and how important it is to defuse ethnic grievances before 
     they explode.
       The basic treaty obligates both countries to protect the 
     civil liberties and cultural identity of their national 
     minorities. Education at all levels is guaranteed by the 
     state in the minority's native tongue, as is the right to use 
     one's historic language in administrative and judicial 
     proceedings in areas of minority concentration. The same is 
     true of road signs, print and broadcast media and almost 
     every other aspect of communal life.
       The test, of course, will come with implementation, but the 
     overwhelming support for the treaty in both countries is 
     reason for optimism. Moreover, both sides are committed 
     because both know the treaty clears an important hurdle to an 
     even more historic goal: integration with the West.
       President Clinton's January 1994 decision, embraced by our 
     allies, to open NATO to new members and new partners, 
     together with efforts by the European Union to enlarge 
     eastward, has given every nation of Central Europe an 
     incentive to strengthen democracy and improve relations with 
     its neighbors.
       Both Hungary and Romania have been active participants in 
     the Partnership for Peace, the innovative U.S. initiative 
     that has as one of its purposes to prepare NATO aspirants for 
     eventual membership. Romania was the first to join. And 
     Hungary hosts U.S. forces engaged in Bosnia. Troops from both 
     countries participate in joint Partnership for Peace 
     exercises on the territory of the other and are serving with 
     the implementation force in Bosnia.
       NATO and the European Union have made it clear that states 
     aspiring to membership that have unresolved border disputes 
     or are unable to respect international norms on the treatment 
     of minorities ``need not apply.''
       This clear message moved Hungary and Romania to look beyond 
     traditional boundaries and historical divisions toward a new 
     vision of a secure and prosperous continent no longer mired 
     in the conflicts of the past. In this spirit, both nations 
     have committed in the basic treaty to support NATO and EU 
     membership for the other.
       By embracing countries in Central Europe that show the will 
     and the means to contribute to the stability and prosperity 
     of the continent as a whole, the EU and NATO can help bring 
     an end to historic enmities based on ethnic, cultural and 
     religious differences, including the historic divide between 
     Catholic West and Orthodox East. The example of Hungary and 
     Romania may point to the end of a millennium of Central 
     European history marked by perpetual conflict and human 
     tragedies past counting.

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