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The story began in the early 1990s when up to 300,000 Serb refugees came from Bosnia, Croatia, and then Kosovo. The main problem is that these refugees do not believe in peaceful solutions between the local communities. Outside analysts have also noted the effect of such unhappy immigrants on the “Hungarian Kosovo.” The incidents in question have included acts of vandalism against cemeteries, graffiti on Hungarian churches and schools, and death threats against individuals. Slogans like “death to Hungarians” and “Hungarians go to Hungary” cover walls in many towns of Vojvodina. In March, vandals desecrated a Catholic cemetery in Subotica, where Catholic Hungarians and Croats make up the majority.
However the problem goes far beyond slogans. Many politicians have received threatening phone calls, including J?zsef Kasza, leader of the VMSZ (Federation of Hungarians in Vojvodina). Physical incidents have increased dramatically. Young Serbs have beaten up young Hungarian kids in many places. Minority girls have been publicly sexually molested by Serbs. The latter have provoked fights, in which minority youngsters in many instances have required hospital care. Some of these cases were reviewed in a recent article in the Budapest Sun by American researcher Andrew Ludanyi.
On the other hand, in June five Hungarian young men severely beat a Serb in the town of Temerin. The Serbian press used this attack as the first sign of Hungarian anger against the Serbs, but failed to mention the previous attacks carried out against local Hungarians.
The crisis has reached a point where the two governments had to begin talks about the situation. Hungarian foreign minister L?szl? Kov?cs phoned Serbian PM Vojislav Kostunica in April to call on Belgrade to “take a firm stance with respect to violent incidents against the Hungarian minority in Vojvodina.”
Then Hungarian interior minister, M?nika Lamperth said on 18 June during her visit to Subotica that the Hungarian government is concerned about the attacks against local Hungarians. “If the Serbia & Montenegro authorities put an end to attacks on the members of minorities and enable them to live a peaceful and safe life, Hungary will do everything in its power to help Serbia & Montenegro prepare well and quickly for European integration processes. Otherwise, we will have to seek the protection of the Hungarian minority through the Council of Europe,” she added.
At the same time, two major Hungarian-American lobbying groups in the US have begun to focus the attention of American policy-makers on the situation in Vojvodina.
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