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Horváth, Aladár
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2 articles of this author have been cited in the European Press Review so far.
Aladár Horváth on Obama and the Hungarian Roma
In the liberal weekly Heti Világgazdaság the president of the Foundation for the Civil Rights of the Roma, Aladár Horváth, ponders the consequences of Barack Obama's election to US president for the Roma ethnic minority. "The question most frequently asked among members of Hungary's Roma minority these days is: Is it conceivable that one of them could one day be at the head of the state? ... At least Obama's resplendent success can give the countless poor Roma children a glimmer of hope: Yes, we can. ... Only a few potential Obamas will manage to break out of the cut-off world of the Roma ghettos. ... A future Barack is more likely to come from one of those ambitious Roma families that have already succeeded in getting a foothold in the majority society and sending their children to school. ... The young Roma politicians and intellectuals are still too weak to break through the thick walls of social and racist marginalisation. ... Nonetheless, Obama could perhaps effect a change in the political discourse on the Roma in Hungary. But when will the mutual fear, the misery and the violence rooted in marginalisation finally come to an end? After all, we're talking about human lives here, people!"
» full article (external link, Hungarian)
More from the press review on the subject » Domestic Policy, » Integration, » Minorities, » Hungary, » U.S.
The plight of the Hungarian Roma
Aladár Horváth, president of the Roma Civil Rights Federation, paints a gloomy picture of the situation of many Hungarian Roma in the monthly magazine Mozgó Világ. "Today many of the 600,000 to 800,000 Roma in Hungary are simply incapable of keeping up with society. This group includes the very poorest, roughly 300,000 people who while away their time in ghettos, so to speak outside of society. For them there is no way back in. ... They are dregs of Hungarian society. ... Once employed as agricultural and industrial labourers, these Roma lost their jobs during the political change of 1989-90 and slid down into a life of squalor from which there is no return. ... The life expectancy of these peole is 55 to 60 years, 15 years less than the Hungarian average. These people are now third-generation unemployed, and eke out a terrible existence on social welfare. The consequence is a total emotional and moral void."
» more information (external link, Hungarian)
More from the press review on the subject » Integration, » Minorities, » Demographics, » Hungary
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