Atrocities against Voivodina Hungarians

Country

Serbia and Montenegro
Subject

Atrocities against Voivodina Hungarians
Summary

In the northern Serbian province of Voivodina live the autochthon community of approx. 250,000-300,000 ethnic Hungarians, who are spread in a relatively compact block of territory, forming absolute majority, in the north-eastern corner of the so-called Backa region along the Hungarian border and in a band to the west of the Tisza River down to the city of Novi Sad.

Currently, the Voivodina Hungarians are the largest single national and ethnic minority in Serbia and Montenegro, following the "detachment" of Kosovo. In the last six months, the Hungarian press in Serbia and the press in Hungary have reported on an increasing number of atrocities and incidents committed against

Hungarians in the province.
Analysis

Voivodina Hungarian organisations have reported on nearly 300 anti-Hungarian incidents in the province during the last six months. These have included beating up Hungarian youngsters, damaging cemeteries and monuments, desecrating Catholic and Calvinist churches. Physical atrocities are mostly concentrated against the youth. Belonging to the most mobile of generations, they are compelled the easiest to leave their homeland and flee to Hungary. Although the incidents vary in weight and characteristics, a common trait is that the police have found no perpetrators and local authorities have not made it to court trials in either of the cases. And in spite of the fact that several similar incidents had preceded the various ethnic wars in the former Yugoslavia, the Serbian press keeps on handling the cases in a low-key manner.

There is no indication that official Belgrade may be implicated in the anti-Hungarian incidents. On the contrary, the current Serbian government, democratic-oriented in comparison with those of the Milosevic-years, may count on the stable constituency of Voivodina Hungarians, a fact proven by the election of Mr Tadic as President of Serbia as opposed to the candidate of the Serbian Radical Party. Nevertheless, the handling of these incidents demonstrates that Belgrade has no influence on local events and is unable to enforce its will on local police and law enforcement which have remained virtually untouched since the Milosevic-era.

After the fall of Milosevic, Belgrade made headway on minority legislation. It was under the tenure of the Djindjic-government that the Act on National Minorities was born, which enabled the establishment of the Voivodina Hungarian National Council, the latter providing a basis for the emergence of a cultural autonomy. Serbia also signed a pioneer minority protection agreement with Hungary. Although these legal instruments came into existence also as examples referring to Serbians living abroad, they are ranked among the most serious pieces of minority protection legislation in the region. However, there have hardly been steps made as regards putting the functioning of the Hungarian National Council in practice. For instance, the lack of a functioning autonomy is proven by the fact that there are no ethnic Hungarian judges and police personnel in the Hungarian-populated areas of Voivodina. This makes it understanding easier why the police and courts are not handling the atrocities at the level of their seriousness.

Voivodina is a multi-ethnic region. In the second half of the 20th century, despite the serious historical hardships, Voivodina's Serbs, Hungarians, Croatians, Slovaks, Romanians, Ruthenians (Ukrainians) and Bulgarians have developed basic norms of peaceful co-existence. As a result of the recent wars, however, the ethnic composition of the province has significantly changed. Many Serbs refugees from Bosnia, Croatia and Kosovo have been settled in Voivodina. These refugees had never lived side by side with the other local national communities whereas their psyche is determined by the fact that they too had been forced to leave their homeland for ethnic reasons. The intolerance and aggressiveness of this mass of people have greatly contributed to the ethnic incidents which had, beside the Hungarians, also Croatian and Slovak victims.

Finally, one must note the fact that Serbia's current international position causes national frustration. Its European and Atlantic integration chances are meagre, and this awareness fails to stimulate a strengthening of the rule of law.

Furthermore, the Serbian democratisation process is negatively affected by the uncertainties surrounding the status of Kosovo, as well as by the instability in Bosnia-Herzegovina. These issues also have an effect on the Serbian national psyche. All this is further aggravated by the fact that the attention of international community on the Balkans continues to vain, a process well highlighted by the withdrawal of the U.S. military from the region.
Conclusion

Although the anti-Hungarian atrocities in Voivodina are unlikely to be centrally directed, they may easily poison relations between Serbia and its single EU-member neighbour, Hungary. The developments surrounding the Voivodina Hungarians may cause significant troubles in the democratisation process under way in Serbia and Montenegro, too. In order to prevent this, a better local enforcement of central government will is necessary. In addition, the institutional framework of minority autonomy should be filled with adequate content through the Hungarian National Council and the further disturbance of the balance of ethnic groups in the region must be stopped. The recent atrocities committed against the Voivodina Hungarians prove vividly that the unsettled issues on the Balkans (Macedonia, Kosovo, Bosnia-Herzegovina), despite the current relative calm, imply serious dangers and security risks for the European Union and NATO.

http://bpfrakcio.hu/ba/english/budapestanalyses_48_en.html

 

Dead project http://www.budapestanalyses.hu/docs/Homepage/En/ and super old analysis which starts claiming 'atrocities' and later, the same is described as 'incidents'.
No indications, no nothing, but we have a thread at the PF. I'd like some of the ethnic Hungarians (we do have them) to respond and say their opinion on this subject.
Thank you in advance.

 

I. Introduction

The harassment and physical assault of non-ethnic Serbs including children, threats against ethnic Hungarian and pro-autonomy leaders, desecration of cemeteries, vandalism of property and the proliferation of racist, xenophobic and anti-Semitic graffiti are becoming near daily occurrences in the province of Vojvodina. 300,000 strong, and comprising 14 percent of the population, ethnic Hungarians are the largest national minority in this multi-ethnic region.

As HHRF's expanded -- by no means exhaustive -- chronological report indicates, radicalization of Serbian society, especially within the multi-ethnic province of Vojvodina, has been on the rise for the past 1 1/2 years, and intensified since Fall 2003. The underlying motivation seems to be misdirected venting of the majority's frustrations against minorities (innocent bystanders) over the "loss of Kosovo." The components of this increasing tendency of intolerance consist of, among others:

1. Failure by the authorities to acknowledge and curb anti-minority sentiments and acts

2. Overt provocations by Serbian radical elements within the echelons of power, and

3. Ongoing disparity between the native population and hundreds of thousands of resettled ethnic Serbian refugees from Croatia, Bosnia and Kosovo.

Official Responses to the Incidents
----------------------------------

The overwhelming response by Serbian authorities to reports of minority-related violence, desecration, vandalism and incitement to hatred is evasion, minimization and low-balling of the number of incidents. Different government officials have given varying figures regarding the number of anti-minority incidents ranging from a total of three to 300 in 2004 alone. This fact alone is a telling indicator of the reluctance to even assess the extent and scope of the situation.

Only after U.S. Congressman Tom Lantos' July 9, 2004 letter to Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica in which he asked the "government [to] take immediate action to curb those Serbian elements in Vojvodina which are targeting Hungarian and other minorities as scapegoats," did the prime minister invite ethnic Hungarian leaders to meet with him in Belgrade. Following all-day discussions on July 13, Kostunica agreed to create two committees, one to investigate anti-minority incidents and another to establish and evaluate projects to prevent further incidents. To date, neither has been done. At that time, the prime minister also said he would shortly visit towns in Vojvodina with larger Hungarian populations as well as the editorial offices of the only Hungarian-language daily Magyar Szó.

After two postponements, on September 8, Kostunica did in fact visit the province. The prime minister's pronouncements reflected previously voiced official attitudes which include (1) admonishing minorities that the situation will grow worse if they continue to "go abroad" with their plight; (2) side-stepping the issues by concentrating on linguistic subtleties such as the word "atrocity" not existing in the Serbian language; and (3) attributing unspecified "political motivations" to ethnic Hungarian leaders for voicing concern over burgeoning violence.

The Police Force: Part of the Problem
------------------------------------

The situation is compounded by the police authorities' reactions to incidents of assault. The Hungarian community's sense of despair is heightened by the fact that in many instances the very forces which should be providing protection and recourse instead (1) are slow to come to the scene of attacks,(2) minimize the severity of the incidents,(3) dismiss the ethnic motivations of attacks by attributing them to merely drunken behavior,(4) fail to rigorously pursue and conclude investigations and (5) are not unknown to be the instigators of unprovoked assault themselves. A shocking example is the case of the mayor of Padé/Padej, ethnic Hungarian László Komáromi, who reported that on August 20, 2004 the local police chief of Csókacoka, Ivan Mijandzic, twice slapped him without cause while on official business in the police station.

The total number of incidents reported in HHRF's expanded chronology is merely 70 and includes all follow-up information we've be able to obtain on police investigations and their degree of effectiveness; merely a fraction of the cases have reached the court level. It is interesting to note that the authorities have been much more effective in their investigations when the victims were ethnic Serbs. A case in point is one Zoran Petrovic, who was brutally beaten up by five ethnic Hungarians in Temerin and suffered very severe injuries. In this case, the police found the assailants immediately, and on September 23, 2004 newspapers announced that charges have been filed. Another case was the murder of a police officer in the 80 percent Hungarian-inhabited village of Csantavér/Cantavir. All state media reported the case, insinuating that the murderer was surely an ethnic Hungarian. The police soon found the shooter, who turned out to be Serbian; however, no Serbian-language newspaper has yet to report this development.

Plans by the national government to establish a National Minority Council include the review of police effectiveness and the creation of a multi-ethnic police force, two timely and much-needed measures.

In sum, in order to curb and prevent future incidents, at minimum, a task force needs to be created with national and provincial components to (1) urgently and thoroughly access the situation,(2) gather data from diverse sources,(3) swiftly investigate and prosecute, and (4) formulate and implement a multi-tiered, broad-based short and long-term strategy for the cessation of anti-minority hostilities and the prevention of future incidents.

 

April 2, 2004

Anti-Hungarian graffiti appeared in the town of Zenta/Senta stating "Death to Hungarians" and "This is Serbia." The graffiti was found on a Hungarian historic monument and two place name signs. Local police and town officials have failed to investigate the incident.[Magyar Szó(Újvidék/Novi Sad), April 6, 2004]

....

April 9, 2004

"Death to Hungarians" (in Serbian: "Smrt madjarima") was the graffiti spray painted on a store and bakery located at the corner of Tito Marshall and Dusan Guconja Streets in the center of Bácsföldvár/Backo Gradiste. The officially approved Serbian-Hungarian bilingual road sign was also removed and replaced with a Serbian-language one.[Magyar Szó(Újvidék/Novi Sad), April 10-12, 2004]
.....
May 3, 2004

In Újvidék/Novi Sad, a group of young people harassed members of the Adventist religious community participating in an evening service, and assaulted two of its ministers who were trying to defend believers from further attack. One of the ministers was an ethnic Hungarian. The assailants were quickly taken into police custody. A Ministry for Religious Affairs statement, released subsequently, reiterated the right to freedom of religious expression.[Magyar Szó(Újvidék/Novi Sad), May 5, 2004]
.....


May 22, 2004

In Szabadka/Subotica, a group of eight Serbian young people attacked three ethnic Hungarian teenagers, aged 18 and 19, on the main square at 1:30 a.m. The victims were engaged in a conversation in Hungarian at a popular local bar when a group of Serbian individuals arrived. As the Hungarian teenagers grew apprehensive and left the bar, the Serbian group followed them to the town hall street corner. One of the victims said that they were outnumbered and could not protect themselves. "I did not hit back, because there were so many of them and I feared that I would receive even more [blows]. I held up my arms to cover my face. I had no idea why they started beating us and why they stopped. I think that they were drunk. Maybe they had taken drugs and wanted to show off. I am certain, however, that they beat us because we are Hungarians. They heard us speak in Hungarian in front of the café. We were not in their way; we tried to avoid them, but they followed us," said the freshman university student who suffered bruises and a black eye.

A few days prior to this incident, Serbia's only Hungarian-language daily, Magyar Szó, reported that a larger group of Serbian youth provoked ethnic Hungarian high school students in Subotica's downtown area near the theater. The victims were beaten with baseball bats. In both cases, the ethnic Hungarian teenagers were reluctant to tell their stories to the police for fear of reprisal. In a subsequent interview with Magyar Szó, police chief Borivoj Mucalj said that no one filed a report about this case at the time, only a few days later, and by then it was impossible to find the parties engaged in the fight.[Magyar Szó(Újvidék/Novi Sad), May 22, 2004; Magyar Szó(Újvidék/Novi Sad), July 24-25, 2004]


September 28, 2004

An ethnic Hungarian high school student, E.N., was beaten for smiling at a Serbian fellow student on the bus. The ethnic Hungarian boy from Bácsfeketehegy/Feketic, and the Serbian boy from Szikics/Lovcenac, were both traveling on the 6.30 a.m. bus of the Topolatrans Bus Company to the agricultural high school in Bácstopolya/Backa Topola when the incident happened. According to eyewitnesses and the victim, the Serbian boy said: "No Hungarian has ever smiled at me and none will ever do!" and then proceeded to punch E.N. Several other boys started to punch E.N. as well and when two of his friends tried to help him, all were beaten. E.N. suffered several bruises and injuries. The case was reported to the local self-government as well as the police. Károly Pál, Chairman of the Executive Committee of Bácstopolya municipality told reporters at the Hungarian-language daily Magyar Szó that the police have already investigated the incident, identified the aggressors and filed charges against them.[Magyar Szó(Újvidék/Novi Sad), September 29, 2004]

.....

 

there are not even any germans in vojvodina ..besides there are more romanys liveing in hungary

 

What happened ? You got so confused that you did mixed threads ?!? Ha ha ha, this is thread where will be revealed serv terror against Hungarians !

 

September 27 and 28, 2004

A fight broke out among several students of the technical high school in Temerin on September 28. The previous day an ethnic Hungarian student, L. N., had found the wallet of an ethnic Serbian girl from the school and returned it to her. The girl later accused L.N. of stealing 200 Dinars (approx. $3) from the wallet. Ten students from the girl's class came over during recess and started demanding the missing money. L.N. and his friends showed them their empty pockets as a sign of good will. The Serb students left, but after 10 minutes came back, saying that L.N. should apologize. The boy refused to do so, as he did not have a reason. A Serbian boy hit L.N. and a small fight started between the two boys. During the fight Cs. M., another ethnic Hungarian student, also got hit. When the break was over, all involved returned to their respective classrooms and went home at the end of the school day.

The next day, on September 28, the taunting continued. G. K. and A. P. gave a first-hand account of the encounter to Béla Csorba, Vice-President of the Hungarian Democratic Party of Vojvodina (VMDP) from Temerin, who transcribed the events for HHRF. This is how G. K. remembers the case:

"During recess, about 30 boys gathered in the schoolyard, some of them with baseball bats, taunting us. When they left school at the end of the day, L.N. and another boy, stuck with two teachers and the group did not follow them. Instead, the group came after us, as we headed towards the park. There were only eight of us, so we started to run. I stumbled and fell; they overwhelmed me and started to kick me while I was on the ground. They kept asking me: "What happened to the wallet?", "Where is the money?", "What are you [Hungarians] doing here? This is our land!" My wallet fell out; they searched it, and after taking a few less important papers, gave it back. Adults walking by came closer to help, so our attackers fled. However, one of them was too slow, I caught him, and hit him a couple of times because I felt very desperate and hurt by what had just happened to me. His friends saw this and came back, but by that time, my friends had arrived with branches from the nearby trees. Someone tried to call the police station, but no one picked up the phone. We walked to the police station with a friend of mine, E. P., and I called my mother on my cellular."

At the police station, the boys recounted the incident to three officers and stated that they felt there was an ethnic motivation to the attack. One of the police officer's dismissed the ethnic taunts recounted by the victim with "You must have provoked them." The officers also expressed doubts that 30 people would have attacked one person. Lajos Miskolci, senior police officer, asked G.K. to show his injuries and after seeing them retorted "This is nothing." The mother of G.K., who was present at the hearing, told them: "I didn't expect this kind of attitude from the police," and took her son to the local medical center for evaluation. [First-Hand Account Taken in Temerin for HHRF by Béla Csorba, Vice-President of the Hungarian Democratic Party of Vojvodina (VMDP) on September 28, 2004]

August 23, 2004

The ethnic Hungarian mayor of Szabadka/Subotica, Géza Kucsera, is the latest victim of threatening telephone calls. On Monday, he received a message on his official answering machine from an unidentified man summoning him to the headquarters of the extremist Serbian Radical Party to "pick up a package from The Hague" and sing a belligerent fascist Chetnik song. It should be noted that Serbian Radical Party leader Vojislav Seselj, now on trial for war crimes in The Hague, considers himself the new Chetnik Vojvod. The Mayor exclaimed indignation at the affront to his character and said he will file a police complaint.
August 22, 2004

At 3:30 a.m., a group of ethnic Serbian youth assaulted two ethnic Hungarian teenagers in front of the Hotel Patria, near the Croatian Consulate, in downtown Szabadka/Subotica. The two boys -- 19-year old Denisz Sötét and another wishing to remain anonymous -- were getting off a bus in the company of others, at a bus stop. Shortly thereafter, a dark gray Mitsubishi pulled up and five young men jumped out. They told the two teenagers that they were looking for someone called "Zsolt." When they realized that neither of the two boys was the sought individual, one of them shouted: "It doesn't matter, these are also Hungarians, so let's beat them!" The gang started to brutally beat and kick the two boys while others around them fled. Denisz Sötét was dragged to the front garden of the Hotel Patria, and kicked severely while lying on the ground. In the meantime, the guard standing at the nearby Croatian Consulate remained idle, and did the dozen of guests celebrating a wedding in the hotel and privy to the incident, recounted Sötét's father later to reporters. When the assailants left, Sötét and his friend crawled to the guard patrolling the Hungarian Consulate a few hundred meters from the scene who called the police immediately. Soon, six to eight policemen arrived at the scene. However, instead of trying to catch the perpetrators who were getting into the car which was still at the bus stop, the police officers kept questioning the ethnic Hungarian teenagers about the incident. Sötét's father later reported to the Hungarian language daily Magyar Szó that after arriving to the scene, he overheard one of the policemen say: "Enough of this nonsense that Serbs are beating Hungarians. I do not want to deal with this. Anyway, one or two smacks are not such a big deal." Sötét suffered serious bruises; head, face and abdominal injuries. Police escorted him to the hospital, but in the absence of an acting surgeon, Sötét was told to go home and come back if his pains continued. In a September 8 interview with Magyar Szó, Szabadka's police chief, Borivoj Mucalj, stated that after having investigated 90 Mitsubishis, police found the gray car belonging to the perpetrators. He also said that the police identified the assailants: two minors. No further details have been released. [Magyar Szó (Újvidék/Novi Sad), August 23, September 18 and 19, 2004; Vajdaság MA -- Délvidék Hírportál (www.vajdasagma.info), August 23, 2004; Népszabadság (Budapest), August 24, 2004; Magyar Hírlap (Budapest), August 24, 2004]

 

Your only goal in all of these threads is not having a discussion but spreading anti-serb bogeyman propaganda of the 1990s...

I don't see any discussion about PEACE or ECONOMIC RECONSTRUCTION...Just how much pieces of real estate needed to be taken...

thats your little goal..

you have only one problem... This is not a news bulletin where people around the world will react but a discussion group...


You albanians live off of your neighbors division and conflict. If there was no Srebrenice, you albanians probably would have a problem partitioning pieces of real estate from Serbia...

Again you want more conflict so you can create your greater albania which existed in the Ottoman empire.

 

Why you try to divert the subject of this thread ? It is clearly visible that it is connected with the atrocities toward native Hungarians by the side of serv occupiers ! Do you condemn these chauvinistic acts ?

.....

 

...
August 20, 2004
********

In Csóka/Čoka, local police chief Ivan Mijandzic physically assaulted the mayor of Padé/Padej, ethnic Hungarian László Komáromi, at the police station. The victim said he had no explanation as to why the police officer slapped him twice on his face. He told the Hungarian-language daily Magyar Szó that the incident occurred between 9:15-9:30 a.m. when he went to the police station to procure certificates necessary for running in the upcoming local elections in September. Komáromi is a member of the Alliance of Hungarians in Vojvodina and is on the party list for the post of local councilman in Padé. While he was waiting for the document certifying that he is a resident of Padé, a police officer told him that the police chief wanted him in his office. When Komáromi entered the room, the police chief started to arrogantly question him about why he wanted to damage inter-ethnic relations and who he thought he was. Komáromi replied that he is a taxpaying citizen of the country and is on official business at the police station. When the police chief threatened him again, the mayor said: "Sir, whatever your intention are, act according to the law and police regulations." Mijandzic responded by slapping Komáromi twice on the face, yelled at him to get out, and ultimately shoved him out of his office. After the incident, Komáromi went to the Zenta/Senta hospital where he was examined. The medical report states that the victim suffered a highly visible suffusion of blood and the incident has affected his nervous system as well. Five days after the incident, the Csóka police station still refused to comment on the event. At the inquiry of the Hungarian daily, Népszabadság, police said that an official statement could be obtained at the central police station in Nagykikinda/Kikinda. However, the head of the Nagykikinda police station was said to be out of the office when sought. [Magyar Szó (Újvidék/Novi Sad), August 24, 2004; Népszabadság (Budapest) August 25, 2004]

July 30, 2004
**********

Around 3:00 a.m. a fight broke out in Csantavér/Cantavir between four young men: Siniša Ćulum and Duško Maljković of Újfény/Novi Žednik, and Róbert Dudás and Kornél Nagy of Óbecse/Becej. Police were able to intervene quickly, thereby preventing serious injury. The initiators, Ćulum and Maljković, were charged with a misdemeanor for "disturbing the peace." The conflict was probably ethnically-based since the victims reported the assailants shouting: "What are you doing here? Go home! We're going to kill you!" upon hearing the two speaking in Hungarian. "I have never participated in a fight, not to mention an inter-ethnic one. I have had a Serbian girlfriend now for two years. I have many Serbian friends; none of them have ever treated me this way," said Dudás. [Magyar Szó (Újvidék/Novi Sad), August 3, 2004]

July 30, 2004
**********

Similar to the incident in Törökkanizsa/Novi Knezevac on May 30, violence erupted in Szabadka/Subotica at a 17 year-old boy's private birthday party. After four uninvited ethnic Serbian boys bullied their way onto the premises around 11 p.m., and objected the Hungarian music being played, approximately 30 members of well-known neighborhood gang returned. The gang broke down the door, proceeded to destroy bottles, hitting people over the head with them, and damage music equipment and other property inside the rented space. At least five of the party participants had to be hospitalized. The police arrived late after the mother of one of the boys called them to the scene. Asking to remain anonymous for fear of reprisals, she recounted the events to reporters: My older son [aged 29] managed to dial us up on his cellular before he passed out. We called the police station. We were told that they had no available cars at the time and we should dial another number. We called the other number, told them about the situation, and hurried to the spot. I saw both my sons covered with blood. The streets were covered with blood."

"By the time we arrived, only three of the attackers remained at the scene," continued the mother. "I started shouting to them; the police told me to behave. One policeman insinuated that there had been alcohol consumption and no supervision. I told him, in vain, that there were five adults present at the party. I find it unbelievable that soon we will have to hire private security detail in order to guard Hungarian private events," concluded the visibly shaken mother. [Magyar Szó (Újvidék/Novi Sad), August 2, 2004]

 

You Are Just Another Albanian Not Looking For A Discussion Or A Dialogue But Obsessed On Making Provocative News To Create Strife And Grief. You Act Like An Albanian Propaganda Tool. Why Don't You Admit You Have This Fetish On Hatred Toward Serbs To The Point You Wast All Of Your Time Posting All These Boring News Stories Coming Not From A Hungarian But An Albanian?

And You Can Figure Out Why? So You Can Cause Hate Against Serbs?
Just Like People Posting Croatians Are Ustashis? Or Bosnian Muslims Are Balijas?


The Only Weapon That Can Defeat Your Purpose Is All The People In The Balkans To Have Peace And No More Strife/conflict.

Hungarians And Serbs Will Have Peace And Thats Your Enemy. Peace Is Your Enemy...

 

On contrary, I am exposing here true nature of your nation. Playing always on 'victim card' while backstabbing other nations , no matter religion nor ethnicity, it needed time, for the world to find out your chauvinistic and terrorist goals in order to create "Greater Serbia". Luckily, you failed. Instead of trying to divert this subject, why don't you admit the atrocities against Hungarians !!! But wait, more to come...

 

July 3, 2004

At 11:00 p.m., four 17-18 year-old ethnic Serbian perpetrators (C.S. born 1987, A.V. born 1987, P.K. and Velibor Vulikic born 1984) attacked four 16- to 17-year-old ethnic Hungarians (T.A. born 1988, P.S. born 1989, A.E. and B.E. born 198 in the so-called „Fighter's line-up" district of Szabadka/Subotica, an area inhabited mainly by Serbian refugees from Kosovo and Bosnia. One of the victims said that the Serbians attacked without provocation, shouting „Kecske, kecske" (goat, goat), an abbreviated version of a popular anti-Hungarian slogan. T.A. was hospitalized for internal bleeding, facial fractions and kidney bruises. The incident happened at 69-71 Joó Lajos Street in a parking lot. Police conducted a swift investigation and detained all perpetrators on July 7. The official police press release stated that P.K. and P.S., minors, are well-known to the authorities as delinquents. [Magyar Szó (Újvidék/Novi Sad), July 7 and 8, 2004]

June 14, 2004

Seventeen year-old ethnic Hungarian student Krisztián Börcsök said unknown assailants attacked him on an empty street of Keresztúr/ Ruski Krstur at 1:00 p.m. The victim was riding his bicycle home from school in the nearby village of Törökkanizsa/Novi Knezevac when he was attacked and beaten in the face several times. There were no witnesses. Börcsök had to be hospitalized for his injuries. A police investigation is currently underway. [Magyar Szó (Újvidék/Novi Sad), June 16, 2004]

The Újvidék/Novi Sad Ministry of Interior office issued a press release regarding three perpetrators who had attacked two high school students from Óbecse/Becej on June 6, 2004 at 1:00 a.m. [see report of June 6]. The aggressors -- Dragan Radivojevic (born 1985), R.P. (born 1986) and M.S. (born 1989) -- were minors under the influence of alcohol. One of their victims was repeatedly beaten on the face and body. The press release, however, failed to mention that the attack had ethnic overtones. [Magyar Szó (Újvidék/Novi Sad), June 17, 2004]

June 6, 2004

Unknown perpetrators attacked two ethnic Hungarian minors, Szabolcs Pap (born 1987) and Kazimir Korolija (born 1987) on Petar Drapsin Street in Óbecse/Becej shortly after midnight. The victims were riding home on their bicycles when they passed a gang of young men standing near the road. Suddenly, someone from the group started running after the bikers to inquire about the time. Since only one of them had a watch, they started to speak in Hungarian. Szabolcs Pap gave a first-hand account of what happened next:

"By then the boy who had asked about the time reached my side and kicked the rear wheel of my bicycle. First I lost my balance and then fell off the bike and hit a pile of bricks at the edge of the road. I was lying on the ground when the boy started kicking me and immediately three of his companions came over to beat me. They loudly cursed my mother and told me to get away from this place, I have no business being here. Since my friend, who stopped his bicycle a bit further, saw that I was overwhelmed, he started shouting for help in both Serbian and Hungarian. Upon hearing the noise, a man and a woman came out from a nearby house and shouted at the crowd beating me. Only then did they begin to loosen their grip around me, so my friend could get to me and help me escape. We started running toward a bridge, leaving our bicycles behind. Only when we turned around and saw that no one was following us did we stop, and I called my father on my cellular phone."

Pap added that by the following day he was covered with bruises and injuries all over his body. The physician László Kovács, who performed a medical examination of the boy two days later, reported the incident to the police. At first, the parents were reluctant to file charges against the assailants for fear of reprisal. However, with the aid of the local branch of the Alliance of Hungarians in Vojvodina (VMSz), they went to the police. [Magyar Szó (Újvidék/Novi Sad), June 10 and 11, 2004]

May 30, 2004

In Törökkanizsa/Novi Knezevac, a private party organized by young ethnic Hungarians in a rented house turned into a massive street fight after a large group of Serbian youth arrived at the scene. Earlier that evening, two Serbian young men had been told that the party was a private affair. According to one party attendee, they muttered "We'll be back!" as they left the house. After the partygoers called the police, five cars arrived carrying 15-20 attackers. The uninvited group started to beat a small group who had gone out for some fresh air. The new attackers claimed that they had come to protect their friends, who had been assaulted earlier. The fight ended only with the intervention of police officers. Six ethnic Hungarian and two Serbian teenagers were seriously injured and had to be hospitalized. The Knezevac branch of the police has begun an investigation. [Magyar Szó (Újvidék/Novi Sad), June 1 and 3, 2004]

May 27, 2004

In Szabadka/Subotica, six to seven young Serbian men attacked an ethnic Hungarian teenager during the daytime in the downtown area. The boy was walking home from school when the attackers approached him and grabbed his bag, kicking his arms and back. The perpetrators fled when the boy's father noticed the incident. The attack was reported to the Alliance of Hungarians in Vojvodina (VMSz) which led VMSz President József Kasza and Chairman of the Executive Committee Árpád Papp to visit the chief of police. In an interview to the only Hungarian-language daily Magyar Szó, police chief Borivoj Mucalj claimed that after having investigated the incident, the police found no signs of ethnic motivation. [Magyar Szó (Újvidék/Novi Sad), May 29-30 and June 2, 2004; Magyar Szó (Újvidék/Novi Sad), July 24-25, 2004]

May 22, 2004

In Szabadka/Subotica, a group of eight Serbian young people attacked three ethnic Hungarian teenagers, aged 18 and 19, on the main square at 1:30 a.m. The victims were engaged in a conversation in Hungarian at a popular local bar when a group of Serbian individuals arrived. As the Hungarian teenagers grew apprehensive and left the bar, the Serbian group followed them to the town hall street corner. One of the victims said that they were outnumbered and could not protect themselves. "I did not hit back, because there were so many of them and I feared that I would receive even more [blows]. I held up my arms to cover my face. I had no idea why they started beating us and why they stopped. I think that they were drunk. Maybe they had taken drugs and wanted to show off. I am certain, however, that they beat us because we are Hungarians. They heard us speak in Hungarian in front of the café. We were not in their way; we tried to avoid them, but they followed us," said the freshman university student who suffered bruises and a black eye.

A few days prior to this incident, Serbia's only Hungarian-language daily, Magyar Szó, reported that a larger group of Serbian youth provoked ethnic Hungarian high school students in Subotica's downtown area near the theater. The victims were beaten with baseball bats. In both cases, the ethnic Hungarian teenagers were reluctant to tell their stories to the police for fear of reprisal. In a subsequent interview with Magyar Szó, police chief Borivoj Mucalj said that no one filed a report about this case at the time, only a few days later, and by then it was impossible to find the parties engaged in the fight. [Magyar Szó (Újvidék/Novi Sad), May 22, 2004; Magyar Szó (Újvidék/Novi Sad), July 24-25, 2004]

 

yawn.....

what about the romany gypsies? Did you forget them too?

 

yawn..its boring ..I am not going to spend reading this for hours. LOL.


You think Greater Croatia never existed in WWII with Ante Pavelic?

You think Greater Bosnia never existed in the Ottoman empire with ALBANIANS?

LOL....


Everyone in the Balkans wanted a Greater Croatia, Greater Bosnia Islamica, Greater Serbia and even Greater Albania...


Its just you Albanians in the 90s got caught up with victimization propaganda to make yourself you guys the victims so you can UTILIZE SOME SUPERPOWER MILITARY FORCE against your so-called country of animosity....

and you guys are really not looking for peace BUT JUST LOOKING TO MAKE A WITCH-HUNT ON WHO IS THE BAD GUY AND LETS GET SOME SUPER POWER TO PUNISH THEM FOR US.

your POSTS ARE A WASTE OF TIME BECAUSE YOU ARE NOT HUNGARIAN . YOU ARE NOT A GENUINE HUNGARIAN BUT AN ALBANIAN PROPGANDIST TOOL WHO HAS A FETISH ON HATRED FOR SERBS...


WHY DON'T YOU STOP YOUR FETISH ON HATRED TOWARD SERBS? MAYBE YOU WOULDNT BE WASTING YOUR TIME POSTING THIS NONSENSE WHAT NOBODY IS READING...

 

Stick to the thread, please.... I know that truth hurts

 

serbs are responsible for the entire bloodshed in the ex-YU wars ! But you still continue to perpetrate atrocities against Hungarians !!!

 

YOu sound like a repeating tape recorder... LOL... Why don't you read the thread ? You are the only one here and 2 other people...LOL


YOUR NOT EVEN HUNGARIAN BUT BRING UP PROPAGANDA NEWS SOURCE. WHAT ABOUT YOUR MUSLIM JIHAD TERROR PLOT IN FT DIX NJ?

ARE YOU COWARD NOT TO MENTION THAT FACT?

 

You can 'LOL' all day long, but this thread is the best proof of constant terror upon native Hungarians by the side of serb terrorists !!!

 

May 3, 2004

In Újvidék/Novi Sad, a group of young people harassed members of the Adventist religious community participating in an evening service, and assaulted two of its ministers who were trying to defend believers from further attack. One of the ministers was an ethnic Hungarian. The assailants were quickly taken into police custody. A Ministry for Religious Affairs statement, released subsequently, reiterated the right to freedom of religious expression. [Magyar Szó (Újvidék/Novi Sad), May 5, 2004]

...........................

April 9, 2004

Béla Csorba, Vice-President of the Hungarian Democratic Party of Vojvodina (VMDP), found a 12-inch kitchen knife wrapped in paper slipped under his door. Attached to the weapon was the following message in Serbian: "We will slaughter you" (in Serbian: "Zaklacemo vas"). Csorba reported the threatening note to the police, who have begun an investigation. [Magyar Szó (Újvidék/Novi Sad), April 10-12, 2004]

..........................

March 22, 2004

Nenad Čanak, the President of the Vojvodina Parliamentary Assembly, received a threatening letter for the second time this year saying: "A death sentence on you came into force yesterday. We are here to execute this sentence. Your disloyal career has ended, and no one can help you." The letter was handwritten and mailed from Nova Pazova, a city between Belgrade and Novi Sad. An entity calling itself "The Serbian Diaspora Summary Revolutionary Court," allegedly headquartered in Chicago, claimed responsibility for the letter. This entity had sent similar letters in the past to both Čanak and József Kasza, who is President of the Alliance of Hungarians in Vojvodina (VMSz). The last letter to Kasza stated: "You have been sentenced to death for your attempt to separate Vojvodina from Serbia." [Magyar Szó (Újvidék/Novi Sad), March 23, 2004]

............................
March 18, 2004

A Serbian neighbor and his son assaulted Tihamér Lavró in the staircase of their house. Lavró lives with his mother and a younger sister in a compound called "Fighters Line-Up" in Szabadka/Subotica, an area with a 90 percent Serbian population, mainly refugees from Bosnia, Croatia and Kosovo. On the day in question, Lavró was returning home with a friend, who lives in the same building, when a Serbian neighbor tripped and kicked him. The boys tried to escape via the elevator, but the perpetrator blocked its outer door. While the victim tried to protect himself by holding the inner door of the elevator, the son of the assailant joined his father and kicked in the inner door. After cornering the victim, they kicked and beat the young man with a bicycle part until he passed out. The victim was hospitalized with a concussion, facial fractions and numerous bruises on his body. In the past, the father had mocked the victim's ethnic origins, shouted insults about his mother, shoved the victim's sister, and repeatedly vandalized his car. Lavró and his family have been harassed daily by this neighbor either by telephone or in person. Following the victim's hospitalization, the son of the assailant threatened the mother, saying that the next time Lavró will end up in the morgue. Although police have begun an investigation, the victim told reporters that he is pessimistic since a prior incident involving the son is still under investigation after a year. The only possible solution he sees is to move to another place. [HírTV (Budapest) May 25, 2004
....................................................

March 12, 2004

Three Serbian boys assaulted Zsana Mészáros in the local Miroslavan School in Palics/Palić during the recess between classes. The boys kicked her in the back and continued kicking after she fell to the ground. The girl was hospitalized and an x-ray examination showed chipped cartilage. Months have passed, but Mészáros has still not fully recovered and might have complications in the future. Mészáros and her mother told reporters that during the school investigation several teachers tried to protect the boys by not giving out names and telephone numbers. Mészáros' mother visited the headmaster, who informed her that the boys were reprimanded and the incident will be discussed at a school meeting. But the school has not taken any action since the incident and Mészáros' classmates continue to laugh at her and mock her Hungarian origin. According to the mother, hate-speech is common in the fights that take place between Serbian and Hungarian teenagers both in the school and on the street. She also added that ethnic Hungarian children are afraid to inform their parents or other adults because they fear further violence. Parents feel desperate because they believe that Serbian authorities will not intervene. [HírTV (Budapest) May 20, 2004 ]

 

Ethnic Hungarian and ethnic German (as well as ethnic Italian) have VERY different culture from Serbs, so they will not respond. This doesn't make the Serbian attrocities any less true.

What Serbs will never learn is that (Hungarians) becoming a victim of murderers does NOT require that now the Hungarians should turn themselves into murderers too. Also, every Hungarian, German, and Italian knows that the Serbian murderers enjoy international support to continue their murders. Therefore speaking up is useless.

Also, I would like to THANK DaVinci for bringing this situation to the open at least here at Political Forum. It is important that someone speaks up. (Especially if the voice of the victims are taken away, by international agreement.)

Second agenda: if the Hungarians of Voivodina agree that the territorial Hungarian majority area exists there (which is true in my humble opinion), then it could be a basis of normalizing the Serbia-Hungary border. I can also imagine, that many Voivodina Serbs would prefer to live in Hungary too, because Hungary enetered the 21st century, and Serbia never will. This is evident at least from the lack of Hungarian responses.

 

I'm partially Hungarian, have a plenty of Hungarian cousins in Vojvodina and Hungary proper; my grandma was born in Hungary, finished Hungarian schools; late dad was bilingual Serbian/Hungarian langs, finished Hungarian schools as well.
It's not by chance that I asked ethnic Hungarians to join this discussion and they surely know how to voice their opinion very loudly. Ok?

Everything on this thread is a malicious attempt to discredit multicultural region, something Albanians never had due to their mentality, as Vojvodina is.

It is expected to have a schoolkids fights (kids are not immune to it) and it is expected people to go into neighbor conflicts even if they're of a different ethnicity, as I seen it numerous times in the States during past several years. Why and how this should be labeled as atrocities IF the same is not applied to other countries who have the same sporadic incidents?

 

July 31, 2004

Unidentified perpetrators threw Molotov-cocktails into a shop in Temerin during the night. The street-level store belongs to Zoltán Úri, an ethnic Hungarian, who lives in the same building with his family. The fire caused extensive damage but since nothing was stolen from the store, the perpetrators' motives remain unknown. The police are still investigating the case. Locals believe that it might be the act of nationalists who have been sending threatening letters to certain ethnic Hungarians in the town postmarked from Újvidék/Novi Sad, and who might be behind the flag-burning incident of July 25. [Magyar Szó (Újvidék/Novi Sad), August 2, 2004]

July 3, 2004

Unidentified individuals desecrated 30-40 ethnic Croatian and Hungarian graves in the St. Rókus Roman Catholic cemetery in Zombor/Sombor. This was the third similar incident in the cemetery since 1995. The grave of János Herceg, a prominent ethnic Hungarian poet, was also desecrated. Josip Pekanovic, leader of the Sombor/Zombor branch of the Croatian Democratic Community of Vojvodina, was the first to learn about the incident. He reported the case to the local police, the Croatian Consular office in Szabadka/Subotica, and the Alliance of Hungarians in Vojvodina. Police ignored demands by the Croatian and Hungarian minority organizations to investigate the incident. After numerous calls, the police registered only 17 of the total cases of desecration. Citing the lack of effort made by the police authorities, József Kasza, President of the Alliance of Hungarians in Vojvodina, called on Dragan Jocic, Minister of the Interior, to resign. [Magyar Szó (Újvidék/Novi Sad), July 6, 7, 8 and 9, 2004]

July 3, 2004

Unidentified persons twice desecrated graves in Monostorszeg/Backi Monostor during the past four days. [Magyar Szó (Újvidék/Novi Sad), July 9, 2004]

May 29, 2004

Marjan Medesi, aged 29, broke into the Catholic parish in Nagybecskerek/Zrenjanin around 4:30 in the morning. The thief put valuables, cash amounting to 1,970 Dinar (approx. $US 600) and a cell phone in a plastic bag. He severely beat Jenő Tietze and his sister Adamina who were trying to prevent the robbery. A criminal proceeding is underway and the assailant's detention has been ordered. [Magyar Szó (Újvidék/Novi Sad), June 2, 2004]

May 2, 2004

In Magyarkanizsa/Kanjiza, unidentified perpetrators vandalized the Jewish cemetery, overturning a large marble monument erected originally in 1948 to commemorate the town's 160 Holocaust victims. Paja Vigoda, the cemetery's custodian, found the monument on the ground, smeared with human excrement. Police have yet to investigate the incident. Vigoda, who was appointed in 1996 by the Belgrade Jewish Community to safeguard the cemetery, said it was not the first time vandals had broken in. He said that no monies are allocated for the restoration and preservation of the cemetery. [Magyar Szó (Újvidék/Novi Sad), May 5, 2004]

Meanwhile in Törökbecse/Novi Becej, a total of 21 tombs (10 Roman Catholic and 11 Orthodox) were vandalized and damaged in the local cemetery. Two employees discovered the extensive damage in the morning. A police investigation swiftly began and the perpetrator was apprehended the next day, confessing to the crime. Authorities said they will issue a statement shortly revealing the identity of the perpetrator, who has numerous prior convictions. [Magyar Szó (Újvidék/Novi Sad), May 4 and 7, 2004; Magyar Nemzet (Budapest), May 05, 2004]

March 27, 2004

In Szabadka/Subotica, perpetrators broke into the Roman Catholic cemetery again, dislodging and destroying 82 wooden crosses and 10 stone decorations from Hungarian and Croatian graves. Three days later, police issued an incredible statement: the perpetrators had been caught: three children (A.F., D.T., and S.S.R.) between the ages of seven and eight. The investigation was discontinued even though children of that age and size would have been physically incapable of inflicting the extent of damage which was caused in the cemetery. [Magyar Szó (Újvidék/Novi Sad), March 29 and April 2, 2004]

 

March 18, 2004

Overnight, unknown perpetrators vandalized and damaged a few graves in the Roman Catholic cemetery located in the upper part of Zenta/Senta. [Magyar Szó (Újvidék/Novi Sad), March 19, 2004]

January 19, 2004

The tomb of a five year-old girl was vandalized in the Roman Catholic cemetery of Újvidék/Novi Sad. The perpetrators broke the white marble tombstone probably with a hammer. The local branch of the Alliance of Hungarians in Vojvodina issued a press release demanding an end to such incidents. [Magyar Szó (Újvidék/Novi Sad), January 20, 2004]

January 13, 2004

Unknown perpetrators broke into the Hungarian Reformed Church in Zombor/Sombor sometime after Sunday, January 11. They vandalized the churchyard, broke ornamentation on the church door, attempted to break into the church itself and, in the end, flooded the church's cellar with 120 cubic meters of water. By the time the minister arrived back to the church on Tuesday afternoon, the church yard itself was already flooding. Police responded immediately after the minister called them, and continued investigating into the following morning. Strangely, while the police were still at the scene on Wednesday morning, unnamed minors were found to be kicking the church wall and taking apart the brick fence. After an hour and a half of questioning they were let go, and told that charges would be pressed against them. On August 18, Andor Békássy, minister of the church, told HHRF that he has not heard from the police since the date of the incident seven months earlier. [Magyar Szó (Újvidék/ Novi Sad), January 20, 2004]

January 5, 2004

A marble cross at the entrance to the village of Kisbosznia/Mala Bosna was damaged. The case was reported to the police who, after questioning locals and consulting stone-carvers, concluded that there was no ethnic motivation to the incident. Six month later, after being queried about the incident by a Magyar Szó reporter, Borivoj Mucalj, chief of police of Szabadka/Subotica, stated that the cross had toppled because it was old and close to the road. [Magyar Szó (Újvidék/ Novi Sad), January 9, 2004; Magyar Szó (Újvidék/ Novi Sad), July 24-25, 2004]

February 4, 2004

In Temerin, unknown perpetrators broke the bi-lingual sign identifying the local Historical Museum. The museum has been a target for Serb nationalists in the past. Two months ago, someone spray-painted the name of the Serb Radical Party on the museum's door. [Magyar Szó (Újvidék/ Novi Sad), February 5, 2004]

December 6, 2003

A statue of Hungarian poet Antal Kovács, located a few meters from the guard's post at the entrance to the Temerin town hall, was spray-painted during the night. Similarly, the entrance door of the local Szirmai Károly Hungarian Cultural Alliance (Szirmai Károly Magyar Művelődési Egyesület) was also spray-painted and, the name of the Serb Radical Party was emblazoned on the door of the local Historical Museum. [Magyar Szó (Újvidék/ Novi Sad), December 11, 2003]

November 26, 2003

More than 50 wooden and stone crosses were damaged in a Roman Catholic cemetery in Felsőmuzslya/Muzlja (a village neighboring Nagybecskerek/Zrenjanin). On December 3, 2003 police arrested three minors -- L.N. (aged 17), N.K.(aged 16) and K.D.(aged 17) -- from Nagybecskerek/Zrenjanin. One of the perpetrators, L.N., was placed under psychological evaluation, the other, N.K., was seriously rebuked, while the third perpetrator, K.D., was exempt from further examination. [Magyar Szó (Újvidék/ Novi Sad), November 27 and December 5, 2003]

 

October 5, 2003

At 7 a.m. in Grbavica (near Újvidék/Novi Sad), on the corner of Tolstoy and Puskin Streets, three young Serbian men aged 25-26 insulted Károly Nász and his wife, sprinkling beer over the husband. The couple was saying goodbye when the three, drunk men approached them. Hearing the spouses speaking Hungarian, they spilled beer over Károly Nász, started insulting them, and kicking their car. Nász called the police but was unable to give an accurate description of the aggressors due to his emotional state. Nász also told reporters that a week ago his grandparents' grave was desecrated in the Roman Catholic cemetery in Novi Sad. [Magyar Szó (Újvidék/ Novi Sad), October 9, 2003]

September 28, 2003

During the night, 86 graves were desecrated and severely damaged in the Roman Catholic cemetery of Újvidék/Novi Sad. Several crosses were overturned and tombstones uprooted. A 35year-old grave of an infant, for example, was dug out half way after its marble tombstone was removed. The total damage is estimated at 950,000 Dinars (approximately $US 15,800). Police began an investigation and found the perpetrators: two minors, a girl (A.K.) and a boy (M.P.) who are currently high school students. The perpetrators admitted to the crime and said they were intoxicated at the time of the act. The legal guardian of one of the perpetrators said that police investigation was very controversial. At first, police stated that both perpetrators' houses were searched in trying to gather evidence for the crime. However, police did not in fact come to their house. Secondly, it appears that more than two perpetrators were involved in the incident. The legal guardian told the daily Dnevnik that it is impossible for two minors -- a boy weighting 64 kg and a girl weighing 35 kg -- to cause such extensive damage in only one hour (which was length of the incident according to the police report). Before the judge, the two perpetrators claimed that they damaged only a few crosses and graves but added that a group of older boys had been watching them from the cemetery's fence and also drinking. [Magyar Szó (Újvidék/ Novi Sad), September 29 and 30, October 2, 7, November 8-9, 14 and 22-23, 2003]

April 16, 2003

In Szabadka/Subotica, unknown perpetrators vandalized one of the memorial stones in the Parcel No. 44 of the Zenta Street cemetery. This section holds the engraving of the names of 29 innocent victims of the 1944 massacres in Vojvodina. Local residents informed Ferenc Sinkovits, President of the '44 Memorial Committee, who reported the incident to the police. Last year one of the memorial stones was also damaged along with the gate and fence of the section. [Magyar Szó (Újvidék/ Novi Sad), April 18, 2003]

February 1, 2003

In the Roman Catholic cemetery of Újvidék/Novi Sad, unknown perpetrators vandalized three tombstones. A police investigation is underway. [Magyar Szó (Újvidék/ Novi Sad), February 6, 2003]