Dear Ambassador Vance,

The 345,000 ethnic Hungarians living in the province of Voivodina in the Republic of Serbia follow your efforts at creating peace with enthusiasm and hope From the very start we have opposed the war and its bloodshed and despite propaganda pressures have made our position publicly known. Unfortunately, due to personal, moral or political reasons and especially in order to avoid the forced conscriptions, during the civil war approximately 7-8% of ethnic Hungarians in Voivodina have fled the country leaving behind their jobs, possessions and real estate. Therefore, we justifiably speak about the forced alteration of the ethnic composition of our region, which is also prohibited by UN documents.

We therefore request your personal involvement in support of refugees being allowed to return home freely. In this situation we could consider it fair that the UN peace plan constrain the Republic of Serbia to call for the return of citizens who have taken refuge abroad and assure them of impunity. At least 25,000 of these citizens would be ethnic Hungarians refugees.

From the very beginning, all that Hungarians in Voivodina have desired is to live as free citizens in a free-market based, democratic, constitutional state.

Considering the fact that the Republic of Serbia is a multi-national state, the Hungarians of Voivodina also demand those minority rights which are rightfully due them according to the relevant documents of the Hague Conference.

We hope that Your Excellency will personally support our request.

Very truly yours, András Ágoston, President of the DCHV

Dear Ambassador Vance,

The political organization of which I am president is the interest group of those Hungarians exclusively who live in the province of Voivodina in the Republic of Serbia. However, I consider it my moral duty to inform you at this time about the tragic situation of Hungarians in the Croatian regions of Baranja and Slavonia. Croatian authorities had drafted these ethnic Hungarians, who later fled with the rest of the population when the Baranja area was occupied by Serbian forces. The new Serbian authorities have, for all intents and purposes, prohibited their return. I respectfully request that when the UN peace plan is being finalized, this fact also be taken into consideration.