Dear Excellency!

It is with considerable apprehension, but also with expectancy and hope that the ethnic Hungarians of Voivodina look at the efforts of the United Nations to halt the war on the territories of former Yugoslavia, and to find a peaceful solution to end the conflict. The DCHV, as the political representative body of the indigenous Hungarian population of Voivodina has consistently maintained that, in the context of the principles of the Paris Peace Accord, there is no inherent reason for this war. Therefore ethnic Hungarians of Voivodina have suffered grave losses due to the war.

As a result of forced and disproportionate conscription of ethnic Hungarians into the ranks of the Yugoslavian National Army, based on the data available up to this date, forty seven young Hungarian conscripts lost their life in the war against Croatia. Those Hungarians and other nationalities of military age, who refused to participate in the civil war were forced to escape abroad, mainly to Hungary.

The consequences of the anti war policy of the DCHV and the ethnic Hungarians of Voivodina, as a whole, were extremely serious. The Serb authorities have launched a full scale and ruinous psychological warfare against the ethnic Hungarians of Voivodina, and the DCHV. The Serb Parliament enacted eighteen Legislative Bills curtaining of nullifying the existing minority rights.

Due to the pressure exerted upon them by the Serb authorities, one tenth of the ethnic Hungarian population of Voivodina, more than 35,000 people were forced into exile. The departure of the mostly younger generation has upset the ethnic balance and eroded the social fabric of the indigenous Hungarian population of Voivodina. We fear that, if the circumstances do not change very soon, and if we can not acquire our autonomy soon, the process of disintegration of our ethnic group will accelerate. For this time of the next census (due in the year 2001), as much as 60-65% of ethnic Hungarian population will vanish from the region.

Despite the ongoing quiet ethnic cleansing, and in face of the mounting political pressure, the DCHV applies purely democratic means in its struggle to achieve its goals. Thus making its own contributions to the overall development of democratic processes. In addition to its democratic role in the Serb parliament, the DCHV continues to make valuable contributions by promoting democratic changes in public life of Serbia, as well.

The concept of autonomy of the DCHV has been endorsed by more than 80% of the ethnic Hungarian population of Voivodina in two consecutive elections recently. The rationale for the above autonomy is to provide a legal framework that is crucial for retaining our identity in Voivodina. Without autonomy the ethnic Hungarians of Voivodina will inevitably cease to exist. The said autonomy does not embody the changing of the borders. In fact it advances the democratization of Serbia itself. To illuminate the fact how much the present ethnocentric concept of Serbia is in discord with the reality, we wish to point out that in Switzerland today, there are more citizens of German nationality, that there are Serbs in present day Serbia. The DCHV does not suggest a notion of transforming Serbia into a Confederation. We merely wish to illustrate the feasibility of the concept of autonomy for Hungarians in Voivodina.

The DCHV and the Hungarians in Voivodina have the highest regard for the actions of the Secretary General of the United Nations, Mr. Boutros Boutros-Ghali, as well as for the efforts of the various UN Departments to find a peaceful and lasting solutions to the unresolved problems on the territories of former Yugoslavia, through a conference sponsored and produced by the United Nations.

I plead to your Excellency, that you do all that you can that the above Conference incorporate the finding of a solution for the completely open and unresolved question of ethnic Hungarians in Voivodina as part of its agenda. We trust that the Conference will not apply double standards, and that the concept of our autonomy will be bear out as an acceptable solution to our predicament as a distinct ethnic group in Voivodina. Respectfully yours, András Ágoston, President of DCHV