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Survivors of one of Eastern Europe's deadliest wave of attacks against Roma since World War II received some justice Tuesday, August 6, as four Hungarian men were found guilty of killing six Roma people including a five-year-old child. Brothers Arpad and Istvan Kiss and Zsolt Peto received life imprisonment for attacking Roma villages with guns, grenades and firebombs. The men, who were between ages 28 and 42 during the violence, have denied wrongdoing. The fourth suspect István Csontos, who served as a driver to his accomplices, was sentenced to 13 years imprisonment. He admitted to cooperation but denied active involvement in the murders. At the time, BosNewsLife visited the village of Tatárszentgyörgy, where one of the most serious atrocities happened, and published this report.
Pray: for the Roma people that further persecution would cease. (Ps.5:11b)
More: http://www.bosnewslife.com/
Key non-governmental groups and officials have urged the Euopean Union to urgently tackle the ‘growing problem’ of street children moving from Eastern to Western Europe by improving cross-border co-operation and child protection. They made the appeal at the 'European Forum On Street Children 2009' in Budapest, amid concerns that the EU's open borders mean that ‘unaccompanied’ minors from poorer member states are increasingly roaming the streets of richer Western European cities. There are believed to be a quarter of a million street children in Europe, although officials cautioned that the figure may be higher because as many as 1.5 million young gypsies, also known as Roma, are ‘unregistered’. In a final declaration, delegates attending the Forum, urged the EU to realize the European Parliament's goal of ending ‘the phenomenon of street children’ by 2015.
Pray: that the governments and authorities will be able to tackle this problem speedily. (Job.14:21)
Smaller evangelical congregations and other groups were weighing their options after Hungary's parliament introduced new rules on recognizing churches, despite the Constitutional Court’s annulment of several passages in a controversial church law. Criteria for recognized churches include a history of at least one hundred years or minimum two decades of activities in Hungary. Additionally, a church should count 0.1 percent or more of Hungary's 10-million population as its members or supporters. The adjusted law appeared to revive Communist-era rhetoric, demanding that recognized churches must ‘not pose a risk to national security’ and ‘cooperate with government agencies for community purposes’. The government-sponsored amendment demands that churches are those faith groups ‘recognized by parliament’. Other organizations that pursue religious activities must be registered by the Municipal Court. Formal recognition qualifies churches for government support and allows them to collect donations during services and do pastoral work in jails and hospitals of this heavily Catholic nation.
Pray: that the parliament will recognise churches and faith groups for their spiritual beliefs and not just historical criteria. (1Cor.16:18)
More: http://www.bosnewslife.com/29130-hungary-introduces-controversial-church-rules
EU crisis response commisioner Kristalina Georgieva says massive toxic flooding in Hungary that killed nine people and injured more than 120 others has underscored the need for a stronger European disaster response. Since October 4 about 800,000 cubic-meters of toxic sludge has leaked from a reservoir of a metals plant flooding towns and villages in an area as large as 40 square kilometres. Experts from Austria, Belgium, France, Germany and Sweden are investigating the sludge and hope to provide European assistance similar to that given to the US oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. But Hungary would not receive additional money from the EU solidarity fund because the chemical spill was allegedly caused by human error. They may transfer funds from rural development protection projects. Commissioner Georgieva, who has visited the devastated villages and towns will present a European strategy for disaster response by the end of this month. Pray: that Commissioner Georgieva is able to produce guidelines for stronger and better responses when livelihoods are destroyed and people killed. (Ps.67:1-2) More: http://www.bosnewslife.com/14128-news-watch-european-aid-in-hungarys-toxic-flooding
On 10 June four Christian Democrat members of the Parliament submitted a proposed draft law regarding ‘The Right to Freedom of Conscience and Religion and on the Status of Churches, Religions and Religious Communities’. On 14 June 2011, only four days after the Bill was introduced in Parliament, the Committee on Human Rights, Minority, Civil and Religious Affairs approved the proposed religious legislation and voted to send the draft law to the Parliamentary Assembly for discussion and passage. Passage of this legislation would represent a serious setback for religious freedom in Hungary. The legislation contravenes the standards of OSCE, European Union, Council of Europe, European Court of Human Rights and United Nations because it clearly discriminates against minority religious groups and would create the most oppressive religion law and the most burdensome registration system in the entire region. It is completely inconsistent with fundamental human rights. Pray: that any changes in Hungary’s law would not violate the right to religious freedom. (Ex.22:28) More: http://religionandpolicy.org/cms/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=6921&Itemid=327
Local government officials in Hungary are handing state-owned schools over to churches, unable to afford their upkeep during the economic recession, according to church sources. ‘Churches are entitled to run schools in Hungary as public service providers, receiving the same taxpayers' money as public sponsors,’ said Balazs Odor, ecumenical officer of Hungary's Reformed Church, in an interview with ENInews. ‘The school system has its own problems here, which affect church-run schools as well. However, it's generally true that the wellbeing of church schools is better looked after since each has a community behind it,’ he added. In April, the premier Viktor Orban's centre-right government steered through a new national constitution that states Hungarian citizens ‘recognise the key role of Christianity in upholding the nation.’ A
new religion law in July strengthened the position of mainstream churches when it deprived all but 14 of Hungary's 358 registered churches and religious associations of legal recognition, and required others to re-apply for court registration after parliamentary approval.
Pray: for the work of the Church as it takes on the role running schools and teaching the young. (Dt.32:2)
More: http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/world/2011/September/Fighting-the-Ghosts-of-Bosnia-with-Love-Hope-/
Hungary's new centre-right government has allied itself with the churches in a drive to create jobs and pull Roma (Gypsy) communities out of poverty. The BBC's Nick Thorpe reports that social work by the churches is already helping to improve the lives of Roma in eastern Hungary. The Hungarian government is due to sign a deal with the main churches to allow them to apply for state funding for educational, social and labour programmes. So for the first time, the churches can get involved in job creation. Hungary's 800,000 Roma - many of them destitute - are a priority. The government wants to get a million Hungarians back to work in the next 10 years - 200,000 to 300,000 of them Roma. Hungary's State Secretary for Social Inclusion, Zoltan Balog, is himself a Protestant pastor. ‘It will be the job of the churches to go to the communities with their own proposals,’ he says. Pray: for these initiatives by the Government and Church to help the Roma that God would bless them.
In June, Prayer Alert reported on a draft religion law that constituted oppression because it discriminated against minority religious groups and would create an oppressive religion law inconsistent with fundamental human rights. See Prayer Alert 25-2011. This week Hungary's Constitutional Court has annulled the new law that would have withdrawn legal recognition from all but a handful of the country's registered religious associations. Praise God! However, a church commentator warned that the ruling was ‘just a technical delay,’ and predicted the law would still be enforced from the start of 2012.
Pray: that any changes in Hungary’s law would not violate the right to religious freedom. (Ex.22:28)
Three countries - France, Germany and the UK - acquire foreign intelligence for security and police matters from countries that routinely use torture to obtain information, claims a report issued on 28 June by Human Rights Watch. Additionally the use of torture intelligence in the fight against terrorism damages the credibility of the European Union, as they contradict anti-torture guidelines. Intelligence services in the three countries claim it is impossible to know the sources and methods used to acquire shared information in states such as Algeria, Syria, Jordan, United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan and Pakistan. But officials in the UK and Germany have made public statements indicating that they believe it is sometimes acceptable to use foreign intelligence even if obtained under torture, the report notes. The 62-page long document cites the case of Djamel Beghal, whose statements made under ill-treatment in the United Arab Emirates were used against him in a French court, where he was on trial for plotting a terrorist attack. Pray: that even those plotting inhumane deeds are treated humanely. (Ps. 79:11)
Martin Kugler of the Observatory on Intolerance and Discrimination Against Christians has spoken about the growing acts of intolerance against Christians in Europe in an interview with MercatorNet magazine. The interview marks the 1700th anniversary of the birth of religious tolerance in Europe and seeks to explore the significance of the occasion for Western Christians, whom Mr Kugler says are now facing increasing social hostility. ‘It is not nominal Christians who are fully aligned to society’s mainstream who suffer discrimination. It is those who strive to live according to the high ethical demands of Christianity who experience a clash with the dominant culture,’ he says. ‘These are not in the majority. And even if they were, history has shown that a minority can discriminate against a peaceful majority.’
Pray: that this trend of hostility towards Christians will cease. (Ps.78:49)
More: http://www.mercatornet.com/articles/view/is_europe_discriminating_against_christians