Embassy News
U.S. Embassy Reaches out to the Roma Community in North-East Hungary
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Ambassador Foley with the Roma students (Embassy photo by Linda Mézes) full size photo |
On June 21, 2008, Ambassador Foley attended the "For the Better Future" Award ceremony as the guest of honor invited by the Together for Halmajugra and Together for Gyöngyös Roma-Hungarian Associations. The two Roma civil organizations have founded the award in order to honor those non-Roma people who actively support Roma integration particularly by providing employment opportunities.
In her speech, Ambassador Foley congratulated the award recipients and expressed her desire for having many new awardees in the future. She praised the important work of the two Roma organizations in improving the relationship between Roma and Hungarian people and emphasized the Embassy’s long and good working relations with them. Ambassador Foley encouraged the audience for further cooperation and unity to stop social intolerance and the spread of extremism.
Head of the Embassy’s Office of Defense Cooperation Colonel Lawrence J. Kinde also attended the ceremony and gave a few remarks before lunch. The ceremony was concluded by the wonderful artistic performances of Roma children, students of the Tanoda in Halmajugra.