RADIO FREE EUROPE/RADIO LIBERTY, PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC
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RFE/RL NEWSLINE  29 June 1999

ROMANIAN MINORITY LEADERS WORRIED ABOUT SPREAD OF
XENOPHOBIA, ANTI-SEMITISM. In an interview with
RFE/RL's Bucharest bureau on 28 June, Minority Affairs
Minister Peter Eckstein-Kovacs said the recent warning
by the National Minorities Council against xenophobia
(see "RFE/RL Newsline," 24 June 1996) was prompted by
nationwide dailies' biased reporting on the Romany and
Hungarian ethnic minorities and anti-Semitism
displayed by such weeklies as "Romania mare" and "Atac
la persoana." Dorel Dorian, who represents the Jewish
minority in the parliament, said that "Atac la
persoana" now has local editions in several provincial
towns. He also noted that the dailies "Cotidianul,"
"Natiunea," and "Romania libera" as welll as the
private television stations Antena 1 and Tele 7 abc
often adopt an anti-Semitic stance. Dorian said there
may be a connection between such reporting and the
desecration of Jewish cemeteries and the plundering of
synagogues. Both politicians called on the government
to prosecute those who are involved in racial
incitement. MS

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