Hungary: Assaults on Gypsies hurt country

BUDAPEST, Hungary, Aug. 11 (UPI) -- Hungarian President Laszlo Solyom condemned assaults on Gypsies and warned such incidents could undermine the country's stability.

Solyom was commenting on the Aug. 3 slaying of a 45-year-old Romany, or Gypsy, woman and the multiple gunshot wounding of her 13-year-old daughter in their home in Kisleta village, northeast Hungary.

The president said the assault is not only a Gypsy affair but it strikes at the stability of Hungary, the MTI news agency reported Tuesday.

The situation now is explosive and the authorities should find perpetrators of the killings and attacks as soon as possible, he said. Providing safety of the Romany minority is the country's prime task, Solyom said.

Hungary's Romany leaders estimate their minority amounts to about 500,000.

At least six Gypsies have been killed in Hungarian villages in the past year.