We are pleased to announce that the Advisory Board (AB) of the Tom Lantos Institute has been established. The AB consists of the following members

This website is under reconstruction due to the reorganization of the Institute.
A new website, detailing the specific mandate and activities of the TLI, will be launched shortly.

The Tom Lantos Institute (TLI) is a think-tank specialising in human and minority rights in Europe with a particular focus on Central and Eastern Europe and the Western Balkans. It engages in three major issue areas including: (a) Jewish life and Anti-Semitism; (b) Roma rights; and (c) human and minority rights in general (e.g. human and minority rights education).

The Budapest English Club for Roma Women met Katalin Sommer, who was personally saved by Raoul Wallenberg during the Second World War. Katalin is a mask artist and wig-maker. During the first part of the conversation Katalin shared her memories of the lived horrors of the war and the Arrow-Cross takeover. Katalin, her mother and her brother where saved by Raoul Wallenberg in 1944 from being shot into the Danube. She talked about the horrors of the war and her mother’s breviary to protect her children at all cost through the lens of a child as she was only 5 years old at the time.

The Budapest English Club for Roma Women met with Swedish Integration Minister Erik Ullenhag on the 18th of January. The one hour long informal meeting was held at the Swedish Embassy with the participation of Ambassador Karin Olofsdotter and Rita Izsák.

The Budapest English Club for Roma Women kicked of 2013 by meeting with Her Excellency Tove Skarstein, the Norwegian Ambassador to Hungary. The Ambassador is a committed advocate towards gender equality and considers it part of her agenda here in Hungary to share Norwegian best practices and values in terms of empowering women.

On last year’s last Budapest English Club for Roma Women the participants had the pleasure of meeting Her Excellency Eleni Tsakopoulos Kounalakis, Ambassador of the United States to Hungary. After a brief introduction the roundtable discussion quickly turned into an interesting Q and A session.

On Tuesday, December 11, 2012 the Wallenberg Commemorative Committee held its final session. Besides the Tom Lantos Institute (TLI), members of the Wallenberg family, high-level governmental officials and representatives of several NGOs and parliamentary parties constitute the membership of the Committee which was chaired by Zsolt Németh, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs and Karin Olofsdotter, Ambassador of Sweden to Hungary.

On December 10, 2012 the Budapest Club for Roma Women had the pleasure of meeting Dr. Anikó Lévai, Goodwill Ambassador of the Hungarian Interchurch Aid (HIA). At the outset Dr. Lévai talked about her childhood and early years. Growing up in Szolnok she attended a mixed school where she said Roma and non-Roma children lived side by side without any conflict or trace of segregation.

The American Chamber of Commerce in Hungary awarded the Women of Excellence Award for the third time. The 2012 Award was given by the jury to Szilvia Gyurkó, Director for Children’s Rights at UNICEF. The topic of this year’s Women of Excellence Award was ‘youth performance’ and nominations for acknowledged but not widely known ladies between 25 and 35 were accepted through this summer.

The Fifth Budapest Human Rights Forum was held on November 8-9, 2012 at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Hungary. The two day conference consisted of four panels covering the issues of Human rights defenders in the world, Human rights education and training, Freedom of expression, including the freedom of internet and Minority issues on the occasion of the commemoration of the 20th anniversary of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities.

On November 7 2012 the Budapest English Club for Romani Women met with Klára Dobrev, President of the Hungarian National Committee of UNIFEM (UNWOMEN). During the informal and friendly discussion the participants discussed a wide range of challenges Hungarian women face today, let that be related to career, opportunities, the link between raising a child and working, gender equality or living up to expectations in different areas of life.

On October 31, 2012 Nóra Kuntz, the Acting Director of the Tom Lantos Institute, among other speakers including historians and human rights experts, held a presentation at the “Man Amidst Inhumanity” academic symposium at the Dutch Resistance Museum in Amsterdam.

Rita Izsák UN Independent Expert on Minority Issues and TLI team member gave her statement alongside 11 UN experts at the Sixty-seventh General Assembly’s meeting on the Promotion and protection of human rights.

On Wednesday, October 24, 2012 members of the Budapest English Club for Romani Women met with Ms. Györgyi Tóth, the President of NANE Women’s Rights Association.

Programme and invitation to the “Man Amidst Inhumanity” academic symposium and panel discussion to be held on October 31, 2012 at the Dutch Resistance Museum in Amsterdam. Among the lecturers is Nóra Kuntz, Acting Director of the Tom Lantos Institute.

On Wednesday, October 10, 2012 members of the Budapest English Club for Romani Women met with Ms. Theresa Bernice Bubbear, Deputy Head of Mission of the British Embassy. During the meeting, which was held at the British Embassy, Ms. Bubbear unfolded her carrier path from the very beginning, told the group about her experiences at the different diplomatic posts from Moscow to Johannesburg.

On the 4th of October 2012 the delegation of the Tom Lantos Institute (TLI), among others Rita Izsák president of TLI met French Senator Michel Billout and Ms. Laurence Haguenauer Deputy Head of Mission of the French Embassy. Senator Billout was assigned by the French Senate to compile a report on the situation of the Roma in Central and Eastern Europe.

As the opening event of the second phase of the Budapest English Club for Romani Women on September 20, 2012 members of the Club met with H.E. Ms. Darja Bavdaž Kuret, the Ambassador of Slovenia to Hungary and Bulgaria.

We are delighted to announce the launch the first online newsletter of Tom Lantos Institute. With the regularly e-mailed newsletter, our aim is to inform those who are interested in our activities about the latest news and developments on our projects, upcoming events, calls, announcements and vacancies. In this very first newsletter, you can read about our August and September events, programs and achievements.

Rita Izsák, President and CEO of the Tom Lantos Institute joined the Hungarian Evangelical-Lutheran and Calvinist Churchesas well as the Wallenberg Commemorative Committee in the wreathing of the Wallenberg statue and the commemoration ceremony of the Raoul Wallenberg centenary on August 30, 2012.

The Foundation Council of the Centre for Democracy Public Foundation is calling for applications for the following opening position: President and CEO of the Tom Lantos Institute.

Along with the Corvinus Society for Foreign Affairs and Culture (CKKE) and the International Centre for Democratic Transition (ICDT), the Tom Lantos Institute attended the Sziget Festival for the first time between 8-12 August 2012. This year’s program aimed to present the changes of the modern world's diplomacy and focused on the countries of the Western Balkans and the Eastern Partnership.

On Augugust 2, 2012 we commemorated the Roma victims of the Holocaust at the Holocaust Memorial Center. The event was organized jointly by the Tom Lantos Institute and the Holocaust Memorial Center.

Today we commemorate the Roma victims of the Holocaust. The Tom Lantos Institute, in partnership with the Holocaust Memorial Center, is organizing a commemoration to be held at the Holocaust Memorial Center today at 3 p.m. Further news and the summary of the event will be published soon.

The project aims to help the participating young and talented Hungarian Roma women to improve their English language proficiency, develop their communication skills and last but not least to support them in networking and seeking possible carrier opportunities. Furthermore, in the end of the program the participants have the chance to absolve a language exam, financed by our Institute.

The Tom Lantos Institute (TLI) and the International Centre for Democratic Transition (ICDT) successfully held their second common initiative, the Conference on Democracy and Human Rights 2012 (CODE ’12) in Budapest on Thursday, June 28. The event was supported by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Hungary, other partners have been the Raoul Wallenberg Association and the Holocaust Memorial Center. The conference took place in the Gerbeaud Conference Centre with prestigious guests and speakers.

Among others, the conference was honoured by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Hungary, Dr. János Martonyi, Mr. Thorbjørn Jagland, Secretary General of the Council of Europe, and Amb. Maria Leissner, Secretary General of the Community of Democracies.

Last week Rita Izsák, President and CEO and Máté Fischer, Project Coordinator of the Tom Lantos Institute met with the American Women for International Understanding (AWIU).

The Tom Lantos Institute strongly condemns the brutal defilement of the statue of
Raoul Wallenberg and the degragation of his memory. As a lifesaver during World War II, when only a few raised their voices and acted, he risked his life and saved tens of thousands of Hungarians from nazi death camps, therefore he deserves the greatest respect from every Hungarian citizen. The defilement is totally unacceptable and especially brutal and sad during the Wallenberg Year in Hungary, when we celebrate and commemorate the 100th anniversary of the birth of Raoul Wallenberg.

Subscribe to the TLI newsletter and you will be informed regularly about the latest news on our projects, upcoming events, calls and announcements.

You can now follow the Tom Lantos Institute on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook as well! Get hold of our latest news about ongoing and future projects and trainings. Interesting and informative articles, analyses and news on human rights and democracy issues are also posted on our social media pages frequently.

Last week, the Tom Lantos Institute (TLI), in partnership with the European Centre for Minority Issues (ECMI), organized a workshop which aimed at pushing forward the research on non-territorial autonomy (NTA). The ‘NTA research network’ was gathered in Budapest on May 11-12, the work was led by Tove Hansen Malloy and Alexander Osipov of ECMI, the Tom Lantos Institute was represented by Balázs Vizi, scientific advisor.

Deborah Cheetham, Australian aboriginal opera singer, producer, actor and composer visited Budapest in the second week of May together with pianist, Toni Lalich. Despite her busy schedule, we had the opportunity to, together with the participants of the Budapest English Club for Roma Women, participate in a roundtable discussion with Ms. Cheetham at the Central European University to share thoughts about Roma integration, social inclusion and identity.

Participants of our Budapest English Club for Roma Women met yesterday with Nancy Pelosi, Congressional Minority Leader and first female Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives. Leader Pelosi was greeted by Eleni Tsakopoulos Kounalakis, Ambassador of the United States to Hungary, Dr. Mária Schmidt, Director of the House of Terror Museum and Ms. Rita Izsák, President and CEO of the Tom Lantos Institute.

The latest project of the Tom Lantos Institute, the Budapest English Club for Roma Women has been launched with 21 participants.

In our current project, the Budapest English Club for Roma Women, we would like to help young Romani women to improve their English language knowledge, their debating skills by participating at a free English language course in the first phase of the project. In the second phase, participants will have the chance to meet influential women from all over the world, that will have the access and possibility to meet key decision makers to discuss issues related to their future career.

Today we commemorate the International Holocaust Remembrance Day which was designated by the United Nations General Assembly on November 1, 2005.

The report on the completed Model International Criminal Court (MICC) project is released. The participation of the two Hungarian high schools was successfull and the students are now back in Budapest and Kecskemét.

The Tom Lantos Institute is looking for candidates for unpaid internship.

A new project on Extremism and Radicalism has been launched which aims to analyze and assess the discursive strategies of the national-radical movement and media, with a special focus on how it imagines its enemy and the nation.

Music Against Racism is a special event series, this year's event to be held at Gödör Club, Budapest on December 20, 2011, and was initiated by the British Embassy in Hungary several years ago.

Today, on the anniversary of the 1948 adoption and proclamation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, we celebrate the Human Rights Day. On this occasion, people remember around the globe that "All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights".

The theme of this year's session is "Guaranteeing the rights of minority women". The Forum, which is guided by the newly appointed UN Independent Expert on minority issues, Ms IZSÁK Rita, will focus on concrete measures and recommendations aimed at guaranteeing the rights of minority women.

Rita Izsák, President & CEO of the Tom Lantos Institute and UN Independent Expert on minority issues, held a presentation at the conference titled „The Roma Strategy of the European Union: Reality and Perspectives” in Budapest, on 24 November 2011.

The Tom Lantos Institute is pleased to announce two more upcoming projects:

1. Budapest English Club for Romani Women
2. TLI movie: Prejudices and the importance of prevention in connection with
the murders of the Roma

The Tom Lantos Institute would like to announce two upcoming projects:

1. Model International Criminal Court
2. Survey on Attitudes Towards Roma and Gender Roles

Ms. Rita Izsák, CEO & President of the Tom Lantos Institute and UN Independent Expert on minority issues spoke at the 5th Equal Opportunity Conference organized by the American Chamber of Commerce in Hungary (AmCham) on 8 November 2011.

Today we commemorate the international memorial day of Raoul Wallenberg, a Swedish diplomat who rescued thousands of Hungarian Jews from deportation during World War II.

Ms. Rita Izsák, CEO & President of the newly established Tom Lantos Institute and Mr. István Gyarmati, President of the Centre for Democracy Public Foundation spoke at the Atlantic Council to human rights experts about the mission, vision, and future of the Tom Lantos Institute as well as about current human and minority rights challenges in the region.

Humanity in Action (HIA) and the Lantos Foundation for Human Rights and Justice are pleased to announce that applications are now open for the Lantos-HIA Congressional Fellowship.

The Tom Lantos Institute in cooperation with the International Centre for Democratic Transition and the Eszterházy Károly College, with the support of the Hungarian Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, organized a Summer Seminar for Roma and Non-Roma Youth during 22-26 August 2011 in Eger, Hungary.

Today, we remember the more than 3000 Roma people who were killed in the Auschwitz-Birkenau camp during the night of 2-3 August 1944.

On 30 June 2011, the inaugural ceremony of the Tom Lantos Institute (TLI) took place in the Upper Chamber of the Hungarian Parliament. The ceremony was organized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Hungary in cooperation with the Tom Lantos Institute and the International Centre for Democratic Transition. The Lantos family, members of the Hungarian government, representatives of the US administration, foreign delegations, and civil society organizations were present at the opening.

The Tom Lantos Institute (TLI) and the International Centre for Democratic Transition (ICDT) successfully held their first common initiative, the Conference on Democracy and Human Rights (CODE ’11) in Budapest on Tuesday, 28 June 2011. The event took place in the Museum of Ethnography with prestigious guests and speakers. Well known public officials (former and current ministers, ambassadors and civil experts) and members of the Tom Lantos family also participated in the conference.

TLI Executive Committee members, friends and TLI President on 28 April 2011 visited the house where Tom Lantos was born and placed a wreath on his memorial plaque.

TLI ExCom has held its first meeting on 29 April 2011.