International

In 1975 a Hungarian aircraft crashed into the sea, just before arriving in Beirut. There was one Dutch citizen on board along with fifty-nine other people. SP Euro-MP Erik Meijer is urging the European Commission to help the surviving relatives of the victims to find answers to the questions which remain unanswered. The Hungarian airline Malév refuses to offer any information.

"I want the European Commission to do its utmost to further the interests of the relatives of the sixty victims, who continue to look for a resolution to the contradictions surrounding this crash," explains SP Euro-MP Erik Meijer. Not long ago one Dutch relative showed the daily newspaper De Volkskrant five photographs of Lebanese bodies being dragged from the sea. A report from 1975 remains classified. There is a mass grave in Lebanon. An official Hungarian government report from 2003 has also been kept secret. And in the Lebanon, the military refuses to say a word.

Never a word

The relatives have heard nothing from Malév. Never a word. This occurred in the time of the Cold War, the war in Lebanon and the war between Israel and the Palestinians. Hungary may have been using the flight to smuggle weapons, or Israel could have shot down the plane because of the presence of Palestinians on board.

Aid

The Hungarians explained their silence to De Volkskrant by saying that the documents available on the matter were not official. Lebanon is saying nothing at all. This is why Erik Meijer is calling on the aid of the European Commission to "help put an end to the blatant secrecy, for the sake of the relatives and in order to avoid unfounded rumours."