The document summarizes news related to Hungarian communities abroad and minority issues in neighboring countries: - Hungary and Slovenia held productive negotiations in their Hungarian-Slovenian Committee on Minorities. Both sides praised the cooperation and support for small minority communities. - Hungary expressed concerns about a proposed administrative reform in Romania that could reduce the proportion of Hungarians and weaken their rights. Romanian officials criticized Hungary's statements as interfering in internal affairs. - Slovakia's president vetoed amendments to a law on minority language use due to provisions equalizing minority languages with the state language. Hungary also criticized the amended law. - During a meeting, the prime ministers of Hungary and Slovakia rejected recent comments by a Hungarian official involving

1. Weekly Media Review
of Hungarian
Communities Abroad
25/2011

2. Hungarian-Slovenian Committee on Minorities
Hungary
Deputy state secretary for Hungarian communities abroad Zsuzsanna Répás called the
scheduled one-day negotiation with the Slovenian delegation on minority issues
substantial and fruitful after the meeting of the Hungarian-Slovenian Mixed Minority
Committee. The Slovenian co-chair Boris Jesih state secretary similarly praised the pow-
wow and envisaged a co-operation agreement. Répás welcomed that the minority policy
of the two nations keeps the right way. The negotiation took place in an open
atmosphere of constructive cooperation that enabled the parties to discuss even
sensitive issues. The small minority communities of the two countries need the support
of the kin-states, since they are extremely exposed to ethnic diminishing, said Répás. The
leader of the Office for Slovenians living abroad and in diaspora said at the press
conference that Slovenia was committed to the cause of minorities from the outset that
was truly demonstrated by concluding the minority agreement first with Hungary.
Transylvania - Erdély
Heightened responses
According to deputy prime minister Zsolt Semjén, the PDL-proposed division of
Romania’s regions represents an intentional and unacceptable change of the country’s
ethnic map. The new proposed arrangement poses a serious threat to the survival of
Hungarians in Szeklerland and Transylvania, said the minister in charge of the policy of
Hungarian communities abroad. Similar plans had surfaced in the past, and it was hard to
tell amid the current “stormy” political circumstances how serious they were, Semjén
added. “It is a matter of life and death for the Hungarian minority that the historic region
of Szeklerland and Hungarian-populated counties should remain as one. Romania has
even undertaken international obligations not to change its ethnic map by force,” – the
minister said. The plan evoked bad memories of anti-Hungarian measures during the
Ceauşescu rule when the autonomous Maros/Mures area was scrapped, Semjén said.
Hungary’s position is that even if changes are introduced, the “reality” of Szeklerland
must be respected, he added. Semjén insisted that if the co-ruling PDL party’s proposed
merger of existing counties were to go ahead, the proportion of Hungarians in the new
administrative units would drop dramatically, in some cases falling under the critical 20
percent that would lead to losing special rights attached to minorities. Deputy state
secretary Zsuzsanna Répás signified the utmost support of the Hungarian government
for the unified standpoint of the Hungarian minority in Romania over the territorial
reform plan that is exclusively represented by the draft law of the Democratic Union of
Hungarians in Romania (RMDSZ). It must be emphasized that it is only the RMDSZ that
has officially submitted its own draft law to the parliament on the territorial
reorganization of Romania, unlike other parties. The senator György Frunda called to
task the Democrat-Liberals because they had failed to present a concrete plan or bill that
the parties could negotiate upon. The official Romanian viewpoint following the
Hungarian deputy prime minister’s statements is that Hungary intervenes in Romania’s
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3. internal affairs. Semjén’s words triggered criticism most notably from prime minister
Emil Boc and foreign minister Teodor Baconschi. The Hungarian ambassador in
Bucharest, Oszkár Füzes had been summoned to the foreign ministry. Baconschi asked
Hungary to communicate truthfully and to stop making “far-fetched” statements. “Unfor-
tunately, provocative statements coming from Budapest have increased lately and they
look like an intrusion in some other’s state business”, said Baconschi. Füzes was told that
the deputy minister’s attitude was “inappropriate” and “unorthodox”. In retort, the
ambassador said that Hungary’s interest in reorganization was natural. “We are asking
what the plans of the Romanian government and parliament are (…). In my personal
opinion, Hungary’s interest is natural because territorial reorganization is an important
matter for the Hungarian community in Romania”, concluded Füzes. In his turn,
Baconschi said he was amazed to see “useless emotional escalation and revival of
nationalist impulses which he thought were long gone.” In an interview, the minister
underlined the fact that the administrative reform process is aimed at limiting
bureaucracy and helping EU fund absorption and should not give birth to any suspicions.
“Transforming the already existent development regions into eight large counties with
two or three million residents each has nothing to do with keeping the identity of various
minorities. In this context, the minister condemned the “provocative” statements of
Hungarian officials. Baconschi insisted however that Bucharest could not ever be at
diplomatic war with Budapest and underlined that the rights that the Hungarian
minority enjoyed in Romania guaranteed that the community’s identity remained very
much alive.
It is alleged that the firm intention of president Traian Băsescu and the ruling coalition
member PDL is to settle the regional re-division of the country prior to the 2012 local
elections. Based on the PDL-proposed plan, the projected eight counties would have
legislative bodies, whereas in parallel the current managing bodies of the now 41
counties would disappear, along with the opportunity of the RMDSZ to reproduce its
political power. If the “eight-counties plan was pushed through, there would be barely a
county where the Hungarians would form a majority in the legislative body. RMDSZ
obviously disapproves of the plan and even threatened to leave the government if the
project is pursued. However, it would be a bad scenario bearing in mind the PDL’s
intention. Recently, several members of Szekler organizations also threatened to resort
to peaceful street protests and civic insubordination if the government’s administrative
reorganization plan is carried out. This political game is good for one thing for sure: the
RMDSZ must not give up the coalition, even not for the Minorities’ Act and must not
adopt the PDL’s administrative reform plan. The opposition’s popularity index stands
now at 60 percent that is to serve as an alternative for the current governance.
Minorities’ Act
RMDSZ is unhappy with the changes operated by the Human Rights Committee of the
Chamber of Deputies on certain articles of the bill and wants coalition talks on the
subject. The debate in the committee was postponed because of the differences between
the coalition parties.
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4. “The draft law has been changed in ways we have never agreed on with PDL, and, until
the situation is clarified in the coalition, the debates have been postponed,” explained
András Máté, the leader of the RMDSZ deputies. Last Thursday, the Human Rights
Committee changed the draft Minorities Bill, establishing that the boundaries of the
administrative-territorial units where the minorities hold a significant weight may be
altered without infringing their rights. The RMDSZ representative on the Committee
Attila Varga criticized the amendment and said the Union supported the initial text of Art.
14 of the draft law, prohibiting the modification of the borders of the administrative-
territorial units and of electoral constituencies against the national minorities
traditionally inhabiting them. According to Attila Varga, the phrasing used by the
Committee is “inappropriate from a legal point of view and violates the Framework
Convention on the Protection of Minorities”. RMDSZ president Hunor Kelemen expressed
his hope that the draft Minorities’ Law would not be blocked and that it would be
debated by the Chamber in plenary sitting this week. Moreover, Kelemen claims the law
could be adopted before the end of June, according to its agreement with PDL.
Presidential veto on the Act on Use of Minority Languages
Slovakia - Felvidék
Last Wednesday, president Ivan Gašparovič returned the amendment to the Act on Use of
Minority Languages back to Parliament. The legislation was passed by the Slovak
parliament with 78 votes on 25 May, but the head of state assumes that the House should
not adopt it in its current version. Gašparovič supported his decision in 19 points. The
chief stricture was that several provisions of the act endows minority languages with
equal rights in comparison to the state language. The president also noted that changes
in the sphere of the use of minority languages should have been carried out via adopting
a new law, rather than via amending the old one. The final version of the amendment is
quite different from the original proposal that was drafted by vice-prime minister Rudolf
Chmel. This was due to a number of objections raised by Igor Matovic, independent MP
and leader of the Ordinary People's faction. Gašparovič is unsatisfied with the proposed
15-percent threshold for the official use of minority languages in ethnically mixed towns
and villages that could only be applied after the next population census. Prior to the
presidential veto, the Hungarian state secretary for Hungarian communities abroad
expressed heavy criticism over the amended act. Though, the cause for dissatisfaction
was drawn upon different aspects. The law henceforward maintains the atmosphere of
intimidation and vagueness. Many provisions of the act are of an optional, not of a
prescriptive nature and the amendment upholds provisions, which place users of
minority languages at a disadvantage. Inter alia, it is still not an obligation to employ a
staff that speaks the minority language. where nationalities on the grounds of their
population quota are entitled to use their native tongue. The amendment to the act
defines a timeframe for the administration procedure in minority language that is
conceived of a serious setback increasing the exposure of minorities. Furthermore, the
obligation of subtitling minority language TV programmes on state language is assessed
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5. not just as discriminative but as an effort that is aimed at making minority commercial
broadcasting impossible, which causes competitive economic disadvantage for
minorities. The provision demanding the consent of all local policemen being involved in
a case to use minority language is unacceptable, in some cases even humiliating. The
Hungarian government therefore stresses the absurdity of the amended act and will
submit its remarks to international forums (OSCE High Commissioner on National
Minorities, Council of Europe). The Slovak parliament may discuss again the returned
amendment only after 28 June when the next session commences.
Radičová – Orbán meeting
Following the V4 summit in Pozsony/Bratislava on Thursday, prime minister Iveta
Radičová said at a meeting with her Hungarian counterpart Viktor Orbán that she
resolutely rejected and condemned recent misrepresentations involving Slovak history
made by the Hungarian House Speaker László Kövér for a Czech daily. Inter alia, Kövér
said that Slovakia brutally changed the Hungarian-Slovak border when constructing the
Gabcikovo/Bős-Nagymaros dam; adding that Hungary could have responded militarily at
the time. Radičová said that she viewed Kövér's words as insulting. She called upon the
Hungarian side to make sure that such manners never occur again. "Never ever again.
Because it is a serious obstacle in maintaining good neighbourly relations," – emphasised
Radičová; adding that she requested Orbán to convey her message in his homeland.
Orbán assured Radičová that his government would do its utmost to maintain the
friendship between the two neighbouring nations, but deemed the words of the prime
minister heavy. He expressed his respect to all good-hearted Slovaks.
The Hungarian prime minister met Hungarian Coalition Party (MKP) leader József
Berényi in the course of his official visit to Slovakia. The leaders held consultation on the
matter of the act on use of minority languages, on dual citizenship and on the evaluation
of transborder co-operation projects.
Serbia stands by Slovakia
Serbia
The Serbian foreign minister Vuk Jeremič understands the misgiving of the Slovak
political elite related to the prospective voting rights for Hungarians living in Slovakia.
The politician noted during his visit to Pozsony/Bratislava that the Serbian government
was not opposed to the practice of dual citizenship, since Serbia also granted Serbian
citizenship to its kin fellows living abroad. However, it is important to hold dialogues
with countries concerned before adopting an act of such a high importance, stressed the
minister. European regulations covering voting rights for citizens living abroad is not a
recent development, and indeed not a political invention of Hungary. For the majority of
countries – including Poland, Romania, the Czech Republic, Italy, Slovenia and France –
the only precondition for the right to vote is valid citizenship. In other words, there is no
need for someone to have a registered residence in their country of citizenship in order
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6. to vote in that country. The statement of the Serbian foreign minister is unexpected in
the light of the facts. Both, Serbia and Slovakia can be classified into the group of states
that provide voting rights for their nationals holding dual citizenship, but without a
permanent residence in the country. Slovakia recognized dual citizenship until the state
passed a law on 7 July, 2010 prohibiting and punishing the acquisition of a second
citizenship. The political alliance between Serbia and Slovakia is evidently cemented by
the Slovak rejection of the independent legal status of Kosovo. However, a strategic
partnership binds Serbia to Hungary as well as the latter contributes to pave the way of
Serbia into the European Union.
Transcarpathia - Kárpátalja
Seething Szvoboda
The far right Szvoboda party demands the intervention of the authorities against the
resolution of the district council of Beregszász/Berehova that endorsed the playing of the
Hungarian anthem beside the Ukrainian one at the beginning of the sitting of the body of
representatives. The party’s Transylvanian county organization called upon the
Ukrainian president, the parliament, the national secret service (SZBU) and the state
prosecution in its statement to respond without delay to the unconstitutional decision of
the district council. “We consider the decision as a further assault against the Ukrainian
statehood, being part of a series of attacks that has been exercising by chauvinist
Hungarian circles in Transcarpathia for 20 years. ” – stands in the announcement of the
nationalist party. The writing also stated that should the requested institutions remain
silent in the matter this time again, the party would start a drive for a protest campaign
in the defence of Ukrainian interests.
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