Situation of Ethnic Hungarian Communities a Priority for Diplomacy
Hungarians live as “indigenous minorities” in several countries, and “one of the pillars” of Hungary’s diplomacy is to ensure the protection of ethnic minorities, a government official told a conference on Tuesday, MTI reports.
Ferenc Kalmár, ministerial special representative for the development of Hungary’s neighborhood policy, told the conference marking Council of Europe Day that it was regrettable that no progress had been made for the cause of ethnic minorities worldwide.
Ferenc Kalmár (Photo: MTI/Koszticsák Szilárd)
“The Russia-Ukraine war has further aggravated this situation, and in many countries, ethnic minorities are now considered a security risk…
It is not minorities that pose a risk, however, but the lack of democratic rights: where minorities feel safe, there are no problems,”
he said.
Péter Sztáray, State Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, said that ensuring the protection of minorities is an international responsibility, adding that
promoting the right of ethnic minorities to their national identity is crucial for preserving diversity and peace in Europe.”
While Hungary is pushing for collective rights for ethnic Hungarian communities, it has already granted such rights to the country’s 13 ethnic minorities, Sztáray said. Ethnic communities in Hungary, about 6.5 percent of the total population, are an asset to the country, he added.
Sztáray praised Croatia, Slovenia, and Serbia for granting ethnic Hungarians collective rights in education, calling cooperation with these countries on minority issues exemplary. However, he criticized Ukraine for restricting the rights of ethnic Hungarians. The Hungarian government will not support Ukraine’s EU and NATO aspirations as long as the country “fails to grant ethnic Hungarians the rights they were deprived of in 2015,” he added.
Zsolt Németh, head of the Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee, said, “Russia has seriously thwarted the cause of minority protection by trying to use minority policy issues as an excuse to attack Ukraine. The war situation has shown that “minorities often fall victim to power politics,” he said, “when it would be important to talk about minorities without current political interests and build protection systems for them.
Featured photo via Facebook/Rákóczi Szövetség
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