23rd weekly media review of hungarian communities abroad: -Trianon anniversary - Day of National Cohesion -Centre and Research Institution -The Government is committed to the cause of national minorities in Hungary -Keep calm and carry on -Electronic census closed -Collective minority rights at no circumstance -Diplomatic Note for Hungary -Kiev: dual citizenship does not constitute a problem' -Conference on scientific cooperation -Hungarian Identity conference in Canada

1. Weekly Media Review
of Hungarian
Communities Abroad
23/2011

2. Trianon anniversary - Day of National Cohesion
Hungary
The Parliament passed a law last June declaring the day of the enforced Peace Treaty of
Trianon of 1920, the 4th of June, the Day of National Cohesion. “The Hungarian National
Assembly declares that all members and communities of the Hungarian nation, subjected
to the jurisdiction of other states, belong to the single Hungarian nation whose
crossborder cohesion is a reality and, at the same time, a defining element of the
personal and collective identity of Hungarians. On these grounds, the National Assembly
affirms Hungary’s commitment to support the natural claims for the maintenance and
cultivation of relations between members and communities of the Hungarian nation and
the promotion of various forms of collective autonomy based on accepted practices in
Europe.” Nationwide celebrations and programmes fulfilled the emotional obligation
towards the strive for national cohesion. Remembrances took place in Budapest, in the
Castle, in Ópusztaszer and Sárospatak. Deputy prime minister Zsolt Semjén said that the
Act on the Testimony for National Cohesion opened the way for self-respect and the
opportunity to face the nation’s dismemberment and history that was the clue to the
future for the Hungarian nation.
About 400 people have taken oaths of allegiance to obtain the Hungarian citizenship due
to the simplified naturalization process. High-ranking politicians stressed the need to
raise awareness of national cohesion and demonstrate national unity in education. In the
framework of the state-financed Határtalanul! programme and with the association of
the Rákóczi Association some 250 students left for study-excursions from the Buda
Castle to Hungarian-inhabited regions of Slovakia. Hundreds of Hungarian minority
representatives commemorated the ‘Day of National Cohesion’ in the Carpathian Basin as
well. Representatives of Hungarian parties in Romania organized, together with the
Association of Young Hungarians, manifestations on the significance of 4th June 1920.
Centre and Research Institution
Deputy state secretary for Hungarian communities abroad Zsuzsanna Répás announced
on the Day of National Cohesion that the Hungarian Cultural Foundation’s head office in
the Buda Castle will provide home for the Hungarian House, an institution of the state
secretary and the Bethlen Gábor Fund. The government aims to create an interactive
centre for educational and cultural activities, the preservation of the heritage of
Hungarians living abroad, particularly of diaspora and dispersed communities. The
centre will be an emblematic place conveying the message of the unique values and
plight of the nation toward the outside world. The House will give space not only for
Hungarian artists, performances and exhibitions, but it will also include a research
centre with a complex profile of demographic, sociological, linguistic, cultural and
psychological research on minorities and of policy planning for Hungarian communities
abroad as an academic support for the governmental work.
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3. The Government is committed to the cause of national minorities
in Hungary
“Hungary is home to all national minorities living here,” said minister of public
administration and justice Tibor Navracsics, when he signed the strategic partnership
agreement last Monday with the leaders of the thirteen self-governments of nationalities
living in Hungary. Tibor Navracsics stressed at the signing ceremony that the purpose of
the statutory strategic partnership agreements was the achievement of better legislation.
This is meant to create better conditions for national minorities. To this end, the
government intends to provide the necessary means for minorities to flourish and to
grow in strength. Similarly to the plight of Hungarians living abroad, national minorities
of Hungary must be given the opportunity to preserve their identities and to assert their
rights. In accordance with Hungary’s new Fundamental Law, the state undertakes the
task of protecting and promoting the languages and culture of national minorities. The
agreement between the Ministry of Public Administration and Justice and the thirteen
minority self-governments aims to promote the further development of the
internationally recognized system for legal defence of individual and collective minority
rights.
Keep calm and carry on
Hungarian-Romanian relations are currently at their historic peak and the two countries
are determined to keep them this way, foreign state secretary Zsolt Németh said after
meeting his Romanian counterpart Bogdan Aurescu last week in Budapest. Aurescu
agreed and added that it is now better than ever in the past hundred years. Disputes or
Transylvania - Erdély
differences in opinion about singular issues must be seen in this context, Németh said.
Aurescu co-chairs the Hungarian-Romanian joint committee on ethnic minorities with
the deputy state secretary for Hungarian communities abroad Zsuzsanna Répás that has
just had a meeting in Budapest. The committee tries to act as a sensitive mechanism to
handle issues stirring debate between the two sides. Currently, two cases were
presumably on the agenda of the committee. Németh summoned Romanian ambassador
Ireny Comaroschi to express concerns about recent developments affecting the
Mátyás/Matthias statue in Kolozsvár/Cluj, including the placement of a Romanian flag
and a controversial plaque in Romanian at the statue, as well as the stopping of
Hungary’s ambassador in Bucharest. The plaque shows a quote by Romanian historian
Nicolae Iorga who practically stated that King Mátyás was not Hungarian but of
Romanian ethnicity. Németh and Aurescu shared the view that the plaque was not
compatible with the Hungarian-Romanian agreement and therefore, the Romanian
government will take the necessary steps. However, the reconciliation is not that easy
when addressing the issue of Szeklerland’s EU representation bureau. Hungarian deputy
prime minister Zsolt Semjén participating at the opening ceremony in Brussels said that
the representation serves the interests of Romania as well, since it aims to gather
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4. information and apply for EU Fund projects in order to develop the region. According to
the Romanian foreign minister Teodor Baconschi, only legally existing territorial-
administrative regions of Europe maintain offices in Brussels. In particular, Baconschi
criticised the centre of the office that is the House of Hungarian Regions in Brussels.
Electronic census closed
Slovakia - Felvidék
Online census questionnaires can be filled in Hungarian as well, but slightly more than
one percent of respondents have lived with that opportunity. Nearly 600 thousand
people completed the forms via internet and only 7437 of them were sent in Hungarian.
Choosing the language is among the first steps when filling the electronic census, but the
option has obviously gone unheeded.
Collective minority rights at no circumstance
Marek Maďarič SMER deputy submitted a constitution modification as a response to the
new Hungarian constitution. The constitution would stipulate that ”Slovakia respects the
individual rights of persons belonging to a national minority”. The proposal was adopted
with 77 out of 150 votes in favour, hence it is now in the second reading. Maďarič did not
make a fuss about admitting that the amendment should dismantle the future effect of
the Hungarian fundamental law.
Diplomatic Note for Hungary
Hungarian Ambassador to Slovakia Antal Heizer was given a letter and a note for the
Hungarian foreign affairs ministry, last Wednesday. General director of the ministry’s
department of European affairs František Ružička gave the Hungarian ambassador the
letter, specifically asking for a stance on the proposal concerning the 2003
intergovernmental treaty between Slovakia and Hungary on mutual support of national
minorities and other issues regarding the amended citizenship act. "Slovak diplomacy
has again confirmed its readiness to negotiate about the treaty in question," said head of
the foreign affairs ministry press department Petra Greksova. Both Hungary and Slovakia
are committed to continuing the dialogue on open bilateral issues, the foreign ministers
of the two countries concluded during their discussions in mid-May. Concerning dual
citizenship, János Martonyi said that the Slovak proposal on the subject, presented to the
Hungarian side in January, was "fundamentally different" from Hungary's philosophy,
therefore it was unacceptable as a basis for negotiations. While Hungary recognises
collective rights for ethnic minorities, Slovakia does not. The Hungarian minister
admitted that Budapest and Bratislava did not share the same approach in this regard,
and it would take a long time before the countries could find common ground.
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5. Croatia Transcarpathia - Kárpátalja
Kiev: dual citizenship does not constitute a problem
The Ukrainian foreign ministry does not conceive dual citizenship for Hungarians living
in Transcarpathia a problem; however, responsibility is laid upon Ukrainian citizens who
wish to acquire a second citizenship. Officials claimed that the Ukrainian secret service
did not take Hungarians under pressure, but merely applied “crime prevention” by
interrogating them, and had recourse to the foreign ministry to take appropriate
measures at the diplomatic mission of Hungary. The situation is still not reassuring.
Conference on scientific cooperation
In the framework of a conference jointly organized by the Hungarian Academy of Science
and the Hungarian Faculty at the Eszék/Osijek University on 25 May, the participants
discussed opportunities for advanced co-operation between the Regional Academic
Committee in Pécs and the two academic centres in Zágráb/Zagreb and Eszék. They
concluded that marking common academic topics would be a relevant step forward.
Senior lecturer of the Hungarian Faculty Károly Lábadi appraised the developments of
recent years in his opening speech. Hungarian higher education in Croatia has been
realized four years earlier with the centre of Eszék framing the education of Hungarians
from kindergarten to the university. The purpose of the conference was among others to
coordinate and set the most crucial goals of the scientific work of the handful of
Hungarian communities of Croatia and to designate Eszék as the centre of this
endeavour.
Hungarian Identity conference in Canada
North - America
For Hungarians in Canada Association in cooperation with the Hungarian State Secretary
for Hungarians living abroad and the Hungarian Culture Centre of Toronto held the
second conference between 30 May and 4 June on the issue of being Hungarian in North-
America. The organizers invited Hungarian organizations, associations, churches and
schools from throughout Canada and the USA, but economic and agrarian experts also
attended the event. The guest list included the executive director of the Duna TV channel
of Hungary, the president and two professors from the Pannon University of Veszprém,
Hungary.
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