The State Secretary for Nation Policy takes the view that the forced resettlement of migrants poses a threat to autochthonous national minorities, and is therefore unacceptable.
Árpád János Potápi highlighted at the conference entitled Safeguarding the interests of minorities on the international stage held in the capital on Tuesday: the potential resettlement of migrants is a threat to every Hungarian and non-Hungarian citizen in the Carpathian Basin. It is therefore important that they should state their opinion on this issue at the upcoming referendum of 2 October in the clearest possible terms, and should remind the EU that it should primarily defend the European identity, he stressed.
The State Secretary pointed out that out of the 90 member organisations of the Federal Union of European Nationalities (FUEN) functioning as a pan-European umbrella organisation for the protection of minorities 7 are Hungarian. The fact that the percentage of Hungarian member organisations is this high clearly indicates that national minorities in Hungary and Hungarians beyond the borders are not in a state of inaction, and do not expect help from the Hungarian Government in every instance, but make attempts themselves to fight for the rights they are entitled to. The Government of Hungary is making every effort to create an adequate background for these endeavours, the State Secretary indicated at the conference of the Nation Policy Research Institute.
The State Secretary believes that with its lobbying activities pursued at a European level, FUEN significantly contributes to directing the attention of decision-makers and the general public to the situation of national minorities which continues to remain unresolved to this day. With its efforts FUEN seeks to bring the European Union and its functioning closer to European citizens, the State Secretary highlighted.
Zoltán Kántor, the head of the research institute pointed out: the situation has changed somewhat for the better since 1990, but we still cannot claim that minorities enjoy the rights on the international stage that would be sufficient for their reproduction. Therefore we must keep up the struggle, broaden the opportunities, showcase the interests of minorities, and keep the countries of Western-Europe informed, he said, adding: this is equally true of the European Parliament, the European Council and the bilateral conventions.
Loránt Vincze, President of FUEN said: spectacular achievements are rare in the protection of minorities, but this civil-society organisation seeks to make progress step by step with its own means. As a lobbying organisation, they would like to see more attention being diverted towards the protection of national minorities on the European scene and the adoption of the necessary measures, he said, adding: there are unresolved issues primarily in this region today.
He believes it is important that the measures implemented with a view to the protection of minorities should be capable of stopping the negative demographic processes. In the context of the EU, they looked upon the European Citizens’ Initiative laid down in the Treaty of Lisbon as a great opportunity. At the same time, this tool is not working as it should, he remarked. He also mentioned their goal to remove the dialogue between majority and minority from the current deadlock which is particularly typical in Transylvania, but there are similar problems in the Hungarian-populated areas of Slovakia as well.
József Menyhárt, President of the Party of the Hungarian Community in Slovakia highlighted: the past 100 years have not exactly spoiled the Hungarians who found themselves in minorities. It must be quite a community that is able to endure and to survive this, and they perceive the consequences to this day. The regime made them despondent, he concluded, adding: they are able to stand up for their rights effectively if they are aware of what they are entitled to.
He pointed out: in a legal sense, there is no Hungarian national minority in Slovakia. The Hungarians are not recognised as a nationality that forms an integral part of the State. At the same time, they would be entitled to this privilege, he said. He also mentioned that minority communities do not even enjoy the rights which would give them genuine involvement in the administration of their own affairs. They only have a say on paper, nationality Members of Parliament in opposition only have marginal opportunities.