“The Fundamental Law adopted five years ago is the constitution of every Hungarian, and Hungary is the country of every Hungarian”, Zsolt Semjén declared in a lecture entitled National Solidarity and Responsibility in light of the Fundamental Law at a conference in Ópusztaszer on Saturday.
At the closing event of a series of programmes to celebrate the fifth anniversary of the adoption of the new Constitution, the Deputy Prime Minister responsible for National Policy and President of the Christian Democratic People’s Party highlighted: “The Constitution and the relating Nationality Act created the opportunity to unify national public law, which is the only possible answer to the tragedy of Trianon”.
“Every Hungarian, no matter where they live in the world, whether in one of the successor states or within the diaspora, can be a full citizen, because there is one Hungarian nation”, the Deputy Prime Minister declared. Mr. Semjén stressed that the point of the Hungarian State is the survival of the Hungarian nation, and the Constitution is not just about determining how the state operates, but is also an expression of the nation’s politics.
“The Fundamental Law declares the intent to cooperate with other nations and respect for the values of all nations”, he said, adding “and it is according to this that we may also demand that our national values be respected”. He compared the drawing up of the new Constitution to the feat of Ferenc Deák, who also put the constitutional situation in order following the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867.
The Deputy Prime Minister also mentioned that the Fundamental Law, which links today’s Hungarian reality to our historical traditions, specifically names only Saint Stephen with regard to the founding of the Christian state and connecting it to Christian Europe, with relation to which it expressly mentions the Holy Crown and the [new Fundamental Law’s] relationship to the old constitution.
Mr. Semjén recalled former Prime Minister Antal Joszef’s memorable statement, according to which he was, in spirit, the Prime Minister of 15 million Hungarians. This courageous standpoint, however, which at the time caused a major controversy among successor states and the opposition, may from a historical perspective now be regarded as a “mild statement”, he said. Accordingly, the Deputy Prime Minister said the sentence that had been included in the Constitution, according to which Hungary not only feels something, but also takes responsibility for every Hungarian, no matter where they live, was of key importance.
Parliament adopted Hungary’s new Fundamental Law on 18 April 2011, and the document was subsequently signed on Easter Monday, 25 April 2011, by President of the Republic Pál Schmidt, and came into force on 1 January 2012. Although the Constitution was amended on several occasions between 1949 and 1989, Act XX of 1949 remained Hungary’s Constitution right up until 2012.