It is Hungary’s responsibility to ensure that Hungarians beyond the borders may find themselves in an improved situation, and that those who want to remain Hungarian should be able to do so, Deputy Prime Minister Zsolt Semjén said in an interview given to the programme Without Borders of Kossuth Rádió broadcast on Sunday.
Mr Semjén stressed: no funds in this magnitude had ever before been available for preserving the cultural, national and linguistic identity of the Hungarian community. In his words, education is run in the Carpathian Basin, from kindergarten level all the way to university, with Hungarian funding, and he mentioned the Sapientia Universities in Csíkszereda, Kolozsvár and Marosvásárhely as examples.
He stated: Hungary will have its one millionth new Hungarian citizen by the end of the parliamentary term. Ninety per cent of the new nationals acquired citizenship in expedited procedures, while ten per cent through the establishment of nationality.
He said that in Vojvodina alone HUF 50 billion has been made available in the form of non-repayable grants and preferential loans, and similar programmes have also been launched in Transcarpathia, Slovenia and Croatia, the essence of which is to promote the advancement of the Hungarians living there in their native land. This is also beneficial for members of the majority nation as they, too, profit from infrastructure developments.
He pointed out: it is their duty to ensure that Hungarians beyond the borders may find themselves in an improved situation, and that those who want to remain Hungarian should be able to do so. This is the first time since Trianon that everyone who wants to be a Hungarian citizen “may become a full Hungarian citizen with all the privileges, what’s more, even an EU citizen, in the detached territories as well”.
In answer to a question related to the contemplated Ukrainian education bill, he said: the Ukrainian State “is doing shockingly unacceptable things” in a number of areas, including education, against which the Hungarian Government will “take defensive measures”.
He stressed at the same time that already at this point in time the Hungarian State is funding a part of the care and administrative system in Transcarpathia: inter alia, physicians communicating with their patients in Hungarian and teachers teaching in Hungarian receive extra funding. In theory, the Ukrainians do not recognise dual citizenship, but at the same time, as he said, “we took measures to ensure that no one should sustain any detriment or injury” on account of taking up Hungarian citizenship.
“Political and economic relations with Slovakia are thriving” within the Visegrád (V4) cooperation, he said, adding that Hungary’s future fundamentally depends on the V4. No one would have thought earlier that Polish, Czech and Slovak soldiers would once protect the Hungarian border.
Mr Semjén took the view that those who want to take up Hungarian citizenship in Slovakia “may do so without risk”, except they should not disclose this to the Slovak authorities. In his words, we should “freeze” issues for the time being on which the parties are unable to make progress, and should concentrate on the areas where they can. He mentioned the rescuing of small schools as an example.
He indicated: the Hungarian community is divided in Slovakia. All they can do is support the Hungarian party, the Party of the Hungarian Community, and regardless of their political affiliation, Hungarians in Slovakia receive all support necessary for preserving their identity.
Regarding Transylvania, the Deputy Prime Minister highlighted: the presence of the Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania (RMDSZ) in the Bucharest Parliament is a national interest. He described the result achieved by RMDSZ at the latest elections as extremely powerful, adding: the problems have not been resolved through the elections, but they managed to reach a negotiating position.
He further said on the radio programme that he regards the fight against corruption as important, but it is “absurd” that Hungarian leaders are attacked “quite evidently for the sake of show trials”. They will take the most decisive steps against anyone who seeks to attack Hungarian leaders and Hungarian church schools “with the obvious purpose of intimidation”, he emphasised, mentioning the cases of the Mikó College and the Marosvásárhely Catholic Lycée.
Mr Semjén highlighted: cultural autonomy “has been achieved de facto in Vojvodina”, the Hungarian National Council operates schools and media outlets. “Who would have thought this (…) during the Milosevic times?”, he asked the question. Whatever problems there are are not of a legal or political nature, they are related to the fact that the Serbian budget that is in a difficult situation is unable to spend enough money on these schools and media outlets.
The Alliance of Vojvodina Hungarians and István Pásztor are taken seriously in Belgrade, are able to enforce Hungarian interests in cultural and economic affairs as well as with respect to the issue of naturalisation, and it is therefore natural that the Government support this organisation and its leader, he said. “If there is a success story, Vojvodina must be one”, and this may be exemplary in the Carpathian Basin, the Deputy Prime Minister said.
Regarding scattered communities around the world, he said that citizenship and education are particularly important for preserving one’s national identity. He added: Hungarians in the West are highly successful, and they may therefore also play an important economic role in furthering relations between the given country and Hungary.