Leader of Hungarians living in Serbia died today – UPDATED

Speaker of Parliament László Kövér on Tuesday expressed his condolences over the recent death of István Pásztor, head of the parliament of Vojvodina province in Serbia and leader of the ethnic Hungarian VMSZ party. In a message to Pásztor’s son, Bálint Pásztor, Kövér referred to the deceased politician as “a revered representative of Hungarians in the Carpathian Basin … who was an example to us all of perseverance and commitment.”

Pásztor worked to ensure education in Hungarian, a multitude of developments and preservation of historic monuments in his homeland, as well as to promote civilised political dialogue between Hungary and Serbia in the interest of preserving the rights of ethnic minorities, Kover said. He noted Pásztor’s achievements “in the process of a historic reconciliation between the Serbian and Hungarian nations.”