Orbán cabinet: Law on protection of local communities’ identity to ’empower communities’

Planned legislation on protecting the identity of local communities would empower a community, in line with the constitutional order, to prevent outsiders from moving in if they felt no newcomers could be accommodated, Tibor Navracsics, the public administration and regional development minister said at a consultation with Budapest’s mayor and district mayors on Monday.

Law on protection of local communities

Navracsics rejected the suggestion that the proposal aimed to exclude “any ethnic group” from the locality, adding that anyone living in a given settlement would be exempt from any subsequent restrictions.

One version of the draft would target small localities only, “while another concept would also include Budapest and the county seats”, Navracsics said, adding that he was expecting the input of Budapest Mayor Gergely Karácsony and the district mayors.

The proposal will be tabled at parliament next week the latest, he said.

The legislation will enable localities to “vet” people wanting to move in using measures in line with the rule of law, he said.