Deputy Prime Minister: Ethnic Hungarians Entitled To Voting Rights, Autonomy

(MTI) – The whole of Hungarian society is in agreement that ethnic kin is entitled to Hungarian citizenship, voting rights and autonomy, Deputy Prime Minister Zsolt Semjen told a roundtable at the 25th Balvanyos summer university in Baile Tusnad (Tusnadfurdo), in central Romania, on Friday.

Hungarian enclaves should be given territorial autonomy, while the diaspora should be granted cultural autonomy; the Hungarian government will not “dictate” any form of autonomy but will support the endeavours of each community, Semjen said. He added that “Hungary has never demanded anything that had no precedent in the European Union”.

“Autonomy is not a Hungarian invention, not an extreme Hungarian demand as suggested by Romanian politics; autonomy is a human right at a community level. As it is often referred to, the queen of human rights,” Semjen said.

The deputy prime minister also said that Hungary’s annual total of 21 billion forints (EUR 68m) to assist Hungarian organisations and programmes abroad was a record-high amount. He said that the government was planning to increase it even further, but it would not compromise the country’s economic growth or its capability to meet the deficit target.

Concerning the Hungarian community in Ukraine, Semjen said that “Hungarian blood must not be shed in a war Hungarians have nothing to do with. Hungarians have been no accomplices to developments (in Ukraine)”. The Hungarian state will always stand by Ukraine Hungarians, he pledged.

Photo: MTI – Laszlo Beliczay

Source: http://mtva.hu/hu/hungary-matters