Deputy Prime Minister: New Hungarian citizens to number 1m by 2018

Budapest (MTI) – Hungary is set to have one million new citizens through its dual citizenship scheme by the end of the current government’s mandate in 2018, Deputy Prime Minister Zsolt Semjen told MTI on Sunday.

The authorities have received 700,000 applications for Hungarian citizenship by the end of this year and 650,000 people have taken their oaths already, he said.

Semjen expressed “limited optimism” regarding cooperation with new Romanian head of state Klaus Iohannis. He said that Iohannis as a mayor of Sibiu (Nagyszeben) had not displayed much interest in the affairs of ethnic Hungarians, either.

Romania’s new president, however, cannot deny the legitimacy of autonomy, something beyond doubt in western Europe, he said.

Hungarians in Ukraine’s Transcarpathian region are in the most difficult and dangerous position among Hungarian minorities abroad because their country is involved in a war conflict and Ukrainian nationalism has re-emerged, he said.

Semjen welcomed the results of the Slovak local elections and said there was a realistic chance for the Party of the Hungarian Community (MKP) to regain its mandates in the Bratislava parliament at the next general election, which would be crucial for Hungarians to have representation in the legislature.

The deputy prime minister said that Hungary should act just as Israel, defending its diaspora throughout the world.

Semjen, who is also head of the co-ruling Christian Democratic Party, said the popularity loss of the governing parties measured in recent polls could be attributed to a “natural lull” which follows some of the “unrealistic expectations” after an electoral victory. He said, however, that demonstrations must be taken seriously and communication should be encouraged.

Photo: MTI

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