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.

Under the law, localities could ban property purchases or extend a blanket pre-emption right to residents, link property purchases or residence to conditions, as well as introduce local taxes, he said. Locals could turn to the municipality should they see the price of their property fall because of the measures, he added.

Further, the authority could also link buying properties to “fulfilling obligations relevant to the community’s identity or traditions” and could set a limit to the number of people registering their place of residence there, Navracsics said.

Any taxes introduced would have to decrease progressively, and must be for no longer than a period of 10 years, he said.

In order for parliament to pass the law, two-thirds of the lawmakers present would need to vote for it, he said.

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