Official: Hungary supports notion that minorities should decide for themselves

Budapest, May 19 (MTI) – The situation of minorities is not the domestic affair of an individual state, Hungary’s state secretary in charge of policy for Hungarian communities abroad, said at an international conference in Budapest.

The Hungarian government regards the conference-organising Federal Union of European Nationalities (FUEN) as an important player in enforcing minority rights and welcomes a declaration on protecting cultural and territorial autonomies in the European Union signed at the organisation’s 60th congress a few days ago, Arpad Janos Potapi said.

The declaration asked Romania and Slovakia to observe best practices in protecting the historic, cultural, linguistic, religious and traditional values of regions, he said.

Hungary continues to support FUEN in its efforts to help national minorities decide in their own affairs, Potapi said. Hungary also supports the Minority SafePack, a European civic initiative, urging the EU to adopt legal action to increase protection for persons belonging to a national or linguistic minority.

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