Hungarian American Coalition News, 2004 (13. évfolyam, 1-3. szám)
2004 / 3. szám
neighboring majorities than the other solution: that is, local or regional autonomy, which is the subject of the next section below. The major disadvantage of the suggested extension of Hungarian citizenship is that it could lead to increased, even mass relocations to Hungary and the gradual abandonment of traditional Hungarian settlement areas. While, as we have seen, some would accept this for various reasons, most interested Hungarians recoil from this idea. There may also be difficulties that arise from the domestic laws of the neighboring countries concerning dual citizenship as well as their potential political reaction to such an extension of Hungarian citizenship to their own citizens. Some of these countries have already regarded their ethnic Hungarian citizens as of dubious loyalty. In a way the citizenship solution may seriously erode regional or international support for achieving genuine practical institutional systems of autonomy, local selfgovernment for these ethnic minorities. Therefore, the extension of citizenship may not necessarily be the best solution for the protection of minorities. Strengthening of the guarantees of minority rights and the establishment of self-governments (autonomies) may be a far more effective avenue to pursue. Autonomy Although the question of autonomy has always been present in Hungarian thinking about the minorities, membership in the EU brought these ideas into the forefront. The achievements of European integration, the permeability and evanescence of state borders within the Union, and the increased significance of cross-border regional cooperation all provide solid grounds for those seeking local or regional autonomy. A particularly important milestone was Resolution 1334 (2003) of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, which adopted the report of its rapporteur, Andreas Gross of Switzerland, on the advantages of regional autonomies. Though the resolution is not a binding legal norm, it still carries great significance. This is particularly true in light of the fact that the enormous body of the EU’s own Newsletter Editor: János Szekeres, Graphic Designer: Ajna Pfenninberger We are grateful to all those who contributed articles or information to this Newsletter “Nothing printed here is to be construed as an attempt to aid or hinder the passage of any legislation before the Congress of the United States.” László Hámos, President of the Hungarian Human Rights Foundation and current Chairman of the Board of the Hungarian American Coalition was requested by dr. Katalin Szili, President of the Hungarian Parliament, to participate in the newly established Forum of Hungarian Representatives oj the Carpathian Basin as an expert and also to represent the Western Hungarian communities. laws do not contain rules on the subject. On the other hand, in several advanced EU countries, such as Finland, Italy, Spain, Belgium, very successful regional autonomies operate. Indeed, it is hard to see what majority governments would gain by denying their minority citizens the elementary right of making decisions concerning their own communities and their own affairs. Ever since the creation of nation states during the 19th century, the prevailing pattern was to deny instruments of self-government to minorities who were thereby denied the means to protect themselves from efforts to assimilate them. In the long run,' tools of discrimination are capable of eroding the resistance of the minority communities. These weakened communities facing economic and social hardships cannot be successfully integrated into a functioning society but will remain constant sources of social and political tensions. This cannot be in the interest of any modem society in the 21st century. There are indeed many examples of autonomous arrangements, established with the guarantees of the state, which successfully assure the development and integration of all the constitutive ethnic communities of a given state. Historically, autonomies were created through the enlightened, cooperative attitude of the majority government or through struggle, often violent, by the disadvantaged minority. In our age, within the EU only the first version is plausible. Indeed, the Gross report emphasizes that autonomies will have to be created to advance the mutual coexistence and cooperation of majority and minority and through peaceful negotiations between the two. One has also be mindful that every minority situation is different and therefore November 2004 - Hungarian American Coalition - 3
