Dual Citizenship for all Hungarians across the borders in Historic Hungary
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Dual Citizenship for all Hungarians across the borders in Historic Hungary |
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 AHF
issues call ("felhivas") to Hungarians to vote "YES"
on dual-citizenship for Hungarians beyond the borders. Click to
download the "Felhivas" [Szavazzunk
IGEN]
Acting on a motion by the World Federation of Hungarians (MVSZ), Hungary's parliament voted to hold a referendum on a controversial proposal that seeks to grant dual citizenship to ethnic Hungarians living in neighbouring countries. The issue of granting dual citizenship to Hungarians living outside the country's borders has stirred strong divisions. There are some two million Hungarians living in neighbouring Romania, and a further 500,000 are in Slovakia and some 300,000 in Serbia. Nationalists in the neighbouring countries have described the initiative as a provocation. The ruling Socialists (MSZP) believe that the issue of dual citizenship should not be decided in a referendum, and are thus opposed to the motion. The junior coalition member liberal Free Democrats (SZDSZ) reject the proposal. The opposition Young Democrats (FIDESZ) and the Democratic Forum (MDF) have expressed support for the initiative. Given the large numbers of post-Trianon Hungarians living in newly redrawn borders, the situation is complex. Hungarian Foreign Minister László Kovács communicated to MTI, the Hungarian Press Agency: “Whether or not somebody shall become a dual citizen as a result of this, depends on whether his present home country accepts the granting of this second citizenship or not.” The Foreign Minister reminded, that for example in Ukraine, dual citizenship is forbidden by law, and if a Ukrainian Hungarian is granted Hungarian citizenship, then the person shall immediately be deprived of his/her Ukrainian citizenship. AHF believes this referendum is unneccessary as citizenship for fellow Hungarians is a moral and ethical issue that should never have been questioned. But since the referendum is now presented to voters, AHF urges Hungarians to vote "yes." AHF feels that all Hungarians, wherever they may be, should have the right to claim citizenship. Dr. Pual Szilagyi, AHF's Steering Committee Chairman, wrote, "Ha valaki magyar állampolgár óhajt lenni, akkor örüljünk, hogy egy magyarral több van, hiszen úgy is ritkulunk a Kárpát-medencében. Ez egy olyan választás, amire nem volt és nincs szükség. Nem kell a határon belüli és túli, árván maradt magyarságot megosztani, s megfosztani egy határon kívül ragadt magyart attól a lehetoségtol, hogy esetleg magyar állampolgarságot nyerjen." ("If someone desires Hungarian citizenship, we should be pleased as our number has grown by at least one in a Carpathian Basin where our numbers are in decline. But this is a referendum for which there was no need. We shouldn't divide "within-borders" from "outside-border" Hungarians, nor prevent a Hungarian stuck behind borders that were changed around him from claiming his citizenship.") - Bryan Dawson [sources: The Washington Times, MTI] [< back to all AHF news] |
Why did Hungarians lose Citizenship? Perhaps the most tragic piece of this story is that it wasn't the post-WWI victorious powers, nor the dicatorial regimes of Rumania, Slovakia, and Serbia, but rather the Hungarian government itself that cancelled citizenship for the millions of Hungarians living across newly drawn borders. In a show of "Socialist" brotherhood, the Hungarian communist government signed an agreement with Ceaucescu's Rumania in 1979 cancelling Hungarian citizenship for Transylvania's 2.5 - 3 million-strong Hungarian community. Previous Hungarian governments did the same thing with Hungarians living and working in East Germany in 1969, Poland in 1961, and Czechoslovakia in 1960. Read the full article in Hungarian on the largest Hungarian Internet news, Index.hu
These are .PDF files.
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