Hungarian minister set date for euro introduction in Hungary

The Hungarian government confesses the “unified Hungarian nation” principle and “bears responsibility for each Hungarian”, the head of the Prime Minister’s Office said on Friday.

Addressing a conference marking the Day of Szekler Freedom, Gergely Gulyás noted Hungary’s law on preferential dual citizenship for ethnic Hungarians, as one of the first pieces of legislation the Fidesz-Christian Democrat parties had proposed in 2010. “Thanks to that law, there are 1.1 million ‘new’ Hungarian citizens living all over the world,” he said, adding that dual citizenship had created a bond between the state of Hungary and Hungarians “whether they live in the mother country or outside”. He also noted that some 20-25 percent of all Hungarians lived in communities outside Hungary. Concerning differences between those communities, he said Transcarpathia Hungarians were in the most difficult situation, adding that the greatest support should go to those people that stayed in their homeland despite the war in their country.

Gulyás highlighted Hungary’s ties with Serbia, and said “relations have fundamentally changed, turning an adversarial relationship burdened with mutual, historical grievances into friendship”. He added that the incumbent Serbian government’s approach to the Hungarian minority was “better than at any time since the Trianon Peace Treaty” of 1920.

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He said the Hungarian minority’s situation in Romania was “difficult”, adding that Romania’s “resistance against Hungarian national symbols has not ceased to exist”. Concerning Slovakia Hungarians, Gulyás said he hoped that a recently established election alliance could again ensure ethnic Hungarians’ presence in the Slovak parliament.