Semjen calls autonomy human right at community level

Martovce, Slovakia, July 11 (MTI) – Granting autonomy is not a favour done by the majority nation but the observance of human rights, because ethnic minority rights are human rights at community level, Deputy Prime Minister Zsolt Semjen said on Friday.

Addressing the second Martovce (Martos) Free University in Slovakia, Semjen and Gyula Bardos, the first candidate nominated for Slovakia’s president by the ethnic Hungarian community, spoke about the autonomy endeavours of Hungarians beyond the border, the Hungarian law on fast-track citizenship and Slovakia’s citizenship law.

Concerning autonomy endeavours and citizenship, Semjen said that ethnic Hungarians demand nothing for which there is no precedent within the European Union.

Semjen said that each ethnic Hungarian community beyond the border should develop its own tailor-made draft for autonomy and, in the meantime, have it accepted by its opponents, who are usually the “subjects of political manipulation”.