Protection of minority rights
The 1993 law on the Rights of National and Ethnic Minorities recognised the specific individual and collective rights of national and ethnic minorities as fundamental freedoms to be respected and upheld. The law recognised various groups, including Bulgarians, Roma, Greeks, Croats, Poles, Germans, Armenians, Romanians, Rusyns, Serbs, Slovaks, Slovenians, and Ukrainians, as indigenous nationalities, recognising their identity as part of universal human rights. Additionally, the law established the position of an ombudsman to monitor and promote the enforcement of minority rights.
The adoption of the Law was primarily driven by the need to address the country’s diverse demographics following the end of communism. The law marked a significant step towards aligning Hungary’s legal framework with international standards of minority protection and furthered the country’s democratisation process.
“The National Assembly, […] aware that the harmonious coexistence of national and ethnic minorities with the majority nation is a constituent element of international security, declares that it considers the right to national and ethnic self-identity to be part of universal human rights, and that the specific individual and communal rights of national and ethnic minorities are fundamental freedoms, which it respects and enforces in the Republic of Hungary.”
Preambulum – 1993 Law on the Rights of National and Ethnic Minorities in Hungary
Further Reading / Sources
Július 7-én az Országgyűlés elfogadta a nemzeti és etnikai kisebbségek jogairól szóló törvényjavaslatot
30 éve történt (1993)
A kisebbségi joganyag és annak változásai az elmúlt negyedszázadban Magyarországon. In: Fedinec Csilla et al. (szerk.) A közép-európaiság dicsérete és kritikája
Kállai, Ernő (2013). Kalligram Kiadó, Pozsony, 109-135