Nation-Building and Contested Identities - MEK

Nationalizing Minorities and Homeland Politicsnational minorities. In 2001, however, the conservative Hungarian governmentproposed a law regarding Hungarians living in the neighboring countries.Political and scientific discourse refers to it as the “Status Law” (státustörvény).19 The government considers that the existence of such a law,and the facilities offered, encourages the Hungarians to refrain from emigration,and could moderate the process of assimilation.Following the revolution of 1989, the relationship between Hungaryand the Hungarians living in neighboring countries entered a new phase.During the communist period, official politics was characterized by thefiction of the ethnoculturally neutral state, and it was often asserted thatquestions regarding nationality belonged to the internal affairs of therespective country. Until the mid-1980s, Hungary did not show officialinterest in Hungarians living in other states. In the late 1980s, the problemof Hungarians living abroad, especially in Transylvania, was brought intothe center of attention. After the breakdown of the communist regimes,the situation changed even more radically. Finally, the concern for Hungariansliving in the neighboring countries was materialized in legislationand governmental politics.In the Hungarian constitution a paragraph was introduced, statingHungary’s responsibility regarding the Hungarians living abroad. 20 On thebasis of this constitutional and “ethnocultural” responsibility, the Hungariangovernments established several governmental institutions and foundationsto support Hungarian institutions in the neighboring countries. 21A certain part of the Hungarian budget was allocated to finance Hungarianpolitical, educational, and cultural institutions. Important financial assistancewas given to students, pedagogues, and artists studying in Hungary,with the aim of bringing up the future Hungarian intelligentsia. Naturally, ithas been expected that these people would return to their home country. 22Although a detailed analysis suggests that there are important differencesamong the three post-communist Hungarian governments in the politicstowards Hungarians abroad, my paper does not focus on these discrepancies.However, I must note that the first 23 and the third 24governments, both right-wing, emphasized more their concern with theHungarians living in neighboring countries than the second one. 25 Whilethe right-wing governments (and parties) asserted the ethnocultural unityof all Hungarians, the left-wing government framed its political discoursein view of the community of “Hungarian citizens.”In 1997, Hungary has become a NATO member, and it is expectedthat it will soon become a member of the European Union (EU). In thiscase, Hungary will also join the Schengen agreement, which means that itwill have to introduce visa requirements for non-EU citizens. At present,it is obvious that Romania, Croatia, Yugoslavia, and the Ukraine will join261