An Act on National and Ethnic Minorities was passed in 1993 (Act LXXVII), declaring minorities to be constituent elements of the state, defining their collective and personal rights. National and ethnic minorities – or, since an amendment in 2011, “nationalities” – are defined as ethnic groups that have been living in Hungary for at least one hundred years and differ from the majority by language and culture. There are 13 recognised nationalities. In Hungary ethnicity is considered a private matter: systematically collecting data according to ethnic background is not allowed under the Personal Data Protection Law. National censuses and elections of minority governments are all based on voluntary self-identification. In the 2022 census, 2.5 percent of the population declared that they belong to the Roma minority and 1.7 percent to the German minority. All the other minorities are under 1 percent in the population.
As was discussed above, nurturing the cultural and language requirements of the rapidly dwindling percentage of ethnic minorities is a priority. Its function is the opposite of inclusion, the aim being to reduce the pace of assimilation. To certain extent this serves to justify the country’s involvement in the protection of the Hungarian minorities over the border. This is also why Hungary was among the first to sign and ratify the framework agreement of the Council of Europe on the protection of national minorities. Hungary also takes part in discussions which raise the issue of minorities within the political principles and priorities of the European Union.
In 2022, 218 thousand foreigners lived in Hungary, about 2% of the population (KSH). Their number has increased by 52% since 2011. Most of the foreigners living in the country, 76%, came from European countries, and 82 thousand were nationals of neighbouring countries (mainly ethnic Hungarians from a neighbouring state (Romania, Ukraine, Serbia, Slovakia), who do not constitute a cultural minority). After the outbreak of the Ukrainian war, a significant number of ethnic Hungarians living in Transcarpathia moved to Hungary.
Asians (Chinese) are the most dynamically growing minority group, with 19.7 thousand double the figure in 2012.
In a society where the current ethnic homogeneity is politically a stated asset no wonder that cultural inclusion of immigrants is out of the agenda. This even applies to Hungarian-speaking Transcarpathian Roma fleeing the war in Ukraine. Ngo-s active in intercultural activities feel the stigma of Soros agents upon them.
The issues of social deprivation and cultural inclusion overlap regarding the Roma or Romanies, one of the 13 recognised minorities. Although considered as politically incorrect, the old name of Gypsy (cigány) is still widely used, both in their own community and in official documents. The inclusion of the Roma population is a fundamental challenge in Hungary. During the 2022 census, 201 000 Roma were recorded, i.e., about 2.5 percent of the population; However, according to the 2015 estimation of the European Roma Rights Centre approximately 750 000 Roma live in Hungary today. That is over 7.5% of the population, many of the living in poverty and exclusion. On the other hand, the greatest number of Roma with full higher education in the whole of Europe is in Hungary, both in absolute and relative terms. Among the first 24 Hungarian members of the European Parliament, two were Roma: one of whom was the rapporteur for the EU strategy on Roma inclusion. Hungarian Roma artists are especially famed in music, both individually and in ensembles.
National federations of minorities have consultative status and often veto rights in relevant legislative matters. Their elected local government representatives in the villages and towns, and on the national level, have significant rights and growing resources – which, by nature, are primarily spent on culture. There are a total of 2098 local minority governments in Hungary, of which 1121 are Roma and 403 are German. There are 9 national minority representatives (nemzetiségi szószóló) in parliament.
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