Historical Synopsis
On 19 June 2001, the government of Hungary passed Act LXII of 2001 on Hungarians Living in Neighbouring Countries (Hungary 19 June 2001), commonly known as the "Status Law" (The Budapest Sun 8 Nov. 2001). The law, which grants certain benefits to ethnic Hungarians living outside of Hungary, was seen by some of its neighbours as an infringement on their sovereignty, for example Romania (AFP 18 July 2003), a country which some 1.4 million ethnic Hungarians call home (Transitions Online 1 Oct. 2003).
However, in July 2003, Romania and Hungary agreed on an amendment to the Status Law that, according to Romanian Foreign Minister Mircea Geona, "remove[d] discriminatory aspects and those which did not conform with European norms" (AFP 18 July 2003). In September 2003, Romanian Prime Minister Adrian Nastase and Hungarian Prime Minister Peter Medgyessy signed an agreement on the implementation of the amended law in Romania (Duna TV 23 Sept. 2003; Radio Romania Actualitati 23 Sept. 2003; Kossuth Radio 23 Sept. 2003; Transitions Online 1 Oct. 2003), a development which was hoped would assuage "regional tensions" (WMRC 24 Sept. 2003) and "eliminate a problem in bilateral relations which had persisted for more than two years" (Radio Romania Actualitati 23 Sept. 2003). On 1 December 2003, Kossuth Radio reported that the Romanian government adopted the September 2003 agreement.
The Status Law
The following is a selection of the provisions contained in Act LXII of 2001 on Hungarians Living in Neighbouring Countries (the Status Law), which includes amendments passed by the Hungarian Parliament on 23 June 2003 and whose integral text, taken from the Website of the Government Office for Hungarian Minorities Abroad (GOHMA), is included in an attachment at the end of this Response.
The Hungarian Status Law aims:
[...] to ensure the well being of Hungarians living in neighbouring states in their home-state, to promote their ties to Hungary, to support their Hungarian identity and their links to the Hungarian cultural heritage as expression of their belonging to the Hungarian nation (Hungary 23 June 2003).
The Status Law applies to ethnic Hungarians who are not citizens of Hungary and who reside in the following six states: Croatia, Romania, Serbia and Montenegro, Slovakia, Slovenia, or Ukraine (ibid., Sec. 1). As outlined by the law, the cultural and scientific privileges extended to ethnic Hungarians of neighbouring countries are access to Hungarian cultural institutions and services, including libraries (ibid., Sec. 4), membership to the scientific community and access to research funds (ibid., Sec. 5), and recognition and merit for contributions made to Hungarian culture or humanitarian values (ibid., Sec. 6). Travel within Hungary will also be subsidized: for instance, those in possession of an "Ethnic Hungarian Card" or a "Family of Ethnic Hungarian Card" will be entitled to a 90 per cent discount on domestic long-distance travel up to four times a year (ibid., Sec. 8). The educational provisions of the Status Law allow ethnic Hungarian cardholders access to institutions of higher learning in Hungary, with varying degrees of government funding (in some cases, full reimbursement of tuition fees) (ibid., Sec. 9). Additionally, Hungary pledged support to the development and operation of Hungarian-language educational institutions in neighbouring countries to facilitate ethnic Hungarian access to primary, secondary, and higher education in the mother tongue in order to preserve linguistic and cultural identity outside its borders (ibid., Sec. 13-14). In terms of employment, the law stipulates that ethnic Hungarians are subject to the same rules as those governing any foreign job-seeker (ibid., Sec. 15). Finally, Section 17 of the Status Law mandates the broadcasting of public service television programs to ethnic Hungarian communities in order to strengthen pan-Hungarian cultural ties (ibid., Sec. 17).
It is important to note that the implementation of this law, discussed below, is governed by the rules set forth by the Agreement Between the Government of Romania and the Government of the Republic of Hungary on Implementation of the Amended Benefit Law in Romania (henceforth referred to as the Agreement), signed by both Romania and Hungary on 23 September 2003 (ibid. 23 Sept. 2003).
Implementation of the Status Law
The Agreement includes many provisions that are deemed less "contentious" to Romanians (Transitions Online 1 Oct. 2003). For instance, while applications for such documents as the Ethnic Hungarian Card can be filed in Romania, they are only to be issued in Budapest (ibid.). In addition, documents will not be issued to applicants' relatives who are not ethnic Hungarians (ibid.).
In the field of education, financial aid is to be granted to institutions rather than to individuals, and some scholarships would be available to all applicants regardless of ethnicity (ibid.). Budapest has also stopped subsidizing the education of ethnic Hungarian children from Romania who are studying in Hungary, since the Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania (DAHR) had complained that "'less than 10 per cent of [ethnic Hungarian] youngsters ever come back to Romania'" (ibid.).
For further details on how the Status Law is implemented in Romania, please find attached a copy of the Agreement, taken from the Website of the GOHMA.
Number of Applicants
According to DAHR, between January 2002 and September 2003, some 400,000 Romanian citizens had applied for Hungarian identification (ID) cards under the Status Law (WMRC 24 Sept. 2003; Kossuth Radio 22 Sept. 2003), while about 32,000 had applied for student ID cards, 4,628 for teacher ID cards, and 357 for "trainer cards" (ibid.). Based on 2002 census data, this would mean that, by mid-September 2003, approximately 28 per cent of ethnic Hungarians in Romania had applied for Hungarian ID cards under the Status Law (ibid.). Transitions Online reported that, in the first nine months of 2003, the number of Romanian citizens leaving the city of Cluj for Hungary had increased by 26 per cent compared to the same period of the previous year (1 Oct. 2003).
This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim for refugee protection. Please find below the list of additional sources consulted in researching this Information Request.
References
Agence France-Presse (AFP). 18 July 2003. "Hungary and Romania Agree on Amendment to Controversial Minority Law." (Factiva)
The Budapest Sun. 8 November 2001. Fraser Allan. Vol. IX, Issue 45. "What Lies Behind Act LXII? - Analysis." <http://www.budapestsun.com/full_story.asp?ArticleID=%7B6D7121D2B7B24E319EB013BE2D47C156%7D&From=News> [Accessed 20 Jan. 2006]
Duna TV [Budapest, in Hungarian]. 23 September 2003. "Hungarian Premier Insists Romania Fulfil Signed Agreements." (Factiva/BBC Monitoring)
Hungary. 23 September 2003. Agreement Between the Government of Romania and the Government of the Republic of Hungary on Implementation of the Amended Benefit Law in Romania. Government Office for Hungarian Minorities Abroad (GOHMA). <http://www.htmh.hu/en/?menuid=06&country_id=Romania&id=211> [Accessed 20 Jan. 2006]
_____. 23 June 2003. Act LXII of 2001 on Hungarians Living in Neighbouring Countries. Government Office for Hungarian Minorities Abroad (GOHMA). <http://www.htmh.hu/en/?menuid=03&news007_id=1157> [Accessed 20 Jan. 2006]
_____. 19 June 2001. Act LXII of 2001 on Hungarians Living in Neighbouring Countries. Government Office for Hungarian Minorities Abroad (GOHMA). <http://www.htmh.hu/en/?menuid=03&news007_id=1149> [Accessed 20 Jan. 2006]
Kossuth Radio [Budapest, in Hungarian]. 1 December 2003. "Bucharest Adopts Bilateral Agreement on Implementation of Hungarian Status Law." (Factiva/BBC Monitoring)
_____. 23 September 2003. "Hungarian, Romanian Premiers Sign Agreement on 'Status Law'." (Factiva/BBC Monitoring)
_____. 22 September 2003. "Almost 28 per cent of Hungarians in Romania Apply for Hungarian ID Cards." (Factiva/BBC Monitoring)
Radio Romania Actualitati [Bucharest, in Romanian]. 23 September 2003. "Romanian Premier Praises Accord with Hungary on Ethnic Status Law." (Factiva/BBC Monitoring)
Transitions Online [Prague]. 1 October 2003. Dumitru Balaci. "A Status Quo, Finally." (Factiva)
World Markets Research Centre (WMRC). 24 September 2003. Mandy Kirby. "Romania, Hungary Sign Agreement to Protect Regional Hungarian Diaspora." (Factiva)
Additional Sources Consulted
Internet Sites, including: Amnesty International (AI), Council of Europe (COE), Courrier des Balkans, Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania (DAHR), European Country of Origin Information Network (ECOI), European Union (EU), Freedom House, Human Rights Watch (HRW), Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), United States Department of State.
Attachments
Hungary. 23 September 2003. Agreement Between the Government of Romania and the Government of the Republic of Hungary on Implementation of the Amended Benefit Law in Romania. Government Office for Hungarian Minorities Abroad (GOHMA). <http://www.htmh.hu/en/?menuid=06&country_id=Romania&id=211> [Accessed 20 Jan. 2006]
Hungary. 23 June 2003. Act LXII of 2001 on Hungarians Living in Neighbouring Countries. Government Office for Hungarian Minorities Abroad (GOHMA). <http://www.htmh.hu/en/?menuid=03&news007_id=1157> [Accessed 20 Jan. 2006]