The question of recognising new minorities in Hungary

Dobos, Balázs (2024) The question of recognising new minorities in Hungary. HUNGARIAN JOURNAL OF LEGAL STUDIES, 65 (4). pp. 432-453. ISSN 2498-5473

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Abstract

Relatively little is known about what is probably one of the most frequent, yet often dubious attempts in Post-Communist Central and Eastern Europe to expand the official list of minorities that have been made by non-recognised groups in Hungary since the early 2000s. Moreover, there had also been several unsuccessful attempts even before the adoption of the country's 1993 Minority Act. Therefore, the major aim of the research is, after outlining the main features of the historical and political background, to present and analyse the attempts which aimed at achieving minority recognition, especially those made after the adoption of the minority law. In doing so, it examines the conceptualisation tendencies, the notions and conditions that applicants must meet, and the operationalisation practices that prevailed. Overall, the Hungarian case illustrates well that not all minorities considered as existing socially - based on self-identifications and objective criteria - meet the substantive and procedural legal requirements of the law. In other cases, both the declared individual affiliations and the existence of a group and of separate objective elements of identity are still challenged and the subject of professional and political debates.

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