It is the shared interest of all nations that minorities should feel at home within their territory, Hungarian Foreign Minister János Martonyi said on 2 April 2013 at the session of Parliament's National Cohesion Committee.
Hungary also has an interest in its ethnic kin prospering in the land of their birth, the Minister said, adding that the country has no territorial claims on any of its neighbours. Although an overwhelming majority of Hungarians and Hungary's political elite have accepted the [post-WWI] loss of territory, the idea of Hungary having territorial claims pops up from time to time, mostly because it can be used for political purposes, Martonyi said. Just as Hungary has accepted the loss of territory, the neighbouring countries should also accept that, along with the territory, they have gained communities which seek to preserve their identity as a community, and strive for community integration rather than individual assimilation, he said.
He said Hungarians living beyond the country's borders were not seeking to settle in Hungary in great numbers and simplified citizenship options had not had this effect either. However, the number of Hungarian citizens has risen as a result of the measures, which requires extended consular service, he added. Accordingly, the first phase of expanding Hungary’s foreign representation includes the consideration of national policy aspects. The Government is expected to approve the opening of new consulates in Osijek (Eszek) in Croatia, Melbourne, Toronto, and Targu Mures (Marosvasarhely) and Oradea (Nagyvarad) in Romania.
Martonyi said: all nations have a foreign policy and it is wrong to juxtapose national policy and foreign policy. Hungary must take into account pan-Hungarian interests when shaping its foreign policy, he added. Enforcing national policy interests is the aim of Hungarian foreign policy, and it is not limited to neighbouring countries; it is one of the primary duties of diplomacy in general – the Minister continued.
Relations with neighbouring countries are greatly influenced by the condition of Hungarian communities living there, including their legal status, and it is also in the interests of these communities that relations between their country of origin and their present country of residence should be good, as they are the ones who suffer the consequences to the greatest extent.
He said the reasons for differences in opinion were that Hungary believes in community rights while the majority of neighbouring states only advocate the enforcement of minority rights for individuals. Until these differences in opinion exist, disputes will always emerge, because many sensitive issues concerning the situation of Hungarians living beyond the country's borders relate to this – he pointed out.
(MTI, Ministry of Foreign Affairs)
