The government is treating issues relating to nationalities and the education of nationalities as a priority, said László Szászfalvi in a speech at the Croatian School in Budapest. He said that this shows itself, among other things, in the fact that the term ‘nationality’ is consistently being used in political discourse instead of the word ‘minority’.

The Minister of State for Church, Civil Society and Nationality Affairs called attention to the fact that the new Constitution, the new Act on Electoral Procedure, and the new Act on Local Government will also all bring changes in relation to nationalities. Legislation has ensured the right of nationalities to parliamentary representation, and the Government is planning to amend the law on minorities in the second half of the year, he said. The most important guiding principles of these changes will be, among other things: effective measures against ‘ethno-business’ – abuses in the electoral system related to the self-government of nationalities; the restitution of the preferential mandate for minorities; and the repeated formation of so-called restructured minority local self-governments.

During his comprehensive introduction of the Government’s nationality policy, László Szászfalvi also touched on state support for national minority self-governments. The Minister of State said that the Government is providing HUF 732 million for minority policy initiatives, and HUF 1.5 billion for regional and local minority self-governments. László Szászfalvi recalled that in March Tibor Navracsics, Minister of Public Administration and Justice, established the Nationality Study Scholarship, which seeks to support socially disadvantaged young people from all national or ethnic minorities.

(kormany.hu)