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Hungarians don’t need autonomy in Serbia, FM
Hungarian Foreign Minister Kinga Goncz has said that it is not realistic to speak about any kind of territorial autonomy for the Hungarians in Vojvodina and that, in the opinion of the Hungarian government, it would be far better to fight for Serbia’s visa liberalisation than to raise the issue of dual citizenship for the members of the Hungarian ethnic minority in Serbia. I do not think it is realistic to discuss the possibility of territorial autonomy for the Vojvodina Hungarians, she said.
On the one hand, we know that there are not so many Hungarians in Vojvodina and that they represent just one of a number of ethnic minorities in this province, and on the other, the fact is that the Hungarians do not live in some compact region where they could, possibly, create some kind of territorial autonomy which would gather around all Hungarians and which could be seceded from the rest of Vojvodina, she explained in an interview for the Novi Sad daily Dnevnik published on Thursday.
Goncz assessed that the Hungarians’ participation in all levels of Serbia’s executive authority was a very good thing, even the more so since the Serb minority was very active in Hungary. In this way, as she put it, the minorities of both countries are no longer a source of problems, but rather become a factor of stability and progress.
According to the Hungarian foreign minister, it would be a lot better for the Vojvodina Hungarians to try to improve their own position, as well as the position of Vojvodina in Serbia, by taking an active part in the political life. Dual citizenship is a very sensitive issue for the EU, because the stand of Brussels is to accept as its members the very states and their citizens, and not the people and the members of those nations that live outside their mother countries, Goncz explained. This is why I think it is not realistic to talk about dual citizenship and that it is a lot better to work as much as possible on the visa liberalization and Serbia’s accession into the EU, the Hungarian foreign minister concluded.
December 11, 2008
SOURCE: Tanjug
It is comforting to hear a voice of reason in the Balkans. Foreign Minister Kinga Goncz’s assessment of the Vojvodina is right on target.
Totally agree, I thought this was one of the better readings for myself in some time.
Wise assessment and something that contributes to peace and development, unlike what they’ve done in Kosovo
I wonder if the Hungarian Foreign Minister would have the same opinion, if the same killings in Kosovo, happend in Vojvodina. I also think that Hungary has a insurance policy for discrimination against Hungarians in Vojvodina. If that were to happen, Hungary can retaliate by the same means to its Serb minority in its own country. Thats why Hungary can have that stand. Kosovo was different, but now by having the 100K serbs within its territory, it can insure the life of ethnic Albanians livving in Serbia. And i think that is fair as it is the only way to somehow stop the ethnic discrimination in Serbia.
@Besi
I’m shocked at your response. Threatening minority citizens as human shields is not something that is acceptable. Your views demonstrate why Kosovo Albanians are nowhere close to being ready to run an independent country.
During the wars in the 1990’s Croatians, Muslims, and Albanians in Serbia proper were never treated with anything close to the discrimination and terror the Albanians are inflicting on Serbs in Kosovo.
The Albanians in the Presevo Valley are lucky that Serbs do not have the same viewpoint you do.
I am not saying that my viewpoint is perfect nor openly respectable, but it is the only way how to make Serbia think rationally, and the only way to have equal rights for Albanians in Serbia.
Please do not tell me that Kosovo Serbs are being discriminated. When Albanians, formed their own government parallel to Belgrade, Milosevic brought the Yugo Army in Kosovo. The Kosovo Serbs have their own parallel government from Pristina, and they are offered more rights than the Albanians had during Milosevic.