Gulyas: Government ‘bears responsibility’ for each Hungarian

Addressing a conference marking the Day of Szekler Freedom, Gergely Gulyas noted Hungary’s law on preferential dual citizenship for ethnic Hungarians, as one of the first pieces of legislation the Fidesz-Christian Democrat parties had proposed in 2010. “Thanks to that law, there are 1.1 million ‘new’ Hungarian citizens living all over the world,” he said, adding that dual citizenship had created a bond between the state of Hungary and Hungarians “whether they live in the mother country or outside”. He also noted that some 20-25 percent of all Hungarians lived in communities outside Hungary. Concerning differences between those communities, he said Transcarpathia Hungarians were in the most difficult situation, adding that the greatest support should go to those people that stayed in their homeland despite the war in their country.

Gulyas highlighted Hungary’s ties with Serbia, and said “relations have fundamentally changed, turning an adversarial relationship burdened with mutual, historical grievances into friendship”. He added that the incumbent Serbian government’s approach to the Hungarian minority was “better than at any time since the Trianon Peace Treaty” of 1920.

He said the Hungarian minority’s situation in Romania was “difficult”, adding that Romania’s “resistance against Hungarian national symbols has not ceased to exist”.

Concerning Slovakia Hungarians, Gulyas said he hoped that a recently established election alliance could again ensure ethnic Hungarians’ presence in the Slovak parliament.

Hungary will provide every assistance to all Hungarian communities beyond the borders, Gulyas stressed.

Concerning the Ukraine war, he said Hungary should “stay on the grounds of common sense and remember who is the attacker and who the attacked, and do everything to prevent a regional conflict from spreading to Europe”. It is crucial that “the war should be kept outside the borders and NATO does not get involved”, he said. The Hungarian government demands that international law be observed and respects the right of each country “both to self defence and territorial integrity”, he said. It is in the interest of Hungary and the whole of Europe that “there should be a ceasefire and peace as soon as possible,” he added. Once there is peace, we could “return to the mid-2010s when it seemed that economic growth and development had no external constraints”, he said.

Answering a question, Gulyas said “the issue of introducing the euro could be on the agenda in 5 or 6 years if we are doing very well”. He said such a move would require meeting 90 percent of the average economic level of the bloc, adding that “currently we are at 75-76 percent”.