The position of Fidesz - Hungarian Civic Union on the upcoming referendum concerning "dual citizenship"

24 November 2004

Dátum: 2004-11-29 14:47:00, eredeti URL: http://archiv.fidesz.hu/index.php?Cikk=31585
KCMDB-be feltöltve: 2024-05-04 20:58:44.045076, Feltöltő: fidesz_hu_scraper_v2

Background

The origins of the current political debate surrounding "dual citizenship" (more precisely: preferential granting of Hungarian citizenship) for Hungarians living abroad trace back to the summer of 2003, when then Serbian Prime Minister Zoran Zivkovic confirmed at a news conference held in Belgrade with then Prime Minister Péter Medgyessy that Serbia had no apprehensions to Vojvodina Hungarians being granted Hungarian citizenship. The Hungarian government immediately rejected the idea of Hungarian citizenship for minority Hungarians in the neighbouring countries, a move which triggered an upheaval and an ensuing signature-collection campaign by NGOs, most notably the World Federation of Hungarians, in favour of "dual citizenship". The campaign aimed at putting the question to a referendum, a goal achieved by the collection of the necessary 200,000 signatures. The President of the Republic set 5 December 2004 as the date for holding the referendum. If succeeded, the referendum would oblige the Hungarian National Assembly to draft legislation on granting citizenship for Hungarians living abroad, with the substance of the legislation to be defined by Parliament, however.

Socialist scaremongering on large-scale immigration

As legislation on citizenship matters requires a two-thirds majority in Parliament, the issue may only be resolved by a quasi-consensus of political forces in case of a yes vote. In other words, it is eventually the political elite that will decide consensually on the actual conditions of citizenship. Nevertheless, the government immediately launched a scaremongering politically non-correct campaign that is only characteristic of the extreme right of the political spectrum in the European Union. (On may even call this campaign xenophobic, but paradoxically the debate concerns ethnic Hungarians.) The socialist are threatening the public with mass immigration, the onslaught of at least 800,000 (or even 2,5 million) resettling Hungarians from neighbouring countries, should the referendum approve of the initiative. They are citing contradictory figures into the hundreds of billions of forints in "demonstration" of an "unbearable burden" dual citizenship would place on the budget and taxpayers.

The populist rhetoric of Mr Gyurcsány's government on the referendum issue is designed first and foremost to improve the popularity ratings of the battered socialist party with all tools necessary. It is also a way to draw away attention from the miserable situation of the central budget and the austerity measures taking shape for 2005.

Dual citizenship - free travel opportunities for Hungarians

Fidesz was not the author of the referendum initiative. On the contrary, Fidesz always wished to avoid political polarisation about an issue as important as that of the Hungarian minority communities abroad. In government as well as in opposition, its particular stance on "dual citizenship" has been determined by the underlining principle that policy on the Hungarian communities in the neighbouring countries must meet the consent of their legitimate representatives. During the tenure of the centre-right Orbán-government between 1998 and 2002, calls for dual citizenship have been eclipsed by the consensual support among Hungarian parties of the neighbouring countries for another solution, the comprehensive assistance package for ethnic Hungarians provided for by the so-called Status Law. However, a series of developments contributed to the emergence of a new situation. First, the Status Law was partially dismantled after 2002 and is unable to fulfil its original function. Second, Hungary's EU-accession imposed travel restrictions on Hungarian communities in Ukraine and Serbia. Third, the grassroots referendum initiative this autumn placed the issue of dual citizenship in the forefront of the political agenda. Fourth, an unprecedented, unequivocal political support of the neighbouring countries' Hungarian parties for dual citizenship was manifested by the related draft declaration of the recent session of Hungarian Standing Conference (MÁÉRT) on 12 November 2004, which was refused to be signed by the government coalition. These factors made a supportive stance indispensable on behalf of Fidesz at the upcoming referendum.

Fidesz's backing for the yes vote is underscored by the fact that the government's scaremongering campaign lacks all basic rationale and is merely designed to stir up malign feelings. The current government reasoning apparently follows the line of the 2002 general election campaign when the socialists were threatening with the onslaught of "23 million Romanian workers" on the Hungarian labour market in the aftermath of the Hungarian-Romanian agreement on the Status Law. Polls show that dual citizenship would not affect significantly the migration attitudes of ethnic Hungarians. (On the contrary, their migration tendencies have plummeted since the introduction of the benefits provided by the Status Law.) The socialist propaganda is also contradicted by hard evidence: if their reasoning were true, 500,000-plus ethnic Hungarians from Slovakia would have already swamped Hungary since 1 May 2004 under the EU's non-discrimination rules on the free movement of persons and labour. Similarly, the new citizenship regulation would simply award the very rights for Transylvanian Hungarians that would anyway be granted for all Romanian citizens after its accession to the EU in 2007. (If the socialist propaganda had any real fundaments, the Hungarian government would be campaigning hard against Romania's EU accession following the same logic.)

Dual citizenship, various rights for non-resident citizens and preferential granting of citizenship is common practice in the European Union as well as in the neighbouring countries. Fidesz is convinced that dual citizenship is designed first and foremost to provide an instrument for obtaining a Hungarian passport, i.e. free travel opportunities for the Hungarian communities of those countries which are likely to remain outside the EU on the long run (Serbia, Ukraine). The preferential granting of Hungarian citizenship for ethnic Hungarians would not result in additional social costs, because no large-scale resettlement is expected after its introduction and most of the social benefits are only available for resident citizens paying taxes and social security contributions.

Budapest, 24 November 2004