A committee for regional self-governments of the Forum of Hungarian Lawmakers from the Carpathian Basin (KMKF) met to discuss the prospects of autonomy and the situation of local self-governments in countries beyond the borders in Budapest on Wednesday.
At the meeting, representatives of ethnic Hungarian parties in neighbouring countries gave an outline of the situation of their local Hungarian communities and their representation at the level of local government, Barna Pal Zsigmond, co-president of the body, told reporters after the meeting.
“The situation is most saddening in Transcarpathia because of the war in Ukraine, whereas it is particularly good in Serbia. There is good progress to be witnessed also in Szeklerland and in southern Slovakia,” he said.
He said that there had been and would be successful as well as difficult periods in bilateral relations and in the enforcement of national rights. “But the example of Serbia’s Hungarian community can give us hope since in that country there was a war 15-20 years ago, and now the [Hungarian] national minority has the best situation,” he said.
Participants at the meeting were in agreement that they would continue to work towards improving bilateral ties in international forums and would promote the protection of national minorities at a European level and around the world, Zsigmond said.
Laszlo Lorant Keresztes, the other co-leader, said the meeting was attended by representatives of government parties and of opposition LMP and Mi Hazank.
He said that they reviewed the political steps and laws that were addressed in each country represented at the meeting.
