Cultural Autonomy for Minorities in Hungary: A Model to Be Followed or a Futile Promise?

Abstract

Hungary has been praised by international monitoring bodies and scholars specializing in minority rights for being a pioneer in establishing a sophisticated cultural autonomy regime for the safeguarding of the cultural rights of its minorities, which could serve as a salient example for other countries too. However, after nearly twenty-five years of implementation, during which a major amendment of the original Act lxxvii of 1993 on the Rights of National and Ethnic Minorities (2005) took place, followed further by the adoption of a new Act clxxix on the Rights of Nationalities (2011), there continue to exist serious problems in the operation of the whole arrangement, putting in question its efficacy to adequately address the cultural needs of Hungary’s minorities and to serve as a model for exportation.