September 2005

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15th ANNIVERSARY OF THE OFFICE FOR NATIONAL AND ETHNIC MINORITIES OF HUNGARY

September 2005 – The Office for National and Ethnic Minorities of Hungary celebrated its 15th anniversary last August. The Office, which is the main governmental organisation dealing with minority issues in the country, was set up in 1990 by Government Decree No 34/1990 (VIII.30) in order “to meet the government's responsibilities related to the national and ethnic minorities in Hungary”. It is an independent state administrative body with national sphere of authority and it is involved in minority-related legislation, in the preparation of amendments as well as in the drafting of government programmes designed to implement the minority act. Its objectives aim at promoting the identity, the language, the traditions and the cultural heritage of minorities, evaluating their situation and enforcing their rights. The Office, therefore, must watch over the application, amongst others, of the Act LXXVII of 1993 on the Rights of National and Ethnic Minorities. In accordance with article 42 of this Act, the languages used by minorities are: Bulgarian, Gypsy (Romani and Beash), Greek, Croatian, Polish, German, Armenian, Romanian, Ruthenian, Serbian, Slovakian, Slovenian and Ukrainian.

This year the Office has continued to manage a fund for the minority self-governments to take over and maintain already existing minority educational or cultural institutions or to found new institutions of this kind. The assistance available for this purpose amounted to 1,8 M euros (HUF 440 M), and 11 out of 13 minority communities have applied and obtained financial assistance. The cash will support, among other projects and institutions, the German Theatre, the National Roma Museum, the Research Institute of the Slovaks of Hungary, a Croatian-language radio that will broadcast its programmes through the internet, the enlargement of the Museum and Archives of the Poles and the reconstruction of the Bulgarian Cultural Centre.