The situation of national minorities in Hungary cannot be negatively affected by a potentially difficult relationship between Hungary and the motherlands of these communities, the deputy prime minister in charge of policies for national minorities said on Monday.

Hungary’s Fundamental Law declares that the 13 indigenous national minority groups in the country are part of the Hungarian state and have self-governments, Zsolt Semjén reminded at his annual hearing before parliament’s Committee for National Minority Affairs.

The government aims to have the closest possible ties with the motherlands of Hungary’s ethnic communities, Semjén said, adding that even when there are disagreements, they must not have any negative consequences for the minority groups.

Highlighting the example of

the current disputes between Hungary and Ukraine, Semjén said these will not put the Ukrainian community in Hungary at any kind of disadvantage.

If relations with the motherland in question are good and fruitful—as they are in the case of Serbia—that can also benefit the given ethnic community, he said.

Meanwhile, Semjén said government support for ethnic minorities has increased six-fold, while the number of national minority institutions has risen eight-fold. Whereas in 2010, there were only 12 national minority schools in Hungary, today there are 106 attended by 20,000 students, he underscored.

The government this year invited bids for a total of 1.3 billion forints (EUR 3.4m) in funding for national minorities, and some 1,000 projects worth a combined 2 billion forints have been carried out in the recent period.

As regards key investment projects, the deputy prime minister noted the renovation of the Slovak Lutheran church and centre, support for the construction of the Bulgarian education and cultural centre and the construction of a German primary school in Biatorbágy, on the outskirts of Budapest.

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Sources: Hungarian Conservative/MTI