The continuation of the tasks of the EU working group on minorities was supported by nearly 40 MEPs.Continue reading
The European Union does not deal with the issue of national minorities, considering it to be an internal matter for each country, said Katalin Szili, Chief Advisor to the Prime Minister, at a summer university program entitled “Minority Protection in Europe” in Budapest on Monday.
The Chief Advisor said that minority protection is particularly important for Hungarians, as Hungary “is destined to be neighbors with itself.” “We must keep this issue on the agenda in every situation,” she said.
She pointed out that Europe has undergone tremendous change over the past 15 years, and that the migration situation, the pandemic, and the war between Russia and Ukraine have brought the issue of national minorities even more to the forefront.
I am much more confident about the future of Hungary and the protection of Hungarian national minorities than I am about the European Union’s handling of minority protection issues,”
said Katalin Szili, expressing her concerns that the EU does not separate the issue of immigrant communities from that of indigenous national minorities. “This issue must be resolved, because it will lead to even more serious conflicts,” she pointed out.
Szili also mentioned that the Court of Justice of the European Union had definitively rejected the Minority SafePack initiative for the protection of national minorities. According to the ruling, the EU does not wish to legislate in this area, she explained. In this context, she also drew attention to the contradiction that
when a country joins the EU, one of the negotiation chapters deals precisely with national minority protection issues, but once a country has joined the EU, this topic is no longer addressed.
Szili highlighted the role of young lawyers, who can do a lot in the coming period to change the current situation.
In her speech, the Chief Advisor also commemorated the recently deceased Előd Kincses, recalling that the Transylvanian Hungarian lawyer was a champion of minority rights. She also suggested that it would be worthwhile to name the summer university after him and hold him up as an example to future generations of lawyers.
Via MTI, Featured image: Facebook/Dr. Szili Katalin