Public summons to
the Hungarian minority representatives, to the leaders of the mother
country and to the Hungarian members of the European Parliament
The following facts could be stated
concerning the Hungarian minority community in Vojvodina:
-the demographic and economic situation
and the unemployment rate of the Hungarian minority community in
Vojvodina has been deteriorating (even after the so-called democratic
takeover in October 5, 2000) – the results of the October 2011
census concerning the nationality structure and distribution have not
been published yet –, while the birth rate is decreasing, more and
more young and educated people are moving abroad which consequently
leads to the fact that the Hungarian minority population is growing
old;
- in Vojvodina the unemployment rate
exceeded the so far unprecedented 27 percent, and the unemployment
rate among the Hungarian minority people is even significantly
higher;
-fewer and fewer representatives of the
Hungarian minority community are in charge of decision making in the
significant decision-making organizations – (for instance, in
Zrenjanin and Novi Sad) – which threatens their right for the
proportional representation and equal opportunity in decision making
–, the fact that more and more Hungarian contractors loose their
real estates and arable land property increases the impoverishment of
the community;
- the Hungarian minority political
parties were unsuccessful on the 2012 Serbian elections and also
there is a lack of agreement among them concerning the most vital
political and social questions referring to their community;
As a result of the above mentioned
serious problems, the Hungarian minority community in Vojvodina is
increasingly ruled by despair, depression and lethargy. As we – the
undersigned leaders of the Hungarian minority political parties,
civil organizations and individuals – who took part on the
September 27, 2012 meeting, feel responsible for not only our but our
children’s future, we demand:
Taking political actions against
high unemployment rates – including investments that will create
new and secure jobs – as well as provisions for creating better
living conditions that would encourage the young members of the
Hungarian minority community to stay in their birthplace to live,
work and establish a family;
From the Serbian government the
full-scale national, territorial and personal autonomy of the
Hungarian minority living in Vojvodina; based on our experience,
there is a need for the modification of the Law on the National
Councils to enable the real political self-governance of the
national minorities in Serbia; as a next step, new democratic
national council elections should be hold, based on the register of
voters made and kept by the Serbian government, while taking into
account the territorial distribution of the population;
Not only the final
decentralization of Serbia but its division into regions – by
taking into consideration economic, geographic, ethnic and other
vital principles – on the pattern similar to the EU; the Hungarian
minority community in Vojvodina where creating majority should live
in one administrative district; as a part of the public
administration reform, in accordance with the principle of
subsidiarity township municipalities should be established; the
complete restitution of the self-governing system of the Autonomous
Province of Vojvodina, including legislative,
executive and judicial jurisdiction.
The integration of the MP places
for the representatives of national minorities – assured by the
Constitution of Serbia – into the electoral law; the assurance of
the proportional representation of minority Hungarians in the
decision-making, administrative and judicial institutions on all
levels; the enactment of a new law on the election process of the
MPs, which makes voting for individuals and political lists equally
possible and where every candidate receiving, at least, 2000 votes
is entitled to be ranked;
The modification of the
assimilation encouragement regulation about the annexation of Ada,
Senta and Kanjiza to the territory of northern Banat;
The restoration of the municipal
courts in Ada, Čoka,
Kanjiža, Bečej, Temerin, Bačka Topola and Senta and the
publication of the data concerning the national distribution of the
employees at administrative workplaces; the right for the use of the
Hungarian language during office routine in the administrative
organizations and the enactment of a law on the official language
and letter use;
The establishment of:
-a separate Hungarian education system
– from kindergarten to university – based on the needs of the
Hungarian minority population and taking into account the opinion of
the representatives of the Hungarian minority parents;
- Hungarian mother tongue groups and
courses at the University of Novi Sad;
-the independence of the
primary shools in Torda and Novi Itabej presently belonging to the
Serbian school centre;
- a new syllabus for teaching the state
language (Serbian) as a non-mother tongue for the Hungarian mother
tongue students. Also there is a strong need for the modernization of
the existing language teaching course books and an erasure of any
content referring to the condemnation of the national minorities;
The liberty of the press, being
independent both of the political parties and the Hungarian National
Council;
Specification of a deadline for
finishing the construction works of the National Theatre in Subotica
and the Europe Student Hostel in Novi Sad;
Abolishment of the collective
guilt decree from the October 6, 2011 Law on Property Restitution
and Compensation;
From the Serbian Parliament to
adopt a declaration against the 1944-45 massacre concerning
Hungarians in Vojvodina, to officially apologize and to provide the
opportunity for the worthy commemoration; allow the erection of
monuments for the victims of World War II in every settlement with
mass graves, the re-opening of secret files and archives to help
research on the war events as well as to allow access to the list of
informants and to institute proceedings against the perpetrators of
the atrocities alive;
Putting an end to the settling of
deported people mainly from Western Europe into the territories
inhabited by the Hungarian minority community, because it would not
only change the ethnic proportion of the population but would also
make the public security worse;
From the government of Serbia to
ensure the effective investigation of the ethnic-based incidents and
to consistently apply the law – regardless of any affiliation –
against the perpetrators, as well as the release of the
Temerin prisoners, to those, who got
unproportionally high, prison punishment;
Taking into account the above
mentioned issues of the native Hungarian minority and discuss them
in the phase of the negotiations on Serbia’s European integration;
we consider the adequate settlement of the most crucial questions in
the Serbian-Hungarian, Hungarian-Serbian relations before Serbia
becomes a candidate member state;
We – the undersigned leaders of
the Hungarian minority political parties, civil organizations and
individuals – are going to monitor and call the Hungarian members
of the Parliament to account for holding the brief and the
realization of the above mentioned demands.
The aforesaid public summons will be
sent to the Serbian and overseas press in Serbia and abroad, to Ivica
Dačić, the Prime Minister of Serbia, to
Štefan Füle, Europen Comissioner for Enlargement and European
Neighbourhood Policy, to Jelko Kacin, Member of the European
Parliament and rapporteur on Serbia's accession to the European
Union, to the leaders of the mother country and to the
Hungarian members of the European Parliament.
Novi Sad, September 27, 2012.
Political parties:
– András Ágoston,
Hungarian Democratic Party – Vojvodina (Vajdasági Magyar Demokrata
Párt, president
– Áron Csonka,
Democratic Community of the Hungarians in Vojvodina (Vajdasági
Magyarok Demokratikus Közössége), president
– Bálint László,
Hungarian Hope Movement (Magyar Remény Mozgalom), president
– László Rácz
Szabó, Hungarian Civil Association (Magyar Polgári Szövetség),
president
Civil Organisations:
– ”Árgus” –
Civil Assotiation for the Minority Rights of the Hungarians in
Vojvodina (Vajdasági Magyar Kisebbségjogi Civil Egyesület), mgr.
Antal Bozóki, president
– ”Barangoló”
– Civil Organisation – Zenta (Barangoló Civil – Szervezet,
Zenta), Éva Miklós, president
– ”Horizont” – The Union of the
Hungarian Southern-Bacska and Srem Civil Organisations (Horizont
Dél-bácskai és Szerémségi
Magyar Civil Szervezetek Szövetsége), Bátori
József, president
– ”Nagy Sándor”
– Assosiation of Monument and Tradition Protection, (Nagy Sándor
Műemlékvédő és Hagyományápoló Egyesület, Ferenc Papp,
president
– „Nagyapáti
Kukac Péter" –Association of Hungarian Tradition Protection
and Ethnography Research (Nagyapáti Kukac Péter Magyar
Hagyományőrző és Néprajzkutató Társulat – Topolya, Kovács
László elnök)
– Student Fund
Association – Novi Sad (Újvidéki Diáksegélyező Egyesület),
Márton Matuska, president
– Hungarian Reader Association
(Újvidéki Magyar Olvasókör), Mária Matuska, president
–
Novi Sad Civil Choir (Újvidéki Polgári Daloskör), Ferenc Papp,
vice-president
– Association of Hungarian Pedagogues of
Vojvodina, (Vajdasági Magyar Pedagógusok Egyesülete), Margit Nagy,
president
Individuals:
István Bálint, journalist, Novi Sad
Zoltán Margit, horticulturist, Csóka
Béla Muhi,
professor, Újvidék
Judit Rontó B., mgr., teacher, Torda
Angéla Szabó, journalist, Csantavér
Sándor Zavarkó,
mgr., Novi Sad
Karolina Magyari, lawjer, Novi Sad
Comment:
Individuals who agree with the content
of the above public summons may feel free to sign it on the following
link:
Till oktober 11 th, 2012. this document
was signed by 218 people.
