International relations International Field [email protected] [email protected] 20.11.2018. on ing for publish accepted Paper 21.10.2018. on received Paper 10.5937/politeia0-20284 DOI Correspondence economics, Belgrade, Serbia. and politics for international Institute the at Fellow Research a is Vuković Dr. Nebojša B&H. Luka, Banja of University the of Science Political of Faculty the at Teaching Assistant a is Budimir, МА Zeljko Authors minorities; Serbia. autonomy; the Hungarians; regional Demography; Keywords: Željko Budimir Željko Nebojša Vuković Nebojša : : : The Case of a the Request Case The for AutonomyTerritorial the of Hungarian ETHNO-DEMOGRAPHIC CHANGES AND (GEO)POLITICAL AND CHANGES ETHNO-DEMOGRAPHIC : © 2018 Објавио часопис Политеиа (politeia.fpn.unibl.org). Ово је чланак отвореног приступа и дистрибуира часопис© 2018Објавио Политеиа идистрибуира (politeia.fpn.unibl.org). приступа отвореног јечланак Ово : National Minority in the North of Serbia (2008-2013) North the in National Minority : се у складу са “Creative са ускладу се Commons” лиценцом (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/rs) - The paper’s fundamental thesis is indicative of the fact that the the that fact of the is indicative thesis fundamental paper’s The 2013 and the possible motives of such a request are analyzed. are analyzed. arequest of such 2013 motives possible the and Strategies of the action of the political parties of the Hungarian Hungarian of the parties political of the action of the Strategies of the Hungarian autonomous region are also demonstrated. are also region autonomous Hungarian of the of Vojvodina. province northern its and of Serbia Republic of the the Hungarian community’s percentage share in the population population in the share community’s percentage Hungarian the in reduction the community, i.e. Hungarian inthe trend tion national minority, directed towards the realisation of the idea idea of the realisation the towards directed minority, national main cause for such a request is a rather observable depopula observable arather is arequest such for cause main (Vojvodina) Serbia estab the towards innorthern minority lishment of the Hungarian Regional Autonomy from 2008 to 2008 Autonomy from Regional Hungarian of the lishment Summary CONSEQUENCES: In this paper, the aspiration of the Hungarian national national Hungarian of the paper,In aspiration this the 103 Review Paper Review - -

Budimir Ž., Vuković N. Ethno-Demographic Changes and (Geo)Political Consequences, pp 103-118 INTRODUCTION – the idea that the Hungarian national minor- ity in Serbia should have their cultural, per- The Republic of Serbia is a multiethnic sonal and territorial autonomy. Essentially, state with a numerically predominant Ser- the predominant segment of Serbian pub- bian majority. The total population of the lic opinion had never perceived the political, Republic of Serbia counts around 9 mil- i.e. cultural autonomy for national minori- lion. We say around 9 million because the ties as an unacceptable requirement and/or authorities of the Republic of Serbia have a problem. After all, as early as the Socialist ПОЛИТЕИА · 2018 · Год. 8 · Бр. 16 · 2018 Год. ПОЛИТЕИА been unable to take the census on the terri- Federal Republic of Yugoslavia’s period of tory of the Autonomous Province of Kosovo existence, national minorities were entitled and Metohija, for the most part inhabited by to a broad spectrum of cultural-educational an Albanian population. According to the rights and privileges. results of the census in 2011, the Republic of The majority of the (Serbian) population Serbia had a population of 7 186 862 with- treated those rights and privileges as a com- out the territory of Kosovo and Metohija, pletely justified and normal phenomenon in which is around 380 thousand less than the a multiethnic state. It was only needed for census in 2002. This general depopulation political circumstances to mature for the trend is absolutely reflected by the Hungar- realisation and concretisation of the project, ian national minority living in the northern which was delicate for a number of reasons. part of the Republic of Serbia, i.e. the ter- Finally, in 2009, as the Law on National ritory of the Serbian autonomous province Councils of National Minorities was adopt- – Vojvodina. The geographic distribution of ed, members of minority communities were the members of the Hungarian minority is given broad competences via their freely characterised by a trend of pronounced eth- elected representatives with respect to cul- nic homogenisation with a high degree of ture, education, information provision and spatial concentration in the northern part the use of their maternal languages in offi- of the Province which also contain Hungar- cial communication. After the act had been ian municipalities with an ethnic majority adopted, a large majority of minority com- (Raduški, 2013). munities held elections for their represent- From 2008 to 2013, the political public in atives to national minority councils and the Republic of Serbia was agitated by initia- began to realise a great number of compe- tives made by several political organisations tences. Yet, political representatives of the of the Vojvodina Hungarians regarding Hungarian national minority went public the formation of the Hungarian Regional with yet another requirement related to the Autonomy, i.e. the territorial self-govern- formation of territorial autonomy. ance for the Hungarians in Northern Ser- The fundamental hypotheses of this bia (Vojvodina). In Serbia as a state with an paper are as follows: already-expressed and rather complicated • The requirement for the Hungarian terri- and challenging problem of secession (the torial autonomy has not been provoked by case of the so-called Republic of Kosovo), the bad legal-political and cultural-educa- this political move was mainly resented. tional position of the Hungarian national As early as the 1990’s, an idea was born in minority in the north of Serbia – more- the Vojvodina Hungarians’ political circles over, that position is quite a satisfactory POLITEIA · 2018 · Vol 8 · No 16 8 · No · 2018 Vol POLITEIA 104 © 2018 Published by Politeia (politeia.fpn.unibl.org). This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and con- ditions of the Creative Commons Attribution license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/rs) one; municipalities (Ada, Čoka, Bačka Topola, • The main cause for the Hungarian terri- Bečej, Kanjiža, Mali Iđoš, Novi Kneževac torial autonomy requirement laid in eth- and Senta) – all being municipalities where no-demographic changes on the territory the Hungarian population makes an abso- of northern Serbia (the province of Voj- lute or relative majority. The municipal- vodina), also reflected in the fact that the ity of Novi Kneževac is an exception here, Hungarian population in Serbia (Vojvo- being attached to this region because of dina) has incessantly been reducing in its geographical position (it borders on numbers and decreasing in percentages; Romania, Hungary and two municipali- • The political organisations of the Hun- ties with a major Hungarian population). garian national minority implemented The Hungarian Regional Autonomy would different strategies of the realisation of have various authorisations – from the the territorial autonomy project; preparation of a development plan and the coordination of the development of the POLITICAL PLATFORM OF infrastructure to such competences as those HUNGARIAN TERRITORIAL regarding the use of the language, the func- AUTONOMY tioning of health-care, educational and cul- tural institutions and to performing certain The most serious political platform activities from the field of forestry, water defining the Hungarian territorial auton- management and the protection of the living omy in the Republic of Serbia (Vojvodina) environment (Helsinški odbor za ljudska is Zajednički koncept autonomije stranaka prava, 2009: 110). This document explicit- Vojvođanskih Mađara (The Common ly stipulates that the Hungarian Regional Concept of the Autonomy of the Parties of the Autonomy would have “a directly elected Hungarians of Vojvodina), reached in Sub- representative body, an executive authority otica (the biggest urban Hungarian centre elected by the representative body, its own in Serbia) in early 2008. This platform was property and source incomes” (Helsinški backed by the biggest party of the Hungar- odbor za ljudska prava, 2009: 110). In other ian national minority in Vojvodina - Savez words, this territorial autonomy founded vojvođanskih Mađara (Alliance of Vojvodina on the ethnical principle would be a “mini- Hungarians) as well as two smaller polit- state” or a “state” in the state of Serbia. The ical organisations - Demokratska stranka area of the projected region, including all vojvođanskih Mađara (Democratic Party of the territories of the stated municipalities,

Vojvodina Hungarians) and Demokratska is around 3800 km². It is located in the far- 103-118 pp Consequences, (Geo)Political and Changes N. Ethno-Demographic Ž., Vuković Budimir zajednica vojvođanskih Mađara (Democratic thest north-east of the Republic of Serbia Fellowship of Vojvodina Hungarians), which, and has common frontiers with Hungary all three together, represented the so-called and Romania. According to the census in Mađarska koalicija (Hungarian Coalition) 2011, slightly fewer than 160 thousand Hun- at that time. Pursuant to this document, the garians or around 70% of the total popula- goal of the Hungarian Coalition was to form tion of the Hungarian national minority in the Hungarian Regional Autonomy with the Republic of Serbia lived there. the centre in Subotica. Apart from Suboti- ca, this region would also encompass eight

105 © 2018 Објавио часопис Политеиа (politeia.fpn.unibl.org). Ово је чланак отвореног приступа и дистрибуира се у складу са “Creative Commons” лиценцом (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/rs) Map 1. ПОЛИТЕИА · 2018 · Год. 8 · Бр. 16 · 2018 Год. ПОЛИТЕИА

Is the territorial autonomy platform new coalition of Mađarski preokret (The defined in such a way a manifestation of Hungarian Metamorphosis) – reinitiated nationalism? If we acknowledged the opin- the question of territorial autonomy. These ion of a famous theoretician, Ernest Gelner, four parties accused the biggest party of the that nationalism is an aspiration to make Hungarian national minority – Alliance of politics and culture congruent and give cul- Vojvodina Hungarians – of not taking suf- ture its own political roof (Gelner, 1997: 67), ficient care of their people. According to then, partially limiting, we could establish statements made by the representatives of a fact that this document really is a mani- these parties, the goal of the autonomy is to festation of a sort of “minority nationalism”. preserve Hungarian identity. This require- For the duration of several years, the ques- ment, together with the mentioned plat- tion of Hungarians’ territorial autonomy form, additionally sharpened the political in the north of Serbia had not been raised situation in the Republic of Serbia, whose until the end of 2011, when four Hungari- central authorities were faced with increas- an minority parties in Serbia – Democratic ingly stronger requirements made by Party of Vojvodina Hungarians, Democratic regional parties in Vojvodina (first of all the Fellowship of Vojvodina Hungarians, League of the Social-Democrats of Vojvodi- Građanski savez Mađara (Hungarian Civic na) regarding their aspirations to transform Alliance) and Pokret mađarske nade (The Vojvodina into a federal unit, i.e. to federal- Hungarian Hope Movement), within the ise Serbia. POLITEIA · 2018 · Vol 8 · No 16 8 · No · 2018 Vol POLITEIA 106 © 2018 Published by Politeia (politeia.fpn.unibl.org). This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and con- ditions of the Creative Commons Attribution license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/rs) THE LEGAL-POLITICAL POSITION Protection of the Rights and Freedoms of OF THE HUNGARIAN NATIONAL the National Minorities mainly concretis- MINORITY es those rights of the national minorities, which are clearly and unambiguously stip- After the Second World War had ended, ulated in the Constitution of the Republic due to the expressed ethnic heterogeneity of Serbia. and, also, on the pattern of the Soviet Union, Finally, in the year 2009, the Parliament the then ideological paragon, all the consti- of the Republic of Serbia adopted the Law tutive nations as well as the national minor- on National Councils of National Minorities. ities in socialist Yugoslavia (and, therefore, By applying this law, the national minori- in Serbia as well) were politically, social- ties in the Republic of Serbia, including the ly, educationally and culturally on an equal Hungarian national minority as well, actu- footing with one another. The constitutions ally acquired cultural autonomy. Accord- of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugosla- ing to this law, the national councils of the via, as well as the constitutions of its federal national minorities are entitled to even 15 republics and autonomous provinces guar- general competences – from the establish- anteed the equality of all the ethnic groups ment of institutions, associations, founda- and individuals in effecting their rights, tions, economic organisations in the fields irrespective of their sex, religion, nation of culture, education, information provi- and skin colour. The Republic of Serbia, as sion and the official use of the language and the legal-political successor of not only the alphabet, all the way to participating in the SFRY but also the Federal Republic of Yugo- writing of regulations regulating the rights slavia (1992-2002), and the state community of the national minorities in the stated fields of Serbia and Montenegro (2003-2006), took guaranteed by the Constitution. Apart from over all international obligations in view those general competences, the national of the protection of rights of the nation- councils of the national minorities have yet al minorities and incorporated them in its a series of special competences. latest Constitution of 2006. Pursuant to the The Hungarian national minority plays provisions of the constitution, the Repub- a significant role in the political life of the lic of Serbia enacted laws protecting these Republic of Serbia. By a combination of minority rights, concretising them and ena- circumstances, that influence may be said bling their practical realisation. to be bigger than one could assume it to Three legal deeds are especially signifi- be, if we only observed the number of the

cant when the rights of the national minor- Hungarians living in Serbia, i.e. their per- 103-118 pp Consequences, (Geo)Political and Changes N. Ethno-Demographic Ž., Vuković Budimir ities are concerned – Zakon o zaštiti prava centage share in the total population. The i sloboda nacionalnih manjina (Law on the Hungarian national minority in Serbia is Protection of the Rights and Freedoms of represented by a number of political par- the National Minorities), Zakon o službenoj ties, and the most significant and the most upotrebi jezika i pisma (Law on the Official influential one is the Alliance of Vojvodina Use of Language and Alphabet), and finally, Hungarians, established in 1994. In the Zakon o nacionalnim savetima nacionalnih 2008 general elections, together with the manjina (Law on National Councils of Democratic Party of Vojvodina Hungarians National Minorities). The Law on the and the Democratic Fellowship of Vojvodina

107 © 2018 Објавио часопис Политеиа (politeia.fpn.unibl.org). Ово је чланак отвореног приступа и дистрибуира се у складу са “Creative Commons” лиценцом (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/rs) Hungarians, this party made the so-called THE CULTURAL-INFORMATIVE AND Hungarian Coalition. At the Assembly of EDUCATIONAL INFRASTRUCTURE the Republic of Serbia, the Hungarian Coa- OF THE HUNGARIAN NATIONAL lition (actually the Alliance of Vojvodina MINORITY IN SERBIA Hungarians) had four deputies who were part of the ruling coalition Za evropsku As early as in the time of the Socialist Srbiju (For a European Serbia), headed by Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, the Hun- the pro-western and liberal Demokratska garian minority was recognisable by a sig- ПОЛИТЕИА · 2018 · Год. 8 · Бр. 16 · 2018 Год. ПОЛИТЕИА stranka (Democratic Party). Given the fact nificant number of cultural and informative that the ruling coalition had a very “thin” institutions as well as their substantial and majority at the Serbian Parliament in the quality productions. Currently, according time period between 2008 and 2012, the to a 2010 report by the provincial ombuds- Alliance of Vojvodina Hungarians frequent- man, and as far as the Hungarian nation- ly had opportunities to condition their sup- al minority is concerned, information is port of voting certain laws by inserting provided via 10 newspapers, 15 radio sta- their proposals in legal resolutions. In the tions and 5 television (broadcasting) sta- autonomous province of Vojvodina, the tions (Pokrajinski ombudsman, 2010: 12). Hungarian Coalition in 2008 won 9 out of We should also mention that the media the total of 120 deputy seats, whereas the fully or partially communicate in the Hun- Democratic Party, together with small- garian language. The Hungarian national er coalitional partners, was the absolute minority has a daily newspaper – Magyar winner with 65 deputy seats. Although Szó (Hungarian Word) – printed for the first the Democratic Party had a possibility to time in 1944. Apart from these daily news- individually establish government in the papers, there are several weekly newspapers Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, the and periodical editions printed in Hungari- party offered a share in government to the an in the Republic of Serbia (AP Vojvodina). Hungarian Coalition (actually the Alliance Radio Novi Sad broadcasts a 24-hour of Vojvodina Hungarians), who accepted it, programme in Hungarian on three wave- as a sign of the party’s commitment to the lengths (two ultra-short and one medium). multiethnicity of Vojvodina and Serbia. The programme is informative-political The political organisations of the Hun- and also educational and cultural. Apart garians of Vojvodina participate in the local from this radio, the programme in Hun- government in almost every place where the garian is also broadcast by several local Hungarians are the major ethnic group or radio stations (Helsinški odbor za ljuds- have a more significant percentage share in ka prava, 2005: 547). Within the Television the population. of Vojvodina, there are two channels, and the second channel is mainly reserved for minority communities and broadcasts daily shows in Hungarian. Given the total number of Hungar- ians in Serbia, the theatrical life of the Hungarian national minority is also rich and diverse. There are two professional POLITEIA · 2018 · Vol 8 · No 16 8 · No · 2018 Vol POLITEIA 108 © 2018 Published by Politeia (politeia.fpn.unibl.org). This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and con- ditions of the Creative Commons Attribution license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/rs) theatres performing plays in Hungarian. of Sciences of the University of Novi Sad One theatre is headquartered in Subotica – have been taught in Hungarian, too (Manić, Népszinház (People’s Theatre), the other is 2011: 354-355). in Novi Sad, the province’s administrative Generally speaking, we can say that centre – Újvidéki szinház (Theatre of Novi members of the Hungarian national minor- Sad). There are also three theatres intended ity have no reason to be dissatisfied with the for children. Apart from the theatres, a net- position they have in the Republic of Serbia. work of libraries shelved with books in the All general and special rights of theirs are Hungarian language is also developed in consistently paid respect to and performed. northern Serbia. Every year, several cultur- After all, opinions expressed by members al events are held with an aim to affirm and of the Hungarian national minority them- promote the theatrical, artistic and literary selves are in favour of this observation. In works of individual members of the Hun- a showcase research conducted in Vojvodi- garian national minority. There are more na in 2010, an answer to the question “How than 180 associations for the preservation do national minorities perceive the overall of the national, cultural and other specifics position of their communities in the north- of the Hungarian national minority (Manić, ern Serbian province?” was sought, inter 2011: 360). alia. Out of the total number of surveyed In northern Serbia, apart from cultural Hungarians, only 2% stated that the posi- and informative institutions, there is also tion of their national community was very a well-developed and branched network bad. Their position was assessed as bad by of kindergartens, primary and secondary 12.3% surveyed Hungarians. In other words, schools, where the educational process is according to the results of this research, less conducted only in Hungarian or bilingual- than 15% of the Hungarians considered ly (in Hungarian and Serbian). We should their position to be unsatisfactory. On the highlight the fact that the network was, other hand, the position of their nation- for the most part, inherited from the time al community was assessed as average by period of the Socialist Federal Republic of as many as 45.3% Hungarians. It was con- Yugoslavia. sidered to be good by 30.1%, and 3.7% said Members of the Hungarian national it was very good. 6.6% of the Hungarians minority can also acquire their university could not assess the overall position of their degrees in their own language. For a long national community (Ristić, 2010: 57). All time, a Hungarian language department, in all, these data do not speak in favour of

where professors of the maternal language the justification for the creation of the Hun- 103-118 pp Consequences, (Geo)Political and Changes N. Ethno-Demographic Ž., Vuković Budimir had been educated, has existed at Novi garian territorial autonomy in the Republic Sad University. What’s more, at the Tech- of Serbia. It seems that there is yet anoth- nical College, classes are organised com- er reason forcing political representatives pletely in Hungarian (Helsinški odbor za of the Hungarian national minority to ljudska prava, 2005: 552). The Faculty for demand such a form of government. It is Teachers in Subotica, where classes are also about a constant decrease in the number of organised in Hungarian, started to work in Hungarians in Serbia. Is this tendency real- 2006. Since 2005/2006, general subjects at ly so strongly expressed and inevitable? the Faculty of Philosophy and the Faculty

109 © 2018 Објавио часопис Политеиа (politeia.fpn.unibl.org). Ово је чланак отвореног приступа и дистрибуира се у складу са “Creative Commons” лиценцом (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/rs) THE DEMOGRAPHIC departure of Hungarian inhabitants from CHARACTERISTICS OF THE Serbia for social-economic reasons (search HUNGARIAN NATIONAL MINORITY for jobs, a better salary and better living IN NORTHERN SERBIA AND A conditions), once a new census is carried out POSSIBLE MEANING OF THE after 2020, it will not be surprising that the CREATION OF HUNGARIAN total number of Hungarians in Serbia has TERRITORIAL AUTONOMY fallen to below 200 000 or remained around that number, which would be yet another ПОЛИТЕИА · 2018 · Год. 8 · Бр. 16 · 2018 Год. ПОЛИТЕИА At the beginning of XX century, the north dramatic demographic fall in the contem- of the Republic of Serbia, today named the porary history of Vojvodina Hungarians. Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, used Also, given the fact that the younger popu- to be part of Austria-Hungary, where, apart lation (labour-capable and in reproductive from the Austrians, the Hungarians were de age) is leaving to go abroad, the population facto the only constitutive people and had a of Hungarians in Vojvodina is additionally real government. Then, in 1900, there were older than it was in the prior period. In sci- almost 380 000 Hungarians in Vojvodi- ence and publicist writings, there is a gen- na. Ten years later, this ethnic community erally accepted attitude that there are three became more numerous and had 425 000 factors causing the demographic decrease members (we speak in full numbers). In the in the number of Hungarian communi- next decades, the number of Hungarians in ty members north of the Republic of Ser- Vojvodina varied (increased and decreased) bia – a very low birth rate, migrations and only to reach its peak in the 1961 census, interethnic marriages. with 442 560 people (Kicošev, Njegovan, The intellectual Hungarian elite in 2010: 21). Since then, the Hungarian popu- Vojvodina feels resigned to such demo- lation has incessantly been decreasing, hav- graphic trends; however, they also feel ing gone below “psychological thresholds” an initiative for the creation of their own several times. For the first time, this was the autonomy. A distinguished Hungarian case in the 1981 census, when the number intellectual person in Serbia, Alpar Losonc, of Hungarians fell below 400 000, i.e. at 385 referring to certain studies, establishes the 000. On the eve of the civil war in the SFRY fact that, “if a national community has fall- in 1991, that number fell below 350 000, i.e. en below 300 000 members, such a com- the fall stopped at 340 000. After the wars, munity, simply, begins to decline and sort an economic and social decline and signifi- of degrade itself because, then, it is very cant migrations, the number of Hungarians difficult for the community to preserve its in Vojvodina once again fell below the “crit- cultural and other infrastructure […] The ical threshold” to only 290 000 in 2002 (it Hungarians have exactly reached that point, decreased in comparison with the previous the very dangerous threshold, or, better say, census by almost 50 000). According to the they have already gone below the threshold” 2011 census, there were 253 899 Hungari- (Helsinški odbor za ljudska prava, 2009: ans, i.e. 3.53% of the total population in the 33). Especially alarming is the data of the Republic of Serbia. There is a loss of almost Hungarian population in Vojvodina being 40 000 inhabitants in comparison with extremely old. There are different opinions the previous census. Given the intensified in demographics regarding the percentage POLITEIA · 2018 · Vol 8 · No 16 8 · No · 2018 Vol POLITEIA 110 © 2018 Published by Politeia (politeia.fpn.unibl.org). This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and con- ditions of the Creative Commons Attribution license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/rs) of a population over the age of 65, which za ljudska prava, 2009: 88). The Hungar- makes the population referred to as old. For ian national minority’s parties treat such example, according to John Weeks, a com- demographic trends and dismal outlooks munity with over 12% of 65-year-olds and as an ideal excuse for requiring territo- older is considered to be old (Weeks, 2002: rial autonomy. One of the leaders of the 303). According to a 2002 census, the share Hungarian Metamorphosis coalition, Aron of the over 65 population in the Hungari- Čonka, urges political changes and, estab- an minority reached almost 20% (19.36%), lishing a fact that the number of Hungar- which made it extremely old. Then, the aver- ians has reduced since the last census, he age age of Hungarians in Serbia (Vojvodi- has found the cause in that the Hungari- na) was 43.20, and the ageing index was ans have reached the periphery of social life. even 1.38 (Ministarstvo za ljudska i man- As he categorically asserts, “if it continues jinska prava Srbije i Crne Gore, 2004 : 430). like this, there will be no one of us” (Nova The average age of the male population was koalicija traži autonomiju za vojvođanska 40.9, and of the female population it was Mađare, 2011). 45.0! According to the 2011 census results, The results of the 2011 census were pub- the average age of Hungarians in Vojvodina lished in 2012, and not long after that they was around 45 (Raduški, 2013). The ageing also provoked certain reactions in certain index speaks about the proportion between Vojvodina Hungarian political parties. As the old (over 60) and young (up to 20) popu- early as January 2013, Aron Čonka stated it lation in a community. As long as the index was high time for a dialogue about the pro- is below 0.40 or as long as the share of the posal for the formation of Hungarian terri- old population compared to the young pop- torial autonomy in the north of Vojvodina ulation is up to 40%, such a community is to start with Serbian authorities. He added outside the process of demographic ageing. that he had been speaking about that pro- As we can see from these data, the Hungari- posal before the members of the Sub-Com- an national minority has already gone deep- mission of the Hungarian Parliament the er into that process. According to the 2002 previous month and that the Democratic census, the share of preschool children was Party of Vojvodina Hungarians (DSVM), no more than 5.51%, and the share of com- the Hungarian Hope Movement, the Hun- pulsory-school children (between 7 and 14 garian Civic Alliance, and certain non-gov- years of age) was merely 7.70% (Ministarst- ernment organisations were also in favour vo za ljudska i manjinska prava Srbije i Crne of that proposal. (Pressonline, 2011).

Gore, 2004 : 430). This request was repeated a few months 103-118 pp Consequences, (Geo)Political and Changes N. Ethno-Demographic Ž., Vuković Budimir Such demographical movements alarm later by Zoran Šećerev, the vice president Hungarian intellectuals in Vojvodina. of the Hungarian Hope Movement (PMN), The historian Zoltan Mesaros mentions a who added that “Pleading in favour of terri- research according to which the Hungari- torial autonomy is the key point of our par- an community in Vojvodina will only sur- ty’s programme, and should we receive the vive for two or three generations or between support of our parent country, I think that 60-90 years. As he says, “the economic and this idea would be absolutely attainable and political influences of the Hungarian com- realistic” (Tanjug, 2013). Although Hunga- munity are negligible” (Helsinški odbor ry has never clearly expressed its attitude

111 © 2018 Објавио часопис Политеиа (politeia.fpn.unibl.org). Ово је чланак отвореног приступа и дистрибуира се у складу са “Creative Commons” лиценцом (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/rs) regarding that issue, there have been indi- the autonomous region, where they would viduals sending messages in a likewise more easily avoid the natural assimilation spirit. Late in 2013, there were rumours processes, where the Hungarian language that providing territorial autonomy for the would be the first official language and the municipalities of Vojvodina with the major- Hungarians themselves would be the consti- ity Hungarian population should present tutive people. It is about the planned “sacri- one of the conditions for the admission of fice” of the space for ethno-homogenisation Serbia to the European Union. That issue – as time passes, the Hungarian community ПОЛИТЕИА · 2018 · Год. 8 · Бр. 16 · 2018 Год. ПОЛИТЕИА was raised in Strasbourg by the European would withdraw from the major part of the Parliament’s female deputy Krisztina Mor- territory of AP Vojvodina only to achieve a vai from Hungary, who was otherwise elect- high percentage of ethnic homogeneity in ed from the list of the Jobbik far-right party one part of it. We think it is unnecessary (RTV, 2013). to speak about the extent to which such a What could be the meaning of the development of events would disturb the request for the creation of the Hungarian interethnic relationships, multiethnic and Regional Autonomy? Given the fact that multicultural character of northern Serbia the Hungarian community makes up the as well as, generally speaking, the political majority in only eight out of 45 municipal- stability in the Republic of Serbia. ities in Vojvodina, while, say, in more than 20 municipalities, or in more than 50% of THE STRATEGIES OF THE the municipalities, it makes up less than POLITICAL ORGANISATIONS OF 10% of the population. According to the THE HUNGARIAN NATIONAL 2002 census, the first reason for the crea- MINORITY FOR THE PURPOSE OF tion of this region would be to “put a fence THE REALISATION OF TERRITORIAL around” their own area with clearly defined AUTONOMY frontiers, which would disturb the further processes of reducing the space where Hun- Observing the performance of the polit- garians make up the major population (it ical organisations of the Hungarian nation- has already been mentioned that in two out al minority, a conclusion can be reached of these eight municipalities, Hungarians that they are conducting a multidimension- make up no more than a relative majority, al strategy directed towards the realisation whereas their absolute majority is thin in and concretisation of territorial autonomy. yet two-to-three other municipalities). The As already mentioned, the most pow- second reason concerns a sort of ethnic-re- erful, influential and best organised party gional homogenisation and concentra- of the Hungarian national minority in tion – if the Hungarian Regional Autonomy the Republic of Serbia is the Alliance of were created, as time passes, in our opinion, Vojvodina Hungarians. From 2008 to 2012, more and more Hungarians living through- this party has been an integral part of the out northern Serbia in municipalities with parliamentary majority, not only in the pro- a small percentage share of the Hungarian vincial parliament of Vojvodina but in the community (in more than ⅔ of Vojvodina’s parliament of the Republic of Serbia as well. municipalities, the Hungarian population During those years, this party has increas- makes up to 20%) would be relocating to ingly been exposed in public and on the POLITEIA · 2018 · Vol 8 · No 16 8 · No · 2018 Vol POLITEIA 112 © 2018 Published by Politeia (politeia.fpn.unibl.org). This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and con- ditions of the Creative Commons Attribution license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/rs) Serbian political stage not only as a minority decisions are reached in Belgrade, and party but also as the main regionalist party where the Hungarian national minority strongly dedicated to achieving as high a does not even reach 5% of the total popu- degree of independence of AP Vojvodina lation. All in all, this thesis of ours is also in comparison with the central authority in confirmed by the declaring of the leader of Belgrade as possible. During 2011, this party the Alliance of Vojvodina Hungarians Pász- conditioned its support to proposals made tor István, who, at a gathering in Novi Sad by the ruling majority in the Serbian par- in 2008, literally made a statement that liament several times by adopting proposals “commitment to the autonomy of Vojvodi- in favour of greater competences and finan- na was also connected with awareness that cial allocations for Vojvodina. Given the the position of the Hungarian community fact that the parliamentary majority in the is much better at the level of Vojvodina than Serbian assembly was very “thin” between is the case at the republican level because, 2008-2012, the Government of the Repub- in Vojvodina, the Hungarian community lic of Serbia has frequently had to take into can have a bigger influence on the provin- consideration the requests made by the cial circumstances because of its percentage Alliance of Vojvodina Hungarians. What share in the population of the province. For is behind such a policy conducted by the that very reason, the Hungarian commu- Alliance of Vojvodina Hungarians, and why nity’s elementary interest is to sort things has this party been so persistent in gaining out regarding as many questions as possible as big autonomy of Vojvodina as possible in because, in that way, we will find ourselves recent years? in a situation to more easily transform our In our opinion, the reason for this is aims into reality […] When speaking about simple. In the first place, this party assumes the autonomy of Vojvodina, it is known that that an ethnically motivated autonomy will we have pleaded for a far broader auton- be easier for the Hungarian national minor- omy than is the case in today’s reality. We ity to realise if, previously and gradual- have made efforts towards the autonomy ly, the Republic of Serbia is decentralised of Vojvodina inclusive of the legislative, as much as possible, i.e. if as large a num- judicial and executive powers, for a broad ber of competences as possible is assigned financial autonomy” (Helsinški odbor za to the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, ljudska prava, 2009: 8-9). In other words, the or, in other words, if Vojvodina becomes a Alliance of Vojvodina Hungarians looked for “state within the state”. Within a more inde- an opportunity for the realisation of territo-

pendent AP Vojvodina, where Hungarians rial autonomy through as big a legal-politi- 103-118 pp Consequences, (Geo)Political and Changes N. Ethno-Demographic Ž., Vuković Budimir yet represent a rather significant numeri- cal fragmentation of the Republic of Serbia cal measure with a plethora of competenc- as possible. This strategy is time consum- es taken over from the Republic of Serbia ing and requires much patience but is rather – this is at least what the representatives of more difficult to notice and, in the long run, Alliance of Vojvodina Hungarians think – it can be absolutely fruitful. We could call it will be easier and simpler to make a request the indirect approach strategy. for the formation of the Hungarian Regional Less influential parties of the Hun- Autonomy than it would be in the central- garian national minority have a different ised state of Serbia, where more important approach. As seen in the Introduction, the

113 © 2018 Објавио часопис Политеиа (politeia.fpn.unibl.org). Ово је чланак отвореног приступа и дистрибуира се у складу са “Creative Commons” лиценцом (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/rs) four Hungarians of Vojvodina parties – of those who mainly do not agree), where- Democratic Party of Vojvodina Hungarians, as no more than just 6.7% of the surveyed Democratic Fellowship of the Vojvodina are those who absolutely agree (Helsinški Hungarians, Hungarian Civic Alliance and odbor za ljudska prava, 2009: 14). So, there The Hungarian Hope Movement, with- was no sufficient critical mass receptive to in the Hungarian Metamorphosis coali- the platform of territorial autonomy for tion, demanded territorial autonomy for the Hungarian national minority, neither the Hungarian national minority, now and in the province nor in the state as a whole. ПОЛИТЕИА · 2018 · Год. 8 · Бр. 16 · 2018 Год. ПОЛИТЕИА immediately. The informal leader of this However, it would be wrong to draw a con- group of parties was a very experienced clusion from these data that such a strate- Hungarian politician Agoston Andras, for- gy is inevitably doomed to failure. Namely, mer President of the Democratic Party of if regionalist or even separatist tendencies Vojvodina Hungarians, who, in the early in the province of Vojvodina were abruptly 1990’s, when party pluralism in Serbia was empowered, even amongst the Serbian pop- being renewed, was the de facto leader of ulation, the central authorities in Belgrade the Hungarian community. According to could opt for a “desperate” quid pro quo – him, he and his party think “the question the Hungarian national minority would be of Vojvodina is a Serbian-Serbian question” offered territorial autonomy on condition (Helsinški odbor za ljudska prava, 2009: 10). that they deprive the project of “Independ- That does not mean his party is indifferent ent Vojvodina” with federal or even confed- when this problem is in question; however, eral ties with Belgrade of their support. as Agoston himself highlighted, the main The third strategy is held by different preoccupation of his party is “the Hungar- extremist groups among the Hungarians of ian autonomy and the collective rights of Vojvodina, the most well known being the the Hungarians in Vojvodina” (Helsinški Omladinski pokret 64 županije (Sixty-Four odbor za ljudska prava, 2009: 10). At first Counties Youth Movement). It is an organ- sight, such an action strategy – insisting isation advocating the revision of the fron- only on territorial autonomy – is not an tiers drawn in Central and Eastern Europe especially fruitful one possible to realise after the First World War, which does not because it is deprived of a political partner acknowledge the Trianon Peace Treaty, in at the level of the state of Serbia to be sup- which the frontiers of the Republic of Hun- portive of that idea. Namely, according to gary are defined in their present form. For the results of the surveyed attitudes of the such attitudes, the honorary chairperson public in the Republic of Serbia in view of of the organisation Laszlo Toroczkai, was the Hungarian territorial autonomy con- exiled from Romania, Slovakia and Serbia ducted in 2006, we can see that 53.8% of the (Istorijat, ciljevi i delovanje Omladinskog interviewees in AP Vojvodina are explicitly pokreta 64 županije, 2009). This organisa- opposed whereas only 7.1% of the surveyed tion’s goal is to network the whole of the Car- absolutely agree (in between, there are tran- pathian Basin, i.e. all the Hungarians living sitional options: “I mainly agree”, “I main- in the three countries we just mentioned. ly do not agree” and “I am indecisive”). In Sixty-Four Counties Youth Movement has its central Serbia, 48.2% of the interviewed are cells in the Republic of Serbia, too, in plac- categorically against (together with 14.1% es were the Hungarian national minority POLITEIA · 2018 · Vol 8 · No 16 8 · No · 2018 Vol POLITEIA 114 © 2018 Published by Politeia (politeia.fpn.unibl.org). This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and con- ditions of the Creative Commons Attribution license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/rs) is the majority population or has at least a labour-capable population from Serbia rather significant percentage share in the (namely including that of Vojvodina Hun- population. This organisation is supportive garians) is so comprehensive and accelerat- of the idea of territorial autonomy for the ed that the number of Hungarians in Serbia Hungarians of Vojvodina (as well as Roma- – namely those “users” of territorial autono- nia and Slovakia,); however, essentially, it is my – is significantly decreasing, so all of the about a transitional solution in the process proposals concerning its implementation of the creation of Great Hungary. are also becoming irrelevant. After 2013, the statements made by the political representatives of Vojvodina Hun- CONCLUSION garians in connection with territorial auton- omy have been very rare; practically, that This paper is basically focused on the issue has been taken off the agenda, which, substantiation of the thesis that ethno-de- of course, does not mean that one day the mographic changes in or re-compositions same may not be actualised again. of the ethnic core in an environment (in One of the reasons as to why the Hun- this particular case in the north of Serbia) garian minority parties no longer insist on produce political consequences mirrored at the concept of territorial autonomy is also a ethnocentrically motivated projects of the reduction in their capacity to blackmail in creation of (semi)independent, and accord- the Serbian Parliament and the Parliament ing to the ethnic principle, modeled polit- of Vojvodina as well. The results of the elec- ical entities (autonomous areas, regions, tions in Serbia in 2012, 2014 and 2016, led federal units and so on). Paradoxically, in to the creation of the very stable assembly the case of the Republic of Serbia, national majorities that were also capable of surviv- minorities make the point of their requests ing without the support of the Vojvodina for their institutional separation (independ- Hungarians Alliance, so this party could ence or self-government) both when they are not blackmail the ruling majority. The other demographically increasing and when they Hungarian parties did not even enter the are demographically decreasing. According Serbian Parliament. The situation was also to the 1931 census in the Kingdom of Yugo- similar in the Provincial Parliament, when slavia, 400 000 people who considered Hun- stable majorities were formed after the 2012 garian to be their maternal language and 355 and 2016 elections. In 2016, say, the Serbi- 000 persons whose maternal language was an Progressive Party convincingly won (63 Albanian lived on the territory of the pres-

of 120 mandates), whereas the parties of the ent Republic of Serbia. During the decades, 103-118 pp Consequences, (Geo)Political and Changes N. Ethno-Demographic Ž., Vuković Budimir Hungarian minority won a total of eight as the Albanian population increased, their mandates (the Vojvodina Hungarians Alli- national minority demanded an increasing- ance won 6 and the Hungarian Movement ly higher degree of independence within the for Autonomy won 2 mandates). Only due then Yugoslavia and the Republic of Ser- to respecting the presence of the Hungari- bia (in 1981, they demanded that the Prov- ans in Vojvodina was the Vojvodina Hun- ince of Kosovo should be transformed into garians Alliance invited to take part in the a federal republic). Today, there are over 1.5 Provincial authority, which was accept- million Albanians in the Republic of Ser- ed, too. Besides, the emigration of the bia and the majority of them live within

115 © 2018 Објавио часопис Политеиа (politeia.fpn.unibl.org). Ово је чланак отвореног приступа и дистрибуира се у складу са “Creative Commons” лиценцом (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/rs) the frontiers of the so-called state of Koso- http://www.helsinki.org.rs/serbian/doc/ vo, which is not a UN member country. On Izvestaj2004.pdf Visited: 22.20.2011. the other hand, the number of Hungarians has been stagnating or falling, and, at the Gellner, E. (1997). Nacije i nacionalizam beginning of this century, when they were [Nations and Nationalism] Novi Sad: Mat- at the lowest of the past one hundred years ica srpska. and more, political representatives of this national minority also demanded a certain Kicošev, S. Njegovan, D. (2010). Razvoj ПОЛИТЕИА · 2018 · Год. 8 · Бр. 16 · 2018 Год. ПОЛИТЕИА degree of independence – an autonomous etničke i verske strukture Vojvodine [Devel- region. We have already mentioned that the opment of the Ethnic and Religious Struc- main causes for this decrease in the popu- ture of Vojvodina Novi Sad: IK Prometej, lation are a very low birth rate, migrations Malo istorijsko društvo and interethnic marriages. The creation of the Hungarian Regional Autonomy is not Ministarstvo za ljudska i manjinska prava an adequate answer to these challenges – if Srbije i Crne Gore (2004). Etnički mozaik the Republic of Hungary continues to be Srbije [Serbia’s Ethnic Mosaic] Beograd: economically prosperous, members of the Ministarstvo za ljudska i manjinska prava Hungarian national minority will contin- Srbije i Crne Gore ue to gravitate towards it. An individual’s decision on the numbers of their offspring Manić, Ž. 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117 © 2018 Објавио часопис Политеиа (politeia.fpn.unibl.org). Ово је чланак отвореног приступа и дистрибуира се у складу са “Creative Commons” лиценцом (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/rs) POLITEIA · 2018 · Vol 8 · No 16 ПОЛИТЕИА · 2018 · Год. 8 · Бр. 16 за објављивање прихватањаДатум чланка 21.10.2018. пријемаДатум чланка 10.5937/politeia0-20284 DOI Вуковић Небојша Жељко Будимир 20.11.2018. односи Међународни Област [email protected] [email protected] Коресподенција Србија. Београд, привреду, и политику међународну за Институту на сарадник ни науч је Вуковић Др Небојша БиХ. Луци, уБањој зитета Универ наука политичких Факултету на асистент виши је Будимир Мр Жељко Аутори Србија. не; мањи Мађари; аутономија; Демографија; регионална ријечи: Кључне ЕТНО-ДЕМОГРАФСКЕ И(ГЕО)ПОЛИТИЧКЕ ПОСЛЕДИЦЕ: ПРОМЕНЕ : : : © 2018Published by Politeia (politeia.fpn.unibl.org). This is article an access distributedopen article the under terms and con- Случај захтева за територијалну аутономију мађарске мађарске аутономију територијалну за захтева Случај ditions of Creative the Commons Attribution license(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/rs) : националне мањине на северу Србије (2008-2013) Србије на северу мањине националне : : - - - лизацију идеје мађарске аутономне регије. аутономне мађарске идеје лизацију реа на усмерене мањине, националне мађарске партија политичких деловања и стратегије приказане су У раду покрајине. северне Србије ињене Републике у популацији заједнице мађарске учешћа смањење односно заједници, умађарској депопулације тренд уочљив прилично тева зах таквог узрок је главни да чињеницу на указује рада теза Основна захтев. такав за мотивима имогућим не 2013. до годи 2008. од аутономије регионалне мађарске Србији (Војводина) у северној мањине успостављању ка Сажетак У раду се анализира тежња мађарске националне националне мађарске тежња анализира се У раду 118 Прегледни научни рад научни Прегледни - - -