Vol. 15, Issue 3 Vol. Yearbook Yearbook of the Institute of the Institute Yearbook of the Institute of East-Central Europe of East-Central Europe of East-Central Europe (Rocznik Instytutu Europy Środkowo-Wschodniej) Volume 15 (2017) Volume 15 (2017) Issue 3 Issue 3 of East-Central Europe Europe of East-Central the Institute of Yearbook A border is more than a place that separates two areas or territories. It is also, if not primarily, a political idea be- hind the place. Borders are often established artifi cially. The inhabitants of Central and Eastern Europe know it too Publication details, including instructions for authors: well—the current borders between the countries were established arbitrarily by world leaders during World War II, resulting in mass migrations. So do African countries, where colonial powers, often with the help of a ruler and wit- http://www.iesw.lublin.pl/rocznik/index.php hout consideration for borders of traditional kingdoms, plunged the area into civil wars and destabilization for years to come. As a political concept, though, the border is refl ected at its clearest in the image of the place. Whether it is a wall or a barbed wire fence, or just a line on the map, depends on the political project behind the decisions. A good ISSN 1732-1395 case in point would be the European Union (EU), which brought to life the Schengen Area and indeed abolished 3 boundaries between member countries as part of the same scheme. However, the area was enabled by a political Rocznik Instytutu Europy Środkowo-Wschodniej Rok 15 (2017), Zeszyt 3 idea exactly, one that stemmed from a desire to prevent the rebirth of the nationalism and racism that led to World War II. Minorities, diasporas, refugees in contemporary Europe contemporary in refugees diasporas, Minorities, W. Klaus, ‘Closing Gates to Refugees: The Causes and Eff ects of the 2015 “Migration Minorities, diasporas, refugees Crisis” on Border Management in Hungary and Poland’, Yearbook of the Institute of East-Central Europe, vol. 15, no. 3, 2017, p. 41. in contemporary Europe Roma comprise the largest set of minority groups in Europe. It is estimated that in the European Union (EU), the Roma population amounts to 10 million people. Originating from the Indian subcontinent, they were fi rst documented in Europe around the 14th century. Many Roma live today in central, eastern and south-eastern Europe—for reasons related to the way the Ottoman and the Habsburg Empires treated them—with large communities also in France, Italy and Germany. The minorities labeled “Roma” are a very diverse group and comprise a multitude in terms of religion, language, occupation, economic situation and way of living. The term “Roma” is now widely accepted regardless of Closing Gates to Refugees: The Causes and Eff ects De-bordering, Re-bordering and Integration the origin or the linguistic diff erences of the communities to which it refers and has been used by European institutions of the 2015 “Migration Crisis” on Border Management as an umbrella term for diverse groups of people known as Tsigani, Czigany, Cziganye (from the Greek atsinganoi), in Hungary and Poland or Gypsies (from “Egyptians”). Empowering Roma People in Europe: of the Croatian Minority of Hungary Council of Europe’s Programs on Roma Mediation Ch. Iliadis, ‘Empowering Roma People in Europe: Council of Europe’s Programs on Roma Mediation’, Yearbook of the Institute of East-Central Europe, vol. 15, no. 3, The European Vector of Ukrainian Migration Policy Máté Kitanicsa, Norbert Papb 2017, p. 103. Russian-speaker NGOs in the Baltic States a Hungarian Academy of Sciences b University of Pécs INSTYTUT EUROPY INSTYTUT EUROPY S´RODKOWO-WSCHODNIEJ S´RODKOWO-WSCHODNIEJ INSTITUTE INSTITUTE OF EAST-CENTRAL EUROPE OF EAST-CENTRAL EUROPE Published online: 4 Dec 2017 To cite this article: M. Kitanics, N. Pap, ‘De-bordering, Re-bordering and Integration of the Croatian Minority of Hungary’, Yearbook of the Institute of East-Central Europe, Vol. 15, No. 3, 2017, pp. 91-111. Yearbook of the Institute of East-Central Europe (Rocznik Instytutu Europy Środkowo-Wschodniej) is a quarterly, published in Polish and in English, listed in the European Reference Index for the Humanities (ERIH), Central and Eastern European Online Library (CEEOL) and IC Journal Master List (Index Copernicus International). In the most recent Ministry of Science and Higher Education ranking of journals published on the Polish market the Yearbook of the Institute of East-Central Europe received one of the highest scores, i.e. 14 points. Yearbook of the Institute of East-Central Europe, 2017, Vol. 15, No. 3 Máté Kitanics, Norbert Pap De-bordering, Re-bordering and Integration of the Croatian Minority of Hungary* Abstract: This paper describes the identity, assimilation and loyalty issues concerning the Croatian community in Hungary. In the regions of Central Eu- rope and the northern Balkans, several Catholic southern Slavic ethnic groups have developed, each with their own identities, and throughout the 19th and 20th centuries most of them joined the national integration of Croats. How- ever, this integration process has not been completed in all cases, and several groups remain the subjects of political games between Croatian-Serbian and Croatian-Serbian-Hungarian players. The paper analyzes the national integra- tion process of mainly the Bunjevci and Bosniak groups of the Croatian com- munity in Hungary in the new re-bordering period. Keywords: border, identity, Croatian minority, Hungary, assimilation Introduction The temporary barrier consisting of a fence constructed along Hun- gary’s southern borders in the summer of 2015 to halt and screen mi- grants from the Balkans heading for the core areas of Europe has also had an impact on the ethnic communities living in its vicinity. Bor- ders in Central Europe and the Balkans have not been consolidated. During the last 30 years, a new system of borders of significant length has been created, as the national communities living in the area es- tablished their nation states one by one. Ethnically mixed regions are * This study was prepared under NKFIH project K 116270. 92 Máté Kitanics, Norbert Pap found along the borders, and national centers aim to integrate the ethnic groups friendly to the nation state on both sides of the border. The newly constructed border fence poses new challenges to the na- tional integration policies of the last few decades in several affected states (Hungary, Serbia and Croatia). These nations are at different stages of national integration process- es and they face different problems. The identity of minority groups with certain specific ethnic and religious characteristics is not always clear. In certain ethnic contact zones, the nation to which the members of a given minority community belong is not entirely unequivocal. Are they Hungarian, the Croatian or Serbian? The different states compete to integrate, assimilate and earn the loyalty of minority groups. In this paper we are going to examine the anomalies related to groups falling within the scope of Croatian national integration. De-bordering and Re-bordering 1. In Hungary, the role of borders is traditionally considered impor- tant by the society, and each social group reacts sensitively to related issues. The Asian origin of Hungarians, their Finno-Ugric language and a culture distinct from that of neighboring peoples all mean that borders play a major role in national identity. The western border have often been characterized by a sense of getting closer to the European center, a feeling of belonging to Eu- rope as the right direction of development. Hungarians traditionally see and envision a civilizational divide along the eastern borders. This is linked with disorder, backwardness and other characteristics they intend to leave behind. The peoples of the north have been allies and competitors as well, throughout history. Today, this border is also the border of the Visegrad Group (V4). All Hungarian borders, especially the southern one, have been locations of military clashes. Hungary’s “soft bottom”, forming the northern border of the Balkans, has often been impacted by threats and conflicts throughout the history of the Hungarian state. The Ottoman Empire, very distinct from the King- dom of Hungary in religion and culture, was the country’s neighbor for a very long period. When it invaded Hungary, the country split into three and the conflict threatened the total occupation and de- struction of the state. Rocznik Instytutu Europy Środkowo-Wschodniej • Yearbook of the Institute of East-Central Europe • 15(3), 2017 De-bordering, Re-bordering and Integration of the Croatian Minority of Hungary 93 Hungarian national identity is also a product of conflicts with Turks during the 15th to 17th centuries. Major participants of battles at the border fortresses are considered to be national heroes, although many of them had multiple identities and many nations and ethnicities of the region were represented in their families. Therefore, some of our national heroes are shared with neighboring countries. Efforts to re-border (mostly state efforts with many aspects and layers, aimed at strengthening the borders) and de-border (person- al, community and state efforts to dissolve borders) the Hungarian frontiers in the 20th century took place against different historical backgrounds. The Treaty of Trianon concluding the First World War remains a source of trauma for the entire society, with two thirds of the area and population of the state transferred to outside of the new borders. In the first half of the 20th century, the main issue of Hungar- ian national integration was territorial reintegration, the dissolution of existing borders (de-bordering) and the creation of new, just bor- ders at the external areas of the ethnic areas. This historical period was closed by the treaties ending the Second World War, and, during the Cold War, borders were deemed to have been strengthened.