Ungaria şi comunităţile minorităţii maghiare din afara graniţelor după 1989
Hungary and the Communities of Ethnic Hungarians outside its Borders after 1989

Summary/Abstract: In the Central European states there are over 2 million ethnic Hungarians. The governments from Budapest have always offered political shelter to them, either by direct interventions on the level of the government from these states, or by political and cultural support of the Hungarian minorities living in neighbouring countries. This policy of the Hungarian government was not always uniform, but it excelled in politicizing the gestures towards the Hungarian minorities outside its borders, the governing parties having the objective of gaining political capital. The idea of Budapest is that the ethnic Hungarians living in the neighbouring countries form a single cultural nation, the Hungarian nation. The present study tries to clarify the notions and connections of the issue of Hungarians outside Hungary’s borders, an issue that has been addressed in Hungary through a symbolic phraseology, dominated by a conformist rhetoric that was generated by desire to meet political expectations. In a case like this, the political discourse subordinates everything to symbolic values, without analyzing the historic, economic and social connections of the subject itself. Self-reflection and clarification of the theoretic apparatus will make us return to the meaning and understanding of the facts based on their decisive connections. Based on what has been said above, the author wishes to present the theoretical background of Hungary and Hungarian minorities, which will allow a better interpretation and a clearer understanding of the rhetoric and decisions of the politicians. First of all we are going to outline the definitions regarding the concept of Hungarian minority communities, followed by the description of the major social changes these communities have gone through during the last two decades. Then we shall explain why in Hungary the issue of the Hungarian minorities is over debated. We shall than connect the approach of the issue with the image the Hungarian nation has on its own future, together with the most important aspirations of the Hungarian communities living outside Hungary’s borders. After an analysis of the policies implemented by the Hungarian governments after 1989, we shall focus on the most important basic principles and strategic directions of the Hungarian policy. Finally, we are going to explain why in the construction of the Hungarian political community, the issue of the Hungarian minorities has been subordinated to the political interests of Hungary’s political parties.

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