History/Political Science paper by Kovács, Bálint
The Opportunity of Cultural Autonomy for Hungarians in Romania (Accepted)
Type of Abstract (select): Paper presentationAbstract (max. 250 words):
Cultural or non-territorial autonomy appears as a less invasive, less confrontative way of addressing the wants of national minorities. This legal construct addresses a large number of the main worries minorities have regarding the preservation and evolution of their language and culture, which is why the paper argues that its introduction in Romania would solve a number of current challenges in areas such as mother tongue education, the functioning of cultural institutions, from press and literature to theatres and other artistic institutions.
The lack of such a framework in Romania is baffling, especially in view of the fact that a number of its neighbors have adopted cultural autonomy (Serbia and Hungary), or have at least tried to (Ukraine). In wider East Central Europe, we see that cultural autonomy has a history going back at least a century, so there has been sufficient experimentation with the idea to shape it in accordance with local specificities.
The paper presents some of the main lessons today’s cultural autonomy frameworks provide, and proceeds to present the legislative proposal submitted almost two decades ago by the Hungarian political representation in front of the Romanian Parliament. In a comparative view, it will address the strengths and deficiencies of the proposal, as well as the reasons behind decision-makers’ reluctance to address the proposal on its merits.
Brief Professional Bio (max. 100 words):
I am a PhD student at the University of Debrecen, and my main topic of research is in the field of international investment arbitration.
Since 2017 I’ve been a teaching assistant at at Sapientia EMTE, in Kolozsvár, teaching International Economic Law.
Since 2022 I’ve been a visiting lecturer at the University of Miskolc, teaching International Commercial Arbitration to LLM students.
I am the founder of Advocacy Group for Freedom of Identity, a grassroots human rights organization, taking a practical approach to minority right matters by defending discrimination cases in front of the courts.