OSCE National Minorities Commissioner discusses Hungarian citizenship law with Slovak Foreign Minister

THE HAGUE, 26 May 2010 - The OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities, Knut Vollebaek, made the following statement after a meeting yesterday in The Hague with Slovak Foreign Minister Miroslav Lajcak on the proposed amendments to the Law on Hungarian Citizenship.

- "I have not seen the text of the proposed amendments to the Hungarian Law on Citizenship and I am therefore not in a position to comment on the law in great detail. I am in touch with the Hungarian authorities and once I have had the opportunity to examine the text, I will make my assessment and get back to them with an opinion and recommendations if needed.

- In general, the decision to confer citizenship is considered to fall under the exclusive jurisdiction of each individual State and may be based on preferred linguistic competences as well as on cultural, historical or familial ties. The purpose, procedure and the timing of such a decision are separate questions that can be raised.

- Rights are rarely absolute. They can and often are constrained by other rights and by obligations and responsibilities of a State with regards to other States. This means that principles of good neighbourliness and friendly relations should be taken into account when pursuing policies affecting citizens of another State.

- Contested claims or competing attempts by the States concerned to exercise jurisdiction over their citizens, irrespective of the place of residence, have the potential to create tensions. It is for this reason that I have cautioned States against granting citizenship on the mere basis of ethnic, national, linguistic, cultural or religious ties and urged them to give full consideration to the consequences of granting citizenship. This is particularly true if citizenship is conferred on residents of a neighbouring State residing there in substantial numbers.

- It is clear that granting citizenship en masse could have destabilizing effect and should be discouraged. However, in all other cases bilateral consultations are encouraged. This is particularly true for Hungary and Slovakia who are partner States in the EU and NATO, and who have signed bilateral treaties. Such consultations would be in the spirit of the European Union as well as in accordance with friendly and good neighbourly relations."