The Minority Policy Research Group of Ludovika University of Public Service participated in a study tour to Slovenia by the invitation of the 100 years old Slovenian Institute of Ethnic Studies (IES), between March 26-29, 2025. The members of the Research Group included Dr. Iván Gyurcsík, the head of the Group, Dániel Gazsó, Iván Halász, Erik Palusek, Noémi Nagy - one of the initiators of the event and currently a Marie Curie postdoctoral fellow (MSCA/ERA) at the Institute in Ljubljana - and Judit Galambos, coordinator.
During the first part of the study tour in Lendava, the delegation met political, local government and institutional leaders of the Hungarian national community in the Mura region. The members of the Research Group received first-hand information about the situation of the Hungarians living in the border region.
Anita Czikó consul welcomed the delegation at the Hungarian Consulate General and introduced shortly the activities of the consulate. Ferenc Horváth, the Hungarian minority member in the Slovenian Parliament, presented the possibilities and limitations of minority parliamentary representation, pointing out the advantages of the two-level, local government and minority self-government system, as well as the overlaps arising from the complex system. Attila Kovács, head of the Lendava Research Group of the Institute of Ethnic Studies of Slovenia, and László Göncz, former minority leader, presented the characteristics of the Hungarian community in the Mura region, primarily in terms of political representation and the kindergarten and school system of the bilingual region. Dusan Orbán, the president of the Council of the Hungarian Self-Government National Community of the Mura region (MMÖNK), gave an in-depth presentation on the system and institutions of the various villages and settlements within the bilingual region, and the specificities of Hungarian-Slovenian coexistence resulting from bilingual education.
In Ljubljana the workshop entitled ‘Current challenges and perspectives in minority protection, with a special focus on Central and Eastern Europe’ organized by IES was attended by researchers from the Slovenian partner institute and academics of the HUN-REN Centre for Social Sciences Institutes of Legal and Minority Studies as well. The institute, led by Professor Sonja Novak Lukanovič, provided an excellent framework and conditions for a thought-provoking professional exchange of ideas between the members of the IES and the Hungarian experts. On behalf of the guests, Iván Gyurcsík shared his thoughts on the topic. This was followed by the first session, led and moderated by Noémi Nagy. This part dealt with the issue of ‘Who are the minorities? Who belongs to a minority? - Conceptual ambiguities in defining minority communities and membership’.
The second session, entitled ‘Ethno-business, ethno-corruption – the abuse of minority rights’, was led and moderated by András L. Pap, a researcher of the Institute of Legal Studies. On the second day of the workshop, the third session was led and moderated by Mitja Zagar, a researcher at IES, and the topic of this session was the issue of ‘Multiple / fluid identities’. The fourth session of the scientific exchange - led and moderated by Iván Gyurcsík - dealt with the ‘The failing interest in minority protection – reasons, solutions, and perspectives’.
Text and photo: Minority Research Group