Project Duration: 2022 – 2023
Donor: Talloires Network of Engaged Universities and Open Society University Network (OSUN)
Lead Partner: Institute for Philosophy and Social Theory of the University of Belgrade
Partners: National Council of Hungarian National Minority and National Council of Albanian National Minority in the Republic of Serbia
IFDT Research Team: dr Jelena Ćeriman i dr Aleksandar Pavlović
The goal of this project is to research and compare the effectiveness of two national councils of national minorities (Hungarian and Albanian) in protecting their minority rights in Serbia by analyzing relevant legal framework and conducting online and/or face-to-face interviews with Albanian and Hungarian NC representatives.
We set several specific objectives within which IFDT team will have the main role.
1. Understand the actual role of NCs in safeguarding Serbian minorities’ rights: does the general acclaim for NCs in Serbia change once we make a step back from the Hungarian NC and take a broader look at various ethnic minorities in Serbia in general, and Albanian NC in particular?
2. Understanding the situation and reasons for different outcome of the Hungarian and Albanian NCs’ efforts by comparing the two NCs and interviewing their representatives. Has the Albanian national council in Serbia utilize its legally recognized rights to personal and cultural autonomy in the similar manner as the Hungarian national minority did, and what are the main similarities and differences between them? What are their financial and organizational capacities?
3. Having in mind that the Hungarian NC to a large extend relies on financial support from Hungary that exceeded the funds it receives from Serbia (Beretka, 2019), we aim to answer the question: are NCs capable of effectively functioning and exercising their rights without the financial and political support of their neighboring mother-states? Given the far more modest support that the Albanian NC receives from Albania, how does that effect its abilities, performance and results?
4. Are elections for Albanian and Hungarian NCs fully democratic in practice? How do they form the registry of their voters, organize elections? Given usually close ties between the elected NC representatives and minorities’ ruling political parties, is it possible to secure fuller democratic character of the NCs and ensure that political parties do not simply transfer their infrastructure and electorate into the NCs?
5. Identify the remaining pitfalls in implementing minority-favorable legislation in practice, challenges that the two councils face and avenues for improving the situation, including lobbying for the advancement of the democratic procedure of electing NC representatives through working with the Albanian and Hungarian NC representatives.