Hungarian Regional Autonomy

The Hungarian Regional Autonomy (Hungarian: Magyar Körzeti Önkormányzat; Serbian: Мађарска регионална самоуправа, romanized: Mađarska regionalna samouprava) is a proposed territorial autonomy for ethnic Hungarians in Serbia, located in the northern part of Vojvodina province.

Proposals and initiatives

Map of the proposed Hungarian Regional Autonomy

The creation of territorial autonomy for ethnic Hungarians in Serbia was proposed by the Alliance of Vojvodina Hungarians] political party and is largely based on the autonomy model of South Tyrol in Italy. The Hungarian Regional Autonomy is proposed to be an autonomous region with the area of 3,813 km² and population of 253,977 inhabitants (according to the 2022 census). It would include the nine municipalities in northern Vojvodina: Subotica, Bačka Topola, Mali Iđoš, Kanjiža, Senta, Ada, Bečej, Čoka, and Novi Kneževac. The administrative centre of the region would be Subotica, while the region itself would be part of Vojvodina province.

Some proposals advocate excluding the municipality of Novi Kneževac, which has a Serb ethnic majority. Contrary to this, the proposal of the 64 Counties Movement advocates creation of Hungarian autonomous region in much larger territory, which would include not only municipalities with Hungarian majority or plurality, but also sizable neighboring areas, where several notable towns with Serb ethnic majority are located.

Demographics

According to the 2022 census data, the proposed new region would include some 61% of all Hungarians living in Serbia and 62% of all Hungarians living in Vojvodina province. Ethnic structure would be as follows: 44.4% Hungarians, 29% Serbs, 4.3% Croats, 3.6% Bunjevci, 3.2% Romani, and others.^[1]

The municipalities with Hungarian ethnic majority are: Kanjiža (85.1%), Senta (79.1%), Ada (75%), Bačka Topola (58%), and Mali Iđoš (53.9%). Hungarians make plurality of the population in Čoka (49.6%).

The municipality of Novi Kneževac has a Serb ethnic majority (57.2%); Serbs make plurality of the population in Bečej (42.3%) and Subotica (30.8%).

Political parties

The Hungarian Regional Autonomy forms a part of the political program of the Alliance of Vojvodina Hungarians, major ethnic Hungarian political party, but is also supported by several other ethnic Hungarian political parties and movements in Serbia, such as Hungarian Civic Alliance and 64 Counties Movement.

In the 2024 local elections, the Alliance of Vojvodina Hungarians won the largest number of seats in the municipal assemblies of Kanjiža, Senta, Bačka Topola, and Mali Iđoš. Serbian Progressive Party won more votes than the Alliance of Vojvodina Hungarians in Čoka, in which relative majority of population is of Hungarian ethnicity.^[2]

References

External links

Savez vojvođanskih Mađara (in Serbian)
Vajdasági Magyar Szövetség (in Hungarian)

[1] ttps://publikacije.stat.gov.rs/G2023/Pdf/G20234001.pdf

[2] ttps://www.rtv.rs/sr_lat/vojvodina/banat/najvise-glasova-u-coki-osvojila-lista-aleksandar-vucic-coka-sutra_1544967.html

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