Hungarian minority MP says new IDs unconstitutional

Talking to the press in Lendava on Monday, the minority representative said that the new ID cards violated the constitutional right to language equality of minorities in Slovenia.

The Interior Ministry does not intend to change the IDs, as this would cost EUR 15 million, said Horvath. But it is the job of minority MPs to protect the community's language rights without regard for financial consequences, he added.

"We understand this is a lot of money, but it's not our mistake. The draft was not sent to the umbrella organisations for review as used to be the case in the past. A mistake was made by somebody at the ministry and I believe we must persist until the end."

The MP was also critical of the umbrella organisation of the Hungarian minority, saying it was losing political power and respect. He also regretted that funds had been cut for the model farm operated by the community in Banuta, a project co-funded by the government.

He believes that projects, including the Muraba fund set up by the Slovenian and Hungarian governments to boost the ethnically-mixed area on both sides of the border, should make a greater contribution to long-term development of the Prekmurje region.

"A million euro has been earmarked for the Hungarian community here and the Slovenian one in the Raba Valley. But I believe this is most likely to amount to attempts to prop up municipal budgets or municipal self-governing communities than real projects."

He believes that "ranks will have to be closed" in 2025 to better serve the people alongside state agencies and local decision-makers, even though the situation will not get any easier and problems will continue to grow.