National clause of responsibility
Compatriot, diaspora, kin-state care clauses for its kin-minorities abroad in constitutions. We could find references to the responsibility towards compatriots and kin-minorities abroad mainly in Eastern and Central European constitutions. Examples include the Bulgarian, Croatian, Hungarian, Polish, Russian, Romanian, Ukrainian, Slovak and Slovene constitutions. Most of them were drafted during the democratic transition after 1989, although there are exceptions, for example, the constitution of Slovenia within socialist Yugoslavia. The content and scope of national responsibility clauses may vary. The majority of them relate only to cultural and educational assistance to kin-minorities abroad, which the kin-state country wishes to provide for them. However, there are also more specific and general clauses. It is usually based on some clauses that national legislatures have subsequently adopted so-called status or preferential treatment laws.
The constitutional text is only a framework for these laws or regulations. These clauses do not usually define the concept of kin-minority, expatriate. The clauses focus more on the responsibilities and potential obligations of the kin-state. They also often refer to the various forms of support and contacts. These clauses should not be confused with the protection that a state provides to its own citizens abroad. There are usually two forms – diplomatic and consular protection. In neighbouring states and in the wider diaspora, persons belonging to kin-minority do not, in principle, have the citizenship of their kin-state or, if they do, they cannot claim it because of the existence of another citizenship. Because of their novelty, these clauses and the resulting preferential treatment laws sparked off various international debates in the 1990s, especially among neighbouring states. This was also the case after the adoption of the Hungarian Status Law in 2001. The dispute was mainly caused by the fact that these states expressed their responsibilities towards, and protection intentions towards, citizens of other countries.