PERSONAL AUTONOMY AND CULTURAL AUTONOMY IN SERBIA
Personal autonomy, also referred to as cultural autonomy, has been one of the most important topics in the political life of Hungarian communities beyond the borders of Hungary from the period of regime changes to the present day. However, institutionalization and guaranteeing by the legal system of this concept have only been achieved in Serbia. Among the numerous national minorities living in Serbia, Hungarians, as the largest and most organized national minority, have been at the forefront of developing and implementing this concept. The Constitution of the Republic of Serbia guarantees and protects the rights of national minorities, which is regarded as exemplary in many countries in the region. Furthermore, the constitution defines the content of cultural autonomy, which includes rights such as the use of national symbols and the mother tongue, as well as the right to education in the mother tongue. In the Serbian legal system, national councils of minorities, which are national self-government bodies at the national level, are the main proponents of minority rights and their protection. They represent the respective national community in language and script use, education, information, and cultural matters. They also participate in decision-making processes, have decision-making powers in certain issues, and can establish institutions, associations, foundations, and economic companies in areas crucial for preserving the national identity of the national minority.
The Constitution of the Republic of Serbia: Section 77 of the Serbian Constitution guarantees the right of national minorities to participate in public affairs under certain conditions, similar to other citizens, to hold public office, and to be employed in state bodies, public services, autonomous province organs, and local government units while considering the national composition of the population and ensuring adequate representation of national minority members. Section 81 affirms the prohibition of assimilation and discrimination against national minorities, emphasizing the respect for diversity, promoting tolerance, cultural dialogue, and fostering mutual respect, understanding, and cooperation among all people living within Serbia, regardless of their ethnic, cultural, linguistic, or religious identity. (Source: https://forumszemle.eu/2023/09/08/kisebbsegi-onkormanyzatisag-es-kulturalis-autonomia-szerbiaban-a-jo-otlettol-a-megterhelo-gyakorlatig/ )
the content of cultural autonomy: The concept/content of cultural autonomy is specified in Section 79 of the Constitution as follows: Members of national minorities have the right: to express, preserve, nurture, develop, and publicly express their national, ethnic, cultural, and religious characteristics; to use their symbols in public places; to use their language and script; for state authorities, organizations vested with public authority, autonomous province, and local government bodies to conduct procedures in their mother tongue in environments where they constitute a significant proportion of the population; for mother-tongue education in state and autonomous provincial institutions; to establish educational private institutions; to use their family and surname in their own language; in environments where they constitute a significant proportion of the population, to display traditional local names, street names, settlements, and topographical signs in their own language; for comprehensive, timely, and unbiased information in their own language, including the expression, reception, communication, and exchange of notifications and ideas; to establish their own mass media tools (…). (Source: https://forumszemle.eu/2023/09/08/kisebbsegi-onkormanyzatisag-es-kulturalis-autonomia-szerbiaban-a-jo-otlettol-a-megterhelo-gyakorlatig/ )