kin-state (motherland)
kin-state (motherland) (motherland) is a state in which the majority of the population forms an ethnic or cultural community with a minority in another country. Its foreign ties also include a shared history, language and religion. Under international law, the state hosting a minority is also responsible for the protection of the minority living on its territory, but other countries may also have an interest in protecting the minority community concerned. At the same time, the consent of the host state is required for any benefits granted to minorities beyond the borders of the kin-state. A kin-state (motherland) may aim to strengthen the social, economic and political position of the given minority community, to support cross-border relations (institution building and integration), to advocate the internationally recognised rights of the given minority at international forums (the role of protective power), and emancipation of the minority concerned in the kin-state (motherland) (positive discrimination, a relationship under public law, citizenship). In the Hungarian context, the term kin-state (motherland) is peculiar because, on the one hand, the political interpretation of the Hungarian concept of the nation includes the entire range of national and ethnic minorities in Hungary, as well as Hungarians living beyond the borders and the diaspora; on the other hand, since the regime change, the idea of the unification of the nation across borders has become dominant in the cultural interpretation of the Hungarian concept of nation. This “Hungarian homeland”, Hungary, the intellectual/spiritual community of Hungarians living beyond the borders and the Hungarian diaspora is not tied to a single central point in space, but is multi-focal, striving for cultural and territorial autonomies.