The Consul and the Hungarian diaspora: Legal background and practical considerations

https://doi.org/10.63189/IKUB8786

The 1963 Vienna Convention lists in detail the duties of the consul. Most of these are related to the protection of the interests of the citizens of the sending State and the management of their affairs. Some of the nationals of the sending State visit the receiving State for a short period as tourists, while others settle there for a longer period. These citizens, and their descendants, make up the community we call the diaspora of the country. In countries with a large Hungarian community, such as in North America (the United States and Canada) and in some Western European countries (i. e. the United Kingdom, Germany, Austria, the Netherlands), the majority of the consul's clients are from diaspora. This is where the enquiries come from, the questions that later turn into citizenship, registration or passport issues.

In the following, the legal basis for the relationship between the consul and the diaspora is examined, based on Hungarian legislation and practice.    

The main features of the Hungarian diaspora

During the tumultuous centuries of Hungarian history, Hungarian communities have been established beyond the Hungarian borders on several occasions. It is common to refer to the refugees of the Rákóczi War of Independence (1703-1711) as beginning of the Hungarian diaspora, who after 1711 established small communities in some countries (in Poland or in the Ottoman Empire) that survived for decades. After the fall of the Hungarian War of Independence in 1848/1849, the refugees had already crossed the borders of Europe and appeared on other continents, including America and Australia. Although the majority of the ‘48 veterans returned home after the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867, in many countries they can be considered as the founders of the Hungarian diaspora in the modern sense. Soon after the 1867 Compromise, mass emigration began, with the United States of America being the most important destination for Hungarians until 1945.

During and after World War II (between 1944 and 1951, and in 1956), however, large numbers of Hungarians emigrated to several other countries. It is important to note that after the dismemberment of Austria-Hungary, some Hungarians left Central Europe as citizens of the new (successor) states but joined the Hungarian diaspora in their new homeland. Although there has been a steady flow of Hungarians to other countries since 1956, the size of these waves is not approaching those of previous waves, and the main direction of migration has returned to Europe after 2004, rather than to other continents. Within the Hungarian diaspora, therefore, the proportion of second and third generation members is increasing, and the rules of contact and tasks are changing, while in another, the new communities that are being created in Europe are becoming less and less static, because the members of these communities move constantly within the European Union (on one side, they are moving between the Member States, and – on the other side – many are popping in and out Hungary, as well).

The Consuls and their tasks

The diaspora is therefore in a constant state of change, but the tasks of the diplomat who deals most with them, the consul, are not constant either. Hungarian legislation first began to assign duties to consuls after the Compromise of 1867. By the beginning of the 20th century, consuls were already involved in passport administration, issuing certain birth certificates and translating documents.^[1] Nevertheless, until the mid-20th century, the primary task of consuls was to seek out commercial opportunities. The change, the strengthening of administrative tasks, was brought about by the large-scale emigration wave after 1945. It became clear that the consul is the person within the diplomatic missions who could most easily reach the members of the Hungarian diaspora, since they were the ones who had to deal with official matters (passports, birth/marriages/death certificates, or different kind of consular declarations). Within the growing Hungarian diaspora, there were also a significant number of politically active persons, so the consul had to report not only on the composition of the diaspora but also on the activities taking place there. Until the 1980s, however, these tasks were based mainly on instructions - not on legal requirements. From the 1980s onwards, however, the 1961 and later the 1963 Vienna Conventions, which as international agreements also defined the framework for Hungarian consular work, played an increasingly important role in Hungarian foreign affairs. 

Legal background

Although the two Vienna Conventions were ratified before the change of regime in 1989 (in 1965 and 1987 respectively), they were not fully implemented until 1989. After 1989, accession to the European Union became a major objective of Hungarian foreign policy. The basic legislation (laws and decrees) defining consular functions was thus drafted with two main objectives: a) to create national-level-regulation for the functions described in the Vienna Conventions; b) to bring Hungarian legislation closer to the rules contained in EU legislation. In addition to legislation, for a period of time (1989-2010), consular instructions played a significant role, which, although not considered legislation, made consular work quick and easy to manage. After 2014, there was further significant legislation, but the role of normative instructions remained significant (although within this, the role of consular instructions decreased, while the role of senior instructions increased). Most of the legislation prescribed or detailed the administrative tasks of the consul. These rules therefore enable the consul to assist members of the diaspora, the individual. However, the tasks relating to the diaspora as a community, in particular the reporting obligation, are still governed by the 1963 Vienna Convention. The main reason for this is that the vast majority of diaspora-related tasks, including information on diaspora needs, have been placed under the control of a state secretary, outside the foreign affairs structure (State Secretary for Hungarian Communities Abroad), since 2010. Here, since the new 2011 Constitution itself speaks of “one single Hungarian nation”, there are various ways of understanding the needs of the diaspora. In other words, the consul's pre-1989 functions in relation to the diaspora as a community - which continued for a time after 1989 - became largely redundant after 2010. Partly because these needs were channelled directly to the upper levels of the government (through a separate state secretariat, mentioned above), and partly because of the communications revolution, which has made it easier and faster to communicate from Hungary even with Hungarian communities abroad previously isolated by distance.

Hungarian practice

The consul's responsibilities in relation to the Hungarian diaspora have thus weakened after 2010 but have not disappeared. Under the Vienna Conventions, it is possible to send specialised diplomats, and the government, recognising the scope for this, has appointed consuls responsible for the diaspora to the larger Hungarian communities (they are called Hungarian community diplomats). Their role is to listen to the concerns raised by the community in dealing with the affairs of individuals and to refer them to the appropriate fora. In other words, it could be said that since 2014, the consul's diaspora-related tasks have been grouped into the largest communities within the Hungarian Diaspora. Consuls with specific responsibilities here continue to work on the diaspora and do so to a greater extent than ever before - as this is their main task.

Summary

In the light of the above, how can we summarise the Consul's responsibilities for the Hungarian communities of the diaspora? We have seen that when Hungarian diasporas abroad were established, consuls were still mainly concerned with trade policy. It was precisely the establishment of Hungarian communities abroad that triggered to get their first official powers regarding the Hungarians living abroad, and from the second half of the 20th century onwards, in addition to dealing with official matters, they also dealt with the diaspora as a community, since it was because of official matters that they knew the local Hungarian communities best. Initially, the consul's tasks in relation to the diaspora were based on customary law and consular instructions (that were not considered legislation) issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Budapest, but the two Vienna Conventions adopted in the second half of the 20th century provided a solid framework for this work. After 1989, however, Hungarian legislation regulated the official functions of the consul, and consular tasks related to the diaspora as a community gradually receded into the background. The emergence of diaspora diplomats in the outposts with larger Hungarian communities, who not only carry out consular administrative work but also help to assess the needs of the diaspora as a whole.

The changes that have taken place over the past decade are striking: the needs of the Hungarian diaspora are now being communicated directly to the government, and the consuls responsible for the diaspora are also involved in this work. Today, they no longer work alone, but as part of a larger team, like a local official, who helps their colleagues in Budapest to understand and assess the needs of the diaspora.

^[1] See more: Domaniczky, Endre: New challenges in consular work: changes in the legal framework and the opportunities provided by EU membership from a Hungarian perspective (book chapter, under press by the Central European Academy’s Publishing).