Steven N.
The Hungarian goverment spends millions of Euros every year on ethnic Hungarian minorities in neighboring countries, with the intent of “buying” their votes during elections, claims EU news portal EurActiv.
Ruling party Fidesz simplified the laws around obtaining Hungarian citizenship in 2011, granting it to ethnic Hungarians residing outside the country’s borders. As a result, 225,000 votes were received from these new citizens in the 2018 elections, with 96% of them supporting the government ticket.
Although EurActiv, based on data from HVG, states that increasing amounts of money are being spent on ethnic Hungarian minorities, united opposition leader Péter Márki-Zay has stated that a consensus has formed not to take away their newly-granted voting rights. Marki-Zay indicated that he supports a proposal by Jobbik Chair Péter Jakab for seats in Parliament that specifically represent the interests of Hungarians outside the borders. [Magyar Hang]
