Europeanisation, National Identities and Migration ... - europeanization

Integration of Hungary or the Hungarians? 227
as the emergence of their community is the result of migration, the formation of a
Hungarian population in the Carpathian Basin is not (characteristically) related to
migration.
I would not by any means call the Hungarian ethnicity of Transylvania
Diaspora. This term is used in different senses in the Hungarian and in the
Rumanian languages. What we mean by Diaspora is a group of dispersed
pockets of small ethnic communities scattered over a given area. Rumanians
use the same term to cover all Rumanians living abroad. Our Diaspora is made
up of Hungarians living in Western countries.
I think the word Diaspora reflects the wrong attitude, which is alien to
Hungarian traditions. It is a symptom of an emergent truncated Hungarian selfperception,
which does not see anything that lies beyond the territory between
Hegyeshalom and Årtánd [the furthest two villages in the West and East in
contemporary Hungary]. What this truncated Hungarian self-perception
means is that there are us, Hungarians, citizens of Hungary, and then there
are those what-you-may-call-’em’s speaking Hungarian, who might be some
kind of relatives, but in any case are second-class Hungarians, just like those
East-Germans who were also relegated to the status of as second-rate Germans.
Particular mention should be made of the issue of ethnic Hungarians in
Transylvania (Romania), where both identity and the political question are unique
and weighty matters:
Transylvanian Hungarians have always been Transylvanian Hungarians. A
Hungarian living in Transylvania is part of the Hungarian nation but he or she
is a person with a autonomous identity, an autonomous value.
I would define the Hungarian ethnic community of Transylvania as a core of
the Hungarian nation at large where traditions and customs are healthy and
cohesion is strong. I feel that from this point of view the Hungarians of
Transylvania have much to offer to Hungary’s native citizens. The Hungarian
population of Transylvania should be preserved as it has ever been. That is
how it can be of use both to their ancient country and to Romania.
In the application of the term Diaspora, those holding an alternative opinion make
a distinction between Hungarians living in blocks and those forming dispersed
pockets, which latter they regard as Diaspora even within the Carpathian Basin.
It is a small, somewhat coherent community living among an overwhelming
majority, such as Hungarians living in dispersal abroad. That is why I regard
Hungarians in the West and right across the borders as Diaspora. Transylvanian
Hungarians living in large blocks are not at all a Diaspora.