The Hungarian National Council in Serbia: Cultural Autonomy in Practice

The National Council of the Hungarian Ethnic Minority (HNC) in Serbia is an autonomous institution of the autochthonous Hungarian national minority of Serbia.The already existing HNC became legal in the 2000s, when the democratization of Serbia took place.Since then, it has become a success story for both the community and Serbia due to the devotion of the Hungarian minority.In this article, we review the relevant legal background and the role the institution has been playing in the everyday life of the Hungarian community.In doing so, with attention to the limited nature of available literature, we also rely on the findings of an interview, realized recently with the leaders of the HNC, for a better presentation of the significance of this umbrella organization of the Hungarian cultural autonomy in Serbia.