The Alliance of Vojvodina Hungarians ( hu, Vajdasági Magyar Szövetség; sr, Савез војвођанских Мађара, Savez vojvođanskih Mađara; abbr. СВМ, SVM, or VMSZ) is a
regionalist political party
A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific ideological or p ...
in
Serbia
Serbia (, ; Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia ( Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin and the Balkans. It shares land borders with Hu ...
representing the
Hungarian minority.
History
Foundation and early history
The party was founded in 1994 in
Senta by
József Kasza
József Kasza ( sr-cyr, Јожеф Каса, Jožef Kasa, 6 February 1945 – 3 February 2016) was a Serbian politician, economist, and banker. An ethnic Hungarian, he led the Alliance of Vojvodina Hungarians from 1995 to 2007.
He was the De ...
and former members of the
Democratic Fellowship of Vojvodina Hungarians
The Democratic Fellowship of Vojvodina Hungarians ( hu, Vajdasági Magyarok Demokratikus Közössége, VMDK; sr-Cyrl, Демократска заједница војвођанских Мађара , Demokratska zajednica vojvođanskih Mađara, ...
as a citizen group which in 1995 was registered as a political party. They participated in the
1997 parliamentary election in which they won 1.23% of the vote and 4 seats in the
National Assembly
In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the r ...
. In early 2000, it was one of the founding members of the
Democratic Opposition of Serbia
The Democratic Opposition of Serbia ( sr, Демократска oпозиција Cрбије, Demokratska opozicija Srbije), commonly referred to as DOS, was a wide alliance of political parties in Serbia, intent on ousting the ruling Socialis ...
(DOS) which ousted the president
Slobodan Milošević
Slobodan Milošević (, ; 20 August 1941 – 11 March 2006) was a Yugoslav and Serbian politician who was the president of Serbia within Yugoslavia from 1989 to 1997 (originally the Socialist Republic of Serbia, a constituent republic of ...
later that year. In the
2000 parliamentary election they participated under the DOS coalition and the party won 6 seats in the parliament.
Post-Milošević era and leadership change
From the early 2000s, they started promoting an idea to form a
Hungarian Regional Autonomy in the northern part of
Vojvodina
Vojvodina ( sr-Cyrl, Војводина}), officially the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, is an autonomous province that occupies the northernmost part of Serbia. It lies within the Pannonian Basin, bordered to the south by the national capital ...
. In the
2003 parliamentary election they ended up not passing the electoral threshold with 4.23% of the vote. In
2007
File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple Inc., Apple's first iPhone (1st generation), iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakis ...
they participated alone and they won 1.3% of the vote and 3 seats in the parliament. They also participated in the
2004 provincial election in Vojvodina and the party won 8.50% of vote in the one-round voting system and was part of the ruling coalition in the Vojvodina provincial parliament. In the 2004 local elections, the party won the largest number of seats in the municipal parliaments of
Subotica
Subotica ( sr-cyrl, Суботица, ; hu, Szabadka) is a city and the administrative center of the North Bačka District in the autonomous province of Vojvodina, Serbia. Formerly the largest city of Vojvodina region, contemporary Subotica i ...
,
Senta,
Bačka Topola
Bačka Topola ( sr-Cyrl, Бачка Топола, ; hu, Topolya, ) is a town and municipality located in the North Bačka District of the autonomous province of Vojvodina, Serbia. The municipality is composed of 23 local communities and has a pop ...
,
Mali Iđoš,
Kanjiža (where
Reformists of Vojvodina won same number of seats) and
Čoka. In 2008, the party elected
István Pásztor as their new president while József Kasza remained as the honorary president until 2010, when his membership was revoked. In 2008, they participated in the
provincial election in Vojvodina,
local elections
In many parts of the world, local elections take place to select office-holders in local government, such as mayors and councillors. Elections to positions within a city or town are often known as "municipal elections". Their form and conduct v ...
and
parliamentary election and they were a part of the
Hungarian Coalition which won 7% of the vote in the provincial election and 1.81% and 4 seats in the parliamentary election, while in
Kanjiža they won 50.91%, in
Senta 31.87%,
Bačka Topola
Bačka Topola ( sr-Cyrl, Бачка Топола, ; hu, Topolya, ) is a town and municipality located in the North Bačka District of the autonomous province of Vojvodina, Serbia. The municipality is composed of 23 local communities and has a pop ...
46.25%,
Mali Iđoš 37.18%, and
Bečej
Bečej ( sr-cyrl, Бечеј, ; hu, Óbecse, ) is a town and municipality located in the South Bačka District of the autonomous province of Vojvodina, Serbia. The town has a population of 23,895, while the municipality has 37,351 inhabitants. I ...
29.63%. Since the introduction of the multi-party system in Serbia, the mayor of
Subotica
Subotica ( sr-cyrl, Суботица, ; hu, Szabadka) is a city and the administrative center of the North Bačka District in the autonomous province of Vojvodina, Serbia. Formerly the largest city of Vojvodina region, contemporary Subotica i ...
was often from the Alliance of Vojvodina Hungarians. That has changed after local elections 2008, when
Democratic Party won the largest number of votes in this city.
Modern period
In 2012, they participated in the
parliamentary election,
local elections
In many parts of the world, local elections take place to select office-holders in local government, such as mayors and councillors. Elections to positions within a city or town are often known as "municipal elections". Their form and conduct v ...
,
provincial election and
presidential election
A presidential election is the election of any head of state whose official title is President.
Elections by country
Albania
The president of Albania is elected by the Assembly of Albania who are elected by the Albanian public.
Chile
The p ...
. In the parliamentary election, they won 1.75% of the vote and 5 seats in the National Assembly, in
Novi Sad
Novi Sad ( sr-Cyrl, Нови Сад, ; hu, Újvidék, ; german: Neusatz; see below for other names) is the second largest city in Serbia and the capital of the autonomous province of Vojvodina. It is located in the southern portion of the P ...
they won one seat while in
Subotica
Subotica ( sr-cyrl, Суботица, ; hu, Szabadka) is a city and the administrative center of the North Bačka District in the autonomous province of Vojvodina, Serbia. Formerly the largest city of Vojvodina region, contemporary Subotica i ...
they won 22.52% of the vote, in the provincial election they won 5.83% of the vote and 7 seats, and in the presidential election, in the first round, Pásztor won 1.62% of the vote in the first round while in the second round he supported
Boris Tadić. Since the
2014 parliamentary election, they have been supporting the ruling
SNS-led coalition
Aleksandar Vučić – Together We Can Do Everything ( sr-cyrl, Александар Вучић – Заједно можемо све, Aleksandar Vučić – Zajedno možemo sve, AV–ZMS), commonly shortened to just Together We Can Do Everythi ...
. In 2014 they won 2.1% of the vote and 6 seats in the parliament, in 2016 they won 1.5% of the vote and lost two seats and then in 2020 they won 2.23% of the vote and got 5 more seats in the parliament.
Political positions
Besides being supportive of Hungarian minority interests,
the Alliance of Vojvodina Hungarians also maintains a
conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...
ideology, and is also supportive of
regionalism.
Its foreign policies are considered to be
pro-Western, and it supports Serbia's accession to the
European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are located primarily in Europe, Europe. The union has a total area of ...
and
NATO
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two N ...
.
It was considered a
social-democratic
Social democracy is a Political philosophy, political, Social philosophy, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports Democracy, political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocati ...
party until 2010, when it shifted their support towards the
Serbian Progressive Party
The Serbian Progressive Party ( sr-cyrl, Српска напредна странка, Srpska napredna stranka, SNS) has been the ruling political party of Serbia since 2012.
Founded by Tomislav Nikolić and Aleksandar Vučić in 2008 as a s ...
and
Fidesz
Fidesz – Hungarian Civic Alliance (; hu, Fidesz – Magyar Polgári Szövetség) is a right-wing populist and national-conservative political party in Hungary, led by Viktor Orbán.
It was formed in 1988 under the name of Alliance of Young ...
.
It is positioned on the
centre-right
Centre-right politics lean to the right of the political spectrum, but are closer to the centre. From the 1780s to the 1880s, there was a shift in the Western world of social class structure and the economy, moving away from the nobility and ...
on the political spectrum.
It is also an associate member of the
European People's Party
The European People's Party (EPP) is a European political party with Christian-democratic, conservative, and liberal-conservative member parties. A transnational organisation, it is composed of other political parties. Founded by primarily ...
.
Electoral results
Parliamentary elections
Presidential elections
Assembly of Vojvodina
Positions held
Major positions held by Alliance of Vojvodina Hungarians members:
See also
*
Hungarian Coalition
*
Hungarian Regional Autonomy
References
External links
Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Alliance of Vojvodina Hungarians
1994 establishments in Serbia
Conservative parties in Serbia
Hungarian political parties in Serbia
Political parties established in 1994
Politics of Vojvodina
Pro-European political parties in Serbia
Regionalist parties
Centre-right parties in Europe
Social democratic parties in Serbia