* New electoral law to be approved by Jan. 1, 2012
* Over 2 mln Hungarians live elsewhere in Europe
* 52,605 received Hungarian citizenship by April
By Gergely Szakacs
BUDAPEST, April 28 (Reuters) - Hungary's government plans to
give voting rights to ethnic Hungarians living elsewhere in
central Europe as part of a planned overhaul of the country's
electoral law, a top ruling party official said on Thursday.
The new electoral law, to be approved by Jan. 1, 2012, will
complement one of the first acts of the centre-right Fidesz
government after taking power last May, which eased access to
citizenship for over 2 million ethnic Hungarians in the region.
"...we would like to give voting rights to Hungarian citizens
across the border," Fidesz parliamentary group leader Janos
Lazar told news portal index.hu on Thursday.
The citizenship move was considered a security threat by
Slovakia, once part of the Austro-Hungarian empire, and prompted
retaliation from the-then Slovak government, which accused
Fidesz of trying to create a "Great Hungary".
Fidesz denied the charge.
It was not immediately clear if the pledge to grant voting
rights would prove as controversial. The centre-right Slovak
government, which took over from Robert Fico's left-wing cabinet
last year, was not immediately available for comment.
Within Hungary, critics of Fidesz say the move, already
largely foreseen, is part of wider bid to entrench the party's
power. The next scheduled election, when ethnic Hungarians
granted citizenship would be able to vote, is due in 2014.
Hungary's new electoral law will be one of around 30 derived
from Hungary's new constitution, which is due to take effect
next year after the two-thirds majority held by Fidesz passed it
in parliament last week.
The constitution drew protests from civil groups which said
it had weakened democratic checks and balances. []
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Ethnic Hungarians live in all neighbouring countries
including Slovakia, Serbia, Ukraine and Romania. Their ancestors
lost their Hungarian citizenship under the Trianon peace treaty
ending World War One which broke up the Austro-Hungarian empire.
The issue is likely to be discussed between Serbian
President Boris Tadic and Hungarian President Pal Schmitt next
week in Belgrade, but has raised little controversy in Serbia,
where the foreign ministry said on Thursday it had no comment.
According to data from the Public Administration and Justice
Ministry, 52,605 ethnic Hungarians in central Europe were
granted Hungarian citizenship as of April 1.
Lazar said details of the planned electoral changes had yet
to be decided, but cited the Croatian and Italian electoral
systems as an example that may be followed, where nationals
living abroad can vote on separate lists.
"This is not a simple question, as the state where the
election is held will have to actively approve it," Lazar said.
"The Slovaks, for example, say either-or, that is, who takes
part in this election risks losing their (Slovak) citizenship,"
he said, referring to Bratislava's decision last year to strip
its citizens of their Slovak nationality if they take a second
citizenship. []
A political analyst said the issue of granting voting rights
to ethnic Hungarians alone was unlikely to provoke conflicts
with Hungary's neighbours, but a lot depended on the details of
the eventual voting regime.
"The question is what additional political topics get
attached to this in Hungary's relations with its neighbours,"
said Attila Juhasz at think tank Political Capital.
"In a campaign situation, for example, heightened political
activity could lead to potential conflict situations."
For a factbox on the Hungarian electoral system, see
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(Reporting by Gergely Szakacs; editing by Philippa Fletcher)
