The Hungarian Status Law and the Specter of Neo-medievalism in Europe

In 2001 Hungary passed ‘the Status Law’, which legally recognized a Hungarian nation that extended into its neighbors. This article argues that the sharp debate across Europe on the law's legitimacy and European efforts to change the law radically are a reaction to the neo-medievalist vision embedded in the law. By setting up overlapping authority over and multiple loyalty of the Hungarian communities in the neighboring states, the law violated carefully crafted and interrelated European norms on individual equality of citizens, state responsibility towards minorities, and the circumstances under which sovereignty can be violated.