Democratic Fellowship of Vojvodina Hungarians
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Democratic Fellowship of Vojvodina Hungarians
Демократска заједница војвођанских Мађара Demokratska zajednica vojvođanskih Mađara |
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| Hungarian name | Vajdasági Magyarok Demokratikus Közössége |
| Leader | Áron Csonka |
| Headquarters | Bečej |
| Ideology |
Regionalism Minority rights |
| Website | |
| www.vmdk.org.rs | |
Democratic Fellowship of Vojvodina Hungarians (Hungarian: Vajdasági Magyarok Demokratikus Közössége (VMDK), Serbian: Демократска заједница војвођанских Мађара (ДЗВМ), Demokratska zajednica vojvođanskih Mađara (DZVM)) is an ethnic Hungarian political party in Serbia. Established in 1990, it was led by András Ágoston and then by Sándor Páll until his death in 2010. Current party leader is Áron Csonka. The party's headquarters are in Bečej.
VMDK was the first party of the Hungarian minority in Serbia, and it had MPs in several compositions of the National Assembly of Serbia during the 1990s. However, the Alliance of Vojvodina Hungarians took the primate among Hungarian voters in 1997, and VMDK has seen only sporadic participation in the National Assembly and the Parliament of Vojvodina since.
On 19 December 1989, in the eve of multi-party system in Serbia, a group of 11 activists started an initiative for creation of an authentic organization of Hungarians in Serbia. Democratic Fellowship of Vojvodina Hungarians was formed on 31 March 1990 in Doroslovo, a village in northern Vojvodina. Its first leader was András Ágoston. On the first post-communist parliamentary elections in Serbia held the same year, they won 2.64% of the vote, earning 8 seats in the National Assembly.
Amidst the growing ethnic tensions, the Yugoslav Wars of the 1990s and pressure from Serbian nationalism, the party radicalized their program and demanded a strong autonomy for Hungarians in Serbia, similar to ones sought by Serbs in Croatia and Bosnia at the time. Since the new course was perceived as too radical, several parties split from VMDK in 1994, and the Alliance of Vojvodina Hungarians went off to become the dominant party among Serbian Hungarians. In 1997, Ágoston left the VMDK, forming the Democratic Party of Vojvodina Hungarians. Sándor Páll took over as the president of VMDK, but the party has never regained its previous influence.
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