Accepting the principle of the sovereignty of the citizens, included in the first chapter of the new Serbian Constitution, the Hungarians in the Voivodina do not reject the sovereignty of the Serbian state but at the same time they do not renounce their community rights which are in line with international law and with European legal norms. In a multi-party parliamentary system this standpoint would inevitably raise demands for the expression of the political and other interests of minorities in a legally and democratically controlled manner. Of course, these demands do not mean that the Hungarians in the Voivodina would not be obliged to cooperate with other citizens of the Republic of Serbia in order to improve and protect the democratic political system of the republic in its entirety.

Taking into account that the Constitution of the Republic of Serbia defines the province of the Voivodina in a form of territorial autonomy, and that the other republics, e. g. Croatia and Slovenia in their confederal proposal do not mention the provinces at all as possible components of the structure of the Yugoslavian constitutional law, the DCHV is of the opinion that the conditions exist and real need has arisen to create a constitutional framework in accordance with the collective interests of Hungarians in the Voivodina. In a multi-party democratic society the best constitutional form of expressing and realizing these interests is the personal autonomy of minorities.

According to our proposal, the main organ of the autonomy of minorities is the Council of self-government of Hungarians in the Voivodina. This Council should be a democratic and representative body which directly represents the interests of Hungarians in the Voivodina. It is desirable for the Council to keep legal contacts with the house of representatives, i. e. its resolutions and statements would be accepted as proposals in the procedures of the house of representatives. The Council should be set up by democratic elections and would be subject to democratic control. Its members would be elected by the voters of the republic having Hungarian nationality and by those citizens who do not state their nationality or declare themself non-Hungarians but who use the services provided by the institutions which give expression to minority rights and/or financially support the institutions of minority rights. Irrespective of nationality every citizen of Serbia could be elected a member of the Council as a candidate of any party or civil group.

The responsibility of the Council would cover all the issues concerning the collective rights of the Hungarian minority in the Voivodina. These rights would be embodied in a statute, authorized by the house of representatives. The activity of the Council would primarily cover the educational, cultural and informational fields.

This multi-party Council of personal autonomy under democratic control, would be the legitimate representative of the Hungarians in Voivodina.

By setting up such an autonomous Council the preconditions for the democratic expression of the political subjectivity of the Voivodina-Hungarians would be created without jeopardizing the sovereignty and state interests of the Serbian Republic.

According to the DCHV, Councils of a similar nature could be set up for other minorities in the province and, maybe also, for the Croatians. The incorporation of such constitutional institutions into the political system would serve as the manifestation of democratization, of humanist public life and trust in the multinational Serbian Republic.

Novi Sad, November 6, 1990