After a lot of hard work, the CoE last year approved the Kalmár report on the status and rights of national minorities in Europe, he noted.

The report, filed by a Hungarian rapporteur, calls for CoE member states to ratify a framework agreement on the protection of national minorities as well as the European Charter of regional and minority languages.

Hungarian foreign policy and policy for Hungarian communities abroad “have a place in the Council of Europe,” Németh said after the meeting.

Balázs Izsák, head of the Szekler Council, said cooperation with the Hungarian delegation of the CoE started in 2008 and gathered new momentum after 2010 when House Speaker László Kövér became its patron.

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MTI photo: Kovács Tamás