Alliance of Vojvodina Hungarians Vajdasági Magyar Szövetség Савез војвођанских Мађара | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Abbreviation | VMSZ, SVM |
| President | Bálint Pásztor |
| Vice-Presidents | |
| Parliamentary leader | Bálint Pásztor |
| Founder | József Kasza |
| Founded | 18 June 1994 |
| Split from | Democratic Fellowship of Vojvodina Hungarians |
| Headquarters | Trg žrtava fašizma 9,Subotica |
| Membership(2015) | 12,000[1] |
| Ideology | |
| Political position | Centre-right |
| European affiliation | European People's Party (associate) |
| International affiliation | Centrist Democrat International |
| Parliamentary group | Alliance of Vojvodina Hungarians |
| Colours | Green |
| National Assembly | 6 / 250 |
| Assembly of Vojvodina | 9 / 120 |
| City Assembly of Belgrade | 1 / 110 |
| Party flag | |
 | |
| Website | |
| vmsz | |
TheAlliance of Vojvodina Hungarians (Hungarian:Vajdasági Magyar Szövetség, abbr.VMSZ;Serbian:Савез војвођанских Мађара,Savez vojvođanskih Mađara, abbr.SVM) is aregionalistpolitical party inSerbia, representing theHungarian ethnic minority.
The party was founded in 1994 inSenta byJózsef Kasza and former members of theDemocratic Fellowship of Vojvodina Hungarians as a citizen group which in 1995 was registered as a political party.[2] They participated in the1997 parliamentary election in which they won 1.23% of the vote and 4 seats in theNational Assembly.[3] In early 2000, it was one of the founding members of theDemocratic Opposition of Serbia (DOS) which ousted the presidentSlobodan Milošević later that year. In the2000 parliamentary election they participated under the DOS coalition and the party won 6 seats in the parliament.[4]
From the early 2000s, they started promoting an idea to form aHungarian Regional Autonomy in the northern part ofVojvodina. In the2003 parliamentary election they ended up not passing the electoral threshold with 4.23% of the vote.[5] In2007 they participated alone and they won 1.3% of the vote and 3 seats in the parliament.[6] They also participated in the2004 provincial election in Vojvodina and the party won 8.50% of vote in the one-round voting system and was part of the ruling coalition in the Vojvodina provincial parliament. In the 2004 local elections, the party won the largest number of seats in the municipal parliaments ofSubotica,Senta,Bačka Topola,Mali Iđoš,Kanjiža (whereReformists of Vojvodina won same number of seats) andČoka. In 2008, the party electedIstván Pásztor as their new president while József Kasza remained as the honorary president until 2010, when his membership was revoked.[7] In 2008, they participated in theprovincial election in Vojvodina,local elections andparliamentary election and they were a part of theHungarian Coalition which won 7% of the vote in the provincial election and 1.81% and 4 seats in the parliamentary election, while inKanjiža they won 50.91%, inSenta 31.87%,Bačka Topola 46.25%,Mali Iđoš 37.18%, andBečej 29.63%.[8] Since the introduction of the multi-party system in Serbia, the mayor ofSubotica was often from the Alliance of Vojvodina Hungarians. That has changed after local elections 2008,[9] whenDemocratic Party won the largest number of votes in this city.
In 2012, they participated in theparliamentary election,local elections,provincial election andpresidential election. In the parliamentary election, they won 1.75% of the vote and 5 seats in the National Assembly, inNovi Sad they won one seat while inSubotica they won 22.52% of the vote, in the provincial election they won 5.83% of the vote and 7 seats, and in the presidential election, in the first round, Pásztor won 1.62% of the vote in the first round while in the second round he supportedBoris Tadić.[10] Since the2014 parliamentary election, they have been supporting the rulingSNS-led coalition. In 2014 they won 2.1% of the vote and 6 seats in the parliament, in 2016 they won 1.5% of the vote and lost two seats and then in 2020 they won 2.23% of the vote and got 5 more seats in the parliament.
Bálint Pásztor was elected as leader of the VMSZ at a party convention inSenta on 2 March 2024. The only candidate for the position, he received the support of 333 out of 335 delegates in attendance.[11]
Besides being supportive of Hungarian minority interests,[12] the Alliance of Vojvodina Hungarians also maintains aconservative ideology,[13] and is also supportive ofregionalism.[14][15][16] Its foreign policies are considered to bepro-Western, and it supports Serbia's accession to theEuropean Union andNATO.[12][17] It was considered asocial-democratic party until 2010, when it shifted their support towards theSerbian Progressive Party andFidesz.[18][19]
It is positioned on thecentre-right on the political spectrum.[18][20] It is also an associate member of theEuropean People's Party.[21]
In theParliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, VMSZ has been associated with the European People's Party since 2007.[22]
| Year | Leader | Popular vote | % of popular vote | # | # of seats | Seat change | Coalition | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | József Kasza | 50,960 | 1.28% |  7th | 4 / 250 | 4 | – | Opposition |
| 2000 | 2,404,758 | 65.69% | 1st | 6 / 250 | 2 | DOS | Government | |
| 2003 | 161,765 | 4.29% |  7th | 0 / 250 | 6 | ZZT | Extra-parliamentary | |
| 2007 | 52,510 | 1.32% | 10th | 3 / 250 | 3 | – | Opposition | |
| 2008 | István Pásztor | 74,874 | 1.85% | 6th | 4 / 250 | 1 | MK | Support |
| 2012 | 68,323 | 1.83% | 9th | 5 / 250 | 1 | – | Opposition | |
| 2014 | 75,294 | 2.17% |  9th | 6 / 250 | 1 | – | Support | |
| 2016 | 56,620 | 1.54% | 8th | 4 / 250 | 2 | VMSZ–VMDP | Support | |
| 2020 | 71,893 | 2.32% | 7th | 9 / 250 | 5 | – | Support | |
| 2022 | 60,313 | 1.63% | 11th | 5 / 250 | 4 | – | Support | |
| 2023 | Bálint Pásztor | 64,747 | 1.74% | 7th | 6 / 250 | 1 | – | Support |
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| Year | Candidate | 1st round popular vote | % of popular vote | 2nd round popular vote | % of popular vote | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 1997 | did not participate | Election annulled due to low turnout | ||||||
| Dec 1997 | ||||||||
| Sep–Oct 2002 | Election annulled due to low turnout | |||||||
| Dec 2002 | Election annulled due to low turnout | |||||||
| 2003 | Election annulled due to low turnout | |||||||
| 2004 | ||||||||
| 2008 | István Pásztor | 6th | 93,039 | 2.30% | N/a | — | — | |
| 2012 | 9th | 63,420 | 1.70% | N/a | — | — | ||
| 2017 | Aleksandar Vučić | 1st | 2,012,788 | 56.01% | N/a | — | — | Supported Vučić |
| 2022 | 1st | 2,224,914 | 60.01% | N/a | — | — | ||
| Year | Leader | Popular vote | % of popular vote | # | # of seats | Seat change | Coalition | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | József Kasza | – | – | 3rd | 13 / 120 | 13 | – | Support |
| 2000 | – | – | 2nd | 14 / 120 | 1 | – | Government | |
| 2004 | 54,380 | 8.80% | 4th | 11 / 120 | 3 | – | Government | |
| 2008 | István Pásztor | 77,390 | 7.60% | 4th | 9 / 120 | 2 | MK | Government |
| 2012 | 62,275 | 6.47% | 6th | 7 / 120 | 2 | – | Government | |
| 2016 | 47,034 | 5.03% | 7th | 6 / 120 | 1 | – | Government | |
| 2020 | 75,218 | 9.29% | 3rd | 11 / 120 | 5 | – | Government | |
| 2023 | Bálint Pásztor | 63,721 | 6.68% | 3rd | 9 / 120 | 2 | – | Government |
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Major positions held by Alliance of Vojvodina Hungarians members:
| President of the Assembly of Vojvodina | Years |
|---|---|
| Sándor Egeresi | 2008–2012 |
| István Pásztor | 2012–2023 |
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