Apartheid by stealth: ERRC condemns Hungarian law on the ‘protection of local identity’ as discriminatory
29 September 2025
The ERRC, in an open letter to the European Union, and a complaint to the Hungarian national authorities, condemned recent legislation enacted in Budapest as paving the way for increased segregation and exclusion of Roma. The Hungarian Law on the Protection of Local Identity which entered into force on 1 July 2025, gives municipal authorities the right to adopt local decrees to defend their ‘fundamental right to self-identity’, to take action against ‘undesired directions of societal development’, and to determine who may move in to a locality, and who may not.
This law basically provides a legal framework for racial segregation, and allows for the drafting of municipal decrees that systematically exclude Roma from taking up residence in towns and villages across Hungary. This is nothing less than apartheid by stealth, a deliberate move to create what fascists infamously termed ‘Gypsy-free zones’. There can be no space in the European Union for any form of racial apartheid.
“To preserve the social values, traditions and character of the settlement”
On 21 August, the Sátoraljaújhely municipality adopted the local identity decree, according to which only people with a clean criminal record, free of public debt, with a high school diploma or secondary vocational qualification, and who speak Hungarian can move to the city. Persons meeting the above conditions must also pay a settlement contribution of 100,000 HUF (€256). The leadership of the settlement explained the decision as follows: “The purpose of the decree is to preserve the social values, traditions and character of the settlement of Sátoraljaújhely, as well as to maintain the lifestyle and customs of the people living in the settlement, and to maintain the public safety of the settlement.”
Article 2 of the amendment of Article XXVII of the Fundamental Law stipulates the following:
- Based on the right to local self-identity, the municipal community may exercise self-defence, which aims to protect and preserve the community’s societal structure, way of life, traditions and customs as well as the municipality’s characteristics.
- Based on the right to local self-identity, the municipal community may prevent the undesired increase of the population of the settlement and may take action against the undesired directions of societal developments.
- As a local matter of public interest, the municipal community shall have the right to determine who may move into the municipality and under what conditions.
Exclusionary intent: providing a legal framework for long-standing prejudice
Article 4(1) of the law expressly states that these measures “shall be applied without violating human dignity and applying unreasonable differentiation, in accordance with the principle of equal treatment”. The author of the law, Tibor Navracsics Minister of Regional Development, insists it is not anti-Roma. But lawyers interviewed by the independent news portal 444.hu, stated that the law was “clearly enacted so that those settlements that want to keep Roma or lower-income social groups away can do so.” The exclusionary intent is made clear by the introduction of settlement taxes, which would have a highly disproportionate impact on the Roma who are extremely overrepresented among the poorest group of the Hungarian population.
In addition to Sátoraljaújhely, other municipalities have issued local ‘identity decrees’, and there’s no mistaking the discriminatory intent. In Taktaharkány, the mayor has made a minimum of secondary education a requirement for settling in, plus a contribution of 50,000 HUF (€128). According to the proposal adopted by the local authority, "as a local public matter, the settlement community ultimately has the right to determine who can settle in the settlement and under what conditions."
In Pély, anyone who has not worked for at least one year, is under criminal proceedings, or has any tax debts cannot establish a residence. In Újlengyel and Vámosszabadi, only those in employment would be eligible to move in, and they would have to pay 20,000 HUF (€51) up-front. “In Pély, Újlengyel, and Vámosszabadi, local government representatives would personally interview those who intend to move in, and only after that would they grant permission to purchase real estate or move in.”
It is credibly argued that these local government decrees violate fundamental rights and are not in accordance with the principle of equal treatment as stipulated in Article 4(1) of the new law. According to Ilona Boros, head of the TASZ's (Hungarian Civil Liberties Union) equal opportunities program, over the past ten years the efforts of local governments to pass regulations aimed at keeping Roma out were blocked by the Equal Treatment Authority which ruled that these measures were discriminatory. In her opinion, “the purpose of this (Law on the Protection of Local Identity) was to provide a legal framework for these long-standing discriminatory intentions.”
This law must be revoked
This amendment will likely lead to the spread of discriminatory and arbitrary practices which undermine fundamental freedoms, and exacerbate the spatial segregation of Roma in Hungary. The ERRC asserts that the Law on the Protection of Local Identity, and the subsequent slew of municipal decrees constitute a breach of EU treaty provisions prohibiting racial discrimination, and the Race Equality Directive with regards to discrimination in provision of services, which includes housing.
The 2023 EU Council Conclusions called on Member States to redress inequalities in access to adequate housing for Romani communities, noting that spatial segregation perpetuates “the vicious circle of intergenerational poverty and violations of human rights. This limits life expectancy and impedes social cohesion.”
The Protection of Local Identity Law is yet another example of the Hungarian regime’s blatant disregard for European values. It stands as a clear rebuttal of the priorities of the EU Strategic Framework for Roma Inclusion up to 2030; and is completely at odds with the Council of Europe legal framework for the protection of minorities, and the case law of the European Court of Human Rights regarding racial segregation of Roma. The ERRC calls on the European Commission, the European Parliament, and the Council of Europe to condemn Hungary’s latest attack on European values, and to push for the revocation of this law.
The text of the ERRC letter is available in English.
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