ABSTRACT
Since the interwar period, the concept of the Hungarian nation has developed from the ideas of folk writers. After 1989, the concept of the nation became overwhelmingly linguistic and ethnic rather than political. Since the collapse of the communist order, two views of the nation have developed: centre-right and liberal-socialist. The first vision was to build a national community with the Hungarian diaspora in neighbouring countries, while the second one was to form a civic community and guarantee the rights of the Hungarian minority in Romania, Slovakia and Ukraine. The opportunity to implement the centre-right concept of the nation appeared after May 2004, when Hungary joined the European Union. From the beginning of the 21st century, the Hungarian authorities passed a series of laws aimed at shaping the ‘nation beyond the borders’, the imaginary community of Hungarians and their compatriots beyond the borders.
