Croatian minority in Hungary

Croats have been living in the territory of Hungary for centuries. The Burgenland, Pomurski and Danubian Croats migrated to various parts of Hungary within the time span stretching from the 15th to 18th century, mostly fleeing from Turkish invasion, while the Podravska Croats came probably during the migration of Croats in the early Middle Ages.

According to various estimates there are approximately 50,000 Croats living in Hungary.  There are sub ethnic groups and these are: The Bunjevci, Šokci, Raci Croats, the Dalmatian and the Burgenland Croats, the Pomurski Croats, the Podravina  Croats, as well as the Bosnian Croats who  have, over the long  centuries,  enriched not only their own culture, but also the cultural heritage of  Hungary. According to the last census of 2011 and based on the declaration regarding their nationality, there is a total number of 26,774 Croats in Hungary. The data show a slight increase in the number of members of Croatian community compared to 2011 (4.1%).

The Croatian self-governing body (HDS) is a central electoral, political and administrative body of Croats in Hungary and its president is Ivan Gugan.

The issue of the rights of parliamentary representation of minorities is regulated by the so-called Law on election of parliamentary representatives. Since the parliamentary elections in Hungary in 2014 all indigenous communities have their spokesman in the Parliament i.e. their non-voting representative.  Since 2018 Croatian spokesman in the Hungarian Parliament has been Jozo Solga.

The use of Croatian as an official language in the local and municipal self-administrative bodies is guaranteed by the Constitution and the Law.

The Agreement between the Republic of Croatia and the Republic of Hungary pertaining to the protection of the Hungarian minority in Croatia and the Croatian minority in the Republic of Croatia, was signed in 1995. Due to the implementation procedure of the provisions of this Agreement, Intergovernmental Joint Committee for the Protection of Minorities (MMO) is scheduled to convene once a year. The last 15th session of MMO was held in Zagreb in 2019.

Based on the Law on Relationships between the Republic of Croatia and Croats Abroad the Government of the Republic of Croatia adopted the Decision on Establishing and Appointing the Members of the Council of the Government of Croatia for Croats Abroad, which held its constituting session in July, 2022, where the representative of the Croatian minority in Hungary at the third Council convocation are Ivan Gugan and Andrija Handler. 

There are many notable institutions of Croats in Hungary: the Scientific Institute of Croats in Hungary, Croatian club “August Šenoa”, the Croatian theater which is the only professional theater outside the Republic of Croatia.
The Alliance of Croats in Hungary is an umbrella organization that encompasses numerous Croatian associations, libraries, clubs, folk dance ensembeles, choirs and  tambura bands.In the locality of Prisika the Museum of Sacred Art of Croats in Hungary was established.

There are four Croatian kindergartens in Hungary (Budapest, Pecs, Santovo and Szombathely) and around 30 Croatian groups within Hungarian kindergartens in seven counties; four Croatian primary schools (Budapest, Pecs, Santovo and Szombathely) since 2017, four bilingual primary schools (Martinci, Petrovo Selo, Bizonja and Koljnof), two Croatian grammar schools ((Budapest and Pecs), and in around 40 schools Croatian language is taught as a separate subject.
Croatian language can be studied at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences “Janus Pannonius” University in Pécs, at the University in Szombathely, at Eötvős Loránd“ (ELTE)  University in Budapest,  Institute for Minority and Foreign Languages at “Jozsef Eötvős“College  in Baja.

In 1999 the Croatian self-governing body jointly with the Alliance of Croats in Hungary founded "Croatica" cultural, information and publishing non-profit company based in Budapest. Thus, Croats became the first minority in Hungary that has its publishing house.

In 2005 the Internet-based radio station called Croatica was established by the Croatica company and the prepararations for the Internet-based television channel are in progress.  In Pecs, the Croatian editorial board of the Hungarian radio and the Croatian editorial board of the Hungarian Television broadcast programmess in the Croatian language.

The Croatian self-governing body and the the Alliance of Croats in Hungary issue the weekly "Hrvatski glasnik" while the HDS issues "Hrvatski kalendar” and the quarterly "Bilten” (their official magazine). The Scientific Institute of Croats, Croatian theatre and other Croatian institutions and local minority self-governing bodies also take part in publishing activity.

As regards religious life the number of Croatian priests is insufficient. Masses in Croatian are organized by around ten parish priests and occasionally a few visiting priests.