Bálint Pásztor


Bálint Pásztor, also called Balint Pastor, is a politician in Serbia from the country's Hungarian community. He has been a member of the National Assembly of Serbia since 2007 as a member of the Alliance of Vojvodina Hungarians. Pásztor is the son of István Pásztor, the party's leader.

Early life and private career

Pásztor was born in Subotica, Vojvodina, then part of the Socialist Republic of Serbia in the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. Raised in his hometown, he later received both a bachelor's degree and a master's degree from the University of Belgrade Faculty of Law. He has been a legal advisor to the Pannon Invest Consortium in Subotica since 2002 and was director of the company from 2004 to 2007.
Pásztor was a member of Serbia's Hungarian National Council from 2002 to 2010 and was the chair of its executive committee from 2002 to 2009.

Political career

Pásztor participated in protests against Slobodan Milošević's government during the 1990s. He has been a member of the VMSZ since 2000 and a member of its presidency since 2007. The VMSZ took part in the 2000 Serbian parliamentary election as part of the Democratic Opposition of Serbia coalition, and Pásztor worked in the DOS's central election headquarters with responsibility for printing and distributing Hungarian language campaign literature.
Concerning his status as the son of a famous politician, Pásztor has said, "Politics has been a topic of discussion in our home, especially so during the 1990s, when I was a law student in Belgrade and member of the DOS election staff, but my father neither pushed me into politics nor tried to prevent my political engagement." On another occasion, when asked if his own political success had been the result of nepotism, he responded, "To be honest, I think that my circumstances are really no help to me. I think that my father is stricter towards me than other MPs."
Throughout his political career, Pásztor has advocated for the decentralization of Serbia's government and for the creation of a majority-Hungarian administrative district in northern Vojvodina, while also stressing his opposition to separatism.

Member of the National Assembly

Koštunica administration (2007–08)

Pásztor received the thirty-second position on the VMSZ's electoral list in the 2007 Serbian parliamentary election. The list won three seats, and he was subsequently included in its assembly delegation. After the election, Pásztor was chosen as chief whip of a parliamentary group composed of four parties representing Serbia's minority communities. The VMSZ served in opposition during this time, and Pásztor was a vocal critic of Vojislav Koštunica's administration.

Cvetković administration (2008–12)

Pásztor received the sixth position on the electoral list of the Hungarian Coalition, a multi-party alliance led by the VMSZ, for the 2008 parliamentary election. The coalition won four mandates, and Pásztor was again chosen as part of his party's delegation. He subsequently became the leader of a reconstituted parliamentary group representing three different minority parties.
After the 2008 election, the For a European Serbia alliance led by the Democratic Party formed a coalition government with the Socialist Party of Serbia. The new ministry, under the leadership of Mirko Cvetković, had only a narrow majority in parliament and was dependent on support from the VMSZ. Shortly before the assembly's vote to confirm the new administration, Pásztor threatened to withdraw his support unless the government created a separate ministry of human and minority rights. The ministry was in fact created, and the VMSZ members voted for the incoming ministry.
Pásztor and the VMSZ refused to support a bill to reform the seats and jurisdictional areas of Serbia's courts and public prosecution departments in late 2008, although they continued to support the administration more generally. In 2009, Pásztor indicated that his party would support for a bill providing for the direct election of national minority councils. He also called for Serbia to join North Atlantic Treaty Organization in this period, arguing that it was a necessary step for the country to join the European Union.
The VMSZ became increasingly alienated from the Cvetković administration throughout 2009. While the party did not move into opposition, it refused to support the government's budget for 2010, and Pásztor indicated to the newspaper Danas that it did not see its alliance with the Democratic Party as a long-term "marriage." In the same period, the VMSZ took part in discussions with Viktor Orbán, the leader of the Fidesz party in Hungary, on its political future. Some in the Serbian media speculated that, under Orbán's guidance, the VMSZ would break its alliance with the Democratic Party and support the opposition Serbian Progressive Party, but Pásztor rejected this, saying that the VMSZ held regular meetings with both government and opposition parties in Hungary and was open to a resolution of its differences with the Democratic Party. The VMSZ ultimately became somewhat reconciled with the government and supported its budget for 2011.
In October 2011, Pásztor argued that Serbia's law on restitution for property seized by communist authorities after World War II should be amended to permit a greater number of claims from the country's Hungarian community. He was quoted as saying, "We do not demand restitution for fascists or war criminals. However, we do think that responsibility should be judged individually, and those found not guilty should be entitled for restitution."

Since 2012

Serbia's electoral system was reformed in 2011, such that parliamentary mandates were awarded in numerical order to candidates on successful lists. Pásztor was given the first position on the VMSZ's list in the 2012 parliamentary election and was elected to a third term when it won five mandates. The Progressive Party's Let's Get Serbia Moving alliance won the greatest number of seats and subsequently formed a new coalition government with the Socialist Party. The new administration asked the VMSZ to join the government, but it declined; Pásztor indicated that his party would be a constructive opposition and would offer support for laws ensuring Serbia's ascension to the European Union. He again led the VMSZ's electoral lists in the 2014 and 2016 parliamentary elections and was re-elected both times, when the party respectively won six and four seats. The party has given parliamentary support to the Progressive-led administration since 2014.
The VMSZ campaigned for the "No" side in the 2016 Hungarian migrant quota referendum, in which many Vojvodina Hungarians were eligible to vote. In an interview with the Sputnik news agency, Pásztor argued that this position was not inconsistent with the VMSZ's historical support for minority rights. When asked if the vote would have any legal effect, his response was, "This is about making our opinions clearly understood."
Pásztor is currently a member of the Serbian assembly's committee on constitutional and legislative issues and its committee on the judiciary, public administration, and local self-government; a deputy member of the European integration committee; the head of Serbia's parliamentary friendship group with Spain; and a member of the parliamentary friendship group with Poland.
The four current VMSZ assembly members serve in a parliamentary group with the Party for Democratic Action, which has one member. Pásztor is the group's leader.