The breakdown below does not include categories of incidents that fall outside the OSCE definition of hate crime (such as hate speech). However, three incidents of slander and denial of Nazi crimes, which fall outside the OSCE hate crime definition, are included as they could not be separated.
In 2024, all police officers (a total of 20,496) had to complete an online e-learning training course on hate crimes.
A part the implementation of decisions of the European Court of Human Rights, the Roma and Travelers Department of the Directorate General for Democracy and Human Dignity of the Council of Europe and the National Police Headquarters provided training on hate crimes, especially those targeting the Roma community, for 25 mentors. A total of 3,933 police officers received training in other internal police training.
In 2024, the Hungarian Prosecution Training Centre restructured its training of trainees and junior prosecutors. So far, 60 trainee prosecutors have participated in an 1.5-hour lecture on "Hate crimes".
On 14 February 2024, 40 junior prosecutors attended an hour-long lecture on "Options for effective action against hate crimes, decisions of the European Court of Human Rights, the activities of the Working Group against Hate Crime, the Hate Crime Protocol of 2019".
A 45-minute lecture on "Hate Crimes" was given on 12 June 2024 to 122 participants at the online training of early-career prosecutors. The training is mandatory for selected prosecutors appointed for less than three years ago.
The meetings of the 33 deputy chief prosecutors of the capital and the counties in the criminal law section were partly devoted to more effective action against hate crimes, to the recognition, protection, and respectful treatment of victims, as well as to methodological issues in supervising and managing investigations. On 7 October 2024, these topics were discussed in a one-hour lecture.
On 16 October 2024, a mandatory training course for nearly 40 designated investigating prosecutors was held on "Current legal issues in the investigation of ill-treatment and coercive interrogation in official proceedings in the light of the decisions of the European Court of Human Rights".
The Working Group Against Hate Crimes met once in 2024.
Notable case:
On 4 January 2024, the Battonya District Prosecutor's Office charged a defendant under Hungary’s hate crime provision (Section 216 – Violence against a member of a community). The man had approached and behaved aggressively towards a Roma family, including children, kicking and overturning a rubbish bin and shouting anti-Roma remarks and other offensive comments. After a female victim called the police, the defendant threatened to get his gun and shoot the Roma family while continuing his anti-Roma invective.
This category includes hate crimes recorded on the basis of national affiliation, ethnic affiliation, and racial affiliation. This category may include offences that fall outside the OSCE hate crime definition.
This category includes two hate crime cases committed with a bias based on sexual orientation and one hate crime committed with a bias based on gender identity.
This category includes attacks against other societal groups.
ODIHR recognizes Hungary's efforts to enhance the capacity of police and prosecutors to respond to hate crimes. However, based on the available information, it observes that Hungary's hate crime recording and statistics do not sufficiently distinguish hate crimes from other crimes. In addition, ODIHR observes that Hungary would benefit from reviewing the existing legal framework to ensure that bias motivations can be effectively acknowledged and that appropriate penalties can be imposed on the perpetrators.
ODIHR recalls that in Ministerial Council Decision 9/09, OSCE participating States agreed to a common definition of hate crime and committed to collecting reliable data and statistics on such crimes. To that end, hate crimes need to be distinguished from hate speech and extremist crimes throughout the recording and data collection processes. Participating States also committed to enacting specific, tailored legislation to combat hate crimes, providing for effective penalties that take into account the gravity of such crimes. ODIHR stands ready to support Hungary in meeting the relevant commitments through its comprehensive resources and tailored assistance in the area of hate crime recording and data collection, as well as by providing further resources and tailored legislative advice.
For 2024, ODIHR received reports of hate incidents in Hungary from the following civil society organizations:
- European Roma Rights Center (ERRC)
- Working Group Against Hate Crimes
To learn more about these organizations, visit the Contributors page.
All incidents submitted by the above organizations have been analysed by ODIHR. Those that are broadly considered to be hate crimes within the OSCE definition (criminal offence committed with a bias motive) are listed in the tables below according to the bias motivation category. Some incidents have multiple biases and may be listed in multiple categories.
ODIHR’s insightsFor 2024, ODIHR received reports of nine incidents that took place in Hungary in the following bias motivation categories: anti-LGBTI, and anti-Roma, and racist and xenophobic hate. Several incidents involved both gender-based and anti-LGBTI bias motives. ODIHR observes that several of the reported incidents targeted Roma men with serious violence, including abduction, beatings, homicide and attempted homicide. ODIHR also noted incidents targeting LGBTI persons, including physical assaults against gay men and trans women, as well as repeated threats accompanied by homophobic and transphobic insults. It should be noted that ODIHR did not receive any reporting on Hungary relating to anti-Christian, anti-Semitic, anti-Muslim, other religion or belief, or disability hate incidents. This indicates potential gaps in the information reported here. |
Please note that incidents reported here are based on voluntary civil society submissions and as such might not reflect the actual number of incidents or the most targeted communities in Hungary.
To address under-reporting, ODIHR encourages any civil society organizations or groups that monitor hate incidents in Hungary to report these to ODIHR at hatecrimereport@odihr.pl.
To export an Excel sheet with summaries of all incidents from Hungary click here and search by year and country.