Bálint Pásztor (; born 3 January 1979) is a Serbian politician. An ethnic Hungarian, he has led the Alliance of Vojvodina Hungarians (VMSZ) since October 2023, initially on an acting basis and since March 2024 as the party's elected president. Pásztor has served in the Serbian parliament since 2007 and was also the president (i.e., speaker) of the Subotica city assembly from 2020 to 2024.
He is the son of István Pásztor, who led the VMSZ from 2008 until his death in 2023.
Early life and private career Pásztor was born in Subotica, in what was then the Socialist Autonomous Province of Vojvodina in the Socialist Republic of Serbia, Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. Raised in the community, he later received a bachelor's degree (2002), a master's degree (2011), and a Ph.D (2018) from the University of Belgrade Faculty of Law.Dr. Pásztor Bálint (Dr Balint Pastor), City of Subotica, accessed 27 October 2021. He began working as a legal advisor to the Pannon Invest Consortium in Subotica in 2002 and was director of the company from 2004 to 2007.
Politician Early years (2000–07) Pásztor took part in protests against Slobodan Milošević's government in the 1990s and joined the VMSZ in 2000. The party contested the 2000 Serbian parliamentary election as part of the Democratic Opposition of Serbia (DOS) coalition, and Pásztor worked in the DOS's election headquarters with responsibility for printing and distributing Hungarian language campaign literature.BALINT PASTOR, Otvoreni Parlament, accessed 15 May 2018."Serbian news agency profiles minority caucus whip," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring European, 18 December 2008 (Source: Beta Week, Belgrade, in English 18 Dec 08).
Concerning his status as the son of a famous politician, Pásztor once 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.""Website sees politics becoming 'family business' in Serbia," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring European, 27 September 2017 (Source: Vecernje novosti website in Serbian 25 Sep 17). 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.""Serbian news agency profiles minority caucus whip," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring European, 18 December 2008 (Source: Beta Week, Belgrade, in English 18 Dec 08).
Throughout his political career, Pásztor has advocated for the decentralisation of Serbia's government and the creation of a majority-Hungarian administrative district in northern Vojvodina, while also stressing his opposition to separatism."Governing, minority parties support regionalization of Serbia," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring European, 25 July 2007 (Source: Politika, Belgrade, in Serbian 23 Jul 07)."Ethnic Hungarian leader denies separatist ambitions in Serbia," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring European, 9 April 2008 (Source: Vecernje novosti, Belgrade, in Serbian 5 Apr 08)."Hungarian minority proposes administrative restructuring of Serbian province," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring European, 28 January 2013 (Source: Vecernje novosti website, Belgrade, in Serbian 25 Jan 13). He 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.BALINT PASTOR, Otvoreni Parlament, accessed 15 May 2018.
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.Избори за народне посланике Народне скупштине одржани 21. јануара и 8. фебрауара 2007. године – ИЗБОРНЕ ЛИСТЕ (8 Савез војвођанских Мађара - Јожеф Каса), , Republic Election Commission, Republic of Serbia, accessed 7 April 2024. The party won three seats, and he was included afterward in its assembly delegation."Spisak poslanika za Skupštinu Srbije", Politika, 13 February 2007, accessed 24 December 2024.14 February 2007 legislature, National Assembly of Serbia, accessed 15 May 2018. (From 2000 to 2011, Serbian parliamentary mandates were awarded to sponsoring parties or coalitions rather than to individual candidates, and it was common practice for mandates to be assigned out of numerical order. Pásztor's relatively low position on the list had no formal bearing on his chances of election.)Serbia's Law on the Election of Representatives (2000) stipulated that parliamentary mandates would be awarded to electoral lists (Article 80) that crossed the electoral threshold (Article 81), that mandates would be given to candidates appearing on the relevant lists (Article 83), and that the submitters of the lists were responsible for selecting their parliamentary delegations within ten days of the final results being published (Article 84). See Law on the Election of Representatives, Official Gazette of the Republic of Serbia, No. 35/2000, made available via LegislationOnline, , accessed 7 April 2024. After the election, he became the leader of a parliamentary group comprising four parties representing national minority communities."Serbian minority parties agree to set up floor group," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring European, 28 February 2007 (Source: FoNet news agency, Belgrade, in Serbian 1536 gmt 28 Feb 07).
The VMSZ served in opposition at this time, and Pásztor was a vocal critic of Vojislav Koštunica's administration."Serbian Assembly performance 'cannot be worse' - Vojvodina Hungarian party," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring European, 6 August 2007 (Source: Dnevnik, Novi Sad, in Serbian 2 Aug 07). In his first term, he was a member of the legislative committee and the committee on foreign affairs.ДЕТАЉИ О НАРОДНОМ ПОСЛАНИКУ: ПАСТОР, БАЛИНТ, , National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia, accessed 28 May 2022.
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, in the 2008 parliamentary election.Избори за народне посланике Народне скупштине одржани 11. маја 2008. године – ИЗБОРНЕ ЛИСТЕ (7 МАЂАРСКА КОАЛИЦИЈА - ИШТВАН ПАСТОР), , Republic Election Commission, Republic of Serbia, accessed 7 April 2024. The coalition won four mandates, all of which were assigned to VMSZ members, and Pásztor was again included in his party's delegation.R. Ognjanović, "U klupama novi poslanici", Novosti, 10 June 2008, accessed 29 June 2022. After the election, he became the leader of a reconstituted assembly group representing three national minority parties."Serbian Hungarians, Bosniaks, Albanians set up joint parliament floor group," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring European, 11 June 2008 (Source: Radio Belgrade in Serbian 1300 gmt 11 Jun 08)."Serbian Hungarian leader denies separatist aspirations," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring European, 14 August 2008 (Source: Vecernje novosti, Belgrade, in Serbian 12 Aug 08). The overall results of the election were inconclusive, but the For a European Serbia (ZES) alliance led by the Democratic Party (DS) ultimately formed a coalition government with the Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS). The new ministry, led by Mirko Cvetković, had only a narrow majority in parliament and was often dependent on the VMSZ for its survival. Shortly before the assembly voted on the new administration, Pásztor threatened to withdraw support unless the government created a new ministry of human and minority rights."Serbia: Minorities could withdraw support to Tadic over draft law on ministries," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring European, 1 July 2008 (Source: FoNet news agency, Belgrade, in Serbian 1305gmt 1 Jul 08). The ministry was created, and the VMSZ members voted in favour of Cvetković's government."Ethnic Hungarian MPs in Serbia express support for new gov't," MTI-Eco News, 7 July 2008.
Pásztor and the VMSZ refused to support a late 2008 government bill to reform the jurisdictional zones of Serbia's courts and public prosecution departments, although they continued to support the administration more generally."Serbian opposition, some ruling parties unsure about government having majority," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring European, 20 December 2008 (Source: Beta news agency, Belgrade, in Serbian 1828 gmt 19 Dec 08)."'Naked interest' keeping Serbian government 'alive' - analyst," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring European, 25 December 2008 (Source: Glas javnosti website, Belgrade, in Serbian 24 Dec 08). In 2009, Pásztor led the VMSZ in supporting a bill allowing for the direct election of national minority councils."Serbia: Bill offers direct ballot to minorities with one-half registered voters," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring European, 10 July 2009 (Source: Vecernje novosti website, Belgrade, in Serbian 7 Jul 09). He called for Serbia to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in this period, arguing that it was a necessary step for the country to join the European Union (EU)."Serbian governing parties differ on military neutrality, NATO membership," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring European, 14 July 2009 (Source: Danas website, Belgrade, in Serbian 7 Jul 09).
The VMSZ became increasingly alienated from the Cvetković administration in late 2009. While the party did not move into active opposition, it refused to support the government's budget for 2010, and Pásztor indicated to the newspaper Danas that he did not see the party's alliance with the DS as a long-term commitment."Ethnic Hungarian MP says Serbian budget not in line with constitution," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring European, 22 December 2009 (Source: B92 TV, Belgrade, in Serbian 1400gmt 22 Dec 09)."Serbian Democrats angry at ethnic party turning to Hungary over budget - daily," 26 December 2009 (Source: Danas website, Belgrade, in Serbian 24 Dec 09). During this period, the VMSZ took part in strategic discussions with Viktor Orbán, the leader of Hungary's Fidesz party; some in the Serbian media speculated that, under Orbán's influence, the VMSZ would break its alliance with the DS and support the opposition Serbian Progressive Party (SNS). Pásztor rejected this, saying that the VMSZ had also met with other political parties in Hungary and was open to renewed co-operation with the DS in the future."Serbian Hungarian party denies rapprochement with Progressives," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring European, 27 February 2010 (Source: Dnevnik website, Novi Sad, in Serbian 24 Feb 10). The VMSZ ultimately became somewhat reconciled with the Cvetković administration and supported its 2011 budget."Serbia's 'austere' draft 2011 budget draws criticism from opposition," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring European, 27 December 2010 (Source: Radio Belgrade in Serbian 1400 gmt 23 Dec 10).
In October 2011, Pásztor argued that Serbia's law on the restitution of 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 (for war-time activities) should be judged individually, and those found not guilty should be entitled for restitution.""Vojvodina Hungarians offer resolution to restitution issue," MTI - Eco News, 17 October 2011.