Washington, DC – On March 21, the Heritage Foundation, the Common Sense Society of Budapest and the Hungarian American Coalition co-sponsored a panel discussion on the draft Hungarian constitution. The panel took place on the eve of the Hungarian Parliament’s debate of the constitutional drafts submitted by the government and by opposition political parties. The debate over the proposed text of the new Constitution is one of those rare moments in history when Hungarians in and outside of Hungary are able to consider what should be included in the most fundamental document that defines Hungary as a nation.

The panelists included József Szájer, a member of the European Parliament and head of the National Consultation Committee on the Constitution, (Committee), H.E. János Csák, Hungarian Ambassador to the United Kingdom and member of the Committee, Robert Alt, Senior Fellow and Deputy Director, Center for Legal and Judicial Studies, The Heritage Foundation and Maximilian Teleki, President of the Hungarian American Coalition. The discussion was moderated by Marion Smith, Graduate Fellow, B. Kenneth Simon Center for American Studies, The Heritage Foundation and President of the Common Sense Society.

The panel discussion can be viewed in its entirety at the following website: http://heritage.org/Events/2011/03/Hungarian-Constitution