Leader of Vojvodina Hungarians Departs

Istvan Pasztor, leader of the Alliance of Vojvodina Hungarians, died at the age of 67.

Istvan Pasztor, president of the Alliance of Vojvodina Hungarians, the largest ethnic Hungarian political party in Serbia, and president of the Vojvodina assembly, passed away at the age of sixty-seven after a serious illness. The news of his death was confirmed by his son, Balint Pasztor on his social media page, Magyar Szo reported.

Istvan Pasztor was born in Novi Knezevac (Torokkanizsa) on August 20, 1956. He completed primary and secondary school in Subotica (Szabadka), and obtained his university degree in law in 1980 at the University of Novi Sad, Vojvodina. He has been a member of the Alliance of Vojvodina Hungarians since 1994 and has been its president since 2007.

He was a member of the Subotica municipal assembly from 1992 to 2000, and a member of the Vojvodina assembly from 1996 to 2004. He was a member of the Provisional Hungarian National Council and chairman of its executive committee between 1999 and 2002, and deputy chairman of the Vojvodina Executive Council from 2000 to 2004. He was secretary in charge of privatization from 2000 to 2008 and of economy from 2008 to 2012 in the Vojvodina provincial government. In the 2012 elections he was elected to the Vojvodina assembly as a representative of Subotica 5th constituency and was also elected  president of the assembly. 

In May, he was elected president of the Alliance of Vojvodina Hungarians for the fifth time.

Two years ago, he received the Commander's Cross with Star of Hungary and a year later Serbia's president awarded him the first degree of the Order of Merit of Candlemas Day.

The date of Istvan Pasztor's funeral will be announced later by his family.

Cover photo: Istvan Pasztor (Source: Facebook)