Democratic Fellowship of Vojvodina Hungarians

On 19 December 1989, in the eve of multi-party system in Serbia, a group of 11 activists started an initiative for creation of an authentic organisation of Hungarians in Serbia. Democratic Fellowship of Vojvodina Hungarians was formed on 31 March 1990 in Doroslovo, a village in northern Vojvodina.^[4] Its first leader was András Ágoston.^[5] On the first post-communist parliamentary elections in Serbia held the same year, they won 2.64% of the vote, earning 8 seats in the National Assembly.^[6]

Amidst the growing ethnic tensions, the Yugoslav Wars of the 1990s and pressure from Serbian nationalism, the party radicalised their program and demanded a strong autonomy for Hungarians in Serbia, similar to ones sought by Serbs in Croatia and Bosnia at the time. Since the new course was perceived as too radical, several parties split from VMDK in 1994, and the Alliance of Vojvodina Hungarians went off to become the dominant party among Serbian Hungarians. In 1997, Ágoston left the VMDK, forming the Democratic Party of Vojvodina Hungarians. Sándor Páll took over as the president of VMDK, but the party has never regained its previous influence.^[7]

In the 1992 parliamentary elections, the party won 2.98% of the popular vote and 9 seats in the National Assembly.^[8] In the 1993 parliamentary elections, the party won 2.61% of the popular vote and 5 seats in the National Assembly.^[9] In the 1997 parliamentary elections, the party won 1.5% of the popular vote, but no seats in the National Assembly. The majority of Hungarian votes went to the newly formed Alliance of Vojvodina Hungarians, which would remain the major Hungarian political party in Serbia to this day.^[10] In the 2000 and 2003 parliamentary elections the party again failed to win any seats in the National Assembly.^[11][12] In the 2008 elections, the party was part of the Hungarian Coalition, which won 4 seats in the Serbian parliament.^[13] In the 2012 elections, the party was part of the All Together coalition, which won 1 seat in the Serbian parliament.^[14] In the 2014 elections, the party participated on Boris Tadić's coalition list.^[15] In the 2016 elections, they formed a coalition with the Hungarian Movement, but it did not participate in the state elections, opting instead only for municipal and provincial elections in Vojvodina.^[16]