The definition of a nation is a complex issue. Firstly, it must be distinguished from the concept of state, as “(…) a nation can exist without a state, as a state will not need a nation as a foundation”.7
4 László heka: Etnikai, vallási és politikai konfliktusok a Balkán térségében III. A konfliktus kialakulása.
[Ethnic, Religious and Political Conflicts in the Balkans III. The Beginnings of the Conflict]. Pólay Elemér Alapítvány Szeged, 2010. pp. 9-29. [heka 2010a]
5 László heka: Etnikai, vallási és politikai konfliktusok a Balkán térségében I. A deli szlávok és a Balkán.
[Ethnic, Religious and Political Conflicts in the Balkans I. The South Slavs and the Balkans]. Pólay Elemér Alapítvány, Szeged, 2010, pp. 117-118.
6 László heka: Etnikai, vallási és politikai konfliktusok a Balkán térségében II. Társadalmi, etnikai, vallási és politikai viszonyok a Balkán térségében. [Ethnic, Religious and Political Conflicts in the Balkans II. Social, Ethnic and Political Relations in the Balkans]. Pólay Elemér Alapítvány Szeged, 2010, pp. 91-95, 153-212.
7 Gergely egedy: Gondolatok a nemzetről. A politikai és a kulturális megközelítés. [Thoughts about the Nation. The Political and the Cultural Approach]. In: László Szarka –Balázs vízi –Balázs MajTényi –Zoltán kánTor (eds.): Nemzetfogalmak és etnopolitikai modellek Kelet-Közép-Európában. [Definitions of Nation and Ethnocpolitical Models in central-eastern Europe]. Gondolat Kiadó, Budapest, 2007, p. 70.
Another complication is the definition. As the Resolution on ‘Preferential treatment of national minorities by the kin-state: the case of the Hungarian law of 19 June 2001 on Hungarians living in neighboring countries (“Magyars”)’ stated: “The Assembly notes that up until now there is no common European legal definition of the concept of ‘na-tion’.”8 The nation is not strictly a legal issue, as Egedy wrote, “The nation has closer connection to social psychology and culture, and if we see it as a starting point, then the nation can be defined as a community with common history and culture for the first glance. One important criterium is connected: the principle of territoriality, meaning that the examined community can define its place in a territory which is seen as the commu-nity’s own country.”9
The different ideas and elements could create contradictory definitions in the constitu-tions of the states as well. The nation could be seen as a population living in a territory of a sovereign state.
A different concept comes from the classic statement of Ernest Renan: “A nation is a soul, a spiritual principle. Two things which, properly speaking, are really one and the same constitute this soul, this spiritual principle. One is the past, the other is the present. (…) The nation, like the individual, is the outcome of a long past of efforts, sacrifices, and de-votions. (…) These are the essential conditions of being a people: having common glories in the past and a will to continue them in the present; having made great things together and wishing to make them again”.10
Emmanuel-Joseph Sieyes introduced the new concept of nation in his famous essay
“What is the Third Estate?”.11 Since then, the different ideas on nation and nationality created several disputes, as completely contradictory theories were born.12
The two typical models are the political and the cultural nation. The states decide which concept to apply while creating a constitution. The choice will determine the concept of the nation. The concept of the political nation has objective criteria, while the cultural nation has subjective criteria generally.
The concept of the cultural nation means that the people who live outside of the borders of the state but have the nationality of the state are part of the nation. The concept of the political nation means that every citizen living in the territory of the state is part of the nation. The choice between the concepts generally happens while drafting the constitu-tion, albeit it is not always clear from the wording of the document. However, the decision
8 Preferential treatment of national minorities by the kin-state: the case of the Hungarian law of 19 June 2001 on Hungarians living in neighboring countries (“Magyars”)’Resolution 1335 (2003) p. 10.
9 egedy 2007. pp. 70-71.
10 Ernest renan: “What is a Nation?”, text of a conference delivered at the Sorbonne on March 11th, 1882.
In: Renan erneST: Qu’est-ce qu’une nation?, Paris, Presses-Pocket, 1992. (translated by Ethan Rundell), Avail-able online: http://ucparis.fr/files/9313/6549/9943/What_is_a_Nation.pdf
11 Emmanuel-Joseph SieyèS: What is the Third Estate? (1789) Available online: https://pages.uoregon.edu/
dluebke/301ModernEurope/Sieyes3dEstate.pdf 12 egedy 2007, pp. 71-77.
always has political consequences as it will define the relations with the minorities of the state and the members of the nation who are citizens of another state.13
The other side of the coin is the question of the members of the nation who are beyond the borders of the state. If one uses the notion of the cultural nation, they are members of the nation. The question is that which states of the Western Balkan use the definition of the cultural nation?
Albania “assures assistance” for these Albanians.14 Bosnia and Hercegovina has no defi-nition of the nation. It can be leaded back to the circumstances of the adoption of the constitution of Bosnia and Hercegovina, which was part of the Dayton Agreement.15 As the typical constitution-makers were not present and the situation in the state was dire,16 the sensitive topics, like the definition of the nation were avoided. Croatia “guarantee particular care and protection” to the members of the cultural nation.17 Kosovo gives no constitutional mentions to the issue of the nation. Montenegro also avoids the question.
The constitution of North Macedonia “provides for the diaspora of the Macedonian peo-ple” and “protects the rights and interests of its nationals living or staying abroad”, also using the notion of the cultural nation.18 Serbia “shall develop and promote relations of Serbs living abroad with the kin state.”19 The Slovene constitution states that “Slovenes not holding Slovene citizenship may enjoy special rights and privileges in Slovenia.”20 This principle is more suppressed considering the words of the other constitutions which decided on the usage of the cultural nation.
To conclude the different definitions, two groups can be distinguished from the texts of the constitutions: one is not mentioning the question – Bosnia and Hercegovina, Kosovo and Montenegro – and the other is to aid the members of the cultural nation, but on differ-ent levels: Albania, Croatia, North Macedonia, Serbia and Slovenia.
As an example, an election process from a state with a mixed nation definition: If one examines the possibility for participating in the elections for the voters who do not have residence in Croatia, they could elect 14 candidates.21 The national minorities also have
13 Zoltán kánTor: Egy hamis dichotómia: politikai/kulturális nemzet. [A False Dichotomy: Political and Cultural Nation]. In: László Szarka –Balázs vízi –Balázs MajTényi –Zoltán kánTor (eds.): Nemzetfogalmak és etnopolitikai modellek Kelet-Közép-Európában. [Definitions of Nation and Ethnocpolitical Models in central-eastern Europe]. Gondolat Kiadó, Budapest, 2007. p. 80.
14 Constitution of Albania Article 8.
15 The General Framework Agreement for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina Initialled in Dayton on 21 November 1995 and signed in Paris on 14 December 1995
16 heka 2010a, pp. 30-46.
17 Constitution of Croatia Article 10
18 Constitution of North Macedonia Article 49.
19 Constitution of Serbia Article 13.
20 Constitution of Slovenia Article 5.
21 The process in detail: “The total number of the valid votes in the ten constituencies in the Republic of Croatia shall be divided with 140, which is how many representatives have totally been elected in these constitu-encies. With the gained results, the number of valid votes in the special constituency shall be divided. The result achieved in that manner is the number of representatives elected in the special constituency. If the result is not a whole number, it shall be rounded to the whole number from 0.5 up and below 0.5 down.” C.f.: Act on Election of Representatives to the Croatian Parliament (consolidated wording). Available online: http://aceproject.org/
ero-en/regions/europe/HR/Croatia_Act_on_Election_of_Representatives.pdf
the opportunity to elect representatives.22 Thus, the theory of cultural nation influenced the election methods to create the possibility of voting for the citizens abroad.
To support one of the theories – to choose between the cultural and political definition of the nation is always a choice of the constitution-maker. However, if the issue is absent from the constitutional text altogether, vague or contradictory, there is a possibility for the legislative or the executive power to create the legal background for the question freely.