It is by now clear that Hungary's political elite is unwilling to grant parliamentary representation to the 13 national and ethnic minorities living in the country, minority ombudsman Erno Kallai said in Budapest on Wednesday.

Addressing a conference at the Hungarian Academy of Sciences marking the 15th anniversary of adoption of Hungary's minority rights law, the ombudsman said the minorities' parliamentary representation, laid down in the Constitution and legislation, had remained nothing more than an empty declaration.

Kallai said the parliamentary parties were afraid of living up to their legal obligation to guarantee mandates to the minorities, fearing that the 13 MPs would vote haphazardly or would be "bought-off" by any of the political sides.