The Rusyn community which has been coexisting with Hungarians in the Carpathian basin from almost the very beginning has had a very interesting history: they never had a state of their own, or any sort of territorial separation for that matter. Their national identity is based on their Eastern Catholic religion, their closely related dialects, their rich physical and spiritual ethnographic heritage and their powerful historical identity based on centuries of coexistence with ethnic Hungarians. In the early 18th century, many Rusyns joined the freedom fight led by Francis II Rákóczi. Rákóczi called them the most faithful people (gens fidelissima) in recognition of their heroism. Rusyns also fought with the Hungarians during the Hungarian Revolution of 1848 under the flag of Lajos Kossuth. The first official information about Rusyn population numbers comes from the census ordered by Joseph II in 1784.
The overwhelming majority of Rusyns lives in Budapest and in the counties of Pest and Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén. During the 2010 local government elections, 75 town-level Rusyn self-governments were formed, alongside territorial Rusyn self-governments in Budapest, Pest county and Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén county. The Assembly of the first National Rusyn Self-Government was formed in 1999, led by President Gábor Hattinger. In 2003, the Assembly chose Vera Giricz as the President, to be followed by András Manajló in 2007. Vera Giricz returned to this position in 2011.
The Assembly of the National Rusyn Self-Government founded an award named after academic Antal Hodinka in 2004. A commemorative plaque and diploma is awarded every year to people who achieve extraordinary results in the field of the conservation of the Rusyn language, culture, traditions and religious values. In the year of the foundation of the award, a marble memorial plaque was installed on the walls of the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Pécs, financed by the National Rusyn Self-Government and the Pécs Rusyn Minority Self-Government. The Antal Hodinka memorial, financed by the National Rusyn Self-Government, the Hodinka Antal National Rusyn Intellectual Association, the Hodinka family, the Budapest Rusyn Minority Self-Government and the Rusyn Minority Self-Government of the 8th and 6th districts of Budapest, was unveiled in 2011 in the cemetery on Fiumei út. In 2004, the Assembly of the National Rusyn Self-Government founded the first institutions of the Hungarian Rusyn community: the Public Service Museum Collection of Hungarian Rusyns, the Library of Hungarian Rusyns, and, in 2007, the International Rusyn Art Base. The Rusyn Art Collection was created from works made at the Art Base, which, along with Ruthenia Gallery, setup by painter Atanáz Fedinecz and the works displayed at the workshop of András Manajló, is a worthy and representative selection of the widely acclaimed Rusyn art.
The Assembly of the National Rusyn Self-Government founded the publication Rusyn World, and regularly supports the publication of a Rusyn almanac. The Rusyn broadcasts of the Hungarian Radio have been available on the entire territory of the country since 1 February 2007 (with an air time of 30 minutes each week), and Rondo, the Hungarian Radio's show for ethnic minorities, contains 6 to 8 minutes of Rusyn programming in its bi-weekly broadcasts.
Rusyn language and ethnic studies are taught in Komlóska and Múcsony, with the help of the recently published Rusyn alphabet book by Mariann Lyavinecz and the book Conversation in Rusyn by Vera Giricz. The experts of the Rusyn community are working on a Hungarian-Rusyn dictionary and a Rusyn orthographic dictionary in the interests of protecting their mother tongue.
The members of the Rusyn community participate actively in Eastern Catholic religious life and support the church, regularly attend church service and preserve the traditions of their national faith, starting their local and national celebrations with a Holy Liturgy. In December 2011, a group of 64 Rusyn Eastern Catholics took a pilgrimage to Rome with the support of the town- and county-level Rusyn Self-Governments.
The Rusyn civil society movement celebrated its 20th anniversary in 2011. As part of the celebrations – on the initiative of Gábor Hattinger, the President of the first Rusyn NGO and the President of the Budaörs Rusyn Minority Self-Government –, a travelling exhibition on the activities of the movement was organized, along with other celebratory events. Hungarian Rusyn NGOs are represented in the Rusyn World Council by the Association of Rusyn NGOs, which held its 11th Congress in 2011 in Pilisszentkereszt. Currently, the various Rusyn NGOs represent a wide range of interests. One of the oldest Rusyn NGOs is the National Association of Hungarian Rusyns, which, after a renewal and with a newly found energy, won 12 seats in the Assembly of the National Rusyn Self-Government in 2011, with 7 seats going to Rusyn Minority Association Public Service Society and 6 to Antal Hodinka National Rusyn Intellectual Society and the Rusyn Cultural Society. The five committees of the National Rusyn Self-Government work in the areas of culture, education, heritage preservation, religion, international liaison and organizational matters.
Recently, relations between Rusyn communities living in Hungary and abroad have become tighter. Visitors from Slovakia, Transcarpathia, Romania, Poland and Vojvodina are regular participants at Rusyn events in Hungary.
The Hungarian Rusyn community traditionally organizes memorial events and celebrations in the memory of Antal Hodinka in February, a series of events commemorating the birth of Francis II Rákóczi in Sárospatak and Borsi in March, Alexander Duchnovics memorial days in April, the National Celebrations on 22 May and celebrates the Nativity of Mary on the first weekend of September in the Szentendre Open Air Museum.
Numerous successful associations are active in the area of protecting Rusyn traditions and cultural values: the Bethlehem Group and Rusyn Women’s Choir in Komlóska, the ÁMK Youth Folk Singing and Dance Group and ‘Cservená Ruzsá’ Women’s Choir in Múcsony, the Children's Choir and Dance Group of the Rusyn Self-Government of Budapest, Hodinka String Quartet and numerous others.
The Hungarian Rusyn community considers its most important task the reinforcement of the unity of the community and the preservation of its mother tongue and its cultural values and traditions.
