After briefly situating the state of indigenous language minorities within the present European Union, this article investigates the role of minority language education in language maintenance efforts in present-day Hungary. A sketch of Hungary's contemporary policy on minority education is followed by a description of the daily praxis in minority education. The confrontation of policy and praxis leads to a critical evaluation that mainly focuses on structural shortcomings. To conclude, some statements are formulated on further requirements of sociolinguistic and contact linguistic research in the multilingual Hungarian setting.