BUDAPEST, Hungary, April 12 (UPI) -- The Hungarian Parliament was presented with a petition Tuesday by some 2,500 people claiming to be descendants of Attila the Hun, seeking minority status.
Hun spokesman Gyorgy Kisfaludy told the BBC to be a Hun today was a matter of "feeling and cultural identity," but added he expects the attempt at parliamentary recognition to fail.
Attila the Hun swept across Europe from central Asia in the 4th and 5th centuries AD, conquering territory as far west as modern-day France, gaining the bloody title of "Scourge of God."
However, after Attila died in 453, the Huns scattered into anonymity as an ethnic group.
Even if the attempt at recognition fails, Kisfaludy said the campaign will continue to acquire Huns' "rightful place" among ethnicities like the Kurds, Basques and Scots.
