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The [[Czech National Revival]] in the neighbouring Austrian lands significantly affected Slovak national sentiment, and use of the [[Slovak language]] which was being encroached upon by nationally sanctioned dominance of [[Hungarian language|Hungarian]]. Following [[World War I]], areas designated by the Allied states (predominantly the [[United States]], in accordance with [[Woodrow Wilson]]'s [[Fourteen Points]]) as Slovak became part of the new state of [[Czechoslovakia]], according to the [[Treaty of Trianon]] (1920). The arrangement left a Hungarian minority residing on the territory of Slovakia, analogous to the German minority in the Czech lands, and a much smaller Slovak minority in Hungary. The [[Hungarian Soviet Republic]] subsequently attempted to invade Slovakia, but was [[Hungarian–Romanian War of 1919|defeated]] by a Czechoslovak-Romanian coalition. |
The [[Czech National Revival]] in the neighbouring Austrian lands significantly affected Slovak national sentiment, and use of the [[Slovak language]] which was being encroached upon by nationally sanctioned dominance of [[Hungarian language|Hungarian]]. Following [[World War I]], areas designated by the Allied states (predominantly the [[United States]], in accordance with [[Woodrow Wilson]]'s [[Fourteen Points]]) as Slovak became part of the new state of [[Czechoslovakia]], according to the [[Treaty of Trianon]] (1920). The arrangement left a Hungarian minority residing on the territory of Slovakia, analogous to the German minority in the Czech lands, and a much smaller Slovak minority in Hungary. The [[Hungarian Soviet Republic]] subsequently attempted to invade Slovakia, but was [[Hungarian–Romanian War of 1919|defeated]] by a Czechoslovak-Romanian coalition. |
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=== Hungarians in Czechoslovakia in 1920-1938 === |
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[[File:Fadrusz_Mária_Terézia.jpg|thumb|The statue of [[Maria Theresa]] in [[Bratislava]] before 1921...]] |
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[[File:Maria_Terezia_szobor_ledontes.jpg|thumb|...and shortly after its destruction, as part of a postcard. The text translates to "Czech culture - The barbaric toppling of the [[Maria Theresa]] statue in [[Bratislava]]"]] |
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The founding of Czechoslovakia was marked by its strong anti-Hungarian sentiments ever since the beginning. It seemed to hit the city of [[Pressburg]] (soon to be renamed to Bratislava) the most: one of the very first measures brought by [[Samuel Zoch]], the newly appointed [[župan]] of the city was the forced disbandment of the Elisabeth Science University, the only Hungarian university in Czechoslovakia, and the intimidation of its professors by the police in 1919, immediately after the annexation of the city.<ref name="Zoch1">{{cite book |
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|author=Béla Angyal |
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|title=Érdekvédelem és önszerveződés - Fejezetek a csehszlovákiai magyar pártpolitika történetéből 1918-1938 (Protection of interests and self-organization - Chapters from the history of the politics of Hungarians in Czechoslovakia) |
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|language=Hungarian |
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|publisher=Lilium Aurum |
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|page = 18-19 |
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|date = 2002 |
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|url= http://mek.niif.hu/01800/01869/01869.pdf |
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|ISBN = 80-8062-117-9 |
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|accessdate=2011-03-24}}</ref> |
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Most of the professors and former students have then left (what was later to become) Bratislava for [[Budapest]] (with the university later being reestablished in [[Pécs]]). Zoch has previously stated that "...but the question of minorities will be fully solved only after our public perception of morality will condemn ethnical oppression just as much as the oppression of religion".<ref name="Zoch2">{{cite study |
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|author=László Szarka |
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|title=A szlovák autonómia alternatívája 1918 őszén (An alternative of Slovak autonomy in the autumn of 1918) |
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|language=Hungarian |
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|publisher= Nógrád Megyei Levéltár |
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|page = 1 |
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|date = 2002 |
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|url= http://www.nogradhistoria.eu/data/files/186527950.pdf |
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|accessdate=2011-03-24}}</ref> |
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Tensions have further mounted in Bratislava as soldiers of the Czechoslovakian legion have volleyed at civilians, leaving 7 dead and 23 wounded.<ref name="Zoch1" /> Most of these soldiers have taken a lion's share in the destruction of Hungarian and [[Habsburg]] statues and monuments.<ref name="Legions">{{cite web |
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|author=Vladimír Jancura |
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|title=Mesto zastonalo, keď cisárovnú strhli z koňa (The city has groaned, when the empress was tore off the horse) |
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|language=Slovak |
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|publisher=Pravda (Perex a.s.) |
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|url=http://spravy.pravda.sk/mesto-zastonalo-ked-cisarovnu-strhli-z-kona-fm0-/sk_domace.asp?c=A101017_121614_sk_domace_p58 |
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|date=2010-10-17 |
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|accessdate=2011-03-24}}</ref> |
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Another aspect of the anti-Hungarian sentiment was the hatred towards all the statues and monuments representing [[Austria-Hungary]] or Hungarian historical people. National socialist [[MP|MPs]] of the Czechoslovak National Assembly have been calling for the demolition of such works of art as early as 1920.<ref name="Legions" /> The hatred however wasn't limited to sculptures only: Hungarian books were burned in [[Poprad]]<ref name="deportation">{{cite book |
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|author=Tipary Lászlóné–Tipary László |
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|title=Szülõföldem szép határa… - Magyarok deportálása és kitelepítése szülõföldjükrõl Csehszlovákiában az 1946–1948-as években (Beatiful borders of my homeland... - Deportation and forceful evacuation of Hungarians from their homeland at Czechoslovakia in the years of 1946-1948) |
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|language=Hungarian |
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|publisher=Lilium Aurum |
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|page = 26 |
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|date = 2004 |
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|url= http://mek.niif.hu/02700/02796/02796.pdf |
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|ISBN = 80-8062-199-3 |
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|accessdate=2011-03-24}}</ref> and possibly other locations<ref name="jankovics">{{cite web |
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|author=János Lukáts |
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|title=A szigorú virrasztó ébresztése (Raising of the strict watcher) |
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|language=Hungarian |
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|publisher=Magyar Szemle |
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|date = 2001-04 |
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|url= http://www.magyarszemle.hu/szamok/2001/2/a_szigoru_virraszto |
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|accessdate=2011-03-24}}</ref> as well. Concurrently some of the statues were destroyed as well: the millenium monument along with the [[Árpád]] statue in [[Devín]] was blown up using dynamite,<ref name="Legions" /> the statue of [[Maria Theresa]] in [[Bratislava]] (pictured) was brought down using ropes tied to trucks.<ref name="jankovics" /> Statues of [[Lajos Kossuth]] were destroyed in [[Rožňava]], [[Lučenec]], [[Dobšiná]] and [[Nové Zámky]], also a statue of [[Ferenc Rákóczi]] in [[Brezno]] and numerous others.<ref name="Legions" /> In almost all of the cases the perpetrators were the soldiers of the Czechoslovakian legion.<ref name="Legions" /> The police and government officials were watching the process idly and decided to intervene only after the mob has begun to take over shops and properties of German enterpreneurs.<ref name="Legions" /> |
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Hungarians (and other minorities e.g. [[German people|Germans]] and [[Rusyns]] as well) were excluded from the constituent assembly, barring them from having any influence on the new Czechoslovak constitution.<ref name="Zoch1_1">{{cite book |
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|author=Béla Angyal |
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|title=Érdekvédelem és önszerveződés - Fejezetek a csehszlovákiai magyar pártpolitika történetéből 1918-1938 (Protection of interests and self-organization - Chapters from the history of the politics of Hungarians in Czechoslovakia) |
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|language=Hungarian |
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|publisher=Lilium Aurum |
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|page = 23-27 |
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|date = 2002 |
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|url= http://mek.niif.hu/01800/01869/01869.pdf |
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|ISBN = 80-8062-117-9 |
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|accessdate=2011-03-24}}</ref> |
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Later on, all the minorities have gained the right to use their languages in municipalities where they constituted at least 20% of the population even in communication with government offices and courts. However due to [[gerrymandering]] and disproportionate distribution of population between [[Bohemia]] and [[Slovakia]] the Hungarians had little (if any) representation in the National Assembly and thus their influence on the politics of Czechoslovakia remained limited. The same considerations have limited the Slovak [[intelligentsia]]'s political power as well.<ref name="Zoch1_1" /> |
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=== Hungarians in Czechoslovakia during and after [[World War II]] === |
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During the [[World War II]] era, Nazi-allied Hungary regained some areas of Slovakia under the [[First Vienna Award]] of 1938. These territories were returned to Czechoslovakia when Hungary was defeated at the conclusion of World War II [[Paris Peace Treaties, 1947|Treaty of Paris]] (with the exception of [[Carpathian Ruthenia]] which was annexed to the [[Soviet Union]]). |
During the [[World War II]] era, Nazi-allied Hungary regained some areas of Slovakia under the [[First Vienna Award]] of 1938. These territories were returned to Czechoslovakia when Hungary was defeated at the conclusion of World War II [[Paris Peace Treaties, 1947|Treaty of Paris]] (with the exception of [[Carpathian Ruthenia]] which was annexed to the [[Soviet Union]]). |
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{{Expand section|date=March 2011}} |
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==The controversy about the Gabčíkovo - Nagymaros Dams== |
==The controversy about the Gabčíkovo - Nagymaros Dams== |
Revision as of 22:44, 24 March 2011
Hungary |
Slovakia |
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Hungary–Slovakia relations are the foreign relations between the Republic of Hungary and the Slovak Republic, two neighbouring countries in Central Europe. The countries established diplomatic relations in 1993[citation needed], the year when Slovakia became independent of Czechoslovakia. Hungary has an embassy in Bratislava, Slovakia has an embassy in Budapest and a general consulate in Békéscsaba.
Both countries are full members of NATO and of the European Union. They share 676 kilometres (420 mi) of common borders. There are approximately 520,000[1] persons of Hungarian descent living in Slovakia (about 9.5% of its population) and around 39,266 persons of Slovak descent living in Hungary (about 0.38% of its population).[note 1] There have been frequent if minor diplomatic conflicts between the two countries.
History
Slavs arrived to the Western Carpathians in the 7th century. In the 9th century most of the Western Carpathians belonged to Great Moravia. Hungarians are thought to have arrived in the late 9th century,[2] and occupied the Pannonian Basin, including the western portions of Great Moravia.
The Czech National Revival in the neighbouring Austrian lands significantly affected Slovak national sentiment, and use of the Slovak language which was being encroached upon by nationally sanctioned dominance of Hungarian. Following World War I, areas designated by the Allied states (predominantly the United States, in accordance with Woodrow Wilson's Fourteen Points) as Slovak became part of the new state of Czechoslovakia, according to the Treaty of Trianon (1920). The arrangement left a Hungarian minority residing on the territory of Slovakia, analogous to the German minority in the Czech lands, and a much smaller Slovak minority in Hungary. The Hungarian Soviet Republic subsequently attempted to invade Slovakia, but was defeated by a Czechoslovak-Romanian coalition.
During the World War II era, Nazi-allied Hungary regained some areas of Slovakia under the First Vienna Award of 1938. These territories were returned to Czechoslovakia when Hungary was defeated at the conclusion of World War II Treaty of Paris (with the exception of Carpathian Ruthenia which was annexed to the Soviet Union).
The controversy about the Gabčíkovo - Nagymaros Dams
The Malina controversy
Hedvig Malina, a Hungarian student from Horné Mýto, Slovakia, made claims of being physically assaulted in a hate crime incident.[3] Malina claims she was severely beaten and robbed on 25 August 2006 in Nitra after speaking Hungarian in public.[3][4][5] She claims her attackers wrote "SK [abbreviation for Slovakia] without parasites" (Slovak: SK bez parazitov), and "Hungarians to the other side of the Danube" (Slovak: Maďari za Dunaj) on her clothes. Upon investigation of the incident by Slovak Police, Malina was accused of making misleading statements to the police and has been charged with perjury.[6] In December 2007, Slovak police released a video tape of the initial hearing to Malina's lawyers, who are now claiming irregularities in the way the interview had been conducted.[7][8][9] Malina has taken her case to the European Court of Human Rights, challenging what she terms the "inhumane and humiliating" conduct of Slovak officials.[4]
Confirmation of the Beneš decrees
In the summer of 2007, Party of the Hungarian Coalition has proposed a law that would grant compensation by "moral and financial means" for Hungarians harmed by the Beneš decrees of former Czechoslovakia.[10] This compensation was to consist of a fund that would be available to the Hungarian community is Slovakia by various means.[citation needed] A similar fund exists to compensate the Germans and the Jews for the wrongdoings of 1939-47.[citation needed] Differences between the two cases exist, and it is claimed[by whom?] the analogy is weak.[citation needed] Hungarians were never expelled (as were the Germans), nor exterminated in death camps (as were the Jews). All ethnically Slovak members voted to confirm the decrees; Hungarian leaders voted against them.[11] The then Hungarian President László Sólyom said the decision was unacceptable and that it would put a strain on Hungarian-Slovak relations.[12]
Slovak riot police beating of Hungarian football fans
A November 1, 2008 soccer match between FC Dunajska Streda and Slovan Bratislava was disrupted by Slovak riot police after only 15 minutes injuring more than 60 people, many of whom lost consciousness or suffered injuries including concussion and broken jaws.[13] Local policemen stormed Hungarian nationals, who were at the game to support the home team and to protest the burning of a Hungarian flag at an earlier game.[13] flags with Árpád stripes, favoured by the extreme right in Hungary, were being waved and the home crowd sang the Hungarian national anthem before kickoff.[13]
Press reports from the scene said that the police failed to act against Bratislava supporters who were throwing smoke bombs, noise grenades and other missiles on the pitch.[13] Based on videos posted on the internet showing the incident from various angles the supporters were not doing anything that would warrant such an intervention by police.[13] Five days after the game the Slovak police presented a photo as evidence, showing one of the supporters raising his fist to throw a punch, but police officers can not be seen on the image.[13] Spontaneous demonstrations were held in Budapest at the embassy and the consulate of Slovakia on the night of the incident.[13] Protesters lit candles to honor the victims and burned a Slovak flag.[13]
Claims of Hungarian irredentism in Viktor Orbán speech
Hungarian opposition leader, chairman of Fidesz, Viktor Orbán delivered a campaign speech in Esztergom, Hungary on May 23, 2009, two weeks before the 2009 European elections, in which he wondered how many MEPs will represent the Hungarians from the Carpathian Basin.[note 2][14] (This geographical region, the traditional area of the Kingdom of Hungary, includes areas of Romania, Slovakia, Serbia, Ukraine, Croatia and Austria.) The governing coalition of Slovakia condemned the move.[15]
Language laws
Slovak language law
In 2009 the Slovak parliament passed a language law, mandating preferential use of the state language – Slovak.[16] Use of a non-state language in state institutions (local government, hospital, police) by citizens interacting with it could carry a financial penalty. The law doesn't interfere with private use of minority languages.[17]
Reaction of Hungary
Gordon Bajnai, the Hungarian Prime Minister, has charged Slovakia of scapegoating Hungarian speakers.[18] According to the Hungarian standpoint, depriving a local government from its right to ensure making any minority language use at windows possible if ratio of that minority on the settlement was under 10% was unacceptable, only relieving them from an obligation to ensure that would be acceptable by European standards under any percentage. Prohibiting to use it in hospitals, or making it illegal for a postman to hand over a monthly pension if the pensioner can only acknowledge in Hungarian that she is currently receiving her monthly pension was considered endangering basic human rights.The Government of Hungary turned to the EU institutions to request the law from Slovakia in, analize it according to the requirements of EU treaties and conventions and nullify any points they find contradicting them.
The leaders of EU stated that national legislation is under the authority of member nation states, and while EU was founded in order to avert conflicts and solve it in it, bilateral relations doesn't have to take place in the European Parliament. Yet according to request the procedure of checking the conformity of the law the EU institutions naturally start.
Some members of the Government of Hungary during interviews expressed their expectation from older members states to make their presence felt not only when their economic expansion can be achieved, but when there are problems, and try to investigate problems and get informed about marginally known territory when that is necessary.
After the EU handed over the list it found in breach with regulation accepted by Slovakia by being a member the Government told the press it will keep its attention on the process of the modifications and will report again if the result after deadline it considers unsatisfactory.
Press and international reaction
Hungarian foreign minister Péter Balázs compared the creation of the language law to the politics of the Ceauşescu regime on the use of language.[19][20][21] Hungarian newspaper Budapest Times has questioned the dual standards for use the Czech language in Slovakia,[22] however this charge ignores the mutual intelligibility between Czech and Slovak,[23] which render them compatible in business and law.
Opponents have described the law as one that "criminalises the use of Hungarian",[24] According to OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities Knut Vollebæk the language law complies with international law and Slovakia's international obligations.[25] The Party of the Hungarian Coalition (MKP) asked the Slovak Government to release communication exchanged between them and Vollebæk[26] so that the opinion of Vollebæk regarding the law could not be misrepresented or distorted. According to the Slovak Ministry of Foreign Affairs the report was released unchanged and in full. Spokesman Peter Stano stated: "It is obvious that the Party of the Hungarian Coalition was unable to question the reliability of Vollebæk report, that law is following the legitimate goal and it's in accordance with all international norms." [27] Vollebaek will monitor the situation until the law on minority language use will reach the level of the state language law.[28]
Minorities in Hungary
Hungary states any national-cultural identification that is compatible with western human right values is equal and as long as they are not in breach with them allows free cultural activity. At the request of minorities names of settlements can be written at their border in their language also, this has been done to many settlements. In practice this means German and Slavic names. Minority local governments operate. Because of the general homogenous state of the country and because of the economic limits of building greater networks in a country with such size presence of minorities can only be found if searched for. Employees speaking foreign languages may find it necessary to go to offices specialized for them. English and German forms of documents are mostly available.
Minorities lacked national treatment during the communist times. Marxism defined nationalism, mythic symbology, irrational allocation of resources for artistic reasons and language as enemies of the masses. Mythic, middle-ages symbology and labour-allocation for details on swords etc. was described as producing opium, sold by the feudal lords. Different languages constituted barriers among people and nationalism was used to make people think the feudal lords were defending them from conquest and national assimilation, a death in spirit. According to Marx in reality they defended the form of exploitation, 'nation', by presenting exploiters as defenders. Territorial changes were just replacing exploiter feudal lords. The savior-picture of nobles defending peasants from armies of enemy nobles and the language barriers prevented people from recognizing and uniting against their common oppressor. Russian language and Soviet culture was promoted, even from Hungarian history only peasant-rebels, folk-poets and Republican revolutioners were promoted. No national cultural life was supported. This resulted in remaining Slovaks feeling themselves deprived from their national identity.
According to Slovak historian Ladislav Deák, during the communist rule in Hungary, most of the Slovak minority who didn't emigrate were stripped of their Slovak identity.[29][30] Jenő Kaltenbach, Hungarian ex-ombudsman for national minorities and president of the German Minority Self-Government in Hungary, said that "minorities in Hungary, without exception, are on edge of abyss of their identity", "the national minorities were practically assimilated and action programs for them are just an illusion". He also said that the Hungarian minority language law is in category of "nice to hear, but full of unrealised law norms".[31][32]
Komárno incident
In August 2009 the Hungarian president, László Sólyom, planned a visit to the Slovak city of Komárno to unveil a statue commemorating a Hungarian monarch. The day of the visit, August 21 coincided with a national Hungarian holiday commemorating the Hungarian Kingdom, as well as the date of the Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia, of which Hungary was a participant. The Slovak government labelled the timing deliberate provocation, and questioned the president's refusal to meet with Slovak delegates.[33] The Slovak government issued a one-day travel ban in response,[34] and manned the bridge with policemen to prevent rioting.[35] Sólyom did not enter Slovakia.[citation needed] The government of Hungary called the ban "unfounded" and "unacceptable".[36] Hungary plans to lodge a complaint with the EU,[37] however, according to der Standard, the European Commission does not want to concern itself with the case.[38]
Attack on the Slovak Embassy
Attack on the embassy itself
On August 26, 2009, a few days after the Komárno incident, two Molotov cocktails were thrown at the Slovak embassy in Budapest, causing no casualties as the flammable fluids did not ignite or detonate.[39] Authorities condemned the attack.[40] The foreign ministry of Slovakia stated they view the incident with great concern, but at the same time "it is seen as an isolated criminal offence".[41]
Attack on the Slovak ambassador
On August 27, 2009, one day following the armed attack on the embassy, a Hungarian driver attempted to run the diplomatic car of Peter Weiss off the road while driving in the Budapest traffic. Though the diplomatic vehicle remained on the road, the driver begun to verbally assault its occupants. The driver and his accomplices were stopped and it is now being investigated whether the outburst was connected to the Embassy attack. The Slovak government did not condemn the attack as a good-will gesture towards Hungary.[42][43]
Political statements by a leading member of the Slovak governing coalition
Following the Slovak parliamentary elections of 2006 the far-right Slovak National Party (SNS) became a small part of the governing coalition. Ján Slota, chairman of SNS is known for anti-Hungarian sentiment. Der Spiegel and various international media outlets have reported Slota as saying “The Hungarians are a tumor in the body of the Slovak nation.” [44][45][46][47] He also threatened to send tanks to "flatten Budapest" should Slovakia's Hungarian minority, once the ruling class and still about 10 percent of the country's population today, attempt to teach the Slovaks "the Lord's Prayer in Hungarian" once again.[48] Slota also called Hungarians the descendants of "ugly, bow-legged, Mongoloid characters on disgusting horses".[48]
Historical revisionism
It has been alleged that Deputy PM Robert Fico has been engaging in historical revisionism in the government's update of the national curriculum.[49][50] Slovak political scientist Miroslav Kusý claims that by adopting such scientifically questionable rhetoric Fico aims to "strengthen national consciousness by the falsification of history".[51] It is not known whether this issue has affected relations between the states.
The Slovak National Party has sidelined a long-planned joint textbook with the former imperial power, Hungary, and is promoting instead a Slovak-centred view of the country’s patchwork past.[52]
Hungarian nationality law reform and bill of the day of national unity
On May 26, 2010, the FIDESZ-dominated newly elected Hungarian Parliament voted to give the ethnic Hungarians living in other countries the right to claim Hungarian citizenship [53] without requiring them to live in Hungary.[54] The only requirements are a Hungarian ancestry and a command of Hungarian.[55] The purpose of the government MEPs was reunification of the nation according to their own evaluation of who is in need of being granted simplified process of citizenship. The requirements were eased as address in Hungary was not required anymore.
Slovak political force condemned the move and initiated a law that makes a person loose its Slovak citizenship if it takes up another in order to discourage them from doing that. The Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico called the proposed reforms a threat to national security.[55][56] In response to the passage of the Hungarian nationality law reform Slovakia altered its own citizenship law, stripping Slovak citizenship from any Slovak citizen who applies for another citizenship (not applicable if naturalisation procedure is initiated by another states' authorities); in effect highly restricting its recognition of dual citizenship.[54][55] Radical Slovak politician Jan Slota stated that as many Hungarians live on both side of the Danube, the next step by them after getting their citizenship can be the demand of being annexed back to Hungary. For this reason he considered his and others' fears justified, and told the press he obviously doesn't accuse Slovaks living in Australia to have the intention of annexing it to Australia, but with Hungary they believe their fear has rational bases.
On 31 May 2010 the Hungarian Parliament declared June 4, the day on which Hungary signed the Treaty of Trianon in 1920, the day of national unity. The bill was criticized by opposition members, former Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsány wrote in his blog 'The law wants to heal the injuries of Trianon but only makes new ones.' The bill was voted by 302 representatives (55 rejected, 12 abstained) and it states that:" Every member and community of the Hungarians,who are forced to live under several foreign authorities, is a part of the unified Hungarian nation, whom unity above all state borders is a reality, moreover it is an important element of the individual and universal self-identity of every Hungarian."[citation needed]
'For Slovakia the Treaty of Trianon bears a historical importance' ,Slovak President Ivan Gasparovic reacted on the new bill.'It is a valid document, which was accepted by every signatory's own will. It must be obeyed, its purposes and consequences must not be questioned!' Gasparovic expressed fears that the new Hungarian government and Parliament wants to make a change in foreign policy and wants a revision of the treaty.
The second Orbán Government didn't announce such change which would have been a deviation of the long-term political strategy accepted in the early 1990s, which was the former Orbán Government's strategy also. Hungary at the beginning of the 1990s accepted a constant foreign political strategy of pushing through negotiations and by diplomacy in international organizations for equal treatment of minorities and trying to make sure level of treatment doesn't drop in surrounding states while acknowledging she has no right to interfere with their legislation which is their sovereignty. Hungary has also expressed several times - also in this very bill - that it does not seek any territorial revision. Seeking it would endanger peace and would most probably end its membership in EU and NATO.
According to an opinion piece by Slovak[57][58][note 3] journalist Martin M. Šimečka the law resembles the Russian policy of granting citizenship to the inhabitants of the Georgian region of South Ossetia prior to the war of 2008, in which the Russian forces claimed to be protecting new Russian citizens on the Georgian territory.[59] (Note: both Hungary and Slovakia are European Union and NATO members.)
The Hungarian step triggered tensions between the two countries,[56] and sparked an angry response from Slovakia.[55] Slovakia strongly opposes the plan.[56] Slovakia itself allowed dual citizenship at the time,[55] and allowed a limited right of return for ethnic Slovaks (see Slovak nationality law). Of Hungary's neighbours, only Slovakia has objected to the move.[55]
See also
Notes
- ^ According to 2001 Hungarian census
- ^ Most Hungarian people live scattered across the whole Carpathian Basin and have become separated by state borders due to the Treaty of Trianon of 1920.
- ^ born to a Slovak mother and a Czech father in Bratislava, Czechoslovakia
References
- ^ C.M. Breuning, Eleonore; Dr. Lewis, Jill; Pritchard, Gareth (2005). Power and the people: a social history of Central European politics, 1945-56. Manchester University Press. p. 146. ISBN 0719070694, 9780719070693.
{{cite book}}
: Check|isbn=
value: invalid character (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=
(help); Invalid|ref=harv
(help) - ^ Hungary. (2010). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved April 03, 2010, from Encyclopædia Britannica Online: http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/276730/Hungary
- ^ a b "Malina case bungled: Prosecutor". Budapest Times. Retrieved 2008-03-11.
- ^ a b "Maligned Hungarian seeks higher justice". The Budapest Times. 2007-12-10.
{{cite web}}
:|access-date=
requires|url=
(help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=
(help); Missing or empty|url=
(help) - ^ "Une étudiante met le feu aux poudres ("A student lights the smoking gun")" (in French). lepetitjournal.com. 18 September 2006. Retrieved 2008-04-01.
- ^ "dviga Malinová vypočujú dvoch policajtov[[Category:Articles containing Slovak-language text]]". 25 August 2009. Retrieved 2009-09-29.
{{cite web}}
: URL–wikilink conflict (help) - ^ "The record of the interrogation of Hedvig Malina has been leaked out" (in Hungarian). Origo. Retrieved 2008-02-12.
{{cite web}}
: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=
(help) - ^ "Why were three policemen present at the hearing of Hedvig Malina?" (in Hungarian). Index. Retrieved 2008-02-12.
{{cite web}}
: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=
(help) - ^ "Video leaked out: what happened during the interrogation of Hedvig Malina?" (in Hungarian). Hírszerző. Retrieved 2008-02-12.
{{cite web}}
: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=
(help) - ^ KDH denies the correction of the wrongdoings of the Benes-decrees in Hungarian
- ^ Beneš Decrees confirmed in Slovakia in Hungarian
- ^ Sólyom: Slovak decision unacceptable in Hungarian
- ^ a b c d e f g h Leitner, Attila (2008-11-10). "Hungarians attacked". The Budapest Times. Retrieved 2010-06-04.
- ^ "Uszításnak tartja Fico Orbán kampánybeszédét". Origo.hu. 1999-01-31. Retrieved 2011-02-28.
- ^ Gaál Csaba:. "Elítélte Orbán kijelentését a szlovák parlament | Közélet | Világgazdaság Online". Vg.hu. Retrieved 2011-02-28.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: extra punctuation (link) - ^ "Int'l intellectuals protest against Slovak language law". News.xinhuanet.com. 2009-08-30. Retrieved 2011-02-28.
- ^ National council of Slovak republic - language law.
- ^ "Bajnai: A kisebbségek ügye szent és sérthetetlen". Inforadio.hu. Retrieved 2011-02-28.
- ^ "Kiakasztotta a szlovákokat Balázs Péter". Index.hu. 2009-09-19. Retrieved 2011-02-28.
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suggested) (help) - ^ a b c d e f "Slovaks retaliate over Hungarian citizenship law". BBC. 2010-05-26. Retrieved 2010-05-27.
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