Conflict Stirs Over Hungarians

• by Pavol Stracansky (bratislava)
• Wednesday, May 19, 2010
• Inter Press Service

Analysts say that the election of populist prime minister Viktor Orban in Hungary last month coupled with the beginning of an election campaign as Slovakia goes to the polls next month will raise conflicts between the two states that will affect the Hungarian minority.

Kalman Petocz, director of international relations at the Forum Minority Research Institute organisation in Samorin, southern Slovakia, told IPS: 'If relations between Bratislava and Budapest are bad, the Hungarian minority could suffer with accusations of them being a 'fifth column' promoting Budapest's interests in Slovakia, or of being irredentists.

'What is needed is that Slovakia and Hungary's governments have normal, good relations.'

Analysts in both countries have predicted a nosedive in already strained relations between both countries following elections in Hungary last month and the start of campaigning for parliamentary elections as Slovakia heads for the polls next month.

The right-wing Fidesz party won elections in April in Hungary securing a two-thirds majority in parliament. The far-right Jobbik party, which has backed more rights for Hungarians living abroad and autonomy for ethnic Hungarian communities in some states, won 26 seats out of 386 in parliament. Although it will be in opposition, experts say that it will put pressure on the Fidesz government to adopt a nationalistic foreign policy that runs the risk of provoking conflict with Slovakia.

Peter Kreko, analyst with the Budapest-based Political Capital Institute think- tank, told IPS: 'Jobbik will use its position in opposition to attack Fidesz, using foreign policy as their target and try to claim that Fidesz is not doing enough for Hungarians abroad.

'Fidesz will want to try and stop supporters going over to Jobbik and will use foreign policy to do this. They could end up getting into a competition with Jobbik on foreign policy.'

Populist Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico and his Smer party will also be looking to secure as many votes as possible in elections in June, including trying to woo supporters of the far-right Slovak National Party (SNS).

'Conflicts with neighbouring countries, Slovakia especially, can be expected now. Slovakia has elections coming up and Slovak PM Robert Fico will want to get as many voters from the SNS as possible and will probably try to provoke conflict with Budapest,' said Kreko.

Almost one tenth of Slovakia's 5.4 million population is ethnic Hungarian. Many members of the Hungarian minority in Slovakia complain of prejudice at a political level and among majority Slovak society.

Critics have accused the current governing coalition, which includes the SNS, of leading a campaign against the Hungarian minority during the past four years of government. The PM and Smer Interior Minister Robert Kalinak publicly denounced an ethnic Hungarian girl who reported to police that she had been attacked by two skinheads who heard her talking in Hungarian. They claimed she had faked the entire attack -- despite medical evidence she had been beaten -- and accused her of being part of an anti-government conspiracy.

The government has also refused to allow the use of Hungarian names for Slovak cities in books at ethnic Hungarian schools and introduced a new law on the use of foreign languages in Slovakia which was branded discriminatory and totalitarian by rights groups, and led to accusations from Budapest that the law institutionalised surveillance of Hungarians in Slovakia.

Tensions have existed between the two states over territory and national identity dating as far back as the end of World War I when the Austro- Hungarian empire was carved up and Hungary lost much of its territory, including parts of what is modern-day Slovakia. At the end of World War II many ethnic Hungarians were forcibly expelled from then Czechoslovakia after Hungary had allied itself to Hitler's Nazi Germany in the war.

Conflicts over that and the status of the ethnic Hungarian minority left in Slovakia were suppressed during the Cold War when both nations had communist regimes in place. But with the fall of the Iron Curtain in 1989 some politicians on both sides decided to exploit unresolved issues for their own gain, experts argue.

They say Slovak and Hungarian politicians are still using the issue to win votes and that the rise in popularity of right wing movements, including political parties such as Jobbik and the SNS, has made the situation worse.

Relations have already been strained after Orban immediately put forward a bill to the Hungarian parliament which would make it easier for ethnic Hungarians living abroad to gain Hungarian citizenship. Slovak PM Fico denounced the plans, though, and called for Budapest to immediately consult with Slovakia on the new legislation and its possible effects.

But some experts believe that the plan, although controversial, could provide an opportunity for Bratislava and Budapest to adopt a new stance in their relations and the rights of the ethnic Hungarian minority in Slovakia.

Petocz said: 'The Hungarian government should consult with Bratislava. But the Slovak government needs to realise that not everyone who criticises its policy on minorities is automatically an irredentist. It must admit that there is still a lot to improve when it comes to minority policies.

'But at the same time the Budapest government has to realise that on this issue Slovakia has to be treated as an equal partner. There has to be dialogue and that has to be real, open and sincere dialogue, not just empty gestures.'

© Inter Press Service (2010) — All Rights ReservedOriginal source: Inter Press Service

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