

Hungary and Slovakia

Frost bite

Icy relations between Hungary and Slovakia turn even frostier

See article

Readers' comments



Noone dream about reviesed Trianon, but about equality.

Trianon will never be revised but act with other people as you like that people act with you. If you force someone to do something somedays this someone will force you to do something.

The Slovak government do the same error with their minorities what other government did in the past. The Austrian of 19th with Hungarians, the Hungarians at end of the 19th a with their minorities, the serbs with other yugoslavian nations, the English/French/Spanish people with their colonies. Look the results: war, pain, then finaly separation of territories...

To be honest you in Slovakie looks for autonomie like the separation of a territory. Thats not the fact. Autonomie is somthing like Scotland in UK. It's the part of country.


BB Toronto wrote:

Finally, I would like to ask you to stop referring to my people as gypsies. We are Roma, Romany, Roma and Sinti, but we are not gypsies, especially not with a lower case “g”.

Dear BB,

I would like to remember you that Roma is only a part of the Gypsie society. There are some Gypsie who is angry if you call they Roma, because they are for example: Beas Gypsie, Gitan Gypsie just to refer two of them. The Gypsy is the main name of your ethnic group. Is something like Euro-uralic group of peoples, wherein there are Meditereans or Nordish people for example. Don't be to sensitive for this. To be honest I can't understand what's your problem with word Gypsy? In Hungary there are Musician Gypsies for example, for which people we are proud for and noone use this expression like rascist one.

Otherwise Roma word doest mean only "Men"?
If yes I am a Roma too? Or I am not man...

especially not with a lower case “g”:

Look how much English people refer to themself like "english". In political correctness it should not to fall to the other side of horse.

I don't want to play with your feelings but it leeds nowhere if we are disputing how we should call eachother.

BTW, in Hungary Romas aren't PC too if they refer to me. I Gadjo or something like this... Or they simply call me "peasant" because I work, and they are as they call themself proudly "Soldiers" because they do training in traning rooms and not work. They are proud they don't work... In better case they call me Hungarian. I think they are too. But they don't think except if they need something.

Don't be misunderstand my words, I have Roma friends, just it's really difficult to explain with my english knowledge:
That's fact in Hungary many people fears of Romas. Not because hungarians are rascist but because of bad experiences. There are some Roma people who caused this. Not because they are Roma, just because they are criminals. The other Roma people fear them too. I know/hope these are just a small part of Roma population who commited this crimes, but it's a large number of total crime statistic and exceptionaly in violent crime statistic, and non-Roma Hungarians don't know from which people they should affraid.

And these Roma-commiters are deffending that they are criminated because they are Romas and the Hungarian society is rasist. No, they are because they are criminals... For example, the president of Hungarian Gypsy Municipality is accused of sexual violency, and they don't call of.

The Romas don't get work in Hungary: sadly the fact is that less than 1% of Roma population has any degree. They don't speak languages. The non-roma Hungarians don't get any job with same degrees too. They have the possibilies to learn, my Roma friends did too. Every Roma receive an extra 50 point if they try to join a University (The system is total 480 point agregated the previous school grades and the entering exam points).
All the parliamenter party in Hungary has their own Rome deputy in parliament.
Romas can vote their representatives to the Roman Self-Governement too.
There is Roma party exist too.



If declaring the mother tongue of 10,5% of the inhabitants of a country as official language is "unacceptable" - then there is really not much left to talk about.
What would be acceptable for Slovakia? Assimilation of all Hungarians? Deportation to Hungary? Would that be an acceptable solution?

Of course Finnish are not enthusiastic of having to learn Swedish at school etc. Do you think they would be more enthusiastic if they had icy relations with Sweden for not granting all those rights to the Swedes in Finland?
Do you think Sweden would tolerate "death to all Swedes" graffities in Finland???

M. R.

Dear NDB2,

I have tried to give you now an example that there are multiple minority standards in EU and that the Slovak ones are relatively high ones (although not ideal).

If you consider the Finnish solution, I must disappoint you, this is not going to happen. Speaking to many Finnish, and knowing their very negative opinions on the current state of affairs, I can imagine the reactions in Slovakia. If you condition the good relationship between Slovaks and Hungarians on the requests which are completely unacceptable to one side, then the there is apparently no real will for conciliation but only for victory.


Dear M. R.

So you want to Slovakia to be similar to France, the home of nationalism?
If you want the hatred to continue between the Slovakian and Hungarian nations, just carry on like that.
If you want to solve the problem, please rather take an example from Finland, where with 5% swedes Swedish is an official language.


Dear M. R.,

Thank you for your calm tone. I do appreciate for your understanding.
I also think that communication between the two nations would help to reduce problems.
Nevertheless, I think only speaking in calm tone is not enough at this situation. Slovakia has issued an - at least - fully unnecessarry, but I would rather say racist law. There might be hysteria around it, but it is the slovak government which created this hysteria.

I do not want to go into further discussions with the Sólyom visit, because it is totally unimportant in comparison with the language law.

There are stubborn facts here: Hate speech against Hungarians, a large paranoia among the Slovaks from anything Hungarian, discriminative laws, etc.

At the beginning of this discussion me and some other commenters made a proposal: Hungarians should accept the borders, should stop acting as being better than slovaks (which might have occured sometimes, I admit.)
On the other hand, slovaks should accept not living in a nation state, declare Hungarian as official language (which should be a normal practice in the case of a 10,5% strong minority anyway) and, above all, stop being paranoid about Hungarians.
There is much hatred going on, and looking at your present government I do not see much hope for this, but I know this is the only way.

M. R.

Dear NDB2,

In Slovakia the end-of-year school certificates are considered official documents and these are issued bilingual.

Can you please show me a French driver's license, a French birth certificate or a French ID of a person from Strasbourg in German?

Gabor Lux

Coincidentally, for a state with a 10% Hungarian population,
1) the homepage of the Government of Slovakia (http://www.government.gov.sk/) does not have a section in Hungarian, although it has an English version.
2) the homepage of the President of Slovakia (http://www.prezident.sk/) does not have a section in Hungarian, although it has an English version.
3) the homepage of the Prime Minister of Slovakia (http://www.premiersr.sk/) does not have a section in Hungarian (and also lacks an English version).

And why not? Hungarians make up 10% of Slovakia's population, are tax-paying citizens like everyone else, and the state doesn't even give them the basic courtesy of setting up a Hungarian section for its most important web sites.

M. R.

Dear NDB2,

At the beginning, please note that I am not commenting anything happening in Hungary, as I believe both sides should be reflecting their issues.

In Slovakia, the Hungarian minority has a strong voice, to which the majority listens carefully. The language law and the minority rights laws are always a delicate balance between the majority and minority. I am not saying that the current amendment, or even to put it more generaly, state of affairs is ideal. However, it is also not a state of oppression or sub-standard minority situation. (As BB Toronto noted, the Roma problem is much more acute in Slovakia)

I have lived in Kosice (Kassa) for years, my high school was just next to the Hungarian high school, have had many Hungarian friends and have had an impression of generally very peaceful co-habitation. Benes decrees, Trianon Treate etc., was never subject of discussion, as these were the historical facts with which we cannot do anything. The "ideology according to which the Hungarians in Slovakia, and, [...] Hungarians in Hungary itself, were originally slovaks, but were magyarized throughout history" was completely unknown to me before I started to read this discussion. Please be calm, the majority of Slovaks would find such a notion as ridiculous as I or you do.

To say at the end - I am aware of some incidents happening in Slovakia, but I must say that there is nothing close to "assimilation" going on. It is the hysterical reactions and generalizations of this kind from both sides of Danube which make this situation worse.


Dear M. R.,

So you saw Slovakian official documents in Hungarian?

What documents? Can you show ne a slovakian driver's licence in Hungarian? Or a slovakian birth certificate in Hungarian? A slovakian ID card in Hungarian?

M. R.


(1) Q: "If we are talking about minority rights in Slovakia - have you ever seen an official document written in both Hungarian and Slovak????NEVER!As far as I am aware were the minority population exceeds 20% you should be able to use your language officially.TRUE and FACT!"

Yes, I have seen an official document written in both Hungarian and Slovak.

Yes, you are able to use your language officially in the territories where the minority population exceeds 20%. In fact in some regions, the whole local government is composed purely from Hungarian speaking representatives.

Actually, you can get a complete education - from elementary school to university in Hungarian language in Slovakia.

(2) As to other things: please calm down and read carefuly my text again before posting any emotional comments.


Dear M. R.,

Some facts from the present Slovakia:

You have a law, which, in certain situations, penalize speaking Hungarian, a language being a mother tongue of 10,5% of the inhabitants in that country.

The same law, and a number of other policies, are aiming to assimilate Hungarians by forcing the usage of slovakian language.

This assimilation policy is based on an ideology according to which the Hungarians in Slovakia, and, furthermore, a large number of Hungarians in Hungary itself, were originally slovaks, but were magyarized throughout history.

The same ideology was behind issuing the Benes decrets in 1946, based on which Hungarians (are Germans) collectively, were responsible for WWII. No, not Adolf Hitler and let's say Szálasi, but the Hungarian grandmother and her 2-year-old granddauther were also responsible for WWII.

The same ideology gave right to force hundreds of thousands of Hungarians and millions of Germans out of Czechoslovakia.

Due to the same ideology, Hungarians speaking their mother tongue on the streets are insulted literrally every day in Slovakia by slovaks.

The same ideology gives ground to irrational fears of Slovaks of being "discriminated" by Hungarians. - So, according to its fear - also embodied in the language law - the minority discriminates the majority.

You have a party in the government, the leader of whom called Hungarians a tumour in the slovak nations body, and who was talking about attacking Budapest, the capital of Hungary by tanks

Your police insults Hungarians several times based on their nationality - even Hungarians from Hungary. In a recent case, a Danish citizen was insulted for not speaking slovakian during a road control.

In the case when a Hungarian student was attacked and beaten brutally by slovak racists, your prime minister and your minister of interior called this student a liar, they were stating that she "beat herself", and she was even charged with false testimony. - Although it is very obvious from the facts of the case that she was attacked. The charges against her are still not dropped.

Hate speech against Hungarians is a commonplace in Slovakia. "Hungarians beyond the Danube" and "Death to Hungarians" etc graffities are common.

Just a few facts, nothing more...


newsreader60...you have tunel vision on Trianon treaty, can you understand that you lost the war WWI(for WWII you were on the loosing side as well) and you want to dictate conditions of a post war treaty, you dont know yet that only victor is right...could Serbia dictate the conditions of the Dayton agreement, no...


please you cannot Question the Slovak superiority in this issues

Just look in any text-book wich is not written by History-an from Magyarland!!!


To M.R. and I am sorry to say that sometimes it is more useful to do some self-reflection. The Trianon Treaty was injustice to many Hungarians who were innocent civilians but Slovaks don't even try to understand and ease it for the Hungarians living in Slovakia.The obvious attempts of the current government to assimilate ethnic minorities it not the answer.If you are talking about historical grievancies aren't you Slovaks doing the same ??? This Slovak government is constantly provoking and playing this stupid game and the sad fact is they are winning and gainig preferences. The biggest communist Fico talking about how offensive it is from Solyom( an anti-communist) to come to SK on the day when the communist invasion happened.THIS MAKES ME SICK!
Try to speak Hungarian in Bratislava - I was attacked not once!
And if you want to play little awkard games..Hungary lost its' territories in favour of Czechoslovakia not Slovakia.
Slovakian ignorance has not got limits!


Thank you for pointing out that the UNHCR critical study is about the 1996 language law. It is my mistake to have attributed it to the current one. I apologize. However, unfortunately this only shows that 12 years ago there were similar problems as today.

I do appreciate you looking at both sides of the story and trying to understand it from both perspectives. However, unfortunately you are missing my point if you think I bring up old things in order to create some kind of nostalgia. My point is that we have to LEARN from past events in order to avoid repeating them. Therefore, if Slovaks consider that the pre-Trianon situation was undesirable, then that is not desirable today either. And what is happening is happening today, decisions are made today in with the view that it is ‘normal’ and ‘natural’ that Slovaks can dictate the language use and historical self-understanding to a sizable minority living within their borders. Look at the history of humanity, all conflicts are the results of previously unsolved conflicts. Injustice leads to injustice. These are THE FACTS OF TODAY and not simply some grievances of the past.


Why can Swiss people live with four official languages with pride yet in peace?

Europe is about differences and diversity. When economic boundaries are breaking down, and virtual communities are formed, such penitive law on language usage is really retrograde.

Setting the Swiss standard however would require politicians with courage and ethic that is a difficult combination to package in consumable format for party politics.

We ordinary citizens suffer.

M. R.


(1) As to history:

I brought up the Trianon Treaty in my first article to show the differing perception:
- in Hungary - the feeling of historical injustice
- in Slovakia - the historical fact (in the sense of the past not to be revisited) which gave the nation freedom
I am happy you have confirmed the Hungarian side of the "injustice" story.
However, this is 90 (!) years ago and is as relevant to today's situation as the Slovak claims of their magyarization in the 1868 - 1918. The only way forward is to accept these historical facts and not carry them as a burden today.

(2) As to the language law and UNHCR report:

This is the old UNHCR report on the old language law from 1996 and has NOTHING to do with the new amendments effective as of September 2009. I am sorry to say that, but sometimes it is more useful to turn away from historical grievances and prejudices and try to be more attentive of what is TRUE and FACT today.


"somebody mentioned in this discussion that Slovakia has in parliament and even in the government nationalist party /Slovak national party - leader Jan Slota/ - who really knows whats going on, will know that this National Party is probably so national as Barack Obama is a communist.."

ohh.. Am I right that it was mr Slota who wanted to destroy Budapest with tanks...
hhe said that the hungarians in Slovakia are just a tumour on the nation's body...
also he called Szent István "a clawn on a horse" and found it a pity that the hungarians weren't fully deported from the country as the germans...

truly he is similar to Obama

"And the result is such a kind of provocation, what Hungarian president Solyom wanted to do in one slovak town"

He was invited by the mayor of that slovak town. those weren't invited who called Szent istván "clawn". I think that's acceptable.

aton ra

This is for everybody who dont know real problems in this area of central europe:
Hungarians are till today obsessed with the history of their former kingdom and they do everything to wake it up again. And the result is such a kind of provocation, what Hungarian president Solyom wanted to do in one slovak town /and before in Romania and probably also in Serbia/.
Hungarian politic has two faces:
first for civilized world, when they pretend to do everything correct and right in their country/ for example they have more than 10 years law,that all minorities suppose to have MPs in hungarian parliament - on paper it looks great, in reality it never exist till today. somebody mentioned in this discussion that Slovakia has in parliament and even in the government nationalist party /Slovak national party - leader Jan Slota/ - who really knows whats going on, will know that this National Party is probably so national as Barack Obama is a communist... opposit to hungarian political party FIDESZ of Victor Orban /who pretend to be a party on red wing of political spectrum - but in reality they are true nationalist/, they look like absolutely amateurs from grammar school.
the second hungarian face we know just in central europe: permanent provoking such in Komarno, still asking for more and more right for hungarian minorities in all coutries in region,... I really dont remember when their real activities help to improve neighbourly environment


Dear Sir,

Toronto BB,

I do wish you luck for your work. I agree with some commenters here that you should have made some further research on this story before commenting it. Nevertheless, I totally agree with you that there are minority right misuses not only in Slovakia but also in other countries in the EU, even including some western european countries, too.
All the best for you!


Latest blog posts - All times are GMT
The week explained: March 14th 2014: Fuelling tensions
The Economist explains March 14th, 0:00
The crisis in Venezuela: Another day, more bodies
Americas view March 13th, 16:49
A tribute to Robert Ashley: A perfect life
Prospero March 13th, 16:22
Commodities and the economy: Copper bottomed
Buttonwood's notebook March 13th, 15:58
Germany's Hoeness trial: Uli goes to jail
Charlemagne March 13th, 14:18


Products & events