March 28, 2000

The Hungarian Coalition Party's (HCP) Council for Local Self-Governments called upon the government and its coalition council to reconcile different viewpoints and finalize, without further delay, a public administration reform concept, even if it requires a special meeting. HCP Vice President József Kvarda pointed out that both bodies needlessly keep putting off a political decision to reform and modernize public administration. Kvarda also pointed out that, in its present structure, public administration of the country fails to meet the international criteria necessary for Slovakia's integration into the European Union. [SME Daily (Bratislava), March 28, 2000]

March 15, 2000

All over the country, tens of thousands of ethnic Hungarians commemorated the 152nd anniversary of the 1848 Hungarian Revolution. In the overwhelmingly Hungarian-inhabited Komárno/Komárom, Hungarian Coalition Party (HCP) Honorary President Miklós Duray addressed a group of over 1,000 citizens with parliamentary deputies, state administration officials and other prominent guests present. [TASR Press Agency (Bratislava), March 15, 2000]

March 14, 2000

József Kvarda, Chairman of the Hungarian Coalition Party's (HCP) Council on Self-Government, became President of CSEMADOK, the cultural umbrella organization of Hungarians in Slovakia, succeeding Péter Kolár in this post. Recently, Kolár was awarded the Presidential Golden Medal by Hungarian President Árpád Göncz for his long-time efforts on behalf of ethnic Hungarian culture in Slovakia.[Hungarian Radio (Budapest), Mar. 14, 2000]

March 11, 2000

During his discussion with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, Slovak Premier Mikulás Dzurinda said that his government "would like the ethnic Hungarian minority in Slovakia to feel at home" in the country, just as he would like the ethnic Slovaks to feel likewise in Hungary. Dzurinda and Orbán met in Békéscsaba, a Hungarian town with a significant number of ethnic Slovaks. [OMRI Daily Digest (Prague), Mar. 13, 2000]

March 9, 2000

In a statement, Péter Miklósi, spokesman for Deputy Prime Minister for Human Rights, Minorities and Regional Development Pál Csáky rejected a recent criticism of the country's treatment of minorities by various human rights organizations in Brussels. "Minority rights in Slovakia have not met all of the expectations of any minority," admitted Miklósi, "but the government has made noteworthy progress in this area." [OMRI Daily Digest (Prague), Mar. 13, 2000]

March 8, 2000

The European Union Commission is ready to open negotiations with Slovakia on eight of 31 sections contained the EU's Aquis Communautaire for membership. The first areas under discussions will be education, science and research, foreign policy and security, economic cooperation, statistics, culture and audio-visual policy, reported the CTK Press Agency. Slovak Ambassador to the EU Juraj Migas commented that the government is not surprised by the commission's recommendations but feels that the country is ready to begin negotiating on 15 sections. [OMRI Daily Digest (Prague), March 9, 2000]

One of the numerous Roma organizations in the country, the Roma Civic Initiative (ROI) stated that the minority language law is not being implemented in 57 communities that are in fact 20 percent or more Roma inhabited. [OMRI Daily Digest (Prague), March 9, 2000]

March 7, 2000

Commenting on the Hungarian Coalition Party's call to establish the office of ombudsman for human rights, Slovak Democratic Coalition Deputy Ladislav Orosz said that Pál Csáky, Deputy Prime Minister for Human Rights, Minorities and Regional Development, has never initiated such measure. Juraj Hrabko, head of the government's separate Department for Human Rights and Minorities, corrected Orosz's assertion and confirmed that Csáky proposed setting up the ombudsman's office already last year, and officially reiterated his position this February. Slovakia is one of the few European countries without the institution of ombudsman. [SME Daily (Bratislava), March 8, 2000]

March 6, 2000

During his one-day visit to Slovakia, British Foreign Minister Robin Cook praised the Mikulás Dzurinda-led government's efforts to improve the situation of minorities in general and the Roma in particular. Cook also declared the United Kingdom's "political and moral support" for Slovakia's effort to join the EU and NATO. [OMRI Daily Digest (Prague), March 7, 2000]

March 3, 2000

Commenting on his discussion with the Council of Europe delegation which recently visited the country to monitor implementation of the Framework Convention on the Protection of National Minorities [see report of February 29, 2000], Chairman of the Parliamentary Human Rights Committee László A. Nagy stated that "Although Slovakia meets the provisions of the Convention, many questions remain unsolved." Members of the delegation agreed with A. Nagy that citizens of the country need to realize they live in a multi-ethnic society. The delegation also pointed out that issues related to the Roma minority have not yet been dealt with to the extent necessary. [Új Szó (Bratislava/Pozsony), March 3, 2000]

In the Roznava/Rozsnyó District, only 50 percent of ethnic Hungarian children of school age attend Hungarian-language schools, a study conducted by the Alliance of Hungarian Teachers in Slovakia revealed. The report also pointed out that due to decades of neglect in Hungarian-language teacher training, the average age of ethnic Hungarian teachers is 49.8 years in the district. [HTMH Observer (Budapest), March 8, 2000]

March 1, 2000

In its current form, the draft amendment to the Constitution is "not mature enough to be discussed in Parliament," holds a statement released by the Hungarian Coalition Party (HCP) following a board meeting. HCP President Béla Bugár disclosed that the current draft fails to address the legal status of ethnic minorities as well as appointing an ombudsman for human rights and providing its institutional framework. [TASR Press Agency (Bratislava), March 1, 2000]

The Hungarian Coalition Party (HCP) submitted its Bill on Land Ownership. The proposal aims to settle the long-disputed question of unclaimed lands, which has recently led to open clashes between two of the four members of the government coalition—HCP and the Democratic Left Party (DLP). Pál Farkas of the HCP stated that the ethnic Hungarian party drafted the bill despite a coalition agreement to assign a commission of experts to tackle the issue. HCP's law would grant jurisdictional power to local administration bodies, which would then have the authority to lease the lands. The government program of the Mikulás Dzurinda-led cabinet contains the same position, however, Agriculture Minister Pavel Koncos of the DLP strongly opposes such a solution. [Radio Twist (Bratislava), March 1, 2000]