April 26, 2000

The Parliament’s Committee on the Constitution debated the bill on unrestricted access to information submitted by Deputy Ján Langos. Deputy Chairman of the Committee Miklós Fehér, who is member of the Hungarian Coalition Party, told the Hungarian-language-daily Új Szó that "the bill includes a provision that information must also be made available in the given minority language(s) of those communities that are at minimum 20 percent minority inhabited." The parliamentary debate of the bill is scheduled for May. Currently, legislation on the free access to information has been enacted in Poland, the Czech Republic and Hungary. [Új Szó (Bratislava/Pozsony), Apr. 26, 2000]

April 25, 2000

Deputy Prime Minister for Human Rights, Minorities and Regional Development Pál Csáky continued talks with Head of the Galanta/Galánta District Office, László Pomothy, to encourage local initiatives in attracting foreign investments. Specifically, Philips, the Holland-based electronic multinational company has shown strong interest in building a factory in Galanta. The initiative would create about 2,000 new jobs. Csáky said that the government supports the district’s initiative and is ready to offer Philips tax deductions and other investment benefits while also covering the cost of professional training. Galanta, a 43 percent Hungarian-inhabited district, is home to approximately 40,000 ethnic Hungarians, and is a region where unemployment exceeds the national average of 20 percent. [Új Szó (Bratislava/Pozsony), April 26, 2000]

April 17, 2000

Head of the government’s Department for Human Rights and Minorities Juraj Hrabko resigned following Belgium’s imposition of visa requirements for Slovak citizens due the recent influx of asylum seekers, most of whom were Roma. In his statement to the Hungarian-language daily, Új Szó, Hrabko pointed out that "Belgium is six in a row of countries, which have imposed visa requirements on Slovakia. This number far exceeds my personal limit and I feel I must bear the responsibility." During the 1998 elections, Hrabko was one of a few ethnic Slovaks who decided to run on the Hungarian Coalition Party's ticket. [HTMH Observer (Budapest), April 19, 2000]

April 12, 2000

Vice President of the Hungarian Coalition Party (HCP) Pál Csáky stated at a press conference that the version of the bill on public administration and territorial reform adopted by the government on April 11 is unacceptable for HCP, since it continues to divide the compactly Hungarian inhabited Csallóköz region. Csáky, who also holds the position of Deputy Prime Minister in charge of human rights, minorities and regional development, criticized the bill for dividing overwhelmingly Hungarian-inhabited districts between larger counties, namely Nagyszombat/Trnava and Nyitra/Nitra. Csáky pointed out that Csallóköz—the largest island in Europe’s second-longest river, the Danube—is a distinct geographic entity. Its division into two or three administrative units runs contradictory to common sense and civic interests while it also recalls the 1996 discriminative administrative policy of the Vladimír Meciar regime. Overall, HCP welcomed the government’s decision to adopt the bill whose aim is fundamentally correct but called for further discussion on specific provisions. Csáky said that the Party of the Democratic Left, a government member, will most likely stymie reforms because it disapproves of wide-range restructuring and decentralization. Should the reform, which aims to create a more effective, inexpensive and civilian-friendly administrative system not be implemented by January 1, 2002, it will mean defeat of the entire government, commented Csáky. [Új Szó (Bratislava/Pozsony), April 12, 2000]

April 7, 200

The government approved 10.5 million Slovak Crowns to fund 56 small-scale Roma programs, announced Deputy Prime Minister Pál Csáky's Spokesman Péter Miklósi. Monies will be distributed in three phases, financing Roma culture, enterprises generating employment opportunities and infrastructure investments. Costly long-range programs include renovating a school located in a Roma-inhabited residential area of Kosice/Kassa and improving the social and living conditions of residents in Rudnany/Ötösbánya, central Slovakia. The spokesman also said that this year a total of 30 million Slovak Crowns has been allocated for the Roma community, doubling last year’s amount. Beginning 2001, the European Union will launch a subsidy to support the Roma minority in the amount of 4 million euro. [Magyar Hírlap (Budapest), Apr. 7, 2000]

April 5, 2000

The Hungarian Coalition Party (HCP), the junior member of the four-party governing coalition, will not agree to any further delay in public administration reform, Faction Leader Gyula Bárdos told journalists at a press conference. HCP insists that self-governments be granted not only greater authority but financial resources as well. "HCP argues that newer proposals are unnecessary as their only purpose is to hinder the ongoing reform process. . . the government must make a decision next week on going ahead with the reforms," said Bárdos. Implementation of public administration reforms is part of the commitment the Mikulás Dzurinda-led government has made to comply with European Union standards. [Magyar Nemzet (Budapest), April 5, 2000]

April 3, 2000

The number of students enrolled in Hungarian-language elementary schools is declining at an alarming rate in the region of Kassa/Kosice, eastern Slovakia. Buzica/Buzita, a village of 1,100 with a dominant (80 percent) Hungarian majority, provides home to the only Hungarian-language school in the entire area. Hungarian classes in the nearby Resica/Reste and Vysny Lánec/Felsõlánc were gradually eliminated due to the low enrollment rate. Specifically, only four students in grade 1-4 lived in Resica, therefore, they had to transfer to the Buzica primary school. Here, 65 students receive Hungarian-language education and 29 receive it in Slovak. While the figure may seem high, of these only 15 were first grade students, and the number expected for next year is lower: eight. Moreover, in the Hungarian section of the Buzica school, several classes will have to merge because they do not meet the established minimum of 10 students required by the law. (Magyar Nemzet (Budapest), Apr. 3, 2000)

The majority share of the only Hungarian-language daily, Új Szó, published in Bratislava/Pozsony, was bought by the Germany-based Verlagsgruppe Passau holding company. Since 1989, it is the third owner of the Hungarian-language daily, which prides itself on more than 50 years of existence. (HTMH Observer (Budapest), April 5, 2000)