Foreign Minister Eduard Kukan welcomed a recent proposal made by the new Hungarian President, Ferenc Mádl. At the UN Millennium Summit in New York, Mádl called for adoption of an comprehensive, binding document on the international protection of minorities. [Új Szó (Bratislava/Pozsony), Sep. 12, 2000]

The as-of-yet unrealized goals of the Hungarian Coalition Party (HCP) were the focus of discussion in Bratislava/Pozsony among leaders of the parties in the governing coalition parties. Premier Mikulás Dzurinda claimed that the government has fulfilled about 50 percent of commitments made to HCP but HCP President Béla Bugár called the prime minister’s statement “a huge exaggeration.” “They [the government] failed to take into consideration our opinion when drafting the Minority Language Law,” Bugár said, by way of an example. Commenting on the results of the meeting, Bugár said that he does not think that the problems can be solved. Asked if HCP will quit the government, the HCP President responded “We hope it will not happen. (…) It would require a decision by the National Council of HCP on October 7, and lots of things can happen in a month.” [Új Szó (Bratislava/Pozsony), Sep. 12, 2000]

At a meeting with the Slovak Ambassador to Hungary, Stefan Markus, Political State Secretary in the Hungarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Zsolt Németh, expressed his country’s concern about the planned public administration division of ethnic Hungarian-inhabited territories of southern Slovakia. Németh pointed out that dividing ethnic Hungarians into different public administration units would violate a number of international agreements signed by Slovakia, such as the Slovak-Hungarian Bilateral Agreement and recommendations by the Council of Europe. [Új Szó (Bratislava/Pozsony), Sep. 9, 2000]

The Parliament’s Committee on Immunity did not vote to waive Slovak National Party deputy Vitazoslav Moric’s parliamentary immunity. In a vote of 7 to 7 with one abstention, the committee decided that Moric will not be prosecuted for his recent remarks [see report of August 5, 2000] on the Roma. Moric said that the Roma should be interned in reservations. Hungarian Coalition Party faction leader Gyula Bárdos expressed deep disappointment over the committee’s decision. [Új Szó (Bratislava/Pozsony), Sep. 7, 2000]

István Lanstyák, linguist and professor at the Department of Hungarian Language and Literature at the Comenius University in Bratislava strongly criticized a bill on “language protection” presented by the Minister of Culture, Milan Knazko. The bill introduces fees for violating the Law on the State Language. Lanstyák endorsed any country’s right to protect the language of its majority but rejected the measure’s discriminative nature as it fails to address protection of minority languages, which “need it even more precisely because of their minority [status].” [Új Szó (Bratislava/Pozsony), Sep. 6, 2000]

Following the Vladimir Meciar-led Movement for a Democratic Slovakia’s successful drive to gather the necessary number of signatures on a petition, Slovak President Rudolf Schuster announced a referendum on early elections to be held November 11. The move, which will cost Slovakia an estimated 200 million Slovak Korunas, does not enjoy the support of the governing coalition and other democratic forces in the country. Both Prime Minister Mikulás Dzurinda the Hungarian Coalition Party’s president, Béla Bugár, expressed their hope that voters will stay home. [Új Szó (Bratislava/Pozsony), Sep. 6, 2000]

A Slovak member of the International Roma Union, Gejza Adam, announced that next year an international university for the Roma minority could be opened. The necessary $45 million will be provided by the World Bank, a number of European Roma institutions and the Roma Holocaust Foundation. Plans are for the university to be located in Kosice/Kassa. [Új Szó (Bratislava/Pozsony), Sep. 5, 2000]

The Zoboralja Vocational School for Entrepreneurs was opened in Dolné Obdokovce/Alsóbodok, Nitra/Nyitra District. Education Ministry State Secretary László Szigeti, Deputy Prime Minister for Human Rights, Minorities and Regional Development Pál Csáky and Hungarian Coalition Party President Béla Bugár were present a the ceremony. A Dolné Obdokovce local, Boldizsár Paulisz, donated a house to the school in which the language of instruction is Hungarian. [Új Szó (Bratislava/Pozsony), Sep. 4, 2000]