Anti-Hungarian inscriptions and an obscene picture were spray painted on a statue commemorating the 1848 Hungarian war for independence in the center of Dunajská Streda/Dunaszerdahely, a city with an overwhelming Hungarian majority. The police had recently suspended their unsuccessful investigation into the wave of similar anti-Hungarian vandalism that marred Slovak cities with significant Hungarian populations during March and April [see report of May 24]. The Mayor’s Office has filed criminal charges against the unknown perpetrator. [Új Szó (Bratislava/Pozsony), May 30, 2001]

At a press conference Viliam Obenhauser, Vice-President of the Slovak National Party, called on the population to declare themselves Slovak, regardless of their native language, during the national census now in progress. “Those who consider the Slovak Republic as their homeland are of Slovak nationality,” he contended. Minority organizations have recently launched their own census awareness campaigns urging those belonging to minorities to freely declare their nationality [see report of May 9]. [Új Szó (Bratislava/Pozsony), May 26, 2001]

With the financial help of the Hungarian government and the city of Komárno/Komárom, the Foundation for the János Selye University will launch Hungarian-language instruction in economics in the city beginning this academic year, reported the daily Új Szó. As the institution will be an affiliate department of the Budapest University of Economic Sciences and Public Administration, the latter will provide the requisite academic conditions. Zoltán Szabó, Managing Director of the Foundation for the János Selye University revealed that a total of 300 freshmen will be enrolled in three divisions, namely Finances, Communications and Economic Information Sciences, while the institution will include over 30 visiting professors, mostly from Budapest. Instruction will be exempt from school fees; moreover, students will receive a modest stipend. [Új Szó (Bratislava/Pozsony), June 3 and 25, 2001]

Police have suspended investigation of incidents of anti-Hungarian vandalism [see reports of March 19, 20, 22 and 27] that occurred throughout Slovakia until further leads can be established. After the commemoration of the 1848 Hungarian war for independence on March 15, graffiti inciting against Hungarians was found on Hungarian-related buildings and monuments in four localities—Kosice/Kassa, Bratislava/Pozsony, Rimavska Sobota/Rimaszombat and Senec/Szenc—including the Hungarian Consulate, churches, schools, theaters, bookstores, offices of the Hungarian Coalition Party and statues of Hungarian historical figures. Since the March 22 act, the Hungarian Consulate in Kosice is under permanent surveillance to avoid similar future incidents. [Új Szó (Bratislava/Pozsony), May 24, 2001]

For the first time since 1945, bilingual census questionnaires (Slovak-Hungarian, Slovak-Ruthenian, Slovak-Ukrainian and Slovak-Romany) were prepared to cover regions with significant minority populations [see report of May 9]. Since the Minority Language Law of 1999 specifies a 20 percent threshold however, bilingual census papers are not being used in cities with large Hungarian communities such as Bratislava/Pozsony (over 20,000 ethnic Hungarians) or Kosice/Kassa (over 10,000 ethnic Hungarians). Some infractions have been reported: in some Galanta/Galánta District settlements such as Galanta (40 percent) and Horné Saliby/Felsőszeli (70 percent), census takers did not have bilingual questionnaires available, wrote the Hungarian-language daily Új Szó. [Új Szó (Bratislava/Pozsony), May 22, 2001]

László Szigeti, ethnic Hungarian Educational State Secretary handed over a 130-page feasibility study on a future Hungarian-language faculty at the Konstantin University in Nitra/Nyitra [see report of January 25] to university rector Daniel Kluvanec. The study had been prepared by a group of independent experts and envisions a faculty comprised of six departments, namely mathematics; physics; biology; Hungarian Language and Literature; pedagogy and psychology; history and social sciences. Should the Academic Council of the university approve the document, and subsequently receive a favorable response from the Accreditation Committee in charge of authorizing educational institutions, instruction could be launched as early as September 2001, said Szigeti. The establishment of a Hungarian-language faculty in Nitra to ensure the training of ethnic Hungarian teachers is a main aspiration of the 600 000-strong Hungarian community in Slovakia. [Új Szó (Bratislava/Pozsony), May 17, 2001]

After a meeting of the Slovak Bishops’ Conference (KBS), Bishop Frantisek Tondra, Chairman of the Conference told the press that the body would not nominate an ethnic Hungarian bishop contrary to the wishes of ethnic Hungarian believers. “There is no reason to appoint an ethnic Hungarian bishop, since spiritual care for ethnic Hungarian believers is satisfactory,” he asserted. His statement came in response to a May 6 memorandum signed by the Jó Pásztor [Good Shepherd] Foundation on behalf of the nearly 370,000-member ethnic Hungarian Roman Catholic community, in which the foundation expressed the need for an ethnic Hungarian bishop. The memorandum was issued at the XII. annual national gathering of ethnic Hungarian Catholics, held this time in Komárno/Komárom. According to the document, there are 155 Hungarian parishes in Slovakia of which 54 have no priests, 25 are served by ethnic Slovak priests, and 20 are served by retired Hungarian priests. “We are convinced that if we had an ethnic Hungarian bishop he could handle this unfortunate situation more effectively,” reads the memorandum. [Új Szó (Bratislava/Pozsony), May 7 and 11, 2001]

Csemadok—the main cultural organization of Hungarians in Slovakia—launched a census-awareness campaign entitled “Declare Yourself!” The aim of the program, which includes billboards, leaflets and town meetings throughout the country, is to encourage ethnic Hungarians to declare their nationality during the May 19-June 10 census At the opening press conference in Bratislava/Pozsony József Kvarda, President of Csemadok and Vice-President of the Hungarian Coalition Party, pointed out that implementation of many minority–related services will depend on the outcome of the census. For instance, minority languages can be used in official contacts only in settlements where the proportion of a given minority exceeds the 20 percent threshold and monies to promote native language education and minority culture will also be distributed based on the new data. Minority organizations received a total of 300,000 Slovak Koruna (USD $5,800) for their census campaigns. In the last 1991 census, more than 567,000 persons declared themselves ethnic Hungarian, while 612,000 indicated Hungarian as their native language. [Új Szó (Bratislava/Pozsony), May 10 and 16, 2001 and Magyar Nemzet (Budapest), May 10, 2001]