Ethnic Hungarian parents in Roznava/Rozsnyó, eastern Slovakia, plan to petition the district school board to open a separate, Hungarian-language nursery school in the town. Only two of this 30 percent Hungarian-inhabited town's seven nursery schools offer any Hungarian-language education while also facing staff downsizing. [ Új Szó (Bratislava/Pozsony) May 29, 2002]

Slovak parliamentary speaker Jozef Migas set September 20-21, 2002 as the date of parliamentary elections, a critical milestone in the country’ NATO and EU integration aspirations. Western diplomats have repeatedly warned that electing the Vladimír Meciar-led Movement for Democratic Slovakia (HZDS) to power could lead to the country’s international isolation [ see reports of February 27 and March 6, 2002] . In the latest opinion polls, HZDS placed first with a 30 percent popularity rating, making cooperation between other parties extremely important in order to form a large coalition government acceptable to NATO and EU criteria. [ MTI – Hungarian Telegraph Agency (Budapest) May 22, 2002]

The newest poll released by the Slovak Statistical Office show that if the general elections scheduled for September 2002, were held in May, 11.6 percent of the electorate would vote for the Hungarian Coalition Party (HCP). This is a marked increase in the Hungarian party’s popularity, considering that the percentage of Hungarians in the total population has dropped to 9.7 percent [ see report of October 30, 2001] . According to the survey, a six-party parliament would be formed and the Vladimír Meciar-led Movement for a Democratic Slovakia would win with 29.9 percent.[ MTI – Hungarian Telegraph Agency (Budapest) May 16, 2002]

The Hungarian section of the Coexistencia—Movement for Political Co-Existence, selected four ethnic Hungarian candidates to run for a seat in the June 14-15 Czech parliamentary elections on the list of the Party of the Regions (SV). László Kocsis, vice-president of Coexistencia, told the Hungarian news agency MTI that they chose SV because it is the only party whose electoral program includes a section on the importance of harmonious inter-ethnic co-existence. Recent polls suggest that out of the 29 parties running, only four-five have a real chance in meeting the five percent parliamentary threshold. The SV can count on the votes of one-two percent of the Czech electorate. According to the 1991 census data, the number of Hungarians living in the Czech Republic is close to 20,000. [ MTI – Hungarian Telegraph Agency (Budapest) May 15, 2002]

Pál Csáky, Slovak Deputy Prime Minister for Human Rights, Minorities and Regional Development urged Ján Sokol, Archbishop of Bratislava/Pozsony-Trnava/Nagyszombat to meet the 350,000-strong Hungarian Roman Catholic community’s demand for an ethnic Hungarian bishop. Approximately 80 percent of ethnic Hungarians in Slovakia are Roman Catholic, comprising 10 percent of the entire Catholic population. According to Csáky’s press officer, Péter Miklósi, the Archbishop didn’t rule out the possibility of a Hungarian bishopric. However, Sokol argued, the issue will be decided at the Vatican: the Council of Roman Catholic Bishops in Slovakia is waiting for the Pope’s reply. In previous years, the Archbishop opposed the Hungarian worshipers' aspiration [ see reports of April 21, 2002 and April 17, 2001] . [ Új Szó (Bratislava/Pozsony) May 7, 2002]