Zoltán Sidó, Director of the Komárno/Révkomárom-based Schola Comaromiensis University urged the Hungarian Coalition Party (HCP) leadership to use all means of persuasion to establish an independent, state-funded Hungarian-language university. He told the Hungarian-language daily Új Szó that the basic educational infrastructure for such a university already exists in Komárno/Révkomárom with three Hungarian-language higher education institutions in the town. A branch of the Hungary-based Budapest University of Economic Sciences and Public Administration provides native-language instruction in economics to nearly 500 ethnic Hungarian students [see report of September 6, 2001] ; the János Kálvin Theological Institute is the only Protestant seminary in Slovakia; and the Schola Comaromiensis prepares Hungarian-language educators and teachers. In Sidó’s view, the technological and intellectual potential of these three institutions should be unified in order to pave the way to a independent, state-funded Hungarian-language university. Last month, the Nitra/Nyitra-based Konstantín University Senate decided not to establish an independent Hungarian-language faculty as recommended by the Slovak government at the request of the Hungarian community [see report of July 2, 2002]. [Új Szó (Bratislava/Pozsony) September 30, 2002]

Twenty-five ethnic Roma policemen will patrol the streets of Moldava nad Bodvou/Szepsi, Jasov/Jászó, Drienovec/Somodi and Turna nad Bodvou/Torna following a civic initiative to fight crime in Roma communities. The Roma policemen were trained by the Moldava nad Bodvou police department and will also serve as a link between the majority Roma population and the authorities. The Roma Policemen don’t carry guns, their main job is to prevent theft and disorderly conducts. Should they encounter major crimes, they will call for armed police reinforcement. [Új Szó (Bratislava/Pozsony) August 15, 2002]

On the 58^th anniversary of the Roma Holocaust Pál Csáky, Deputy Prime Minister for Human Rights, Minorities and Regional Development announced the Slovak government’s intention to compensate the victims or their descendents. The commemoration marks the day when 3,000 Roma in Slovakian were deported to death camps in Auschwitz and Birkenau. Recent reports show an increase of racially motivated crimes committed by neo-Nazi groups. In the past weeks, two incidents occurred: one in Velky Krtis/Nagykürtös, where a Molotov-cocktail was thrown into a Roma family’s bedroom, and another in Bratislava/Pozsony, where two drunk neo-Nazis beat up an innocent young man. According to police estimates, the number of active neo-Nazis in Slovakia reaches 5,000. [MTI — Hungarian Telegraph Agency (Budapest) August 2, 2002]