March 1999
Flowers and wreaths commemorating the March 15, 1848 Hungarian War for Independence were removed by unknown vandals on the main square of Roznava/Rosznyó. There has been precedence for such vandalism in the past: last year, as well as this year, a statue of the ethnic Hungarian pedagogue, Samu Czabán was covered in black paint, while one of another Hungarian, Franciska Andrássy was defaced. [Új Szó (Bratislava/Pozsony), Mar. 29, 1999]
Employees at the headquarters of CSEMADOK — the cultural umbrella organization of Hungarians in Slovakia which recently celebrated its 50 anniversary — have been let go as of March 31 due to lack of funding. President Péter Kolár has also rennounced his salary. The organization, which has not received any government subsidies for the past four years, applied for emergency funding from the government in December, but has not obtained any monies. The office will close on June 30 if no further support is forthcoming. [Új Szó (Bratislava/Pozsony), Mar. 26, 1999]
According to unconfirmed sources, current director of the Gömör Museum in Rimavská Sobota/Rimaszombat conducted investigation into the handling of the museum’s financial affairs under its former director Ms. Bornayová who resigned from office last December. Apparently, the investigation has been kept in secret. Ms. Bornayová was appointed after former Minister of Culture Ivan Hudec removed from office museum director István B. Kovács for supporting the establishment of a Hungarian-language primary school in the city. [Új Szó (Bratislava/Pozsony), Mar. 22, 1999]
In response to the current government coalition minority language bill under debate, the nationalist organization Matica Slovenská decided at its Nitra/Nyitra meeting to prepare its own version, one that emphasizes the superiority of the Slovak language. Matica also protested that the 1999 state budget allocates only 96 million Crowns of the 115 originally intended to maintain the organization. The government reallocated 14 million Crowns to support the flood-stricken areas in the country. [Új Szó (Bratislava/Pozsony), Mar. 22, 1999]
Teachers training instruction may begin from the fall in Roznava/Rozsnyó, a predominantly Hungarian-inhabited city in southern Slovakia, in a currently unused building of an old hospital. Negotiations progressed between Roznava Catholic Bishop Eduard Kojnok, the Roznava District Office and the Kosice/Kassa-based Safárik University, while a special local committee was set up to direct the building’s renovation. [Új Szó (Bratislava/Pozsony), Mar. 19, 1999]
President of the Parliament Jozef Migas announced that direct presidential elections will be held on May 15. [Omri Daily Digest (Prague), Mar. 22, 1999]
Director of the Ministry of Culture’s Department for Minorities Gabriella Jarábik confirmed that legal status will be restored for the Young Hearts musical ensemble as of July 1. [See report of March 3.] The ethnic Hungarian cultural institution will also obtain its properties and headquarters in central Bratislava/Pozsony, which were confiscated by the previous Vladimír Meciar–led government. [Új Szó (Bratislava/Pozsony), Mar. 18, 1999]
All 15 Hungarian Coalition Party (HCP) deputies boycotted the Parliamentary session, protesting two key issues for the party: insufficient support for minority cultures in the 1999 state budget and Ministry of Agriculture Pavel Koncos’s refusal to appoint an ethnic Hungarian candidate to head the State Land Fund. Ultimately, Prime Minister Mikulas Dzurinda mediated agreement was reached by all four coalition party presidents and their faction leaders to allocate an additional 50 million Crowns for minority cultures. In addition, regional cultural centers will have to allocate a set amount of support for minority cultures and each district will distribute monies to minorities in proportion to their population size. After negotiations ended, HCP President Béla Bugár said his party is ready to vote for the 1999 state budget. However, tensions between Party of the Democratic Left and the ethnic Hungarian party remained as Koncos reiterated that he will never appoint an ethnic Hungarian as director of the State Land Fund. [Új Szó (Bratislava/Pozsony), Mar. 18, 1999; Fórum Institute (Galanta/Galánta), Mar. 18, 1999]
Ethnic Hungarian Mayor of Kolárovo/Gúta and parliamentary deputy representing the Party of the Democratic Left, Imre Tóth, recently became chairman of the new Subcommittee on Roma Affairs of the Committee on Human and Minority Rights [see report of February 9]. As mayor of a town widely regarded as positively addressing Roma concerns, Tóth sees the subcommittee in an advisory and watchdog role. "In Kolárovo, we have encouraged Roma education in traditional trades as well as construction of housing accommodating the traditional multi-generational living arrangements of Roma families," said Tóth. [Új Szó (Bratislava/Pozsony), Mar. 17, 1999]
On his 11th visit to Slovakia, OSCE High-Commissioner for Minorities Max van der Stoel continued deliberations with Foreign Minister Eduard Kukan and Deputy Prime Minister in charge of minorities and regional development Pál Csáky over the proposed minority language bill, a major requirement for Slovakia’s EU membership. Resolution of Roma problems, such as the high rate of unemployment and the low level of education, along with discrimination, was also discussed. The high commissioner praised the Slovak government’s effort to establish talks with Roma communities and pointed out that Roma themselves should pro-actively seek resolution of their problems. After the meeting, the ethnic Hungarian deputy premier stated that if the Slovak government fails to approve the minority language bill by June it risks losing the trust of the international community. [Új Szó (Bratislava/Pozsony), Mar. 17, 1999]
The Komarno/Komárom-based János Selye Hungarian-language high school celebrated its 350th anniversary, organizing 22 academic-related events. [Új Szó (Bratislava/Pozsony), Mar. 13, 1999]
Hungarian Coalition Party Vice-President Kálmán Petôcz was appointed Slovakia’s United Nations Ambassador to Geneva. "I am very pleased to represent abroad not only Slovakia’s ethnic Hungarian community but all the country’s citizens," said the ambassador upon his inauguration. [Új Szó (Bratislava/Pozsony), Mar. 15, 1999]
Daniel Kluvanec, newly-elected president of Konstantin University in Nitra/Nyitra who will replace outgoing president Peter Liba on June 27, pledged to restore Hungarian-language education in the Humanities Department, including a department for teacher training as well. In 1995, the Vladimír Meciar terminated Hungarian-language instruction in the humanities, which had been in place since 1959, but left the Department of Science and Natural History intact. [Új Szó (Bratislava/Pozsony), Mar. 11, 1999]
The Prosecutor General’s office began investigations into statements made recently by extreme nationalist Slovak National Party President Ján Slota on Hungarians, Roma and U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright at a rally in central Slovakia [see report of March 5]. If Parliament votes to lift Slota’s parliamentary immunity, he could be charged with instigating racial and ethnic hatred and with promoting the suppression of individual rights and freedoms, crimes punishable by up to eight years of imprisonment. Slota, chairman of the parliamentary committee overseeing SIS [the Slovak Intelligence Agency], was intoxicated at the time he made the statements but later confirmed them saying they were appropriate in that context. "If Slovaks are forced to learn Hungarian in southern Slovakia, we will resort to extreme measures to defend the country’s inviolability," said Slota. [Új Szó (Bratislava/Pozsony), Mar. 10, 1999]
In an interview to the Hungarian daily, Új Szó, István Lanstyák, a linguist and teacher at the Hungarian Department of the Comenius University in Bratislava/Pozsony, spelled out the need for a central linguistic planning and translating office that would help overcoming linguistic barriers once the minority language bill, allowing for broad use of native-languages, is approved by Parliament. The office’s main task would be to help prepare sample questionnaires, official forms and letters, adopt professional Hungarian-language terminology in public administration and create a useful, public computer database containing words, expressions and rules that relate to the use of minority languages. [Új Szó (Bratislava/Pozsony), Mar. 9, 1999]
Cases of voluntary embracement of bilingualism do exist: in the town of Krupina/Korpona the stationary's store sign is trilingual, one of the languages being Hungarian. Merely 24 ethnic Hungarians live in the community. [Új Szó (Bratislava/Pozsony), Mar. 9, 1999]
The government denounced the opposition Slovak National Party President Ján Slota’s statements made on March 5 at a rally in Kysucké Nové Mesto/Kiszucaújhely [see report of March 5] saying that it sharply contradicts Slovakia’ s international commitments and his words incite inter-ethnic conflict. Ethnic Hungarian Deputy Prime Minister in charge of minorities and regional development Pál Csáky stated that "we are convinced that in a democratic country there is no place for a politician who cannot restrain himself, spreads slander, instigates racial and ethnic hatred and offends the leaders of other country." [Új Szó (Bratislava/Pozsony), Mar. 9, 1999]
CSEMADOK, the cultural umbrella organization of the 560,000-strong ethnic Hungarian community, celebrated its 50th anniversary in Bratislava. [Új Szó (Bratislava/Pozsony), Mar. 8, 1999]
In a speech delivered at a meeting in Kysucké Nové Mesto/Kiszucaújhely, the extreme nationalist opposition Slovak National Party’s President Ján Slota warned Hungary that "Slovakia has good tanks and we can raze Budapest with them." He said that Slovaks must defend their territory in southern Slovakia, the home of the 560,000 strong ethnic Hungarian community, and "not give up a single centimeter [of land] to the Hungarian scoundrels." He also stated that he will not tolerate any Roma minority because "they are Gypsies who steal, rob, and pilfer." Referring to U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, Slota cursed the "Czech woman who calls herself an American and even the U.S. Secretary of State, and who wants to teach all Slovaks lessons about what sort of idiots we are." The nationalist leader, who is also the head of the parliamentary committee overseeing SIS [Slovak Intelligence Agency] activities, was reportedly intoxicated at the time. [Omri Daily Digest (Prague), Új Szó (Bratislava/Pozsony), Népszava (Budapest) and Magyar Nemzet, Mar. 9, 1999]
Pál Farkas, Hungarian Coalition Party chairman of the Parliament's Budgetary Committee said that the 140 million Slovak Crowns his party expects for support of Hungarian culture in 1999 could be drawn together from the Ministry of Culture’s budget (50 million) and various district offices (80-90 million). Farkas reiterated the Hungarian Coalition Party’s position that it can’t back down regarding this figure in light of its loss of the agricultural ministry and the State Land Fund posts. [Új Szó (Bratislava/Pozsony), Mar. 4, 1999]
Minister of Culture Milan Knazko and Gabriella Jarábik, Head of the Ministry of Culture’s Department for Minorities, continued talks with Nitra/Nyitra district officials and leaders of local cultural institutions. The Komarno/Komárom-based Jókai Theater and the Museum Along the Danube receive insufficient support and have financial debts thereby making it difficult to restore their status as legal entities beginning April 1, said Jarábik. From July 1, the government will abolish regional cultural centers established by the previous Minister of Culture Ivan Hudec that once sought greater centralization and decision-making power over cultural life in Slovakia [see reports of January 19 and 31, 1999]. Cultural institutions will receive greater autonomy instead. [Új Szó (Bratislava/Pozsony), Mar. 5, 1999]
Gabriella Jarábik, Head of the Ministry of Culture’s Department for Minorities, continued talks with directors of Hungarian museums, galleries and libraries over the restoration of their independence revoked earlier by the Vladimír Meciar-led government, which forcefully centralized decision-making power and folded it to regional cultural centers. Jarábik emphasized the need to transfer properties to the newly-restored cultural institutions by June 30 and advertise their top posts. Among the Hungarian institutions seeking legal status are, the Jókai Theater in Komarno/Komárom, the Thália Theater in Kosice/Kassa and a musical ensemble "Young Hearts"’ that had its headquarters in Bratislava/Pozsony confiscated by the Meciar government. [Új Szó (Bratislava/Pozsony), Mar. 3, 1999]
Head of the Nové Zámky/Érsekújvár District, Ladislav Marencak, appointed an independent candidate, Zdenka Farkasová, head of the education department even though József Száraz, President of the Hungarian Coalition Party’s local branch, had requested earlier that the party’s own candidate fill the post. "We are inclined to compromise and hope to reach an agreement," said Száraz. [Új Szó (Bratislava/Pozsony), Mar. 3, 1999]
Following a meeting between Minister of Culture Milan Koako and Hungarian Coalition Party parliamentary faction leader Gyula Bárdos, the latter announced that both parties tended towards agreement that state monies have to be divided proportionately between the various minorities. Bardos added, however, that they would disregard the principle in the case of the smaller ethnic groups. [Új Szó (Bratislava/Pozsony), Mar. 2, 1999]
Péter Kolár, President of CSEMADOK, the cultural umbrella organization of ethnic Hungarians in Slovakia, and chairman of the 19-member special committee set up to determine the distribution of monies allocated for minority cultures in the 1999 budget, pointed out to the Hungarian daily, Új Szó, that minorities should receive state support in proportion to population size. However, even though 5 ethnic Hungarian members, representing the 560,000-strong ethnic Hungarian community, will participate in the special committee along with 3 Roma and 2 Czech representatives, each minority will have only one vote. In addition, Kolár called attention to the fact that the nationalist Matica Slovenksá, an organization that depended heavily on the moral and financial support of the previous government led by Vladimír Meciar, will likely obtain a subsidy of 50 million Crowns to maintain its own institutions, an amount greater than that allocated for all minorities combined. The ethnic Hungarian cultural leader said that the financing of minority cultures is a complex matter that needs further discussion to ensure a just and fair system. [Új Szó (Bratislava/Pozsony), Mar. 1, 1999]
Sándor Papp, head of Hungarian-language radio programming, announced that as of March 1 total broadcast time in Hungarian will increase to 2,340 hours annually (45 hours weekly), up from a total of 2,200 in 1998. Staff at the program will also increase by one. Papp said that although idealistic, he envisions 24 hour Hungarian-language broadcasting down the line, for which there is precedence in Europe. [Új Szó (Bratislava/Pozsony), February25, 1999]