Radio Slovakia International

Slovak-Hungarian strained relations

Ela Nahalkova

The mutual Slovak-Hungarian relations deteriorated recently after the declaration on the permanency of the Benes decrees by the Slovak parliament and the constant disputes between the Slovak National Party and the Slovak Hungarian Party. The Slovak National Party is supported by the Slovak lead coalition party Smer, and on the other hand the Slovak Hungarian Party is supported by the Hungarian political representatives. In this dispute even a small spark can light an international political fire, as it was in the case of the private visit of the Hungarian president to Slovakia. The Hungarian president László Sólyom used this occasion to criticize the declaration on the Benes decrees which outraged the Slovak coalition party Smer as well as Slovak diplomacy. Ildikó Nagyová, the editor in chief of the Hungarian section in Slovak radio talks about the Slovak-Hungarian problems.

Ildikó Nagyová, the editor in chief of the Hungarian section in Slovak radio
“I think that the political events which happened in Slovakia recently are very unfortunate. They do not help anybody, either Slovak-Hungarian relations, or the ethnic Hungarians living in Slovakia, or Slovak politics. Slovakia will be considered by those abroad also according to these conflicts. Luckily the common people are sometimes wiser than the politicians. The tensions do not get to the lower level of society in a strong manner and I hope they will never get there. I hope that the common people themselves would ask the politicians to find a mutual compromise. I think that the problems should be solved, for example the event that started all this tension – the 60th anniversary of the expatriation of Hungarians from Slovakia. That’s a very sad historical fact which concerned almost 100 000 Hungarians in the former Czechoslovakia. I think that the parliament should say at least „sorry, it happened a long time ago, we are not to be blamed but it happened and we’re sorry“. I think this declaration would be a satisfaction for the ethnic Hungarians in Slovakia as well as for the Hungarian government. These controversial historical problems should be discussed by the historians and the politicians should not deal with them.”

According to the Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, the Slovak government only reacts to the provocations from the Slovak Hungarian Party as well as from the Hungarian political representatives. In a press conference Fico declared that the Slovak government has no intention to open the issue of the Benes decrees.

Robert Fico, Slovak Prime Minister
“The Benes decrees were a result of the Second World War. When there was the enlargement of the European Union, an expert's report by well-known lawyers was made on whether the Benes decrees were compatible with the European law. If they were not compatible, Slovakia and the Czech Republic would be asked to take some decisions. But the Expert's report was clear: the Benes decrees were compatible with the laws of the European Union. For us the Benes decrees are inviolable, we respect them as a result of the Second World War.”

The analyst of the Forum Institute Laszlo Ollos who is expert in the field of Hungarian-Slovak relations however says that the question of Benes decrees in very important in the bilateral relations.

Laszlo Ollos, analyst of the Forum Institute
„The biggest problem seems to be the problem of the post war situation concerning the Hungarian minority, the so-called Benes decrees. That’s an interesting problem because for example the German minority was in the same situation up to the Second World War, that means there was an ethnic cleansing and the German minority under the principle of collective victims was pressed to leave the country. The Slovak parliament asked the German public to forgive for this act and for a similar thing was not capable of asking the Hungarian public, that’s the problem. In both countries there are populist politicians but the difference is that the extreme right wing is in the Slovak government and not in the Hungarian. I think that the tensions will remain in the near future and it will be very difficult for some kind of political solution. But the other side of the coin is that between different social structures, between organisations, between single persons, between intellectuals are good relations and I hope that through these relations and through the understanding of the public, through new human values it could be changed also politically.”

Slovak and Hungarian diplomacy is now working on normalising the strained relations between Slovakia and the Hungarian Republic. The spokesman of the Slovak Ministry of Foreign Affairs Jan Skoda says that the ministers of foreign affairs of both countries will meet soon.

Jan Skoda, spokesman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
“The Slovak Republic is interested in having a good neighbour and friendly relations with the Hungarian Republic which are oriented towards the future. To appease the situation and consolidate our relations, the ministers of foreign affairs of both countries will meet on the 15th of October at the External Relations Council meeting in Luxembourg. The Minister Jan Kubis has frequent, open and friendly relations with his Hungarian counterpart. We have a real interest in avoiding the topics on which we have different stand-points in our bilateral relations. We should concentrate on the future and consolidate our relations by means of joint projects and solving problems which really interest the public. For example the mutual cooperation on the projects in the boundary area which have been debated at the meeting of the Prime Ministers of Hungary and Slovakia. So we would avoid the contentious issues on interpreting some of the events in our mutual history.”

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