From: gfrajkor@CCS.CARLETON.CA ((George Frajkor))
Newsgroups: bit.listserv.slovak-l
Subject: Re: Roots of the Slovak-Hungarian Conflict
Date: 12 Nov 92 19:55:40 GMT
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              Pannon" at Nov 11, 92 4:19 pm

Joe Pannon writes:

>
>  Closer to home is the Hungarian minority in
> Slovenia, which also enjoys similar autonomy in its affairs.  The
> Ukrainians have been also very accomodating to the Hungarians in
> Ruthenia.  Why can't Slovakia approach her Hungarian minority issue the
> same way?
>
          I am puzzled by this continuous insistence that slovakia is
NOT treating its Hungarians fairly.  About 18 months ago the
Copnfewrence on Security and Co-operation in Europe had a
human-rights/ minority rights conference report which chastised
Hungary and very few others (Serbia, obviously) as not up to the usual
standards of treating minorities fairly.  The CSFR (as it was then
called) was praised for its constitutional provisions, which Slovakia
has adopted intact and then ADDED to them...  for example, the
provisions about minority languages being accepted officially in
administration and government where there are 20 % or more of that
group, the teaching of Hungarian instead of Slovak literary style to
Hungarian-origin journalism students,  the Hungarian pedagogical
school at Nitra, etc...   I have no knowledge of how the Slovenians or
Ukrainians treat their minorities, but I have my doubts that they go
this far.  Does anyone know?  And it is certain that Hungary does not
go that far with its minorities.  Is any language other than Magyar
official in city councils, schools, courts???


> No, I did not know that.  On the other hand, Variant C wasn't in that
> treaty, so ... ?  I also wonder how that treaty between Hungary and CS
> could apply automatically to one between Hungary and Slovakia after Jan.
> 1.  One of the parties to the treaty will no longer exist.

          Up to now, with no exceptions that I know of,  all countries
recognizing the two new entities  have agreed on successor-state
status for them both.  And so far, both Slovak and Czech governments
have agreed to seek such status.   That is, rights and obligations of
the previous government are deemed to apply to bouth the new
governments.  How they split the costs and administration is their
problem, not those of the other countries.  That is why the peace
treaty with Germany after World War II still applies to Russia and
Ukraine, etc., even if the Soviety Union, which signed it, does not
exist.  It would be odd if Uzbekistan were to be declared in a state
of war with Germany now because the Soviet government collapsed.

>  I don't think Hungarians wanted more from Slovakia, than the
> Slovaks wanted from Czechs.  Knowing how much cozier Tiso was with
> Hitler than Horthy, I wouldn't hold the Vienna Awards too much against
> the Hungarians if I was a Slovak.  Remember also, which of the two
> leaders was executed as a war criminal after the war.

               Remember by whom Tiso was hanged.  Slovakia lost its
independence after the war and tiso's extradition was sought by the
Czech-dominated government (and communist dominated) government.  No
party, nor church, nor even the justice administration of subordinate
Slovak council agreed with the death penalty.  Only the Czechs and the
Communists insisted on it.    All the others officially asked for
commutation.   I venture to say that Horthy benefitted from the fact
that Hungarians were more in charge of their own fate than Slovaks
were.

> Well, Meciar sounds like one of those people, but HE IS the government!
> BTW, what was Meciar during the communist era?  Wasn't he also some kind
> of communist official?

          He was leader of the Communist Youth movement. He supported
Dubcek in 1968 and argued with the Soviet invaders in 1969, so he was
removed from that job. In 1970, he was expelled from the Communist
party and worked three years as a common laborer before being allowed
to resume his law career.

> If I was a Hungarian in Slovakia, for me probably the most
> objectionable thing would be to be forced to study the official Slovak
> history putting down Hungarians, having to "learn" about historical
> figures of Upper Hungary that they were really Slovak heroes and noble
> men whose names one could hardly recognize any more because of their
> Slovakization by latter day baptizers in Bratislava.  The same way all
> Hungarian city and town names, even of those with overwhelmingly
> Hungarian populations.
>
          History is what people make of it, presuming they are
allowed to.  I know of nothing being taught as 'official history'
today although it will undoubtedly take a generation to get the
Marxist interpretation out of existing books.
     (Just out of curiousity, I was told long ago that both Lajos
Kossuth, the Magyar national hero, and Sandor Petofy (sp?)  the
Magyar national poet, were originally Slovaks.  Is this correct?)
   What's in a name?  Toronto was renamed by the French as Ste.
Marie-among-the-Hurons, then by the English as York, and then back to
the original Toronto.  It hasn't done the Hurons any good, as the
entire Huron Indian tribe was wiped out.  Ottawa (or as the French
write it Outaouais) is back to its original Indian name instead of
Bytown, but  I doubt that there is more than .01 per cent Indians
here.  It might as well be Bytown.

> Autonomy within the Slovak state where Hungarians are in majority and
> the Hungarian language also accepted as official language.

      Am I wrong in thinking they already have this??  See the above
comment on official languages.

    Jan George Frajkor       _!_
 School of Journalism       __!__
 Carleton University,         |
 Ottawa, Ontario             /^\
 Canada K1S 5B6           /^\   /^\
   -- gfrajkor@ccs.carleton.ca --
  613 788-7404     fax:613 788-5604
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