Organization: CSAV UTIA
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Newsgroups: bit.listserv.mideur-l
Date:         Tue, 12 Jan 1993 08:17:19 EDT
From:         Richard Budd <BUDD@CSPGAS11.BITNET>
Subject:      Report from E. Slovakia - December 31, 1992

To the readers of MIDEUR, SLOVAK, and HUNGARY

Kral'ovsky Chlmec, December 31, 1992

Well, this is the last day of Czechoslovakia.  I'm afraid I
painted a rather pessimistic picture of the coming year for
Slovakia that maybe George Frajkor can rebut.  The mood here in
town is rather somber even though Sylvester parties plan to go
through as they have for years.  I should remind everyone that
I'm writing this article from a town where over 80% of the
population speaks Hungarian and the road signs here are in two
languages.  Depending on what language you read, the street where
I am currently staying is either "ulica L. Kossuth" or "utca
Kossuth L.".  Before 1991, it was Leninova (only Slovak names
could be used on road signs and storefronts before the Velvet
Revolution).

One question I would like to put the forum now is after January
1, would the road signs, storefronts, and restaurant menus in
towns with a significant Hungarian population continue to be in
both languages.  An AFS exchange student in Bardejov told me that
after January 1, all signs and even open conversations must be in
Slovak (similar if not identical to the Language Law in Quebec).
That assertion has been refuted here in Kral'ovsky Chlmec where
the local people tell me that signs and conversations remain in
both languages.

I hope such a language restriction will be proven false, since it
would presage Slovakia moving in the direction of Romania where
conversations in Hungarian are illegal and the government is
openly harrassing the minority.  (Heresay evidence from
Sarospatak and again subject to bias.  Please refute if this is
incorrect).

Last night we went to a privately owned coffeehouse in town.
Earlier this year the owner of a house decided to convert his
ground floor to a combination video store, bar, and coffee house.
It's a nice cozy place with customers constantly coming in and
out that has become one of the favorite nightspots in a town
which, even the residents admit, is a pretty dead place.  The
menu and the opening/closing hours are posted in Hungarian and
Slovak and the group in our table included Hungarians and
Slovaks, though the conversation, even among the two Slovaks at
our table, was in Hungarian and occassionally, for the benefit of
the American guest, in English.  I report this as a hopeful sign
that the relationship between the two groups will not
deteriorate, though if the economy worsens in 1993, as just about
everyone I have spoken to - Slovak, Hungarian, and outside
observers - expect it to, the government may turn to nationalism
in order to maintain its mandate.

Returning to the AFS student in Bardejov.  He is a 16 year old
from Minnesota who is, as you could well expect, finding it
difficult to adjust to the different lifestyle of the town.  One
of the requests made of me while I was in Bardejov was to try to
cheer him up and persuade him to take the initiative.  One of the
things that was bugging him was that a bureaucrat appointed by
the Slovak government was threatening to transfer him from
Bardejov to Bratislava.  After discussing this with the school,
we came to the conclusion that he was overestimating the power of
that bureaucrat.  I get the feeling there is a lot of posturing
going on in Bratislava.  The feeling of the people in Bardejov is
that they could go about their business a lot better without
interference from Bratislava.

One thing to note.  Tonight the signs for KIRALYHELMEC (the
Hungarian name for Kral'ovsky Chlmec) are down.  From what I have
been told by a member of the town council, Slovak officials in
Trebisov, the administrative center of the region, told the
council to take them down because under the new government, road
signs must either be in Slovak or use the international symbols.
He assured me that the council has more signs and will petition
the government of Slovakia to allow signs announcing the town to
be in both Slovak and Hungarian.  As far as I can see, the street
signs in town which are in both Hungarian and Slovak are still
up.

                               Richard Budd
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