Published by EBLUL (European Bureau for Lesser-Used Languages), 2 september 2009.
Thousands of ethnic Hungarians have demonstrated in Slovakia in protest against a new law that limits the use of national minority languages there.
A rally yesterday in the south-western town of Dunajska Streda attracted over 10,000 protesters, who gathered to show their anger over the new legislation. A smaller rally attended by MEPs was held in Brussels outside the Slovakian embassy.
The State Language Act, which came into force on 1 September, makes Slovak the mandatory language to be used by all civil servants, including teachers and doctors, in their official capacity. Any public official caught flouting the law will face a €5,000 fine - the equivalent of nearly a year's average pay in Slovakia,
The Hungarian-speaking national minority, who make up 10% of the Slovakia’s population, say the language discriminates against them and contravenes EU and international human rights laws.
Only Slovak can now be used in public offices, and in institutions like schools and hospitals. The Hungarian government wants the law repealed and has turned to international human rights organisations for help.
The Hungarian and Slovak prime ministers are due to meet next week, to try to defuse worsening relations.
More than half a million ethnic Hungarians live in southern Slovakia which, before the 1920 Treaty of Trianon was part of Hungary. They regard the new law as the latest in a series of crackdowns by the Slovak government against their culture.
Peter Pazmany, of the opposition ethnic Hungarian Coalition Party in Slovakia, said the law: "makes no sense... [it] only creates tension between people who have lived peacefully side by side".
In terms of language planning the law is insidious acting to assimilate national minorities and to eventually eradicate their languages. Its function will be to intervene in an individual’s language choice forcing people to use the Slovak language instead of their mother tongue. It undermines the use of the national minority language in nearly all linguistic domains.
The protests over the new law followed a row last week, when Slovakia barred the Hungarian president from making a visit. President Laszlo Solyom had planned to visit to unveil a statue of the first Hungarian king, Saint Stephen. Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico said the plans were a provocation to his nation.
Although both languages are recognised in some areas of Slovak life, relations have worsened since its government brought the extreme right wing Slovak National Party, known for its harsh rhetoric against national minorities, into its ruling coalition. (Davyth Hicks, Eurolang 2009)
Post demonstration declaration by the Round Table of Hungarians in Slovakia