Hungarians  in the Slovak Government

	The Party of the Hungarian Coalition (SMK) was registered as 
an independent 
political subject on 18th March 1998. The merging of three political subjects formed it: the Hungarian Christian-Democratic Movement (Maďarské kresťanskodemokratické hnutie), the Coexistence Political Movement (hnutie Spolužitie), and the Hungarian Civic Party (Maďarská občianska strana) in consequence of efforts to achieve a desirable form of participation in the elections, when the governing coalition HZDS-ZRS-SNS (Movement for the Democratic Slovakia – Workers’ Party of Slovakia - Slovak National Party) initiated a purposeful revision of the Electoral Law in order to weaken the opposition coalition parties. From its formation, the centre of the SMK’s activities was the position of the Hungarian minority, while the SMK’s representatives refused the thesis about the above-standard position of minorities in Slovakia and insisted on the adoption of the Law on the Use of Minority Languages, and criticised the government of V. Mečiar for its cultural and educational policy. Within nation-wide operation, in 1998 the representatives of the SMK held identical views with the representatives of other opposition parties, mainly of those of the SDK (in Slovak: Slovenská demokratická koalícia – Slovak Democratic Coalition) parties, in the issues concerning the overall social and political development of the Slovak Republic. The SMK refused the plan of revising the Electoral Law, criticised the government for its methods after taking over the President’s competencies, and organised a new petition for direct elections of the President, prevented a

 constitutional crisis and supported a fair Electoral Law. They denounced the government for its methods during the revision of the Municipal Election Law, criticised the Slovak Association of Towns and Villages for its insufficiently decisive viewpoint.  
	Before the elections the representatives of the SMK continually expressed their readiness to enter into the government with other democratic parties. At the beginning of October the Chairman of the SMK, B. Bugár qualified the possible entry of the SMK into the government as follows: “start a journey of historical reconciliation of Slovaks and Hungarians living in Slovakia”. In the elections of 1998 the Party of the Hungarian Coalition polled 9,18% of the votes. This result still lagged behind the one that was registered four years earlier approximately by 1% and behind the results of occasional surveys that represented 11% supporting power and were achieved by the coalition of the three Hungarian parties one and a half or two years before the elections - by as much as 2%. In the elections of 1998 the party was given 15 parliamentary seats for its representatives in the Slovak Parliament - where there are 150 seats in total - which was 2 seats less than in the elections four years ago and which was by another two seats less than it could result from its upper limit of its popularity. Its significance showed at the moment of the entry into the government, when the government’s other three parties – the Slovak Democratic Coalition, the Party of Democratic Left (in Slovak: Strana demokratickej ľavice – SDĽ), and the Party of Civic Understanding (in Slovak: Strana občianského porozumenia – SOP) – achieved Parliamentary majority.  Until February 2001 other three parties of the government remain in majority without the SMK. At this point the government loses its third Member of the Parliament.
Therefore, the SMK’s entry into the governmental coalition meant practically the strengthening of the Parliament’s quorum where the governmental parties – SDK, SDĽ, SOP – were to have only 79 seat, while with the SMK 93 seats. 

During the discussions on the government’s construction it was a significant disadvantage, as it has been later during governing, for in certain cases the other three governmental parties are able to pass laws it in the first part of the governing period even if the SMK has objections against. During the discussions on the construction of the governmental coalition different approaches of possible coalition partners began to emerge, from which SDĽ significantly expressed its reservations. They found fault with the SMK, mainly their effort to open the Beneš Laws and the hydroelectric plant Gabčíkovo. The SMK rejected these reservations, but in spite of their success in getting a membership in the governmental coalition, the SMK was not successful in achieving some of its important intentions. One of them was to get the post of the Minister of Land Management and later different conceptions of the SMK and the SDĽ arose concerning allotments of several key posts in the resort of land management that even added to the conflicts between the two parties. 
The SMK’s entry into the government was followed by open disagreements mainly from the side of the SNS and the HZDS who tried to retrieve general disagreement by different accusations on the representatives of the SMK. Moric – Member of Parliament for the SNS – proclaimed: “the SMK is a nationalistic-chauvinistic party of which goal is to ensure genocide for the Slovak nation”.
November 1998 was a month of discussions about the Slovak-Hungarian Agreement signed by Mečiar and Horn in 1995, because the re-sign of the Protocol on the Realisation of Interstate Agreement took place between the SR and Hungary from 1995 by Ministers of Foreign Affairs of both countries. The document suggests the creation of eleven interstate committees that would deal with the solution of the most substantial issues in relation with these countries.
A milestone, on which the SMK within the coalition participated in November, was also the submission of the draft for the Constitutional Law on Direct Election of the President. This regulates the method of electing the head of the state and its position in the constitutional system, and the approval of the revision of the Municipal Election Law. 
In December 1998 the SMK fully supported the program declaration of the government, insisted on the unconditional validity of the Coalition Agreement, including the biannual candidacy of R. Schuster for the post of the President of the SR.
At the beginning of January 1999 the National Council of the SR passed the Amendment of the Law on Education, that enabled the schools with the teaching delivered in a minority language to emit bilingual certificates for students. This approval preceded during the Mečiar government constant enforcement of bilingual, so-called alternative teaching in minority schools that was the subject of protests of the minority. In relation to these protests, under the Ministry of Eva Slavkovská, numbers of headmasters of such minority schools were released.
In February by the Parliamentary Committee a specific body was created for human rights and minorities, whose role is to deal with the issues of the Roma people; and also a governmental deputy was appointed for the Roma issues. 
At that time the SMK is getting more and more into an open conflict with the Minister of Land Management, P. Koncoš.  The main subject of this being his approach to the issues of posts allotments in the bodies of the Slovak Land Fund (SPF) and to the issue of transfer of land with unknown owners to the management of territorial units. The SMK referred to the legitimacy of its requirements, because it had been the part of the governmental program. Koncoš is mainly criticised by the argument that he continues the policy of his predecessor Peter Baco in the former government of V. Mečiar and he is supported by the same interest groups. At the beginning of February the Minister of Land Management proclaimed that he would resign if the post of the SPF chairman would be given to a representative of the SMK, by which – according to the SMK - he broke the Coalition Agreement. J. Migaš respected the validity of the Coalition Agreement for long weeks. Although, in February he proclaimed: „appointing a president is in the competence of Minister Koncoš….“ The situation began to intensify after the proclamation of the Honorary Chairman of the SMK M. Duray „post of the chairman of the Slovak Land Fund should be the SMK’s, because more than half of the land managed by it is situated on territories that are inhabited by Hungarians.“   In spite of the fact that every chairman of the Coalition Council approved that this agreement existed, the SMK backed away from its requirements for the post of the Ministry of Land Management, while Koncoš appointed his person (Jozef Puškáč) on the head position of the Fund. After a few days the SMK proposed a new solution: to appoint at least one candidate from the SMK for the post of the chairman of the SPF’s Administrative Council, because „the post of the president of the SPF is a controlling function towards the direction of the Minister, who is aware of the facts and knows that he should be inspected.” –  according to the explanation of B. Bugár. At the same time, he noted that “the Minister of Land Management does not have our confidence. Although, it does not mean that we will initiate or support his resignation” After less than a month the council had not existed yet. In March the situation was about the same, because Minister Koncoš refused to nominate an SMK candidate for the post of the chairman of the Administrative Council of the Slovak Land Fund. He even proclaimed that he would never support a Hungarian candidate for the post of the chairman of the Administrative Council of the SPF, even if that candidate would be from Detva. In the beginning Koncoš tried to persuade the public by the argument that his decision about not naming a Hungarian person for the post of the chairman of the Administrative Council of the SPF roots from the conviction that by the SMK’s participation in the government the SNS’s preferences grow. 
Koncoš later claimed that his attitude towards the SMK’s proposal does not originate from nationalistic, but cardinal, principal differences in the view of a left-side politician for solving issues of agriculture, that are diametrically different from the conceptions of left-side conservative parties, among which he ranks the SMK, too.
A continual non-acceptance of the Agreement significantly affected the relationships between the SMK and the SDĽ. In spite of the acute situation the SMK did not initiate the resignation of the Minister, even in the case of Koncoš’s threatening of the Coalition partner, Vice-Chairman of the Parliament Béla Bugár, for alleged smear. As a respond to these threats was Bugar’s answer that he would be willing to divest immunity at the moment when Minister Koncoš lodges a complaint against him.
A general relieving of the tension occurred after the meeting of the representatives of the SDĽ and the SMK at the end of March 1999, where they made a decision on four basic principles and supported the intent to remain in the coalition for four years. Although, it did not solve the constant abiding on one of the points of the governmental program, i.e. on the requirement for the transfer of land with unknown owners that according to Bugár: „firstly should be transferred to the management of territorial units and later, if there will be any political willingness, should become the property of these territories, villages.“   Koncoš argued by the unconstitutionality of the point of the governmental program concerning the transfer of lands. The SMK defused Koncoš’s arguments about the unconstitutionality and rejected the advantages of such solution only for the Hungarian communities living in South Slovakia (from 458,000 hectares of this land was only 131,000 hectares on the territory with mixed population). 
At the beginning of June for Minister Koncoš’s proposal the government appointed Karol Csics for the head of the Administration Council of the Slovak Land Fund, and Judita Czizmaziová for its member. The SMK expressed its satisfaction for the appointment of these persons, in spite of the fact that they had never been members of the SMK, although worked in similar fields on regional level.
In the issue of a joint candidate of the governing coalition in the direct elections of the President of the SR maintained a uniform position and supported R. Schuster, and sceptically proceeded to the President’s idea to hold a round table meeting with all the Parliamentary parties.  They expressed their disappointment on the fact that the President did not invite the representatives of the SMK on some of the meetings with governmental parties.
In January 1999 the SMK presented its inclination for a total revision of the Constitution and in the preparation of the draft for the revision of the Constitution for the change of its preamble that according to the SMK should highlight the civil principle, that would be formulated as follows: „We, the citizens of the SR...“ instead of „We, the Slovak nation …“  
In March 1999 the SMK turned into internal opposition in discussing the State Budget for the year 1999 because of disagreement from the side of SDĽ, SOP, and SDK and the method of reallocation of financial means for the support of minority culture proposed by them. At the beginning of the year state support for cultural institutions of the minority became the main issue. Some of the representatives emphasised that these financial means would not be sufficient even for the financing of important cultural events. 
According to the words of the chairman of the Parliamentary Committee for Finance, Budget and Currency – Pál Farkas – financial means for direct support of minority culture in the previous electoral term were minimal. Eventually, the financial means were used for other activities and the allocated 50 million Sk for the resort of culture would be enough for patching all the holes, he added. At the same time, he submitted a proposal for the Ministry of Culture to allocate 140 mil. Sk for the culture of minorities, which is in accordance with the original proposal, and not only 50 mil. Sk. 
After all, the SMK agreed with the total amount of the grant, although did not agree with the reallocation of its bigger part through regional authorities, because it is – according to the SMK – non-transparent. The government suggested including state financial assistance for cultural activities of minorities to the budget of regional authorities. Although, the SMK insisted on the use of financial means by allocating them to specific cultural activities of minorities. Although, other coalition parties in spite of this, enforced the approval of state budget in its original proposed version and in consequence of this, the SMK Members of the Parliament had decided not to take part in the meetings of the National Council of the SR. Hence, the Parliament had become repeatedly non quorate, with which the SMK pressed on Coalition partners. Consequently, the SMK Members of the Parliament forced the coalition partners to come up to the specification of the use of financial means for cultural activities of the minority. Financing will be realised according to the agreement by three items. „It is an item in which money is allocated by its purpose for the culture of minorities in the chapter of the Ministry of Culture, 50 mil. Sk. Amounts meant for clearly specified facilities of minority culture, so-called regional cultural centres (RKC), and financial means of other RKC’s will be distributed as follows: 10 per cent for general culture and the rest will be divided between Slovak and minority cultures according to the number of population of the region.“ introduced M Dzurinda (SDK)
According to the accepted Agreement, the minority culture in 1999 will be financed from the state budget through three items. In the first case it will be 50 mil. Sk purposefully allocated within the chapter of Ministry of Culture. In the second place it will be sums assigned for clearly identified facilities of minority cultures – specialised regional cultural centres. The third item will be the means of other regional facilities, that will be divided as follows: 10% for general culture, and the rest will be divided between Slovak and a particular minority culture according to the share from the total number of the given region’s population. This conflict had structural dimensions, too. In that committee of the Ministry of Culture of the SR, which was responsible for the decision on the allocation of state support, certain minorities were represented, the Hungarian minority had five members, although these five representatives had only one vote. 
In the first months after the elections the posts in state administration are assigned. Between the parties of the governing coalition seldom conflicts are present during the assignment of some of the posts, including the SMK.
Moreover the SMK supports the beginning of investigations against several leading representatives of the previous government. It supports the release from immunity of former Minister of Interior, Gustáv Krajčí for the thwart of referendum for direct Presidential elections, and also supports the beginning of investigations of the case of Ivan Lexa, former President of the Slovak Information Service, for suspicion of participation on kidnapping the son of the President of the SR. 
April marked by the difference of opinions about the Law on Minority Languages and the reallocation of financial means for culture of minorities was also a period of declaring viewpoints of governmental parties on the transit of military transports of the NATO forces to Balkan. The SMK expressed its positive attitude with its support of providing all traffic arteries on our territory for the NATO transfers that was the attitude of the government as well. Opinions diverged only in one of the governmental parties, SDĽ, that was registered during the parliamentary voting. The SMK politicians showed its profile as the most stabile subject of the governmental coalition.
In the first half-year of 1999 the SMK put the most emphasis on the issue of passing the Law on the Use of Minority Languages. At the end of 1998 the SMK prepared several versions of this law, its representatives joined the activities of the Coalition Committee that was preparing a joint draft of this law. The first conflict arose in connection with the issue of the need of such law. One of the representatives of the SMK criticised the viewpoint of Ľubomír Fogaš, Vice-Chairman for Legislature, by whom the Law on Language for minorities is not needed, it is enough to pass the Charter of Regional and Minority Languages.
There were significant differences among the coalition partners in some of the key provisions. The most significant difference was in connection with determining the minimal share of population belonging to the minority on the overall population of villages. The SMK requested a 10% limit and the other coalition partners a 20% limit. The chairman, B. Bugár expressed willingness of the SMK to discuss about this issue with the coalition partners and accepted the possibility of concession from the SMK’s side. A 10% limit by the SMK was to ensure the provision of minority rights in villages with the representation of other nationalities than Hungarian. For the coalition partners were the SMK’s proposals disputable; to anchor in the law the possibility to use minority language during entry interviews in high schools, (when they state that “For the representatives of the Hungarian nationality it is very stressful during the entry interviews in high schools, for they firstly have to translate everything from Slovak to Hungarian and then speak”), as well as to revise the use of minority languages during legal proceedings, in state administration, and self-government bodies.
Many opposition parties, of which representatives regarded this law as “a deadly threat” of Slovakia also rejected to pass the Law on Minority Languages with very serious reservations, while they declare the basic Slovak-Hungarian Agreement from March 1995, signed by Mečiar, “non-diplomatic and dangerous”. 
In February Gy. Bárdos requested to involve this law on the meeting held in June 1999 at the furthest. In the middle of March 1999 B. Bugár informed that the law’s principles are already prepared and it should be submitted to the Parliament by the end of April 1999. Although, in April the representatives of the SMK proclaimed that the works on the preparation of the law were suspended. The enactment of the Law on Minority Languages was for Slovakia one of the main political criteria of the EU, that is why experts of the EU, the European Council, and the OBSE showed interest in getting informed about the state of the law draft.  At the beginning of May 1999 the Vice-Chairman for Legislature, Ľ. Fogaš delivered to the High Commissioner, Max van der Stoel the governmental version of the law that the SMK qualified unacceptable, while the SMK maintained a position that if this law would be adopted without the presence of the SMK, the coalition is to be in a crisis situation. Chairman of the SMK, Béla Bugár at the beginning of June proclaimed that in his opinion the draft does not solve the present situation and problems that were caused by the Law on State Language. The situation had not changed even after the creation of a working group for the accomplishment of a joint coalition draft law that would synchronise the government’s version with that of the SMK’s. The coalition partners and the SMK did not reach significant agreements, in spite of the fact that the SMK allowed discussions on governmental proposal and in the case of accepting the SMK’s remarks its support, too. At the end of April Duray proclaimed “the SMK Members of the Parliament will support the draft law only in the case that it will be a sufficient counterbalance of the Law on State Language that is restrictive and in some of its parts denies the basic human rights.”
The acute postures of the two parties of the coalition were not good signs for our chances. Chairman of Parliament Ľubomír Fogaš commented the SMK’s opinion on the Law on the Use of Minority Languages in official matters as non-qualified, while for the question of journalists whether Slovakia does not send bad signals to Europe by the issue of the law, Fogaš answered that this is the SMK’s attitude that makes it. 
At the end of June 1999 (23rd) the Cabinet passed the governmental law draft without including the remarks of the SMK and at the beginning of July the National Council passed the governmental law draft, while the SMK Members of the Parliament voted against, but their participation on the votes ensured quorum of the National Council of the SR. After the approval of the Law the SMK requested the President R. Schuster not to sign the Law and to give it back for re-discussion to the parliament, although he refused this request.
The Law on the Use of Minority Languages came into effect on 1st September 1999, while it practically modifies the use of minority languages in official communication. The SMK originally proposed a more complex revision that would include the use of minority languages in education, culture, and media. Governmental proposal approved by the Parliament deals with these fields only by referring to the Law on Education. The original Law on the Official Language from 1990 specifies the limits of using minority languages in villages in official communication that exceeds 20% of the share of minorities. The SMK did not succeed in implementing a lower limit, 10%, while it would be effective for other minorities living in Slovakia, Roma people, Russians, Ukrainians, and Germans.
The SMK submitted its own proposal after the clarification of different ideas of other parties. Both proposals included the abandonment of §10 of the Law on State Language, on which basis it was possible to levy fines. Although, the SMK’s proposal included several regulations of the Law on State Language that were not to be used in villages with share of minorities over a determined level. The SMK’s proposal defined the territories with a determined share of minority not even through villages – like the governmental proposal did - but through villages and provinces.
An important contribution of the law is the citizen’s right to address the bodies of public administration in villages in written documents in minority language and receive answers except for the state language in the language of the minority. The SMK was not successful in enforcing this right even towards the central state bodies. The law in villages with more than 20% share of minorities offers the use of minority languages in decisions of the bodies of public administration, official questionnaires, village chronicles, street designation, important public information etc. A representative of a parish council has the right to use minority language during meetings and if the other participants agree, whole discussions can be held in minority language. Public administration bodies are not obliged to speak the minority language, although the bodies have to create the conditions for the use of minority language according to this law.
	The Government of the SR issued with the regulation No. 221/1999 a list of villages in which the representatives of minority groups have a 20% share, thus they can use their native language in official communication from 1st September 1999:
•	512 villages with Hungarian minority
•	villages with Ukrainian minority
•	68 villages with Russian minority
•	57 villages with Roma minority 
•	1 village with German minority
According to the SMK’s proposal in the case of specifying a 10% limit of minority the right to use minority language would affect the population of another 160 villages:
•	71 villages with Roma minority
•	35 villages with Russian minority
•	25 villages with Ukrainian minority
•	19 villages with Hungarian minority
•	5 villages with German minority.
The politicians statements on the approved Law on Minority Languages:
B. Bugár: „the approved law does not reduce the negative impact of the existing Law on State Language and does not respect the international standards that represent part of the Slovak legal order. According to the SMK, minorities on behalf of their own identity’s protection will have to break the existing Law on State Language and the new law as well.”
M. Duray: „The Governmental Committee also refused the Law for Minorities. Hence, it was not accepted by any minority organisation. The law that is on behalf of minorities, is rejected by the minority, and from a political point of view this law does not exist for the minorities.” 
Á. Duka-Zólyomi : „It is no compromise, because the fact that we did not accept this law and in the final voting we were against clearly reflects that not such law is enacted that meets the requirements of minorities. It is simply a law that satisfies only party. It is unaccomplished and incomplete.“ 
Gy. Bárdos : „This solution is not right and the method of adopting a legal norm is neither right. I am disappointed. I thought we would be successful in finding a common denominator and in adopting a law that would the SMK Members of the Parliament also support. Unfortunately, it did not happen and our efforts were useless. None of the bills were accepted and the draft law was also corrected.“
	The approval of the legislature regulating the use of minority languages was one of the three most important short-term political priorities of the document Partnership for the entry, pursuance of which determines whether on the EU summit in Helsinki in December the European Committee recommends the heads of states and governments to open a discussion on Slovakia’s entry. Particular subjects of Europe differently perceived the adoption of this law. The European Committee appreciated the Law on the Use of Minority Languages and proclaimed that this fact will be involved in the Report on Slovakia’s Development in Preparing for the Entry to the EU. The Hungarian political scene, who expressed its viewpoint on the law by its Secretary of Hungarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Zsolt Németh, in his official statement:  “… a law that harms the Slovak-Hungarian relationships that have been developed satisfactorily. The Slovak Parliament’s voting is unacceptable for the Party of Hungarian Coalition that represents the Hungarian community (approx. 600 hundred people) living in Slovakia.”  
During the language law cause another very important discussion arose within the coalition, initiated by the governmental members, one member party of the Slovak Democratic Coalition, the Christian-Democratic Movement came up with a suggestion of decreasing the number of governmental seats. Besides it suggested the merging of the Ministry of Environment and the Ministry of Construction that were the two SMK Ministries. They also wanted to merge two posts of Vice-Chairmen of Government, the SMK and the SOP posts. It is supposed that the proposal was to influence the issue of the language law. The SMK protested, but every concerned party reacted similarly, and in the end the government construction failed. Consequently, similar initiation arose from other parties of the coalition, concerning the merger of other parties’ Ministries, and generally in situations when the party that made a proposal had other kind of conflicts with the given parties.
Another standpoint concerning the language law forecasting future came up. At that time a representative of the Party of the Democratic Left, Robert Fico, signifies that the government should make a compromise with the opposition rather than govern with Hungarians. 
The most important political event of the first part of the year was the appointment of the President, according to the governing coalition’s electoral engagement, not in the Parliament, but directly by the population. The SMK supported the laws concerning the direct elections. During the elections before the first run the representatives of the party the most often criticised mainly those opposition candidates who were not in their favour, that were the candidates of the DSZM and of the Slovak National Party. Although, after the first run the situation changed - Rudolf Suster and the former head of government Vladimír Mečiar got into the second run. At this time the representatives of the party campaigned more rigorously, supporting Rudolf Suster.
The party’s political power - that was weaker than it had been expected – the continual unsuccessfulness of the first months and the government’s other parties’ almost trouble free operation, the SMK’s 9,18% result of the elections decreased the party’s popularity. According to the “Názory“ (Opinions) that provides census of public opinion its support in February represents 7,8% and in March 9,1%. According to the results of the MVK in April the SMK’s support is only 8,3%. Only according to the results of the Focus agency the party’s popularity at the beginning of the year is not changing and even getting better.
The SMK is characterised as the most stabile item of the governing coalition with which agreed Prime Minister, M. Dzurinda, who in his speech to the Delegates of the SMK’s Congress in Komárno in November 1999 said: “the SMK is someone to rely on in all issues, no matter if it is related to foreign, domestic, or economic policy.” 
The SMK found fault with the SDK and the SOP several times that they gave in the pressure from the SDĽ’s side when expressing their viewpoints in relation with the SMK’s proposals. In April 2000 proclaimed the chairman of the SMK B. Bugár that V. Migaš should after voting against Prime Minister M. Dzurinda resign from the post of Parliamentary Speaker. Although, J. Migaš’s resignation from the post of the Chairman of the National Council of SR was not proposed by the SMK, because they think that except of this Migaš has critical relationship with the representatives of the SDĽ.