Aleksandra Puzyniak

Położenie mniejszości narodowych na terenie Republiki Słowackiej regulują liczne akty prawne. Wśród nich znajdują się dokumenty przyjmowane na gruncie krajowym oraz rozwiązania o charakterze międzynarodowym. Celem niniejszego artykułu jest przedstawienie treści najważniejszych ustaw oraz dokumentów, które wpływają na położenie mniejszości narodowych na Słowacji, a także przybliżenie reakcji organizacji międzynarodowych na wprowadzane przez Bratysławę regulacje prawne.

The legal status of national minorities in the Slovak Republic

The location of national minorities in the territory of the Slovak Republic is regulated by numerous national acts, the most important of which are the constitution, the law on the use of national minority languages and the law on the state language. References to national minorities can be found in many other acts, such as the Act on counteracting discrimination, the Act on Upbringing and Education and the Act on Radio and Television. The issue of minorities is also raised in bilateral agreements, an example of which is the agreement on good neighbourliness and friendly cooperation between the Slovak Republic and the Republic of Hungary. The legal situation of minorities in Slovakia is also influenced by international organizations to which Bratislava belongs. In this case, the Council of Europe’s most significant influence, the European Union, the Central European Initiative and the United Nations. Over the years, the Slovak authorities have also created institutions responsible for activities for national minorities, and among them, an important function is performed by the Government Plenipotentiary of the Slovak Republic for National Minorities. This article aims to analyse the legal acts and institutions regulating the legal status of national minorities in Slovakia. The publication is also intended to show that the issue of minorities is covered in many legal solutions, and the Slovak authorities have developed a system of protection and support for this community over the years. The author used the institutional and legal method.

The influence of the Treaty of Trianon on Hungarian-Slovak relations

In modern Central Europe there is still no shortage of countries whose mutual relations largely determine historical experience, and more specifically a different interpretation and assessment of events from the past. An excellent example of this is Hungary’s relations with neighboring countries, which are marked by events from the second half of the nineteenth century, i.e. the period when the authorities of the then Kingdom of Hungary conducted intensive Magyarization of national minorities and the first half of the twentieth century, as a result of the provisions of the Trianon Treaty, Budapest lost more than half of its area, and 3,227 million Hungarians were outside the country. The Trianon Treaty, which is still a traumatic memory and an unhealed wound, has a great impact on mutual relations.

This article presents the impact of the Trianon Treaty on Hungarian-Slovak relations. Currently, 460,000 Hungarians live in Slovakia, who found themselves in the Republic as a result of the provisions of the said treaty. Importantly, it is the second-largest Hungarian minority in the Carpathian Sea Basin. In addition, it is a compact community, inhabiting the southern area of the country along the Hungarian border, conducting active political and cultural activities, and remaining in strong relations with their motherland. The abovementioned factors and fears of the Slovaks against the revisionist policy of Budapest in the interwar period and in the early 1990s meant that the topic of Trianon permanently inscribed in mutual relations.