This material gives answers to the following questions:

What is the philosophy behind, the reason for and objective of the State Language Act?

What is the situation in linguistically mixed areas in Slovakia?

Hungarian lies about the Language Act and the opinion
of the OSCE High Commissioner

What are the rights of national minorities in Slovakia?

What is the state of national minorities in Hungary?

August 2009

The State Language Act ensures all citizens of Slovakia the right to information in the state language

            The Ministry of Culture began work on the systematic amendment to the State Language Act at the start of 2008, in accordance with the Plan of Legislative Tasks of the Government of the Slovak Republic, and which culminated in the new act being passed in the SR Parliament on 30 June 2009.

            From 14 November 2008 onward all central government bodies, other general government bodies, certain affected institutions, public representatives and national minority representatives progressively expressed their opinions on the draft amendment. From the side of national minority representatives only those of the Hungarian national minority raised reservations regarding the act's wording. Other national minorities living in Slovakia supported the amendment and in their written opinions stated that the draft State Language Act does not limit use of their minority language. The High Commissioner of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe on National Minorities, Knut Vollebaek, in his opinion regarding the amendment to the State Language Act notes that the process of preparing the amendment was open and fully democratic.

      The amendment to the State Language Act does not set itself the objective of solving the scope of use of minority languages (there are separate regulations for this in the Slovak legal code), but to ensure that it is possible to communicate in the state language in the public sphere in Slovakia, and to ensure that someone who does not know a minority language is not discriminated.

The State Language Act applies only to selected areas of public life, which are set out in individual provisions. The act, for example, does not regulate the use of a language at public gatherings, in acts of worship, in the foreign-language and minority-language press, in trade names, in registered brands or names, in notices on the Internet, etc.

The State Language Act does not in any way affect private communication between people; it does not prescribe the language of this communication and does not regulate spoken expression by individuals. Neither does the act prohibit the use of ungrammatical language media in public speaking.

The sanction mechanism in the act is set so that anyone breaching the act is given the possibility to remedy this without imposition of a financial penalty. After finding a breach of the law the Ministry of Culture is obliged to first notify the affected entity in writing and to request remedy within an appropriate time period. An individual - an ordinary citizen cannot receive a fine.

The State Language Act does not limit the use of minority languages; on the contrary it removes certain barriers to their use

            The act does not specifically aim to solve the standing of other languages. The State Language Act gives attention also to other languages, in particular with regard to their use in relation to the state language. In essence, however, the protection of national minority languages and their use in public communication within the Slovak legal system is guaranteed by means of other legal standards. 

The amendment to the State Language Act does, though, expand the possibilities of using other languages everywhere where the previous wording of the law had not provided for this, such as in drawing up employment contracts, financial and technical documentation, articles of associations, of collectives, political parties, political movements and commercial companies, in the transposition of international technical standards into the system of Slovak Technical Standards, in the broadcasting of live radio and television programmes, in theatre plays with original texts, in educational events aimed at foreign language education.

A not insignificant change is the abolition of the obligation to prove knowledge of the state language for employment in state bodies, state organisations, local government bodies and statutory bodies.

The wording of the act is particularly accommodating in its approach to national minority languages.  The new act introduces several changes in favour of minority languages used in Slovakia, expanding the possibilities for their statutory use beyond the previously existing state. This concerns these cases:

In regional and local radio broadcasting in national minority languages it is possible to broadcast in national minority languages, including live broadcasting, now without the duty to provide the wording in the state language. For regional and local radio broadcasts in a minority language there had previously been the duty to broadcast the whole programme additionally in the state language.

Television broadcasting - the introduction of a uniform regime allows the use of subtitles also in regional and local television broadcasting in national minority languages. Previously there had been the duty to broadcast the whole programme in regional and local broadcasting also in the state language (without the possibility of using subtitles).

Live television broadcasting - the possibility of live television broadcasting in national minority languages with simultaneous or consecutive interpreting into the state language is introduced. Previously the act had not made live broadcasting possible, because at the nationwide level television broadcasting had to be at least subtitled and at the regional and local level television broadcasting principally had to be broadcast originally in the state language and the broadcast in the minority language was derived from the broadcast in the state language, which excluded the possibility of live broadcasting in national minority languages.

Audiovisual works for children - the obligation for Slovak dubbing has been cancelled in the case of audiovisual works for children of up to 12 years old broadcast in the framework of television broadcasting in national minority languages. Previously Slovak dubbing had been mandatory for all audiovisual works for children of up to 12 years old.

The act enables the original publishing of occasional cultural newspapers, catalogues for galleries, museums and libraries, and programmes for cinemas, theatres and concerts in minority languages, provided the wording in the state language is also given. Previously such printed materials could be published only in the state language and the text in the minority language could be only a translation from the state language.

Cultural events of national minorities may be accompanied first by an introduction in the minority language and only afterward need follow an introduction in the state language. Previously there had been the duty to introduce cultural events of national minorities first in the state language.

The original creation of texts on monuments, memorials, plaques, inscriptions, adverts and announcements intended for the public in national minority languages is permitted, provided the wording is also given in the state language, i.e. it is not required that the text in the minority language be a translation of the original text in the state language. Previously these texts had to be created in the state language and the text in the other language had to be a translation from the state language.

Written documents - the act allows written legal acts of employment law, financial and technical documentation, articles of associations, collectives, political parties and movements and commercial companies to be drawn up in a minority language. Previously these documents could be drawn up only in the state language.

Communication by patients and clients in healthcare and social facilities in a minority language in municipalities where a minority language is used pursuant to Act no. 184/1999 Coll. on the use of national minority languages is allowed also in the case where patients and clients speak the state language. Previously patients could communicate in the minority language only if they did not know the state language.

Official communication - by way of interconnections in the form of a reference to Act no. 184/1999 Coll. on the use of national minority languages no provision of the State Language Act may be in contravention of the provisions of Act no. 184/1999 Coll., thus clearly guaranteeing respect for the use of minority languages in official communication, including street naming and local signposting in the whole statutory scope as regulated in Act no. 184/1999 Coll. Previously the State Language Act contained a reference only to Act no. 191/1994 Coll. on the marking of municipalities in national minority languages. It did not contain a reference to the later adopted Act no. 184/1999 Coll., which could have caused interpretation problems in assessing the mutual relationship of these two acts.

Citizens of Slovak nationality in areas of mixed nationality are often denied the right of access to information in the state language

Members of the Hungarian national minority, which is the most populous national minority in Slovakia (521 000 people) live largely in the southern areas of Slovakia. This is an area of mixed nationality, where members of Hungarian, Slovak and other nationalities live together. Despite the fact that the Hungarian population is concentrated in this area, most of the population in the 13 districts of southern Slovakia comprises residents of Slovak nationality. Only two districts - Dunajská Streda and Komárno - are an exception, with more than half the resident population being of Hungarian nationality.

In the favourable conditions that Slovakia has long provided its national minorities, the Hungarian national minority has developed comprehensively and continues to do so. This is witnessed also by the fact that the number of members of the Hungarian minority has not fallen over the relatively long period of 40 years, but remains at a comparable level (in 1961 the number of persons of Hungarian nationality was 518 782). In consequence of communal elections to local authority bodies the local-authority standing of Hungarians at the municipal level has also strengthened everywhere where they are a majority, and even also in many municipalities where they are in a minority.

Despite this, citizens of the Slovak nationality living in areas of mixed nationality are often denied the right of access to information in the state language particularly in those municipalities where they live in a minority.  Official announcements, notices on cultural and other events, notices and adverts in public spaces are in many cases provided only in the Hungarian language, in contravention also of the previously applicable law. Pushing the Slovak language out of public life in an area of mixed nationality in Slovakia often causes citizens of Slovak nationality material harm and hinders their full inclusion into the social and working life of their immediate environment. Neither is it exceptional for Hungarian-speaking citizens to receive preference in job recruitment. There is thus repeatedly discrimination of Slovak citizens in their territory of their own state.

It is known that the Slovak Republic maintains a high standard of care for national minorities. As Knut Vollebaek, High Commissioner of the OSCE on National Minorities in his opinion regarding the amendment to the State Language Act of 22 July 2009, in international assessments of Slovakia's policy towards national minorities "it is generally recognised that a significant improvement has been recorded over the past years in establishing the requisite balance". In this opinion the High Commissioner also confirmed that the current amendment to the State Language Act pursues the goal of "guaranteeing the right balance between protecting and promoting the state language on the one hand and protecting the linguistic rights of persons belonging to national minorities on the other".

The cause of tension between Slovakia and Hungary is not the
State Language Act, but deliberate lies about it

In the opinion of the Foreign Committee of the Hungarian Parliament in August 2009 the following lies were claimed: "Almost every sentence of the State Language Act limits ethnic Hungarians - citizens of Slovakia from using their native language and their freedom of expression, almost every sentence is aimed directly against members of the Hungarian ethnic community in Slovakia."

Or: "... some Slovak citizens (for example those whose native language is Hungarian) are the subject of monitoring, persecution and punishment for using their native language..."

Against these lies stands the opinion of the High Commissioner of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe on National Minorities, Knut Vollebaek, that he gave on 22 July 2009 and in the conclusion to which stated that the amendment to the State Language Act pursues a legitimate aim and is in line with international standards.

The High Commissioner stated that the State Language Act respects all statutory rights of national minorities and does not cause a limitation of existing statutory linguistic rights of members of national minorities.

The High Commissioner positively appraised certain specific changes the amendment brings to the State Language Act. This concerns, for example, the abolition of the requirement to verify knowledge of the state language upon recruitment into employment in public authority and administration ("this is a positive step"), codifying the Czech language as understandable in official communication without any discrimination towards other minority languages ("this criterion will be used for similar situations in the OSCE area"), the introduction of a uniform subtitling regime for all television programmes in national minority languages ("an improvement on the previous provision"), a newly-formulated language regime for cultural newspapers in national minority languages ("generally favourable"), the introduction of the dual-language principle also in other documentation in education ("introduces a clearer legal basis and does not raise fears from the aspect of its content"), the introduction of a regime for place names in the state language ("does not induce fears from the aspect of minority rights, because it respects the right to state local names and street names in the languages of national minorities where the minimum population requirement is satisfied").

The High Commissioner evaluated the imposition of penalties for breaching the provisions of the State Language Act as legitimate and acceptable according to current international standards.

Despite this, the Republic of Hungary at the vociferous support of Slovak political parties representing the Hungarian national minority (SMK and Most) has systematically been conducting a campaign against the Slovak Republic and the State Language Act. The MEPs of Hungarian nationality Kinga Gálová and Edita Bauerová sent their MEP colleagues an alarming e-mail in which they try to depict the amendment to the State Language Act of the Slovak Republic as inappropriately limiting the linguistic rights of national minorities in the following untrue, half-true, nonsensical, unrealistic and exaggerated statements, to which we make the following comments:

"Would you like to get a fine of up to €5000 from the authorities of your own state for merely using your native language in communication with general government bodies as an average citizen?"

Under the State Language Act it is not possible to impose a fine for using a language. A sanction may be imposed only in the case where the state language is not also used where the act requires this.  An ordinary citizen cannot receive a fine, because the act precisely lists in § 9a who can receive a fine and an ordinary citizen is not stated there. In the given case only a state body or general government body could receive a fine.

"Would you like the inscriptions on monuments and texts on plaques to be censored by your Ministry of Culture?"

The State Language Act makes no mention of censoring in connection with inscriptions on monuments and plaques. The SR Ministry of Culture will not approve inscriptions; it simply issues opinions in which it assesses whether an inscription on a future monument, memorial or plaque fulfils the criteria laid down by the State Language Act.

"Would you like to attend a cultural event devoted to your national heritage in which you must - under threat of criminal prosecution - use a different language than your native language, even when there is no one there for whom this language would be their native language?"

Nothing of the sort entails from the State Language Act. Whole cultural events intended for members of national minorities will take place as they have done to date, that is solely in their language, because the amendment to the law in this case changes nothing. The state language is used equally as it has been hitherto: just in the accompanying introduction to a cultural event.

"In municipalities where the number of citizens belonging to a minority represents less than 20% (for example Bratislava) state officials can be penalised for using a national minority language. These severe fines - from €100 to €5000 - imposed in an opaque decision-making process create room for subjective assessment and fining.

Public employees cannot receive a fine, because they are not listed in § 9a among entities upon which a fine can be imposed. A fine can only be imposed for a breach of an obligation resulting from specific provisions of the act (the act contains no obligation "to not use a national minority language"!!).

"The height of nonsense is the duty to change centuries-old inscriptions on monuments, thus emphasising the superiority of the state (Slovak) language; an exception has been granted to monuments that are protected as memorials."

The Ministry of Culture will not oversee the use of languages on historical inscriptions placed on objects of particular cultural value more than 50 years old. In carrying out this oversight the Ministry of Culture shall focus primarily on new inscriptions, because older inscriptions should already have been adjusted pursuant to § 11 of the act applicable to 1 January 1997.

"Introduction in Slovak during cultural events is mandatory, despite the fact that not a single Slovak-speaking person is present at it."

An accompanying introduction to cultural events intended for national minorities shall be provided also in the state language wherever this is an event open to the public at which also citizens of a different nationality speaking the state language can attend at any time. The non-admittance of a person to a public event, or making their attendance at the event impossible due to their nationality is inadmissible under the Slovak Republic Constitution and such discrimination is prohibited in Slovakia.

"Knowledge of a minority language is not required for state officials even in the case of regions where a national minority forms the majority."

The State Language Act does not solve the regime of using national minority languages in official communication, it does, however, respect the regime of using national minority languages in official communication under Act no. 184/1999 Coll. on the use of national minority languages, which ensures official use of minority languages in all municipalities where members of a national minority form at least 20% of the local population. In areas where a large number of, for example, the Hungarian minority live, there is also a higher number of officials of Hungarian nationality at local offices. Members of the Hungarian national minority do not have a problem using their language in these municipalities (not a single case has yet been recorded!), but citizens of Slovak nationality who live there in a minority do encounter at offices an unwillingness to use the state language.

"Use of place names in minority languages is limited."

The State Language Act does not regulate the use of place names in national minority languages. The signposting of local places in national minority languages is governed by separate regulations on the use of national minority languages, and which the State Language Act respects.

"Schools with teaching in a minority language must administer all internal documentation in the state language, which represents an increased burden for this type of school."

Schools with teaching in a national minority language must keep pedagogical and other documentation bilingually, i.e. in the state language and in the national minority language. (Without this documentation being kept in the state language, and the respective supervision by state bodies in the field of education would not actually be possible). The requirement for bilingual administration of pedagogical documentation had previously been promoted by the Hungarian Coalition Party (SMK), something which was also a reason for the amendment to the State Language Act in 1999, when the obligation to keep pedagogical documentation at minority-language schools also in the national minority language was introduced into the act. Practice over several years has confirmed that the costs for translating school documentation into the state language and vice versa do not represent any extraordinary financial burden in a bilingual environment.

 "By adopting this legislation the Slovak Republic is clearly in breach of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages of the Council of Europe, as well as the fundamental EU directives concerning discrimination. Such provisions as these are simply unacceptable in an EU founded on the rule of law, principles of mutual respect and tolerance."

Implementation of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages, to which the Slovak Republic acceded in 2001, is monitored and regularly assessed by a Committee of Experts of the Council of Europe. All recommendations of the Committee of Experts relating to the State Language Act were taken into account in preparing the amendment to the State Language Act, ensuring that the act is in accordance with the provisions of this international document.  The EC directive concerning discrimination does not mention linguistic rights of national minorities. The European Union lacks a uniform standard for the protection of national minorities - this is stated in the European Parliament Resolution 2005/2008 (INI) of June 2005.

National minorities in Slovakia have extensive rights guaranteed

Reality and other laws also repudiate the Hungarian lies. In laws in the Slovak Republic national minorities have extensive rights guaranteed allowing comprehensive use of their language in all areas of public communication.

Education: The right to education in one's mother tongue is provided by means of a whole network of primary and secondary schools and pre-school facilities with teaching in a national minority language.  In the case of the Hungarian national minority more than 700 such facilities operate in Slovakia (at which all subjects are taught in Hungarian). Act No. 465/2003 Coll. established the University of J. Selye in Komárno for members of the Hungarian national minority.

Judicial system: In civil court proceedings, in administrative justice and in proceedings before the Constitutional Court members of national minorities have the right to plead in their mother tongue, even if they understand the state language. Expenses connected with the party acting in his/her own language are paid by the state.

General government:  On the basis of Act no. 184/1999 Coll. on the use of national minority languages, members of national minorities in municipalities in which they form at least 20% of the total number of residents have the constitutional right to use their mother tongue in official communication and to name local buildings and streets in their language.

Media: Besides the new opportunities that the amendment to the State Language Act has brought, members of national minorities have the right to broadcasting in their mother tongue on Slovak Radio and Slovak Television. The programming service of Slovak Radio Rádio Patria is intended exclusively for broadcasting in national minority languages and broadcasts daily in Hungarian, Polish, German, Ruthenian, Ukrainian and Czech. The possibility to broadcast in one's mother tongue is currently used by 18 private television stations broadcasting in Hungarian. A great number of members of national minorities publish periodicals exclusively in their mother tongue.

Culture: Members of national minorities to a large degree use their constitutional right to development of their own culture by means of their own institutions with substantial state funding. The Slovak Republic each year sets aside from its state budget specific funds intended solely for promoting the national minorities' culture.

Economic life:   Besides the minimal requirements for use of the state language in economic life, which is codified by the State Language Act and the Consumer Protection Act, members of national minorities in ordinary economic life can communicate, conclude business relations and contracts in their own language without the need to concurrently use the state language. This applies also to staff in shops and businesses. 

Religious life:  All churches operating in linguistically mixed areas provide regular services for members of national minorities in their mother tongue, where in several municipalities in southern Slovakia worship is conducted exclusively in Hungarian.

It is absurd that despite these extensive rights, which are also realised in practice, Budapest speaks of oppression of the Hungarian minority in Slovakia. Furthermore the Hungarian minority in Slovakia have significant representation also in political life, not only at the municipal, town and regional level, but also in the Slovak national parliament. National minorities in the Republic of Hungary cannot even dream of such a strong standing in social and political life.  It was again the High Commissioner of the OSCE on National Minorities, Knut Vollebaek who noted a positive trend in Slovakia especially in the issue of appropriate balance between promotion of the state language and legal protection of minority languages.

Hungarians complain loudly at their neighbours,
while minorities quietly die out in Hungary.

For years now Hungarian politics at all possible international forums has criticised neighbouring states for insufficient minority rights, indeed even persecution of the Hungarian national minority. The paradox, however, is that it is in Hungary that national minorities live in a deplorable state. These problems are best highlighted by the words of Jenő Kaltenbach, former Parliamentary Ombudsman for National Minorities in the Republic of Hungary, delivered upon his departure from the office he had held for the 12 years to 1 July 2009: "The situation of minorities in Hungary is theoretically, on the level of declarations "rosy", but in reality it is pitiful. ... Minorities in Hungary, without exception, have got to the edge of the abyss of losing their identity; their members do not speak their own language, they do not know their history and hardly maintain their minority culture. We have let minorities fade away."

The fate of Slovaks can also serve as a good example. Even despite a strong anti-minority policy around 400 000 persons belonging to the Slovak national minority still lived in Hungary after the Second World War. At present only around 18 000 persons (!) claim Slovak nationality, where in the case of estimating an annual growth in the number of Slovaks, and according to Hungarian data, of at least 1.1%, then under normal circumstances around 550 000 Slovaks should be living today in Hungary.

            Education for members of the Slovak national minority in Hungary today is not possible even at schools with teaching in Slovak. In most schools termed "Slovak nationality schools" in Hungary the Hungarian teaching staff teach everything in Hungarian other than several hours of Slovak language. In today's last phase of the assimilation process of the Slovak minority in Hungary, the Slovak language is ceasing to fulfil the function of a means of communication not only in public and social minority life, but also in ordinary contact between individual members of the Slovak national minority.

            The Hungarian Parliament in 1993 did adopt an unprecedentedly delayed Minorities Act, which, however, ensures minority rights only theoretically. The act's provision that minorities have the right to parliamentary representation is not exercised. As J. Kaltenbach stated there is no real will for ensuring this right. Instead, an amendment to the Electoral Act annulled this right "guaranteed" by law, because it had not awarded minorities the right to elect their members to parliament.  The adoption of this act has brought no change to the situation in the standing of the 13 minorities living in Hungary. On the other hand, however, this act is successfully exploited as a manifestation of the "model" minorities policy in Hungary at international forums and serves to mask the actual state of the national minorities dying out in the Republic of Hungary.