From Trianon to the First Vienna Arbitral Award

During the16 years years since the printing of this book in 1981 and the writing of this postscript in 1997, the Czechoslovak Republic, a mosaic state of nationalities (1918-1938) which was glued together in 1945 after the cessation of hostilities of World War II, disappeared again for the second time from among the sovereign states of Europe on January 1, 1993. As a result of Slovak separatist impatience, it was divided through negotiation into the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic.

Czech and Slovak politicians who lived in exile during World War II returned to former Czechoslovak territory in the wake of the Soviet Russian army fighting the retreating German forces. The Soviet Union and with its help the Communists had a dominant role in the renewed Czechoslovak Republic and in its government. The Czechs, under Soviet Russian pressure, had to accept shared responsibilities with the Slovaks as equals in the common state. The seat of the central government was in Prague but there existed a Board of Commissioners, a government for Slovakia and a Slovak Parliament, called the Slovak National Council , to pass laws for Slovakia. Foreign Affairs, Finance and National Defense were common. In February 1948 the Communists assumed government control with a political putsch and following the Soviet example installed a totalitarian regime which was called the dictatorship of the proletariat. Eduard Benes, the president of the republic, was removed from office and held under house arrest on his estate in Sezimovo Usti in Bohemia where he died a few months later.

The Communists introduced a centralized system of government which resulted in the restriction of Slovak national governmental institutions. In1960, the real power of the Board of Commissio- ners and the Slovak National Council was taken away, although they continued to exist only on paper. The representatives of the Communist Party became the highest state funtionaries. A totalitarian form of life was introduced in every segment of the society.

Within the framework of the socialist cultural revolution, under Communist Party censorship, de- veloped the cultural activity of the national minorities, among them that of the Hungarians, and schools of Hungarian language instruction were reopened. Slovakia, despite the totalitarian regime, became a modern industrial state under central economic planning based on the Soviet five-year planning model. Building of socialism was the favourite phrase of the government, although this process caused a moral and economic crisis. The population stopped believing in empty promises for a happy socialist future. The ruthless methods of state security organs and declining living standards evoked restlesness among the citizens. At their 1967 convention, Czech and Slovak writers pointed out the undemocratic and cruel methods of the existing political system. The Communist Party tried to introduce reforms with a view to attenuating growing criticism. The Slovaks demanded the reorganization of the state as a condition for participation in the democratization of the society. The reform Communists, among them Alexander Dubcek, a Slovak, who became the leader of the ruling Communists, started to introduce some political changes. In 1968, the developments in Slovakia renewed the question of equality of Slovaks and Czechs in the republic. With public support Slovak politicians demanded a federal structure of state of two equal nations. This was accepted by the enactment of law.

Two decades later, with the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1989, the parliamentary system was restored in Czechoslovakia. A former political dissident and prisoner, Vaclav Havel, a Czech, became the President of the Republic and Alexander Dubcek the President of the Federal Parliament in Prague. The satellite relationship towards the Soviet Union came to an end, several political parties were founded and economic life slowly began to adopt itself to an open market economy. These various proces- ses elevated the constitutional questions which Slovak politicians did not find satisfactory to the forefront. . The leaders of the Czech and Slovak regions of the republic conducted negotiations for three years regarding reciprocal and legal relations in the common federal state. After the 1992 parliamentary elections the victorious political parties decided to address unresolved problems by negotiation through the division of the federal Czechoslovakia into two independent states. Protracted meetings under the leadership of Vladimir Meciar of the Movement for a Democratic Slovakia resulted in unacceptable proposals being tabled for the division of common property and the Slovaks threatened the Czechs with separation. In the end , the Czechs recommended separation to the Slovaks.

In July 1992, the Slovak National Council accepted a declaration for Slovak sovereignty and in September of the same year it sanctioned the constitution of the Slovak Republic. In no time, the federal parliament approved a law for the divison of Czechoslovakia into two sepatate states ef- fective January 1, 1993.

The Czech Republic considered Slovakia a burden to its own hopeful excpectations for early integration into Europe. It is true that the Czech Republic was extended membership in international organizations and in 1997 is closer to its goal of full membership in the European Community and NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) under the leadership of Prime Minister Vaclav Klaus.

The expectations of the independent Slovak Republic regarding relations with the Czech Republic were very optimistic. The Czechs were very evasive concerning the maintenance of shared institutions;the planned maintenance of a common currency was not realized and there were disputes over the division of the assets of the former Czechoslovak Republic. The new Slovak Republic had poor relations with the Czech Republic and the Republic of Hungary and suffered from the absence of most democratic institutions and in the striking weakness of those in existence.

The Hungarian minority living within the current borders of the Slovak Republic continues to experience severe politcal oppression and constant harassment from the government of the new independent Slovak state. The signatories of the Helsinki Final Act (1975) accepted an obligation to preserve human rights and fundamental freedoms as an essential part of peace, justice and well-being. The Slovak Republic maintains an absolute disregard for this responsibility and conti- nues to mishandle the rights of the Hungarian minority.

Give and take techniques are used throughout the document. The Slovak constitution does not respect the rights of the Hungarian minority for the development of its identity, self-administrative organs, participation in the control and execution of its rights, protection of its ethnic structure, right to establish regional and cultural autonomy and life free of perpetual persecution.

Elected members of local governments, mayors from the heavily Hungarian inhabited southern Slovakia and 14 Hungarian deputies of the Slovak Parliament held a convention on January 8, 1994 in Komarom and accepted several resolutions demanding equal rights for the Hungarian population in the Slovak constitution. Hungarians form the majority in 437 communities and in another 85 settlements form a compact area running east-west on the Slovak-Hungarian border, encompassing nearly 70% of the local population and 98% of the total Hungarian population of Slovakia.

On April 15, 1996, Prime Minister Vladimir Meciar appointed eight government plenipotentiaries for the establishment of new regional and county offices. The aim of the new administrative regions was to annex Hungarian communities to Slovak districts to reduce Hungarian representa- tion in the regions for statistical purposes, and to prevent Hungarians from governing their own affairs in their communities. This plan is contrary to recommendation # 1201adopted by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. At a rally on October 5, 1996 in Komarom, Hungarian communities protested regional territorial realignment as well as the edict of the Slovak Ministry of Culture # MK-2375/1996 of June 28, 1996 which amalgamated existing Hungarian and Slovak musea, libraries, cultural associations, conservatoria and theatres. With this edict, separate and distinct Hungarian language institutions ceased to exist. At the end of September 1996, the Slovak National Council banned the use of languages other than Slovak in the Parliament; the Hungarian deputies are not allowed to speak Hungarian in the Slovak Parliament. Ethnic cleansing continues uninterrupted in the young Slovak Republic which annexed Hungarian territory are after World War II despite the Nazi past of the first Slovak Republic.

Starting in 1945, all citizens of Hungarian ethnicity lost their citizenship, property rights, right to work and were accused "collectively guilty" of war crimes for the destruction of Czechoslovakia.

Yet the new restitution law provides compensation only to those who lost property in 1948, not before. In other words, Hungarians who lost everything in 1945 cannot claim their property, whereas Slovaks who received Hungarian property in 1945, only to lose it in 1948, can now claim restitution.

On November 15, 1995, the Slovak National Council (Parliament) adopted the State Language Law which became effective on January 1, l996. It has a restrictive effect on the use of minority languages, contrary to the constantly emphasized Slovak arguments. In this respect, it contradicts not only the constitution of the Slovak Republic but also the Hungarian-Slovak Basic Treaty of March 21, 1995. Article 15. 2/g of the Basic Treaty states:"Persons belonging to the Slovak minority in the Republic of Hungary and to the Hungarian minority in the Slovak Republic, have the right, individually as well as in community with others to use freely and without interference their minority language, in private and public, orally and in writing. They have also the right to use the minority language in relations between those persons and the administrative authorities and the judiciary, to display traditional local names and other topographical indications intended for the public also in the minority language, to use their surname (patronym) and the first names in the minority language and the right to official recognition of them, to have adequate opportunities, within the framework of the educational systems, for being taught in the minority language or for receiving instruction in this language, without prejudice to the learning of the official language or the teaching in this language and they have also the right not to be discriminated against their access to the media. "

The language law states that within the Slovak Republic, the Slovak language is the state language, enjoying precedence over the other languages used in the Slovak Republic, and the languages of the national minorities and ethnic groups will be regulated by separate laws. The Slovak language is the language of education, the mass media, cultural events, the armed forces, armed services, the fire departments, court and public administrative proceedings, the economic sector, services, industries and health care. The Ministry of Culture supervises the enforcement of this law with the power of levying fines between 50, 000 and 500, 000 Ks to violators.

The Slovak Republic could be in conflict with the Council of Europe when the law will be . enforced. The Slovak government has received several diplomatic warnings from the European Union for its anti-democratic rule. . The High Commissioner of the Organization for Security and Cooperation of Europe, Max van der Stoel, made several official visits to the Slovak Republic and officially warned the Slovak government that the Slovak Republic could not be eligible for membership in the European Union or NATO because of its lack of democratic institutions, the introduction of authoritarian rule and the mistreatment of the Hungarian minority. The Slovak Republic has also received several diplomatic warnings from the USA.

The Helsinki Commission of the US Congress has expressed its concern on a number of occasions about political developments in the Slovak Republic. On April 18, 1997, Senator Alfonse D'Amato of New York, Co-Chairman of the Commission , issued a statement on Slovakian human rights. D'Amato stressed that current developments in Slovakia point in the opposite direction from the road its neighbours have been traveling. Slovakia's neighbours accept western values and seek integration into western, Euro-Atlantic institutions leading to individual freedom, political democracy, and economic prosperity in a free market system. In stark contrast, Slovakia is not in compliance with some important Helsinki Process commitments and is showing signs of repression toward authoritarian, if not totalitarian, relations between the state and its citizens.

The Slovak Republic showed much promise upon gaining independence in 1993 but failed to press ahead with needed democratic reforms. Progress towards democracy is absent when a parlamentarian, Frantisek Gaulieder, after announcing his resignation from the ruling coalition's Movement for a Democratic Slovakia, was stripped of his parliamentary mandate through anti-democratic means that are unheard of anywhere else in Europe. His removal has been protested by the European Union and the United States at the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe meetings in Vienna in 1996, but to no avail. On the contrary, there was a bomb attack at Frantisek Gaulieder's home, while he and his family were inside. The official police investigation was closed for lack of evidence, and the Slovak Minister of Interior has suggested that Gaulieder may have planted the bomb himself. It should be remembered that Slovakian secret police receive basic training in Russia. The 1975 kidnapping of Michal Kovac Jr. , the son of the President of the Republic, and his smuggling out of the country fueled speculation that the government's own security forces were directly involved in this crime. The homes of opposition political figures in many communities have been damaged by bomb attacks. Politically motivated violence is on increase in Slovakia bringing into question both the rule of law and the foundations of democracy.

Freedom of expression is endangered in the Slovak Republic. The government barred journalists at will from attending regular press conferences after regular weekly cabinet meetings because journalists were believed to be unsympathetic to the government. This practice was rescinded after public outcry and protest by the journalist's union, yet is further evidence of the government's authoritarian rule. A shocking episode was reported at a meeting at which Vladimir Meciar, the Prime Minister and a former boxer, threatened a journalist with the words:

"I will punch you so that your own mother will not recognize you. "

Prime Minister Meciar continues to conduct an unrelenting campaign against his political opponent, Michal Kovac, president of the republic, with the objective of removing him from office before the expiration of his mandate in March 1998. According to the Slovak constitution, the primeminister becomes the president of the republic if the Parliament is unable to elect a president with at least a three-fifths voting majority. The bitterness of the relationship between these two political figures originates from Kovac's role in Meciar's removal from power in 1994, and continues to poison the political atmosphere in 1997.

It is not clear whether Slovakia really wants to become a member of the European Union. It seems that Slovakia under the present government is a Russian wedge in Central Europe. It has 70 treaties with Russia, including those of a military nature, and there exists close cooperation between the Russian Communist Party and the Movement for a Democratic Slovakia. The public appearance of Meciar with Russian patriarch Alexi during his April 1996 visit to Slovakia underscores this cooperation. On June 26, 1997, the Romania Libera newspaper published the facsimile of Meciar's letter on the letterhead of the Movement for a Democratic Slovakia to ousted Romanian President Iliescu in which Meciar offered his connections for Russian protection should Romania and Slovakia not be admitted to the enlarged NATO. Shortly thereafter on July 8, 1997 in Madrid, NATO extended invitations to. the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland to join the alliance in time for its 50th anniversary in 1999.

Prior to eligibility for membership in the European Community and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization the Slovak government must harmonize the laws of the state with those of the EU, establish democratic institutions and implement democratic reforms. The May 23/24, 1997 refe- rendum for NATO membership and for direct presidential elections was denounced as "a mas- sive swindle" by the Central Referendum Committee. The Minister of the Interior removed the election question from the ballot at the last minute. Meciar acknowledged that less than 10 percent of Slovakia's 3. 4 million eligible electors voted. According to EU observers, the referendum was a test of Slovak democracy;the referendum was officially declared null and void.

Representatives of the Hungarian community of the Slovak Republic discussed the cultural situation of the Hungarians on several occasions and accepted resolutions to be presented to the appropriate authorities. The Hungarian community constitutes an integral part of Slovak society, however, at the same time, is also considered an integral component of the Hungarian nation due to its culture, language, history, family ties and many other characteristics of its national identity. This twofold linkage is a historical reality. The Hungarian community in Slovakia rejects all attempts aimed at breaking these ties by aggressive and arbitrary methods. The Hungarians individually and collectively demand the creation of proper conditions for the deve- lopment of this twofold linkage.

The quality of Hungarian cultural and educational affairs and services has been consistently deteriorating. Since 1964, public education of Hungarians has been increasingly victimized by restrictve measures and the use of the Hungarian language has been completely eliminated from public life. The operation of Hungarian schools in Slovakia since 1978 has been deliberately hindered and subjected to suppressive regulations. As of January 1, 1995, the present government decided to gradually dissolve cultural and educational facilities available to Hungarians. A new policy was implemented for the introduction of bilingual schools , so called "alternative education", instead of schools with Hungarian as the language of instruction. The government emphasized that bilingual education would be introduced only at parental request. The practice, however, proves something else. The goverment intimidates the principals of kindergartens and schools, and exerts political pressure on parents at school registrations. At the end of the 1994/95 school year five principals of Hungarian high schools who openly opposed alternative education in schools under their direction were dismissed. On June 27, 1997, many ethnic Hungarian pupils in Slovakia refused to accept their year-end report cards because they were written in Slovak only rather than the traditional biligual report. The move to reject the Slovak- only reports was a protest against what the ethnic Hungarians consider to be a violation of their minority rights by the Meciar government.

In 1918 and in 1945 the Slovaks were the principal beneficiaries of their political alliance with the Czechs. However, in 1939 they used the opportunity provided by the national socialist government of Germany for the declaration of the first Slovak Republic in history. The new Slovak Republic entered an alliance with Germany against Poland. The Hungarian inhabited area did not belong to the first Slovak Republic. The wartime alliance with Germany and the Slovak Republic's participation in the war against the Soviet Union was somehow forgotten by the peacemakers. The fiction of the "Czechoslovak nation" demanded it. The territory which was returned to Hungary from Czechoslovakia in 1938 by the Vienna arbitration was reoccupied by the renewed Czechoslovakia. In addition, Czechoslovakia, with Soviet Russian assistance, deman- ded five villages, and received three from Hungary after World War II. The Slovaks of the present-day second Slovak Republic are the inheritors of the first aggrandized fascist Slovak Re- public. In 1992, with their demands of Prague, they destroyed Czechoslovakia for the second time. The Slovaks demanded their own state with reference to the self-determination of nations. , yet the continue to rule out the request of the Hungarian minority for autonomy.

The second Slovak Republic is not mature enough for membership in the Euro-Atlantic organizations. Increasing political oppression, the denial of basic human rights and the mishandling of the Hungarian minority in Slovakia must be subjected to an international inquiry.

From Trianon to the First Vienna Arbitral Award