Post-WW2 expulsion of ethnic Hungarians from Czechoslovakia marked in Parliament

In Budapest on Tuesday, after meetings with the delegation of the Party of the Hungarian Community (MKP), Prime Minister and President of Fidesz Viktor Orbán said that in recent years Hungary has established exceptionally positive relations with the Slovak government and. Though the fruits of these efforts are beginning to ripen, he said, there are far more opportunities in Southern Slovakia than have been exploited so far.

Opportunities emerging in Hungarian-inhabited areas of Slovakia should be better exploited

Mr. Orbán stressed that in order to much more intensively exploit these opportunities, Fidesz will propose to the Hungarian government that, as with the economic development programmes in Vojvodina and Transcarpathia, “We should also enter into an agreement with the community of Hungarians in Slovakia […] so that we can also benefit from the positive Slovak-Hungarian relations in the field of economic development”. By relying on the experiences gained in other regions, he said, we may set out with a good chance of success, and there may be significant economic development resources already available this year.

As the Prime Minister pointed out, at the meeting they assessed the state of the Hungarian community in Slovakia, reviewed demographic, training and public administration indicators and regional developments, and concluded that “reality is falling far short of the opportunities”.

This is why there is a need for an economic development programme, the Fidesz leader said. He pointed out that the long-standing micro-regional fragmentation of the Hungarian community means that the parties have accepted an approach focusing on the need for programmes to be broken down into micro-regions. Summary reports will be presented to the Hungarian government within days, he explained, and therefore the programme – worth tens of billions of forints – could be launched.

He said that in the meeting they spoke about the opening of border crossing stations and the construction of bridges and roads, which may also boost the development of economic relations.

The state of the Hungarian language and Hungarian-language education was also on the agenda, Mr. Orbán said. He said that the efforts of those teaching Hungarian in Slovakia should be recognised, but a shortage of funds has meant that they cannot be sufficiently effective. He stressed that both in schools and higher education, significant Hungarian funds are required for the survival of the Hungarian language, and the Hungarian economy is able to finance these commitments together with an economic development programme.

Mr. Orbán said that it is important that there should be an adequate network of relations between the political organisations of Hungarian communities living in the Carpathian Basin and Hungarian parties, and the Government’s network of relations does not substitute for that of parties. The partner organisation of Fidesz-KDNP in Slovakia is the MKP, he stated, and “this is how it was, how it is, and how it will be”.