SMK Politician Criticizes Slovak Government's Minority Policy

e Saturday issue of Hungarian daily Magyar Nemzet cites Deputy Chairman of the Hungarian Coalition Party (SMK) Jozsef Berenyi as saying that the minority policy of the Robert Fico Government is worse than in the communist era in former Czechoslovakia. The daily explains that the accusation was a reaction to the initiative of the Education Minister Jan Mikolaj, a nominee of the Slovak National Party (SNS) who ordered publishers of textbooks to use geographical names and names of municipalities exclusively in the state language. The SMK representative said that the initiative is at odds with the European Charter of Regional or Minority Languages that was ratified also by Slovakia. Mr. Berenyi suggests that the framework convention of the Council of Europe that is referred to also in the Slovak-Hungarian Fundamental Treaty enables minority members to use traditional names of municipalities and other historical names in their mother language.
At a meeting with her Slovak counterpart Jan Kubis on Thursday, Hungarian Foreign Minister Kinga Goncz indicated that after Slovak Parliament adopted a declaration confirming inviolability of the postwar Benes Decrees Budapest expects a gesture of understanding from Bratislava.