Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
08BUDAPEST1216
2008-12-19 15:39:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Budapest
Cable title:  

HUNGARIAN/SLOVAKIAN RELATIONS - A LONG AND WINDING

Tags:  PREL PGOV PHUM LO HU 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXRO0973
PP RUEHFL RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHNP RUEHROV RUEHSR
DE RUEHUP #1216/01 3541539
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 191539Z DEC 08
FM AMEMBASSY BUDAPEST
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 3718
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RUEHSL/AMEMBASSY BRATISLAVA 1042
RUEHBM/AMEMBASSY BUCHAREST 1436
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 04 BUDAPEST 001216 

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR EUR FO AND EUR/CE JAMIE LAMORE

E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/15/2018
TAGS: PREL PGOV PHUM LO HU
SUBJECT: HUNGARIAN/SLOVAKIAN RELATIONS - A LONG AND WINDING
ROAD

REF: A. BUDAPEST 1102 AND PREVIOUS

B. BUDAPEST 1209

Classified By: P/E Counselor Eric Gaudiosi, reasons 1.4 (b and d)

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 04 BUDAPEST 001216

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR EUR FO AND EUR/CE JAMIE LAMORE

E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/15/2018
TAGS: PREL PGOV PHUM LO HU
SUBJECT: HUNGARIAN/SLOVAKIAN RELATIONS - A LONG AND WINDING
ROAD

REF: A. BUDAPEST 1102 AND PREVIOUS

B. BUDAPEST 1209

Classified By: P/E Counselor Eric Gaudiosi, reasons 1.4 (b and d)


1. (U) Summary. This is joint Embassy Budapest-Embassy
Bratislava cable. Despite several, recent high-level
meetings between Hungarian and Slovak officials, significant
challenges remain to address minority-rights issues and
extremism on both sides of the border. Following an
impromptu November meeting between Prime Minister Gyurcsany
and Prime Minister Fico, meetings between the two
Parliaments' Speakers, the countries' Presidents and Foreign
Ministers produced considerable press coverage but little
traction. The December 15 meeting between Foreign Ministers
Goncz and Kubis made slight progress to improve the dialogue,
but emotions flamed by right-wing extremists in the Slovak
Government and on the streets in Budapest find both
Governments trying to put out fires with less time to find
the arsonists. More meetings ahead in 2009. End summary.

--------------
Fear, extremism and history
--------------


2. (U) Framed in a combination of fear and mutual mistrust
that emerged during the twentieth century, Hungarian-Slovak
relations continue to stumble along a path strewn with
numerous obstacles - large and small - over minority rights,
extremism, and history. Following the latest series of
meetings between the two Prime Ministers (November 15),the
countries' Presidents (December 6),and the two Foreign
Ministers (December 15),common agreement to address many of
the bi-lateral issues remains far down the rocky road.


3. (U) Haunted by the territorial losses associated with the
Treaty of Trianon in 1920, which includes a significant
portion of southern Slovakia - the felvidek or uplands - the
Hungarian fear of assimilation of ethnic Hungarians is
becoming a fact, as Slovak citizens claiming Hungarian
ethnicity has been dropping for decades. Conversely Slovak
concerns that the Hungarian minority will demand autonomy in
a country that has only existed since 1993 were reinforced
when right-wing extremists entered Slovakia in November to

commemorate the return of the "uplands" to Hungary in 1938 by
Hitler (only to be lost again at the end of WWII). (Embassy
Bratislava comment: the ethnic Hungarian population is
estimated at 520,000 down from 567,000 in 1999. It is
anticipated that the 2011 census will reflect a further
decrease, although the precise reasons are not known. Since
ethnic Hungarians in Slovakia have always been able to send
their children to Hungarian-language schools, an important
aspect of ethnic and cultural identity has been preserved to
a large extent. Slovaks speak in resigned and occasionally
bitter terms about the Slovak minority in Hungary, which is
smaller and much more assimilated - where surveys indicated
that less than 15,000 identify themselves as Slovak. MFA
officials note that there are only two Slovak language
schools in Hungary. The disparity between the two
communities helps to explain, at least partially, Slovak
resistance to Hungarian suggestions about how to deal with
national minorities. End comment.)


4. (C) While one can debate whether the political elite or
the media on both sides of the border bear more
responsibility for the current state of bi-lateral relations,
Hungarians, in general, point to the current Slovak
government coalition. As the Prime Minister's Cabinet Chief
Peter Kiss recently told the Ambassador, Slovakia is still "a
state whose character is emerging," challenged by "extremists
within its government," referring to Slovak National Party
(SNS) head Jan Slota. Kiss believes that Fico is jockeying
for position domestically before their elections, trying to
"get Slota's voters without Slota." Professor Laszlo Valki,
Head of the Prime Minister's Foreign Policy Advisory Board
echoes Kiss's view, drawing the distinction that Slovakia's
extremists are in the government and not just in the
streets," as in Hungary.


5. (C) Continuing, Kiss said that the nations of the region
are "destined to cooperate" as history had shown the negative
consequences of people - and governments - not working
together. He noted that the EU had not automatically solved
"the problem of nationalism," and said that the "desire for
peace" must come before "the framework." He expressed his
hope that the Slovakian ethnic Hungarian party would be open
to participation in "a coalition with the right or the left."
Kiss believes Hungary has had success in containing

BUDAPEST 00001216 002 OF 004


extremism domestically using the "limited inventory of
measures" within the confines of existing law, but
underscored concern regarding the "export" of the problem.
He noted that the Ministry of Justice and Law Enforcement has
been tasked to coordinate with Bratislava on this issue, and
he expects that his periodic meetings with senior Slovak
officials will resume "once we are past the present period of
crisis management."

--------------
Multiple proposals, slow progress
--------------


6. (U) Although Prime Minister Gyurcsany and Prime Minister
Fico issued a four-point joint statement expressing
opposition to radical ideologies, supporting good neighborly
relations and intentions to strengthen cross-border
cooperation at the conclusion of their November 15 meeting
following soccer violence between Hungarian fans and Slovak
police (ref A),Fico rejected out-of-hand Gyurcsany's
follow-on six point proposal. That proposal would: establish
priority national and EU funding for minority cultural and
educational institutions; allow use of minority language
geographical names in text books; establish a national and
minority "code of conduct," and a "court of honor" that would
issue public statements when someone violates the "code of
conduct;" either country can initiate a joint investigation
in cases of suspected minority rights violations; Slovakia
should consider establishing a minority rights commissioner;
propose that the Slovak National Assembly suspend and then
revoke the law limiting use of foreign national symbols at
Slovakian sports events. Likewise, the meeting of the two
Presidents produced no concrete results.


7. (U) In a prelude to his December 15 meeting in Budapest
with Foreign Minister Goncz, Slovak Foreign Minister Jan
Kubis outlined his thoughts in a December 12 interview with
Hungary's leading newspaper, Nepszabadsag. Stating that
"ad-hoc, informal meetings cannot substitute for in-depth
consultations," Kubis noted the excellent economic and
inter-ministerial relations between the two countries. He
acknowledged that there are contested issues between the two
governments, but these should be discussed in an appropriate
way between us as two EU member States. Responding to
Gyurcsany's six-point proposal, Kubis expressed "surprise"
that it was the Hungarian Premier, not Slovak Hungarians or
the Slovakian Hungarian Coalition Party which had raised
these issues. Continuing, Kubis stated that, while Fico
wanted to discuss "existing problems" during his November
meeting with Gyurcsany, "we were instead faced with a new set
of demands without any kind of diplomatic preparatory work."

--------------
We've become firefighters
--------------


8. (U) In a joint TV interview the evening of December 15
following their meeting, Kubis and Goncz both acknowledged
the need to establish mechanisms and a "warning system" to
avoid addressing everyday bi-lateral issues at the Prime
Ministerial level. Kubis commented that "we've become
firefighters, running to douse a fire whenever we see smoke."
Goncz and Kubis agreed to further reinvigorate the
mixed-committee format outlined in the 14-point agreement
signed in June 2007 between Fico and Gyurcsany. The two
Foreign Ministers activated one of the 14 points, signing an
agreement to establish a "Good Neighborly and Understanding"
prize of 2000 Euros, available to an individual or
organization who furthers bi-lateral relations. While both
Ministers underlined the importance of dialogue to address
bi-lateral concerns, Kubis restated the Slovak Government's
rejection of Gyurcsany's six-point proposal. Additionally,
the two Foreign Ministers agreed to disagree over the
Dunaszerdahely soccer melee issue, with Kubis stating the
Slovak police response was appropriate, while Goncz said
Hungary awaits a review by the a committee of the COE that
deals with violence at sporting events. However, they
outlined plans for the two Speakers of Parliament to meet
early next Spring, as well as plans for the two Prime
Ministers to meet within the first six months of 2009.

The View from Bratislava


9. (C) Slovak MFA officials believe the requisite laws and
mechanisms exist to manage issues related to national
minorities or bilateral flare-ups. Thus, the Slovaks were
both frustrated and bemused by what they characterized as FM
Goncz,s repeated efforts to discuss Gyurcsany,s six points

BUDAPEST 00001216 003 OF 004


during the December 15 meeting, particularly since PM Fico
has rejected them. However, the MFA views the meeting as
having made incremental progress, e.g., with the signature of
the agreement on joint awards and discussion about the
possible creation of a fund to support contact between
Hungarian and Slovak civic society. MFA officials also
evaluated positively the decision of the Hungarian courts
regarding the Magyar Garda and the planned visit of PM
Gyurcsany to Bratislava on January 8 to participate in events
marking the introduction of the Euro in Slovakia. Other
bilateral consultations are in the pipeline, including joint
meetings of six Slovak and Hungarian parliamentary committees
in the first half of 2009.


10. (C) Embassy Bratislava comment: Although it's easy to
identify shortcomings in the bilateral diplomatic efforts of
both countries, the frequent meetings of the Foreign
Ministers, the Parliamentary Speakers, and the Deputy Prime
Ministers have played an important role in bringing a degree
of reason to a problem that has been created largely by
nationalists or extremists (or mere political opportunists)
to serve domestic political purposes. It was symbolic that
FM Kubis, who announced his resignation on December 16,
ensured that his last official bilateral visit was to Hungary
(also the site of his first official travel). PM Fico has
stated that Kubis's replacement would come from the ranks of
"active, career diplomats." If that turns out to be the
case, we suspect that bilateral diplomatic consultations will
remain on track. We have heard from several Slovak diplomats
that current Ambassador to Hungary, Juraj Migas, is a top
candidate for the nomination. However, we fear that the
fundamental dynamics of the problem have not yet been solved.
As we move closer to a long election season in Slovakia, we
anticipate that Slovak-Hungarian relations will continue to
be exploited for political gain or held hostage to political
aspirations. For instance, President Gasparovic told
Ambassador Obsitnik on December 18 that he would not sign the
recently approved law on textbooks (septel). Whatever the
stated rationale is, Gasparovic does not want to provoke the
Slovak National Party before the Presidential elections in

2009. We are encouraged, however, by the growing recognition
on both sides of the border on the need for more dialogue, as
evidenced by the recent conference jointly organized by the
Slovak and Hungarian Atlantic Commissions. Embassy
Bratislava looks forward to working with Embassy Budapest to
find creative ways to support such dialogue.

--------------
Comment
--------------


11. (C) Budapest comment. With every Hungarian government
since the political changes in 1990 expressing some level of
"responsibility" for Hungarians beyond the borders, a natural
tension exists, in particular, with the Hungarian minorities
in Slovakia, Romania and Serbia. That said, Hungary views
its minority policy to be responsive and inclusive, and in
his meeting with the Ambassador, Cabinet Chief Kiss framed
the Hungarian Government's views on the issue, commenting
that the government will continue a policy of "positive
discrimination" in favor of minorities in Hungary while
maintaining its outreach to ethnic Hungarian communities
abroad.


12. (C) Budapest comment continued. That said, right-wing
extremism presents a greater challenge for both countries.
Commenting on recent the Slovak legislative act to restrict
foreign flags at soccer matches, Hungarian MP and Chairman of
the European Affairs Committee Matyas Eorsi argues that
"legal measures" such as the bans adopted by Slovakia "cannot
work in the long term." He said Hungary must choose the
"political solution" of building a consensus, jokingly
predicting success "in 200 years." However, Hungary has its
own challenges in dealing with the Magyar Garda (ref b) and
the right-wing Jobbik party. Foreign Policy Advisor Valki
told us that the Government's approach is designed to lower
the profile of the issue as it raises the substance of the
dispute to international fora. In response to the Hungarian
right-wing groups that entered Slovakia to commemorate the
1938 agreement with Nazi Germany, he conceded that he would
be "mad if people in Russian uniforms started parading around
Hungary," commenting that he has no sympathy for extremists
on either side of the border.


13. (C) Budapest comment continued. Within the Hungarian
political arena there is general consensus on the
Government's approach to the issue. Although Fidesz
President Viktor Orban recently told the International Press

BUDAPEST 00001216 004 OF 004


Corps that the situation was better under the 1998-2002
Fidesz Government, adding that "center-right governments are
better at managing these issues," even former FM Janos
Martonyi gives the Gyurcsany government rare credit for their
"responsible - even elegant - position." Like many other
contacts, Martonyi seems resigned to taking the high road;
one contact compared it to being pregnant by commenting
"we're not eating for two - we're being responsible for two."
Foley