GET OUR YOUR SLOVNIKS: SLOVAK LANGUAGE LAW TO ENTER

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BRATISLAVA 000521 SENSITIVE SIPDIS EUR/CE FOR J. MOORE, M. LIBBY E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PHUM PREL LO SUBJECT: GET OUR YOUR SLOVNIKS: SLOVAK LANGUAGE LAW TO ENTER IMPLEMENTATION PHASE REF: BRATISLAVA 320 BRATISLAVA 00000521 001.3 OF 002 ¶1. (SBU) Summary: The Amended State Language Act entered into force on September 1. While the Slovak cabinet passed the OSCE-vetted implementation guidelines (not legislation) for the Act on December 16, there is still confusion about the practical effects of the Act. Both Budapest and ethnic Hungarians in Slovakia have lamented the lack of consultation, while the Culture Ministry maintains this is "exclusively an internal matter" about which Hungary will be informed in the next Joint Committee for Minorities meeting to be held in January. PM Fico considers the Act a "great diplomatic success for Slovakia" and described Hungarian complaints as the "perfunctory lambasting of Slovakia that Hungarians simply need to do." End Summary. The Guidelines ¶2. (SBU) In our discussions with interlocutors at the Ministries of Culture and Foreign Affairs since the law was passed last summer (reftel),they have repeatedly informed us that, as agreed upon by the Slovak and Hungarian Prime Ministers in September, Slovakia would work with the OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities, Knut Vollebaek, and the ethnic-Hungarian community, to develop implementation guidelines. According to the Ministry of Culture, Vollebaek received a draft of the proposed implementation guidelines in October. Vollebaek sent his comments on the draft, which he called a "good foundation for the implementation of the provisions of the revised State Language Act and for supervision of the fulfillment of the resulting obligations," back to the Ministry of Culture on November 26. The Ministry published it on November 27 for intergovernmental review and public comment. On December 16, the last meeting of the year, the cabinet approved the implementation guidelines. They will enter into effect on January 1, 2010. ¶3. (SBU) The guidelines, in the form of a government resolution, are not legally binding, and have not been approved by the Parliament. However, they were recommended by High Commissioner Vollebaek due to widespread misapprehensions about the law, particularly the sanctions specified in Section 10, Paragraph 9a of the Act. The implementation guidelines have 21 criteria that Ministry of Culture clerks must evaluate before a sanction is applied, including the extent of the offense, its duration, its repetition, its intent, its consequences, and the potential for further offense. Before applying a fine, the Ministry must appeal to the offending entity to redress the offense. If the offense is not corrected, only then can the Ministry apply a fine; the fine can be appealed within 15 days to the Minister, and then further to the courts. According to Culture Minister Marek Madaric, the "guidelines are of preventative nature and actual issuance of fines for the use of poor Slovak in official communication would be very complicated." "Consultation" a bit of an Overstatement: The Ethnic Hungarian Position ¶4. (SBU) Kalman Petocz, former Slovak Ambassador to the UN in Geneva, and current Director for International Cooperation at the Forum Institute and founder of the Hungarian Roundtable, a collaboration of Hungarian NGOs, downplayed the extent to which the Ministry of Culture had solicited his input. Though the Ministry had told us that Petocz and the Hungarian Roundtable would be consulted after the Ministry received Vollebaek's text and before the guidelines were published, Petocz said this did not occur. According to Petocz, he had only one substantive meeting with the Ministry of Culture's legislation and language departments, but they never shared the text of the implementation guidelines. Only after the guidelines were published on the Ministry's website and the intergovernmental review and public comment period commenced did the legislation department of the Ministry of Culture call Petocz. At this point, Petocz and the board of the Hungarian Roundtable decided to end their consultation. ¶5. (SBU) Petocz conceded that the implementation guidelines improved two of the priority areas that he discussed with the Ministry, namely tolerance of minority language use on BRATISLAVA 00000521 002.3 OF 002 tombstones and in doctor-patient relations. However, Hungarian Coalition Party (SMK) Chairman Pal Csaky was quick to point out on December 16 that the guidelines constitute "a legally irrelevant document, both concerning applicability to Slovak citizens and court enforceability of citizens' rights." ¶6. (SBU) In response to Budapest's claims that the process leading up to the approval of the guidelines is a violation of the agreement made by the Prime Ministers of both countries in September, Foreign Minister Lajcak said on December 16 that "Budapest has found itself in a trap of its own exaggerated statements~they are surprised to realize that the relevant European authorities are of a different opinion, which is similar to ours." Lajcak also committed to further discussing the guidelines with his Hungarian counterparts at a Joint Committee for Minorities meeting next January. Common Misperceptions about the Amended State Language Act ¶7. (SBU) Critics often imply that individual citizens will be fined for using their mother tongue. However, according to the law, and all of our Slovak interlocutors, no natural persons can be fined, but only state bodies, offices, legal entities (including businesses or entrepreneurs) are subject to compliance. Many critics of the law often state that it prohibits or restricts the use of minority languages. However, there is a pre-existing Law on National Minority language Use which grants all minority languages equal status with Slovak in all towns and villages where the minority represents at least 20 percent of the population. Some have raised a concern that the law could breach citizens' religious rights. However, the law does not address religious ceremonies at all. Few discussions of the law include the fact that it has improved minority broadcasting rights and abolishes the need for language tests for civil servants. Comment ¶8. (SBU) The Slovaks have been disingenuous about the extent to which they have consulted with the ethnic Hungarians. The paucity of consultation - or perhaps differing perceptions as to what the Vollebaek deal entailed - has roiled the waters. As for the guidelines themselves, non-Hungarian commentators and members of the Slovak National Party (SNS) alike have questioned their legality and utility. While we have privately been assured that it is very unlikely fines will be issued, we can easily envision the possibility that nationalist elements in Slovakia will attempt to exploit the law and force the government to define in reality how seriously they will "protect" the Slovak language. We also believe that no matter how much Bratislava would like to close this chapter of Slovak-Hungarian history, it will inevitably be exploited by politicians in both countries in the run up to next spring's national elections. Thus, we will be watching the actual implementation after January 1 very closely. End Comment. BALL