LANGUAGE LAW UPDATE: SO FAR, ALL QUIET

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SUBJECT: LANGUAGE LAW UPDATE: SO FAR, ALL QUIET

REF: 09 BRATISLAVA 521

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1. Summary: The implementing guidelines for the Amended State
Language Act, which were approved by the Slovak government on
December 16, 2009, took effect on January 1, 2010. According to
officials from four mixed-ethnicity towns and the Ministry of
Culture, there have been few practical effects stemming from the
new law. The Ministry has yet to receive any official
complaints about violations of the law, and the town officials
say that they have not felt compelled to devote considerable
resources to compliance with the law. End Summary.




2. Given concerns on both sides of the Danube about the latest
guidelines for the Slovak State Language Act (reftel and
previous),we have spoken with various local and national
officials since the guidelines took full effect on January 1.
At the two-week point we offer the following snapshot, but note
that the Slovak Christmas/New Year's holiday season effectively
lasted through January 10.




3. In Dunajska Streda, a town of over 23,000 with an 80 percent
ethnic-Hungarian population, Mayor Zoltan Hajos stressed the law
is redundant, confrontational, and a tool of nationalist
politicians. Practically, the municipal office in Dunajska
Streda was already holding its council meetings bilingually, so
this is not an issue for his town. Hajos noted that there are
certain problems in ethnic Hungarian schools, as the
administrators kept their records in Hungarian and must now
incorporate Slovak. Hajos said that relations among citizens of
mixed towns and villages is good and this law has not affected
them. For example, shop keepers usually begin with the
Hungarian to welcome a customer, but switch to Slovak if needed.
According to Hajos, it is only politicians who are looking for
problems, though in reality there are none.




4. In Nove Zamky, a town of over 42,000 inhabitants with
officially 30 percent ethnic-Hungarian population (unofficial
estimates suggest the number may be closer to 50 percent),city
manager Peter Agh said the law has had no practical effect. Agh
said that Nove Zamky prides itself on being multilingual, and
that all city meetings, materials, information, and the like
were already bilingual. Agh suggested that the law might
present more of a hardship on smaller villages with over ninety
percent ethnic-Hungarian population, but in towns where
ethnicity is truly mixed, use of the both state and minority
languages is a way a life. However, even in Kralovsky Chlmec, a
town of 7,000 with almost 90 percent ethnic Hungarian
population, Deputy Mayor Arpad Kalapos downplayed the law's
impact, and said the city authorities and most citizens were
capable of operating bilingually. Kalapos observed that more of
his population is motivated to learn Slovak than in the past.
Kalapos said that there have been no complaints about
non-compliance with the law from the town's citizens, and he
does not foresee problems.




5. In Komarno, a town of over 37,000 inhabitants with over 60
percent ethnic-Hungarian population (the so-called center of the
Hungarian minority in Slovakia),the City Manager echoed Agh's
and Hajos' sentiments. He said that the city has always
operated in both languages, the citizens are able to use both,
and the law has not caused any disruptions. He noted that even
when the authorities receive a request or inquiry in Hungarian,
they answer in both Hungarian and Slovak.




6. Peter Kovac, Director General of the Ministry of Culture,
recounted the important role that OSCE High Commissioner on
National Minorities Knut Vollebaek played in the development of
the implementing guidelines, and lamented the fact that the
Hungarian government continued to disseminate misinformation
about the law. Kovac said that the Slovak-Hungarian Mixed
Commission met four times in 2009 and discussed both the law and
the implementing guidelines, and asserted that the Slovaks have
made significant efforts to address Hungarian concerns.




7. Kovac said that the Ministry has not yet hired the new staff
members who will oversee the implementation of the law yet, but
thought the interview process would start in February.
Ultimately, the Ministry will both passively (through receipt
and confirmation of complaints) and actively (through working
visits around the country) monitor adherence to law. Kovac said

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the ministry has not received any complaints since January 1.
Kovac also told us that experts from the Council of Europe's
Venice Commission will visit Bratislava on January 18-19 to
compile data for its analysis of the law.




8. Comment: For now, most ethnic-Hungarians with whom we have
spoken seem to view the law with bemusement more than dismay.
The majority seems to fear neither the "language police" nor
hefty fines. Ministry of Culture officials appear to be making
an effort to maintain consultations with the various
multilateral institutions so as to satisfy human rights
commitments. And the fact that the Ministry has not even begun
interviewing for the new staff who will oversee the law's
implementation suggests that any aggressive enforcement is still
several months away. End Comment.
EDDINS