LANGUAGE LAW UPDATE: SO FAR, ALL QUIET

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BRATISLAVA 000014 SIPDIS FOR EUR DAS QUANRUD, EUR/CE E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PHUM PREL PGOV LO SUBJECT: LANGUAGE LAW UPDATE: SO FAR, ALL QUIET REF: 09 BRATISLAVA 521 BRATISLAVA 00000014 001.3 OF 002 ¶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 BRATISLAVA 00000014 002.3 OF 002 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