NYELVTÖRVÉNY - a Szlovákiai Magyarok Kerekasztalának nyilatkozata angolul

Equality instead State Language Act!

A declaration by the Roundtable of Hungarians in Slovakia

We, participants of the meeting representing the Roundtable of Hungarians in Slovakia, hereby protest against discriminatory provisions of the recently adopted State Language Act!

The law in its current version fails to solve any true social problems; instead, it provokes tension and humiliates members of national minorities. It tramples on their rights and unacceptably intervenes with their identity, self-respect and human dignity. In their own homeland, it degrades them to second-rate citizens with respect to exercising the most important part of their cultural identity, i.e. using their mother tongue. Equally importantly, the law insults members of the majority nation by compelling them to become informers and stool pigeons and suspiciously spy on their neighbours, co-workers and friends instead of coexisting with them in peace and good will.

We, ethnic Hungarians living in Slovakia, consider ourselves equal citizens of the Slovak Republic. We are neither immigrants nor tenants here; we want to live with dignity and win recognition here, in our homeland. We refuse to be accused of violating valid legislation based on State Language Act and to be fined for using our native language. The basic purpose of a language act should be governing the use of the languages in official contact as opposed to restricting the freedom of speech and interfering with citizens’ private lives.

We respect and honour the Slovak language. We also expect the government to respect and honour our native language, which is Hungarian. Besides the Slovak language, the government is obliged to protect and actively support languages of ethnic minorities that form an integral part of the Slovak Republic. It is necessary to adopt complex legislation governing the practice of using minority languages as it has been suggested for several years by international human rights institutions, particularly the Council of Europe and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). Languages of ethnic communities that live in Slovakia in large numbers should be put on an equal footing with the language of the majority on territories inhabited by these communities, just as it has been practiced for many years in other multi-ethnic European countries. Let true bilingualism be considered a benefit.

We hereby demand the government to base its minority policies on meritorious consultations with representatives of ethnic minorities, in compliance with Article 34 of the Slovak Constitution and Article 15 of the Framework Convention of the Council of Europe on the Protection of Ethnic Minorities. Let authorities not decide without us on matters that immediately concern us! Let government officials not set ethnic communities against each other through taking advantage of their different size and level of organization, different needs and demands! Let them not point their fingers at Budapest while they should maintain a dialogue with us! The time has come to start drafting a comprehensive law on national minorities, which would address the overall status of national minorities in Slovakia as suggested by the Advisory Committee of the Council of Europe and the OSCE High Commissioner for Ethnic Minorities.

We refuse to be the whipping boy of some political parties and leaders while they continue to play their power games. We are growing sick and tired of those politicians who constantly accuse an entire community of disloyalty and question honour of innocent people without a good reason.

On the other hand, we highly respect all those Slovaks who have been our partners in a cultured dialogue in the past. We are also prepared to negotiate with ruling parties and government authorities. We believe we are able to contribute to creating rules and the framework of peaceful coexistence should the state power show such interest.

Dunajská Streda/Dunaszerdahely, September 1, 2009