Don’t Speak

Don’t Speak! This is in short what the Slovak government told its all Hungarian-speaking citizens with the Slovak Language Act adopted at the end of June. The new legislation introduces restrictions on the use of minority languages in Slovakia. The act creates the category of “state language” which undermines the use of local and minority languages. Not only does the new law promote the use of Slovak in official documentation, but also it requires the use of the state language in all forms of public interaction.

Thus radio and TV stations must first announce news in Slovak, and then in the minority language of the region. Similarly, public events and advertisements must be introduced and carried out primarily in Slovak. The Language Act also introduces fines (100-5000 Euro) for those who breach the law, including those speaking in Hungarian (or any other minority language) in public offices where the minority represents less than 20% of the population. According to the Perspective Institute the law “makes the usage of Slovak language compulsory in numerous aspects of private and public sphere, penetrating deeply and gratuitously into the everyday lives of citizens.” It also introduces extra costs to minorities and puts them in absurd situations to use Slovak even though they represent local majority.

Last December, the Slovak parliament passed a similar law regulating minority textbooks. Recently, the Hungarian Primer Minister Bajnai and MEPs slammed the new Language Act. The initiators of the law, Parliament Speaker Pavol Paška and culture minister Marek Maďarič did not see anything disturbing in these objections. Instead of engaging in a discussion with Hungarian government and the Hungarian Coalition in the Slovak Parliament, they invited invited European ambassadors to explain how the new law does not endanger minority rights.

In the 2009 edition of Nations in Transit, Freedom House Europe warned about “increased ethnocentric element in domestic politics” in Slovakia. “In 2008, interethnic relations further deteriorated, exacerbated by a cabinet measure to replace Hungarian geographic names with Slovak equivalents in the textbooks of ethnic Hungarian pupils. Ruling coalition leaders made racist public statements”, the report continues.

The general democratic reversal in former communist states has different expressions in different countries, but it seems that deterioration of minority rights and radicalisation of certain right-wing political groups is a common phenomena. In fact recent elections in Hungary and Bulgaria confirm this trend. Over the past few years we saw similar trends in France (le Pen), Austria (Heider) and most recently in the Netherlands (Geert Wilders).

In fact, while the Slovak language Act has been repudiated in Europe, it is not an isolated example of minority rights violations. At the same time Europe has quite a record in violent nationalism from the past. Has it come the time for a more unified EU policy on minority rights? Is it not time to stop sweeping under the carpet the minority issues of Africans in France, Sami people in Scandinavia or Roma in Central and Eastern Europe? Ethnic tolerance is the only civilized way to build integrated European Union. It is the only civilized choice for a democratic government!

These couple of last days the main problem that filled the romanian newspapers and TV shows was related to the hungarian minority and the visit of the hungarian president Solyom Laszlo.

Why is the press so interested in the visit of a foreign president in Romania ? Well, for those of you who do not know the situation, the problem is related to the large number of hungarians in the counties of Harghita and Covasna, also known as “Ţinutul Secuiesc”. Tomorrow (15 march 2009) is the celebration for 161 years since the Hungarian Revolution of 1848. At the same time in the Sfântu Gheorghe city a referendum will be held regarding the decision of the population if the counties mentioned before should gain their independence. Where is the problem you might ask ? Well, there is a formation called UDMR – The Democratic Union of Hungarians from Romania which launched a couple of rumours about the President of Hungary not being allowed to enter the country.

I believe this is a two-way challenge for the romanian officials which I see remained silent regarding this problem. First of all a referendum related to the independence of the region can, of course, benefit from the visit and from the speeches of the president  of the neighbouring country. Second of all, a matter regarding the interdiction of a high official representing this minority can also motivate the people from that county to vote “for” considering they are not allowed to get their conationals in visit, not even for the national holidays. Now considering the fact that the romanian government and Ministry of Foreign Affairs have not replied can be an argument for this point of view. This “silent treatment” can be considered as a policy not to agitate, not to give reasons for further incidents.

Now how do I sustain my idea that this is all a set-up and none of this is real ?

First of all, a couple of weeks ago, the romanian president was in a visit in Budapest where he was asked by the press when is Romania giving the independence of “Ţinutul Secuiesc”. Then the romanian president, Traian Băsescu, replied with a simple “never”. Solyom Laszlo came in front with a hero face and speech presenting the rights that the hungarians from that region have, that he sustains the independence, but that all and all it’s ok.

Second of all, the romanian government has no right no interdict a foreign president from the European Union to come in the country. It might refuse an official welcome, but it cannot forbid the visit as a whole.

I think there is no need for a further argument, now you judge by yourselves. Thank you very much.

Best regards.

I try to answer your posts:

http://limbacailor.wordpress.com/2008/03/16/de-ce-se-accepta-neonazismul-in-romania/

http://attilabiro.wordpress.com/2008/03/15/primaria-si-politia-au-lovit-cu-noua-dreapta/

My dear Tihi, my dear Attila Biro, there is a correlation between what the neonazis did in Budapest, and the actions of some unknown agents provocateurs in Romania the same day. 

The only neonazis in Romania belong to the Hungarian minority. Why do the Romanian authorities tolerate them? May be this is because the Romanian authorities know they are agents provocateurs.

Titus Filipas

Bram Stoker, the author of Dracula, studied in the Library of the British Museum in London. In the 19^th century, the Library of the British Museum was a source of knowledge as important as the universities Oxford and Cambridge. So the Count Dracula speaks with enthusiasm on the basis of the culture learned in the Library of the British Museum: „…after the battle of Mohacs, we threw off the Hungarian yoke”. The victor in the battle of Mohacs was the sultan Soliman the Magnificent. During his rule,  the tulip was brought from Asia to Europe. Now the image of the tulip is on the Hungary coat of arms, and also was adopted as a graphic symbol by UDMR, the  ethnocratic corporatist organization of the Hungarian minority in Romania. Why?

Titus Filipas

PS

This post was not accepted as a commentary on the blog:

http://limbacailor.wordpress.com/2008/03/14/the-christian-republic-of-romania/