I'll profess and confess I know relatively little about the Magyar
minority vis-a-vis Slovakia however I am vaguely aware of the tensions
that exists between the two groups. From what I've read, the Slovaks have
historically been relatively close to the Magyars with regards to the
Czechs and Romanians. However, as Magyars and Slovaks are not related
(apart from the fact they belong to the species Homo Sapiens) both sides
evolved differently. The Magyars being relatively better off than the
Slovaks. However, after the Treaty of Trianon, about 300 000 Magyars were
cut off from the motherland as Felvidék (the Northern Highlands) was
ceded to Slovakia as part of the carving of Nagymagyarország. The result
was a foreign people (Magyars) being on the wrong side of the border
surrounded by a majority of non-Magyars (Slovaks). From what I've read in
Stephen Sisa's "Spirit of Hungary", the Magyar minority of Slovakia was
subjected to persecution and discrimination by the local populace in the
years after World War I and World War II. (According to Sisa, the Slovak
treatment was worse after World War II and only world pressure saved many
Magyars). According to the Encyclopedia Britannica 1994 Year Book, after
the euphoria of the Czech and Slovak division, the Slovaks were faced
with grim economic prospects. After President Meciar failed to appease
Slovak workers toiling (or idling about) in outdated Soviet-made
factories, he started to accuse Magyars as the source of Slovakia's
economic woes. (Just like Hitler and the Jews) In addition, he began to
discriminate aganist the Magyars by limiting Magyar language and cultural
instruction. Naturally, this chauvinistic/nationalistic/racist stance
gave Meciar much support among disgruntled and unemployed Slovaks but of
course caused Budapest a fair amount of concern. I am sure that there is
discrimination in Slovakia but as to how much and how bad it is today I
cannot tell you.
There I've said my spiel on Slovakia and its Magyar minority.
Peter Chong
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