ECMI Publication: The New Slovak Language Law: Internal Or External Politics?

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Subject: ECMI Publication: The New Slovak Language Law: Internal Or External Politics? 

From: MINELRES moderator <[email protected]> 

ECMI Publication: The New Slovak Language Law: Internal Or
External Politics? 


European Centre for Minority Issues 

THE NEW SLOVAK LANGUAGE LAW: INTERNAL OR EXTERNAL POLITICS? 
Farimah Daftary and Kinga Gal 

ECMI Working Paper #8
September 2000


CONTENTS 

I. Introduction 

II. Background 
1. The Ethno-linguistic Make-up of Slovakia 
2. The Legacy of History 
3. Minority Concerns and Minority Demands 
4. The Party System and Political Life in Slovakia a. Representation
of the Hungarian Minority b. Other Minority Parties 

III. Nation-Building and Language Policy in Slovakia (1990-1998) 
1. The Rise of Slovak Nationalism and the Act on the Official Language
of the Slovak Republic (1990-1992) 
2. Building the Slovak Nation-State and the Slovak Constitution
(1992-1994) 
3. Language Policy under the Interim MoraviSllk Government
(March-October 1994) 
4. Consolidating the Slovak Nation-State and the Law on the State
Language (1994-1998) 

IV. The New Slovak Government and the Adoption of the 1999 Law on the
Use of Minority Languages (October 1998 to present) 
1. The 1998 Parliamentary Elections 
2. Drafting and Adoption of the 1999 Law on the Use of Minority
Languages 
3. Domestic Reactions 
V. The 1999 Law on Use of Minority Languages from the Perspective of
Slovakia's International Relations 
1. Expectations and Requirements Concerning a Law on Minority
Languages 
a. The European Union 
b. The OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities 
c. The Council of Europe 
d. Bilateral Treaties e. The Slovak Constitution f. The Programme of
the Dzurinda Coalition Government 
2. International Reactions to the Adoption of the 1999 Minority
Language Law 
3. Analysis of the 1999 Language Law a. What does the Law Say? b. What
Does the Law Mean? 

VI. Conclusion 
1. Impact of the Minority Language Law on Inter-Ethnic Relations in
Slovakia 
2. Slovakia's Return to Europe? 

VII. References 

VIII. Annexes 
Table 1.1: National Minorities in Slovakia by Ethnicity 
Table 1.2: National Minorities in Slovakia by Ethnicity and Mother
Tongue 
Table 2: Distribution of Mixed Municipalities 
Table 3.1: 1990 Parliamentary Elections - Slovak National Council 
Table 3.2: 1992 Parliamentary Elections - Slovak National Council 
Table 3.3: 1994 Parliamentary Elections - Slovak National Council 
Table 3.4: 1998 Parliamentary Elections - Slovak National Council 
Map 1: Percentage of Ethnic Hungarians in Slovakia (1991) 
Map 2: The Carpatho-Rusyn Homeland 
Act of 10 July 1999 on National Minority Language Use 
(unofficial translation provided by the Council of Europe) 

 
ABSTRACT 
In Central and Eastern Europe, where language is the central defining
element of the ethnic group, language policy becomes the cornerstone
of constructing the identity of new states. In the multiethnic state
or plural democratic state, policies aimed at promoting the language
of the titular nation become the primary means of validating the moral
worth of one ethnic group over the others. The example of independent
Slovakia illustrates the political importance of language in Central
and Eastern Europe and the virulence of the conflicts which arise
between majorities and minorities over language issues. The continuous
disputes between the Slovak leadership and the Hungarian minority over
minority issues in general, and language-related issues specifically,
have shown how sensitive language demands are during the early phases
of state-building. In Slovakia, where the emphasis was on the ethnic
rather than the civic dimension of nationhood, language policy served
a two-fold purpose: by giving the Slovak language a dominant position
in the state, it sought to foster Slovak ethnic identity as the
identity of the Slovak nation-state; and it was at the same time a
method for promoting the assimilation of non-ethnic Slovak citizens.
In reality, anti-minority policies in Slovakia (or policies perceived
as such) fell within a broader set of anti-opposition policies as the
State attempted to extend control and establish moral monopoly over
not only language but also the fields of culture, education, economy,
etc. 

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