The Benes Doctrines, Slovakia v. Hungary

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Subject: The Benes Doctrines, Slovakia v. Hungary

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Original sender: Sandor Balogh <[email protected]>

The Benes Doctrines, Slovakia v. Hungary


National Federation of American Hungarians (NFAH)
Dr. Sandor Balogh, National President
7 Greenbush Avenue, East Greenbush, NY 12061, USA
518, 477-5476, fax 518, 477-8647
e-mail [email protected]: Hungarianfed-USA.org

February 25, 2002

MEMORANDUM

The National Federation of American Hungarians, the largest Hungarian
Organization outside the Carpathian Basin, have followed with great
interest the developing debate about the so called Benes Decrees. The
debate recently have turned into an unfortunate confrontation between
the Hungarian government on the one side and the Czech and Slovakian
governments on the other.

The so called Benes Decrees is a collection of government decrees,
laws, regulations and court decisions created after World War II in
the then Czechoslovakia under Eduard Benes's leadership, aimed at
depriving the country's German and the almost a million strong
Hungarian community of most of their fundamental rights, on the basis
of the concept of "collective guilt."

These unjust provisions, born in the heat of the post-war hysteria,
accusations and hatred are still in force in the now separated
countries of the Czech Republic and Slovakia. The German victims and
the German government have long demanded the elimination of these
decrees, laws, and court decisions, without much success. On the
Hungarian side the World Federation of Hungarians and its WFH Council
in Slovakia had started a successful campaign to bring the matter to
the attention of the European Community, as Slovakia seeks admission
to this Body.

As the result of the work of the Slovakian Council, members of the EU
Parliament became aware of the problem. So while Victor Orban, the
Prime Minister of Hungary was visiting in Brussels, on Feb. 20, 2002 a
member of the EU Parliament had asked Mr. Orban about his position on
the Benes Decrees "that discriminates against German and Hungarian
citizens." The Prime Minister gave a very civilized and non-accusatory
response: "It is true that the excellent relationship between Slovakia
and Hungary did not make it necessary to bring up this matter, and it
would not have been appropriate, since we expect that the joining the
EU will automatically mean that the Czech Republic and Slovakia would
erase the Benes decrees. These are such remnants of the twentieth
century that should not be carried over into the twenty first!"

Then he added, as an explanation and show of friendly intentions, that
the Hungarian government supports the admission of both Slovakia and
the Czech Republic. Among civilized peoples and governments this would
have been the end of the matter. But not in this case!

The two effected governments had issued angry responses, and Milos
Zeman Czech and Mikulas Dzurinda Slovak prime ministers had cancelled
a meeting of the Visegrad group that was to take place the following
weekend in protest that Mr. Orban had answered a legitimate question
by a member of the EU Parliament. Some even accuse Mr. Orban that he
was making the Benes Decrees a political issue before the upcoming
Hungarian elections. This response makes it obvious that such a
friendly expectation is unrealistic. In Slovakia and in the Czech
Republic, because of the constant fueling of chauvinistic ethnic
hatred by politicians, some churches and the national media, it is
politically dangerous for the governing parties to accept and follow
European and world standards in human and minority rights.

Therefore our Federation requests that the EU hold up the admission
process of these two countries and give them time to develop an
attitude that is expected of a member of the European and world
community.

Sandor Balogh, Ph. D.

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