CSCE
High Commissioner
on National Minorities
His Excellency
Mr Geza Jeszenszky
Minister Fur Foreign Affairs or the
Republic of Hungary
BUDAPEST
The Hague
9 March 1993
Rererence:
No 252/93/L
Dear Mr Minister,
Allow me first or all to thank you for the way your ministry has seen to it that my visit to Budapest on 18 - 20 February was a most interesting and informative one. As you were on a journey, I was unable to discuss also with you an idea which, in principle, had the approval of Prime Minister Antall when I met him on February 19. My proposals are to create a team of minority rights specialists who would analyse both the situation of Slovakians in Hungary and of Hungarians in Slovakia. This idea was also positively received by the Prime Minister of Slovakia when I visited him on February 18. These favourable reactions encourage me to submit to you the following proposals which I also send to the government of Slovakia :
1) The CSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities will designate three persons who can he considered to be experts on national minority rights questions and to be completely impartial, to study both the situation of the Slovak minority in Hungary and the situation of the Hungarian minority in Slovakia, hasing themselves on CSCE principles and commitments.
2) The experts will be appointed for a period of two years, which might be extended if both the governments of Hungary and Slovakia and the High Commissioner on national Minorities would consider this desirable.
3) During the two year period, the experts can pay a maximum or four visits. A visit will always include a visit to both states. The time to be spent in each country during a visit will not exceed seven days. The experts will he enabled to travel and communicate freely.
4) The experts will not include nationals or residents of either Hungary or Slovakia, or any expert against whom either or the two states has previously entered reservations. They will have to be nationals or residents of a state participating in CSCE, but they will not include more than one national or resident of any state.
5) After each visit, the experts will submit their advice and recommendations to the High Commissioner, who will decide whether and in what form the advice and recommendations will be communicated to the governments of Hungary and Slovakia. They will he non-binding. If the High Commissioner decides to make the advice and recommendations available to the CSO, the government concerned will have the opportunity to comment.
I would hope that your government can agree with these proposals. In my view agreement on this formula would be welcomed as an indication that the governments concerned are determined to deal with minority problems in a constructive way. In addition, it might serve as a model for dealing with minority questions in other parts of Europe.
If both governments agree, the CSCE Committee of Senior Officials will probably have to give its formal approval, both because it provides for an involvement of the High Commissioner, and also because decisions will have to be taken concerning the financing of the expert missions. As the next CSO meeting will already take place next month, I would greatly appreciate an early reply of your government to my proposals.
Yours sincerely,
(Max van der Stoel)
