Pavol Hamzik

His Excellency

Max van der Stoel

OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities

The Hague

The Netherlands

Dear High Commissioner,

Allow me to take position with respect to the issues that you have mentioned in your letter of 13 August 1996. Your views and recommendations concern Aide Memoire, by which the Slovak Republic reacted to the "Joint Declaration" adopted on 5 July 1996 at the conference "Hungary and Hungarians Abroad", you have again returned to the amendment of the Penal Law, you have mentioned the Law on State Language, use of minority languages in official contacts, educational system for national minorities and your attention has also been paid to the declaration of the Premier V. Meèiar concerning such formation of constituencies that would guarantee the Hungarian minority representatives an adequate representation in the Parliament.

With respect to the conference "Hungary and Hungarians Abroad" and the "Joint Declaration" that was adopted at this conference and signed by official representatives of the Republic of Hungary, Slovakia has expressed its essential and constant position towards this event in the Aide Memoire mentioned above, but also in the Position of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Slovak Republic regarding Aide Memoire of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Hungary of 31 July 1996. I assume therefore that it would not be reasonable to repeat the ideas expressed in the said documents. However, I fully identify, Your Excellency, with your opinion that any discussion regarding minority questions in Slovakia or in Hungary has to be based on analysis of the rights, and also the duties, of persons belonging to these minorities, with your specification of the referential framework for this analysis, as well as with the opinion that Slovakia and Hungary, in the preamble of the basic treaty, rejected the notion that the minority can only maintain its identity by isolating itself as much as possible from the society surrounding it. I share your firm belief that only on the basis of respect by the State for the identity of the minority on one hand, and of the willingness of the minority to consider itself an integral part of the State they are living in on the other hand, can harmonious inter-ethnic relations develop.

And especially in this connection I feel urged to point out the fact that the Slovak Republic, on one hand, has provided its compatriots of Hungarian origin with guarantees of their rights in the greatest possible extent and on the highest level possible. However, on the part of political representatives of the Hungarian minority, it lacks just the very willingness to consider itself an integral part of the State they are living in. You yourself, Your Excellency, mention in your letter the often expressed wish of Hungarian parties in Slovakia for territorial autonomy. I think that there is not a more convincing proof of the mentality of ethnic separatism of these parties' representatives than particulary this wish. The proposal very well known to you of creating self-government regions in south Slovakia that is unambiguously based upon ethnic principle and as such it is probably motivated by the endeavour of as great isolation from the Slovak state-political, cultural and social life as possible on local and regional levels. It is true that the Joint Declaration does not specify what kind of autonomy it aims at. This, unfortunately, changes nothing on the fact that the consent of the Republic of Hungary with this document was understood by the representatives of the Hungarian minority in Slovakia as official support of their separatist tendencies - including the one you mention yourself. Of course, I do not intend to dramatise this fact, however, I am convinced that this phenomenon should certainly not be underestimated. I mention this mainly in connection with your remark on existence of other forms of autonomy and the statement related to it that no international instrument commits or obliges a State to the acceptance of territorial autonomy. I should like to add that this does not concern only the territorial autonomy, but an autonomy in general. It is therefore a matter of sovereign resolution by the State to decide upon such non-standard solution of minority issues in the way and in the manner that it finds appropiate, or to simply principally reject such solution. Slovakia considers the existing international system of national minorities' protection to be sufficient for preservation and development of identity of persons belonging to national minorities and has no intention to adopt any such measures that would exceed the framework of this system.

Your Excellency, as far as the Penal Law amendment is concerned, allow me to disperse your concern by a repeated assurance that neither sharing the conviction of the territorial autonomy being a suitable solution for Hungarian question's solution in Slovakia, nor organising a peaceful public gathering to support this conviction, is an offence in the democratic Slovak Republic. Such conclusion does not follow from the Paragraphs 92 b and 98 of the above amendment, indeed. The less the legitimate endeavour of the deputies of Hungarian origin to change the constitutional order. The only exception consists in supporting and promoting violence or movements aiming at oppression of rights and freedoms of citizens, such as fascism, communism, spreading national, racial, class or religious hatred. I am convinced that the said paragraphs determine the characteristics of the facts of a case to a sufficient extent so that it is possible to unambiguously identify whether or not an offence under the Penal Law amendment occurred or whether it was an exercise of the unquestionable right to freedom of expression. However, I should like to point out the fact, that the draft amendment of the Penal Law is still in the legislative process that has not been finished yet. By the decision of the President of 4 April 1996, the draft of the said amendment was returned to repeated discussion by the Parliament and it was included in the agenda of the currently proceeding session of the National Council of the Slovak Republic. In this stage of the legislative process therefore the Ministry, which submitted the draft, can influence neither the wording of individual provisions of the draft amendment nor their deletion, as the case may be.

The said interventions are, of course, possible on the part of the deputies of the Parliament.

Let us now move to the remark of the Prime Minister of the Slovak Republic regarding the character of constituencies. The Prime Minister mentioned this question in connection to the preparation of a new law on elections for the National Council of the Slovak Republic and in connection with the process of public administration's reform in its course. With respect to the time available, the legislation providing for this matter has to be prepared so that the whole reform of public administration results also in the preparation of elections in 1998. The election legislation, i.e., not only the law on election for the National Council of the Slovak Republic, but also the laws on elections for self-government bodies on local and regional levels, must obviously follow up the new organisation of public administration. As the process of public administration's reform, after constituting eight counties and new districts as the state administration units, will continue by completion of the self-government bodies' system formation at local and regional levels and by redistribution of powers between the state and the self-government, it is not reasonable to expect that the materials, the aim of which is the above mentioned change of election regulations, would be prepared this year. However - and in this I should like, Your Excellency, to reassure you - in the preparation of these laws, the Slovak Republic will inevitably take into consideration the position of persons belonging to national minorities so that their constitutionally guaranteed rights, including the right of participation, are fully observed.

I shall only briefly touch upon the Law on State Language of the Slovak Republic and upon the use of minority languages in official contacts. The Ministry of Culture of the Slovak Republic expressed its consent with your recommendation to annually submit to the Parliament a report on its activities in the area of adherence to this law, as well as with publishing a complete list of laws and regulations, or their relevant articles, concerning the language rights of persons belonging to national minorities. By the way, these legal norms were enumerated in the letter of my predecessor, J. Schenk, of 23 April 1996 and concretely cited in the "Information on Implementation of the Framework Agreement of the Council of Europe on the Protection of National Minorities in the Internal State Order of the Slovak Republic" published by the daily "Slovenská republika" in four language mutations, including Hungarian.

As for the opinion that was presented to you during you visit on 8 - 10 January 1996 by one of the governmental representatives that the draft law on use of minority languages should include the obligation to enclose a translation to the state language with a text in the minority language in official contacts, I can only state that the solution of this issue is in preparation and we still do not have a concrete draft wording for this legal norm, or the relevant article, that would specify the right to use the minority language in official contacts to a greater detail. However, I personally share the opinion of the three experts for constitutional law mentioned by yourself that such a formula would not be compatible with article 34 para 2 sub b of the Constitution of Slovakia and, at the same time, I should like to assure you that I communicated this opinion to the relevant ministries.

Allow me now, Your Excellency, to communicate to you the position of the Ministry of Education of the Slovak Republic regarding your questions or recommendations that you have aimed at the area of education and that you have expressed in points 1 to 4:

Your Excellency, in conclusion, I should like to inform you on the assurance of the Minister of Culture that your recommendations will be utilised in further work of the Ministry. In relation to your reference to the Article 5 of the Framework Agreement and the Paragraph 33 of the OSCE Copenhagen Document, however, I should like to add, referring to the explanation of the operation of financing the national minorities' culture by my predecessor in his letter of 20 October 1995, one, even if not exhausting, note. The culture of national minorities is variable and according to its internal potential, the given national minority manifests it in various manners. In addition to the activities of cultural associations, periodical and non-periodical minority press, there are also professional minority theatres and companies, museums, district libraries and regional cultural centres. Therefore the conditions for the development of minority culture need to be considered comprehensively. The fact is that in relation to the said institutions, the founder of which is the Ministry of Culture, an important increase in funding necessary for their activity occurred in 1995. And this situation has changed neither in 1996. As for the grant system of funding the activities of institutions, the founder of which is not the Ministry of Culture (cultural associations, periodical and non-periodical press), it is quite possible that, based upon the obtained experience, the system will be reconsidered with the view of its improvement. The more likely it is that the Ministry of Culture promised to consider your recommendations and to utilise them to the extent necessary for this purpose.

Yours sincerely,

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