Mniejszości narodowe, problem autonomii i etnoregionalizmu w Słowacji

Abstract

The Constitution of Independence of the Slovak Republic guaranteed all rights that are in accordance with international standards to the national minorities and ethnic groups. All national minorities have their representatives in local self-governments. Hungarians who live in Slovakia have their members in the Slovakian parliament. According to official data, the most numerous national minority in Slovakia are Hungarians. The idea of autonomy and ethnoregions developed in the 1990s and forced by some of the Hungarian minority leaders caused severe counteractions from the Slovakian nationalists. A group of politicians from the Hungarian minority oriented towards cooperation with Slovaks established a party called Most-Hid. The second party of the Hungarian minority that has two MEPs is the Party of the Hungarian Coalition (Magyar Közösség Pártja) which is supported by the Hungarian government. During the national census in 2011, 105 738 (2,0%) Roms registered in Slovakia. Experts estimate that their actual number is over a million. The major problem among Roms is unemployment. In the north-eastern Slovakia, Lemkos, who no longer want to be identified as Ukrainians, are beginning to claim their rights.