Trouble in paradise? Slovakia risks beef with Hungary over new language bill

Slovakia could be on track to losing one of its main allies: Hungary.

Bratislava’s latest amendment to its language law — which curtails the use of minority languages, including Hungarian — could derail the two countries’ otherwise cozy relationship.

The new draft bill, leaked by local media, would ban the use of minority languages on public transport, at post offices or on restaurant menus, and raise the penalties for not complying with the law by 20 times, up to €15,000.

Slovak opposition politicians from the Freedom and Solidarity party (SaS) and Hungarian Alliance party are critical of the law, pointing out that it will damage tourism, reduce Slovakia’s competitiveness and lead to criticism from the EU.

“This nationalistic, snobbish law has restricted and still restricts in many cases the rights of citizens of the Slovak Republic to freely disseminate and receive information in their own language and interferes with their freedom of doing business,” SaS MP René Parák said.

According to the opposition, the legislation is reminiscent of the 1990s government of former authoritarian Prime Minister Vladimír Mečiar, who infamously pushed anti-Hungarian sentiment and first introduced the language law. The Council of Europe has also in recent years criticized Slovakia for continuing to violate the rights of its Hungarian minority population.

If the law passes, relations between the two countries — which have recently flourished under the shared foreign policy outlooks of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and Slovak leader Robert Fico — could quickly turn icy.

It wouldn’t be the first time.

Back in 2009, Slovakia passed a similar amendment that punished state officials for using minority languages, sparking a diplomatic row with Hungary.

Together with the right-wing nationalist Slovak National Party (SNS) — with whom Fico’s party shared power, just as they do now — the Slovak leader stoked anti-Hungarian sentiment, even banning the Hungarian president from visiting the country. He also accused Fidesz and its leader Orbán, who had yet to become prime minister, of being a “threat” to Slovakia.

Two years later, Orbán offered Hungarian citizenship to minorities living in Slovakia, prompting Fico to ban dual citizenship.

Culture Minister Martina Šimkovičová from the SNS, who spearheaded the latest idea to toughen the existing law, denied allegations that the law is aimed against minorities, countering that its purpose is to protect the Slovak language.

Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjártó said he had received a “guarantee” from Slovak Speaker of Parliament Peter Žiga that any future language law change won’t restrict the rights of the Hungarian minority in Slovakia.

“To be sure, we are in constant consultation with the recently elected leadership of the party representing Hungarians living in Slovakia — the Hungarian Alliance,” Szijjártó said at a press conference Monday following his meeting with Žiga.

Szijjártó’s comments signal that Hungary is closely monitoring the amendment. If it passes, it is expected to take effect next summer.

János Fiala-Butora, a human rights attorney with specialization on ethnic minorities at the University of Galway, said that the draft law is “concerning.”

“It severely restricts the use of minority languages, which in the case of Slovakia mostly mean the use of Hungarian,” he said.

“For example, bus drivers, train conductors, post office workers, will not be able to use Hungarian at all,” Fiala-Butora added, explaining that all public signage — on and in shops, restaurants, in the streets — will have to have Slovak text first and with a larger font, meaning a lot of Hungarian text will simply be taken down.

According to the latest census from 2021, around 420,000 Hungarians live in Slovakia, making up around 8 percent of the population and representing the largest minority in the country.

This story has been updated.