Slovak-Hungarian ties have taken a turn for the worse over the weekend. Last Friday (21 August), Hungarian President Laszlo Solyom was banned from entering Slovakia to celebrate the unveiling of a statue in honour of the Hungarian King Stefan I in the city of Komarno. Authorities had been instructed by the Slovak government to block Solyom's entry on the grounds that it was a provocation and posed a security threat. Indeed, tensions had been running high in the run-up to the unveiling. Komarno is a Hungarian-dominated city on the Hungarian border; just across the border lies similarly named Komarom, and many residents of the Slovak city have strong ties to their neighbours across the border. Slovak authorities had not banned the unveiling of the statue as such, but had objected to Solyom's visit, which had been closely followed by the media. Indeed, the Slovak president Ivan Gasparovic himself asked Solyom to stay away from the celebrations. At first glance, the official reason does sound plausible: on 21 August 1968, troops from the Warsaw Pact suppressed the Prague Spring, a revolt by residents of the capital of then Czechoslovakia, amid great bloodshed. Hungarian soldiers took part in the suppression as part of the Warsaw Pact troops, and the Slovak government saw Solyom's participation in the unveiling of a statue on this very day—presumably instead of sombre commemoration in Prague, or Slovakia's capital Bratislava, together with the Czech or Slovak governments—as disrespectful. However, Hungarian officials have a point in protesting against this argument; they rightly stress that the Hungarian government has already officially apologised for the country's participation in the quelling of the revolt.

Up and Down

Bilateral ties between the two countries have been fractious for some time now due to the problematic integration of each other's citizens into their societies. Komarno has already been the scene of another Hungarian-Slovak government initiative—this time for boosting bilateral ties—back in November 2008. The mayor of Komarno, Tibor Bastrnak, admitted that the statue had in part been funded by the Hungarian government, and that his office had not invited any Slovak politicians to take part in the unveiling. As events last Friday show, ties are currently down, rather than up. Representatives of Hungarian Slovaks—who make up almost 500,000 of the 5.3 million-strong Slovakia—often criticise what they perceive as forced assimilation into Slovak culture.Further, anti-Hungarian comments by the junior ruling Slovak Nationalist Party have angered many such representatives, who regard the government as "anti-Hungarian" and refer to the denigrating remarks about Hungarians in the run-up to the Slovak presidential election in March to make their point. In contrast, Slovak politicians scold the attempts of the Hungarian government to forge closer ties with Hungarians in neighbouring countries as a potentially destabilising factor. Indeed, the Hungarian government launched the "Caparthian Forum" in 2004 as a means to bring together politicians of Hungarian descent from the entire Carpathian region (comprising of the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Serbia and Montenegro, Slovakia, and Ukraine). The body is recognised by Hungarian law, and can suggest draft texts in the Hungarian parliament. Komarno is also known as "Little Hungary", as two-thirds of its population are of Hungarian descent, and many drive across the border to Hungary for entertainment. Furthermore, many Slovaks living in Hungary feel as rejected by the Hungarian government as Hungarians in Slovakia do by the Slovak government.

Outlook and Implications

At the heart of the trouble lie national versus international laws, and the attempts of each government to forge closer ties with their nationals both in their countries and abroad. Both countries have fairly small populations, and are fiercely defensive of their culture and history. Slovak nationalists stress that Slovakia was under the tutelage of Hungary from the 10th to the 14th century, and use this as a means to drum up support for more independence from international organisations—including the European Union (EU)—and more unity among Slovaks. Hungary and Slovakia are also both EU member states, and allow their citizens to hold passports from other EU countries as well; this means that many Slovaks and Hungarians can cast their vote in both countries in arguably the most important elections: the parliamentary and presidential polls.

Indeed, taking into consideration the looming parliamentary elections in 2010 in Hungary and Slovakia, diplomatic ties are set to deteriorate further. Both governments will try to motivate their citizens to come out in droves and vote for the ruling parties. Slovakia's senior government party, Smer, arguably has the easier task ahead, as the polls are currently its to lose. By contrast, the ruling minority government of the Hungarian Socialist Party is on its last legs, and could be ousted by the conservative and staunchly pro-Hungarian Fidesz party. Given this context, diplomatic relations between Slovakia and Hungary are cooling considerably, and there is no near end in sight, regardless of any mediation between the two sides by influential international organisations.

Global Insight (Reino Unido)