Politics of the past: the use and abuse of history - Socialists ...

Much has happened in the last two years. We have organized several
visits to both countries and had many discussions with politicians
of the governments, representatives of the Hungarian and
Slovak minorities, academics and NGO representatives. In early
2008, we held an expert meeting on the rise of populism in Europe
and the region. It was the basis of the publication “Democracy, Populism
and Minority Rights”. We feel that our efforts have contributed
to a better political climate and helped to overcome some of the
outstanding issues in Slovakia. With the support of the SMK-MKP,
which in this case lined up with SMER, the opposition against the
Lisbon Treaty was defeated. Another controversial issue was the
language to be used for geographical names in school books. In
February 2009, an amendment to the School Act was adopted by
the Slovak parliament, with SMER and SMK-MKP voting in favour,
putting geographical names in minority languages in front of Slovak
names in textbooks for minority schools.
It was obvious from the beginning that the tensions in Slovakia
could not be reduced without taking into account the relationship
between Hungary and Slovakia and especially the historic dimension
of that relationship, because the mistrust of today has roots in
the past.
In October 2007, the Slovak Parliament adopted a resolution put
forward by SNS Chairman Ján Slota reconfirming the post-WWII
Benes Decrees. These decrees imposed collective guilt on the
German and Hungarian population of Czechoslovakia for the roles
played by their motherlands during the Second World War and deprived
many of them of their citizenship, rights, and property; they
were also victims of forced deportations. Last year November,
28 members of the extreme right National Guard marched on Slovak
territory in uniforms to commemorate the 70th anniversary of
the First Vienna Arbitration, in which the Axis Powers compelled
Czechoslovakia to return southern Slovakia to Hungary in 1938.
Ironically, they were able to walk across the border without problems
since both Slovakia and Hungary joined the Schengen-zone
the year before. Also in November 2008, after Slovak police
clashed with Hungarian supporters at a football game leaving 60 injured,
far-right extremists protested in front of the Slovak embassy
in Budapest shouting slogans such as “Slovaks, you don’t have a
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