national populism and slovak – hungarian relations in - MEK

Miroslav KocúrNational Populism and Slovak – Hungarian Relations in Slovakia 2006 – 2009. Forum Minority Research Institute Šamorín – Somorja, 2009ety’s lawmaking needs in certain specific areas. Requirements of churchescome to the fore especially during debates on state budget; here, churchesare directly concerned by government contributions to financing clergymen’ssalaries, church headquarters and indirectly also educational, socialcare and medical establishments. The country’s educational, social care andhealth service system features a considerable proportion of institutions operatedby churches that provide pre-school, primary, secondary, and universityeducation as well as social and medical services.According to this author’s personal opinion and experience, the voice ofreligious communities in this area can ill be ignored. With varying intensityand success, all post-November administrations in Slovakia solicited forsupport of churches as such or at least their decisive and leading segments.This was manifested through their willingness to listen to the voice ofchurch representatives in the process of drafting legislation concerning restitutionof church property nationalized after 1950, indemnification of victimsof political persecution and paving the way toward actual as opposedto declared religious freedom. 3It was these areas that most legislative changes in the field of education,health service and social care or cultural institutions focused on.Churches gradually became an important partner and their views began tobe taken into account in the process of formulating relevant parties’ electionprograms as well as administrations’ government programs. Explicitlyor implicitly, requirements and expectations of church headquarters playedan increasingly important role on various occasions.National Populism and Christian ChurchesIn the history of Slovakia, the single most relevant example of amalgamatingnational and religious principles in administering the state was the periodof 1939–1945. This picture would be even more complete if its beginningwas moved to October 6, 1938, when Slovakia proclaimed its autonomyand began to adopt very concrete measures aimed at obtaining fullindependence. During this period, national populism was dubbed asChristian National Socialism. Its ideological upholder was Hlinka’s SlovakPeople’s Party (HS¼S) led by ThDr. Jozef Tiso who was appointed the headof the autonomous cabinet and subsequently became president of the SlovakRepublic, a satellite state of the Third Reich.March 14, 1939, will always be connected to the name of Jozef Tiso. Hewas a man whose political career spanned almost quarter of a century. He wasa member of the Czechoslovak Parliament and a member of the central gov-222