Az anyanyelvhasználat jogi keretei Szlovákiában

Abstract

Among central-European countries Slovakia has proportionally the highest rate of national minorities living on the territory of the country. The majority of the country’s southern part was populated by a purely Hungarian population in the past, the Hungarian-Slovakian ethnic border was located to the north of the state border. The representatives of the Hungarian national minority even nowadays form a majority in hundreds of locations within the country. The rights, including the language related ones, applicable for a national minority are secured and controlled by the Constitution of the country together with several, corresponding laws. Slovakia has joined the minority protecting act of the European Council, however, despite this fact, the freedom of the language usage does not prevail to the degree expected by the regulations of the above mentioned document. The practical existence, a.k.a., the usage of the national minority’s language cannot guarantee on its own the long term persistence of the national language and the national minority. The paper investigates the possible causes of this situation.