Petőcz Kálmán (szerk.): National Populism and Slovak - Hungarian Relations in Slovakia 2006-2009 (Somorja, 2009)

Annex

Annex — Kálmán Petőcz

Germany, the term of ‘collaboration’ has an unambiguous content in Slovakia as well as in the entire Europe; it means cooperation and conspiracy with an alien hostile (i.e. fascist or Nazi) power. Consequently, whoever collaborates on the domestic level with representatives of the alien power (i.e. SMK-MKP) are collaborationists themselves. This literally perfidious argument targets particularly SDKU and KDH voters and sympathizers who are likely to understand the meaning of the sophisticated term of ‘collaboration’, as opposed to most SNS voters. The argument is relatively effective as most representatives of opposition parties either refuse to react to the said accusation or are unable to dismiss it convincingly, thus encouraging their voters’ impression that there could be something to this accusation of ‘collaboration’ after all.

Stereotype 4: LoyAÍTy

The opinion that SMK-MKP leaders (and ethnic Hungarians in general) constantly escalate their demands and simultaneously refuse loyalty to the Slovak Republic is also relatively common. In the case of SMK-MKP representatives, disloyalty is allegedly manifested by their permanent defamation and denigration of Slovakia in Budapest and Brussels. Ordinary citizens of Hungarian origin allegedly demonstrate their disloyalty through poor command of the ‘state language’ and the general lack of interest in learning it.

As we have pointed out in Stereotype 1, national populists believe that the rights of ethnic Hungarians in Slovakia are high above the standard normal in other countries. So, if SMK-MKP proposes any further demands, it goes beyond the European standard and beyond parameters of the acceptable for the Slovak Republic. These further demands cause either discrimination against the ‘constituent nation’ (i.e. the Slovaks) on its own territory or alienation of ethnic Hungarians from the Slovak Republic, ultimately encouraging their disloyalty and harming their own best interests through limiting their chances to win recognition on the entire territory of the Slovak Republic.

On the other hand, if SMK-MKP presents these demands before its foreign partners (or conveys its ideas to them), it betrays the loyalty principle because it ‘sneaks’ and ‘fouls its own nest’ instead of trying to tackle the problem at home. As far as ordinary ethnic Hungarians go, ordinary Slovaks believe they are negatively influenced by ‘extremist’ policies of SMK-MKP and certain political circles in Hungary whose leaders allegedly discourage them from creating a loyal relationship to Slovakia and

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