Abstract
Ever since the 1920 Treaty of Trianon there have been sizable Hungarian minorities found in countries neighbouring the modern Hungarian state. Since the fall of authoritarian communist regimes and the rise of political plurality these minorities have sought representation, often through minority parties. This lens of political parties is applied in this article, in order to examine the seeking of representation by the Hungarian ethnic minority in Serbia and Slovakia. The overall development of parties is outlined, the stages of their development is illustrated and each stage is analysed in detail. The main findings are that Hungarian minority representation is incredibly fragmented and dogged by conflict in both countries, involving many splits in parties, with the formation and liquidation of parties common. However, during exceptional times they were able to show a united front to nationalist governments, this was observed in both Slovakia and Serbia. In more recent times conflict has returned to the fore, with the situations somewhat divergent. The high level of conflict within those seeking to offer political representation to the Hungarian minority in Serbia was notable, as was a lack of an end in sight. On the other hand, there were attempts to unite made in Slovakia, although they are yet to experience much success.
Highlights
Since the fall of authoritarian communist regimes and the rise of political plurality these minorities have sought representation, often through minority parties. This lens of political parties is applied in this article, in order to examine the seeking of representation by the Hungarian ethnic minority in Serbia and Slovakia
The main findings are that Hungarian minority representation is incredibly fragmented and dogged by conflict in both countries, involving many splits in parties, with the formation and liquidation of parties common
During exceptional times they were able to show a united front to nationalist governments, this was observed in both Slovakia and Serbia
Summary
Minority rights and minority representation are topics for which straightforward, unproblematic and even unbiased solutions, strategies and answers remain incredibly elusive. Some minorities have found themselves separated from their cultural and linguistic brethren by state boundaries, be that a separation from a dominant homogeneous group across a border, another minority group across a border, or in some cases both. The main research problem is the understudying of Hungarian minority representation by political parties in countries around Europe, especially at a time when most academia focuses on the increasing authoritarianism of the Hungarian government. When approaching the specific topic of Hungarian minorities in Slovakia and Serbia, it is important to be mindful of their position vis-à-vis Hungary and the state within which they reside and hold citizenship. The triadic relational nexus between national minority, nationalizing state, and external national homeland, in this case between Hungarians, Hungary and Slovakia/ Serbia, is a phenomenon noted by both Pettai and, in this case, Brubaker.
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