Bilateral Agreement

The Republic of Hungary and the Republic of Slovenia signed an “Agreement” in 1992 to grant “the specific rights of the Slovene minority living in the Republic of Hungary and the Hungarian national minority community living in the Republic of Slovenia”.

Signing this Agreement was motivated by the fact that the de facto parity of the Slovene and Hungarian minorities and the preservation of their own identities can only be achieved through specific indivi­dual and community rights.

The contracting parties agree to provide mechanisms and measurements appropriate to the fields of education, culture, mass media, scientific and publishing activities, economy and others to help the development of the minorities in many fields.

The contracting parties grant proper financial and other support to fulfil their duties in accordance with the Agreement.

As a summary of these 15 years since the Agreement has been signed, we can say that “ the actual parity of the Slo­vene and the Hungarian minorities” has not been accomplished, as the Hungarian minority living in Slovenia is granted more financial support from the Slovene state than the Slovene minority receives from the Hungarian state.

The fact that the stipulations of the Agreement have not, or only partially been met, has just increased the differences between the two minorities (Hungarians in Slovenia and Slovenes in Hungary).