Slovaks living abroad are eagerly awaiting the results of a census carried out in the Czech Republic recently. The number of citizens who belong to individual minorities there can have practical impacts in several spheres.
“We had a very negative experience ten years ago, when a huge campaign was organised before the census to the point that nationality became a sensitive personal point and people did not fill it in,” Vladimír Skalský, head of the World Association of Slovaks Living Abroad, and a resident of Prague, told the Sme daily.
“It was mainly the minorities that came to feel the impacts. About 200,000 Slovaks stated their nationality, although qualified assessments suggested that there were about 350,000 to 400,000 of them,” Skalský continued. “Fortunately, the authorities here are tolerant and rely on the qualified assessments to a great extent.”
Several rights and privileges are extended to minorities that exceed certain thresholds, specifically a ten-percent share in a municipality, or a five-percent share in a region. The question about nationality in the Czech census is voluntary and people can claim more than one nationality, or even choose “Czechoslovak”.
Source: Sme
Compiled by Zuzana Vilikovská from press reports
The Slovak Spectator cannot vouch for the accuracy of the information presented in its Flash News postings.
13. Apr 2011 at 14:00
