Ethnic Hungarians should not be divided into good and bad

The identity of Slovakia's Hungarians cannot be based on how they feel about Orbán.

Hungarian PM Viktor Orbán (centre) and his Slovak counterpart Peter Pellegrini (centre-left) during their visit at the transit zone for migrants in Röszke on the Hungarian-Serbian border.Hungarian PM Viktor Orbán (centre) and his Slovak counterpart Peter Pellegrini (centre-left) during their visit at the transit zone for migrants in Röszke on the Hungarian-Serbian border. (Source: AP/SITA)

The identity of ethnic Hungarians in Slovakia cannot be expressed through their support for Béla Bugár, Gyula Bárdos or Viktor Orbán.

Related article Slovak election to test Orbán’s clout among ethnic Hungarians Read more 

This identity cannot be reduced to their relationship toward politicians. Any divisions of the community into good Hungarians and bad Hungarians is dangerous.

SkryťTurn off ads
Article continues after video advertisement
SkryťTurn off ads
Article continues after video advertisement

Particularly when the category that decides this, for instance, is their opinion of Viktor Orbán, and whether someone sees him as the saviour of Hungarians across the Visegrad region, or worries that there is autocracy growing across our borders. And lures those infected with power from Slovakia too.

The rest of this article is premium content at Spectator.sk
Subscribe now for full access

I already have subscription - Sign in

Subscription provides you with:
  • Immediate access to all locked articles (premium content) on Spectator.sk
  • Special weekly news summary + an audio recording with a weekly news summary to listen to at your convenience (received on a weekly basis directly to your e-mail)
  • PDF version of the latest issue of our newspaper, The Slovak Spectator, emailed directly to you
  • Access to all premium content on Sme.sk and Korzar.sk

Top stories

The New Stations of the Cross combine old and new.

New Stations of the Cross to combine surviving remains and contemporary architecture.


Píšem or pišám?

"Do ľava," (to the left) I yelled, "Nie, do prava" (no, to the right), I gasped. "Dolšie," I screamed. "Nie, nie, horšie..." My Slovak girlfriend collapsed in laughter. Was it something I said?


Matthew J. Reynolds
Czech biochemist Jan Konvalinka.

Jan Konvalinka was expecting a pandemic before Covid-19 came along.


SkryťClose ad