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Hungary Czechoslovakia
Since the formation in Slovakia (Czechoslovakia's
eastern
republic) of a dissident organization for the defense of
the
rights of Hungarians in 1979 and after frequent arrests of
the
Hungarian activist Miklos Duray, discrimination against
the
approximately 600,000 ethnic Hungarians in Czechoslovakia
became
a problem in the relations between the two communist
neighbors.
As of 1986, about 100 Hungarian activists had been
arrested and
imprisoned by Czechoslovak authorities. Other problems
included
the lack of Hungarian-language books and newspapers in
Slovakia,
discouragement of Hungarian-language training, and
vandalism of
Hungarian monuments and cultural offices.
In the late 1980s, as a result of pressure from
Hungary, the
Czechoslovaks attempted to redress some of the Hungarian
minority's complaints. In 1986 the two countries concluded
an
agreement that called for Hungarian construction of a
Hungarian
cultural center in Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia. In
1987
the Cultural Association of Hungarian Workers in
Czechoslovakia
was allowed to rejoin the Czechoslovak National Front,
from which
it had been expelled in 1972. Yet Czechoslovakia attempted
to
downplay the minority problem. In the communique issued
following
the meeting between Grosz and Czechoslovak prime minister
Lubomir
Strougal in August 1987, Strougal mentioned the minority
issue
only in passing. By contrast, Grosz noted the role of
minorities
as a bridge between Hungary and Czechoslovakia and called
for
greater cultural contacts between the two countries.
Another outstanding issue between Hungary and
Czechoslovakia
concerned the Gabcikovo-Nagymaros Dam project. In 1977 the
two
countries agreed to build this hydroelectric power and
navigation
system on the Danube River between Bratislava and
Budapest.
Hungarian public opinion strongly protested the project.
Environmental activists in Hungary claimed that the
project would
severely damage the potable water supply, agriculture, and
forests of both countries. Czechoslovakia has pressured
the
Hungarian government to proceed more quickly with the
project.
Data as of September 1989
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