The draft law on national minorities is based on an updated version of the legislative proposal adopted by the Committee for National Minorities and Ethnic Groups in 2020. This was announced by the Office of the Plenipotentiary of the Slovak Government for National Minorities in connection with the ongoing preparation of the draft law.
Zoltán Kovács, head of the office's secretariat, reported that a working group composed of representatives of national minorities and the state administration met in April to prepare the minority law. At this meeting, it was agreed that the legislative intent of the 2020 proposal would be updated. He also announced that the Office of the Government of the Slovak Republic had granted a postponement until December 2026 for the submission of the bill.
The adoption of a comprehensive law on the status of members of national minorities – aimed at systematically defining their rights, eliminating fragmented legislation, and addressing areas not yet regulated by law – is also mentioned in the recommendations issued by the Office of the Plenipotentiary, which form part of the current periodic report on the status of national minorities in the Slovak Republic.
In January 2024, representatives of the Hungarian Alliance announced that, during a meeting with Prime Minister Robert Fico and Minister of Culture Martina Šimkovičová, they had agreed on the need to prepare a separate minority law. The current government plenipotentiary for national minorities, Ákos Horony, has been tasked with this responsibility.
Source: SME
