Hungarian Population Decline in Slovakia Less than in Other Neighboring Countries

The latest census data shows that the population decline of Hungarians in Slovakia is less than in other neighboring countries, the State Secretary for National Policy said at a conference on “Hungarians in Slovakia” in Budapest on Tuesday.

Speaking at the conference of the National Policy Research Institute (NPKI), Árpád János Potápi stressed that it was a great help that there were several ways of identifying Hungarians, thereby providing a much more nuanced picture of the census. He added that

the censuses in the Carpathian Basin in 2021-22 would determine the direction of national policy for the next period.

He noted that since 2010, the Hungarian government has been striving for national unification in all areas of life, and that national spirit permeates everything the government does. He pointed out that declining demographic figures can be seen as a global trend. This has also been the case for Hungarians over the past 40 years, and the resulting economic, social, and other problems must be solved, he added.

The State Secretary said that the aim is to break the forty-year decline and then reverse it towards growth. He explained that the first thing is to change people’s mindsets so that they would have more children. Families are the foundation of the nation, young people and children are counted on, and it makes a difference what the demographic data shows, added the politician.

Zoltán Kántor, director of the NPKI, pointed out:

No such thorough mapping of the Hungarian population in Slovakia had been done for twenty years; this will be the basis for future research.”

As Felvidék.ma reports, analyst Gábor Harrach gave a detailed account of the census results. Currently, regional data shows that only two districts – Dunajská Streda (Dunaszerdahely) and Komárno (Komárom) – have a majority Hungarian population, but the picture is distorted as a result of political reorganization. In accordance with the former distribution, there would be 9-10 Hungarian-majority districts. 26 percent of the Hungarian population decline is due to natural causes, 14 percent to emigration, and 60 percent to assimilation.

At the same time, the 30,000 decrease in the number of Hungarians in Slovakia is smaller compared to Transylvania (in Romania) and Vojvodina (in Serbia).

However, the analyst called it unlikely that Hungarians would remain the most populous minority in Slovakia in the near future.

Via MTI, Felvidék.ma; Featured image: Facebook/Potápi Árpád János