The Case of Ilonka Aladarne Tamas
12/14/2011 – The Case of Ilonka Tamas. The latest outrage from Slovakia: 99-year-old teacher loses citizenship. AHF issues a follow up statement to the Helsinki Commission. Her case is particularly disconcerting. She was born in 1912 in Rimaszombat (Slovak name: Rimavska Sobota). Rimaszombat was then the seat of Gomor County and part of Hungary.
Tüntetés Rimaszombatban Ilonka néni mellett : Kedden koraeste mintegy háromszáz fős tömeg gyűlt össze Rimaszombat történelmi főterén az állampolgárságától megfosztott Tamás Ilonka nénit támogató szimpátiatüntetésen.
Thus, Mrs. Tamas was born a Hungarian citizen on Hungarian soil. She never relocated, but as a result of the Treaty of Trianon, she became first a citizen of Czechoslovakia and then, with the breakup of Czechoslovakia, a citizen of Slovakia. She is now a “person without registered address.”
As a teacher, Ilonka Tamás brought up generations of children and for her pedagogical achievements she received the “Komenský” medal and the gold medal of the Slovak Republic. Despite her old age, she is still an active member of the community; she is running the Senior Citizens club and a member of the “Magyar Koalíció Pártja” (The Hungarian Coalition Party).
In a follow-up letter to the Helsinki Commission, AHF said, “these cases hardly evidence a tolerant society committed to respecting the human and minority rights of its minorities. We, therefore, respectfully urge the Helsinki Commission to address these cases and the other matters reflected in our prior submission. AHF’s statement appears below:
[download] AHF’s follow-up letter to the U.S. Helsinki Commission
December 14, 2011
Honorable Christopher H. Smith,
Chairman, U.S. Helsinki Commission
Honorable Benjamin L. Cardin
Co-Chairman, U.S. Helsinki Commission
Dear Mr. Chairman and Co-Chairman:
On December 1, 2011 we submitted a letter and a memorandum with respect to our concerns relating to Slovakia’s attitude and discriminatory practices toward its Hungarian minority, including that country’s punitive citizenship law and how it had been applied to deprive Oliver Boldoghy of his Slovak citizenship.
Following our submission a case involving a 99-year-old woman came to our attention:
The Case of Mrs. Ilona Aladarne Tamas (in Slovak: Mrs. Helena Tamasova): The most recent anti-Hungarian incident involves the stripping Mrs. Tamas of her Slovak citizenship after she received Hungarian citizenship. Her case is particularly disconcerting. She was born in 1912 in Rimaszombat (Slovak name: Rimavska Sobota). Rimaszombat was then the seat of Gomor County and part of Hungary. Thus, Mrs. Tamas was born a Hungarian citizen. She never relocated, but as a result of the Treaty of Trianon, she became first a citizen of Czechoslovakia and then, with the breakup of Czechoslovakia, a citizen of Slovakia. As a 99-year-old ethnic Hungarian, she wanted to regain her Hungarian citizenship, while retaining her Slovak citizenship. Yet, seven months after she notified the authorities about having received her Hungarian citizenship, and her intent of retaining her Slovak citizenship, the Slovak authorities informed her that she lost her Slovak citizenship. With this, Mrs. Tamas became a “person without registered address.”
These cases hardly evidence tolerance and a commitment to respect human and minority rights. We, therefore, respectfully urge the Helsinki Commission to address these cases and the other matters described in our prior submission.
Sincerely,
Frank Koszorus, Jr.
National President
Public Member of the U.S. Delegation of the 1989 Conference
on Security and Cooperation in Europe on the Human Dimension
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Related
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Slovak Constitution: “no one must be deprived of the citizenship of the Slovak Republic against his will.”
The Slovak Citizenship Act, specifically targets Hungarians and was amended to combat Hungary granting citizenship freely to Slovaks, was adopted last year shortly after Hungary announced its plans to grant citizenship to ethnic Hungarians abroad. The law in force in Slovakia clearly states that anyone accepting the citizenship of another country will be stripped of their Slovak citizenship.
The Case of Oliver Boldoghy
12/02/2011 – Slovakia strips citizenship to ethnic Hungarian minorties who assert their right to dual citizenship, an international norm, and in violation of their own Constitution. AHF submits a statement to US Congress and the Helsinki Commission and states, “Intolerance and discrimination targeting any group based on ethnicity, nationality or religion is not acceptable… The most recent anti-Hungarian incident involves Slovakia stripping Oliver Boldoghy, an actor and businessman, of of his Slovak citizenship after becoming a dual citizen.
“You can’t give in to tyranny, if I bow before the anti-democratic rules of the Slovakian government, if I accept the rules of the game, then tomorrow the entire Hungarian community will be bullied” – said Olivér Boldoghy to Magyar Hirlap. [read more]
More Coverage of the Slovak Citizenship Issue
2/27/2014 – Memorandum felvidéki magyaroktól a szlovák kormánynak. Szlovák kormányhoz fordultak állampolgárságuktól megfosztott felvidéki magyarok. [tovabb]
12/5/2011 – American-Hungarian Federation turns to US Congress over widening Slovak citizenship row. The American-Hungarian Federation has turned to the US Congress Helsinki Commission with an appeal for it to take action in the case of a Slovak of Hungarian origin who has been stripped of his citizenship on the ground that he took up Hungarian citizenship, the alliance’s chairman told MTI. [read more]
Statement of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Slovak Republic to the case of Olivér Boldoghy. While complying with general principles and norms of international law concerning citizenship, every state has a sovereign right to set its own legal regulation of citizenship. The current situation and the Oliver Boldoghy-case result from non-standard Hungarian citizenship regulation granting the Hungarian citizenship on the basis of ethnicity without any real ties of the person to the state. [read more]
11/28/2011 – The citizenship of an ethnic Hungarian resident of the Slovak town of Komarno causes a political row between Hungary and Slovakia over Hungary’s dual citizenship law. “Many people have taken up the Hungarian citizenship but they did not notify the Slovak interior ministry about it. The reason why myself with several others have openly admitted this is to take a conscious civilian action. We would like to create a precedent. We began a signature collection on the day of the Slovak constitution on September 1st and referring to the constitution we would like to achieve that this Fico law, this anti-dual citizenship law should is annulled,” Boldoghy said. [read more]
11/30/2011 – Ethnic Hungarian should appeal citizenship case in European courts, says Deputy PM. The Slovak constitution declares that no one can be deprived of their Slovak citizenship against their will, Semjen said, adding that this is the legal argument that should be followed in Boldoghy’s defence. The Slovak authorities had acted against universal human rights and the ethos of the European Union, Semjen said, adding that Hungary offers its full support to Boldoghy’s case. [read more]
Slovak Language Law Related Articles
Under the Slovak Language Law, the use of the minority language in official communication would be punishable in towns and villages where the ethnic community makes up less than 20 percent of the total population. The amendment requires that all documentation of minority schools should be duplicated in the state language. The law stipulates that the names of streets and buildings anywhere in Slovakia must be stated in the Slovak language [despite 1100-year-old tradition] and it also introduces sanctions of up to €5,000 ($7,000) on those who break rules promoting the use of Slovak in public and for municipalities and public offices for not using the Slovak language “properly.”
“Álláspontjának Tisztázására Szólította Fel az EBESZ Kisebbségügyi Főbiztosát az Amerikai Magyar Szövetség” – MTI 2011. szeptember 30., péntek 1:14
[ MTI cikk magyarul]
Hovorte po slovensky!* Slovakia criminalises the use of Hungarian: The Economist, Jul 30, 2009