About 422,000 people in Slovakia declared Hungarian nationality in the 2021 census, making Hungarians the country’s largest minority. Most live in southern Slovakia, in a band of towns and villages along the Hungarian border.
The Beneš decrees
The Beneš decrees were issued in Czechoslovakia in 1945–46. Among other things, they applied collective guilt to the country’s German and Hungarian populations, stripping many of citizenship and property. Slovak authorities often describe the decrees as no longer having legal effect, but they have continued to be cited in some property cases, particularly involving agricultural land and forests.
The 2025 law
In December 2025 the Slovak parliament passed an amendment making it a criminal offence to publicly question the decrees, punishable by up to six months in prison. President Peter Pellegrini signed it into law.
The Hungarian Alliance (Magyar Szövetség), the community’s main political party, led the opposition to the law, including a protest march under the slogan “March of Innocence.” In early 2026 three ethnic Hungarian activists turned themselves in to police as an act of civil disobedience; police in Dunajská Streda (Dunaszerdahely) dropped the case, reportedly finding the new provision too vague to apply.
European reaction
In February 2026 the European Parliament adopted a resolution addressing the continuing legal consequences of the Beneš decrees and the criminalization of public and historical debate about them. A later resolution in May 2026 criticized rule-of-law backsliding and minority-rights violations in Slovakia. European Parliament resolutions are not legally binding, but they put the issue on the EU agenda.
Follow the news from Slovakia
- Új Szó: Hungarian-language daily
- Paraméter: news portal
- Ma7: news portal
- Magyar Szövetség (Hungarian Alliance)
- Forum Minority Research Institute
- The Slovak Spectator: English-language news from Slovakia
Sources
- The Slovak Spectator: Slovakia’s Beneš Decrees law sparks protest and criticism from Hungary
- eurotopics: Slovakia criminalises criticism of Beneš decrees
- HHRF: Slovak authorities drop probe into critics of Beneš decrees (March 2026)
- HHRF: European Parliament condemns rule of law backsliding and minority rights violations in Slovakia (May 2026)
- Slovak Radio (RSI): Census: Hungarians largest ethnic minority