FUEN: Federal Union of European Nationalities

The Party of the Hungarian Community officially registered under the compound name Strana maďarskej komunity– Magyar Közösség Pártja (SMK-MKP), is a political party in Slovakia, for the ethnic Hungarian minority. SMK-MKP was set up in 1998 by merger of three parties of different ideological interest, whose voters were overwhelmingly ethnic Hungarians. As a result of Slovak parliamentary elections in 1998 and 2002, MKP has been the part of the Slovakia’s governing coalition for 8 years. During this period SMK-MKP actively took part in the successful political and economic transformation and European integration of Slovakia. During the parliamentary elections in 2010 and 2012 approximately the half of ethnic Hungarians voted for SMK-MKP. With two members of the European Parliament, ordinary membership in the European People’s Party, 167 mayors, 1275 representatives in the local self-governments, 40 representatives in regional parliaments, deep social settling, membership of nine thousand persons SMK-MKP is the strongest political force in South-Slovakia. 

Hungarians in Slovakia are the largest ethnic minority of the country. According to the 2011 Slovak census, 458,467 people (8.5% of the total population) declared themselves Hungarians, while 508,714 (9,4% of the population) stated that Hungarian was their mother tongue. This numbers represent approximately 20 % shrinking of this minority community since 1991. Hungarians in Slovakia are concentrated in compact areas mostly in the southern part of the country, near the border with Hungary. Hungarians in Slovakia have developed system of civil institutions, but do not have any collective rights in the fields of culture, education, language use, etc.