The Rise of Anti-Roma Positions in Slovakia and Hungary: a New Social and Political Dimension of Nationalism

Abstract

This article discusses the continuous substitution of traditional mutual conflicts and historical grievances between Slovakia and Hungary that has created fertile ground for nationalists on both sides. Currently, we witness the rise of anti-Roma positions and negativism oriented toward this particular group of the population in Slovakia and Hungary. For this reason, we track the sources of new nationalism associated with the hatred of the Roma population. This can be demonstrated by a variety of political incentives and measuring extremism as a tool of acquiring and maintaining political power. The aim of the article is to investigate the extent and reasons of the new social and political dimensions of Slovak and Hungarian nationalism. We assume that the traditional form of bilateral nationalism based on historical, political and social tensions between Slovakia and Hungary is being transformed by the ethnic nationalism against the Roma minority in Central Europe. To support our argumentation, we use the qualitative data from in-depth interviews with young respondents from two contrasting research field sites in Slovakia from EC research project MYPLACE (Memory, Youth, Political Legacy and Civic Engagement).

Keywords

• nationalism
• slovakia
• hungary
• anti-roma
• extremism
• radicalism