(Estimated Pub Date) the Challenge of Ethnic Conflict to National and International Order in the 1990S: Geographic Perspectives- October 1995

Approved for Release: 2018/06/01 C00123268
rule. Western Ukrainians are demanding more cultural
and religious autonomy from Ukraine, and this may
create some potential for real conflict. As yet, how-
ever, it is, merely cultural and not political and territo-
rial. Even if it were to bring about open conflict, this is
a purely internal matter and not of any concern for the
West or neighboring states.
Hungarian Minorities. Theborders of current Hun-
gary were established after World War I and represent,
in the eyes of ethnic Hungarians, a diminished state.
Across those borders are a number of regions with sig-
nificant Hungarian populations. In some, like parts of
southern Slovakia and northern Vojvodina—in north-
ern Serbia--the Hungarian population forms the
majority of inhabitants. In Romania, Hungarian com-
munities exist throughout western Romania and in
Transylvania—a region with great cultural and histori-
cal significance to the Hungarian people. We must
remember that for more than 150 years Hungary was
under Ottoman Turkish domination. During that time
Transylvania and southern Slovakia, as Hungarian
regions, were independent of the Tlurks. Indeed, dur-
ing this time Bratislava (Pozsony in Hungarian) was
the capital of a free Hungary, and until World War I
ethnic Hungarians outnumbered Slovaks in this city,
the capital of Slovakia. .
The division of Czechoslovakia into two states has
changed the sectarianism of living in the area.‘ While
Hungarians were not subject to open policies of Slo-
vakization under the Czech-dominated Czechoslovak
Government, the situation today is different. The posi-
tion of the Slovak Government is that the Hungarians
are really Slovaks whose ancestors were forced to
become Hungarians (Magyars) during the l,000 years
of Hungarian rule and therefore should be re-Slovak-
ized. The Hungarians consider southern Slovakia as
part of the Kingdom of Hungary historically. Indeed
Kossuth, the father of modern Hungarian nationalism,
was born in Slovakia (in fact he was a Magyarized
Slovak). Here we see the use of historical figures and
events by ethnic groups as the justification for current
demands on both sides.
‘ The Hungarians saw the Czech majority as advanced and civi-
lized as themselves. The Hungarian view of Slovaks as a people is
quite different. Slovaks are seen as low in levels of civilization, and
the Slovaks are also far more anti-Hungarian than the Czechs.
At high levels in the Hungarian Government, it has
been made clear to the Slovaks that Hungary does not
claim territory from Slovakia but that it requests that
Hungarians in Slovakia be given full citizenship and
rights as a minority. This is the same position held by
the Hungarian Government vis a vis Transylvania and
Vojvodina. But many ethnic Hungarians and lower
level political leaders are demanding the “return” of
these “Hungarian lands” to Hungary. As a minimal
demand, the Hungarians in Hungary appear to be con-
cerned about the rights of their ethnic brethren in
neighboring countries but are not demanding border
changes. However-—and this is a big however-—-this
stance is contingent on fair treatment of Hungarians
and a continued moderate position of the Hungarian
regime. Persecution of Hungarians in any neighboring
country may lead to a severe shift in Budapest’s offi-
cial position. This is now being tested in Vojvodina,
where the Serbian Government is relocating Serbs
from other areas of Yugoslavia into areas dominated
by ethnic Hungarians and where young Hungarian
males are subject to the draft and are being sent to the
war zone in Bosnia. Many Hungarians have fled
Vojvodina to Hungary. This is leading to a rise in
rightwing Hungarian nationalism that may change the
official position of the Hungarian Govemment. The
impact of Western inaction in Bosnia on the Hungar-
ian issues in Vojvodina, Slovakia, and Romania is dis-
cussed later in this paper.
Muslim Minorities in Yugoslavia and Bulgaria
After the Ottoman Empire withdrew from the Balkans
in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, a number
of Islamicized groups remained. Among these were
Muslim Bosnians (now called Muslimani), Serbs
(mostly in the Sandzak and Kosovo-Metohija regions
of Serbia), Macedonians (called Torbesi), Bulgarians
(called Pomaks), Greeks, and Albanians.‘ Only
among the Albanians did the Muslim converts form
5 These Muslims should not be confused with ethnic Turks who
form a distinct ethnic minority in Bulgaria, Macedonia, Bosnia and
Herzegovina, Romania, and Greece and who are either the descen-
dants of Turks or of mixed Turkish and other ethnic backgrounds.
Their ethnic identity is with Turkey, and they do not consider them-
selves to be of local origin.
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Approved for Release: 2018/06/01 C00123268