We, the undersigned representatives of the town governments and NGOs, hereby declare our affirmative support for the open letter to the members of the Parliament of the Slovak Republic. At the same time, on behalf of our citizens as well as involved NGO members, we express a deep concern and resentment against the effort of the part of the Government of the Slovak Republic to deprive Svidník of its status as the regional administrative and cultural center of the Slovak citizens of the Rusyn nationality living in the northeast of Slovakia.

We would like to draw your attention to the fact that disestablishing of governmental, legal and judiciary institutions (district authority, district police forces directorate, district court of justice, attorney’s office, labor office etc.) in an ethnically mixed area with a high percentage of Rusyn-speaking population is a highly unfortunate decision as well as a negative signal for the European Union and its member states. We firmly believe that the members of the Parliament of the Slovak Republic will present their state-wisdom and will not support the resoulution of the government which goes against any rational principles of public administration reform, and only intensifies ethnic tension in the northeast of Slovakia.

Dear Mr. Chairman of the Parliament,
Dear Members of the Parliament,

we have awaited the final resolution of the Government of the Slovak Republic concerning the future seats of district authorities before submitting the draft of the Act on regional authorities, district authorities, and on amending and supplementing several other laws to the Parliament with an anticipation and uncertainty.

The “bicycle visit” of Prime Minister Mikuláš Dzurinda in the district of Svidník on August 8, 2003 stirred a great hope amongst our citizens that the decision would be, after all, honest, reasonable, and compliant with the governmental principles of the Concepts of organizing the state administration on local levels. We have followed the aspect of economic efficiency as well as our conviction that the Prime Minister and the Government of the Slovak Republic want to act with respect to solidarity, integrity and viability of the regions and the state, in the interest of Slovakia and all of its citizens, so also people on the periphery, where the only alternative for young and educated people is their migration to other parts of Slovakia or abroad.

Nowadays it is clear to us that Svidník as an important cultural and social center of the Rusyns – an ethnic minority living in the north-eastern Slovakia presents a severe pain in the neck for some politicians, mostly for those from the current government coalition. An extreme case of injustice can be seen in the fact that Svidník is the only city of the original 38 district seats existing up to 1996 to have been deprived of this status.

Unfortunately, we cannot but conclude that the cynical and discriminatory resolution to deprive Svidník of its status as the regional administrative seat is the result of party politics. As of January 1, 2004 the District Police Forces Directorate should be canceled (Vladimír Palko), the disestablishing of the district court of justice is well under way (Daniel Lipšic) as well as the disestablishing of the attorney’s office and even the seat of the district labor office (Ľudovít Kaník).

State and public administration bodies have always determined – and always will determine – the course, character and growth rate of the region, the more so of the regions on the peripheries. In the current rather complex socio-economic circumstances of the Dukla region, a wise Slovak government should help to bridge the present critical period of a town and regional development with the perspective of development within united Europe by preserving governmental and public institutions intact.

Svidník is located on the strategic European road corridor E 371 North – South (Moscow, the Baltic states, Warsaw – the Balkans, Turkey, Italy) and boasts unique attractions of European and global format (wooden churches, authentic Rusyn folk and religious culture, museum of ethnology, open-air museum, gallery, military museum with open-air exhibits, national folklore festival of the Rusyn culture).

Anti-Rusyn activities of several extreme nationalist representatives of Stropkov which, unlike Svidník, is the home to predominantly Slovak population, are well known. Characteristic of these is the glorification of the Slovak state (1939 – 1945) when Stropkov used to be the district seat. For decades, they have been menacing the whole region, inhabited mostly by Rusyns. During the so-called war-time Slovak state it was not only the Rusyns, but also other non-Slovak ethnic groups that suffered ethnic oppression. The Rusyn teachers – our spiritual fathers – their education disregarded, were forced to pass Slovak-language examinations to be allowed to perform their professions. “Slovakness” and loyalty to the Fascist state were the primary criteria for social recognition.
It is these individuals who, claiming to want to “undo past injustice” from the communist era, have been finding wider political support among the nationalist-oriented politicians and directing it against Rusyns and their administrative and cultural center, Svidník.

In a democratically run system of public administration, is it possible to substitute social harmonization and integration of an ethnic minority for the creation of new injustice in the form of total annihilation of that minority?
Is this the intended result of the reform in public administration?

Download the letter (Slovak original) in MS Word format.
Download the letter (English translation) in MS Word format.

Download the letter (Slovak original) in PDF format.
Download the letter (English translation) in PDF format.

Protest letter of the Org. for Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Monuments - the Wooden Churches in the sub-Dukla Region, 10 October 2003 (in Slovak, MS Word format).
Protest letter of the Org. for Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Monuments - the Wooden Churches in the sub-Dukla Region, 10 October 2003 (in Slovak, PDF format).

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