The Uncommon Language: Bratislava, Budapest, and Brussels

Abstract

Slovakia passed an updated Law on the State Language in 2009, which created a protracted diplomatic controversy between Bratislava and Budapest, and agitation among activists and politicians in Slovakia. Some of the rhetoric became more agitated than the usual mode of communication in Central Europe, the wording of the law clouded the issue of Hungarian and other minority language use. The article discusses aspects of both