Slovakization or Slovakisation is a form of either forced or voluntary cultural assimilation, during which non-Slovak nationals give up their culture and language in favor of the Slovak one. This process has relied most heavily on intimidation and harassment by state authorities. In the past the process has been greatly aided by deprivation of collective rights for minorities and ethnic cleansing, but in the last decades its promotion has been limited to the adoption of anti-minority policies and anti-minority hate speech.
Approximate area in Slovakia inhabited by ethnic Hungarians. Hungarians are the largest ethnic minority of Slovakia, numbering 456,154 people or 8.37% of population (2021 census). 50–100% 10–50% 0–10%
János Esterházy, controversial leader of Hungarian minority in mid-war Czechoslovakia
Deported Hungarians of Gúta (Kolárovo) in Mladá Boleslav, Czechoslovakia, February, 1947 (photo: Dr. Károly Ravasz)
Vladimír Mečiar (1942–)
Hungarians constitute the largest minority in Slovakia. According to the 2021 Slovak census, 456,154 people declared themselves Hungarian, while 462,175 stated that Hungarian was their mother tongue.
Hungarians in Slovakia (census 2001) 50–100% 10–50% 0–10%
St. Elisabeth Cathedral in Košice (dedicated to Elisabeth of Hungary), where the Hungarian national hero Francis II Rákóczi is buried with his family
Betliar – Andrássy Castle
János Esterházy – a controversial ethnic Hungarian politician in the mid-war Czechoslovakia and the First Slovak Republic