The Past, the Present and the Achieved Results of the Hungarian–Slovak Joint Committee

The protection of and dealing with national minorities in general can be carried out on three different levels: on multilateral, bilateral, and domestic level. The multilateral scope includes activities of international bodies urged by states devoted to the issue. At domestic level, countries have the possibility to secure different rights for national minorities living on their territories, based on their minority-related approach. The present paper, however, examines the bilateral scope of cooperation in support of national minorities, which cooperation can be achieved through bilateral treaties and agreements. The paper also focuses on the work of the Joint Slovak–Hungarian Committee on Minority Affairs established in 1995 by the Basic Treaty signed between the two countries.