European tools of conflict management in Central European states with Hungarian minorities

Due to twentieth century peace treaties extensive Hungarian minorities live in the Central-European states Slovakia (600.000), Serbia (400.000), Romania (1.5 million) and Ukraine (300.000). These states are deeply divided along ethnic-linguistic, religious and cultural
lines between the Hungarian minority communities versus non-Hungarian, i.e. Slovak, Serb, Romanian and Ukrainian majority communities. The situation of the Hungarian minorities and the relations of the Hungarians and the majority populations have not
improved structurally after the fall of communism and the Europeanization of Central and Eastern Europe. This state of affairs negatively affects the relations between the states concerned and neighbouring kin state Hungary jeopardizing cohesion in the European
Union and risking safety and security in Central Europe and the Balkans.
This paper presents an empirical analysis of the state of affairs in the territories inhabited by the Hungarian minorities discussing the root, character and scope of the conflicts. The paper further discusses the theoretical options for a solution screening the complete repertory of concepts of "territorial" politics, like ethnic autonomy and minority rights. The paper will analyse the architectural and legal options the EU offers for governing these conflicts, both territorial and nonterritorial tools, including the spill-over effects of
independent statehood and minority rights protection in the case of Kosovo. From the empirical data and the theoretical analysis a set of tools will be formulated fitting the nature of the societies involved contributing to the management of conflicts in the Central European states with Hungarian minorities. Finally, in an appendix the position of the Hungarian minorities in the Carpathian Basin will be compared with the position of
a national minority in Western Europe, the Frisians in the Netherlands. It will be concluded that their position is complementary and that more cooperation between them would be mutually advantageous.