The new Slovak legislation criminalising the questioning of the post-war Beneš Decrees has triggered outrage among ethnic Hungarians. The Criminal Code amendment signed into law just before Christmas last year introduces up to six months in prison to those who would question primarily German or Hungarian property nationalisation decrees by post-war Czechoslovakia.
Yet as Bratislava escalates its anti-Hungarian policy, Budapest’s muted response suggests that protecting ethnic Hungarians has become optional to Viktor Orbán’s broader geopolitical goals, at a moment when those same voters may once again decide Hungary’s next election.
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The Beneš Decrees and muted reactions
The Beneš Decrees, issued in 1945 in then‑Czechoslovakia, provided the legal basis for confiscating property and collectively punishing ethnic Germans and Hungarians, including expulsions and loss of citizenship. These decrees, which assign collective guilt, remain in effect decades after the Second World War.
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