Hungarian political parties in Slovakia
The history of Hungarian political parties in Slovakia dates back to 1918. The first Czechoslovak Republic provided a suitable framework for the development of political representation for the Hungarian minority. The most relevant political party of this era was the United Hungarian Party (Egyesült Magyar Párt). Following the First Vienna Arbitration in 1938, the interests of Hungarian population which remained in Slovakia were represented by the Hungarian Party in Slovensko (Szlovenszkói Magyar Párt). Between 1945 and 1948, the Hungarian minority in Slovakia was deprived of its civil and political rights and could not establish political organizations. After the communist takeover in 1948, the Hungarian population could only engage in politics within the Communist Party just like any other citizen. The regime change in 1989 reestablished the possibility of a multiparty political system. Several parties took up the representation of the Hungarian minority’s interests in Slovakia, particularly the Hungarian Civic Party (Magyar Polgári Párt), the Coexistence Political Movement (Együttélés), and the Hungarian Christian Democratic Movement (Magyar Kereszténydemokrata Mozgalom). These parties merged in 1998 to form the Party of the Hungarian Coalition – PHC (Magyar Koalíció Pártja). From 1998 to 2006, PHC was part of the Slovak government. In 2009, numerous politicians left the PHC and formed a new interethnic political party, the Most-Híd. In the parliamentary elections of 2010, 2012, and 2016, Most-Híd was elected to the Slovak Parliament (and was in the government between 2010-2012 and 2016-2020), while PHC, which changed its name to the Party of the Hungarian Community, remained below the parliamentary threshold. Meanwhile, smaller Hungarian political parties emerged, such as the Hungarian Forum (Magyar Fórum) and the Unity Alliance (Összefogás). In 2020, PHC, Unity Alliance, and Hungarian Forum formed a joint party list for the elections under the name Hungarian Community Alliance (Magyar Közösségi Összefogás). In 2021, PHC, Unity Alliance, and Most-Híd established a new united political party of Hungarians in Slovakia, called Alliance (Szövetség). In the snap parliamentary election held on September 30, 2023, Alliance received only 4.38 percent, thus, the ethnic Hungarian party again failed to meet the parliamentary election threshold – fifth time in a row in the past 13 years.