New party to build bridge between Slovaks and Hungarian minority

Béla Bugár, the former longstanding boss of the party of the Hungarian minority (SMK) has founded a new party open not only to people of Hungarian origin, but also to Slovaks. Bugár also enjoys a good reputation among so-called "pure" Slovaks, the leftist daily Pravda notes. It adds that with his Most-Híd [bridge] party "Bugár is entering new territory in Slovakia's political landscape. … The chairman of SMK [which has been the only Hungarian party up to now], Pál Csáky, has led the party into isolation even within the Slovak opposition. … But both camps [of Hungarian origin] are facing the dual threat of playing a zero-sum game and the end of their parliamentary membership. The upcoming local and parliamentary elections will reveal to what extent Bugár's intentions are genuine and how many of 'his own' voters and how many Slovak voters he will be able to convince. So far his project remains a bridge to the unknown."

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