Do all roads lead to Rome? Explaining the differences in the political desires of the Hungarian minority in Slovakia and Romania

Abstract

Romania and Slovakia have several things in common: both were once a part of the kingdom of hungary, both emerged as democracies after the fall of communism in Europe, and both have a political active ethnic hungarian minority party. These ethnic hungarian, or magyar minority parties, however, seem to only have its identity in common. How can it be that two political groups, adhering to the same ethnic minority, desire something completely different? This thesis is aimed at answering this question, taking into account history, politics, and ethnic identity all together.