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Slovak Village in Hungary Mlynky Voted for Fidesz This Time
Sunday 11 April 2010 Zoom in | Print page
Plisszentkereszt (Mlynky), April 11 (TASR-correspondent) - Slovaks living in the Hungarian village of Plisszentkereszt (Mlynky in Slovak) mostly voted for the rightist Fidesz party in the parliamentary elections on Sunday, according to a brief survey conducted by TASR.
A total of 18 of 20 questioned people in Mlynky revealed that they voted for change. In the past, Mlynky used to vote for the Socialist Party.
"We hope that times will change ... we've had a socialist government for the past eight years, and the people now feel that the living conditions have gotten worse," local councillor Levente Galda told TASR.
He noted that the lives of the people in Mlynky are different than those of other Hungarian citizens, as the people in this ethnic-Slovak village have dual identity. "We're living in Hungary but have Slovak nationality, and don't know which party would be better for us. I voted for the rightist Fidesz party and on the second list (Hungary has a two-chamber parliament – one elected by representation by population and the second is first across the post - ed. note) I voted for the new party Civic Movement ... I believe that this party won't be uncomfortable with the fact that we have Slovak nationality," said the councillor.
While the turnout in the parliamentary elections in Mlynky four years ago was around 50 percent, chair of the election commission in Mlynky Szilvia Ballova expects the turnout be higher now.
Mlynky, which is considered to be the centre of the Slovak minority in Hungary, is located in Pest County, with Budapest as its capital. As much as 54.6 percent of the 2,275 inhabitants of Mlynky claimed to have Slovak nationality in a census in 2001, while even more people expressed Slovak cultural awareness.
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