Martin Hochel, visting researcher, ELTE CCS ILS/ Institute of European Studies and International Relations, Faculty of Social and Economic Sciences, Comenius Unviersity in Bratislava. 

The paper and presentation explores Hungarian kin-state funding in southern Slovakia and its impact on the ethnic political identities of the recipient population, ethnic party strategy, pork-barrel politics, and regional development. Subject to analysis are the unilateral subsidy programmes independent of existing official bilateral framework for minority accommodation. The analysis, based on multiple methods and triangulation, puts forth a hypothesis that distinguishes between a political strategy and trends in ethnic self-identification. Based on a survey (n=204), measuring aspects of ethnic self-identification in southern Slovakia, and explorative interviews (n=19) with mayors from that region, the paper further hypothesises that kin-state funding does not fully address the shortcomings of Hungarian minority accommodation in Slovakia but provides additional resources for a range of purposes outstretching the current normative framework of minority rights protection. Rather than following existing models of triadic or quadratic nexuses, it demonstrates the prevalence of pork-barrel politics by clarifying the background behind some of the transactions, analysing the long-term experience of municipalities with Hungarian funding, as well as elaborating on the impact it has had on the ethnic political identities. The findings suggest that the need of the mayors to strategically deliver, and confirm their position in the ethnic party, incentivizes their engagement in kin-funding despite their personal critical views.