At present in Slovakia at least 20% of the local community must speak a minority language for it to be used in public administration. This threshold could soon change, though, as Slovakia will re-evaluate the rule. The plan was announced by Deputy PM for Minorities Rudolf Chmel, following the cabinet session on Friday, 13 August.
The 20% threshold was put in place by the Minority Languages Act, but as Chmel pointed out: “We will re-appraise the issue based on the recommendations of the Council of Europe on implementing the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages”. This threshold could therefore be cut to just 10 percent.