Eastern Slovakian lowland and its economical utilization Matias Luostarinen, Teppo Tossavainen, Peter Popovic, Zuzana Baronova, Adria Vila Cufi, Miquel Romero Carrera Contents Introduction ....................................................................................................................................................... 3 Landscapes of the region ................................................................................................................................... 4 Regions identity and regional identity in the landscape ................................................................................... 5 Sources and methods of analysis ...................................................................................................................... 6 Physical geographical characteristics of the territory ....................................................................................... 7 The human geography of the Eastern Slovak Lowland ................................................................................... 13 Tokaj region in Slovakia ................................................................................................................................... 14 Conflict for brand Tokaji .................................................................................................................................. 19 Differences between the Tokaj region of Hungary and Slovakia .................................................................... 20 References ....................................................................................................................................................... 22 2 Introduction The wine production in Tokaj region has a long history dating back to ages of the Kingdom of Hungary. The wine production defines the daily living in this certain area even today. In our research we are interested especially on the time period starting on from the First World War until present because of the wine conflict resulted from the division of areas part of Austrian-Hungarian Kingdom in the treaty of Trianon in 1920. Only a small part of the Slovak wine region of Tokaj was once part of the historic Tokaj wine region of the Kingdom of Hungary. Due to the Treaty of Trianon the majority of the region (around 28 communities and some 4500 ha of vineyards) remained as a part of Hungary and smaller part (3 communities and about 175 ha of vineyards) became a part of Czechoslovakia in 1958. In 1959 four more villages were added by Czechoslovak legislation, although these did not comprise part of the historic region. The dispute between the countries over the right of Slovakia to use the name Tokaj that started in 1958 for its wines was resolved in 2004 – the two countries came to an agreement in June 2004 under which wine produced on 565 hectares of land in Slovakia will be able to use the Tokajsky/-a/-e label (“of Tokaj” in Slovak), providing that the Slovaks accept the Hungarian quality control regulations. (Absolute Astronomy, 2011) In 2008, talks resulted in a preliminary agreement in which the two sides recognized “Tokaj as an invaluable historical heritage” for which both countries would share responsibility, and the Hungarians acknowledge the existence of a 565-hectare Tokaj area on the other side of the border, which gave the Slovakia 10% on the wine growing region. However, in spring of 2009, Slovakia demanded that its designated area be extended to include 908 hectares, which effectively put an end to the accord. The dispute between Hungary and Slovakia about the Tokaj region still continues to be a fierce struggle for the historical rights to produce the one and only true Tokaj wines in the region. The struggle will mostly likely to be solved by the European Commission. (Tadeusz Olszanski, 2009) 3 Picture 1. Tokaj wine region in the Slovakia side is marked in the map on red colour. Landscapes of the region The concept of landscape consists of different varieties of characteristics in the visible and also in the non-visible landscape. In the physical landscape we can see the impact of human activity in the environment. In the non-visible landscape we can define for example the different social, political and also economical viewpoints to the landscape in people’s everyday life and as how they perceive the landscape of Tokaj region. If we start with the social viewpoint of the landscape of the Tokaj region, we can see that there is a conflict between Hungarian and Slovakian side of the region. We can assume that the Slovaks and the Hungarians have a different point of view seeing the landscape in the Tokaj region. Noting the conflict between the two countries we have seen in the last decades we can assume that the Slovaks and the Hungarians have a different point of view on seeing the historical Tokaj region. From the political point of view we can assume that there is a major conflict between the states of Hungary and also of Slovakia in solving the question of Tokaj region. Looking back to the history Hungary has had a conflict with several different countries concerning the Tokaj label. In these conflicts Hungary has disputed over the use of the label with for example France, Italy, Australia and also Japan. The latest conflict is arguing with Slovakian government whether the Slovakian Tokaj region should be included as a part of the historical Tokaj region dating back from the times 4 of the kingdom of Austria-Hungary. In this dispute there have been many issues that still need to be solved by the governments of these two countries. There have been accusations from each side of the border that for example the Hungarians are accusing Slovaks on cultivating on such lands that are not part of the original Tokaj region. On the other hand the Hungarians are accused of cultivating on plains that don’t have the similar terrain that the Tokaj region is famous for. The terrain in the region and especially on the cultivated hills consists of volcanic tuff. So in this case the Hungarians are accused of producing the Tokaj wine by quantity not quality. These political issues also have a major effect on the economy of the region in both sides of the border. An economical approach to this conflict is to see how the EU has granted funds for developing and reconstructing the historical Tokaj wine region. We are assuming that what is shown in our brief history of the conflict of Tokaj region the two countries are getting different amount of support from the EU. As seen in the history Hungary has had the privilege of using the Tokaj label since 1993 until the year 2006 so Hungary has had most of the benefits coming from the EU. In this contract between Hungary and the EU, signed in 1993, it is only a bilateral agreement and the Slovakian part of Tokaj region was not taken in with the negotiations of the use of the Tokaj label. After the ending of this agreement with EU in 2006 the conflict has arised to be an important question for the whole historical Tokaj region which consists not only of the Hungarian part of Tokaj but also the Slovakian part of Tokaj. At present the situation between Hungary and Slovakia is to use the Tokaj label in a very similar way but still separating the two areas. The Hungarian part of Tokaj is selling the wines with the label Tokaji and the Slovakian part is selling the similar wines of same region in the label of Tokaj. There is also a mention of the country of origin of the wine. Regions identity and regional identity in the landscape Identity can be defined as the sense that people make of themselves through their subjective feelings based on their everyday experiences and wider social relations (P. Knox & S. Marston 2004, 508). The forces of globalization and “times-space-compression” have sought represent localized identities historical characteristics and have worked to undermine the companion of place and community but in executing identity politics and nationalism reveal are clear resistance to such universal strategies. These old loyalties based around geographical community may have been undermined by the globalization of the markets networks of power and capital flows. Ironically we can see the rise of counter forces and new communities of interest and belief. For example different 5 cultural movements have all risen to resist the nationalist boundaries of identity and community. (University of Nijmegen, 2012). In our research the local people living in the Tokaj region have different perception of the landscape than the political decision makers in Slovak and Hungarian parliaments. It is to be questioned whether the problem is at local level or merely a political tool in the disputes between Slovakia and Hungary. People living in the Tokaj region and also in other parts of the two countries form their own national identities which are composed of five key elements according to Guibernau (2007): - Psychological: consciousness of forming a community - Cultural: sharing a common culture - Territorial: attachment to clearly demarcated territory - Historical: possessing a common past - Political: claiming the right to rule itself These five key elements are closely linked together. It is in great significance to understand that the people living in the Tokaj region form their national identity in the landscape quite differently that the people who are living outside of the Tokaj region. People living in the area share a strong regional identity consisting of these elements. It is to be seen how the elements