Slovakia's Hungarian-language János Selye University in Komárno (JSUK) is at risk of closure, ostensibly on financial grounds, the Budapest newspaper Magyar Nemzet has warned.
The new Slovak Government - a coalition of nationalists and socialists - pledged to keep Slovakia on the path of democracy, including respect for minority rights.
Robert Fico, the Prime Minister, stated that the coalition would treat ethnic Hungarians better than its predecessor, since it had plans for developing the southern part of Slovakia, where the majority lived.
But at the same time he appointed two ministers from the right-wing National Party, which has little sympathy for minorities. During parliamentary debates on establishing the JSUK in 2003, Jan Mikalaj (now Education Minister) and Dusan Caplovic (now Deputy Premier) argued strongly against the need for the JSUK and voted against it. They pointed out that the as yet unfounded JSUK had no accreditation and no PhD programmes.
The Bill was passed, and in 2004 the JSUK admitted its first undergraduates. Special government funding was allocated on a quota system to allow enough qualified staff to be taken on to ensure accreditation and introduce postgraduate programmes.
It is this funding that is under threat, according to newspaper reports.
Without it, the university would be at risk of closure because it would no longer be financially viable. Similar cuts in special funding could also mean the closure of the two Hungarian-taught elementary schools in Komárno.
This, the paper stresses, would not breach the Slovak constitution.
The constitutionality issue is an important one - of the Eastern European countries admitted to the European Union in 2004, Slovakia presented the weakest case.
In a European Parliament report on Slovakia in March 2004 (six weeks before admission), the few commendations of progress related to the country's "steadily improving macroeconomic performance" and its positive attitude to the Hungarian minority, as reflected in the foundation of the Hungarian-taught JSUK.
But Slovakia's enthusiasm for the JSUK subsided once it joined the EU. As early as November 2004, the state budget envisaged a 25 per cent cut in its funding.
Higher education in Slovakia is strapped for cash overall. In the face of considerable controversy, the previous Government mooted the introduction of tuition fees. But the new Government is firmly against fees.