BRATISLAVA, January 20, (WEBNOVINY) — Regarding ethnic minorities, we want nothing but their loyalty to this country with all the rights that ethnic minorities have guaranteed by the Constitution, from the day they are born to the last day they live, said Slovakia’s President Ivan Gasparovic at Thursday’s news conference held after the meeting with his Hungarian counterpart Pal Schmitt, who is paying a one-day visit to Slovakia on Thursday. In this regard, the Slovak president supports ethnic Slovaks livings abroad. “I am glad they have preserved their mother tongue, their culture and have a good relationship to the homeland of their grandparents, but I call on them to be absolutely loyal to the state in which they live,” he said after the talks with Schmitt, apart from other topics dedicated to disputed issues of Slovak-Hungarian relations, such as the Hungarian law on dual citizenship, and the Slovak state language act.
Hungary’s President Schmitt summarized with his Slovak counterpart that 90 percent of issues are positive and cooperation is successful. Their meeting was friendly and open, while they did not avoid the topic of dual citizenship and the language act. President Gasparovic opines “it would be best if both these laws were scrapped”, but admits it might no come to that.
“I am convinced that minorities — Slovak in Hungary and Hungarian in Slovakia — have to be part of our mutual relations, good mutual relations, because a lot depends on that. It is a natural tie between our countries which should not be disrupted by any historic events, even if real, and educate young generations in a spirit of superiority, revenge, and the need to correct historical mistakes. That is very bad to lead our youth this way,” said Gasparovic.
The Hungarian side believes that the issue of the Slovak state language act has not yet been closed. “We believe in finding a compromise so that both official European languages will remain an essential identification of people and legal rules will correspond with recommendations of the Venice Commission and OSCE expectations,” President Schmitt stated.
In connection with the new Hungarian law on citizenship, based on which ethnic Hungarians living abroad can apply for Hungarian citizenship even if they never lived in Hungary if they can prove their Hungarian origin, the Hungarian president said it would be good if Slovaks who apply for Hungarian citizenship were allowed to keep also their Slovak citizenship and were not sanctioned in any form. He said that with the Hungarian citizenship, they would have a spiritual tie to their origins and gain a certain legal status. Gasparovic replied that creating such relation of a citizen to a foreign country, a new country, is not good as he/she might in the future be deciding which side to take in some critical issues, which is not good.
Freedom of press is secured in Hungary to hundred percent, said Pal Schmitt in connection with the controversial Hungarian media act. Schmitt said he signed the bill into law as ”none of its parts is unconstitutional and corresponds with European practices”.
Hungary’s President Pal Schmitt is paying a one-day official visit to Slovakia. He is to meet with Speaker of Parliament Richard Sulik and Prime Minister Iveta Radicova.
SITA