Ján Slota, chairman of the right-wing Slovak National Party (SNS), a member of the Slovak governing coalition, on Friday described Foreign Minister Kinga Göncz as “a woman with disheveled hair” who should take more care about her appearance.
Slota made the remarks at a press conference after a meeting of patriotic Slovak cultural organisation Matica Slovenska.
Slota said Göncz had compared the SNS to the paramilitary group Magyar Gárda. However, Göncz said they can not be compared as Magyar Gárda is not part of the Hungarian government, while the SNS is part of the Slovak governing coalition.
Slovak Foreign Minister Ján Kubis apologised to Göncz on Saturday. Kubis said “such remarks against neighboring countries and particularly against women have no room in politics, and do not represent Slovak culture”.
In another remark, Kubis expressed concern over Hungarian remembrances organized on the anniversary of the Trianon treaty. The endless conjuring up of the spirit of the past and aspirations to redraw maps in Central Europe are unacceptable in a unifying 21st-century Europe, he said.
