The Slovak government is not planning to meet requests put forward by Hungarian Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany at a recent Hungarian-Slovak summit, Slovak Deputy Prime Minister Dusan Caplovic told the Slovak press on Wednesday.
“Obviously, we will not meet the demands… Gyurcsany brought to Slovakia,” said Caplovic.
Though Robert Fico, Gyurcsany’s Slovak counterpart promised him that his requests would be forwarded to a special committee, the Slovak government “will not deal with demands seeking to interfere with Slovakia’s independence,” Caplovic quoted his prime minister as saying.
At the summit meeting last Saturday, Gyurcsany made six proposals to the Slovak side. The initiatives concerned Hungarian language education for ethnic Hungarians living in Slovakia, as well as having Slovakia set up a code on the rights of ethnic minorities. They also suggested that the violation of ethnic minority rights could be clarified through a joint investigation by the two countries and the appointment of a commissioner for ethnic minorities by Slovakia’s parliament. The Hungarian PM also asked the Slovak parliament to repeal a Slovak law banning the use of Hungarian national symbols in the country.
