Hungarian President Laszlo Solyom called the Slovak authorities’ decision to deny him entry to Slovakia to attend the unveiling ceremony of Saint Stephen’s statue in Komarno on Friday as “an unprecedented step, inexplicable and inexcusable in relations between two allied states”.
Solyom walked on the bridge connecting the two countries over the Danube up to the border. Remaining on Hungarian territory, the president told journalists that, according to a note from the Slovak Foreign Ministry, his participation in the ceremony was seen as a security risk.
“I will now turn back. I will not be driven into committing a legal offence deliberately as I am a lawyer and a head of state. I hope that the residents of Komarno will remember this visit even amidst such circumstances. And I will return,” Solyom told journalists.
The president noted that the Slovak authorities had been informed about the planned ceremony more than two months ago, and had been cooperative until the last days. “I hope that the hysteria, which broke out on the highest levels during the past two days, does not reflect the emotions of the Slovak side.”
Solyom said that a step like that cannot be left unanswered. The president expressed the hope that the Hungarian diplomacy would make every effort to express the weight of the affair at an international level.
Solyom added, however, that the two nations should strive for friendly relations. He said that Slovak leaders would be welcome in Hungary at any time.
The president said his visit would not have entailed any security risk. He noted that his planned speech was to point out that Saint Stephen had been a king of both the Hungarian and the Slovak nations.
