The meeting between Slovak prime minister Robert Fico and his Hungarian counterpart Gordon Bajnai “will not be simple, because both parties want to say many things to the other,” Slovak Foreign Minister Miroslav Lajcák said in a statement after a cabinet meeting in Bratislava on Wednesday.
Bajnai and Fico will meet somewhere in Hungary on September 10.
“The main issue is whether the talks will be run with the aim of promoting cases or of hurting the other side. Now I see that a positive approach predominates,” he added.
Slovakia is willing to discuss the matter of President László Sólyom’s foiled visit to Komárno in Slovakia on August 21.
“President László Sólyom made a wise decision when he did not cross the border to attend the unveiling ceremony at the statue of King Saint Stephen at Komárno on August 21,” Foreign Minister Péter Balázs told Inforádió Wednesday evening. “The president appeared as the victim and gained the support of many people,” he said.
Balázs opined that the Sólyom incident is “a one-off case, which must never be repeated”, adding that Slovakia chose the worst possible solution by banning Sólyom from entering Slovakia with a “hastily written note.”
On the Slovak language act, Balázs said “it is the goal of the Hungarian government to see Slovakia – in line with the recommendations of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe – to supplement the act with a provision on the protection of minority languages, so that the everyday use of Slovak and minority languages can be ensured.”
I would love to be a fly on the wall for that meeting.