Slovak Foreign Minister Miroslav Lajcák said yesterday that he expects “sense, responsibility and a constructive spirit” to keep the upper hand at today’s meeting of the Hungarian and Slovak prime ministers.
Meanwhile the Fidesz mayor and deputy mayor of the Hungarian border town Balassagyarmat released an open letter asking Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico to avoid the town when he meets Gordon Bajnai in Szécsény, RTL Klub said in its newscast. No physical force will be used if Fico goes to Balassagyarmat, the statement added.
Government spokeswoman Bernadett Budai called the request “unworthy, unjustified and redolent of the same bad spirit that Hungary objected to, with reason, regarding Slovakia’s ban of President László Sólyom’s attempted visit to Komárno. The Hungarian government guarantees that the Slovak prime minister can cross Hungary’s border anywhere, and at any time, according to the Schengen agreement,” she added.
Justice Minister Tibor Draskovics said the statement “could harm Hungarian-Slovak relations, and will certainly damage ethnic Hungarian relations”.
Meanwhile a Medián poll shows that 84% of Fidesz voters back Bajnai’s meeting with Fico, while 13% disapprove.
Amongst Socialist voters, 96% approve of the meeting, while 2% do not. Of Jobbik voters, 65% were in favour of the meeting and 33% against. The poll was commissioned by the Prime Minister’s Office and conducted on a sample of 1,000 adults by phone on September 7.
