slovakia
March 12, 2010, 09:47 CET
Foreign minister denies report V4 plans EU boycott
The Visegrad Four - Hungary, Czech Republic, Slovakia and Poland - has not threatened to stay out of the European Union's new foreign service, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Balazs told MTI on Thursday, denying a Russian media report earlier in... [read complete entry]
March 11, 2010, 09:38 CET
Over 1,000 stage demo in Bratislava against Slovak act
More than 1,000 people staged a demonstration against the Slovak patriotism act outside the president's palace in Bratislava on Wednesday afternoon. The crowd, mostly comprised of young people, demanded that President Ivan Gasparovic rejects and veto the act that was... [read complete entry]
March 03, 2010, 09:34 CET
Visegrád Four FMs discuss EU Eastern Partnership in Budapest
Foreign ministers of the Visegrad Four countries - Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia - met in Budapest for talks on specific programmes under the European Union's Eastern Partnership on Tuesday. The EU aims to help its eastern neighbours with... [read complete entry]
February 25, 2010, 11:50 CET
Countries step up cooperation, sign joint declaration at Budapest energy summit
Participants of an energy summit held in Budapest on Wednesday signed a joint declaration on stepping up cooperation and making energy security a priority. Hungary's Prime Minister Gordon Bajnai said the signing of a joint declaration was a milestone in... [read complete entry]
February 24, 2010, 09:42 CET
Ethnic Hungarians demonstrate for language rights in Slovakia
Around 500 university students demonstrated on Tuesday in the southern Slovakian town of Komarno in defence of their right to use the mother tongue. Students who spoke at the peaceful demonstration in the town with a large ethnic Hungarian population... [read complete entry]
February 23, 2010, 12:07 CET
Slovak PM expresses concerns over losing "special relationship" with Hungary
Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico has expressed his opinion that a Fidesz electoral victory in April would lead to strained relations between Hungary and Slovakia, mno.hu reports, unlike the status quo which is just peachy. Fico stated that if Fidesz... [read complete entry]
February 11, 2010, 09:52 CET
Hungarian PM meets OSCE Commissioner over Slovak language law
Prime Minister Gordon Bajnai met Knut Vollebaek, OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities, to discuss Slovakia's amended state language law on Wednesday. Vollebaek arrived in Budapest on Tuesday for talks after meetings on the contested law in Bratislava the previous... [read complete entry]
February 10, 2010, 09:51 CET
OSCE high commissioner pledges to monitor Slovak language law
Knut Vollebaek, OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities, confirmed in Budapest on Tuesday that he would continue to monitor the implementation of Slovakia's amended state language act. Vollebaek arrived in Budapest on Tuesday after talks in Bratislava on Monday. He... [read complete entry]
February 03, 2010, 09:57 CET
Slovak artists ride to rescue of ridiculed Magyar neighbors
Good feelings towards Slovakia today! From the deliciously-named Hungarian-Slovak portal bumm.sk we learn that a trio of young Slovak artists have put together an exhibition of paintings parodying the anti-Magyar ravings of Jan Slota, chairman of Slovak nationalist party... [read complete entry]
January 29, 2010, 10:20 CET
Hungary to help victims of Slovak language law
The cabinet will establish a Ft 50 million fund from February 1 to compensate ethnic Hungarians in Slovakia who are fined for using their native language, Prime Minister Gordon Bajnai announced Thursday. The funds will be made available through the... [read complete entry]
January 26, 2010, 03:16 CET
Vona reveals Jobbik's "enemies list": IMF, United States, Israel, Slovakia and terrestrial commercial television stations
In a speech held in Esztergom over the weekend, Jobbik chairman Gábor Vona (also the party's prime ministerial candidate) revealed what can be considered to be the party's "enemies list", origo.hu reports. If the party were to come into power,... [read complete entry]
January 25, 2010, 09:06 CET
Slovakian public television station refused to air Hungarian debate show
The Slovakian public television station STV refused to air a Hungarian debate, Slovak Hungarian daily Új Szó reports. Leaders of the station explained their decision by saying that the program, called "Terítéken" ("On the Agenda"), was "unbalanced." Of the debate's... [read complete entry]
January 19, 2010, 07:15 CET
Jan Slota "reveals" Hungarian plan to invade Slovakia
As one Slovak commenter to this site has suggested, we secretly love Jan Slota. Well, we don't love him, but we must admit we like him just a little for making our jobs easier by saying idiotic things from time... [read complete entry]
January 11, 2010, 12:55 CET
Hungary claims doing its best to counter anti-Slovak incidents
The Hungarian authorities are sparing no effort to investigate the recent incidents targeted against Slovakia's diplomatic representation and cultural institute in Budapest, the Foreign Ministry told MTI on Friday. The ministry responded to remarks by Slovak Foreign Minister Miroslav Lajcak... [read complete entry]
January 11, 2010, 12:03 CET
FM says EC position supports Hungarian worries over Slovak language law
An evaluation by the legal service of the Secretariat General of the European Commission published on Thursday justifies a number of Hungary's concerns about the implementation guidelines of the contested Slovak state language act, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Balazs told... [read complete entry]
January 06, 2010, 08:10 CET
OSCE high commissioner to visit Hungary over Slovak language law
The OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities Knut Vollebaek is likely to visit Hungary within the next two months to discuss Slovakia's minority language law, Hungary's Foreign Minister told MTI on Monday. Peter Balazs confirmed news reports that he had... [read complete entry]
January 05, 2010, 10:34 CET
Hungary welcomes OSCE statement on Slovak language law
Hungary welcomes a Monday statement by the High Commissioner on National Minorities of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe concerning OSCE's mediation in the Hungary-Slovakia dispute over the latter's contested language law, the Hungarian Foreign Ministry told MTI.... [read complete entry]
December 30, 2009, 10:45 CET
Slovak Foreign Minister expresses regret over tiff with Hungary
The past six months in relations between Hungary and Slovakia were especially hard and unpleasant "and what happened damaged both countries in the eyes of the world," Slovak Foreign Minister Miroslav Lajcák said in an interview with a Slovak website.... [read complete entry]
December 30, 2009, 10:31 CET
Ex-FM defends focus on ethnic Hungarians abroad, domestic businesses
Hungary's foreign policy should focus on stronger European integration and well-functioning Central European cooperation, former Foreign Minister Janos Martonyi, of the main opposition Fidesz party, told daily Nepszabadsag on Wednesday. Ethnic Hungarians living beyond the borders must always remain a... [read complete entry]
December 23, 2009, 09:50 CET
Hungarian FM singles out Slovakia, Ukraine as obstacles to regional harmony
Hungary's diplomatic corps has invested a lot of energy in further developing its ties with neighbouring countries during the past year, Foreign Minister Peter Balazs told MTI on Wednesday. Balazs noted, however, that the nationalistic policies of two countries -... [read complete entry]
December 18, 2009, 10:05 CET
MSZP to plead with European Socialists over Slovak language law
Hungary's ruling Socialist party will ask the European Socialist Party's president to launch an investigation of Slovakia's latest steps in connection with its controversial state language law, the party's PM candidate Attila Mesterhazy told MTI on Thursday. Mesterhazy said that... [read complete entry]
December 17, 2009, 10:10 CET
Slovakia breaking deal with Hungary over language law, gov't spokesman says
Slovakia's adopting the guidelines to its controversial state language act on Wednesday is seen as a violation of a recent agreement between the two countries, the spokesman of the Hungarian government told MTI on Wednesday. Domokos Szollar said that the... [read complete entry]
December 17, 2009, 10:09 CET
Hungary ready to turn to European Court over Slovak barring of President
The European Commission agreed with Hungary in so far as Slovakia had mistakenly referred to community guidelines when it denied Hungarian President Laszlo Solyom entry in August, Foreign Affairs Spokeswoman Zsuzsanna Matrai told MTI on Wednesday. President Laszlo Solyom had... [read complete entry]
December 08, 2009, 10:11 CET
Slovak cultural institute in Budapest damaged in attack by vandal
Hungary's Foreign Ministry condemns the vandalisation of Slovakia's cultural institute in Budapest, Foreign Minister Peter Balazs told MTI on Monday. The minister, who is currently staying in Brussels, said, that "the Foreign Ministry of the Republic of Hungary firmly condemns... [read complete entry]
December 03, 2009, 12:29 CET
Slovak gov't observing agreement with Hungary, foreign minister says
No matter what extremists say in Slovakia, the Slovak-Hungarian declaration approved by the two prime ministers in Szecseny in September is valid and being observed by the Slovak government, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Balazs told MTI on Wednesday. The Hungarian-Slovak... [read complete entry]
November 27, 2009, 10:12 CET
Hungarian, Slovak parliamentary groups meet after two-year hiatus
The sections fostering Hungarian-Slovak friendship in the two national groups of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) held their first joint meeting after a two-year interval in the border town of Komarom, N Hungary, on Thursday. "Ties got frozen" in the autumn... [read complete entry]
November 25, 2009, 09:10 CET
Council of Europe official in Budapest for talks on Slovak language law
Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly President Lluis Maria de Puig, meeting Hungarian Prime Minister Gordon Bajnai in Budapest on Tuesday, offered to mediate in the Hungarian-Slovak dispute over the new Slovak language law. Bajnai reiterated the Hungarian government's concern over... [read complete entry]
November 12, 2009, 09:15 CET
Budapest to host "Danube summit" in February 2010
Hungary will organise a summit on the Danube strategy in February 2010, Foreign Minister Peter Balazs announced after a Wednesday meeting of a working group making preparations for Hungary's EU presidency in 2011. The Danube strategy is a plan for... [read complete entry]
November 03, 2009, 11:04 CET
Foreign ministers of Hungary and Slovakia in talks Tuesday
Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Balazs will hold a working meeting with Slovak counterpart Miroslav Lajcak on Tuesday, the Slovak ministry spokesman said on Monday. The ministers will first meet on the Hungarian side of the border in Rarospuszta to place... [read complete entry]
October 27, 2009, 05:37 CET
Hungary wants out after Slovakia wants in on Czech amendmant to Lisbon Treaty
An MTI piece earlier today stated how Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Balázs wasn't exactly ecstatic about Czech President Václav Klaus's attempt to amend the Lisbon Treaty. What that piece was unclear about, however, was that Balázs's opposition to the treaty... [read complete entry]
October 26, 2009, 10:39 CET
Fidesz foreign affairs chief says US sympathetic over Slovak dispute
The head of parliament's foreign affairs committee told Hungarian journalists in Washington on Friday that the United States was sympathetic to Hungary's stance in respect of Slovakia's language law. Zsolt Nemeth, concluding an official three-day visit, said that he saw... [read complete entry]
October 21, 2009, 09:44 CET
Parliamentary committee chief urges keeping pressure on Slovaks
Hungary enjoys international support in the dispute over Slovakia's language law, the head of Hungary's foreign affairs parliamentary committee said in Washington on Tuesday. "Slovakia must be kept under serious pressure," Zsolt Nemeth told local Hungarians in the Kossuth House... [read complete entry]
October 20, 2009, 07:00 CET
Slovakian authority launches investigation over language law violation
The Slovakian Commerce Authority has launched an investigation into advertisements by the Slovakia-based Hungarian-language Szabad Újság newspaper, which only feature the Hungarian language on its billboards, index.hu reports. An investigation will be conducted to see if these advertisements are in... [read complete entry]
October 15, 2009, 11:17 CET
EC declines to intervene in affair over Slovak barring of Hungarian president
Vice President of the European Commission responsible for Justice, Freedom and Security Jacques Barrot said on Wednesday that he considered the affair of Slovakia refusing to allow Hungarian President Laszlo Solyom to enter the country closed. "This is a bilateral... [read complete entry]
October 14, 2009, 09:50 CET
Hungary launches proceedings against Slovakia
Hungary is launching proceedings against Slovakia at the European Commission over that country's refusal to allow President László Sólyom into the country on August 21, government spokesman Domokos Szollár told reporters on Tuesday. He said Hungary aims to resolve the... [read complete entry]
October 13, 2009, 03:35 CET
Slovak politicians respond to Pataki's statement on language law
Following former New York Governor George Pataki's denunciation of Slovakia's language law, via the Wall Street Journal, we've learned that: [Slovakian] Prime Minister [Robert] Fico considers it unprofessional and politically incorrect that an American politician, George Pataki of Hungarian-Italian-Irish origin,... [read complete entry]
October 12, 2009, 10:53 CET
George Pataki denounces language law during Slovakia visit
Former New York Governor George Pataki, who unlike White House Budget director Peter Orszag regularly mentions his Hungarian roots, made a stop over in Slovakia earlier today to attend a university conference in Komárno, mno.hu reports. At the conference, Pataki,... [read complete entry]
October 08, 2009, 10:22 CET
Slovak nationalists initiate procedure to ban party of ethnic Hungarians
The Slovak National Party (SNS) has initiated a procedure to ban the Party of the Hungarian Coalition (MKP) with Slovakia's prosecutor general and will propose the withdrawal of its MPs' mandates to the Bratislava parliament, SNS president Ján Slota announced... [read complete entry]
October 06, 2009, 10:27 CET
Visegrad Four foreign ministers to meet in Budapest today
The foreign ministers of the Visegrad Four countries - Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia - will meet in Budapest on Tuesday to discuss the situation of the West Balkan states. The Visegrad Four countries are committed advocates of the... [read complete entry]
October 06, 2009, 09:29 CET
Slovak nationalists demand ethnic Hungarian politician apologize in Slovak
The Slovak National Party (SNP) has asked for an enforcement order to compel Hungarian Coalition Party (MKP) deputy chairman Miklós Duray to reissue his apology in the Slovak language, and not in Hungarian as he did. Duray described SNP as... [read complete entry]
October 05, 2009, 10:52 CET
Orbán says accountability more important than country's finances
"I consider holding accountable those responsible for Hungary's present position as more important than the country's finances," Fidesz chairman Viktor Orbán told MTV talk show "Ma reggel" (This Morning) on Friday. Antall-era Justice Minister István Balsai will oversee strategic planning... [read complete entry]
September 29, 2009, 10:33 CET
Six Hungarian and Slovak towns sign cooperation pact
Three cities from Hungary and three from Slovakia on Monday signed a founding agreement on forming a cooperation group, the mayor of Tata, one of the Hungarian towns participating, told MTI. Jozsef Michl said the initiative will be directed by... [read complete entry]
September 28, 2009, 10:03 CET
Education minister slams Slovak language law
Slovakia's language law is an affront to Europe's diversity and weakens joint European consciousness; for these reasons every opportunity should be taken to speak against the law, which prohibits the development of Europe's identity, Istvan Hiller, Hungary's education minister told... [read complete entry]
September 28, 2009, 09:52 CET
FM says US reassured over ties between Hungary and Russia
The United States has harboured suspicions about the nature of close business relations between Hungary and Russia but now stands reassured, the foreign minister said in an interview to Monday's Nepszava daily during his visit to New York to attend... [read complete entry]
September 21, 2009, 10:33 CET
President says politicians' "hysteria" not harming Hungarian-Slovak cooperation
Disputes of "big politics" has not affected cross-border cooperation between Hungarian and Slovak towns along the two countries' borders, Hungarian President Laszlo Solyom said in Ipolytarnoc, near the border, on Sunday. "The outbreak of hysteria among political leaders has not... [read complete entry]
September 17, 2009, 11:35 CET
Foreign Minister says Slovakia Hungary's only problematic neighbor
Hungarian diplomacy had a hot summer this year because of Slovakia, Hungary's only problematic neighbour, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Balazs told a news conference in Budapest on Wednesday. The minister referred to the enactment of a controversial amendment to Slovakia's... [read complete entry]
September 16, 2009, 09:56 CET
EP head's offer to mediate Hungary-Slovakia feud called historic
Hungarian MEP Csaba Tabajdi has welcomed that the new president of the European Parliament, Jerzy Buzek, on Tuesday expressed readiness to mediate in settling Hungarian-Slovak tensions. Tabajdi said the Buzek was ready to help settle the conflict that has developed... [read complete entry]
September 16, 2009, 09:49 CET
OSCE official says Slovak law not necessarily outside European norms
Slovakia's recently adopted language law amendment does not necessarily contravene international or European norms, Knut Vollebaek, the OSCE's minority commissioner told a news conference in Budapest on Tuesday. Vollebaek, High Commissioner on National Minorities of the Organization for Security and... [read complete entry]
September 15, 2009, 10:53 CET
EC unable to criticize Slovak language law, commission official says
The European Commission has no legal grounds to criticise Slovakia's new language law, Leonard Orban, EC Commissioner for Multilinguism, said in a response to a Hungarian query, cited by Tuesday's Nepszabadsag daily. The EU has no ground to launch procedures... [read complete entry]
September 14, 2009, 11:22 CET
Bajnai slams Fidesz for undercutting government in Slovakia talks
The opposition has broken the national consensus concerning Slovakia's state language law with its statements made after the recent prime ministerial meeting, Prime Minister Gordon Bajnai told public television on Sunday evening. "We are struggling in the foreign policy arena... [read complete entry]
September 14, 2009, 11:00 CET
Gov't says both sides winners in Hungary-Slovakia summit
The fact that Hungary considers the Hungarian-Slovak prime ministerial meeting a success does not mean that Slovakia should perceive it as a failure, the government spokesman told MTI on Sunday. Domokos Szollar said that in the current situation the Thursday... [read complete entry]
September 11, 2009, 11:47 CET
Hungarian, Slovak leaders meet in bid to re-establish normal relations
Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico did not apologise for his country's refusal to admit President László Sólyom on August 21 and offered no concessions on the controversial new language law during his meeting with Prime Minister Gordon Bajnai on Thursday.... [read complete entry]
September 10, 2009, 10:36 CET
Hungarian, Slovak premiers to hold long-awaited meeting today
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.... [read complete entry]
September 10, 2009, 10:25 CET
Big majority of Hungarians want Slovakia apology for tension
An overwhelming majority of Hungarians back Prime Minister Gordon Bajnai's decision to hold talks with his Slovak counterpart Robert Fico with the aim of resolving tensions between the two countries, and most want Slovakia to say sorry for its snub... [read complete entry]
September 09, 2009, 10:56 CET
Hungarian officials deny meeting planned with Slovak President
Until Slovakia gives a response to a request for an explanation of its treatment of President Laszlo Solyom, it would be untimely to enter into discussions about a meeting between the presidents of the two countries, the head of the... [read complete entry]
September 09, 2009, 09:40 CET
EU justice commissioner sides with Hungary over Slovak language law
The EU's justice commissioner is sympathetic to Hungary's view of the Slovak language law and shares Hungary's opinion of it in a number of respects, Foreign Minister Peter Balazs told Hungarian journalists after talks with Jacques Barrot. "I asked him,... [read complete entry]
September 08, 2009, 10:05 CET
Bajnai open letter receives lukewarm response from Slovak PM
Prime Minister Gordon Bajnai writes that he extends his “hand to the nation of Slovakia for a friendly handshake in the spirit of our joint future and the intention to implement our mutual interests in partnership”, in an article published... [read complete entry]
September 07, 2009, 10:43 CET
Slovakia ready for three-way language law talks
Slovakia has indicated its readiness to participate in talks on the enforcement country's language law at expert level with the participation of a representative from the United Nations, a Hungarian government official told Monday's Nepszabadsag daily. The development, reported to... [read complete entry]
September 04, 2009, 10:37 CET
Hungarian MEPs unite to fight Slovak language law
Hungarian MEPs of all political stripes are agreed that they must do all that they can to ensure that Slovakia's language law is withdrawn, Katalin Szili, Hungary's parliamentary speaker, said on Thursday. After talks with MEPs, Szili said that representatives... [read complete entry]
September 03, 2009, 09:48 CET
Slovak Foreign Minister hints at fraught meeting
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... [read complete entry]
September 02, 2009, 11:44 CET
European Parliament ready to mediate in language law dispute
The European Parliament is ready to participate in trilateral talks with Hungary and Slovakia to discuss issues concerning Slovakia's state language law, EP head Jerzy Buzek told reporters on Wednesday. Buzek, speaking after talks with Hungarian Parliamentary Speaker Katalin Szili,... [read complete entry]
September 02, 2009, 09:58 CET
Thousands protest in Dunaszerda
Participants from Slovakia, Hungary and Romania took part in a three-hour rally at Dunajska Streda, Slovakia on Tuesday to protest the amended Slovak state language act. Organisers put demonstrator numbers at 12,000, and police at 6,500. “It is a shame... [read complete entry]
September 02, 2009, 09:13 CET
Orbán pledges to take Hungary off "respirator of foreign loans and aid”
Fidesz spokesman Péter Szíjjártó quoted party chairman Viktor Orbán as having told President László Sólyom that the right wing can put Hungary back on its feet, after a change of government “instead of being kept on a respirator of foreign... [read complete entry]
September 01, 2009, 11:59 CET
High Commissioner defends Slovak language law
Slovakia's amended language law to come into effect on September 1 conforms to international norms, as confirmed by OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities Knut Vollebaek, the Slovak ambassador said in Budapest on Monday. The amendment is compatible with the... [read complete entry]
September 01, 2009, 10:17 CET
Slovak language law brought to attention of White House
Ferenc Koszorus, co-chairman of the American-Hungarian Federation, informed senior foreign policy-makers of the US Administration about the Slovak State Language Act in Washington this week, he told MTI on Saturday. Calling the law "inacceptable and discriminative", the American Hungarian leader... [read complete entry]
September 01, 2009, 10:01 CET
Sólyom meets Orbán to discuss Slovakia, budget
President Laszlo Solyom on Tuesday met Viktor Orban, head of the main opposition Fidesz party, the President's Office told MTI in a statement. The talks focussed on Solyom's failed visit to Slovakia on August 21, as well as topical issues... [read complete entry]
August 31, 2009, 10:05 CET
Ethnic Hungarian leaders call for revision of Slovak language law
Participants in an ecumenical meeting in the cathedral of Szeged, S Hungary, on Sunday called upon "Slovakia's post-communist government to reconsider and withdraw its State Language Act", which is to come into force on September 1. In a joint statement,... [read complete entry]
August 31, 2009, 09:57 CET
Bajnai and Fico to hold clear-the-air talks
Foreign Minister Péter Balász agreed with his Slovak counterpart Miroslav Lajcák on Sunday to set up a meeting between Prime Minister Gordon Bajnai and Slovak premier Robert Fico, and formulated proposals to resolve the current problems between the two countries.... [read complete entry]
August 27, 2009, 09:56 CET
Slovak Ambassador refutes language law claims
Slovakia's amended language law does not exclude the use of the Hungarian language in the country, Slovak Ambassador to Hungary Peter Weiss wrote in a letter addressed to Mihaly Babak, mayor of Szarvas (SE), a town with an ethnic Slovak... [read complete entry]
August 26, 2009, 10:32 CET
Hungarian PM discusses Slovak language law with EP President
Hungarian Prime Minister Gordon Bajnai on Tuesday made a phone call to European Parliament President Jerzy Buzek to express thanks for his approach to Slovakia's controversial State Language Act, the PM's spokesperson told MTI on Tuesday. Upon his inauguration in... [read complete entry]
August 26, 2009, 10:25 CET
Hungarian Academy of Sciences: Slovak language law violates human rights
The Slovakian language law fundamentally violates human rights, international obligations and European Union norms, the Ethnic-National Minority Institute of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences (HAS) said in a report published on its website on Wednesday. "In the interest of protecting... [read complete entry]
August 25, 2009, 11:23 CET
Socialist party challenges EC position on Sólyom row
The spokesman of the European Commission has not interpreted correctly last week's diplomatic incident between Hungary and Slovakia, the parliamentary group leader of the ruling Socialist party said on Tuesday. Speaking in public TV's morning programme "Napkelte" Attila Mesterhazy responded... [read complete entry]
August 24, 2009, 11:29 CET
Slovak minority MEP calls for EU to uphold minority rights
The Slovak government's steps to hinder the entry of Hungary's president into Slovakia were without any legal basis and were "scandalous", Slovak MEP Edit Bauer told journalists on Saturday. Solyom was scheduled to attend the ceremony of unveiling a statue... [read complete entry]
August 24, 2009, 10:33 CET
Sólyom denounces "inexcusable" step by Slovak authorities
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... [read complete entry]
August 24, 2009, 08:30 CET
Uproar as Sólyom denied entry to Slovakia
A crowd of some 2-3,000 people that gathered for the unveiling ceremony of a statue of Hungarian King Stephen I in Komarno, Slovakia, booed and whistled when they learnt that Hungarian President Laszlo Solyom would not attend the ceremony because... [read complete entry]
August 06, 2009, 12:10 CET
How do you say passzív-agresszív in Slovak?
While the ongoing dispute over the Slovak government's attempts to browbeat the country's Hungarian minority into speaking Slovak is still more tragedy than comedy, the ugly business is also producing some levity. Yesterday news came that Miklós Duray (left) the... [read complete entry]
August 04, 2009, 10:58 CET
Hungary to go to UN over Slovak language law
Hungary will turn to the UN's Human Rights Council and the European Council to complain about Slovakia's language law, Foreign Minister Peter Balazs told MTI on Monday, after talks with the president and the head of Parliament's foreign affairs committee.... [read complete entry]
July 30, 2009, 09:38 CET
Bajnai says economic ills could cause social crisis, foreign policy mistakes
If the current economic crisis drags on, it could easily turn into a social crisis, Prime Minister Gordon Bajnai told a gathering of Hungary's ambassadors abroad yesterday. Opening the annual three-day conference, Bajnai warned that if there is widespread losses... [read complete entry]
July 29, 2009, 09:41 CET
Foreign minister says Hungary aims to "guide" Slovakia back to correct path
It is the Hungarian government's aim to guide Slovakia back to the correct path, to sober and normal solutions regarding the state language law, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Balazs said on Tuesday. Balazs said the Slovak language law is planned... [read complete entry]
July 24, 2009, 11:11 CET
Socialist mull bill on "Hungarians beyond the borders"
The ruling Socialist Party (MSZP) is considering putting forward a bill on the "status of Hungarians living beyond the border", Jozsef Kozma, deputy chairman of Parliament's foreign affairs committee, told MTI on Thursday. "This status would symbolise affiliation to, and... [read complete entry]
July 21, 2009, 10:19 CET
Parliamentary parties sign statement opposing Slovak language law
Members of Hungary's parliament on Monday signed a joint statement requesting that Slovakia rescind its recently adopted language law which negatively affects the Hungarian minority. Representatives of parliamentary parties signed the statement, which was the initiative of Janos Koka, group... [read complete entry]
July 16, 2009, 11:10 CET
Hungarian MPs, MEPs strike out against Slovak language law
Hungarian Speaker of Parliament Katalin Szili said on Wednesday that she would lobby in international forums in the coming weeks to prevent controversial provisions of the newly amended Slovak State Language Act from entering into force. Szili met with four... [read complete entry]
July 07, 2009, 10:41 CET
Bajnai downplays Hungarian irredentism, presses on Slovak language law
Hungarian Prime Minister Gordon Bajnai said on Monday that irredentism is not present in Hungary on a major scale. In response to a speech by his Slovak counterpart Robert Fico on Sunday, Bajnai said, "it is regrettable if domestic policy... [read complete entry]
July 02, 2009, 10:39 CET
Bajnai slams Slovak language act
The new language act approved by Slovak parliament seriously harms ethnic Hungarians in Slovakia and Slovak-Hungarian relations as a whole, Prime Minister Gordon Bajnai said on Wednesday. Slovakia's language act goes against by the letter and also the spirit of... [read complete entry]
June 24, 2009, 11:02 CET
FM calls Slovak parliament statement on Hungary unacceptable
Several passages of the Slovak parliament's statement, recently adopted, on Hungarian-Slovak relations are unacceptable, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Balazs told MTI on Wednesday. Balazs added that it was especially odd that the Slovak Foreign Minister had chosen to send the... [read complete entry]
June 18, 2009, 10:27 CET
Fidesz MEPs snub Bokros, but say willing to work with Jobbik
Hungary's main conservative opposition Fidesz will not invite Lajos Bokros, a former Socialist-liberal finance minister who is now an MEP representing the junior conservative Democratic Forum, to its Europe-related policy strategy meetings, a senior Fidesz official told MTI on Wednesday.... [read complete entry]
June 18, 2009, 10:16 CET
Slovak President urges repair of relations with Hungary
Slovak President Ivan Gasparovic presented the new Slovak ambassador to Hungary with his credentials on Wednesday and asked him to encourage good neighbourly relations between Hungary and Slovakia. "Let us no longer speak about the past, as there are so... [read complete entry]
June 12, 2009, 09:12 CET
Historians from Hungary and Slovakia compiling common textbook
Hungarian and Slovak historians are compiling a common textbook for schools to be published this year, senior politicians of the two countries announced at a scholarly conference in Roznava, SE Slovakia, on Thursday. Hungarian minister for social coordination Peter Kiss... [read complete entry]
June 05, 2009, 12:24 CET
Hungarian, Slovak PMs to meet next month amid deepening rancor
A meeting between Hungarian Prime Minister Gordon Bajnai and Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico will take place on July 7 or 9, Slovak press reports said on Thursday. A meeting of the two PMs planned to take place in Hungary... [read complete entry]
June 05, 2009, 12:22 CET
Majority disagrees with Orbán's statement on role of Hungarian MEPs
A total of 53% of the Hungarian population disagrees with Fidesz chairman Viktor Orbán's statement in Esztergom on May 23 that all Hungarian and ethnic Hungarian MEPs elected on Sunday will represent the Carpathian Basin, according to a poll conducted... [read complete entry]
June 05, 2009, 12:20 CET
Defense official says Orbán's remarks create "anti-Hungarian coalition"
Opposition leader Viktor Orban's recent statements have driven the Czech Republic, Germany and Slovakia into an anti-Hungarian coalition despite the fact that military cooperation between Hungary and Slovakia is exemplary, the deputy Defence Minister said on Thursday. Agnes Vadai, of... [read complete entry]
June 04, 2009, 01:06 CET
PM denounces Slovak politicians' remarks about Orbán
Prime Minister Gordon Bajnai on Thursday qualified remarks by Slovak politicians about Hungarian opposition leader Viktor Orban as "unworthy". Meeting his Czech, Polish and Slovak counterparts at a summit meeting of the Visegrad Four, Bajnai said: "What the leader of... [read complete entry]
June 04, 2009, 01:00 CET
Foreign Minister rues rift with Slovakia; Fidesz weighs in
The ongoing dispute between Hungary's opposition Fidesz party and the Slovak Parliament is part and parcel of the European parliamentary election campaign, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Balazs told MTI on Wednesday. "We regard the fraught dispute between Fidesz and the... [read complete entry]
June 04, 2009, 12:32 CET
Orbán says socialist parties from abroad fear Fidesz success
Socialists from Germany, Czech Rep and Slovakia want to help their Hungarian counterpart in the European Parliamentary election and this explains their reaction to Fidesz's stance on the Hungarians of the Carpathian basin, Viktor Orban, leader of the main conservative... [read complete entry]
June 04, 2009, 09:49 CET
"Hungarian card" dominates Slovak parliament on last day of EP electioneering
The last day of campaigning before European Parliament elections in Slovakia saw the country's parliament busy debating a resolution condemning statements by Fidesz leader Viktor Orbán, the Slovak Spectator reports. The speaker of the Slovak parliament convened the extraordinary session... [read complete entry]