Foreign Affairs Ministry Sends Diplomatic Note to Budapest

Foreign Affairs Ministry Sends Diplomatic Note to Budapest

Bratislava, August 5 (TASR) – The Slovak Foreign Affairs Ministry has sent a diplomatic note to Hungary, asking Budapest to observe usual and standard diplomatic procedures and to inform Bratislava in advance about the purpose of visits by Hungarian representatives to Slovakia.

The diplomatic note is the ministry’s reaction to Hungarian Parliamentary Chair Laszlo Kover’s recent visit to the Slovak town of Samorin (Trnava region), during which he unveiled a memorial to displaced Hungarians and delivered a speech.

“The Foreign Affairs Ministry remains ready to provide standard logistical support for official visits from Hungary, but we don’t consider it appropriate for Slovakia to find out what events senior Hungarian political representatives attend in the country only after these events take place,” explained the ministry.

In this vein, the ministry expressed its disappointment in the note with how Kover attended the event in Samorin on August 2 and with his comments, claiming that they weren’t in line with Budapest’s proclaimed desire for good relations between the two countries. At the same time, the ministry claimed that Slovakia remains ready to communicate with Hungary on all issues concerning bilateral relations.

Chief of Slovak diplomacy Ivan Korcok (an SaS nominee) stated on Wednesday that the manner in which top Hungarian representatives are addressing certain historical events concerning Slovakia and Hungary contradicts Budapest’s proclaimed desire for good relations between the two countries. He asked Hungarian top representatives to consider their words, not to disrupt the process of reconciliation and to respect Slovakia as an equal partner.