Hungarian, Slovenian FMs mark bilateral minority protection agreement anniversary

Budapest, February 4 (MTI) – Foreign Minister Janos Martonyi and his Slovenian counterpart, Karl Erjavec, took part in a session in Szentgotthard, in west Hungary, on Tuesday to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the enforcement of the Hungarian-Slovenian minority protection agreement.

Addressing the event, Martonyi said that both countries are dedicated to moving further ahead in building bilateral relations, strengthening central European cooperation and working together to find solutions to European and global problems.

He said that Hungary had been among the first countries to recognise independent Slovenia and concluded with that country a basic treaty that had been followed by signing the bilateral minority protection agreement.

The agreement enforced 20 years ago was path-finding and served as a model for subsequent, similar agreements, Martonyi said, adding that it had been important for the development of international minority protection legislation as well.

He called it particularly important that the accord recognised and simultaneously codified the protection of individual and collective minority rights.

In his address, Erjavec said that both Hungary and Slovenia placed great emphasis on minority protection, and had done much in the past several years to ensure minority protection on the basis of the bilateral agreement.

“The fact that the two countries’ foreign ministers are celebrating the anniversary together indicates the agreement’s importance,” he said.

The Slovenian minister highly appreciated Hungary’s efforts to guarantee the protection of the Slovenian minority, noting the settlement of education matters and the possibility in the near future of sending a representative of the Slovenian minority to sit in Hungary’s next parliament.

Photo: MTI

Source: http://hungarymatters.hu/