Slovakia assures Hungary that the new Slovak language law will not curtail Hungarian minority rights

Slovakia’s parliamentary speaker has “clearly reaffirmed” that a planned new language law will not restrict national minorities’ right to use their mother tongue, Péter Szijjártó, the foreign minister, said in Bratislava on Monday.

As we wrote earlier, the New Slovak bill would ban Hungarian language use on trains, buses, trams, and post offices, details HERE.

According to a ministry statement, Szijjártó said after talks with Slovak parliamentary speaker Peter Ziga that Hungary’s government attaches great importance to the fate of ethnic Hungarians in Slovakia. Therefore, the government welcomes Slovakia’s view of the ethnic Hungarian community as an asset in advancing bilateral relations, he added.

“I received clear confirmation today from the speaker that the planned new language law regulation won’t endanger the right of national minorities on Slovakia’s territory to use their mother tongue,” Szijjártó said. He pointed out that he has worked together with Ziga for eight years and even considered him a friend, adding that he “cannot remember a single time when something didn’t pan out the way he said it would”.

Szijjártó said he and Ziga had agreed to stay in contact regarding any legislative process concerning language regulations. “So if either of us perceives a problem … we will talk promptly and take steps together,” he said.

Meanwhile, Szijjártó said cooperation between Hungary and Slovakia was the most successful it had ever been. He noted the contributions to each other’s physical and energy supply security, the Hungarian air force’s help in policing Slovakia’s airspace, and bilateral cooperation in the supply of crude oil.

“We are prepared to develop our ties further and to build more bridges over the Danube and the Ipoly,” he said.

Ziga said neither the Slovak government nor parliament wanted to change the status quo regarding national minority rights.

Instead, he said, they wanted to place even greater emphasis on improving living standards of ethnic Hungarians in southern Slovakia, mainly when it came to transport infrastructure.

Ziga underlined that the language bill’s text had yet to be finalised and would be subject to inter-ministry and government consultations before it was put to a vote in parliament.

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