What happened? The Slovak PM called the Hungarian foreign minister a “friend of Slovakia”

Slovak PM Igor Matovič would modify the country’s law on double citizenship because Hungary helped Bratislava buy 2 million Russian SputnikV vaccines. The Slovak PM wrote on his Facebook page that Péter Szijjártó, the foreign minister of Hungary, is “a friend of Slovakia.”

According to Index.hu, Matovič thanked Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó in a Facebook post saying that he is a friend of Slovakia since Szijjártó helped Bratislava buy Russian SputnikV vaccines, enough to inoculate 1 million citizens. Ma7.sk added that

the Slovakian prime minister also called Mr Szijjártó to thank him again for his help.

Matovič even promised to deal with the problem of double citizenship poisoning the relationship between the two countries for almost a decade. The Slovakian parliament modified the relevant laws in 2010. That is important because, today, everybody loses their Slovakian citizenship who becomes a citizen of another country. Therefore, most Hungarians living in Slovakia did not become Hungarian citizens. Even though more than 450 thousand citizens of Slovakia regard themselves as Hungarians,

the number of double citizens is only a couple of thousand.

This rate is much higher in Transylvania (Romania), Serbia, and Transcarpathia (Ukraine). 

Now, the Slovakian PM said that his relationship was very good with Péter [Szijjártó] and PM Viktor Orbán, so they can talk about the question of double citizenship. He added that he would modify the relevant laws allowing all Slovakian citizens to take up another country’s citizenship without losing their Slovakian one. Interestingly, a couple of days before, Bratislava summoned the Hungarian ambassador because Péter Szijjártó slammed the Slovak secretary of foreign affairs.

• Slovakia buying two million Sputnik vaccines from Russia
• Will there be honest cooperation ever between Hungary and Slovakia?

He said that comparing the state of Hungarians living in Slovakia to the state of, for example, Eastern Ukraine, where a civil war is going on, is utter provocation.

Foreign Secretary Martin Klus later even said that Hungary was preparing for the invasion of Slovakia.

The foreign minister of Slovakia added that the Hungarian government only wants to have more Hungarian citizens to vote in favour of them in the 2022 general elections.

However, thanks to the help of the Hungarian government in purchasing the Russian vaccine, it seems that the relationship between the two countries will calm down. Furthermore, Matovič even promised to solve one of the most pressing issues between Budapest and Bratislava: double citizenship. 

Interestingly, before, the deputy PM of Slovakia, Veronika Remišová, said that Slovakians would not be guinea pigs, so they do not want to buy SputnikV.

Péter Szijjártó, who is currently conducting negotiations in Latvia, reacted that he appreciated the gesture and added that “it felt natural for me to help the Slovakian PM.” He added that the healthier Hungary’s neighbours are, the better for Hungarians.

The first shipment of the Russian vaccine arrived in Bratislava on March 1, which is enough to inoculate 1 million citizens.

Source: index.hu