Hungarian foreign ministry expresses regret at Slovak President's veto of education bill

The exchange of misunderstandings between Hungary and Slovakia continues.

MTI

December 22

Hungary's Foreign Ministry deeply regrets that Slovak President Ivan Gasparovic has declined to sign a new education bill, spokesman Lajos Szelestey said on Friday.

The new bill would allow the use of Hungarian placenames at first place, followed by the Slovak placenames in parantheses, in textbooks used by ethnic Hungarian schools in Slovakia.

Gasparovic' decision to veto the bill was announced earlier on Friday.

Szelestey said the Hungarian ministry deeply regrets the decision because the introduction of the new law could put an end to a long-lasting dispute. The ministry can only hope that the Slovak parliament will find a solution acceptable to ethnic Hungarians in Slovakia, Szelestey added.

Hungary's deputy education minister Gergely Arato also felt sorry for Gasparovic's decision. He told MTI that he would initiate a meeting of the Hungarian-Slovak joint education committee. He said that a ministry decision in Hungary will come into force in the near future which will simplify the use of textbooks for ethnic minorities written in their mother tongue, extra financing for ethnic minority education will be maintained and extra opportunities will be created to support ethnic minority cultures.

Chairman of the Slovak National Party Jan Slota recently called on Gasparovic not to sign the bill, stating that the amendments were unconstitutional and contrary to the law.

The bill will go before parliament once again and at least 76 supporting votes are required in the 150-member body to get it approved despite Gasparovic' veto.