Slovak-Hungarian relations: Paska Meets Szili and Advocates State Language Act Amendment

TASR
March 12

The State Language Act amendment approved by the Government on Wednesday won't restrict the rights of ethnic minorities to use their language, Parliamentary chairman Pavol Paska said following talks with his Hungarian counterpart Katalin Szili in the village of Bela (Nitra region) on Thursday.

"Let us defend our national language at home, it's quite common even by larger nations in Europe," said Paska.

Paska appreciated the meeting for its openness. "Formerly, I used to have a feeling that I'm standing in the dock," said Paska, adding that Slovakia is able to respond to all questions Hungary raises, but currently its foremost concern is to focus on bolstering the economic situation of all people living in the country, without regard to their nationality.

Conversely, Szili expressed Hungary's concerns about the Government-proposed bill toughening up use of the ethnic minorities languages.

"The words of Mr. Chairman are a guarantee that no elements restricting the rights of ethnic minorities to use their language will appear in the final version of the bill," said Szili.

The chairs also agreed on future talks of the constitutional and foreign affairs parliamentary committees of the two countries, which are expected to resolve issues surrounding the legal status of the ethnic minorities in both Slovakia and Hungary. Paska and Szili are to meet in June again in order to evaluate the results of the co-operation.