The amendment is not a solution for Hungarians in Slovakia who, for emotional and conscientious reasons, want to take up Hungarian citizenship without moving to Hungary or living there for at least five years.
On Wednesday, the Bratislava legislature approved the amendment of the Slovak citizenship law from the workshop of the government coalition, the Slovak public service news agency TASR reported. The change, which will take effect from April, will not help the Hungarians in the highlands.
The form of the law, which stipulates the "loss" of Slovak citizenship in the case of acquiring the citizenship of another country, was adopted by Bratislava in June 2010, in response to the Hungarian parliament's decision on simplified naturalization. Although the law has been amended several times since then - fine-tuning some of its details - the new versions of the law have not significantly eased the situation of those Hungarians from the highlands who have acquired or wish to acquire Hungarian citizenship. In this regard, the current law amendment does not differ from the previous ones.
The latest amendment implements several minor and major innovations, according to its authors, with the aim of easing the strictness of the law. The most meritorious change is that in the future the person who acquires the citizenship of another country will not "lose" his Slovak citizenship if he can show that he has lived in that country for at least 5 years and can prove this with a registered residence. In addition, those who adopt another nationality of their spouse do not "lose" their Slovak citizenship. The law also facilitates the acquisition of Slovak citizenship for those who previously voluntarily renounced it, or if one of their parents, grandparents or great-grandparents was Slovak.
The leaders of the unified Hungarian party of the Uplands, the Federation, described the amendment as discriminatory and unconstitutional, since, as they pointed out, it introduces new facilitations for Slovaks applying for citizenship, but maintains the penalty of loss of citizenship for Hungarians.
Krisztián Forró, the president of the Association, described February 16 as a "black day" due to the adoption of the amendment to the law, whose words were quoted by the news portal ma7.sk. "Today, the parliament left a stain on the Slovak justice system," said the party president, pointing out that the Hungarians in the highlands are now even further away from being able to return to the legal situation before 2010. The Association asked President Zuzana Caputová not to sign the amendment, but to seek the opinion of the Constitutional Court.
The new law will enter into force on April 1, 2022.
MTI / körkép.sk
Photo: Felvidék.ma
