Here is the chance: during the elections in Slovakia on September 18, the parliamentary mathematics can easily turn out in such a way that the mandates of the Hungarian party will be the language of the balance during the formation of the government.
Last week, Igor Matovič arrived at the campaign trail with a chest bump. From a Hungarian point of view, the well-deserved Prime Minister's collusion with the former Interior Minister Robert Kaliňák Smeres reveals the fact that Slovak politicians, while wooing Hungarian votes, forget about the problems of the southern regions while slapping each other. Undoubtedly, the media hack of the number one common man has received the most attention in recent days. Igor Matovič went home on camera for the slap, disrupting the press conference of Smer, at which the opposition party leading the surveys called on the government to close the Slovakian-Hungarian border in order to curb migration pressure.
Shoe sole torque
Seeing Matovič's reality show, the writer of these lines couldn't leave the little devil in him alone. If Simple Igor had invested as much planning and preparation in governance, or at least in comfort as finance minister, instead of haste and losing his eye, as he did in kicking the obstinate internal affairs officer in the chest, then surely he would not be ready to run into the main railway station in Bratislava on September 30th.
Of course, this fact does not rule out the fact that the Matovič shoe soles on Robert Kaliňá would not be enough pressure to ensure that the OĽaNO and Barátai formation fighting for parliamentary entry does not slip through the eye of the seven percent needle assigned to the coalitions. In this case, we can provide this country closed from the Tatras to the Danube with the thought-provoking news that the owner of the shoe sole will remain on stage for a while longer.
Everyone got what they wanted
Of course, a little reduced testosterone, approaching September 30, was not bad for Smer either. The endowment of Igor Matovič may also have brought Robert Kaliňák sympathy points among the supporters of the Slovak version of social democracy, whose nerves were battered by the persistent interest of the law enforcement agencies. In the meantime - and you should pay attention to this - Robert Fico stayed out of the mess this time, assuming the pose of a statesman and turning his back on the political sandbox.
So everyone got what they wanted: Matovič was slapped by the light-handed mafia, Kaliňá had the confirmation of his seemingly worn-out stupidity, and not by the way, Fico, who could contrast his cold blood, destined to govern, with the brawling show kitchen.
Smeres display kitchen
Let's go back to the original topic of the Smer press from the Matovič shoe sole. Fico called on the late-awakening authorities to close the Slovakian-Hungarian border in order to curb the increasing migration pressure. If you think about what the breast-kicking media hack and Smer's breast-cutting proposal have in common, the concept of the show kitchen, popular in the toolbox of postmodern politics, offers itself as a solution.
Although it does not save the police and the Ódor cabinet, which is moaning about clerical work, the previous helplessness, there is a good chance that they are right that the hermetic sealing of the Slovakian-Hungarian border, which is more than half a thousand kilometers long, is impractical in practice. Not to mention the impact, if the measure were to be passed, on the people living along the border, and on the Hungarian community in the highlands.
Bitter experiences from the time of the pandemic
As Krisztián Forró, the national president of the Association, told the Ma7 portal, people living along the border have bitter experiences from the time of the pandemic, what the closure of the Slovakian-Hungarian border means in practice. Such a measure would once again leave its mark on the lives of many families, it would become much more difficult to go to work and maintain contact with relatives living on the other side of the border, the party president emphasized.
Forró added that managing the migration crisis is only possible with the cooperation of the EU member states. Instead of imposing migrant quotas, all of the member states must contribute to the protection of the external borders of the Union, that is, they must show solidarity, the President of the Association underlined.
Stability instead of constant chaos
Regarding the scandalous scene between Igor Matovič and Robert Kaliňák, Krisztián Forró noted that the Slovak parties are apparently busy with each other, with their increasingly low-quality politics, they do not have time to pay attention to the problems of the southern and eastern regions. Forró underlined that only the Alliance's entry into parliament can bring about change and provide a solution for the people living in the region.
The party chairman added that stability is finally needed instead of permanent chaos, and the Alliance will be a guarantee of this in national politics as well. At the local and county self-government level, our representatives are already working as a stable force and partner with other parties, and we will do the same in the parliament, stated the President of the Association.
Security and stability
What was said by Krisztián Forró also illustrates well that the focus of attention during the campaign was on the topic of security and stability. The former was evaluated with the increase in migration pressure, and the latter is a response to the permanent chaotic conditions that characterize Slovakian politics in the parliamentary cycle we have left behind.
Before the elections on September 30, the vast majority of citizens rightly feel that the governments have not been busy solving their affairs in the past three and a half years. For a long time, people were unsolicited spectators of endless, personal debates, and then after February 2022, they could experience that those in power are more important to support a neighboring country at war than to deal with the increasingly serious livelihood crisis affecting its own citizens.
We can only rely on ourselves
The Hungarians in the highlands, many of whom voted for Igor Matovič's movement, which won by a large margin on February 29, 2020, were faced with the fact that the squabbling Slovak parties forgot about the regions inhabited by Hungarians. On top of that, the Hungarian card was pulled more than once, setting Hungary and the Hungarian community in the highlands as a security risk lurking in Slovakia.
The election on September 30 will be a good opportunity for the Hungarian community to finally act in its own interest and not listen to the siren calls coming from the Slovak parties this time. The experience of the previous three and a half years clearly shows that, during the campaign, and even after getting into government, the Slovak parties say nice words to the Hungarian voters, but when the time comes to prepare the balance sheet, we are immediately confronted with the sobering reality.
Nothing of the promises has been realized - even though it was included in the government program, the framework law on minorities that includes our rights has not been created. Despite the promise, it did not become an official language in the Hungarian counties of Nyitra and Nagyszombat. Just as we waited in vain for a dignified settlement of the citizenship law - they touched on the legislation, but the result got even worse, and now it really only affects Hungarians from the highlands.
The balance sheet is obvious, we received empty promises from the Slovak parties, nothing else. The conclusion is also clear, we can only rely on ourselves for our own well-perceived interests.
If we want to finally receive sufficient attention for the regions inhabited by our community and fight for the rights of the indigenous national community, we must bring a strong Hungarian interest representation to the Bratislava parliament.
In addition, parliamentary mathematics can easily turn out in such a way that the Alliance's mandates will be the language of the balance sheet during the formation of the government. Such a situation offers a great chance that matters important to our community, which the Slovak political class did not want to hear about until now, will finally be put on the table. On September 30, let's take the opportunity, do it for ourselves!
Featured image: Breast-kicking into parliament? Igor Matovič and Robert Kaliňák in action. Photo: Facebook page of OĽaNO
