In the case of national communities, it is always best to prevent trouble.

Peter Ziga, the president of the Slovak parliament, clearly confirmed that a possible new language law will in no way limit the use of the mother tongue of the national minorities living in the country, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó announced on Monday in Bratislava.

According to the ministry's statement, the head of the ministry stated after his consultation with Peter Ziga that the fate of Hungarians in the highlands is the heart of the government, and therefore they welcome the fact that representatives of the Slovak government see the community as a resource for the further development of bilateral relations.

Today, I received a clear confirmation from the President that the possible new language regulations will in no way endanger the use of the mother tongue for national minorities living in Slovakia, he informed. He went on to point out that he has been working with Peter Ziga for eight years and even has a personal friendship with him, and he does not remember a single occasion when he said something that later turned out to be wrong.

He explained that it is always best to prevent trouble in the case of national communities, and that they are moving in the right direction in this area.

"After all, if the president of the Slovak parliament says that they will not adopt a law that would limit or put the national community in a worse situation, then I think we have a good hope that there will not be a situation where we have to intervene," he said. .

The president's words today are a guarantee for me, he added. He also touched on the fact that they agreed on continuous contact during the possible legislative process.

"Therefore, if any of us detects a problem that creates an undesirable situation, we immediately speak and act together immediately," he emphasized.

Péter Szijjártó believed that the cooperation between Hungary and Slovakia is now more successful than at any time before.

According to his words, this is evidenced by the fact that the most sensitive areas are the closest to cooperation, as the two countries contribute to each other's physical and energy supply security. As an example of this, he gave the fact that the Hungarian Air Force contributes to the performance of Slovak airspace policing tasks, and that the cooperation is also very close in the field of crude oil deliveries.

We are ready to further develop our relations, and we are ready to build new bridges on the Danube and the Ipoly, he said.

Finally, he also touched on the fact that there is more hope than ever for the return of peace in Central Europe.

Together with the Slovak government, we Hungarians proudly belonged and belong to the pro-peace global majority that sees the solution to the war in Ukraine not in arms deliveries, but rather in a cease-fire, he underlined.

Peter Ziga confirmed that neither the Slovak government nor the parliament intends to change the current status quo regarding the rights of national minorities.

He noted that, instead, they want to put even more emphasis on improving the quality of life of the Hungarian community in southern Slovakia, especially with regard to the development of the transport infrastructure, i.e. the construction of new roads and bridges.

He also stated that it is a law, the details of which are not yet known, the text of which is being prepared. The inter-ministerial consultation will only start after the finalization, after which the approval of the government and finally the parliament will be needed, so there will be plenty of time to discuss any concerns, he pointed out.

MTI

Cover photo: Péter Szijjártó and Peter Žiga
Source: Facebook/Péter Szijjártó