On Friday parliament convened to discuss, among other issues, the revised Hungarian Constitution, which extends its force extra-territorially to ethnic Hungarians abroad.
Parliament eventually adopted a resolution that tries to combat the effects of the new Hungarian Constitution on Slovak citizens by stating: “Parliament assures all citizens of Slovakia that only the Slovak Constitution, Slovak laws and its international commitments shall have force in the territory of Slovakia”.
As is often the case, the opposition and coalition were at heads over the wording and strength of the resolution, with the proposal of the nationalist SNS party not even being allowed for discussion as it was said to be too harsh and expressive. Head of the SNS caucus, Rafael Rafaj, said in response that if their proposal was too expressive, then the coalition’s one was deadly silent.
All present coalition MPs voted in favour of the resolution, which endeavours to keep relations with Hungary on an amicable level, respecting the values of the European Union and bilateral agreements between Slovakia and Hungary.
In response, head of SNS Jan Slota said the resolution that was adopted is vague with no clear objective, and so he called on people to take note of who voted in favour of the wording, as “Budapest’s tentacles” tighten their grip around Slovakia.
Slota went on to say how the adopted resolution was akin to betrayal of the Slovak nation and people, while the rejected SNS proposal offered real solutions.
Hungary started to stir things up with its neighbours, most notably with Slovakia and Romania, after its parliament passed a revised constitution that many feel infringes the sovereignty of other countries. The new draft Hungarian Constitution was drawn up by PM Viktor Orban’s party Fidesz, which pushed it through parliament in April.