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Parliament Denounces Hungarian Act, Waiting for Vote in Budapest
Tuesday 25 May 2010 Zoom in | Print page
Bratislava, May 25 (TASR) - After a four-hour debate on Tuesday, Parliament approved – with 113 votes out of a possible 150 – a resolution expressing concerns about Hungary's proposed dual citizenship legislation.
All political parties except for the purely ethnic-Hungarian SMK concurred on the resolution. At the same time, Parliament commissioned its Chairman Pavol Paska (Smer-SD) to inform the Hungarian side about the declaration.
Subsequently, the 52nd extraordinary Parliamentary session was adjourned until Wednesday 10 p.m., with Parliament waiting for Hungary's next steps. If the Hungarian Parliament adopts the controversial legislation (with the vote scheduled for Wednesday morning) despite Slovakia's reservations, the Slovak Parliament will pass an amendment to the Citizenship Act in a fast-track proceeding.
According to Premier Robert Fico (Smer-SD), one of the changes that would be introduced by the amendment would be that if a Slovak citizen takes steps toward receiving the citizenship of another state, they will automatically lose their Slovak citizenship.
"As well, this Act will contain a provision saying that if some execution of public office in Slovakia is bound to Slovakia's citizenship, by acquiring Hungary's citizenship the given person will automatically lose the right to hold public office," said Fico.
The Slovak Parliament in the resolution pointed out that if Hungary adopts the amendment to the Dual Citizenship Act, it will be a unilateral step directed towards creating institutional bonds between Hungary and members of the Hungarian ethnic minority living in Slovakia through bestowing a sort of 'state connection'.
The text goes on to say that the Slovak Parliament deems it to be unacceptable that the Hungarian National Assembly is about to adopt an extraterritorial legislation concerning Slovakia's citizens without consulting the measure with Slovakia, as suggested by the Fundamental Treaty between the two countries. The Parliament also warned against casting doubts on the Trianon Treaty (that divided the Kingdom of Hungary in 1920) and the arrangement of Europe after the WWI.
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