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Bugar: Berenyi Risking Too Much by Applying for Hungarian Citizenship
Wednesday 05 January 2011 Zoom in | Print page
Bratislava, January 5 (TASR) - Chairman of the currently extra-parliamentary ethnic-Hungarian SMK party Jozsef Berenyi set a bad example for his party colleagues when he officially filed for Hungarian citizenship, knowing that he would lose his Slovak one as a result, said Bela Bugar, chairman of Slovak-Hungarian reconciliation party Most-Hid.
In response to Berenyi's application for Hungarian citizenship on Monday, Bugar told TASR on Wednesday that Berenyi might not have thought his move through, neglecting to think properly about the consequences.
"He's taking pointless risks, but that's his business," said Bugar, warning that even if the Coalition manages to pass a law releasing the pressure in current legislation, the law in its new form could well become effective much later than on the date planned - March 1. "It could easily happen that the president will veto it. So it's a pointless risk," said Bugar.
If the legislation is delayed and Berenyi is granted Hungarian citizenship in the meantime, he will lose his Slovak citizenship.
According to the Slovak Dual Citizenship Act as approved under the former government, a Slovak citizen seeking the citizenship of another country will forfeit their Slovak one. This was adopted as a countermeasure after the Hungarian Parliament last year passed controversial dual-citizenship legislation, which Slovakia harshly criticised.
Berenyi insists that he is entitled to dual citizenship, adding that he's unruffled by the threat of losing his Slovak citizenship because the governing Coalition has promised to amend the respective legislation.
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