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Gasparovic: Raising Issue of Benes Decrees Is Irresponsible
Friday 05 March 2010 Zoom in | Print page
Bratislava, March 5 (TASR) - Slovakia doesn't view it as fortunate or responsible in the political cut and thrust to raise antiquated historical issues with which Europe and the world have already come to terms, a spokesman for Slovak President Ivan Gasparovic told TASR on Friday in reaction to recent statements by Austrian President Heinz Fischer on the Benes Decrees.
Earlier this week, Fischer described the decrees as an expression of severe injustice that hasn't been legitimised by other European states. The decrees led to confiscations of property and the deportations of ethnic Germans and Hungarians living in Czechoslovakia after WWII.
Casting doubt on the post-war settlement for any reason is undesirable for further peaceful developments in Central Europe. We live at a time that requires co-operation and solidarity in resolving acute economic and social problems that represent the main public concerns and traumas in our countries, said Gasparovic's spokesman Marek Trubac.
Trubac added that the countries in the region should focus on a positive future in a unified Europe, and not raise issues from the past that can't lead to agreement.
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