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Lajcak: Hungarian Democratic Powers Should Bring Jobbik Down to Size
Monday 12 April 2010 Zoom in | Print page
Bratislava, April 12 (TASR) - Slovak Foreign Affairs Minister Miroslav Lajcak said that he expects the communication and relations between Slovakia and its southern neighbour – which have been strained in recent years – to improve.
"I'm a realist, and the reality dictates the need to maintain good relations," Lajcak told journalists on Monday in the wake of the general election in Hungary over the past weekend, the first round of which was marked by a sweeping victory of Viktor Orban-led centre-right Fidesz-Hungarian Civic Union on 52.7 percent of the vote.
Lajcak said that both Slovakia and Hungary are now facing the same challenges and problems, including the global financial crisis; and that both countries are members of the same international and regional groupings. He confirmed that Slovakia is ready to talk to Hungary anytime, anyplace, and virtually about anything - for which mutual communication and constructive attitudes are a must.
In the first round of the election, the system of which is rather complicated as it features both proportional representation and first-across-the-post voting, Fidesz was followed by the Socialists (19.3 percent), the far-right Jobbik-Movement for a Better Hungary (16.7 percent) and a new party called Politics Can Be Different (7.4 percent).
Commenting on the election gain of Jobbik, Lajcak said it may complicate the relations inside the region of central Europe. "Jobbik has made a whole range of unacceptable and inappropriate statements ... many anti-Semitic, and I'd say even fascistic statements," said the chief Slovak diplomat, adding that the democratic powers in Hungary should "tell Jobbik clearly where it belongs".
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