Foreign Affairs ministry says OSCE commissioner stands by Slovakia’s language act

At a meeting with the OSCE’s High Commissioner on National Minorities, Knut Vollebaek, on September 2, Slovakia’s ethnic-Hungarian SMK party was not able to raise any doubts about Vollebaek's positive evaluation of the Slovak State Language Act, Peter Stano, the spokesman for the Foreign Affairs Ministry told the TASR newswire on Thursday, September 3.

At a meeting with the OSCE’s High Commissioner on National Minorities, Knut Vollebaek, on September 2, Slovakia’s ethnic-Hungarian SMK party was not able to raise any doubts about Vollebaek's positive evaluation of the Slovak State Language Act, Peter Stano, the spokesman for the Foreign Affairs Ministry told the TASR newswire on Thursday, September 3.

Stano said the essence of Vollebaek’s evaluation is that the law pursues legitimate goals and is in line with international norms. SMK's inability to legitimately challenge the law has been demonstrated by the party's own statements, Stano told TASR.

Earlier on August 3,however, the SMK called on the Slovak government, and its Foreign Affairs and Culture Ministries in particular, to make public their entire correspondence with Vollebaek. The SMK claims that information provided by the ministries on Vollebaek's assessment of the legislation were not fair, correct or well-balanced.

SMK vice-chairman József Berényi stated that the OSCE commissioner has expressed his regret over the fact that his views weren't taken into account when the law was being drafted and reiterated his reservations regarding the amendment. TASR

Compiled by Zuzana Vilikovská from press reports
The Slovak Spectator cannot vouch for the accuracy of the information presented in its Flash News postings.

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